legislature sub-committee. The design was nearly unanimously rejected for various reasons: the moose looked "more like a deer," and one committee member complained that his initial desire that the aurora borealis and a quote from St. Paul was not included. Despite the fact that a state seal was needed for immediate use on official documents, “no part of it was very ingeniously wrought or executed; hence people of taste and judgment have not been altogether pleased with the devices, or emblems,” says historian William D. Williamson. How it finally came to approval is unknown; but since that time, various stories, printed articles and even Maine towns have disputed authorship over the original sketch design. On June 12, 1820, The Portland Gazette reported: "We understand that the emblems for the seal of the State were proposed by Benjamin Vaughan, Esq. of Hallowell, that the sketch was executed by a young lady in this town, and that the Motto, description, explanation, &c are from the pen of Col. Isaac G. Reed, a member of the House of Representatives from Waldoborough." However, in 2020, in celebration of Maine's bicentennial, a contest was announced in partnership with the Vaughan Woods & Historical Homestead that sought a modern interpretation of the original Maine state seal. The winning submission would be hung over the mantel in the Benjamin Vaughan Homestead dining room. In the Sun Journal, Vaughan is quoted to have proposed the emblems, and one of his own daughters crudely fashioned the original sketch at their dining room table. “We are the most northern state in the Union,” Vaughan said, “yet what is an ordinary star for all other states becomes the North Star for us.” Maine Historical Society Bicentennial Education Fellow, Brittany Cook, stated in a 2020 virtual hub, that the new state of Maine turned to a man named Vaughan to design the state seal, and his daughter is said to have sketched the first design. Although Maine state historian, Herb Adams also says that a sub-committee of the Maine legislature turned to Vaughan to design the seal, President of the Waldoboro Historical Society, Jean B. Lawrence, states that the step-daughter of Isaac Reed, Bertha Smouse, created the original design by stitching it in needlework. When referenced, Bertha Smouse is believed or credited as having created the state seal. On March 26, 2020, the trustees of the Waldoborough Historical Society announced that they