The 35 Star Flag .    1863 - 1865

It's July 5, 1863 and we just raised this new flag for the first time yesterday. The 35th star commemorates the entry of West Virginia into the Union. Holy Moses! Here comes a rider on a lathered up horse! He gets down and tells us all about the Battle of Gettysburg, which ended the day before yesterday in a huge Union                                                             Victory. 

 and in the State of Maine          or in Franklin    

In 1863 - 1865 in the United States and the world:

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.

•   Presidents are:
• Abraham Lincoln , succeeded by Andrew Johnson .
• Jefferson Davis , of the Confederacy.
  

•   1863
• Civil War battles of Chickamauga , Chattanooga , and the Wilderness .
• Lincoln delivers his " Gettysburg Address ".
  

• 1864
• Nathaniel Hawthorne dies, his legacy being millions of hated book reports to be done by high school students of the future.
• Lincoln is reelected President.
• Tolstoi writes "War and Peace".
• The author of "Oh Susanna" dies. Who was it ?
• Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians are massacred at Sand Creek, CO. Who did it ?
• General U. S. Grant is made Commander-in-Chief of the Union Army.
• Joseph Bertrand writes "Treatise on Differential and Integral Calculus".
• The Geneva Convention establishes neutrality of battlefield hospitals.
• USS Kearsarge engages and sinks CSS Alabama off Cherbourg, France.
  
• Cardinal Newman writes " Apologia pro Vita Sua ".
  
• The Knights of Pythias is founded.
• "Damn the Torpedoes!" - the Battle of Mobile Bay .
• Sherman conducts his incendiary march to the sea .
• Meanwhile, Confederate agents attempt to burn New York City.
• A new U. S. coin is minted - the first with the motto "In God We Trust". So, did you get in your two cents worth?   Click on coin for larger image.     

• 1865
• The Civil War ends with Lee surrendering at Appomattox .
• Lincoln is assassinated .
• Justice is swift in these times. Lincoln was killed in April, the conspiritors were hung in July.
  
• Wellington becomes the capital of New Zealand.
• Lewis Carroll writes " The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland ".  
• Purdue, Cornell, MIT, and U's of Kentucky and MAINE are founded.
• The Atlantic Cable is finally completed. 
• Thaddeus Lowe invents the ice machine. This guy is fascinating. Too many links. Happy hunting.
• Maxwell writes his " On a Dynamical Theory of an Electromagnetic Field ".
• Pasteur saves the French silk industry.
• The Law of Heredity is postulated by Mendel the Monk.
• The Union Stockyards open in Chicago.
• The Salvation Army is formed in London by William Booth.
• George Pullman's railroad sleeper cars make their debut in the U. S.
• Disaster on the Mississippi - 1700 die - read all about it .
  

• Abner Coburn and Samuel Cony are Governors.

And in the Town of Franklin:

•  1864
• Selectmen are Stephen A. Doyle, William H. Card, and John P. Gordon.
• A new Town Hall is built at Swan's Corner (now DeBeck's Corner).
• Men claiming exemptions form service in the Army are instructed to present themselves to Dr. E. H. Harding at the Town House.
• The Selectmen decide to build the Donnell's Pond road.
• Schooner Franklin of  86 tons is launched.
• Followed by the 84 ton schooner Hesperus - the subject of Longfellow's famous poem? 

•  1865
• Selectmen are James M. Blaisdell, John P. Gordon, and S. P. Donnell.
• The town now has 14 highway districts and a town budget over $3,000.
• Ships built and launched:
• Olive Branch, 124 ton schooner.
• T. K. Weldon, 405 ton bark.
• H. D. Stover, 381 ton bark.
• Franklin's Johhnies come marching home. Click here for a list of Franklin's Civil War Veterans.