Located on an elevated lot, at the intersection of Madison and Higganum Roads in Durham, is the William Wadsworth House, built in 1848. Wadsworth was a farmer and a descendant of Col. James Wadsworth, one of the town’s most prominent citizens. William Wadsworth, who also served as town clerk and Justice of the Peace, sold the property to Angeline L. Scranton, although he continued to live in the house until his death in 1870. Scranton married Orrin Camp, of Oquawka, Illinois, in 1873 and sold the house before moving west. The fine Greek Revival-style house has been vacant and in a deteriorating condition for many years.
William Wadsworth House (1848)
I posted the house on Facebook asking why it was vacant…This is the reply I got from a town resident/officer.
The wife of the previous owner shot her husband when she found him cheating with her sister. She (the wife) was convicted of murder with mitigating circumstances (insanity and his adultery) and served about ten years in prison. After release she lived out her entire life as a recluse in the house and was found dead in her bed. She had been dead for six months and was mummified. The estate was slow in doing anything with the house because the seven children, all of whom supported the husband’s side could not deal with selling the home which became a popular icon for the punishment awaiting those who scorn a woman. A secret benefactor left enough money to keep the house’s property taxes paid until approximately 2050. An attorney has been appointed to control the property so the lawn gets cut etc. but no work other than picking up etc can be done to the house until 2050 when the place is to be raffled off to a resident of the town. Ghosts are said to haunt the place and bats freely enter and exit the many holes in the structure.
There is no evidence to support this tale of the wife killing her husband.