The story of Nathaniel Morrison is a short one.  Partly because he was so young when he died and partly because there’s virtually no documentation of the young soldier left behind that makes reference to his life.  Maine Ghost Hunters tracked down what little information is available about Captain Morrison and then we took a drive out to his roadside grave site in Phippsburg, Maine with our video camera.  You can see that video on our Maine Ghost Hunters YouTube channel.

The peculiar nature of Nathaniel’s final roadside resting place has, no doubt, raised questions as to how he arrived at this peculiar place for all eternity, and the answer is a pretty intriguing one we’re eager to share with you.  The basic facts of the matter are; Nathaniel Morrison was a Captain in (very likely) the US Army who died of the flu and was buried very close to the road on Route 209 in Phippsburg, Maine. How he came to contract the flu was wholly due to an outbreak at the Cox Head garrison, where he was stationed with a good number of men local to the area.  The Cox Head garrison housed 105 men in close quarters so once the flu arrived it swept through the encampment and a number of deaths resulted, unfortunately including young Captain Morrison.

The question most people want to know is “why was be buried so close to the road?” and the answer is almost certainly “because there was no road there when he was buried”.  You see, back in 1814 when Nathaniel died, this part of the state wasn’t all that developed.  Nathaniel was from Sebasco and while there were established roads to get from the Cox Head garrison to Sebasco the amount of time it would take to traverse the length “from here to there” was discouraging to the men responsible. So, they decided to make their own – more specifically ‘direct’ – route “from here to there” and they traversed it to utter exhaustion before laying him in the ground where he still rests today.

The circumstances of the situation were personal to the men who buried him where they did, and we really want to make this clear.   Nathaniel Morrison could have been buried nearer where he died, but he was serving with a few of his local friends and they were so personally distraught over his death they insisted he be brought home to be buried.  The problems they faced when executing their plan to get him home were plenty, including an unseasonably warm spate of days, uncut wilderness and marshlands, and the ungodly number of bugs that arise from both when combined.  These young men were passionate about carrying Nathaniel Morrison’s rapidly decomposing body (due to how incredibly warm it was) to Sebasco, but the state of his condition had deteriorated so thoroughly in such a short period of time the stench became unbearable and they had to bury him where we find him today.  They chose this spot because it was “a high point” in the land and it was only discovered that his body was there, by accident when the roadway was put in.

If you’d like to go see the roadside burial site of 28 year old Captain Nathaniel Morrison of Sebasco, Maine all you have to do is take a drive on Route 209 in Phippsburg, Maine on the way to Fort Popham.