Percival P. Baxter
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Percival Proctor Baxter (November 22, 1876 – June 12, 1969) was an American politician and philanthropist from
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
. The son of canning magnate and Portland, Maine mayor
James Phinney Baxter James Phinney Baxter (March 23, 1831 – May 8, 1921) was an American politician, businessperson, historian, civic leader, and benefactor of Portland, Maine. He was elected as mayor of Portland for six single-year terms between 1893 and 1905. Hi ...
, he served as the 53rd
governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...
from 1921 to 1925. A noted philanthropist, he donated several pieces of land to the public domain including
Baxter Woods Mayor Baxter Woods Park is a nature reserve and municipal forest in the Deering Center neighborhood of Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat ...
(Portland), Mackworth Island State Park (Falmouth), and
Baxter State Park Baxter State Park is a large wilderness area permanently preserved as a state park in Northeast Piscataquis, Piscataquis County in north-central Maine, United States. It is in the North Maine Woods region and borders the Katahdin Woods and Wa ...
(Piscataquis County).


Early life

Baxter was born in a wealthy family in Portland where his father James Phinney Baxter served six terms as mayor and had made his fortune in the canning industry. He graduated from Portland High School in 1894, and graduated from
Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794. The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...
with honors in 1898. While at Bowdoin, Baxter founded the school's literary magazine, ''The Quill''. He later earned a law degree from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in 1901, though he never opened a legal practice. He went into the family real estate business in Portland. He had seven siblings. However, he was to inherit the bulk of the family fortune. When Baxter was governor he donated to the people of Maine a large parcel of forest land which became
Baxter State Park Baxter State Park is a large wilderness area permanently preserved as a state park in Northeast Piscataquis, Piscataquis County in north-central Maine, United States. It is in the North Maine Woods region and borders the Katahdin Woods and Wa ...
. He said "Man is born to die. His works are short-lived. Buildings crumble, monuments decay, and wealth vanishes, but Katahdin in all its glory forever shall remain the mountain of the people of Maine." Baxter was also a fierce opponent of the Ku Klux Klan of Maine, which supported the career of his political nemesis and successor Ralph Owen Brewster.


Elective history

*
Maine State Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, though the Maine Constitution ...
– 1909–1910 *
Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via ...
– 1916–1919 *Maine State Senate – 1919–1921 (President in Pro-Tempe in 1921) *
Governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...
– 1921–1924 (succeeded upon death of Governor Frederic Hale Parkhurst and then elected to one term *Unsuccessful run for
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
– 1926


Baxter State Park

Baxter's history is intertwined with
Baxter State Park Baxter State Park is a large wilderness area permanently preserved as a state park in Northeast Piscataquis, Piscataquis County in north-central Maine, United States. It is in the North Maine Woods region and borders the Katahdin Woods and Wa ...
, which bears his name, and with
Mount Katahdin Mount Katahdin ( ) is the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Maine at . Named Katahdin, which means "Great Mountain", by the Penobscot Native Americans, it is within Northeast Piscataquis, Piscataquis County, and is the centerpiece of B ...
, Maine's highest point (the highest knob on Katahdin is called Baxter Peak). In 1903 Baxter went on a fishing trip to the area around Katahdin for the first time. In 1895 the Maine Proprietors Association had urged the state to turn that area of the Maine woods into a state park to attract tourists. In 1911 a bill was introduced to turn the region into a
U.S. National Park The United States has 63 national parks, which are congressionally designated protected areas operated by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior. National parks are designated for their natural beauty, unique g ...
but none of the plans came to fruition. In 1916 Baxter began his campaign to make the area a state park. In 1920 he led a group of politicians up Pamola Peak, traversing the Knife Edge to the summit (now known as Baxter Peak). In a 1921 speech, Baxter said:
Maine is famous for its twenty-five hundred miles of seacoast, with its countless islands; for its myriad lakes and ponds; and for its forests and rivers. But Mount Katahdin Park will be the state's crowning glory, a worthy memorial to commemorate the end of the first and the beginning of the second century of Maine's statehood. This park will prove a blessing to those who follow us, and they will see that we built for them more wisely than our forefathers did for us.
Most of the land around Katahdin was then owned by the
Great Northern Paper Company Great Northern Paper Company was a Maine-based pulp and paper manufacturer that at its peak in the 1970s and 1980s operated mills in Arkansas, Georgia, Maine, and Wisconsin and produced 16.4% of the newsprint made in the United States. It was also ...
. Following the Crash of 1929, the company agreed to sell around the mountain for $25,000 in 1930 to Baxter personally. Baxter in turn deeded the land to the state with the proviso that it: "shall forever be used for public park and recreational purposes, shall be forever left in the natural wild state, shall forever be kept as a sanctuary for wild beasts and birds, that no road or ways for motor vehicles shall hereafter ever be constructed thereon or therein." The park was named in his honor in 1931. Baxter was to continue to attempt to add property to the park—often running into opposition from those who did not want to sell or making temporary trade offs to allow continued timber operations before the land acquisition was completed. Baxter, saying he did not trust the federal government, resisted efforts to turn the park into a national park. He placed various restrictive covenants on the park so that today it is not actually part of the Department of Conservation, the body that administers the state's other parks. Rather it is administered by the Baxter State Park Authority. In 1962 Baxter, at the age of 87, donated his 28th deed. The park now comprises . Baxter, who died a bachelor, left $7 million to maintain the park.


