Governor Coburn

By: Dan Swain

Abner Coburn lived in the town of Skowhegan, Maine, and served the state as governor. He did so much for the town. He helped to fund the first bank in Skowhegan (not Skowhegan Savings Bank) and worked as one of its trustees. He was one of the wealthiest men of his time, so he had enough money to do anything that he really wanted to. He helped fund the church on the island, which was then a Congregational church.

He also had a great deal of political power. He had a new court house and jail built in Skowhegan. When he had them built, he also used his political power to have the county seat changed from Norridgewock to Skowhegan. The county seat is where all of the trials take place and where the county jail is located.

There once was a hall named in his honor, but it burned down in the early nineteen hundreds, like a lot of buildings of the time.

As a child, he helped his father, who was a famous surveyor of the time. When he got older, he and his brother had their own surveying business. Having all the money he did, he was able to donate money for many of the buildings that are still in the town today, such as the town library and his personal home, which still stands near the middle school.

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