The State of Maine Burying Ground Sprague's Journal of Maine History. Vol. VIII Special Number, June 1920 No. 1 page 30-33 The State of Maine Burying Ground (By Edgar Crosby Smith) From tombstone inscriptions by Edgar Crosby Smith published in the Journal (Vol. 5, pp. 153-158) August-September-October number, 1917) E. Lincoln of Portland Gov. of Maine Died October 8, 1829 aged 40. In the state house park opposite the state house at Augusta, at the extreme eastern end and barely visible from the street, is a plain granite shaft erected by the state over the tomb containing the remains of one of her early governors. Enoch Lincoln, the third governor of Maine, was from a family of governors. His father, Levi, was lieutenant, and for a short time acting governor of Massachusetts, and his brother Levi, was gov- enor of that commonwealth from May 1825, to March, 1834. Enoch was born in Worcester, Mass., December 28, 1788. He was educated at Harvard and Bowdoin colleges, studied law with his brother Levi, and was admitted to practice in 1811; practiced a short time at Salem and Worcester and settled in Fryeburg, Maine, in 1812. Removed to Paris, Maine, in 1818; was elected to Congress in 1818 and served continuously in 1826, when he resigned to become governor of Maine, January, 1827. He was twice re-elected and died in office October 8, 1829, and was buried in the state park facing the capitol. In 1842 the legislature, by a resolve, appropriated three hundred dollars to erect "suitable and durable monuments" over the graves of persons interred on the public grounds and authorized the selec- tion of a portion of the grounds facing the capitol for the interment of "public officers dying at the seat of government." A tomb was constructed over the door of which is engraved on a marble slab: ERECTED BY THE STATE 1842 A granite monument, enclosed by an iron fence, was raised over the tomb, on the west face of which is chiseled the inscription to the memory of Governor Lincoln. A double row of stately elms extending from the street to the sepulcher line a walk to the door of the tomb. W. DELESDERNIER of Baileyville Died Jan. 16, 1842 aged 49. William Delesdernier was the son of Lieut. Lewis Frederick Delesdernier, a Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, refugee, who came to Machias in 1776. In May, 1777, he was commissioned first lieutenant in the Continental Army by Col. John Allan, and acted as his secretary while Col. Allan commanded the Eastern Indians. Soon after the close of the Revolution he removed to Passamaquoddy and was the first collector of customs and the first postmaster of Eastport. William was born at Eastport in 1792 or 1793 and in his young manhood was a merchant in his native town. He removed to Calais about 1830. He was active in politics and in 1831 was a represen- tative in the state legislature from the latter town. He was sheriff of Washington county in 1833, '34, and '35. He removed to Bailey- ville and in 1838, '39, '40 and '41 represented the Baileyville class in the state legislature. In 1841 he was elected one of the Wash- ington county senators and took his seat January 5, 1842. He was stricken with a fatal illness and died at the seat of government, January 16, 1842, and was buried in the state grounds. It was undoubtedly the interment of Mr. Delesdernier in the state ground that hastened the action of the legislature in dedicat- ing a spot of the burial of officers of the state and erecting a suit- able memorial. A resolve was introduced in the Senate in 1841 to erect a memorial to Governor Lincoln, but it seems that the House took no action thereon. In 1842 the House took the initiative, the Senate concurred, and the State Burial Ground was laid out and a tomb and monument erected. J. Cushman of Winslow Died Jan. 27, 1834 Aged 70. Sometimes the memorial erected over the mortal remains of the departed serves as something of an index to the principal events of a life. Not so, however, in this case. He who scans this simple inscription obtains no hint of any of the events in which this man participated. Joshua Cushman, son of Abner and Mary (Tillson) Cushman, born in Halifax, Massachusetts, 1758 or '59; soldier of the Revolu- tion for three years; suffered at Valley Forge and witnessed Burgoyne's surrender. He was a graduate of Harvard in the class of 1788, and on June 10, 1795, was ordained as the first town min- ister of Winslow, which then included Waterville. He served the people of that town in this capacity for nineteen years, when, in 1814, by mutual consent and with feelings of mutual regret the relations between them were severed. In 1810 he served Kennebec county as a member of the Massa- chusetts Senate; in 1811 and 1812 the town of Winslow as a repre- sentative in the Massachusetts legislature. In 1819 he was elected a member of Congress for the Kennebec District, and served three full terms. He was a man of influence in the national house, his broad view and gift of oratory making him a powerful advocate or a strong opponent. He was a member of the Maine Senate in 1828 and in 1833 was elected to represent the town of Winslow in Maine House of Repre- sentatives. He presided at the organization of the House, January 1, 1834, but was in feeble health and twenty-six days later, January 27, he died. His body was interred in the state grounds. In 1843 a resolve was passed by the legislature directing the superintendent of public buildings to deposit his remains in the state tomb and to inscribe his name on the monument surmounting the same. C. WATERHOUSE of China Clerk, Died March 1, 1839, Aged 38 Of Charles Waterhouse I am unable to find much data. He was first elected clerk of the House of Representatives in 1837, when the record gives his residence as Augusta. He was not a clerk in 1838, but 1839 he was again elected and his residence is then given as China. He died March 1, during the session, was buried in the state grounds, and in 1843 his remains were deposited in the state tomb and his name placed upon the monument. No more interments have been made in the state grounds since 1842. For three-fourths of a century the tomb and monument have stood as a memorial to these four men who died at the seat of government while in the service of the state, and today very few residents of Maine know that such a memorial exists. ******************* For HTML format see: (c) 1998 Courtesy of the Androscoggin Historical Society ************************************************* * * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. * * * * The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. 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