James Phinney Baxter: Difference between revisions

| name = James Phinney Baxter

| image = File:James Phinney Baxter of Maine USA (cropped).jpg

| caption =

| office1 = 38th and 42nd [[List of mayors of Portland, Maine|Mayor of Portland]]

| term_start1 = 1893

| term_end1 = 1896

| predecessor1 = [[Darius H. Ingraham]]

| successor1 = [[Charles Randall (Maine politician)|Charles H. Randall]]

|office2 term_start2 = 42nd Mayor of= Portland1904

|term_start2 term_end2 = 19041905

|death_place party = [[Portland, Maine Republican Party|Republican]]

|party spouse = [[Maine Republican Party|Republican]] =

|spouse education =

|education website =

James Phinney Baxter was the son of Dr. Elihu Baxter and Sarah Cone Baxter.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=88sUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA164&lpg=PA164&dq=Dr.+Elihu+Baxter&sourcepg=bl&ots=-XmmSugQFC&sig=7kmE751vyjLftfTH94vDXkzxUTg&hl=en&ei=VZQRSuXeMo2qtAOThtSBAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6PA164 ''The New England Historical and Genealogical Register'' (1921)]</ref> He was born in [[Gorham, Maine]] (in what is now called the [[Baxter House (Gorham, Maine)|Baxter House]]), on March 23, 1831, but lived in Portland from 1840. He attended [[Master Jackson's School]] until 1844, and then [[Lynn Academy]] until 1848. He began work in the Boston law offices of [[Rufus Choate]], but ill health forced a return to Portland, where he worked in a dry goods importing business with William G Davis, pioneering a canning and packing business (Portland Packing Company) that became important to the state's economy.<ref name=NEHGS>[https://books.google.com/books?id=88sUAAAAYAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s ''The New England historical and genealogical register'', Volume 75 pg. 163 (July 1921) No. 299, New England Historic Genealogical Society]</ref>

He used the wealth engendered by his successful business for many philanthropic purposes. He was particularly passionate about supporting educational endeavors, and donated a public library (the [[Baxter Memorial Library]]) to his birthplace, Gorham, and a library to his adopted city, Portland.<ref name=NEHGS />

He was mayor of Portland for six years, and the moving spirit behind [[Baxter Boulevard]], a tree-lined road that circles the edge of [[Back Cove, Portland, Maine|Back Cove]], which is often used for exercise and recreation. He was also recognized as an authority on New England history, and among his other interests, he was president of the [[Maine Historical Society]] for thirty years and an overseer of [[Bowdoin College]], and connected with many other organizations that furthered the interests of New England history. One of his greatest literary and historical achievements was the editing of twenty of the twenty -four volumes of [[The Documentary History of Maine]].<ref name=NEHGS />

Baxter also devoted several years to unearthing the details of Capt. [[Christopher Levett]]'s settlement at Portland in 1623–1624. An English sea captain and explorer, Levett's history and the details of the colony he attempted to found had been largely forgotten when Baxter's scholarship illuminated them. Baxter later published a book about Levett, which incorporated the text of Levett's own earlier work, published in 1628 in London.<ref name=NEHGS />

Baxter was a life-long [[opponent of [[vivisection]] and his [[Will and testament|Will]] prohibited any payment from his estate to persons who practiced vivisection.<ref>Baxter, Percival Proctor. (1921). [https://archive.org/details/jamesphinneybaxt00baxt/page/8/mode/2up ''James Phinney Baxter, Historian, Portland, Maine, 1831-1921'']. Maine State Library.</ref>

[[File:Baxter Monument - Evergreen Cemetery.JPG|right|thumb|250px|The Baxter Family Monument in Evergreen Cemetery.]]

His son, Governor of Maine (1921-19241921–1924) [[Percival Proctor Baxter]], wrote a short biography of his father, [https://archive.org/details/jamesphinneybaxt00baxt ''James Phinney Baxter, Historian''] in 1921. concluding with "My father had faith in mankind, faith in the future of America, faith in God and faith in the world to come."

* ''Sir [[Ferdinando Gorges|Ferdinando Georges]] and his Province of Maine'' (1890)

* [https://books.google.com/books?id=gwKwEbZhv3cC&dqq=christopher+levett+pioneer+casco+bay+baxter&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=UQIROy4YDZ&sig=lVb4mmLV38QtVWjhOm2J8tIxEdw&hl=en&ei=HiwoS8T9BpTgsQPb0r3KDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CA4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false Christopher Levett, of York: The Pioneer Colonist in Casco Bay, James Phinney Baxter, The Gorges Society, Portland, Me., 1893]

[[Category:19th-century American philanthropists]]

[[Category:AntiAmerican anti-vivisectionists]]