Sunday’s celebration also features hayrides, pumpkin picking, freshly pressed apple cider, a magic show, juggling and music.

Mulling over how to write a monologue that would portray Mildred Pettengill, Elizabeth Guffey knew she had to do some research.

Guffey, artistic director for the Freeport Players, pored through lots of written material at the Freeport Historical Society. She interviewed a few of the people who can remember Pettengill, the last person to live at historic Pettengill Farm in 1970.

About six weeks later, Guffey had it – the monologue portraying Pettengill in 1933, when she was in her 40s. Guffy chose Trisha Scott to read the script for “Visiting Millie,” which will be one of the many features of the 40th annual Pettengill Farm Day on Sunday, Sept. 13.

“She was just about the right age,” Guffey said of Scott. “There are some things about her that could almost pass as Mildred, and she has that spark. We’re trying to capture the flavor of what life was like for Mildred on the farm. It’s set in 1933, in the fall. She is talking about the things she would have talked about if neighbors stopped by on that day.”

Pettengill Farm Day, held on the grounds of the saltwater farm located on an estuary of the Harraseeket River, will run from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. There will be hayrides, pumpkin picking, freshly pressed apple cider, a blacksmith exhibition and a magic show, juggling and music.

The saltbox farmhouse, which lacks modern amenities, is owned and maintained by the Freeport Historical Society.

During her research, Guffey conferred with Holly Hurd, collections manager/curator at the Freeport Historical Society.

“One thing Holly and I talked extensively about in this process was the tension between what I call ‘family myths’ and historical fact,” Guffey said. “There are a few things Mildred steadfastly believed that historical records do not support. I included a couple of them in the monologue because their importance to her is the best evidence about an important aspect of her character. I also think it says something about how we all understand ourselves and our history. It’s the difference between truth and fact. There is truth in the things Mildred believed, even if they may not be facts.”

Guffey believes that Scott will be a believable Mildred Pettengill, who died in 1981 at the age of 98.

“She looks about the right age,” Guffey said. “There are some things about her that almost pass as Mildred, and she has the spark. She is talking about the things that she would have been talking about if neighbors had stopped by on that day.”

The farmhouse hadn’t changed much from the time it was built in the early 19th century to when Mildred Pettengill left it in 1970.

“She was living at the farm into her 80s without electricity or running water, and no central heat,” Hurd said. “She had a wood stove for heat.”

Charles Henry Pettengill purchased the farm and land in 1858, His son and daughter-in-law, Wallace and Adelaide, raised three children ­– Ethel, Frank, and Mildred – on the farm. Mildred was born on the farm in 1882. As a youngster she experienced loss at an early age, when her mother died in the front room of the farmhouse in 1893.

Mildred’s older sister, Ethel, who was 23 at the time of their mother’s death, took over the household chores. Ethel died three years later, leaving 13-year-old Mildred to begin a lifelong existence as the only female on the farm. Her father died in February 1925.

Pettengill Farm formed the essence of life for Millie and her brother Frank. The farm was their home and their basic source of food, and it occupied their day-to-day existence.

Scott, a longtime member of Freeport Players who lives in Falmouth, said she had to learn about Pettengill Farm and Mildred Pettengill “on the fly.”

“I didn’t know about Pettengill Farm until I got chosen for the role,” Scott said. “Elizabeth explored her life. Since then I’ve gone to Pettengill Farm a couple of times and walked around the property, and toured the house, which is really cool. That gave me a lot of insight. You can imagine that house in the winter, when they huddled around the stove in the kitchen.”

Scott said she learned more about Mildred Pettengill while touring the house.

“I found 50 empty boxes of chocolate under the floor boards in the attic,” Scott said. “She kept it under wraps. She really loved her chocolate.”

In preparing for the role, Scott has listened to some recordings of Mildred Pettengill’s voice.

“There are some challenging points,” Scott said. “She had a unique accent and she tended to be somewhat of a mumbler.”

A big crowd cavorted the unspoiled grounds of an historic Freeport saltwater farm for Pettengill Farm Day one recent year. Courtesy photoTrisha Scott, who will portray Mildred Pettengill in a monologue during Pettengill Farm Day on Sept. 13, sits on the stoop, looking out at the countryside. Sam Hunneman photo