List of colonial governors of Maine
Encyclopedia
The territory that became the United States
state of Maine
has a tangled colonial history. After the failed Popham Colony
of 1607–08, portions of Maine's territory were styled the Province of Maine
and Lygonia
, and subjected to colonial governments in the 17th century. Other portions were governed either by the Massachusetts Bay Colony
, either through land claims made based on the geographic descriptions in its charter, or by outright purchase. The easternmost portions (between Kennebec River
and the St. Croix River were claimed by the French province of Acadia
until the fall of New France
in 1760, although only the area east of Penobscot Bay
was occupied by them.
From 1652 until statehood the territory of Maine west of the Kennebec River was part of Massachusetts. The territory between the Kennebec and St. Croix was granted to the Duke of York
in 1664, and became part of the Province of New York
, although the area east of Penobscot Bay was in Acadian hands. The parts west of the bay (principally the Pemaquid area, present-day Bristol
), were governed from New York until 1692, when the New York claim was transferred to the new Province of Massachusetts Bay
.
in 1607 as a colonization attempt by the Virginia Company of Plymouth. The colony lasted about one year before being abandoned. One of its principal backers was Sir John Popham; his nephew George
was the colony's governor for most of its existence. George Popham died in the colony in 1608, and was replaced by Ralegh Gilbert. He and the remaining colonists abandoned the colony after word arrived in September 1608 that Gilbert's uncle, Sir Walter Raleigh
, had died, leaving Gilbert his estate.
is first mentioned in a charter to Sir Ferdinando Gorges
and John Mason in 1622 from the Plymouth Council for New England
, covering territory between the Merrimack
and Kennebec
rivers. In 1629 Gorges and Mason divided the larger grant, with Mason taking the southern part (with a northern bound at the Piscataqua River
), which he called the Province of New Hampshire
. Gorges retained the northern portion, which he called New Somersetshire. Even though this grant did not include the right to govern the territory (it only conveyed ownership), Gorges established a government in his territory under his nephew William, who based himself at Saco
. In 1639 he received a new charter from King Charles I
that again called the territory the Province of Maine. Sir Ferdinando established himself as proprietor and governor, with Thomas Gorges
, a cousin, as his deputy. Thomas Gorges left the colony in 1643, after which Sir Ferdinando (who never saw the New World) left governance of the colony in the hands of a local council. The council elected Richard Vines
as deputy governor in 1644. Sir Ferdinando died in 1647, removing a significant force in maintaining the colony. In 1649 the colonists of Sir Ferdinando's lands met, electing Edward Godfrey as governor.
In 1643 a colonel in the Parliamentary Army, Alexander Rigby
, purchased the territory of Lygonia
. This territory was supposed to be to the east of Gorges' holding but in reality they significantly overlapped. The western bound of Lygonia was held to be Cape Porpoise
, and the eastern bound the Kennebec, placing present-day Portland
, Saco
, and Scarborough under its control. Rigby sent George Cleeve
, a settler who had fallen out with Gorges and then engineered the sale, back to Maine with a commission as his deputy president. The dispute over their respective territories was decided in 1646 by a judgment in England in favor of Rigby. Cleeve governed until Rigby's death in 1650, after which Lygonia's settlers progressively agreed to Massachusetts rule.
As early as 1639, some landholders in Maine signed agreements with the Massachusetts Bay Colony
, in which the settlers subjected themselves to the governmental jurisdiction of Massachusetts in exchange for its protection. By 1652 Massachusetts had argued its land claims before the governments of Cleeve and Godfrey. Although Godfrey at first strenuously objected to these claims, popular opinion eventually fell against him, and in November 1652 Massachusetts took control of Maine.
