Enoch Lincoln Explained

Enoch Lincoln
Order1:6th
Office1:Governor of Maine
Term Start1:January 3, 1827
Term End1:October 8, 1829
Predecessor1:Albion Parris
Successor1:Nathan Cutler
Office2:Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
Term Start2:November 4, 1818
Term End2:January 1826
Predecessor2:Albion Parris
Successor2:James W. Ripley
Constituency2:
(1818–21)[1]
Maine 7th (1821–23)
(1823–26)
Birth Date:28 December 1788
Birth Place:Worcester, Massachusetts
Death Place:Augusta, Maine
Alma Mater:Harvard College
Profession:Lawyer
Party:Democratic-Republican
National Republican

Enoch Lincoln (December 28, 1788 – October 8, 1829) was an American politician, serving as U.S. Representative from, successively, Massachusetts and from Maine. He was the son of Levi Lincoln Sr. and his wife, and the younger brother of Levi Lincoln Jr. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Lincoln graduated from Harvard College in 1807. He was elected and served as Governor of Maine from 1827 until his death in October 1829.

He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and started his practice in Salem in 1811. He served as United States district attorney 1815–1818, and in 1819 moved to Paris, Maine (then a district of Massachusetts), and continued the practice of law.

In November 1818, Lincoln was elected as a Democratic-Republican-MA, representing the Maine district, to the Fifteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Albion K. Parris. He was reelected to the Sixteenth Congress and served in total from November 4, 1818, to March 3, 1821.

Lincoln was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1819.[2] A portion of his business and personal papers resides in the manuscript collections of the AAS within the Lincoln Family Papers.

Upon the admission of Maine as a state, Lincoln was elected as a Democratic-Republican from Maine to the Seventeenth Congress. He was reelected to the Eighteenth Congress, but as an Adams-Clay Republican. Finally he was elected as a Pro-Adams candidate to the Nineteenth Congress and served from March 4, 1821, until his resignation some time in 1826. He served as Governor of Maine from 1827 until his death. He won three terms, all with more than 90% of the vote.[3] He did not run for a fourth term.

Lincoln died in Augusta, Maine, on October 8, 1829, before his term expired, and after the election of his successor Jonathan G. Hunton. Two Presidents of the Maine Senate, Nathan Cutler and Joshua Hall, had to serve as lame-duck successors between the two men. Lincoln was interred in a mausoleum in Capitol Park, directly opposite the Maine State House. Lincoln's body is missing with no official explanation available.[4]

The town of Lincoln, Maine, is named for him.

Lincoln was distantly related to President Abraham Lincoln, sharing common ancestor Samuel Lincoln, who had settled in Hingham, Massachusetts, in the 17th century.[5]

External links

Notes and References

  1. This district was moved to Maine as a result of the Missouri Compromise in 1820.
  2. Web site: MemberListL. americanantiquarian.org. 9 April 2018.
  3. Web site: Our Campaigns - Candidate - Enoch Lincoln. www.ourcampaigns.com. 9 April 2018.
  4. Richmond Times-Dispatch 15 Aug 1999, Sun ·Page 84
  5. Lea et al, p. 136.