The 31 Star Flag .    1851-1858

  This July 5th dawns sunny and bright. Everyone is clear headed now that Maine has begun statewide prohibition of alcohol. The women of Franklin are all humming, "Lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine...". The 31st star is for California and we'll be saluting this flag for seven years on the path to the Civil War.
   

        and in Maine         or in Franklin

In the United States and the world:

• Presidents were:
  
• Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
• Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
• James Buchanan (1857-1861)

• 1852
  
• The Duke of Wellington dies.
• The U. S. imports sparrows from Germany as a defense against caterpillars.  
• First railway suspension bridge constructed across the gorge at Niagara Falls.
• Wells Fargo Company is founded.

• 1853
• Turkey declares war on Russia, thus beginning The Crimean War - to last until 1856.
• Vincent Van Gogh , Dutch painter, is born.
•   Samuel Colt revolutionizes the production of small arms.
• First railroad through the Alps - Trieste to Vienna.
• Wellington gigantea, the world's largest tree, is discovered in California. Well, there's a little more to it than that. Click here to find out more.

• 1854
•  Britain and France enter the Crimean War on the side of Turkey.
• U. S. Navy Commodore Perry negotiates first U. S. - Japan treaty.
• The U. S. Senate ratifies the Gadsden Purchase for parts of Arizona and New Mexico.
• "War for Bleeding Kansas " rages between free and slave states.
• The Republican Party is formed in the U. S.
• "Cannon to the right of them! Cannon to the left of them!". Tennyson writes "The Charge of the Light Brigade" to commemorate the Crimean War battle of Balaklava .
• Top notch reading is George Boole 's "An Investigation of the Laws of Thought, on Which Are Founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities". Boolean Algebra? ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Note: There's probably a copy of this in Bob Fernald's barn in Franklin.

• 1855
• The Crimean War continues.
• "By the shore of Gitchie Gumee, by the shining big-sea-water..." Longfellow's classic, "The Song of Hiawatha" hits the news stands in Franklin. Click here AT YOUR OWN RISK .
• David Hughes invents the printing telegraph .  
• Florence Nightingale introduces hygenic standards into hospitals during the Crimean War.
• Paris World Fair .

• 1856
• War, war, war. The Crimean War winds down, but the British are now engaged in the Anglo-Chinese War and the British-Persian War. And - they're fighting in India.
• Karl Bechstein founds his piano factory.
• "Big Ben" , the bell, is cast.
• Sir Henry Bessemer introduces the Bessemer Process for making steel.
• Those crazy Aussies, James Kelly and Jack Smith, duke it out in the longest bare-knuckle boxing match in history - 186 rounds lasting 6 hours and 15 minutes. No wonder their descendants crush beer cans on their foreheads. 
• Massacre at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.
• The U. S. mints the first small cents.  Click on coin for larger image.

• 1857
• The Indian Mutiny .
• American engineer E. G. Otis installs first safety elevator.
• The laying of the Transatlantic cable commences. 
• The last large U. S. cents are minted.  Click on coin for larger image.
  

• 1858
• Peace in India.
• Theodore Roosevelt is born.
• The Virgin Mary appears to St. Bernadette at Lourdes.
• Ottawa becomes the Capital of Canada.
• S. S. Great Eastern is launched - largest ship of her time.

In the State of Maine:                                     top of page

• Governors are:
• John Hubbard (1850-1853)
• William George Crosby (1853-1855)
• Anson P. Morrill (1855-1856)
• Samuel Wells (1856-1857)
• Hannibal Hamlin (1857)
• Joseph Hartwell Williams (1857-1858)

• 1852 - The evil Simon Legree torments his victims in Harriet Beecher Stowe 's "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

• 1853 
• The state buys all the land in Maine still owned by Massachusetts.
• Running from Portland to the St. Lawrence, the Maine portion of the Grand Trunk Railway is built.

• 1854
• The Old South Meeting House in Bath is burned by Know Nothing rioters.
• Catholic Father John Bapst is tarred and feathered and run out of Ellsworth on a rail.

• 1855
• The people of Portland revolt against Neal Dow , the mayor, in the June Riot .
• Bates College is incorporated.

• 1856 - Hannibal Hamlin switches from the Democratic Party to the newly formed Republican Party and is elected Governor.

• 1858 - Joseph Peavey of Stillwater invents ......... the peavey !
  

 In the Town of Franklin:                             top of page

• Selectmen were: click here

•  1851 - Smallpox outbreak in Franklin.

• 1852
• Brig John Boynton launched, 208 tons
• The Egypt Stream section of Hancock becomes part of Franklin.

• 1853 - Two ships launched:
• Loyalist, 169 ton schooner  
• George Byron, 166 ton schooner

• 1854 - Five more ships slide down the ways:
• Pride of the Sea, 321 ton bark
• Knickerbocker, 353 ton schooner
• Joseph West, 196 ton brig
• F. S. Means, 375 ton bark
• Castleaine, 308 ton brig

• 1855 - Ocean Pride, 324 ton bark launched.

• 1856 - Two more ships:
• Fulton, 31 ton schooner
• La Plata, 121 ton schooner

• 1857 - Franklin annexs the farms of Jefferson H. Clark, Calvin Butler, and Rufus G. Scammons from TOWNSHIP 10????? If anyone can shed some more light on this tidbit, please contact us .

• 1858 - Franklin now has ten school districts.
  

NOTE: As you can see, we're a little light on Franklin History. We expect to flesh this out as time goes by. Your input and contributions would be appreciated. Contact Us.


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