In 1676, the Lords of Trade in England issued a decision denying the Massachusetts land claims in Maine. Massachusetts then purchased the claims of the Gorges heirs (as reduced by the 1646 decision separating Lygonia) in 1677, and in 1680 constituted a new government in this territory. Thomas Danforth
, the Massachusetts deputy governor, was elected president of the territory, a post he occupied until 1686, when the Dominion of New England
took over all Massachusetts territory. The dominion collapsed after the arrest
of its governor, Sir Edmund Andros
, and the previous government was restored until the inception of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
in 1692, which claimed all of present-day Maine as part of its territory.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
state of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
has a tangled colonial history. After the failed Popham Colony
Popham Colony
The Popham Colony was a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America that was founded in 1607 and located in the present-day town of Phippsburg, Maine near the mouth of the Kennebec River by the proprietary Virginia Company of Plymouth...
of 1607–08, portions of Maine's territory were styled the Province of Maine
Province of Maine
The Province of Maine refers to several English colonies of that name that existed in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, at times roughly encompassing portions of the present-day U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian provinces of Quebec...
and Lygonia
Lygonia
Lygonia was a proprietary province in pre-colonial Maine, created through a grant from the Plymouth Council for New England in 1630 to lands then under control of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. The grant was named for his mother, Cicely Gorges...
, and subjected to colonial governments in the 17th century. Other portions were governed either by the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
, either through land claims made based on the geographic descriptions in its charter, or by outright purchase. The easternmost portions (between Kennebec River
Kennebec River
The Kennebec River is a river that is entirely within the U.S. state of Maine. It rises in Moosehead Lake in west-central Maine. The East and West Outlets join at Indian Pond and the river then flows southward...
and the St. Croix River were claimed by the French province of Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
until the fall of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
in 1760, although only the area east of Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River. There are many islands in this bay, and on them, some of the country's most well-known summer colonies. The bay served as portal for the one time "lumber capital of the world," namely; the city of Bangor...
was occupied by them.
From 1652 until statehood the territory of Maine west of the Kennebec River was part of Massachusetts. The territory between the Kennebec and St. Croix was granted to the Duke of York
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
in 1664, and became part of the Province of New York
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
, although the area east of Penobscot Bay was in Acadian hands. The parts west of the bay (principally the Pemaquid area, present-day Bristol
Bristol, Maine
Bristol is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,644 at the 2000 census. A fishing and resort area, Bristol includes the villages of New Harbor, Pemaquid, Round Pond, Bristol Mills and Chamberlain. It includes the Pemaquid Archeological Site, a U.S. National...
), were governed from New York until 1692, when the New York claim was transferred to the new Province of Massachusetts Bay
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
.
Popham Colony
The Popham Colony was founded on the coast of present-day Phippsburg, MainePhippsburg, Maine
Phippsburg is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States, on the west side of the mouth of the Kennebec River. The population was 2,106 at the 2000 census. It is within the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical rea...
in 1607 as a colonization attempt by the Virginia Company of Plymouth. The colony lasted about one year before being abandoned. One of its principal backers was Sir John Popham; his nephew George
George Popham
George Popham was a pioneering colonist from Maine, born in the southwestern regions of England. He was an associate of English Colonizer Sir Ferdinando Gorges in a colonization scheme for a part of Maine....
was the colony's governor for most of its existence. George Popham died in the colony in 1608, and was replaced by Ralegh Gilbert. He and the remaining colonists abandoned the colony after word arrived in September 1608 that Gilbert's uncle, Sir Walter Raleigh
Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....
, had died, leaving Gilbert his estate.
| Governor | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|
| George Popham George Popham George Popham was a pioneering colonist from Maine, born in the southwestern regions of England. He was an associate of English Colonizer Sir Ferdinando Gorges in a colonization scheme for a part of Maine.... |
1607 | February 1608 |
| Ralegh Gilbert | February 1608 | September 1608 |
| Source: Grizzard and Smith, p. 189 | ||
Province of Maine and Lygonia
The Province of MaineProvince of Maine
The Province of Maine refers to several English colonies of that name that existed in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, at times roughly encompassing portions of the present-day U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian provinces of Quebec...
is first mentioned in a charter to Sir Ferdinando Gorges
Ferdinando Gorges
Sir Ferdinando Gorges , the "Father of English Colonization in North America", was an early English colonial entrepreneur and founder of the Province of Maine in 1622, although Gorges himself never set foot in the New World.-Biography:...
and John Mason in 1622 from the Plymouth Council for New England
Plymouth Council for New England
The Plymouth Council for New England was the name of a 17th century English joint stock company that was granted a royal charter to found colonial settlements along the coast of North America....
