Baxter, James (1831 - 1921)

Genre: Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction - Scholarly

James Phinney Baxter was born in Gorham, Maine, but lived in Portland from 1840. He attended Master Jackson's School until 1844, and then Lynn Academy until 1848. He then went to Boston to work in a law office, but returned to Portland due to poor health. He worked in the dry goods importing and canning and packing industries, where he made his fortune. He was elected mayor of Portland for six years, and was the father of future Maine governor Percival Procter Baxter. He was a philanthropist (donating Baxter Memorial Library to Gorham, ME, for example) and, in his retirement years, became a scholar of Maine and New England history.

Selected Bibliography

  • George Cleeve Of Casco Bay, 1630-1667: With Collateral Documents (1885)
  • Sir Ferdinando Gorges And His Province Of Maine (1890)
  • Christopher Levett, Of York : The Pioneer Colonist In Casco Bay (1893)
  • Documentary History Of The State Of Maine, Containing The Baxter Manuscripts (1910)

Selected Resources