Haunted Portland

From Pirates to Ghost Brides

Roxie J Zwicker

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781596292826
• eBook ISBN: 9781625844125
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Follow Zwicker, author of Haunted Portsmouth and Haunted Pubs of New England, as she expertly navigates through this storied Yankee seaport's collection of creepy graveyards, tragic shipwrecks, eerie lighthouses and more. You'll discover such haunting yarns as the story of Lydia Carver-the "ghost bride" who drowned just offshore on the eve of her marriage - as well as the tale of the British captain and the American commander whose ghosts square off at nighttime in a famous local cemetery, a chilling reenactment of their fatal War of 1812 naval engagement. Read Haunted Portland and discover the dark side lurking beneath Portland's picture postcard exterior.

The Pirate Ghost Ship

The famous privateer ship the Dash was built at the beginning of the War of 1812 in Portland by the Porter brothers, who were prominent merchants. The ship was outfitted at private expense for the purpose of preying on enemy commerce to the profit of the owner. Shipbuilders of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries took great pride in their work, and many ships like the Dash often took on a bit of personality. A lot of thought and some superstition went into the building of ships, in hopes of assuring a prosperous future. The keel of a ship was often constructed on a favorable day, but never on Fridays. The greatest care was taken to be sure that no one was hurt or killed during the building, for that could tarnish the fortunes of the ship. Ships were never painted blue for fear that the great ocean spirit would be jealous. In addition, the name of the ship was carefully selected, making sure it didn’t sound too humble or too haughty so the sea spirits would not be offended. One of the traditions also intended to seal good fortunes when a ship was launched was to have a minister read a prayer and knock three times on the hull to drive out witches that may have secreted themselves inside the depths of the ship.

The profits from privateering were quite lucrative, and the business attracted recruits from all walks of life, including politicians, lawyers, blacksmiths, grocers and ministers. In most cases every occupation in the city was represented in the ownership. Further, this ownership did not involve just one person alone, but often was a share purchased by the entire family. It was said at one time that there were nearly thirty privateer ships sailing from Portland. The Dash became famous when a young twenty-four-year-old captain named John Porter (a younger brother of the ship’s owners) took the helm. The Dash was living up to its name, as it was thought to be one of the fastest ships of its time in Portland.

During January of 1815, Captain Porter seemed ready for another adventure, and he made way for what would soon be the last known voyage of the Dash. But something that night warned Captain Porter—if only he had heeded the sign. While bidding his newlywed wife a fond farewell, he heard a warning gun on the ship go off; however, he still lingered behind with his wife. During his departure from her home, he hesitated once again, and upon hearing the second warning shot he waved his final goodbye and boarded the eager ship.

When the Dash set sail it met a newly launched privateer ship from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in Portland Harbor. The visiting ship was ready to challenge the Dash to a race of speed. The ships passed the lighthouse at Portland Head and by the end of the next day the Dash was in the lead, following a southerly course. All of a sudden a severe gale blew in and the ship from Portsmouth changed its course and headed back toward Casco Bay. But what of the Dash? It was thought that the Dash fell victim to the storm and was never seen again. Some versions of the story remark that there was an ominous omen that followed the ship. Some locals believed that blue birds were seen following the ship when it left the docks in Portland, which was a sign of a tempest striking within forty-eight hours. Mysterious tempest or not, none of the crew was ever found, and no wreckage ever washed ashore.

When news reached Portland, the relatives of the lost loved ones vowed never to give up hope. As locals made regular climbs to the top of the Portland Observatory, a silent vigil was kept for the beloved crew and ship. Despite their hopes, the ship and its crew were lost forever.

It was said that the family of the captain’s bride did their best to comfort her when she heard the storm blowing in on that fateful night. Upon mentioning the name of the ship, something fell in the parlor. A tile from the fireplace had fallen off upon the uttering of the words the Dash, and some thought that incident was an omen that the ship had been lost.

