On this day, June 2, in 1855, one person was killed in the Portland Rum Riot in which the mayor was later found guilty of smuggling booze into the dry town himself.
Irish immigrants, who viewed the newly enacted Maine law prohibiting the sale and manufacture of alcohol as a racist attack on their culture, learned that Portland Mayor Neal S. Dow was stashing a large supply of alcohol for doctors.
As a mob gathered around the building where the spirits were being held, Dow, dubbed the “Napoleon of Temperance,” called in the militia and ordered them to fire into the crowd. One immigrant was killed, and seven others were wounded.
Dow was prosecuted for improperly acquiring the booze but acquitted. The episode led to the law’s repeal in 1856.
– Scott McCabe
