In Episode 445, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore Bucksport, Maine, searching for the ghost of Sarah Ware. Ware was murdered in 1898, yet her killer was never punished. We break down the crime, look at who may have done it, and explore the unusual circumstances surrounding her mortal remains. It’s no wonder why she still haunts Bucksport.
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Produced and hosted by: Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger
Edited by: Ray Auger
Theme Music by: John Judd
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
*A note on the text: Please forgive punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes. Like us, the transcripts ain’t perfect.
[WALKING THROUGH GRASS]
RAY: Looks like a bit of a cemetery safari this week in Bucksport, Maine, eh Jeff?
JEFF: Sort of. This is where the story ends this week, that’s for sure.
RAY: This is where A LOT of stories end.
JEFF: (LAUGHING) That’s true! Although when it comes to ghosts, this is also where some stories start. But not in this case.
RAY: We’re exploring Oak Hill Cemetery. Are we looking for a ghost this time?
JEFF: We are! (BEAT) However, the ghost isn’t here. It’s somewhere else in town. But we’ll get to that. Okay, here’s the headstone we’re looking for.
RAY: The headstone reads: Sarah Ware, 1846 – 1898.
JEFF: 1898 is the year Sarah was murdered. But finishing her burial would take another 100 years.
RAY: That’s odd!
JEFF: Ray, we’ve come to Bucksport, Maine, to search for the headless ghost of Sarah Ware.
[INTRO]
JEFF: Hi, I’m Jeff Belanger and welcome to Episode 446 of the New England Legends podcast.
RAY: And I’m Ray Auger, thank you for joining us on our mission to chronicle every legend in New England one story at a time. We’re always on the hunt for ghosts, monsters, aliens, UFOs, roadside oddities, and everything else that bumps in the night. We get so many story leads from you! So please reach out to us anytime through our website.
JEFF: We’ll go searching for the headless ghost of Sarah Ware right after this word from our sponsor.
SPONSOR
RAY: We’ve been to Bucksport, Maine, before.
JEFF: We have!
RAY: Last time we were searching for the curse of a witch’s foot on Colonel Jonathan Buck’s grave.
JEFF: That’s right! We’re happy to report the witch’s foot is still there.
RAY: Which is good news, otherwise we’d have to explain that one.
JEFF: True.
RAY: Speaking of Colonel Buck. Bucksport is named after him. In 1762 a group of 352 citizens of Massachusetts and New Hampshire petitioned the English General Court for a land grant of 12 townships. Back then, this was still Massachusetts, as Maine didn’t become its own state until 1820. Jonathan Buck was one of those first petitioners. Given he was a Revolutionary War hero, they named the town after him. First, it was called Buckstown, but later changed to Bucksport considering they’re located at the mouth of the Penobscot River right near Penobscot Bay.
JEFF: It’s a pretty town, with some dark history. There have been a few gruesome murders in town over the centuries, but this one still haunts us. To search for her ghost, let’s first head over to the area around Miles Lane and Broadway.
[CAR DOORS SHUT]
[CAR DRIVES OFF]
JEFF: We can pull over right over there.
RAY: Okay.
[CAY STOPS]
[DOORS OPEN/CLOSE]
RAY: This is a well-developed area. The high school is right over there, I see some commercial buildings on either side of the road. But plenty of woods too.
JEFF: That’s true. This is an area where the headless ghost of Sarah Ware is said to still haunt. To find out why, let’s head back to the year 1898.
[TRANSITION]
RAY: It’s September of 1898 here in Bucksport, Maine. William McKinley is President of the United States, Llewellyn Powers is the governor of Maine, and “I Guess I’ll Have to Telegraph My Baby” by George M. Cohan is one of the most popular songs around right now. Here in Bucksport, it’s mostly business as usual.
JEFF: Bucksport is a thriving town in many ways. Like any town there are wealthy folks, and those who struggle to get by. One of those in the struggle, is Sarah Ware.
RAY: Sarah Ware was born Sarah MacDonald. She’s Scottish and arrived in Bucksport 20 years ago, and that’s when she met Mr. Ware. The two were married, and had three children together. Sadly, one of their daughters died young, but they have one other son and one other daughter together who are adults now off living their own lives.
JEFF: Sarah’s marriage was not a good one. Locals will tell you he was abusive to her, and eventually she left him. Mr. Ware died five years ago in 1893.
