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America: 1876
Alexander Graham Bell made the
first telephone call
The United States turned 100 years
old and celebrated its Centennial
An Express train traveled
from New York to California in 3 1/2 days
Percival Baxter was born in
Portland, Maine on November 22, 1876
Family
By the time Percival Baxter was born, his father had already made his
fortune. His father, James Baxter, was a rich business man.
His dad taught him many things: the importance of working hard,
learning new things, finding ways to help people, and being generous
with what you have. James was a kind and patient dad, giving away
a lot of his money to help young people and to create parks and other
projects in Maine.
Growing Up
As a child, Percy Baxter enjoyed his dogs, being outdoors, and fishing with
his father. Percy also liked to play sports, but said he was "never a
hero". He played because he enjoyed the games. At Portland
High School, he played football. At Bowdoin College, he continued
to play football and also was the manager of the baseball team.
He had an Irish Setter dog named Deke. Sometimes Deke went to college
classes with Percy, and even to church!
First Jobs
After college Percy worked for some of his father’s businesses.
In 1903. he helped his father when James Baxter ran for Mayor of
Portland. Then Percy decided to run for a job in Maine’s state
government. He did not win every time he ran, but he would try
again. He started to have new ideas to help our state. By
1921, Percival was the president of the Maine State Senate.
Governor Baxter
When Governor Parkhurst died in 1921, Percy was next in line to
take over as Governor. Percy also ran for election in 1922.
He remained Governor until 1925. Not everyone liked his
ideas. He didn’t want electric companies to use Maine’s water
power in the wrong ways. He didn’t want paper companies to use
Maine’s forests in the wrong ways. He wanted the state to buy
land around Mt. Katahdin to create a state park. He hardly ever
changed his mind, even when his ideas weren’t popular.
Man’s Best Friends
Dogs were always important to Percival Baxter. He never married
or had children, but he almost always had an Irish Setter. He
cared about people and animals. He started the idea of "sending a
dog to jail" so that prisoners could enjoy a dog's company. He
also worked hard to protect dogs and other animals from cruel
treatment.
Making Life Better for Others
When Percy was governor, women in Maine were able to vote for the first
time. He thought this was very important. He also asked
women to do some jobs that men had always done. He knew that deaf
students went to an old school in Portland. In 1955 a new school
opened on an island he had given the state. Now the students
would have a beautiful place to learn and live. The new school
was named the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf.
Baxter State Park
When Percy’s father died in 1921, he left most of his fortune to his
son Percy. Both men wanted to use their wealth for the people and
the state they loved. Percy bought Mt. Katahdin, and land around
it, to make a state park. In all, he gave over 200,000 acres to
create Baxter State Park. The state never did buy any of the land.
“The Mountain of the People of Maine”
Percy visited Baxter State Park until he was 90 years old.
He hoped the park would be "forever wild" and protected. Some
people had wanted to put a statue of him on Mt. Katahdin,
but Percy said, “No”. He said the mountain belonged to the
people. He died in 1969 at the age of 92.
Bibliography:
1. 14 Historic Items...Percival
Baxter. Retrieved July 11, 2005 from
http://www.mainememory.net/bin/SwishSearch?supst=sw&Keywords=percival+baxter&Search.x=29&Search.y=5
2. 1876. Retrieved July 14,
2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1876.
3. Percival Baxter. Retrieved
July 14, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_P._Baxter
4. Soares, Liz. All for Maine.
(1995) Mount Desert, ME: Windswept House Publishers.