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 Lewis O. Barrows

Lewis O. Barrows

DATE OF BIRTH:  June 7, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH:  Newport
DATE OF DEATH:  January 30, 1967
PLACE OF DEATH:  Pittsfield
PROFESSION:  Druggist, Insurance
POLITICAL AFFILIATION:  Republican
TERM IN OFFICE:  January 7, 1937 – January 2, 1941
FIRST LADY:  Pauline Henderson

QUOTE: Due to economic reasons many of our present schools are far below minimum standards and hardly worthy of the name. Teachers are often obliged to accept very meager salaries, and in some instances have received no salary for several months at a time. Such a condition constitutes a challenge to every thinking citizen. To obtain for these towns the proposed minimum program…it is estimated that only $500,000 per year beyond the present State school fund would be required.

Inaugural Address, January 7, 1937

OTHER ELECTED OR APPOINTED OFFICES: Town Treasurer of Newport, Republican State Committeeman, Executive Councilor, Secretary of State

FURTHER READING:

Portland Press Herald, January 31, 1967.

 

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