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In the "Life and Letters of Charles Bulfinch" by his granddaughter, Ellen S. Bulfinch, there is an interesting reference to the original State House at Augusta, as follows :
"Maine did not become a state until 1820, and Portland had been at first the seat of government. Augusta having been fixed upon in 1827 as the future capital, a commissioner was appointed the following year to obtain plans and estimates for a building, and he made application to Mr. Bulfinch. 'The council adopted the plan by a resolution dated February 2, 1829, stating the dimensions, referring to it as the work of Bulfinch, and as representing the Boston State House reduced to the dimensions aforesaid.' Mr. Willard speaks of it as 'like the Boston State House and yet different'; enough like it to show that Bulfinch was still willing to abide by that design in the main, sufficiently different to show that his own taste had changed with the general change of taste which grad- ually took place during his professional career. There is the same high basement, pierced by entrance arches, without high fronting steps. There is the same placing of the portico, but its treatment in detail is more reg- ular. The columns are single, and the pediment is the full width of the portico and rests directly upon it. It is in the dome and its support that
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STATE HOUSE
the departure from the earlier design is more striking." The lines which he adopted in the General Hospital at Boston are those reproduced here.
It was estimated that the cost of the building would be $80,000, but when it was finished, the expense, including furniture and expenditures upon the grounds, amounted to about $139,000, of which about $11,500 was furnished by Augusta itself. The legislature first met in the State House in Augusta, January 4, 1832. Previous to this date the legislature met in Portland. The original building was about one hundred and fifty feet in length, including the central part with the columns and cupola, two wings extending north and south.
The interior of the State House was remodeled in 1852 and again in 1860 to give some of the departments additional room. A large three- story wing was added in 1890-1 on the rear side of the building which provided new accommodations for the library and some of the offices of the state departments which had been over-crowded.
In 1909-10 the State House was remodeled, although the noble Bul- finch front was preserved. The granite used was from the quarry in Hallo- well, near the place from which the stone for the original building was taken. The length of the building was doubled, making it three hun- dred feet in all, the north and south wings being extended. A dome which was built to take the place of the old cupola, arises to a height of one hundred and eighty-five feet, being surmounted by the figure of Wisdom made of copper covered with gold, which was designed by Mr. W. Clark Noble, the sculptor. In the interior of the remodeled State House the old rotunda was transformed so as to become a room of great dignity with eight Doric columns. Here are displayed the battle flags in plate glass cases. On the walls throughout the corridors and halls are hung portraits of Maine's distinguished sons. The House of Representatives occupies the third and fourth stories of the north wing and the Senate and the Executive Chambers are in the south wing. The library occupies the second floor and part of the first in the north wing, which is on the right of the picture.
8
ORIGINAL STATE HOUSE, BUILT IN 1832
From the painting, now in Maine State Library, made in 1836 by Charles Codman. Directly to the right of the State House may be seen the Hall house, later the Blaine house and now the Executive Mansion.
CHAPTER XXIV
EXECUTIVE MANSION
The Legislature of 1915 passed the following resolve:
"The Governor shall have his official residence at Augusta, during his term of office, and shall keep his office at the State House open, either personally or by his private secretary, for the transaction of the business of the State during four business days of each week."
This resolve gave rise to the question of purchasing or building a residence for the governor at the Capital. At the session of the 1919 legislature the whole problem was settled by the gift of the old home of James G. Blaine, which stands at the corner of State and Capitol Streets, Augusta. This gift was presented by Mrs. Harriet Blaine Beale, the daugh- ter of Mr. Blaine, as a memorial to her son.
A tablet has been placed in the front hall near the main door and it bears this inscription :
"This house and the land on which it stands was the home of James G. Blaine and was given to the State of Maine in the name of his grand- son, Walker Blaine Beale, First Lieutenant, 310th Infantry, 78th Division, who was born here March 22, 1896, and who fell in France in the St. Mihiel Drive, September 18, 1918."
The Legislature in accepting this generous gift passed the following resolve :
"That the state accepts in trust the deed from Harriet Blaine Beale of the home of her father, Honorable James G. Blaine, in memory of and in the name of her son, Lieutenant Walker Blaine Beale, who fell fight- ing in France on the eighteenth day of September, nineteen hundred and eighteen, and pledges its honor faithfully to fulfill the trust and to carry out with scrupulous care the directions and desires set forth in the deed and in the letter which accompanied it.