RAY: Sarah has been on her own for the last ten years or so. In those early years she was sort of floating around Bucksport doing domestic services for various families to earn money. Barely getting by, she was almost homeless until Mrs. Miles, a widow in town, took her in. Sarah does work around the house for Mrs. Miles to earn her keep, and also continues to work for other families in town.
JEFF: It’s Saturday, September 17th. Sarah tends to her housework until about 4:30. That’s when she announces to Mrs. Miles that she is going to head into town to pick up a few things, visit some friends, and she’ll be back around 7PM. Sarah grabs her black handbag…
[DOOR OPEN AND CLOSES]
[FOOTSTEPS ON THE SIDEWALK]
JEFF: And heads out.
[WALKING ON ROAD]
RAY: It’s only about a half mile walk from Mrs. Miles’s house to Center Street. That’s when Sarah makes her first stop at the home of John Bulduc.
JEFF: Sarah was friends with Bulduc’s wife until Mrs. Bulduc passed away several years ago. Given she was friendly with the entire family, it wasn’t unusual for her to stop by and check on them. To the Buldoc’s, Sarah is extended family. Sometimes, if Sarah was ever nervous about walking home alone, Mr. Bulduc would escort her back to Mrs. Miles’s house. But not tonight, as Sarah has other stops to make.
[DOOR OPENS / CLOSES]
[WALKING ON STREET]
RAY: After her visit at the Bulduc home, Sarah stops by Fogg’s store. There she chats with Mrs. Fogg a little bit. She buys one small item for two cents. Shuffling through her black handbag, Sarah struggles to find the money, but eventually manages to come up with two pennies. Mrs. Fogg invites Sarah to sit and visit for a little bit, but Sarah insists she has to get home early.
[DOOR CLOSES]
RAY: It’s about 9PM when Sarah leaves Fogg’s store heading the half mile back to where she lives with Mrs. Miles. This was the last time anyone will see Sarah Ware alive again.
[ROOSTER CROWS]
JEFF: It’s Sunday morning. Sarah never came home last night. Mrs. Miles is worried. This isn’t like Sarah at all. Concerned for her safety, Mrs. Miles walks to town and spreads the word that Sarah never returned home last night. People mostly shrug, figuring she’ll turn up.
JEFF: More days pass. Folks in Bucksport have always considered Sarah Ware a little different. Some think maybe she’s gone off to some distant home to work for a few days. They’re sure she’ll come back when she’s finished.
RAY: It’s Saturday, September 23rd. Sarah has been missing for a week. That’s when Deputy Sheriff Genn catches wind of the story. He calls on Mrs. Miles immediately.
[KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK]
RAY: After hearing the details, Deputy Genn is concerned. He organizes a search party. The last person to see Sarah was Mrs. Fogg at her store around 9PM.
[GROUP OF MEN MUMBLING]
[WALKING THROUGH WOODS]
JEFF: There are only two ways to walk to the home of Mrs. Miles from the Fogg Store. The first passes over the highway, down the hill from the Fogg house, around the frog pond, and then straight to the foot of the Lane where Mrs. Miles lives. The other route passes Broadway on to the fields where you can cut across. So the search party splits into two groups and begins to trace the two routes home from Fogg’s store looking for any clues.
[WALKING THROUGH WOODS SLOW FADE]
JEFF: It’s nightfall. The search party has found nothing, and it’s getting dark.
[ROOSTER CROWS]
RAY: It’s Sunday when the group heads out to continue the search.
[WALKING THROUGH WOODS]
JEFF: Do you see anything that way?
RAY: Nope. Nothing. How about you?
JEFF Nothing.
RAY: Wait! Over here! LOOK!
[RUNNING IN WOODS]
JEFF/RAY: Ohhh no! This is awful.
RAY: We’re looking at the body of Sara Ware lying in a clump of trees. She’s clearly been decomposing for days. She’s lying kind of on her back, but leaning on her right side.
JEFF: This is gruesome! Her face bones have been broken in. And her head… this is terrible.
RAY: It is.
JEFF: Her head is barely attached to her body.
RAY: Deputy Genn measures. We’re no more than 70 feet from the lane where Sarah was heading. And maybe a third of a mile from the home of Mrs. Miles. This spot is secluded enough that no one passing by the road would see anything happening over here. If not for a search party, who knows how long Sarah’s body would have been lying here.
