This letter describes the downfall of Mr. Page, a “political boss” in Saco, Maine. Political bosses played a major roll in the politics of the 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States. Mr. Page was the head of York Mills, a large cotton manufacturer which, at the turn of the century, operated eight mills in the Factory Island mill district of Saco. As head of this large employer, Page could influence how people voted, and was able to keep the mill from being taxed at the full rate. The nineteenth amendment, which granted women the right to vote, was ratified on August 26, 1920. It only took the women of Saco six months after that to become a force in bettering city government and ousting Page. He died shortly after the election, and Barber refers to it as a variation on the Ananias case, which is a Biblical reference to a character in the New Testament who was killed for lying.
Barber, Henry [Rev] Hervey. Letter from Rev. Henry H. Barber to his daughter Alice B. Coleman re: Boss Politics. February 22, 1921. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l10-001/. Accessed on March 19, 2025.
Please note: Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data.