Alice from Westbrook writes: John, this question has probably been asked before and will no doubt be asked again but I’ve got to know. How did Augusta ever end up as our state’s capital city?
You’re right, Alice, that question has been asked many times before, but I’ll do my best to answer it here.
Back in 1820, after we managed to wrestle our state away from the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and set up shop as an independent state, it was decided to make Portland our capital. Soon after they sobered up, state officials came to their senses and realized what a numb idea that was. In fact, throughout our state’s long and distinguished history, our citizens – whether drunk or sober – have seldom been more in agreement than when they decided that the state capital should be APBP – any place but Portland. So, in 1821, they set out to fix their mistake. A joint committee of the Legislature was chosen to select a suitable locale in which to conduct state business.
The qualifications for the new capital were simple: The city or town had to be somewhere within the borders of Maine and its residents had to be able to prove to the selection committee’s satisfaction that they were not, had never been, nor ever intended to be anything like Portland.
The committee’s first choice, believe it or not, was Hallowell, which met all the criteria. It was within the state’s borders and the committee members agreed it couldn’t be like Portland if it tried.
Hallowell’s only problem was that it was, well, Hallowell, and that was enough to kill its chances.
No, but seriously, its problem was that it was controlled by the Federalist Party and the Legislature was controlled by the opposition Democrat-Republicans – called Democrats, today. I know they’re called other things, too, but, please, for the purposes of this story we’ll leave it at Democrats.
In these enlightened times it’s difficult for us to imagine that politics actually played a part in the selection decision, and so for crass political reasons Hallowell was dropped from the short list.
In wasn’t until 1827 that the up-river town of Augusta had enough votes in the Legislature to get itself chosen. Noted architect Charles Bulfinch was then commissioned to design a suitable State House and on July 4, 1829, the cornerstone of the capitol was laid.
David from Falmouth sent the following e-mail: John, I read your column whenever I see it in my paper and figure you have a head filled with information and so you might be able to help me with today’s question. Who was Maine’s “Flying Frenchman?” Did he have anything to do with the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindberg or early aviation?
As far as I know the “Flying Frenchman” had nothing to do with aviation, early or late. I don’t even know if he ever flew in a plane or if he was actually French.
However, I do know that Frederick Alfred “Freddy” Parent was a baseball player known as the “Flying Frenchman” for the way he leaped into the air to field a fly ball.
Born in Biddeford in 1875, he was undoubtedly the best ballplayer Biddeford ever produced. After playing for the town’s team and on various semi-pro teams, Freddy finally began his major league baseball career 1899 when he was signed by the St. Louis Perfectos.
Imagine the fun the anti-tobacco crowd would have today with a team named the Perfectos?
Anyway, when early baseball history was being made, Maine native Freddy Parent was often right there in the middle of it. He was 24 years old when he joined the major leagues, played for 12 seasons on five different teams and ended his big league career in 1911 after playing in 1,129 games.
All of the above is very interesting, of course, but it is for Freddy’s remarkable feats during the 1903 season – 107 years ago – that we remember Biddeford’s own “Flying Frenchman.”
During that year Parent played shortstop for our own Boston Red Sox and was instrumental in helping them win a pennant. Remember those?
As a result, the Red Sox went on to play the National League’s Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that included the legendary Honus Wagner, in what is now considered history’s first official World Series. In that eight-game contest, the Red Sox managed to do what they were never able to do again in the 20th century – win a world championship.
According to one story, after leaving the majors Freddy Parent was playing for the then- minor league Baltimore Orioles and one day he happened to mention to his Red Sox buddies that they might want to sign a promising teammate of his by the name of Babe Ruth.
As we know only too well, the Red Sox signed Babe and then sold him to the evil Yankees. No, we won’t go into the business of “the curse,” except to say that as far as we know Freddy Parent had nothing to do with the Red Sox decision to sell the Bambino to New York.
John McDonald is the author of “A Moose and a Lobster Walk into a Bar,” “Down the road a piece” and “The Maine Dictionary.” Contact him at Mainestoryteller@yahoo.com.
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