List of people from Portland, Maine

The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Portland, Maine.

Authors and academics

• John Howard Appleton, chemist
• Louisa Dow Benton, linguist and letter writer
• Hannah Johnson Carter, art educator
• Elisabeth Cavazza (1849–1926), author, journalist, and music critic
• Jennie Maria Drinkwater Conklin (1841–1900), author
• Leo Connellan, Beat poet and Poet Laureate of Connecticut
• Owen Davis, dramatist
• Robert F. Griffin, essayist
• Dorothy M. Healy, professor at Westbrook College and Curator of the Maine Women Writers Collection
• Stephen King, author
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet
• John Neal, author and critic
• Alan Taylor, historian
• William Irwin Thompson, poet and cultural historian

Business

• James Phinney Baxter, canning magnate and Mayor
• Asa Clapp, international merchant
• Cyrus Curtis, publisher and philanthropist
• John A. Poor, railroad developer
• Roxanne Quimby, founder of Burt's Bees
• Reuben Ruby, businessman and political activist
• Thomas A. Sanders, real estate developer and politician
• Donald Valle, founder and owner of the Valle's Steak House restaurant chain

Explorers and settlers

• George Baker Leavitt Sr., whaling captain, arctic explorer
• Capt. Christopher Levett, English explorer of Casco Bay, founded first settlement
• Francis Pettygrove, one of Portland Oregon's founders

Media and arts

• Dorothy Appleby, American film actress
• Maria a'Becket, painter
• Hiram Abrams, motion picture mogul
• Bebe Buell, model, musician, and mother of Liv Tyler^{[citation needed]}
• Howie Carr, radio personality
• Cody Christian, actor and rapper
• John Greenleaf Cloudman, artist, portrait painter and cabinet maker
• Charles Codman, painter
• Jerry Crasnick, sports journalist
• Kevin Eastman, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles^{[citation needed]}.
• Greg Finley II, actor
• Frank Fixaris, sportscaster
• Francis Ford, actor
• John Ford, director
• Charles L. Fox, painter, labor unionist, and two-time candidate for Governor of Maine with the Socialist Party
• Adam Gardner, musician
• Peter Garland, composer
• Jeremiah Hacker, journalist and reformer
• Will Holt, songwriter
• Avery Yale Kamila, journalist and community organizer
• Anna Kendrick, actress
• Charles F. Kimball, artist
• Jennie Kimball, actor, soubrette, theatrical manager
• Linda Lavin, actress
• Tawny Little, television newscaster and Miss America (1976)
• Bob Ludwig, Grammy Award-winning audio mastering engineer
• Bob Marley, comedian
• Andrea Martin, actress
• Judd Nelson, actor
• Lincoln Peirce, comic strip creator, Big Nate
• Ryan Peters, aka Spose, rapper
• Victoria Rowell, actress
• Ethelynde Smith, concert singer and botanical painter
• Stuart Saunders Smith, composer and percussionist
• Brett Somers, actress
• Franklin Stanwood, painter
• Phyllis Thaxter, actress
• Liv Tyler, actress
• Louise Brown Verrill, composer

Military

• James Alden Jr., rear admiral in the United States Navy
• George G. Gatley, brigadier general who commanded brigades and divisions in World War I^[1]
• John H. Hall, inventor of the first United States Army breech-loading rifle
• Horatio Collins King, Medal of Honor recipient
• Charles J. Loring Jr., Medal of Honor recipient
• Holman S. Melcher, mayor, Civil War veteran
• Edward Preble, naval officer
• Herbert E. Schonland, Medal of Honor recipient
• Ronald Speirs, army officer with the Easy Company, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment
• Peleg Wadsworth, Revolutionary War general

Politics

• Joseph Adams, state legislator
• Justin Alfond, President of the Maine Senate
• George H. Allan, state legislator and women's suffrage proponent
• Daniel W. Ames, Civil War veteran and state legislator
• James Appleton, state legislator and activist
• Joseph E. Brennan, 70th Governor of Maine
• Michael F. Brennan, Mayor and state legislator
• Joshua Chamberlain, Civil War veteran, governor, served as Surveyor of the Portland Port
• W. Edward Crockett, state legislator
• Winfred Thaxter Denison, United States Assistant Attorney General and Secretary of the Interior for the Philippines; born in Portland
• Santo DiPietro, Maine state legislator and businessman; born in Portland
• Neal Dow, mayor of Portland; Civil War general; temperance movement leader
• John Eder, state legislator and Maine Green Independent Party organizer
• William P. Fessenden, U.S. Senator
• Fletcher Hale, U.S. Congressman from New Hampshire
• Charles Harlow, mayor of Portland; state legislator
• Anne Haskell, state legislator
• Jon Hinck, state legislator and attorney
• John Lynch, U.S. Congressman
• George Mitchell, U.S. Senate Majority Leader (1989 to 1995); chairman of Walt Disney; U.S. special envoy to the Middle East
• Merle Nelson, state legislator
• William Pitt Preble, Justice of the Maine Supreme Court; U.S. Minister to the Netherlands; President of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad
• Anne Rand, state legislator
• Thomas Brackett Reed, U.S. Congressman; Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
• George Ruby, Black Republican legislator in Reconstruction-era Texas; raised in Portland
• James E. Thorne, state legislator^[2]
• Charles W. Walton, U.S. Congressman
• Herman W. Waterman, politician from Wisconsin

Professionals

• Edville Gerhardt Abbott, surgeon
• Oscar Cox, lawyer
• Walter M. Fleming, physician, founder of the Shriners
• Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr., architect
• Robert E. McAfee, physician
• Alexander Parris, architect
• Lois Rice, College Board executive & education scholar
• Thomas J. Sparrow, architect
• Henry Aiken Worcester, 19th century minister & vegetarian

Sports

• Mike Brown (born 1975), mixed martial arts fighter
• Nik Caner-Medley (born 1983), basketball forward
• Dick Capp (born 1942), American football tight end and linebacker
• Ian Crocker (born 1982), Olympic swimmer
• Rob Elowitch (born 1943), wrestler
• Terry Farnsworth (born 1942), Canadian Olympic judoka
• Ryan Flaherty (born 1986), baseball second baseman
• Charlie Furbush (born 1986), baseball pitcher
• Rip Jordan (1889–1960), baseball pitcher
• Pete Ladd (born 1956), baseball pitcher
• Gary McAdam (born 1955), ice hockey forward
• Quinton Porter (born 1982), American football quarterback
• Joan Benoit Samuelson (born 1957), marathon runner
• Bob Stanley (born 1954), baseball pitcher
• Coley Welch (1919–2000), middleweight boxer

Other

• Cornelia Dow (1842–1905), philanthropist, temperance activist; born and died in Portland, Maine
• Sarah E. Fuller (1838-1913), national president, Woman's Relief Corps; born in Portland, Maine
• Nathaniel Gordon, only American slave trader to be tried, convicted, and executed under the Piracy Law of 1820 "for being engaged in the Slave Trade"
• L. Isabel Heald (1842–1932), social leader and philanthropic worker
• Ellen Martin Henrotin, social reformer; born in Portland, Maine
• Augusta Merrill Hunt (1842-1932), philanthropist, suffragist, temperance leader; lived in Portland her entire life
• Lois Galgay Reckitt (born 1944), executive director of Family Crisis Services, Portland, Maine

References