HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
1804 Federal mansion on Wiscasset's High Street, traded for 100 puncheons of rum
14 High Street, Wiscasset, ME 04578
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Private residence on Wiscasset's High Street. Viewable from the public sidewalk only; the interior is not open to the public.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Village sidewalk on High Street
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1804 · Wiscasset Historic District · Federal-period shipping-era mansion · Associated with the Carlton shipping family
The Moses Carlton House was built in 1804 on High Street in Wiscasset, when the town was among the busiest seaports north of Boston. Local accounts say the new house was soon traded to shipping magnate Moses Carlton Jr. for 100 puncheons of rum, a measure of both the rum trade and the fortunes moving through the port.
Moses Carlton Jr. and his wife Abigail lived in the house for roughly fifty years. Abigail died in December 1856 at age 93, and Moses followed in January 1857 at age 90. Records note that two longtime household servants, Pendy and Kezia Shiney, women of color, were later buried with the family in Wiscasset's Ancient Cemetery.
In 1858 Alexander Johnston Jr., from another Wiscasset shipping family, bought the house. To modernize it, he had the building moved farther back from the street and extended its central section forward, giving the mansion the footprint visitors see today.
The house stands within the Wiscasset Historic District among the Federal-period mansions that survive from the town's maritime era. It remains a private residence and is included on local ghost walks for its history rather than for any public tour.
Sources
The legend attached to the Moses Carlton House is a quiet maritime one. As told by regional press and Wiscasset ghost-walk guides, the spirit of Abigail Carlton is said to remain in the house, still waiting for her husband's ship to come home to port. The image fits a town built on shipping, where wives watched the harbor for sails that did not always return.
The account is a single, often-repeated story rather than a catalog of phenomena. It is told as folklore about loss and waiting, not as a record of investigations or reported sightings, and it is one of several maritime-themed legends that local guides use to frame Wiscasset as 'the place where spirits gather.'
Because the house is a private residence, the legend is experienced from the sidewalk and on guided walks rather than inside. Visitors are asked to view the house from the street and respect the privacy of the people who live there.
Notable Entities
See the 1804 Federal mansion from the public sidewalk on Wiscasset's High Street, a row of grand shipping-era homes. The house is a stop on local ghost walks but remains a private residence with no interior access.
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