Monday, June 15

Day dawned foggier than yesterday but at least it wasn’t raining. I went down to the cove to clean the beach and also nail loose boards on the tram. Then I worked on cleaning the boat house, which will take a few days. I watched the seagulls flying around and heard but did not see the osprey.

While in the boat house I noticed something on the deck out front. It was the same thing I saw in the cellar the other day. I went outside and said “Hello” again. He turned toward me and said “Hi’ya”. I told him who I was and what we were doing on the island. He said “I know”. I could tell this was a person of few words. I asked him who he was and he said “Lawrence de Esuom” and that he had been here for a long time. I noticed that there was no boat in the cove so I asked him how he got here. He replied “Been here a while, don’t need no boat” and then “Hav ‘ta go now” and he disappeared.

Needless to say, I was speechless. What else could I do but go back to work? Maybe we’ll meet up again sometime.

It seems like this is the appropriate time to relate the following from the book “Ghosts of New England Lighthouses”

THE GHOST AT SEQUIN LIGHT STATION

Sequin Island Light Station dates back to 1795. It became one of Maine’s most important light stations as a result of the heavy schooner traffic going up and down the Kennebec and Sheepscott Rivers. It is also one of the oldest light stations along the coast and one of the tallest. Its tower rises 188 feet above sea level and it has the distinction of being at the foggiest location of all coastal lighthouses. The fog horn is activated about 68 days per year.

The island of Sequin is about ½ mile long and from the air the land mass looks like a large turtle. The coves resemble the paws and the head. Its name Sequin is derived from an Indian term meaning to discharge. A once wooded island, now barren the setting is all here for a haunting.

The first question is what is a haunting or what is a ghost? The answer is nobody knows. No one has ever been able to sit a ghost down and ask questions of it. No one can predict exactly when a ghost will appear and it is almost next to impossible to photograph one. But we do know ghosts appear, are seen, are heard, can be felt and can be smelled.

The history of Ghosts is almost as old as the history of man. Ghosts have always been a giant puzzle. Ghosts usually inhabitant the place where they died. A modern day theory ties them into an energy source that is left behind at the time of death. Death usually occurred by violent means, a suicide, murder, violence, drowning, or some weird accident. It now seems the aura or a form of electric repulsion remains behind and this charge can be picked up on later by a sensitive person, someone who has tuned into the frequency. This energy source now appears as a ghost or a thought projection in the sensitive persons mind, almost like turning on a T.V.

As kids we all remember large vacant mansions with windows and doors falling off. These were excellent places for ghostly haunts. Many of these haunts were near abandoned graveyards and this is where the ghost stories were imagined. We could tune in on rushing wind, creaking blinds, bangs, groans, slams and whatever else we wanted to hear. As the imagination took over it became a trial of strength and endurance as to how long we would stay. Most of us were on the run long before we became possessed. This is how a lot of people still look at ghosts, but the sane and sound people who have had a ghostly experience know much differently.

Sequin Lighthouse Station is one of the coastal light stations that have reports of ghostly haunting. A ghost or ghosts still roam the island and have made visits, and have been seen and heard many times over by various keepers of the Light.

Folklore and legend tell of a reported suicide and murder on the island in the mid 1800’s. Supposedly a keeper had killed his wife and himself. The death was extremely violent as an ax had been used to destroy both he and his mate.

The suicide murder had taken place because it seems his wife played the same tune on a piano, over and over, sometimes for hours without a break. The poor captain’s normal everyday pace went haywire. His sanity turned to insanity as his fine tuning snapped. He destroyed the piano, his wife, and himself with his ax. It has been reported by passing ships that on quiet nights that same monotonous tune can be heard trickling over the still waves. Does he or his wife still roam the island?

You may think this is farfetched, but let’s go one step further. In the early 1970’s and 1980’s a team of Coast Guard personnel occupied the island. From talking to these different occupants I have found some interesting stories. One Boatswain mate tells of several encounters. The ghost or Old Captain as he is referred to makes himself right at home. He has been sighted many times climbing the narrow, winding, spiral, iron stairway leading up to the tower.

Could the old man, slickers and all, be still trying to service the light? The old captain has been seen standing behind one of the keepers as a checker game was underway. The sound of a bouncing ball, similar to a basketball has been heard coming from the upstairs bedroom. When an investigation took place nothing could be found. Cold spots have brushed by some of the men when they have been polishing brass or doing other maintenance work. Pea jackets have been misplaced for no reason at all and then reappear later in the same area they were found missing from.

The keepers I have talked to have also sighted a young girl running up and down the stairs. She has waved to the men on several occasions and some have heard her laughter. It has been reported a young girl had died on the island and her parents had buried her near the generator house. It is very possible we have two apparitions on the island, the old captain and the little girl.

A very interesting area on this island is the land mass between the Lighthouse and the fog horn. Sequin has one of the most powerful fog horns of any lighthouse along the coast. The horn was located on the highest point of rock on the island which is several hundred feet away from the main lighthouse structure itself. The horn is so powerful it is said its volume has knocked close flying sea gulls right out of the air. The intensity of fog in this area is the reason for such a powerful sound.

Both the old captain and the little girl have been sighted in this area and all kinds of sounds from groans to laughter seem to be prevalent here. In this area many haunting seem to take place.

Sequin is one of the more difficult lighthouses to visit. The entrance to the main living quarters is via a trolley track ramp. The dory is hauled up the ramp the boathouse and the passengers walk up a narrow wooden way next to the tracks. The dory is pulled up to the boathouse by a donkey motor. From the boathouse to the main house one has to walk over a long wooden walkway such as would be found along slick river beds or sides of mountains.

A very interesting encounter with the ghost occurred in 1985. As the light station was being prepared for automation, the warrant officer in charge of the activities experienced an encounter with the ghost of the Old Captain. All items in the house were being packed for shipment to the mainland. The work crew had retired for the evening and everyone was in bed asleep when the warrant officer was awakened by the shaking of his bed. The apparition in his oil skins was standing at the end of the bed shouting in pathetic tones, “Don’t take the furniture”, “please leave my house along”.

The warrant officer bolted out of bed and ran to the next room. The next day when the furniture items were loaded in the dory on the skid he gave the order to start up the donkey engine and proceed to lower the dory slowly down the track to the ocean 200 feet below. The warrant officer reported that the donkey motor stopped cold, the chain holding the dory broke and the loaded boat went down the track full speed, hit the ocean and sank under the impact; furniture and all were lost.

He claims the Old Captain had a hand in the unusual event. Never before had an event like this taken place, and according to all odds it was impossibility. Is the Old Captain still on the island? Does the little girl still roam at will? Do the two of them still float between the cracks in the lighthouse wall, and can you still hear their groans and laughter especially on those cold misty nights? Who or what are they searching for? The next time you pass the Island of Sequin, let your mind wander and you may find your thoughts will send shivers down your spine.

Well, what do YOU think?

Maybe I shouldn’t relate these happenings, I don’t know. I just write what I experience. I hope this does not discourage those visitors we expect. Oh boy, how am I going to explain this to Mister Wesley?