FtV - Maine's Missing Governor

New England Legends Podcast

Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger revisit a classic episode concerning the mysterious disappearance of Maine's sixth governor, Enoch Lincoln. The

Key takeaways

Governor Enoch Lincoln died in office on October 8, 1829, at age 40.
The tomb in Capitol Park was found empty by workers during a 1986 inspection.

Main topics

The disappearance of Governor Enoch Lincoln
History of Capitol Park in Augusta, Maine

Notable quotes

The tomb is empty.

Conclusion

A compelling historical mystery that blends political biography with a

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) Welcome, Legendary listeners. Thanks for tuning in to From the Vault, a second look at some of our classic episodes. Look for a new episode every week. Speaker 2 (0:07) Now, can you go back and listen on your own at OurNewEnglandLegends.com? You bet. But Speaker 3 (0:12) you won't get the added bonus of an After the Legends segment featuring new commentary about that episode from your old pals Jeff and Ray. Speaker 2 (0:20) So let's open up the New England Legends Vault and revisit another legendary episode. Speaker 2 (0:27) Hey kids, welcome to The Vault. And we're glad to have you back in The Vault, where this week we're searching again for Maine's missing governor. First aired May 16th, 2019. Enjoy. Ray, I love the way the Capitol building in Augusta, Maine rises above the trees here in Capitol Park. Speaker 3 (0:45) Yeah, I'm with you, Jeff. The columns, the domed roof. It almost looks like a squeezed version of the U.S. Capitol building in D.C. Now, are we here to Speaker 2 (0:52) investigate this building? No, we're not. We're here to check out a mystery that's inside the park, but it's related to the Capitol building. Okay, how so? We're searching for the tomb of Enoch Lincoln, the sixth governor of Maine. He appears to have gone missing. Speaker 3 (1:11) Hi, I'm Jeff Belanger. And I'm Ray Ogier. Welcome to episode 91 of the New England Legends podcast. Now, if you give us about 10 minutes, we'll give you something strange to talk about today. We will. And thank you for joining us on our mission to chronicle every legend in New England, one week and one story at a time. And Speaker 2 (1:26) we couldn't do that without the help of our Patreon patrons who are sponsoring this week's episode. Thank you. Thank you very much. If you want to become a bigger part of this movement, head over to patreon.com slash New England Legends. And for as little as three bucks per month, three bucks, just three, you'll get early access to new episodes plus bonus episodes that no one else gets to hear. And hey, you can also join our super secret Facebook group where the discussion continues day and night. It's a secret. You can find links from our website at OurNewEnglandLegends.com, where you'll also find our entire show archive absolutely free, plus video clips from the New England Legends television series on Amazon Prime, and dates for my ongoing story tour. Now, if you don't already Speaker 3 (2:07) subscribe to our podcast, do it, because, well, it's free. And I subscribe. There you go. And you can subscribe right through your smartphone. It's very easy. You can subscribe at Apple Podcasts. Google Play, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. We appreciate our subscribers and when you tell a friend about our show on social media or in person. All right, Speaker 2 (2:27) Jeff. So Governor Enoch Lincoln of Maine is missing? He is. Our first task is to find his tomb here in Capitol Park, which shouldn't be that difficult considering it's the only one. Speaker 3 (2:37) All right. Well, I do see a white obelisk right over there. Let's check that one out. All right. Speaker 3 (2:44) So there's the obelisk. It reads, Lincoln of Portland, Governor of Maine, died October 8th, 1829, age 40. Speaker 2 (2:52) Right. And there's this short and ornate black wrought iron fence all around the obelisk. And below that, there's a tomb made of white stone, and it's set into the hill just below that central monument. And there's a door on the tomb with a metal clasp and a lock. The whole tomb faces the Capitol building right over there. All Speaker 3 (3:09) right. So... I guess we found Enoch Lincoln, Maine's missing governor. This really wasn't that tough, Jeff. Now, what do we do? Go Speaker 2 (3:16) home? Well, not exactly, because the only problem here is that if we did have the key to that lock on the tomb, it wouldn't really matter because Governor Enoch Lincoln is not inside. Really? And no one knows where he is. Speaker 3 (3:34) On December 28, 1788, little Enoch Lincoln was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Speaker 3 (3:42) He grows to be a creative kid. He loves to read and write, and his parents see to it that he gets a very good education. An Speaker 2 (3:49) education that will land him at Harvard University. Ooh, fancy. I know. And after graduating from Harvard in 1807, Enoch turns to law and politics. He begins practicing law in Salem in 1811, and then serves as a United States District Attorney before moving to Paris, Maine. But all the while, Enoch Lincoln Speaker 3 (4:07) is also pursuing his other passion, writing. In 1816, Enoch becomes Maine's first poet when he publishes a 2,000-line poem titled The Village. Though the poem is written in rhyming verse, Lincoln uses his words to comment on social reforms such as women's rights and the abolishing of slavery, his views on nature, and all kinds of other subjects related to small-town New England life during his time. Speaker 1 (4:32) Range after range, sublimely piled on high, you lofty mountains prop the incumbent sky. Such countless tops ascend, so vast a heap, as if when gushed the daily... Speaker 2 (4:45) Around this time, Maine is still part of Massachusetts, but that's about to change thanks to the influence of Enoch Lincoln and some of his contemporaries. When Maine achieved statehood in 1820, Enoch serves as one of the first representatives to Congress. And Enoch's Speaker 3 (4:59) political career is just warming up. He's a pretty charming guy. Of course, he's a poet. Probably dropping rhymes on all the ladies, right? The ladies did like Enoch