.NDAw.MjY0Ng
[Image: man with glasses, white hair and beard, carrying a cane, top hat and newspapers reading "State Sen. Cumberland Co. 1851" and "Preceptor Fryburg Academy." He is wearing a top coat and spats, and is quite dapperly dressed. His head is oversized. Next to him stands a small man dressed like a Pilgrim, carrying an old style shotgun that says "1635" on the handle. At their feet is a flat piece of paper reading "Board of Education/Custom House" and a rolled up paper tied with string reading "Graduate of Bowdoin 1843." In the left corner of the drawing is a signature, presumably the artist's, and the name signed is "Stone." There is also a very small caricature figure next to the signature.]
HON. WILLIAM R. PORTER, CAMDEN.
ALMOST three hundred years ago, when first this land was being wrought And lives were full and hearts were true, and smallest things were danger fraught, 'Twas then the Porters settled here, as Pilgrims strong with ready hands, And clearings hewed in pathless woods and teachings spread from foreign lands. [First four lines are indented owing to the large A that starts the poem.] In later times some came to Maine, perhaps in search of knowledge; One landed where they had the best, the famous halls of Bowdoin College 'Twas here the Attic roots took hold, a matter for congratulation; Since William Porter thru their aid, has helped along all education. In Custom House and Senate grand, he served with equal strength and zest; On Banking too his mind he placed, in all he did his very best. The offspring of those Puritans, those sturdy men in coats of tan Now show the legacy of time, the wholesome, forceful man.