The 33 Star Flag .    1859-1861

   It's the summer of 1859 here in Franklin and we are wondering how all this slavery abolition stuff is going to turn out. It's in the air - the Breezes of Bellicosity, the Zephyrs of Zealousness, or, (since it's 1859 and Herman Wouk hasn't been born yet - I'll use it) the WINDS OF WAR!!! (sorry). The new star is for Oregon and this flag will fly for two years.

 and in the State of Maine         or in Franklin    

In 1859 - 1861 in the United States and the world:

•  Presidents are:
  
• James Buchanan until 1860.
• Abraham Lincoln

•  1859 - John Brown siezes the Federal Arsenal at Harper's Ferry , VA.
  

•  1860
• Lincoln is elected President. South Carolina secedes from the Union in protest.
• First modern Welsh Eisteddfod .
• Lenoir constructs the first practical internal combustion engine.
• Bunsen and Kirchoff discover the elements cesium and rubidium.
• First British Open golf championship.
• Population of the U. S. is 32 million.
  

WEBMASTER'S NOTE:  This web site is not about the Civil War. I'll include significant events, but I'll try not to let the immensity of the war eclipse other notable achievements, such as the discovery of tapioca, etc. There are zillions of web sites out there focusing on the Civil War. I'm sure you don't need my guidance to find them. Sincerely, Webmaster.

• 1861
• Kansas joins the Union.
• Confederates capture Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor - Civil War begins.
• More hated 20th Century book reports - WARNING! If you click on either of these two links, you deserve everything you get into. Dickens writes " Great Expectations " and, even worse, George Eliot pens " Silas Marner ". 
• In Australia, T. S. Mort builds first mechanical refrigerator. 
• The skeleton of an archaeopteryx is discovered in Germany. If you click on the link, you'll get to another link titled "A Tale of Two Pelvises". I'm not kidding.
• Noteworthy U. S. coinage of the period are and  Click on coins for larger images.
• Fearing that Southerners will sell all their postage stamps for cash to buy arms, the U. S. demonitizes all existing stamps.
  

• Lot M. Morrill   is still Governor.
• 1860
• Hannibal Hamlin becomes Vice President under Lincoln.
• The first wave of French Canadian immigration into Maine begins.

And in the Town of Franklin:

• Selectmen are:
• 1859 - John West, Samuel Wasson, and Calvin Butler
• 1860 - Samuel Wasson, William W. Bragdon, and Robert G. Blake

• 1859 - Schooner Albert Treat, 140 tons, launched.
• 1860
• John West attends Republican National Convention in Chicago nominating Abraham Lincoln. This is a GREAT link to visit.
• Schooner Mary Jane Belcher, 15 tons, launched
• 1861 - Schooner L. H. Smith, 15 tons, launched.