TOPSHAM — The Topsham Historical Society topic at the Tuesday, April 14, meeting will be “Citizen Sam, Stalwart of the Midcoast and This New Nation.” The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at the Topsham Public Library, 25 Foreside Road, and is free and open to the public.
In the late 18th century, Brig. Gen. Samuel Thompson was the most prominent figure in Midcoast Maine. He fought for the cause of independence, he spoke out for liberty in the debates about the country’s new constitution, and he was a very early advocate for statehood. He grew up on the New Meadows and after the revolution built a house in Topsham on the Androscoggin River. Tavern keeper, river entrepreneur, and trader, at times a firebrand, he was a true Mainer before there was even a state of Maine.
