When Sumner Newell Wing was born in 1848, in Franklin Plantation, Oxford, Maine, United States, his father, Elbridge Geary Wing, was 37 and his mother, Silence K. Hopkins, was 33. He died in 1865, in Peru, Oxford, Maine, United States, at the age of 17, and was buried in Franklin Cemetery, Peru, Oxford, Maine, United States.
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In 1851, Maine outlawed the sale of alcohol, allowing exceptions only for "medicinal, mechanical, and manufacturing purposes". This made Maine the first state to experiment with prohibition. Neal Dow, mayor of Portland, believed that alcohol was linked to slavery and was also convinced by the Christian temperance movement. Dow ran into problems later for his anti-immigration rhetoric against the Irish, and also for breaking his own prohibition laws; although not a designated "purchaser", Dow personally purchased alcohol to distribute to local doctors, violating a technicality. As the citizens turned against him, Dow eventually ordered soldiers to fire on protesters. This marked a sharp decline in Dow's political career, and the Maine Law was repealed by 1856. Aspects of the law would remain in tact, however, and ultimately paved the way for the 18th Amendment, which prohibited alcohol on the national level.
Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, declaring slaves in Confederate states to be free.
The Battle of Gettysburg involved the largest number of casualties of the entire Civil war and is often described as the war's turning point. Between 46,000 and 51,000 soldiers lost their lives during the three-day Battle. To honor the fallen soldiers, President Abraham Lincoln read his historic Gettysburg Address and helped those listening by redefining the purpose of the war.
English: from the Middle English personal name Weng (Old West Scandinavian Wenge, perhaps originally a nickname from vengi ‘pillow, cushion’).
English and Scottish: habitational name from either Wing in Buckinghamshire or Wing in Rutland. The Buckinghamshire placename probably means ‘the people of Wiwa’, from an Old English personal name Wiwa + the Old English groupname suffix -ingas. The Rutland placename and probably derives from Old Norse vengi ‘field’.
Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 榮, see Rong 4.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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