[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 100 (Thursday, June 13, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S4079]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                   250TH ANNIVERSARY OF UNION, MAINE

  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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