Early Life
Baxter was born into a wealthy family in Portland, Maine where his father James Phinney Baxter served six terms as mayor and had made his fortune in the canning industry. He graduated from Portland High School in 1894, Bowdoin College in 1898. While at Bowdoin, Baxter founded the school's literary magazine, The Quill. He later earned a law degree from Harvard University in 1901. He went into the family real estate business in Portland. He had seven siblings. However he was to inherit the bulk of the family fortune. When Baxter was governor he donated a large parcel of forest land to the people of Maine, which became Baxter State Park. He said "Man is born to die. His works are short-lived. Buildings crumble, monuments decay, and wealth vanishes, but Katahdin in all it's glory forever shall remain the mountain of the people of Maine."
Baxter was also a fierce opponent of the Ku Klux Klan of Maine, which supported the career of his political nemesis and successor Owen Brewster.
Read more about this topic: Percival Proctor Baxter
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