Abner Coburn (March 22,1803 –January 4,1885) was the 30th Governor of Maine from 1863 to 1864 and a prominent individual in Skowhegan,Maine until his death.
Coburn was born on a farm in Old Canaan (later renamed to Skowhegan). He was raised with Puritan values and worked on his family farm from a young age which lead to him being known as an exceedingly industrious man. [1]
Coburn's family were Federalists and he cast his first vote for president in 1824 for John Quincy Adams. He went on to join the Whig Party and was an early member of the Maine Republican Party. Coburn served three years in the Maine House of Representatives before being elected Governor in 1863. He called for prisoners at the Maine State Prison to be leased to contractors instead of the State itself using them for manufacturing. [2] He became prominent in Skowhegan society,serving as the president of Skowhegan Savings Bank and becoming president and director of the Maine Central Railroad. He served as the Chair of the Colby College Board of Trustees from 1874 until his death in 1885. [3] He was the uncle of the writer Louise Helen Coburn. Many of his historical items can be seen in a museum she began,the Skowhegan History House.
Upon his death in 1885,Coburn left 12 acres (49,000 m2) to the town of Skowhegan land for a public park. Coburn Park opened in 1907. Abner Coburn's life and achievements as governor were honored with the naming of a sailing ship. [4]
Hannibal Hamlin was an American attorney and politician who served as the 15th vice president of the United States from 1861 to 1865,during President Abraham Lincoln's first term. He was the first Republican vice president.
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Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville,Maine. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution,it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner Colby saw the institution renamed again to Colby University before settling on its current title,reflecting its liberal arts college curriculum,in 1899. Approximately 2,000 students from more than 60 countries are enrolled annually. The college offers 54 major fields of study and 30 minors.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was an American college professor and politician from Maine who volunteered during the American Civil War to join the Union Army. He became a highly respected and decorated Union officer,reaching the rank of brigadier general. He is best known for his gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg,leading a bayonet charge,for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Louise Helen Coburn was one of the five founders of Sigma Kappa sorority,a pioneer for women's education at Colby College,where she served as the first female trustee,and an accomplished scientist and writer known for writing the two volumes of Skowhegan on the Kennebec.
Abner Kirby,Jr.,was an American businessman,politician,and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the 16th mayor of Milwaukee,Wisconsin,and played an important role in the early growth and economic development of southeast Wisconsin.
Stephen Coburn was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Maine.
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Benjamin White Norris was a U.S. Representative from Alabama,U.S.A
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Bartlett Tripp was a diplomat,Chief Justice of the Dakota Territory Supreme Court,first professor of the University of South Dakota College of Law and first President of the South Dakota Bar Association.
Franklin Winslow Johnson was the 15th President of Colby College,Maine,United States,from 1929–1942. Franklin W. Johnson is widely remembered as the president who began to move Colby College to its Mayflower Hill location and set it on the road to national prestige,in the face of the Great Depression and the beginning of World War II.
The Coburn Classical Institute was a college preparatory school in Waterville,Maine,which operated from 1828–1970.
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The Gov. Abner Coburn House is a historic house on Main Street in Skowhegan,Maine. Built in 1849 by a local master builder,it is one of the town's finest examples of Greek Revival architecture. It was built for Skowhegan native Abner Coburn,one of its wealthiest citizens,who served one term as Governor of Maine. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Skowhegan is the county seat of Somerset County,Maine,United States. As of the 2020 census,the town population was 8,620. Every August,Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair,the oldest continuously held state fair in the United States. Skowhegan was originally inhabited by the indigenous Abenaki people who named the area Skowhegan,meaning "watching place [for fish]," and were mostly dispersed by the end of the 4th Anglo-Abenaki War.
Charles Putnam Barnes was a judge and politician from Maine who served as speaker of the Maine House of Representatives from 1921 to 1922,and as justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court from April 17,1924 to July 31,1940. From 1939 to 1940,Barnes was Chief Justice of the court.
Skowhegan Area High School is a public high school in Skowhegan,Maine,United States. It is part of Maine School Administrative District 54 which includes the towns of Skowhegan,Canaan,Mercer,Smithfield,Cornville,and Norridgewock.
Charles Winthrop Lowell was a lawyer,commanding officer of a "colored" unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War,state legislator and postmaster in New Orleans,Louisiana.