JEFF: Some people knew that Sarah carried a small purse under her clothes that contained her paper money. It was clear that her dress had been unbuttoned, and that purse was missing from her body. Plus, her black handbag that she had at the Fogg Store is also gone. However, Sarah didn’t have a whole lot of money. Whoever robbed and killed her, couldn’t have made off with all that much. As the men pull her body from the clump of tress…
JEFF/RAY: Ohhhh…. This is even worse!
JEFF: Sarah’s head just pulled away from her body.
RAY: There are a few working theories. One is that someone hid in a perfect spot waiting for her to walk by. Then they jumped out, struck her in the head—maybe only intending to knock her out and rob her, but the blow was so strong it killed her. Then her body was dragged further out of site and perhaps the bandit tried to cut her head off so the body wouldn’t be identified, but didn’t have the stomach to go all the way through with it.
JEFF: Another theory is that Sarah knew and trusted her killer. That maybe this person lured her to this secluded spot, robbed her, then had to kill her because she would identify them.
RAY: Police suspect that if the killer was a stranger or some drifter just passing through, then they wouldn’t have needed to dispose of the body hardly at all. Just get out of town and keep going.
JEFF: It’s terrible, but that makes sense. The conclusion is that this murderer is local, and likely still in town.
RAY: The last theory authorities are focusing on is the darkest. Sarah left Fogg’s store around 9PM. It was dark. Perhaps someone offered to walk her home. Keep in mind, everyone in town knew her. She’s been here for 20 years. Perhaps a male acquaintance offered to accompany her home. Once they got into the secluded fields, perhaps this man made a sexual advance at her. She resisted, and the man turned violent and made sure she would tell no one by killing her. Then he took her belongings to make it look like a robbery.
JEFF: It definitely sounds like Sarah knew her killer. Days go by. Police find a metal sled runner nearby that might have been a murder weapon, but can’t be certain.
RAY: As more days pass, some suspicion is turned toward a nearby neighbor named William Treworgy. Sarah had done some housework for him, as she did for several other homes in the area. Treworgy was known to have a temper. Perhaps that Saturday night she was stopping by to collect her wages, and he didn’t care to pay them, so he killed her in a fit of rage.
JEFF: Folks in town find themselves looking over their shoulders a lot. And eyeing almost every man in town… could it have been him? (BEAT) The case soon goes cold. Sarah Ware’s head and a few of her personal affects are brought to the Bucksport courthouse and placed in the evidence closet.
RAY: The rest of her body is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. She was 52 years old. Over the coming months, no new leads come in. No arrests are made. No one confesses to the heinous crime. And that brings us back to today.
[TRANSITION]
JEFF: For years after the unsolved murder, locals talked about the headless ghost of a woman haunting the area around Miles Lane, Broadway, and the surrounding woods. But also, folks who worked at the Bucksport Courthouse would also tell you Sarah haunts their building too. They had her skull in the evidence locker for many years.
RAY: Her skull was held in the courthouse building right up until 1998. After 100 years in storage, those in the courthouse figured that’s quite long enough to keep her head. On September 11, 1998, Sarah’s skull was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in town.
JEFF: Though her body found a final resting place, it seems like her spirit has not. This murder was never solved. No one was ever punished, justice was never served. That will haunt any community.
RAY: I can’t imagine living in a small town and believing one of my neighbors is a killer who has never been caught. That would shake me up big time.
JEFF: That’s how the people of Bucksport felt too. They had theories, a few suspects, but nothing close to a conviction. Until then, maybe Sarah Ware’s headless ghost will wander to remind us that we don’t always make it home alive, even in a small community like Bucksport.
[OUTTRO]
RAY: And that takes us to After the Legend where we take a deeper dive into this week’s story and sometimes veer off course.
JEFF: After the Legend is brought to you by our patreon patrons! We can’t do this without them. They’re an incredible group of insiders who get early ad-free access to new episodes, they get access to our entire archive of shows, plus bonus episodes and content that no one else gets to hear. It’s just $3 bucks per month, but it goes a long way if you get involved. To sign up, head to partreon.com/newenglandlegends.
To see some pictures related to this week’s story, click on the link in our episode description, or go to our website and click on episode 446.
Most of the crime descriptions were taken from the October 7, 1898 Bangor Weekly Commercial newspaper.
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Until next time remember… the bizarre is closer than you think.