Re: John Mayne/Elizabeth Lawry of Maine
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In reply to:
John Mayne/Elizabeth Lawry of Maine
Julie Pease-Galipeau 7/29/01
On most of what you said I agree.But the state of Main I disagree.the colonies were part of the English Commonwealth at that time and France and England were continually at war with each other.The state of Maine was not named for the state of Maine, France for the same reason New Amsterdam became New York.The English colonists were patriots and would not tolerate names of an enemy being placed on a Provence.The name Maine was rejected in the early 1600s for the same reason it was rejected when the Colony was named.That name was a name used for and by France, a declared enemy of England.When the colony became a state it was named after the colony not a state in France.Sense the only name that existed that was exactly the same as the colony at that time was a point of land called Maynes Point, the only logical conclusion is that it is named after the Point.
I see this as the same kind of problem I have with DAR and Nathan Maine's revolutionary War service. The revolutionary flag was put up by men of the John Fisher GAR because they knew Nathan had served in the Revolution because they knew him. Politicians were the ones that said Maine was named after the one in France and when was the last time you thought politicians could be trusted. The State was named after Maines Point because the locals who knew the name would have recommended it. It was not a decision to honor a family but a decision to name a state after something in it that had already been named that. Whether the politicians agree or not this is the reality.