‘Seige at the State House’ is Kennebec Historical Society July 20 topic

AUGUSTA — The Kennebec Historical Society’s July Presentation will be “Siege at the State House: The 1879 Coup that Nearly Plunged Maine into Civil War,” presented by author Mac Smith.
The in-person presentation is free and open to the public, and will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 20, 242 State St., the Maine State Library’s temporary location (the old BMV building).
“Siege at the State House” tells the true story of a coup that was attempted by Maine’s governor and the leaders of a new political party, almost plunging the United States into its second Civil War. With the Maine State House surrounded for several weeks by an armed mob, the occupation of that building culminated in a showdown between the mob and Civil War hero Gen. Joshua Chamberlain, with Chamberlain standing on the State House steps and challenging any man present to settle the standoff with violence, if they dared.
Smith is a Navy veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War and a former reporter for The Bar Harbor Times, and lives in Stockton Springs. He is also the author of “Mainers on the Titanic” and “Peyton Place Comes Home to Maine.”