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the same, though the French pronunciation has been Americanized. Grand Isle is indeed named for a great island in the St. John River, one of the few names retained since the title was given by the French Acadians. Nearby Lille is an area named for the city in France by French residents when their claims in the state were extensive. The Franco-Americans who live there hope to retain this connection with the mother country, though even now it is being contested. Benedicta in the southern part of the county was an experiment and venture pursued by Bishop Benedict Fenwick of Boston. Here he planned to develop a community and establish a Catholic college in this area of deep wilderness. The settlement grew and prospered from the fertile farm lands and successful lumbering operations attracting many industrious Irish families
from Boston, but the Bishop’s plan for a college did not materialize. Rather, because of distance and sparse population, he built the college in Worcester, Massachusetts, now Holy Cross College. Not all immigrants came to Maine for the same reasons; some groups from foreign countries were invited. During 1860s the population of Maine suffered serious loss, partially because of the state’s involvement in the Civil War. The lack of labor to utilize our natural resources – fertile land, virgin forests, expansive quarries, boundless water power – was a serious problem to the state leaders. The idea to invite and encourage Swedish farmers to relocate was first suggested by Governor Israel Washburn, one of the seven sons of that remarkable family from Livermore Falls. After the Civil War, Joshua Chamberlain, Maine’s war hero, now
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the governor, pursued the idea, and Hannibal Hamlin gave his strong support to the plan. The plan was to send a commission to Sweden to recruit settlers, including a Swedish Lutheran pastor. Each man was entitled to 100 acres. The first group included 22 farmers, 11 women and 18 children. That successful venture became the towns of Sweden, New Sweden, Stockholm and Jemtland. Early settlers seemed to be inspired by nature when they named some of their towns. Like the Indians, they recognized the force and beauty of the new land, and these names continue to remind us of the meaning of our surroundings. In 1839 when soldiers came to protect the northeast border of Maine, they camped on the shore of a lake not named. They were so impressed by the flocks of the bald-headed eagle that (continued on page 38)
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