Maine's Governors

Since William King was inaugurated as Maine’s first governor on June 2, 1820, the state has been led by 70 men and one woman. The position held today by Janet Trafton Mills has been occupied by such notable figures in our history as Hannibal Hamlin, Abraham Lincoln’s first vice president; Abner Coburn, generous benefactor to Maine educational institutions; Joshua L. Chamberlain, Civil War hero at the Battle of Gettysburg; Percival P. Baxter, donor of Mount Katahdin to the state; and Edmund S. Muskie, champion of Federal environmental protection legislation.

Only two governors are not represented by pictures. Of the balance, four are shown in portraits and the rest in photographs. Photographic images dating back to the 1840s enable us to study with complete clarity the faces of the men who governed Maine during the first decades of statehood before the Civil War as well as their more recent successors. These pictures come from three sources, the Maine State Archives, the Maine Historical Society, and the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

These pages are based upon research which I initially undertook in 2001 assisted by the Commission’s summer intern Adam M. Crowley of the University of Maine at Orono, now an Assistant Professor of English at Husson College in Bangor. At that point, the project was envisioned as a publication, but the ever expanding use of the internet during the last decade has led me to offer this information to a broader online audience. I want to thank the Friends of the Blaine House for hosting this information. 

Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr.
Maine State Historian

 

Governor Sebastian S. Marble

Sebastian S. Marble

DATE OF BIRTH:  March 1, 1817
PLACE OF BIRTH:  Dixfield
DATE OF DEATH:  May 10, 1902
PLACE OF DEATH:  Waldoboro
PROFESSION:  Lawyer
POLITICAL AFFILIATION:  Republican
TERM IN OFFICE:  December 15, 1887 – January 3, 1889
FIRST LADY:  Mary E. Ellis

QUOTE: Mr. Marble was elected to the Senate three terms in succession, and during his last term was president of that body. Governor Bodwell died in December 1887, and on the 15th of that month Senator Marble took the oath of office as his successor.

Eastern Argus, May 12, 1902

OTHER ELECTED OR APPOINTED OFFICES: Collector of Customs for Waldoboro, U. S. Marshall for Maine, State Senator (Senate President), Chairman of the Waldoboro Board of Selectman

FURTHER READING:

Chase, Henry.  Representative Men of Maine.  Portland: The Lakeside Press, 1893, p. LIII.

Kennebec Journal, Augusta, May 12, 1902

McIntyre, Philip W. and Blanding, William F.  Men of Progress.  Boston: New England Magazine, 1897, pp. 325-326.

Purchase The Blaine House Holiday Ornament
THE BLAINE HOUSE
Home of Maine's Governors since 1919.
Visit Us

Pinecones

info@blainehouse.org
PO Box 68
Augusta, ME 04332