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The only soldier shot to death in Maine during the Civil War, William Laird was the 20th person executed by a government on Maine soil.

The John Calvin Stevens design was commissioned by John Greenleaf Whittier’s niece and her husband, the poet’s biographer.

By Paul Mills “Always winter, but never Christmas,” wrote C.S. Lewis some 70 years ago. He was not of course speaking of our own COVID-19 time but he could have been speaking of most of Maine’s history until the middle of the 19th century. Why then was Christmas not observed? The answer lies in ...

Viewpoint: Ghosts of Christmas past By Paul Mills  “Always winter, but never Christmas,” wrote C.S. Lewis some 70 years ago.  He was not of course speaking of our own COVID-19 time but he could have been speaking of most of Maine’s history until the middle of the 19th century.   Why then was Christmas not observed?  The answer lies in the bedrock of early Puritan culture that contended that no one knew the day when Jesus was born. The date, they argued, was one generated by other religions. Christmas, they pointed out, was based on the ancient two-week Roman festival of Saturnal...

“Always winter, but never Christmas,” wrote C.S. Lewis some 70 years ago. He was not of course speaking of our own COVID-19 time but he could have been speaking of most of Maine’s history until the middle of the 19th century. Why then was Christmas not observed? The answer lies in the bedrock of early Puritan culture which contended that no one knew the day when Jesus was born. The date, they argued, was one generated by other religions. Christmas, they pointed out, was based on the ancient two week Roman festival of Saturnalia, one celebrating not Christmas but the winter solstice. It�...