February being Black History Month brings to mind the story of Pendy Gustus and Kezia Shiney, two Black women who over 200 years ago called Wiscasset home.

The women were servants to Moses and Abigail Carlton, two leading citizens of Wiscasset village, then a part of Pownalborough and a prospering seaport. Moses Carlton was a wealthy ship owner and for a time the richest man in town, living in a fine mansion overlooking Wiscasset village.

During one of his business trips to Boston, Moses Carlton found Pendy residing in the city’s almshouse. How Kezia found her way into the Carlton family is uncertain, although it’s possible she too may have once lived in a similar circumstance. An almshouse was where poor people went when they had no other place to go. Research compiled by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts reveals Boston’s Overseers of the Poor recorded 1,926 admissions to its almshouse from September 1795 to early 1801. Among the residents were 49 Black females during a period when Blacks constituted some 7 percent of the city’s almshouse admissions.

Before the American Revolution, the percentage of Blacks in the Boston Almshouse was about 2 percent, this being because slaves were normally cared for directly by their owners and would be admitted only in extraordinary circumstances, again according to the Colonial Society of Massachusetts website. It further notes that after the Commonwealth of Massachusetts abolished slavery in 1783, many more Black entered the Almshouse, their freedom causing many of them to become “instant paupers.”

With that said, it’s very likely Pendy and Kezia had once been slaves. Historians estimate that between 1755 and 1764, the slave population in Massachusetts was over 2 percent, with slavery for the most part being concentrated in the Commonwealth’s manufacturing and coastal towns.

These facts are relevant to our story because it was sometime during this period that Moses Carlton found young Pendy Gustus sheltering in the almshouse. We don’t know for certain whether this was the one in Boston. There were a number of almshouses in Massachusetts. All of them required able-bodied residents, young and old alike to work for receiving the Commonwealth’s charity. By my reckoning, Pendy would have been about 16 years old in 1778, but that’s just a guess.

We can learn something about Pendy’s diet while she lived in the almshouse. Surviving among historical archives is a menu from the almshouse in Beverly, Massachusetts. Breakfast there consisted of cold porridge made with milk or water. For Sunday dinner each resident received a serving of beans, or peas – baked or stewed – with or without a pudding; Monday it was Hasty pudding (cornmeal mush) and molasses; Tuesday, fresh fish, “if it could be obtained” or boiled meat with broth thickened with barley meal and potatoes; Wednesday, boiled Indian bag pudding – with or without suet “when made without suet a sauce of vinegar and molasses was served;” Thursday, salt fish and potatoes; Friday, soup or Hasty pudding with molasses; Saturday, bullock heads – shins – or other meat with potatoes.

Men, women and children of the almshouses were often bound out to work as laborers or servants to affluent private individuals. It’s not known what arrangements Moses Carlton made in obtaining the services of Pendy and Kezia. Given Carlton’s legendary reputation for generosity and kindness it’s reassuring to think the two women welcomed the opportunity to start a new life working in a wealthy household, preferring this to confinement in a workhouse.

Pendy’s journey to Maine must have been filled with wonder and anticipation. Moses Carlton owned many ships so they almost certainly sailed from Boston Harbor to Wiscasset rather than riding over land by stagecoach.

Pendy and Kezia became more than just house servants. As we’ll see, the evidence suggests over the years they earned the trust and affection of the Carlton family. Moses Carlton, the enterprising shipping merchant, had a prolific home life siring seven daughters and four sons. Moses and Abagail also adopted two orphaned children making for an even baker’s dozen of youngsters. “Aunt Kezia,” as she was fondly called by the Carlton household, had the responsibility of minding the energetic brood. As nurse maid it was her job to ensure the children were well cared for, did their lessons and followed the rules set down by Abigail and Moses. I can picture Auntie Kezia tucking the youngsters in bed telling them a bedtime story or singing a soft lullaby as she rocked a baby’s cradle.

Pendy’s responsibilities included helping manage the household. Besides making the beds, she washed the family clothes and linens, ran errands and helped prepare and serve the meals. When required, she lent a hand to Kezia helping mind the children.  

One legend passed down through the generations concerns a late night arrival of a courier carrying word the War of 1812 was over. Seeing a festive party in progress in the Carlton home, the rider spurred his stallion up the walkway, through the front door and into the mansion’s main hall. Naturally, this left the Carltons and their guests aghast. The shock proved too much for Pendy who in the excitement dropped a serving tray of the family’s crystal to the floor.

Aunt Kezia and Pendy stayed with the Carlton household the rest of their lives. As far as I know, neither one ever married. When they died, they were laid to rest in the Carlton family plot in the Ancient Cemetery. Their graves lie beside the Carlton children.

The Carlton family placed a headstone over Pendy’s grave which can be seen from the sidewalk on Federal Street. The small granite stone weathered over the ages lies just behind Moses Carlton’s grave. Carved beneath Pendy Gustus’ name is this inscription: “Faithful servant to Moses and Abigail Carlton for 60 years.” She died in 1854. Maybe you’ll agree this gesture suggests the Carltons considered Pendy was more than just a servant. I like to think they considered her and Kezia members of their family. 

Although no memorial stone can be found for Aunt Kezia Shiney, historical documentation reveals the faithful nurse to the Carlton children was buried here as well. She died in 1859, two years after Moses Carlton, at the age of 76 years and 6 months. Carlton himself lived to the age of 90, while Abigail, his wife, lived to the advanced age of 93 dying in 1856.

A special thank you to Steve Christiansen of Wiscasset for sharing historical documentation compiled in 1909 by C.A. Corliss of Bath listing burial information and plot locations within Wiscasset’s Ancient Cemetery. Other information making this article possible was obtained from William Davis Patterson’s pamphlet titled, “Old Wiscasset” published in 1931 and Fanny Chases’s historial compilation, “Wiscasset in Pownalborough,” published in 1941, and the online source previously cited.

Phil Di Vece earned a B.A. in journalism studies from Colorado State University and an M.A. in journalism at the University of South Florida. He is the author of three Wiscasset books and is a frequent news contributor to the Wiscasset Newspaper and Boothbay Register. He resides in Wiscasset. Contact him at pdivece@roadrunner.com