Description
William D. Williamson, the third man to become president of the Maine Senate during its first session, was a lawyer and graduate of Brown University.
He was admitted to the Maine Bar in 1807 and practiced law in Bangor until 1817 when he was elected to three successive terms in the Senate of the General Court of Massachusetts.
When Maine became a state in 1820 Williamson was elected to represent Penobscot County in the state's first Senate.
In 1821, he was elected as a representative to the Seventeenth United States Congress.
As a Congressman he is credited with having instigated a survey of the military works on the Penobscot River which eventually led to the construction of Fort Knox.
Although Williamson held many other State and local offices and even served as acting Governor on the resignation of William King, he also is remembered as a historian.
A founding member of the Maine Historical Society, he published a "History of Maine" in 1832
View additional information about this item on the Maine Memory Network.