"That the state hereby records its deep appreciation and its endur- ing gratitude for this gift which, in the complete satisfaction of a present need of the state, has a large and readily measured value, and also has even a greater value in those unseen and eternal things which make it priceless. For it will always speak to us of the heart of woman with its generosity, pure and tender sentiment and love of home; of the ever widening and abiding influence of a man of winning personality, persuasive speech, profound thought, broad grasp and prophetic vision; of the burn-
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ing zeal of youth, its quick response to noble family tradition and the flaming patriotism which offers and gives the 'last full measure of devo- tion.' And be it further
"RESOLVED: That being confident that the people of Maine desire that the last resting place of him, whose home it was and whose career brought such distinguished honor to the state, should be in the capital, where that career began, and as an expression of our gratitude for his services to us and of our deep respect for his memory, the state hereby requests of his family the privilege of bringing from Washington the remains of himself and his beloved wife and of placing them in the fam- ily lot, near Forest Grove cemetery in Augusta, and of erecting thereon, with the approval of the family, an appropriate memorial.
"That the Governor and Council be authorized and directed to take such action as may be necessary to carry into effect the purpose of this resolve and to pay the expenses thereof out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated."
History of the Blaine House The lot is part of Number 5 of the so-called "front lots" on the plan made June 17, 1761, by Nathan Winslow, Sur- veyor, for the Proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase. These lots were fifty rods wide and ran back from the river one mile. Between Lot Number 5 and the lot next south (Number 4) was a so-called "Rangeway" which is now Capitol Street. William Vassal, for whom the town of Vassalboro was named, was one of the proprietors. Certain lots, called "Proprietors' Lots," were allotted by vote and William Vassal became the owner of this Lot Number 5.
On March 2, 1770, when Kennebec County was a part of Lincoln County and the registry was at Wiscasset, William Vassal conveyed the lot for the consideration of "love and affection" to his niece, Mary Pres- cott, spinster, of Chester, Nova Scotia. On December 22, 1770, she con- veyed it for "100 pounds sterling" to Abraham Page, of Hallowell, Maine, who on July 3, 1780, for "600 Spanish Mill Dollars" conveyed to Mathew Haywood of Easton, Massachusetts.
On April 22, 1800, Mathew Haywood conveyed to James Child of Augusta that part of the south half of the lot between the river and the "county road". This was the road that ran from Augusta to Hallowell and is now Grove Street. The deed recalls the days when fish ran plenti- fully in the Kennebec river for there was a reservation of "one-half of the privilege of fishing at the bank of said river".
August 24, 1830, James Child conveyed to Captain James Hall of Bath a lot nine rods north and south and twelve rods east and west "on the west side of the new road leading from Augusta across Capitol Hill, so-called, to Hallowell". This road is now State Street and became the established road replacing Grove Street, the lower part of which was dis- continued.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, FORMERLY RESIDENCE OF JAMES G. BLAINE
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Captain Hall built the house, which in the deed given after his death by his sons to their mother on February 14, 1843, is described as his "mansion house." This consisted of the front part of the present house and an ell. James Child conveyed to his son, James L. Child, the lot next north, which later became the homestead of the late Joseph A. Homan, and has been purchased this year by the state.
There is in the State Library a picture of the Capitol and its sur- roundings painted in 1836 by Charles Codman. Just north of the Capitol are two houses, obviously the Hall house and the Child house. The shape of both houses, the roofs and windows are the same and close inspection shows the porch on the front of the Hall Mansion.
November 16, 1833, Captain Hall and James L. Child by agreement located the boundary line between them. As has been said after Captain Hall's death his sons conveyed to their mother, Frances Ann Hall, by deed dated February 14, 1843, and on February 22, 1850, she conveyed to Greenwood C. Child, another son of James.
November 20, 1862, the heirs of Greenwood C. Child conveyed to Har- riet Stanwood Blaine. Mr. Blaine made important addition to and changes in the house. He built on the west end of the ell practically a duplicate of the front part.
When the Codman picture was painted, there was no cupola on the original house. A lady now living in Augusta, whose memory goes back many a year, states that there was a cupola on it when Mr. Greenwood Child lived there and that flowers used to be placed at the windows in the cupola.
Mr. Blaine's son, James G., Jr., his daughter, Mrs. Margaret Blaine Damrosch, and granddaughter, Margaret Blaine Damrosch II, were born in the "Ash Room"; his granddaughter, Anita Blaine Damrosch, in Mrs. Blaine's room; his daughter, Harriet Beale, and her son, Walker, in whose memory Mrs. Beale gave the house to the state, were born in the "Blue Room".
