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{{Short description|American politician and businessman}}
{{For|the American historian (1893–1975)|James Phinney Baxter III}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = 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]]
| term_start2 = 1904
| term_end2 = 1905
| predecessor2 = [[Frederic E. Boothby]]
| successor2 = [[Nathan Clifford (Maine politician)|Nathan Clifford]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1831|3|23}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1921|5|8|1831|3|23}}
| death_place = [[Portland, Maine]], US
| party = [[Maine Republican Party|Republican]]
| spouse =
| education =
| website =
}}▼
'''James Phinney Baxter''' (March 23, 1831 – May 8, 1921) was an American politician, businessperson, historian, civic leader, and benefactor of [[Portland, Maine]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gorhamschools.org/~joanneg/gorham_tour/files/james_phinney_baxter.pdf |title=www.gorhamschools.org |access-date=2015-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624071123/http://www.gorhamschools.org/~joanneg/gorham_tour/files/james_phinney_baxter.pdf |archive-date=2015-06-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://maineanencyclopedia.com/james-phinney-baxter/ maineencyclopedia.com]</ref> He was elected as mayor of Portland for six single-year terms between 1893 and 1905.
His personal library, containing over 100 leather-bound books of maps, portraits, engravings and personal letters, is available for reference at the [[Portland Public Library]].<ref>[http://www.portlandlibrary.com/locations/portlandroom.htm#baxter Portland Room Special Collections]</ref>
== Biography ==
James Phinney Baxter was the son of Dr. Elihu Baxter and Sarah Cone Baxter.<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
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
[[File:Christopher Levett of York The Pioneer Colonist in Casco Bay.png|thumb|right|240px|[[Title page]], ''Christopher Levett, of York: The Pioneer Colonist in Casco Bay'', published by The Gorges Society, 1893]]
In 1887 Baxter was elected a member of the [[American Antiquarian Society]] in 1887.<ref>[http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistb American Antiquarian Society Members Directory]</ref> He was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1915.<ref name=AAAS>[http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf ''Book of Members, 1780-2010'' Chapter B, American Academy of Arts and Sciences]</ref> Baxter was a member of the Maine [[Society of Colonial Wars]].
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>
==Personal==
Baxter died in 1921 at the age of 90, and a Congregationalist pastor officiated at his funeral, although Baxter was also affiliated with the Swedenborg Church.<ref>[http://www.theportlandchurch.org/page_to_print.cfm?id=293 ''History of Portland New Church'']</ref>▼
[[File:Baxter Monument - Evergreen Cemetery.JPG|right|thumb|250px|The Baxter Family Monument in Evergreen Cemetery]]
▲Baxter died in 1921 at the age of 90, and a Congregationalist pastor officiated at his funeral, although Baxter was also affiliated with the Swedenborg Church.<ref>
His son, Governor of Maine (1921–1924) [[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."
==Selected publications==
He published: ''[[New International Encyclopedia]]''▼
▲He published: [[New International Encyclopedia]]
* ''The Trelawney Papers'' (1884)
* ''George Cleeve and His Times'' (1885)
* [http://battle-of-saratoga.webs.com/TheBritishInvasionFromTheNorth.htm ''The British Invasion from the North'' (1887)]
* ''Sir [[Ferdinando Gorges|Ferdinando Georges]] and his Province of Maine'' (1890)
* ''Christopher Levett, of York: The Pioneer Colonist in Casco Bay'' (1893)
* ''The Observatory'' (1893)
* ''The Pioneers of New France in New England'' (1894)
* ''The Voyages of Jacque Cartier'' (1906)
*
==Descendants ==
Descendants of James Phinney Baxter include:
*[[Percival Proctor Baxter]], Governor of Maine
*[[James Phinney Baxter III]], President of Williams College
==References==
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==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=James Phinney Baxter}}
* [http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/me/cumberland/gorham/baxter/sj9p78.txt Obituary]
* [
{{Authority control}}
▲| PLACE OF BIRTH =Gorham, Maine
▲}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, James Phinney}}
[[Category:1831 births]]
[[Category:1921 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American
[[Category:19th-century American
[[Category:American anti-vivisectionists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Mayors of Portland, Maine]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Historians of Maine]]
[[Category:American naval historians]]
[[Category:20th-century American
[[Category:19th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:Members of the American Antiquarian Society]]
[[Category:General Society of Colonial Wars]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Portland, Maine]]
[[Category:Historians from Maine]]
[[Category:Baxter family]]
[[Category:Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Portland, Maine)]]
[[Category:20th-century American philanthropists]]
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