250th Anniversary of Union, Maine

Floor Speech

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Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, on July 19, 1774, a small band of rugged and courageous pioneers established a settlement in the Maine wilderness between the Medomak and Saint George rivers. They cleared the land, built cabins, endured hunger and cold, and, with backbreaking work, created a community. Today, it is a pleasure to join the people of Union, ME, in celebrating the 250th anniversary of a community that is a wonderful place to live, work, and raise families. Although part of a land grant made by the Plymouth Council in 1629, the territory remained unsettled for more than a century due to conflicting claims of jurisdiction by the English and French. When the hostilities ended, Dr. John Taylor of Massachusetts bought the land and led the settlement party. Originally called Taylor Town, it was renamed Sterlingtown in honor of a Revolutionary War hero and finally incorporated as Union to commemorate our new Nation.

Among the many illustrious natives of Union is John Langdon Sibley, scholar, author, and librarian of Harvard University. His history of his beloved hometown from its origin to 1850 is remarkable for its thoroughness, insight, and wit.

``By competent judges,'' he wrote, ``the soil of Union is considered as good as that of . . . the best farming towns in the State.'' The scenery provided by lush vegetation, hills, valleys, rivers, and streams ``affords a rich enjoyment to people of taste and admirers of nature.'' Although Mr. Sibley allows that the assertion from a neighboring town that ``people never die in Union'' is an exaggeration, he posits that the uncommonly pure water, brisk air circulation over the varied terrain, the vigorous agricultural work, and generally good habits are why inhabitants ``wear the hue of health'' and why visitors often remark ``that there was more female beauty in Union than in any other town in the county or State.''

The work ethic of the townspeople and water power from the fast- moving rivers soon made Union a center of industry, with foundries, sawmills, grain mills, and factories manufacturing products ranging from carriages and farm equipment to footwear and musical instruments. Thousands of artifacts from those early days are preserved at the Matthews Museum of Maine Heritage, with a special section devoted to Dr. Augustin Thompson, the Union-born Civil War hero, physician, and inventor of Moxie, the patent nerve medicine that is now the official soft drink of the State of Maine.

Union cherishes its history. Next to the museum stands the Hodge School, the thoroughly restored one-room schoolhouse that served the town from 1864 to 1954. Established more than 150 years ago, the Union Fair celebrates the town's agricultural traditions. Laid out in 1790, the picturesque Union Common is the oldest public town common in Maine, with memorials to patriots and a bandstand listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The people of Union are rightfully proud of their town and have worked together to plan an exciting and fun-filled 3-day sestercentennial celebration beginning July 19. Among events will be the opening of a time capsule from the bicentennial celebration in 1974.

In addition to John Langdon Sibley's book, the story of Union was told in the popular 1940 historical novel ``Come Spring'' by Ben Ames Williams. Republished in 2000 by the Union Historical Society, the novel imagines the struggles and triumphs of the real-life Robbins family during the first years of the settlement's--and our Nation's-- existence.

In the preface to his novel, the author writes that Union ``is a small Maine town founded by ordinary people in the ordinary way, by carving a community out of the forest and putting the land to work. The people in this book were not individually as important as George Washington, the town was not as important as New York, but people like them made this country, and towns like this were and are the soil in which our country's roots are grounded.''

Union's 250th anniversary is not merely about the passing of time. It is about human accomplishment. We celebrate the people who, for longer than America has been a nation, have pulled together, cared for one another, and built a great community. Thanks to those who came before, Union, ME, has a wonderful history. Thanks to those there today, it has a bright future.

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