Roadside Sign

Object/Artifact

Pejepscot History Center

Name/Title

Roadside Sign

Entry/Object ID

OH.641

Description

White wooden sign with hand painted black lettering and scalloped corners. It reads: "MATTHEW THORNTON/ 1714-1803/ Signer of Declaration of Independence/ Home of his Father, JAMES THORNTON/ burned by Indians 1722. Site of / home 1/3 MILE ON THIS ROAD" This marker stood at the site of James Thornton's home in Brunswick, Maine, by the D.A.R. when Mrs. O. Hormel was regent. William Edwards was then selectman. The sign was brought to PHC for safe keeping by Miss Helen Colby in 1968. Wood section split off on the top and a split in the bottom where there appears to be a big hole for a screw (suspected vandalism). Single board. Two vertical braces with leveled edges on the back. Back line where post was is evident. The screws holding the braces are rusty. Undated

Lexicon

Search Terms

D.A.R., Declaration of Independance, Declaration of Independance.

Exhibitions

Exhibition

Adaptation and Resistance: Indigenous History of the Pejepscot Region

Notes

Violence in the Pejepscot region was nearly constant as the seventeenth century turned into the eighteenth. The narrative of violence against white settlers loomed large in the minds of settlers and their descendants, and continues to dominate the historic narrative of this time. Evidence of this story can be found in many places, including this roadside sign marking the location of the childhood home of Matthew Thornton, signer of the Declaration of Independence. The sign, which highlights that the building was destroyed by “Indians” was installed by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1939. White wooden sign with hand painted black lettering reading “MATTHEW THORNTON/ 1714-1803/ Signer of Declaration of Independence/ Home of his Father, JAMES THORNTON/ burned by Indians 1722. Site of/ home 1/3 MILE ON THIS ROAD.”