, covering territory between the Merrimack
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...
and Kennebec
Kennebec River
The Kennebec River is a river that is entirely within the U.S. state of Maine. It rises in Moosehead Lake in west-central Maine. The East and West Outlets join at Indian Pond and the river then flows southward...
rivers. In 1629 Gorges and Mason divided the larger grant, with Mason taking the southern part (with a northern bound at the Piscataqua River
Piscataqua River
The Piscataqua River, in the northeastern United States, is a long tidal estuary formed by the confluence of the Salmon Falls and Cocheco rivers...
), which he called the Province of New Hampshire
Province of New Hampshire
The Province of New Hampshire is a name first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was formally organized as an English royal colony on October 7, 1691, during the period of English colonization...
. Gorges retained the northern portion, which he called New Somersetshire. Even though this grant did not include the right to govern the territory (it only conveyed ownership), Gorges established a government in his territory under his nephew William, who based himself at Saco
Saco, Maine
Saco is a city in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 18,482 at the 2010 census. It is home to Ferry Beach State Park, Funtown Splashtown USA, Thornton Academy, as well as General Dynamics Armament Systems , a subsidiary of the defense contractor General Dynamics...
. In 1639 he received a new charter from King Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
that again called the territory the Province of Maine. Sir Ferdinando established himself as proprietor and governor, with Thomas Gorges
Thomas Gorges (Maine)
Thomas Gorges was a colonial governor of the Province of Maine, an officer in the Parliamentary Army, and a Member of Parliament both during the rule of Oliver Cromwell, and after the restoration of King Charles II to the throne....
, a cousin, as his deputy. Thomas Gorges left the colony in 1643, after which Sir Ferdinando (who never saw the New World) left governance of the colony in the hands of a local council. The council elected Richard Vines
Richard Vines (colonist)
Richard Vines was an English colonial explorer of northern New England, and an early administrator and deputy governor of the Province of Maine.-Life:...
as deputy governor in 1644. Sir Ferdinando died in 1647, removing a significant force in maintaining the colony. In 1649 the colonists of Sir Ferdinando's lands met, electing Edward Godfrey as governor.
In 1643 a colonel in the Parliamentary Army, Alexander Rigby
Alexander Rigby
Alexander Rigby was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1640 and 1650. He was a colonel in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War.-Life:...
, purchased the territory of Lygonia
Lygonia
Lygonia was a proprietary province in pre-colonial Maine, created through a grant from the Plymouth Council for New England in 1630 to lands then under control of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. The grant was named for his mother, Cicely Gorges...
. This territory was supposed to be to the east of Gorges' holding but in reality they significantly overlapped. The western bound of Lygonia was held to be Cape Porpoise
Cape Porpoise, Maine
Cape Porpoise, Maine is a small coastal village in the town of Kennebunkport, Maine, United States, and was the original English settlement of the town. It is northeast of Dock Square and southwest of Goose Rocks Beach. The village occupies the mainland adjacent to Cape Porpoise Harbor...
, and the eastern bound the Kennebec, placing present-day Portland
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, Saco
Saco, Maine
Saco is a city in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 18,482 at the 2010 census. It is home to Ferry Beach State Park, Funtown Splashtown USA, Thornton Academy, as well as General Dynamics Armament Systems , a subsidiary of the defense contractor General Dynamics...