In carrying out the resolve of the legislature and making the old home of James G. Blaine into a residence for the governor all the land between State and Grove Streets was purchased and the Blaine house remodeled. J. Calvin Stevens of Portland was selected as architect. The famous old house was carefully remodeled, retaining so far as possible the original design. The architect bore in mind, first of all, that it was to serve as a memorial and that this was the primary purpose of its accept- ance and use by the state. The fact that it is to be the official residence of the chief executive of Maine was considered secondary to the memorial feature of the building. Further than that, in arranging the rooms and making the alterations, the interests of the public were considered before those of whoever might be governor and occupy the house.
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EXECUTIVE MANSION
The public is naturally interested in the whole building, for it is state property, but the attention of visitors and people of the state is especially centered upon the front and lower story of the structure, for it is this that is given over to the use of the public and is open at all reasonable hours, just as is the State House.
Some Important Changes In looking at the Blaine house, and especially when stand- ing at the corner of State and Capitol Streets, the visitor notices two things first of all, the raising of the middle section of the building to the height of the front and rear portions and the changing of the color from the old battleship gray to a colonial white.
One other notable change has been made, but this is not noticed in looking at the house from this position. A wing has been added to the northwest corner of the house for the accommodation of the servants, laundry and other necessary rooms for carrying on the work and care of the memorial structure. From the outside the house has the appearance of an old colonial mansion, pure white with green blinds and shaded by the great trees in the neighborhood.
Original Lines In view of the careful work involved in remodeling the Blaine house and yet observing the injunction that the original lines of the structure be altered as little as pos- sible, it is interesting to note just how the house has been furnished inside and to observe how little the original decorative struc- tural scheme has been altered, for the main idea has been to keep the appearance of the building in every particular in harmony with the Colo- nial character of the original house that occupied the lot.
The Blaine house has not lost its individuality by being used for this purpose. The main house, the original home of Mr. Blaine, is left as nearly as possible as before. The right angle in the general line of the whole house is made to keep the line of the old house as before.
"Same as before" in every detail is the study of Mr. Blaine. The same steel engraving of Abraham Lincoln hangs over the fireplace. The same books, the pages of which have been turned countless times by the beloved Mr. Blaine, are there in the cases. The same old-fashioned sofa stands in one corner of the room. The gas fixtures are the same and the dark stone fireplace can send out the same sort of blaze as it did years ago. The twist and turn of the stair railing and the antique turned bal- ustrades have not been changed. At the curve of the stairs, the old recess is left in the wall, and in this niche is the same statue, which has stood there smiling down upon the arriving and the departing guests.
The wood finish of the entire front part of the house is of plain oak, in conformity with the previous trimmings.
Retained .
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THE MAINE BOOK
The first room on the left of the hall is the public reception room. The fireplaces are left intact. The old centers, two in number, plaster designs of many years ago, are left in the ceilings. This room was orig- inally two rooms. The wood laths have been removed and in their stead are metal laths, but the old style plaster effect is the same.
The state dining room is in the northeast corner of the main house, directly opposite the reception room.
Artistic attention is shown in the detail work of the cornice scheme in the state dining room. The original hall is retained through the front of the house. Then from the beginning of the new part on to the lounge room, which is on the south side of the house, a separate lobby is main- tained.
Thus visitors have access to the lounge room and the public reception room, the entire south side of which is glass. The floor is of tile and in this room is a beam ceiling. Three sets of sash doors and two stationary doors form the outside wall of this room.
Between each two sets of doors and adding much to the attractive- ness of the room are fluted columns, the cornices of which are in exact harmony with the general plan of the interior decorations.
Stone steps, thirty-six feet in width, lead from the glass doors of the lounge room out of doors, and thus make a separate entrance to this room. The fireplaces in this room are of white stone. The method of heating the lounge room is by indirect means through brass grills at either end of the room. The front hall is heated in a similar manner.
Separate Separate entrance to the old study of the late Mr. Blaine
Entrance and the billiard room, which are left intact, is maintained
as it was before the house was changed. The stone steps
to Old Study which lead up to this door have been finished to match the steps before the lounge room. These two rooms, replete with memo- ries of state and home, are like ancient jewels in a modern setting, so distinct do they seem from the rest of the house.
CHAPTER XXV
GOVERNORS OF MAINE
Year of
Governor
Born.
assuming office 1820
51
W. D. Williamson*
July 31, 1779, Canterbury, Conn. 1778.
1821
41
Benjamin Ames *
1821
47
Daniel Rose*
1822
Albion K. Parris
Jan. 19, 1788, Hebron.
1822
33
Enoch Lincoln
Dec. 28, 1788, Worcester, Mass.
1827
39
Nathan Cutler *
May 29, 1775.
1829
53
Joshua Hall *
1830
Jonathan G. Hunton
March 14, 1781.
1830
48
Samuel E. Smith
March 12, 1788.
