Ezekiel Holmes, a central figure in Maine agriculture in the 19th century, strongly supported the idea of a state university. As a member of the State Board of Agriculture and editor of the Maine Farmer, Holmes put forward the idea of a separate college, geared to the “industrial classes” when a Morrill grant to establish a college in Maine was made available. Holmes maintained that, in order to fill in any reasonable degree the measure of usefulness of which it was capable, the institution must be absolutely unhampered by any connection with any existing institution.