Other Activities
In 1896, Baxter joined a number of his Bowdoin classmates and travelled to Bath, Maine, where the Democratic candidate for President, William Jennings Bryan, was schedule to speak. Baxter and his crew were so raucous that they were arrested. Although the Baxter's confederates pled guilty, the future Governor fought the charges with the help of his father, Portland Mayor James Phinney Baxter, and managed to have his record expunged.
In 1953 Baxter donated Mackworth Island to the state. He also deeded his summer home in Falmouth, Maine to create the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf (founded in 1957 from what was the Maine School for the Deaf), which still operates today.
Baxter was known for his passionate devotion to animals, and for his commitment to the humane treatment of animals. When his dog, Garry, died while Baxter was governor, he ordered the flag at the State House lowered to half staff, which angered some veterans' groups. Baxter belonged to several humane societies across the country, one of which, the New England Anti-Vivisection Society, called him "America's greatest humane governor."
Baxter died in Portland, and his ashes are scattered in the park.
Read more about this topic: Percival Proctor Baxter
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