The movement to separate Maine from Massachusetts began in 1785 and the District of Maine held popular separation votes five times: in 1792, 1797, 1807, and twice in 1816 before finally approving separation from Massachusetts in 1819. Significant opposition to separation existed along the coast, where the Federalist Party was dominant. In the state’s interior, where the Republicans held more power, there tended to be stronger support for separation.
While this portrayal of a bifurcated Maine glosses over some of the history’s richness and complexity, it does provide a unique vantage point to explore Lincoln County’s role in the struggle for statehood. Republican Party leaders launched a vigorous separation campaign in 1816, holding votes in both May and September. While voters across the state supported separation in both 1816 elections, they did not reach the extra-majority threshold required by the Massachusetts legislature to ratify separation.
In the May 1816 separation election, Lincoln County was one of only two counties to oppose separation. Sparsely populated Washington County, which had only 670 legal voters compared to nearly 7,000 in Lincoln County, was the other. The staunchest opposition to statehood in Lincoln County came from seacoast towns in the southern part of the county. The towns of Wiscasset, Alna (which was heavily reliant on coastal commerce at the time), Newcastle, Edgecomb, Boothbay, Georgetown, and Bristol voted nearly 2-to-1 against separation.
The September 1816 election followed a similar pattern. Historian Ronald Banks notes in “Maine Becomes a State” that anti-separation forces launched several opposition meetings throughout the summer, so the margin of victory for pro-separation voters was even slimmer. Lincoln County again voted against separation, this time joined by Washington, Hancock, and Penobscot counties. But Lincoln County’s opposition to separation stood out among the heavily populated counties in the district. Again, the towns of Wiscasset, Alna, Newcastle, Edgecomb, Boothbay, Georgetown, and Bristol voted overwhelmingly against statehood.
As I noted in last month’s column, opposition to separation along the coast stemmed from fears that coastal merchants would lose a strategic advantage they gained under a 1789 coastal trade law. The national legislature amended the coastal trade law in 1819, which greatly reduced opposition to statehood along the coast.
Moses Carlton Jr., of Wiscasset, was one of the most vehement anti-separation voices during the 1816 debates. But after the passage of the 1819 coastal law, Carlton and fellow anti-separatist David Payson wrote in the Eastern Argus newspaper: “The Bill which has passed Congress, and which permits coasting vessels to proceed from Maine to George without entering or clearing, does away with all the coasting objections … our objections therefore to the separation cease.”
The vote to separate from Massachusetts passed overwhelmingly in 1819, with strong support from Lincoln County.
The vote totals were as follows: May 1816, 1,772-1,428 against separation; September 1816, 2,357-1,758 against separation; and July 1819, 2,523-1,534 for separation.
Upcoming events
There are several upcoming events to attend if you’re interested in learning more about Maine’s history.
The Lincoln County Historical Association/Old Fort Western Bicentennial Lecture Series continues this month. Dr. Emerson Baker, of Salem State University, will discuss the English settlement of Maine in the 17th century on Sunday, Oct. 6. Mike Dekker and Mark Rohman, both living historians, will present on Maine’s French and Indian Wars on Sunday, Oct. 13. And Ken Hamilton will give a talk titled “Troubled Waters: French Acadien Naval Privateers during King William’s War” on Sunday, Oct. 20. All lectures will take place from 1-3 p.m. in the Wiscasset Middle High School gymnasium. The suggested donation is $5 and refreshments will be served.
Coastal Senior College is also hosting events related to Maine’s bicentennial. On Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 2 p.m., Liam Riordan, of the University of Maine, will present “The Road to Maine Statehood” at the Camden Public Library. On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Coastal Senior College will host a panel discussion on “What People Worried About in 1820” at 1 p.m. at the Thomaston Library.
The next Lincoln County Historical Association county-wide bicentennial planning meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. at the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission building on Route 1 in Wiscasset.
You can follow along and see what the Lincoln County Historical Association and other historical groups have planned by visiting the Lincoln County bicentennial website at lincolncounty2020.com.
(Ryan LaRochelle chairs the Lincoln County Historical Association Bicentennial Committee.)