Anti-Klan Republican

Baxter's term as Governor coincided with the rise of the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
as a force in Maine and national politics. Although Baxter was an ardent foe of the Klan, it found a foothold in the
Maine Republican Party The Maine Republican Party is an affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Maine. It was founded in Strong, Maine, on August 7, 1854. The party currently does not control the governor's office or either chamber of the Maine Legislatur ...
through the influence of state senators Ralph O. Brewster, Mark Alton Barwise, Hodgdon Buzzell, and others, who sponsored bills in the early 1920s which would have cut aid to parochial schools, thus creating a 'wedge issue' between Maine's Protestant and Catholic communities. Brewster succeeded Baxter as governor in 1925. In
1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...
, when Brewster ran for the U.S. Senate, Baxter publicly denounced him as a member of the Klan, helping to ensure the victory of incumbent U.S. Senator Frederick Hale."Says Brewster is Klansman". ''Biddeford Weekly Journal'', June 15, 1928, p. 1.


Other activities

In 1896, Baxter joined a number of his Bowdoin classmates and travelled to
Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. Bath is included in the Brunswick, Maine, Brunswick Micropolitan statistical area, micropolitan area. Bath has a 2024 population of 8,870. It is also the county seat of Sagadahoc County ...
, where the Democratic candidate for president,
William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...
, was scheduled to speak. Baxter and his crew were so raucous that they were arrested. Although Baxter's confederates pleaded guilty, the future Governor fought the charges with the help of his father, Portland Mayor
James Phinney Baxter James Phinney Baxter (March 23, 1831 – May 8, 1921) was an American politician, businessperson, historian, civic leader, and benefactor of Portland, Maine. He was elected as mayor of Portland for six single-year terms between 1893 and 1905. Hi ...
, and managed to have his record expunged. In 1953 Baxter donated Mackworth Island to the state. He also deeded his summer home in
Falmouth, Maine Falmouth ( ) is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 12,444 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. A northern suburb of Portland, Falmouth borders Casco Bay a ...
to create the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf (founded in 1957 from what was the Maine School for the Deaf), which still operates today. Baxter was known for his passionate devotion to animals, and for his commitment to the humane treatment of animals. When his dog, Garry, died while Baxter was governor, he ordered the flag at the State House lowered to half staff, which angered some veterans' groups. Baxter belonged to several humane societies across the country, one of which, the New England Anti-Vivisection Society, called him "America's greatest humane governor." Following the death of Theodore F. Green of
Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
on May 19, 1966, Baxter became the oldest living former US governor. Baxter died in Portland, and his ashes were scattered in the park.


References


Maine.gov biography
* *Rolde, Neil. ''The Baxters of Maine: Downeast Visionaries.'' Tilbury House Publishers (1997). . *Soares, Liz. ''All for Maine: The Story of Governor Percival P. Baxter.'' Windswept House Publishers (1996). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Percival Proctor 1876 births 1969 deaths Republican Party governors of Maine American Congregationalists American philanthropists American anti-vivisectionists Bowdoin College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Republican Party members of the Maine House of Representatives North Maine Woods Presidents of the Maine Senate Republican Party Maine state senators Politicians from Portland, Maine Portland High School (Maine) alumni Baxter family 20th-century members of the Maine Legislature