Samuel Fessenden, Portland
Description
Samuel Fessenden (1784-1869) was a native of Fryeburg. An 1806 graduate of Dartmouth, he studied law and became a lawyer in 1809, practicing in New Gloucester, then Portland. Before Maine separated from Massachusetts in 1820, Fessenden served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate. He was a founder of the Maine Anti-slavery Society in the 1830s and was a frequent speaker on topics of slavery and abolition. He received an honorary degree from Bowdoin College in 1846.