, and Scarborough under its control. Rigby sent George Cleeve
George Cleeve
George Cleeve was an early settler and "founder of Portland, Maine"; Deputy President of the Province of Lygonia from 1643 until the final submission of its Maine towns to Massachusetts authority in 1658....
, a settler who had fallen out with Gorges and then engineered the sale, back to Maine with a commission as his deputy president. The dispute over their respective territories was decided in 1646 by a judgment in England in favor of Rigby. Cleeve governed until Rigby's death in 1650, after which Lygonia's settlers progressively agreed to Massachusetts rule.
As early as 1639, some landholders in Maine signed agreements with the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
, in which the settlers subjected themselves to the governmental jurisdiction of Massachusetts in exchange for its protection. By 1652 Massachusetts had argued its land claims before the governments of Cleeve and Godfrey. Although Godfrey at first strenuously objected to these claims, popular opinion eventually fell against him, and in November 1652 Massachusetts took control of Maine.
In 1676, the Lords of Trade in England issued a decision denying the Massachusetts land claims in Maine. Massachusetts then purchased the claims of the Gorges heirs (as reduced by the 1646 decision separating Lygonia) in 1677, and in 1680 constituted a new government in this territory. Thomas Danforth
Thomas Danforth
Thomas Danforth was a judge for the 1692 Salem witch trials in early colonial America.-Early life:He was born in Framlingham, Suffolk, England as the eldest son of Nicholas Danforth and Elizabeth Symmes...
, the Massachusetts deputy governor, was elected president of the territory, a post he occupied until 1686, when the Dominion of New England
Dominion of New England
The Dominion of New England in America was an administrative union of English colonies in the New England region of North America. The dominion was ultimately a failure because the area it encompassed was too large for a single governor to manage...
took over all Massachusetts territory. The dominion collapsed after the arrest
1689 Boston revolt
The 1689 Boston revolt was a popular uprising on April 18, 1689, against the rule of Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of the Dominion of New England. A well-organized "mob" of provincial militia and citizens formed in the city and arrested dominion officials...
of its governor, Sir Edmund Andros
Edmund Andros
Sir Edmund Andros was an English colonial administrator in North America. Andros was known most notably for his governorship of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. He also governed at various times the provinces of New York, East and West Jersey, Virginia, and...
, and the previous government was restored until the inception of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
in 1692, which claimed all of present-day Maine as part of its territory.
Governors and deputy governors of Maine
- William Gorges (1636–38)
- Sir Ferdinando GorgesFerdinando GorgesSir Ferdinando Gorges , the "Father of English Colonization in North America", was an early English colonial entrepreneur and founder of the Province of Maine in 1622, although Gorges himself never set foot in the New World.-Biography:...
(1639–47)- Thomas GorgesThomas Gorges (Maine)Thomas Gorges was a colonial governor of the Province of Maine, an officer in the Parliamentary Army, and a Member of Parliament both during the rule of Oliver Cromwell, and after the restoration of King Charles II to the throne....
(1640–43) - Richard VinesRichard Vines (colonist)Richard Vines was an English colonial explorer of northern New England, and an early administrator and deputy governor of the Province of Maine.-Life:...
(1644–45) - Henry Jocelyn (1646–49)
- Thomas Gorges
- Edward Godfrey (1649–52)
- Thomas DanforthThomas DanforthThomas Danforth was a judge for the 1692 Salem witch trials in early colonial America.-Early life:He was born in Framlingham, Suffolk, England as the eldest son of Nicholas Danforth and Elizabeth Symmes...
(as president, 1680–86, 1689–92)
Governors and deputy governors of Lygonia
- Alexander RigbyAlexander RigbyAlexander Rigby was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1640 and 1650. He was a colonel in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War.-Life:...
(1642–52)- George CleeveGeorge CleeveGeorge Cleeve was an early settler and "founder of Portland, Maine"; Deputy President of the Province of Lygonia from 1643 until the final submission of its Maine towns to Massachusetts authority in 1658....
(1642–52)
- George Cleeve