Maine Memory Network

William Thomas appointment case, ca. 1890

Contributed by: New Sweden Historical Society Date: circa 1890 Location: Portland; Stockholm Media: Ivory

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George Beal on political appointments, Washington, 1869

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1869 Location: Portland; Norway Media: Ink on paper

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Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, Massachusetts, 2003

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 2003 Location: Boston Client: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Architect: Meridian Associates Inc
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Capt. John Deering house, 1884-1919

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1884–1919 Location: Portland; Portland; Kennebunkport Client: John W. Deering Architect: John Calvin Stevens

Port of Portland's Custom House and Collectors of Customs

The collector of Portland was the key to federal patronage in Maine, though other ports and towns had collectors. Through the 19th century, the revenue was the major source of Federal Government income. As in Colonial times, the person appointed to head the custom House in Casco Bay was almost always a leading community figure, or a well-connected political personage.

Lt. Charles Bridges: Getting Ahead in the Army

Sgt. Charles Bridges of Co. B of the 2nd Maine Infantry was close to the end of his two years' enlistment in early 1863 when he took advantage of an opportunity for advancement by seeking and getting a commission as an officer in the 3rd Regiment U.S. Volunteers.

Swan's Island: Six miles east of ordinary - Island Postmistresses

"… Joyce in 1852 and after him Joseph W Staples was appointed The mails during the last two appointments and a long time subsequent were carried to…"

Easton Historical Society

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Rev James Wells Appointment as Chaplain for Maine in Civil War
by David Woodward

Certificate for Rev. Wells commissioned by Gov. Israel Washburn Jr. to serve in Maine 11th Regiment

Bad time to have Cancer
by Robert Abisi

Very difficult having Cancer when coronavirus is happening. Can’t even get my appointment.

Longfellow Studies: Longfellow Amongst His Contemporaries - The Ship of State DBQ

Grade Level: 9-12 Content Area: English Language Arts, Social Studies
Preparation Required/Preliminary Discussion: Lesson plans should be done in the context of a course of study on American literature and/or history from the Revolution to the Civil War. The ship of state is an ancient metaphor in the western world, especially among seafaring people, but this figure of speech assumed a more widespread and literal significance in the English colonies of the New World. From the middle of the 17th century, after all, until revolution broke out in 1775, the dominant system of governance in the colonies was the Navigation Acts. The primary responsibility of colonial governors, according to both Parliament and the Crown, was the enforcement of the laws of trade, and the governors themselves appointed naval officers to ensure that the various provisions and regulations of the Navigation Acts were executed. England, in other words, governed her American colonies as if they were merchant ships. This metaphorical conception of the colonies as a naval enterprise not only survived the Revolution but also took on a deeper relevance following the construction of the Union. The United States of America had now become the ship of state, launched on July 4th 1776 and dedicated to the radical proposition that all men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights. This proposition is examined and tested in any number of ways during the decades between the Revolution and the Civil War. Novelists and poets, as well as politicians and statesmen, questioned its viability: Whither goes the ship of state? Is there a safe harbor somewhere up ahead or is the vessel doomed to ruin and wreckage? Is she well built and sturdy or is there some essential flaw in her structural frame?