Few tales from Maine’s past are as disturbing as the story of Sarah MacDonald Ware, who was murdered in 1898 and whose battered skull remained hidden away for almost 100 years.
More than 125 years after her body was found in a dense patch of brush, Ware’s name remains tied to eerie stories of a faceless woman beneath a lake, unsettling dreams and a ghost believed to wander the town where she died.
Her injuries were so severe that, according to reports, her skull separated from her decaying body when the remains were moved.
The grisly evidence was preserved for decades before being buried in 1998. Yet although Ware’s remains were finally laid to rest, the mystery surrounding her death has never been resolved.
Marcus LiBrizzi, a professor of English at the University of Maine, says the case demonstrates how folklore can keep painful chapters of history alive long after the original witnesses are gone.
‘Ghost stories don’t simply recount memories – they can revive them and bring the past back into the present,’ he wrote in an article for The Conversation.
In LiBrizzi’s view, ghost stories are not only designed to frighten. They can also force forgotten injustices to reappear in the modern world.
‘As a ghost story, the history of Sarah Ware is not past but rather part of the here and now,’ LiBrizzi wrote.
In Bucksport, Maine, Ware supported herself by cleaning homes and accepting various odd jobs after separating from her husband, Edward. She was also raising two children.
Born in 1846 in Creignish Rear on Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island, she later married and established a family in Maine. The relationship was troubled, however, and the couple eventually parted ways.
For nearly a century, Sarah MacDonald Ware’s damaged skull was kept in a wooden box inside a Maine courthouse, a grim remnant of a killing that left investigators without answers and split opinion across the town
Rumors claimed that Ware’s spirit remained in Bucksport. During the 1980s, a woman and her daughter said they saw apparitions of a faceless figure wearing a long white dress
University of Maine English professor Marcus LiBrizzi views the case as an example of how folklore can protect painful memories long after the people connected to them have passed away
Ware vanished on September 17, 1898. Almost two weeks later, searchers discovered her body in alder bushes near Miles Lane, beginning a grim chapter that would remain embedded in Bucksport’s collective memory.
Her skull had been fractured, and the bones on one side of her face were shattered. Because the remains had badly decomposed, investigators relied on her clothing and personal belongings to confirm her identity. When the body was lifted, witnesses reportedly said the head separated from the neck.
Investigators later focused on William Treworgy, for whom Ware had worked. A hammer marked with his initials was reportedly found stained with blood, while Joseph Fogg claimed that Treworgy had asked him to help transport a body covered in canvas.
However, the state attorney general’s 1903 report said Fogg eventually recanted his story and denied his earlier statements while testifying under oath.
Treworgy faced trial in 1902 but was acquitted. The murder of Sarah Ware has never resulted in a conviction.
MORE STORY: House ‘Squad’ Could Double in Size, Source Warns of Socialist Shift
With the verdict offering no clear explanation, speculation quickly took hold. A story handed down through local families claims that Ware had been playing cards with several influential men when a drunken dispute suddenly turned violent.
In that version of events, Ware attempted to stop the confrontation but was hit in the head with a bottle. Treworgy was then allegedly paid to remove and conceal her body.
Local historian Sharon Bray has recounted this version of events, but it remains unproven.
Bucksport journalist Sharon Bray believed that Ware was beaten to death
However, local author Emeric Spooner has advanced a different explanation, suggesting Ware was collecting money owed to her and may have visited Treworgy towards the end of her rounds.
Neither account has settled the mystery.
Instead, the physical evidence remained locked away at the Hancock County Courthouse. Ware’s skull and jawbone were stored alongside her handbag, rings, two small purses, foreign coins and a green raincoat wrapped in paper and twine.
For decades, the box sat largely forgotten. Then, in 1982, courthouse staff stumbled upon it, reviving interest in the century-old crime.
For some visitors, the contents were an irresistible curiosity, former associate clerk Sandy Negrini later recalled many asking whether Sarah Ware was still at the courthouse. She would explain that it was her skull they had kept.
Other visitors were more perturbed by the findings, believing Ware haunted the building. Negrini remembered hearing stories of a ghostly presence, although she described Ware as seemingly friendly rather than frightening.
But it was the legend surrounding Silver Lake that gave the case its most chilling afterlife.
During the 1980s, a woman and her daughter reportedly began experiencing the same recurring nightmare: a long-haired woman in a long dress struggling to rise from the bottom of a lake. After investigating the local history, they came to believe the apparition was Ware.
The story became linked to a former paupers’ cemetery that was reportedly flooded during the 1930s to create a reservoir at Silver Lake.
Local lore claims that graves were left beneath the water, prompting speculation that Ware’s original burial place might still lie underwater. The claim remains unverified, and historical accounts of the cemetery’s relocation differ.
In September 1998, Ware’s skull was finally buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, a century after her death. Local researchers and community members helped arrange the service, giving the remains a dignity they had been denied while stored as evidence.
But the burial did little to silence the legends.
In 2006, another reported sighting revived the legend, a young woman scuba diving in Silver Lake allegedly saw a figure in a long dress struggling towards the surface.
As she approached, the figure’s hair drifted back through the water, revealing a faceless apparition.