Sangerville, ME (NEWS CENTER) -- Sangerville is a town of about 1800 just west of Dover-Foxcroft. During the 19th Century, two incredible people were born. Sir Hiram Maxim was an inventor who hold 200 patents. His most famous invention was the first portable machine gun. It became an important weapon to the British as they colonized Africa and Asia. It would be used by twenty countries.
Sir Harry Oakes was born in 1874. The son of a doctor, he went off to Bowdoin and then medical school at Syracuse. After two years, he left to go prospecting in the Klondike. His search for gold took him 15 years. With less than three dollars to his name he staked a claim that made him rich. It would become the richest gold mine in North America.
Maxim gave up citizenship and moved to England. He was recognized by Queen Victoria. After she died, her son Edward VII. He died and is buried in London.
Oakes parlayed his fortune through investments. He moved to the Bahamas where he was knighted by his friend George VI mostly for his philanthropy, Oakes was murdered in 1943 and is interred in Dover-Foxcroft.