FARMINGTON — Local historian on the Abbott School for Boys Layne Nason had his fair share of ghostly encounters during his studies at the University of Maine at Farmington where he graduated in 2018.

“I tend not to see ghosts or hear ghosts; I tend to smell things from the past that I shouldn’t smell,” Nason said, as he described a fragrant aroma of apple pie that he once encountered in UMF’s Ricker Hall science building.

UMF had a home economics program that focused on sewing and cooking up until 1995. The program was housed in Ricker Hall which is now full of chemistry, biology and physics labs that prohibit any food or drinks.

“So there’s no reason Ricker Hall should smell like baked goods, baking in the oven. I smelled apple pie, baking in Ricker Hall.”

Nason also described a prevalent smell of ham baking in an oven at the Purington Residence Hall which used to house a dining room for 230 students in 1917 when the university was an all-women’s college. 

Perhaps the most memorable scent Nason picked up on was in Purington Hall in room 211, where he roomed for two years.

“I opened up the closet, and I was hit with an aroma of rose perfume from the 1920s; very strong, old lady perfume,” Nason said, as he explained that the room had been occupied by men since at least 2013. “It was very, very strong.” 

Nason’s room was also directly above the chandelier that hangs in Purington Hall’s lounge which seemed to be impossibly swaying one evening.

“The chandelier was right below where my room used to be when I lived in 211, so I had someone go up and stomp and make noise and stuff to see if it would move the chandelier,” Nason said. “Nothing. Nothing would move that chandelier. The only way that chandelier would move is if someone grabbed it and moved it, but I was the only one in the room.” 

Nason likes to surmise that the ghost of Edith, a folk legend at UMF enjoyed taunting him. The legend goes that in the 1920s, Edith had a rough breakup and became so depressed that she hung herself in Mallett Hall’s dumbwaiter shaft. Ever since, students claim Edith haunts the residence halls.

“Edith likes to pull pranks and disrupt things and show her presence. There’s a misconception that she only haunts Mallett, she also goes to Purington,” Nason said, who has lived in both residence halls. 

Nason also thinks that he may have had an encounter with the internationally famous opera singer Lillian Nordica, born in Farmington in 1857. On the third floor of UMF’s Merrill Hall, built in 1897, is Nordica Auditorium which is named after the opera singer who performed there on August 17, 1911.

Nason used to seek solace in the auditorium to play classical piano music. One late evening, Nason filled the empty room with the slow, ethereal notes of Bheetoven’s Moonlight Sonata.

“As I’m playing this song, I’m looking out into the other room and the light turned off and then on, off and then on and it kept alternating between off and on as the song picked up. It was very creepy,” Nason said. 

Rather than leave the auditorium illuminated by flickering light, Nason remained and kept playing the piano for at least ten more minutes. As someone who researches Farmington’s historical figures, Nason said that he is comforted when he has these moments that connect him with those that have passed.

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