{{short description|American architect}} {{Infobox architect |name = Benjamin S. Deane |image = |image_size = |caption = |birth_date = {{birth date|1790|8|7}} |birth_place = Thomaston, Maine |death_date = {{death date and age|1867|12|2|1790|8|7}} |death_place = Bangor, Maine |practice = |significant_buildings= |significant_projects = |significant_design = |awards = }} [[File:Stetson Union Church.jpg|right|thumb|The Stetson Union Church, designed and built by Deane in 1843.]] [[File:MachiasME WashingtonCountyCourthouse.jpg|right|thumb|The Washington County Courthouse in Machias, completed in 1854.]] [[File:Connors House, Bangor ME.jpg|right|thumb|The Edward Connors house in Bangor, completed in 1867.]] '''Benjamin S. Deane''' (1790–1867) was an American master builder and architect in practice in Bangor, Maine, from {{circa|1832}} to 1867.<ref name='Thompson'>Deborah Thompson, ''Bangor, Maine, 1769-1914: An Architectural History'' (Orono: University of Maine Press, 1988)</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mainememory.net/artifact/33546|title = William Arnold House, Bangor, ca. 1870}}</ref>
==Life and career== Benjamin Small Deane was born August 7, 1790, in Thomaston, Maine, to Jonas Deane and Ruth (Small) Deane. A housewright by training, he built churches in Thomaston and Belfast before moving to Bangor {{circa|1832}}. He quickly became locally successful, and in 1835 was chosen builder of St. John's Episcopal Church, an important early work of architect Richard Upjohn. He continued thereafter as a builder, but like many master builders was also responsible for the design of buildings he built.<ref name="Wheelwright"/><ref name="Washington"/> It is not known when Deane began to use the title "architect," but was at least by the early 1850s. During the remainder of his life he was the only settled practicing architect in Maine outside of Portland.<ref name="Connors"/>
As a designer, Deane paid close attention to national trends. Though in his early career he kept to the Greek Revival style, in his later career he designed some of the earliest Italianate and Second Empire buildings in Maine.<ref name="Wheelwright"/> During the early 1850s he was assisted in his office by Edwin Lee Brown, later an architect in Boston and New York City. In 1859 Deane was supervising architect for Brown in the construction of the Wheelwright Block, which is frequently and incorrectly attributed to Deane alone.<ref>"A Splendid Block" in ''Bangor Daily Whig and Courier'', July 11, 1859, 2.</ref>
==Personal life== In 1814 Deane was married to Elizabeth Fales of Thomaston.<ref>''Maine Families in 1790'' 1, ed. Ruth Gray (Camden: Picton Press, 1983): 98.</ref> He died December 2, 1867.<ref name="Wheelwright"/>
Deane was elected several times to both houses of the Bangor city council. He was a member of the common council for the years 1838–39, 1848–49 and 1849–50 and of the board of alderman for the years 1842–43, 1844–45, 1845–46.<ref>"City Councils" in ''Bangor Daily Whig and Courier'', April 14, 1862, 1 and 4.</ref>
==Legacy== Deane's First Baptist Church at Sedgwick, built in 1837, has been identified by former National Park Service architectural historian Denys Peter Myers as "one of the finest and most suavely designed wooden Greek Revival churches in New England." In this and other works Deane borrowed from pattern books, including those of Asher Benjamin.<ref name="Myers">Denys Peter Myers, "The Greek Revival" in ''Maine Forms of American Architecture'', ed. Deborah Thompson (Waterville: Colby College Museum of Art, 1976): 95-140.</ref>
At least seven of his works are listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, and others contribute to listed historic districts.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
==Architectural works== * North Church (former),{{efn|name=Belfast}} 143 Church St, Belfast, Maine (1831, altered)<ref name="Belfast">[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/88687349 Belfast Historic District NRHP Registration Form] (1986)</ref> * Elm Street Congregational Church, 31 Elm St, Bucksport, Maine (1836–38, NRHP 1990)<ref>[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/88686095 Elm Street Congregational Church and Parish House NRHP Registration Form] (1990)</ref> * First Baptist Church, 25 Reach Rd, Sedgwick, Maine (1837, NRHP 1973)<ref>[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/88686102 First Baptist Church NRHP Registration Form] (1973)</ref> * Stetson Union Church, 7 Wolfboro Rd, Stetson, Maine (1843, NRHP 1981)<ref>[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/88687045 Stetson Union Church NRHP Registration Form] (1981)</ref> * George K. Stetson house,{{efn|name=Broadway}} 208 French St, Bangor, Maine (1847)<ref name="Myers"/> * City Block,{{efn|name=Belfast}} 143 High St, Belfast, Maine (1850)<ref name="Belfast"/> * Hayward Pierce house,{{efn|name=Broadway|A contributing property to the Broadway Historic District, NRHP-listed in 1973.}} 42 Broadway, Bangor, Maine (1851)<ref>[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/88686926 Broadway Historic District NRHP Registration Form] (1973)</ref> * Somesville Union Meeting House,{{efn|name=Somesville|A contributing property to the Somesville Historic District, NRHP-listed in 1975.}} 1136 Main St, Mount Desert, Maine (1852)<ref>[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/88686095 Somesville Historic District NRHP Registration Form] (1975)</ref> * Washington County Courthouse, 85 Court St, Machias, Maine (1853–54, NRHP 1976)<ref name="Washington">[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/88687603 Washington County Courthouse NRHP Registration Form] (1976)</ref> * Waldo County Courthouse,{{efn|name=Belfast|A contributing property to the Belfast Historic District, NRHP-listed in 1986.}} 137 Church St, Belfast, Maine (1853–54)<ref name="Washington"/> * George Thorndike house, 65 Elm St, South Thomaston, Maine (1855, attributed, NRHP 1983)<ref name="Thorndike">[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/88686546 George Thorndike House NRHP Registration Form] (1983)</ref> * Wheelwright Block,{{efn|name=Market|A contributing property to the West Market Square Historic District, NRHP-listed in 1979.}} 34 Hammond St, Bangor, Maine (1859, NRHP 1974)<ref name="Wheelwright">[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/88687069 Wheelwright Block NRHP Registration Form] (1974)</ref> * Edward Connors house, 277 State St, Bangor, Maine (1866–67, NRHP 1983)<ref name="Connors">[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/88686942 Connors House NRHP Registration Form] (1986)</ref>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Deane, Benjamin S.}} Category:Architects from Bangor, Maine Category:1790 births Category:1867 deaths Category:People from Thomaston, Maine Category:19th-century American architects