Sprague's Journal of Maine History Vol. III JANUARY, 1916 No. 4 The First and the Present Congress- man from the Bangor, Maine Congressional District BY THE EDITOR. THE FIRST CONGRESSMAN. HONORABLE WILLIAM DURKEE WILLIAMSON. The first representative in Congress from the Bangor or Eastern Maine Congressional District' was William Durkee Williamson, a resident of Bangor, which was then a town in Hancock county, the county of Penobscot not having been incorporated. He was born in Canterbury, Connecticut, July 31, I779, and was edu- cated at Brown University from which he took his degree in 1804, at the age of twenty-five, and at once commenced the study of law in the office of Samuel F. Dickinson, at Amherst, Mass. On being admitted to the bar he immediately entered on the practice at Bangor. At this time there were three lawyers in the town,-Allen Gilman; Samuel E. Dutton, who soon after moved to Boston; and Jacob McGaw; and sixteen in the county, embracing Hancock, Penobscot, and territory now included in several other counties. He soon become distinguished as a lawyer of skill and ability, and during his entire life he maintained an excellent reputation at the bar and in the community, not only as an able and skillful attorney but as a man of the utmost integrity. William Willis in his "History of the Law, Courts and Lawyers of Maine," says of him: His advance was greatly aided by his appointment, in 1811, as county attorney for Hancock, an office which 'the administration of Governor Gerry, by an act passed that year, restored to the patronage of the (1) Now known as the Fourth Congressional District 134 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY executive. It had passed through several mutations within a few years. It was originally bestowed by the courts; but in the political struggles for power, in the early part of this century, it was made the foot-ball of parties: in 18O7, under Governor Sullivan, the Democratic party gave the appointment to the executive: under Governor Gore, in 1809, it was restored to the courts: in 1811, under Governor Gerry, it was again given to the executive, as were also the clerkships of the courts. Mr. Williamson was the most active democratic lawyer in the county, while a majority, including the most prominent and influential mem- bers of the profession, were of the federal party. This office he held, and faithfully discharged its duties, until it became vacant by the estab- lishment of the county of Penobscot, in 1816, when Jacob McGaw was appointed for Penobscot, and George Herbert of Ellsworth for Han- William Durkee Williamson. cock. The same year, however, he was elected to the Senate of Massa- chusetts, and held the office by successive elections until the separation of Maine from Massachusetts. When this event took place, he was chosen the first and sole senator from Penobscot to the Legislature of Maine, and elected president of that body, as successor to Gen. John Chandler, who was chosen the first senator of the new State in Con- gress. By another change, during his term of office, he became the acting governor of the State, in place of Governor King, who was appointed commissioner under the Spanish treaty, and resigned the office of governor. But in this busy time of political mutation, he did not even hold the office of governor through the whole term, for having been FIRST AND PRESENT CONGRESSMAN 135 e1ected to Congress from his district, he resigned the former office to take his seat in the House, in December, 1821. This position he held but one term, when, by a new division of the State into districts, the election fell to another portion of the territory: David Kidder, a lawyer in Somerset county, was his successor. But Mr. Williamson did not long remain without the honors and emoluments of office: in I824, he was appointed judge of Probate for the county of Penobscot, which office he held until 1840; when the amendment of the constitution having taken effect, which limited the tenure of all judicial offices to seven years, he retired from a station which he had filled with promptness, fidelity, and ability for sixteen years. In the latter part of his life he was more deeply interested in litera- ture, research and study of the Colonial history of his state. In the early volumes of collections of the Maine Historical Society may be found a score or more of valuable papers written by him on a variety of subjects, all of which pertain to the early history of Maine. The greatest monument to his memory, however, is his "History of the State of Maine from its First Discovery, A. D. 16O2, to the Sepa- ration, A. D. 1820, inclusive." This valuable work was published in two volumes in 1832. It contains in all 1374 pages, and has ever since been the best authority on the history of Maine that has yet been written. Mr. Williamson died May 27, I847. (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. 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