Nearly 100 years ago, Connie Scoville Small and her husband Elson arrived at Seguin for the post of first officer Lightkeeper and wife. They came from Avery Rock light down east near Machias. They arrived by steamer with their furniture and cat ready for a new opportunity. Connie writes of her household items being pulled up the tramway and the beautiful clover and grass as she was greeted by two families with a clutch of children. Peter and I arrived June 4th on a perfect Maine day to our stay as caretakers of this wonderful spot. With no tram in order, we were fortunate to have John and young and fit Dan, FOSIL volunteers, along with Chris and Tom to help us lug our provisions, gear, and water for the beginning of our stay. The steep hill was mounted by the collective dozens of times, and Po, the leggy black dog, made the trip up and down each time.
Coming up over the rise we were greeted with the idyllic sight of the house, light, and fields of lush grass. Andrew Wyeth could not have hoped for a purer scene to paint. After an orientation of all systems mechanical and historic, the others returned to Popham on the boat with Dave at 4:00.
Connie Small writes of housekeeping in The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife. As a couple, they were responsible for the care and maintenance of the home and tower where they resided. Inspections could come at any time and early in the morning hours. A poster reads: “Good housekeeping is the key to safety. Cleanliness, order, and a place for everything are essentials of safety.” When we arrived, the Seguin house and museum needed some tending after a damp, shuttered winter. Murphy’s oil soap, the broom, and a scrub brush were all employed forthwith to spruce up the building. Outside the mowing began earnestly first down below for campers and later on top of the hill. The purple martin roosting in the bird house and garter and smooth green snakes supervised as we attacked the Sisyphusian task of cutting and raking the grass near the buildings.
Fog and windy wet on a few days made clear that not all days would be picture perfect, but the charms of ‘soft weather’ are many. Heavy winds meant our Wednesday constitutional off island had to be postponed, but in the end, there wasn’t a particularly urgent need to leave for the mainland anyway.
When discussing visitors, Connie Small mentions a throng of gill netters who arrived eager to listen to opera on her radio and an uncontrolled monkey that ransacked her bushel basket of hard-earned blueberries. We, fortunately, have been monkey free; however, a few visitors have already made their way “before season”. On our first night, a sailor who is narrating an audio book on Maine lighthouses stopped by the backdoor to welcome us to our experience. Others spanned in age from a two-month-old with pre-school siblings and Harpswell parents to college women and their dad making an annual pilgrimage via Hermit Island to delightful Popham residents out for a Sunday boat ride. Each brought good cheer and well wishes as we embark on our summer on Seguin.
