The Missouri Compromise


Prentiss Mellen to William King regarding the Missouri Compromise, Washington, DC, 1820

Prentiss Mellen to William King regarding the Missouri Compromise, Washington, DC, 1820
Item 102203   info
Maine Historical Society

Prentiss Mellen was born in Sterling, Massachusetts in 1764 and died in Portland in 1840. He served as a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts from 1818-1820 and as a Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court from 1820-1834. William King (1768-1852) became a Massachusetts State Senator in 1816 and was Maine’s first governor from 1820-1821.

In this letter written to King in Boston, Mellon discussed how to overcome Maine’s new connection to Missouri and slavery. Mellen also expressed his gratitude that King’s brother, Rufus King--an ardent abolitionist, had arrived at Congress to help them plead their case.

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