This is the original constitution of the State o f Maine - dated 1816. It is written on animal skins that have been treated and it is kept in the vault in the basement of the archives. It is all hand written and the writing and decoration is exquisite. There could be no errors and if one was made, the writer had to start all over on a new piece of vellum.
Detail of the ornate lettering. Each ornament on the letters was different from all the others.
Exquisite penmanship on this constitution - note the bird over the central "T".
some of the articles in the constitution. This one deals with the Senate.
Other areas of the constitution show exquisite penmanship on Vellum
William King was the first governor.
this was the working copy. They met for many months trying to word the constitution exactly the way they wanted it. No longer to be part of Massachusetts, but rather be independent and called Maine.
All of the men in the cities had to read the constitution and vote to approve or disapprove of it. In the city of Hallowell, there were 145 men who could vote. 142 agreed to accept it and 3 abstained. their vote did not get counted in the final tally because they did not get it in to the proper office in time to be counted.
To handle the papers the archive worker had to wear white gloves.
One of the working papers where they wrote and rewrote what they wanted in the constitution.
the cover is now back down and the constitution is about to be put back in the vault.
When the declaration of Independence was ratified, many copies of it were printed up. This is one of the original copies of the printed declaration.
there were many treaties made with the Penobscott Indians. This is a map of certain areas of the Penobscott holdings with the English as well as the Penobscott Indian names.
Even in earlier times there were people who forged money. Each bank had its own currency and some enterprising people produced fake currency and this was well before we had photocopiers.
One well done "funny money"example.
This was given as being an original note from Longfellow. However, it has been proven to be a fake and there are a number of supposed originals that have come to light but they also are fakes.
An original paper carrying the signature of John Quincey Adams.
The governor of the state from time to time put out proclamations and this is an original of a public thanksgiving and praise proclamation.
An original George Washington signature.
a cleaned up working copy of the Maine Constitution.
Close the Vault - it is climate controlled and holds the precious pieces of Maine History intact. Hordes of grade schoolers have been coming all last week and will till the end of the school year to view the constitution of the state of Maine and other artifacts.
Thank you to Mr. Jeff Brown for allowing me to see these wonderful things.
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