With a few strokes of the pen, Gov. John Baldacci proclaimed Monday fit for a King. William King, that is.
By 1820, King had a long list of achievements behind him. He owned both a saw mill and Maine’s first cotton mill, along with the first bank in what is now the City of Bath. He served the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate beginning in 1795, representing Topsham, then Bath, then Lincoln County. But his greatest achievement awaited him in Portland, where he became the state’s first governor in 1820. The state capital moved to Augusta in 1832.
Sean Paulhus, a city councilor from Bath and an employee of the Maine Senate chamber, is doing everything he can to make sure Mainers don’t forget King’s contributions to their state. For the second year in a row, Feb. 9 was proclaimed Gov. William King Day in a resolution signed by Baldacci and sponsored by Sen. Seth Goodall (D-Richmond).
Paulhus, 23, who was elected to the Bath City Council in November, already has donated a portrait of King, which hangs in city hall.
“I wanted to bring more awareness to the city of Bath and the state about this important figure,” Paulhus told the governor. “I think he’s somebody that we need to remember.”
Goodall said Monday’s proclamation was Paulhus’ project, but that he was happy to support it because of King’s importance. Bath City Manager William Giroux, who attended the ceremony with City Council Chairman Bernard Wyman, agreed.
“I think it’s always good to look back at the people who were important with the formation of any community and Gov. King was huge,” said Giroux. “Understanding our history brings us closer to understanding who we really are.”
The contingent from Bath also included Paulhus’ sister, Stacie DelMastro, and his grandmother, Diane Plummer. Plummer said her grandson’s love of history is probably rooted in his grandfather, Albert Plummer, who died in 1996.
“His grandfather had a lot to do with it,” said Plummer. “His grandfather was not a high school graduate, but he always watched the news and read a lot. He and Sean bonded that way. I think that piqued his interest in local events and history and they had something to talk about together.”
Paulhus said he has other plans in the works to commemorate King, including building a monument in Bath, for which he’s gathering support, and possibly making Gov. William King Day permanent. That would require an act of the Legislature.
Paulhus honored King late Monday in Bath’s Oak Grove Cemetery. There was no ceremony, just Paulhus there alone, laying a wreath at the great man’s grave.
(Statehouse News Service)