Maine Mystery – Seguin Island

The island has a long history of lighthouse keepers, dating back from 1857 to when it was automated in 1985.  The life of a lighthouse keeper and their families was not an easy one.  They lived a life of isolation and loneliness.  There is one story that reveals how this type of isolation can lead to depression and in this case, murder.

The story goes that a lighthouse keeper was stationed on Seguin with his young wife.  She  soon became bored and to keep her entertained, her husband paid for a piano to be brought over from the mainland.  Now here the story has been told two ways.  One story says her husband only bought one piece of music with the piano, so it was the only choice his wife had to play.  The other story states his wife was not a very good player and was only capable of playing one song.

Whichever story you believe, the lighthouse keeper's wife kept playing the same song over and over and over.  She played night and day, the same song, over and over again.  Eventually the lighthouse keeper couldn't take it any longer and took an axe to the piano.  The lighthouse keeper's path of destruction did not end there.  He also viciously attacked his wife and killed her with the axe, and then took his own life.

They say you can still hear piano music coming from the island and that the lighthouse keeper's wife continues to play the song, now for eternity.  While I have not heard the sound of the piano, I can attest to the eeriness of the island, especially when it rises out of the fog.

So what is the truth? Some things we will never know....this is one of them. Just something to ponder the next time you are strolling along the shore of Popham Beach.