1831
44
Robert P. Dunlap
Aug. 17, 1794, Brunswick.
1834
39
Edward Kent
Jan. 2, 1802.
1838
36
Jolın Fairfield
Jan. 30, 1797, Saco.
1839
41
Richard H. Vose*
1841
Edward Kent
Jan. 2, 1802.
1841
39
John Fairfield
Jan. 30, 1797, Saco.
1842
44
John Fairfield
Jan. 30, 1797, Saco.
1843
45
Edward Kavanagh '
Apr. 27, 1795, Damariscotta.
1843
47
David Dunn*
1844
Hugh J. Anderson
May 10, 1801, Wiscasset.
1844
42
John W. Dana
January 21, 1808, Fryeburg.
1847
38
John Hubbard
March 22, 1794, Readfield.
1850
55
William G. Crosby
Sept. 10, 1805, Belfast.
1853
47
Anson P. Morrill
June 10, 1803, Belgrade.
1855
51
Samuel Wells
Aug. 15, 1801.
1856
54
Hannibal Hamlin
Aug. 27, 1809, Paris Hill.
1857
47
Joseph H. Williams
Feb. 15, 1814, Augusta.
1857
42
Lot M. Morrill
May 3, 1813, Belgrade.
1858
44
Israel Washburn, Jr.
June 6, 1813, Livermore.
1861
57
Abner Coburn
Mar. 22, 1803, Canaan.
1863
59
Samuel Cony
Feb. 27, 1811, Augusta.
1864
52
Joshua Chamberlain
Sept. 8, 1828, Brewer.
1867
38
Sidney Perham
Mar. 31, 1819, Woodstock.
1871
51
Nelson Dingley, Jr.
Feb. 15, 1832, Durham.
1874
41
Selden Connor
Jan. 25, 1839, Fairfield.
1876
36
Alonzo Garcelon
May 6, 1813, Lewiston.
1879
65
Daniel F. Davis
Sept. 12, 1843, Freedom.
1880
36
Harris M. Plaisted
Nov. 2, 1828, Jefferson, N. H.
1881
51
Frederick Robie
Aug. 12, 1822, Gorham.
1883
60
Joseph R. Bodwell
June 18, 1818, Methuen, Mass.
1887
68
S. S. Marble *
1817, Dixfield.
1887
69
*- Acting Governor.
Age
William King
Feb. 9, 1768, Scarboro.
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THE MAINE BOOK
Governor
Born
Year of assuming office
Age
Edwin C. Burleigh
Nov. 27, 1843, Linneus.
1889
45
Henry B. Cleaves
Feb. 6, 1840, Bridgton.
1893
52
Llewellyn Powers
Oct. 14, 1838, Pittsfield.
1897
58
John Fremont Hill
Oct. 29, 1855, Eliot.
1901
45
William T. Cobb
July 23, 1857, Rockland.
1905
47
Bert M. Fernald
Apr. 3, 1858, West Poland.
1909
50
Frederick W. Plaisted
July 26, 1865, Bangor.
1911
45
William T. Haines
Aug. 7, 1854, Levant.
1913
56
Oakley C. Curtis
Mar. 29, 1865, Portland.
1915
49
Carl E. Milliken
July 13, 1877, Pittsfield.
1917
39
GOVERNORS OF MAINE AND THEIR TERMS
The following was prepared by Kendall M. Dunbar of Damariscotta.
Until and including the year 1880 our state elections were annual, i. e., the election in September, 1880, was the last annual election, but the biennial period began with 1881, Governor Davis having served the last annual term, the year 1880, and Governor Harris M. Plaisted serving the first biennial term, the years 1881 and 1882, the constitution having been amended by vote of the people in September, 1880.
The list arranged according to length of service is as follows:
Elected for 5 years:
Elected for 2 years, 8 months:
Governor Parris, 1822-23-24-25-26.
Governor Hubbard, 1850-51-52, (e).
Elected for 4 years:
Elected for 2 years:
Governor Dunlap, 1834-35-36-37.
Governor Kent, 1838-1841.
Fairfield, 1839-40-42-43, (a).
Crosby, 1853-54.
Chamberlain, 1867-68-69-70.
Washburn, 1861-62.
Robie, 1883-84-85-86.
Dingley, 1874-75.
Burleigh, 1889-90-91-92.
Harris M. Plaisted, 1881-82, (f).
Cleaves, 1893-94-95-96.
Bodwell, 1887-88, (g).
Powers, 1897-98-99-1900.
Fernald, 1909-10.
Hill, 1901-02-03-04.
Frederick W. Plaisted, 1911-12.
Haines, 1913-14.
