A distant descent of Abraham, Enoch Lincoln was Maine’s sixth Governor whose body has mysteriously disappeared.
Enoch was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1788 where his father and older brother, both named Levi, served as Governor. Enoch, seemingly being the outcast in all of the best ways of the family, attended Harvard, dropped out then moved to what is now known as the state of Maine. Here, the overlooked Enoch would become a man of many different, yet very important, hats.
Enoch became a lawyer despite not having a college degree and served as U.S District Attorney until 1818. During that time he also wrote a 2000 line poem, spanning across 176 pages, called The Village. This poem is still an incredible read even today proving that Enoch was clearly ahead of his time. This poem was written while staying in Fryeburg and hits on a wide span of topics including nature, human rights and social reform. He earned an honorary Master of Arts degree from Bowdoin University in 1821 for this poem. I suggest reading it…..
Later, in 1819 Enoch boarded with Dr. Cyrus Hamlin in Paris Hill where he mentored Cyrus’ young son Hannibal Hamlin…coincidentally, Hannibal would later become Abraham Lincoln’s vice president. Enoch was most generous to young Hannibal, giving him access to his extravagant personal library to read, learn and appreciate to his heart’s content. Hannibal wasn’t the only one who thrived in Enoch’s presence. Youth from all around were encouraged by Enoch to learn, grow and appreciate every piece of the world and every human being in it.
His library was regarded as the best in the state…which quite frankly makes me inspired and envious all at once. There wasn’t a soul that had a bad thing to say of Enoch, (none that made it into the history books, that is). He was well liked and always spoken highly of, entertaining and smooth. However charming, Enoch decided to focus on his work and dedication to social issues rather than get involved in a relationship, (smart man). This golden haired lover of all creations would never wed or have children, giving him more time to work on social issues.
Enoch was so passionate about his work, the usually entertaining, king of kindness would often times become angry and aggressive towards anyone who had any negative word or action against the poor or mistreated. He fought tirelessly for women’s rights and was an abolitionist-all rare qualities in the early 1800’s.
After Enoch helped to make Maine it’s own state, (and yes, the town of Lincoln is named for him) he thought, “Well, may as well become Governor too” and so he did. In 1827 he was elected as Maine’s sixth Governor. Back then, the Governors term was only one year however, Enoch won the re-election twice.
During his time in office, not only did he fight for the poor and other minorities, but he also settled the issue of where New Hampshire ended and where Maine began and decided where the State Capital building would be. Maine would not be the state we know if Enoch hadn’t played such a huge roll.
So one has to wonder, How the heck did they LOSE HIS BODY?!?!!?
Some time into his third term as Governor, Enoch became quite ill, dying before he could see the finished Capital Building. His wishes were to be buried in a tomb across from where the Capital Building was being built in what is now known as Capital Park (where you expecting something different)? Actually, his wishes were to not run for Governor again, retire on a farm in Scarborough and be the writer he was destined to be, something political life would not allow him...but he died at 40 years young.
Enoch was entombed here with three other state officials, however, when it was decided to repair the tomb in 1903, all four caskets had to be removed in order for the maintenance to take place. Enoch’s casket was reportedly in ship-shape however, the other three were badly damaged from time. It was decided these three caskets would be repaired as well.
What happened after that decision was made is anyone guess, because in the 1950’s, it was discovered that no one was in the tomb at all. Not one casket. How do you misplace four missing bodies? And not to poo-poo on the other three, but HOW DO YOU MISPLACE SOMEONE AS INFLUENTIAL AS ENOCH!?
To this day, no one knows what happened to the bodies of Enoch or the other three state officials put to rest in the tomb. If they were buried elsewhere, there is no record of it….there’s no record of ANYTHING for that matter. Nobody is even sure if the caskets were replaced or not.
The tomb is easy to find, with the Capital Building on one end of the park and the tomb on the far end with a giant Obelisk on top, overlooking the Kennebec River. The stone and tomb alike appear to be well maintained, so where are the bodies? Officials as well as Historians are left scratching their heads.
The real mystery for me is, the tomb was erected i n1842, but the stone on top of it clearly states Enoch died in 1829. Holy mass confusion.
At first I thought, ok, the three other officials had to have their caskets replaced….so is this a case of maybe throwing out the wrong caskets-along with the bodies? This would take some highly absent minded people to pull that one off, and it doesn’t explain why Enoch’s is missing, since his casket was supposedly fine.
There has to be a record of it somewhere, or maybe they are in there after all and this is all myth? It’s anyone guess…what do you think?
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