Many stories have come from local sailors over the years about the doomed ship. The ship had been seen sailing the waters of the bay with tattered sails that couldn’t possibly hold the slightest of breezes. There was also said to be a phantom crew that stood on deck and stared straight ahead. The crew was described as skeletal spirits with weatherworn expressions. Whenever the ship was approached, it would disappear. Some said that seeing the ship foretold of death, and some sailors who saw it were so frightened that they thought just seeing the ship was a curse.

One story tells of an incident in August 1942 when the U.S. Navy and Her Majesty’s Navy patrolled the waters of Portland during World War II. A wailing siren resonated across Casco Bay as the HMS Moidore swept into the bay. A local man named Homer Grimm, who had been enjoying the afternoon on one of the Casco Bay Islands, later relayed the incident from his vantage point. He said he saw a tall ship sweeping past the island, tearing through the waves. He described seeing sailors on the deck straining to see into the approaching mists. In the distance, Homer saw the HMS Moidore, the U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard all with guns rattling and sirens wailing in pursuit of the elusive ship. Straining to see the name on the mystery ship, Homer finally caught the name on the stern: it was the Dash! The Dash disappeared into the mists and when the Allied forces passed the island where Homer Grimm was, the phantom ship was nowhere to be found.

In an eerie nineteenth-century poem written by poet John Greenleaf Whittier, the legends of the infamous privateer ship the Dash were immortalized in verse.

“The Dead Ship of Harpswell”

By John Greenleaf Whittier

What flecks the outer gray beyond,

The sundown’s golden trail?

The white flash of a sea-bird’s wing,

Or gleam of slanting sail?

Let young eyes watch from Neck and Point,

And sea-worn elders pray,—

The ghost of what was once a ship

Is sailing up the bay!

From gray sea-fog, from icy drift,

From peril and from pain,

The home-bound fisher greets thy lights,

O hundred-harbored Maine!

But many a keel shall seaward turn,

And many a sail outstand,

When, tall and white, the Dead Ship looms

Against the dusk of land.

She rounds the headland’s bristling pines;

She threads the isle-set bay;

No spur of breeze can speed her on,

Nor ebb of tide delay.

Old men still walk the Isle of Orr

Who tell her date and name,

Old shipwrights sit in Freeport yards

Who hewed her oaken frame.

What weary doom of baffled quest,

Thou sad sea-ghost, is thine?

What make thee in the haunts of home

A wonder and a sign?

No foot is on thy silent deck,

Upon they helm no hand;

No ripple hath the soundless wind

That smites thee from the land!

For never comes the ship to port

Howe’er the breeze may be;

Just when she nears the waiting shore

She drifts again to sea.

No tack or sail, nor turn of helm,

Nor sheer of veering side;

Stern-fore she drives to sea and night

Against the wind and tide.

In vain o’er Harpswell Neck the star

Of evening guides her in;

In vain for her the lamps are lit

Within thy tower, Seguin!

In vain the harbor-boat shall hail,

In vain the pilot call;

No hand shall reef her spectral sail,

Or let her anchor fall.

Shake, brown old wives, with dreary joy,

Your gray-head hints of ill;

And, over sick-beds whispering low,

Your prophecies fulfil.

Some home amid yon birchen trees

Shall drape its door with woe;

And slowly w...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Ghostly Specters of the William E. Gould House
• The Western Cemetery
• The Eastern Cemetery
• The Gargoyle House
• Portland Head Lighthouse
• The Witches of Falmouth
• The Pool Hall Ghost
• The Ghost Bride, Lydia Carver
• The Casco Bay Sea Serpent
• The Victoria Mansion
• Halfway Rock Lighthouse
• The Blaidsell House
• Portland’s Mystery Tunnels
• The International Cryptozoology Museum
• Beckett’s Castle
• Twin Lighthouses of Cape Elizabeth
• The McLellan-Sweat House
• The Ghost of the 1868 Victorian House
• The Pirate Ghost Ship
• Legends of the Casco Bay Islands
• Conclusion
• Bibliography