Cobb, 1905-06-07-08. Milliken, 1917-18-19-20.
Curtis, 1915-16.
Elected for 3 years, 4 months:
Elected for 1 year, 8 months:
Governor Anderson, 1844-45-46, (b).
Governor King, 1820-21, (h).
Elected for 3 years:
Elected for 1 year:
Governor Lincoln, 1827-28-29, (c).
Governor Hunton, 1830.
Smith, 1831-32-33.
Anson P. Morrill, 1855.
Dana, 1847-48-49, (d).
Wells, 1856.
Lot M. Morrill, 1858-59-60.
Hamlin, 1857, (i).
Cony, 1864-65-66.
Coburn, 1863.
Perham, 1871-72-73.
Garcelon, 1879.
Connor, 1876-77-78.
Davis, 1880, (j).
(a) Gov. Fairfield resigned March 7, 1843, having been elected to the United States Senate.
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GOVERNORS OF MAINE
(b) Gov. Anderson began his first term on the first Wednesday of January, 1844, and at the state election in the following September the constitution was amended changing the political year to commence on the second Wednesday in May instead of the first Wednesday in January, as theretofore, and providing that the state officials installed on the first Wednesday in January, 1845, should hold office until the second Wednesday in May, 1846; Gov. Anderson was twice re-elected and served until the second Wednesday in May, 1847, about 3 years and 4 months.
(c). Gov. Lincoln died in office October 8, 1829.
(d) Political years under amended constitution from second Wednesday in May, 1847, to second Wednesday in May, 1850.
(e) Gov. Hubbard began his first term on the second Wednesday in May, 1850, and at the state election in the following September, the constitution was again amended, restoring the political year to the original date, the first Wednesday in Jan- uary, and it was provided that the officials installed on the second Wednesday in May, 1851, should hold office until the first Wednesday in January, 1853; Gov. Hubbard was re-elected for this term and therefore served about 2 years and 8 months. There was no election held in the year 1851.
(f) The first biennial term.
(g) Gov. Bodwell died in office December 15, 1887.
(h) Our constitution as first adopted by the people provided that "the elections on the second Monday in September annually shall not commence until the year 1821, and in the meantime the elections for Governors, Senators and Representatives shall be on the first Monday in April, in the year of our Lord 1820". This, of course, operated to continue the first governor, King, in office from the date of his inauguration, which was in May, 1820, until the first Wednesday in January, 1822, or about one year and eight months; Governor King, however, resigned on May 28, 1821, having been appointed to a position under the United States government.
(i) Gov. Hamlin resigned February 25, 1857, having been elected to the United States Senate.
(j) The last annual term.
A list of acting governors, i. e., those who succeeded to the office in consequence of the death or resignation of the elected governor, is as follows:
William D. Williamson, May 29 to December 25, 1821.
Benjamin Ames, December 25, 1821, to January 2, 1822.
Daniel Rose, January 2 to January 4, 1822.
Nathan Cutler, October 12, 1829, to February 5, 1830.
Joshua Hall, February 5 to February 10, 1830.
Richard H. Vose, January 12 to January 13, 1841.
Edward Kavanagh, March 7, 1843, to January 1, 1844.
David Dunn, January 2 to January 3, 1844.
John W. Dana, January 3 to January 5, 1844.
Joseph H. Williams, February 26, 1857 to January 8, 1858.
Sebastian S. Marble, December 16, 1887 to January 2, 1889.
CHAPTER XXVI
THE MAINE INDIANS
Red Paint The story of the early peoples has not been written. The People early voyageurs found various divisions of Algonquin In- dian tribes on the coast. More than five hundred shell- heaps have been located and a great number of camp sites. However, it is clear that these tribes were not the first Indians of Maine. Dr. Augus- tus C. Hamlin nearly thirty years ago discovered implements imbedded in red ochre and was led to think he had found evidence of an earlier tribe of Indians. Between 1890 and 1892 Mr. Willoughby of the Peabody Museum excavated three sites of the so-called Red Paint culture, one near Bucksport, one on Lake Alamoosook, and a third at Ellsworth. Since Mr. Willoughby's work many other cemeteries have been investigated, nine of them under the direction of Warren K. Moorehead of Andover Museum. The conclusions reached by the investigators is that through- out the state there extends a prehistoric Algonquin culture, older and apparently different from the Algonquin group. The State of Maine has appointed a commission to act with the Andover Museum under the direc- tion of Mr. Moorehead to make a thorough investigation of the Red Paint culture. It is possible that further investigation will furnish facts upon which to base more definite opinions as to the origin of these people. The remainder of this article was written by Fannie H. Eckstorm, who is an authority on Maine Indians.
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