My message to Jason Hawes regarding the upcoming "Auction" of the Richardson-Arnold House

It has come to my attention that Jason Hawes, famous for his show "Ghost Hunters," has decided to start a GoFundMe to raise enough money to purchase the Richardson-Arnold House on the upcoming auction on October 31, 2025.  I sent Mr. Hawes a message on social media this morning with a sincere request that I am hoping he might consider, for the sake of historical preservation.  

Good Morning, 10/5/2025

I wanted to reach out to you because I have heard of your recent endeavor to raise funds to save the Richardson-Arnold house from the grasps of other potential owners who may further exploit and damage the history of the home. I am reaching out to you today to toss a suggestion into the ring, although I am sure you already have someone or some group in mind to manage the property if you are able to procure enough funds to purchase the home at auction on the 31st.

My request to you is to strongly consider donating the home to the Burrillville Historical and Preservation Society for proper care and management of the home. Betty Mencucci and her husband Carlo are the best suited to take on this task and those at the historical society are the ones who want to make sure the true history of the home is preserved with love and respect. It was Betty and Carlo who helped me with my fundraiser to replace Bathsheba Sherman's headstone and it is they who continue to repair and replace headstones throughout Burrillville's historic cemeteries, as well as preserving the factual history of those who have been wronged in death. I am requesting this with sincerity and hope that you would strongly consider making sure the historical society can keep this home safe and preserved for another century or more.

Pam Kenyon Cardin, my dear friend, and whose father grew up in the home, whose grandmother was born and raised in the home, and her great grandmother who lived there along with her father before that and so on and so forth, they didn't want this home to be a paranormal circus side show as it had become under the care of Jacqueline Nunez. I know that just before Pam died she was very upset with how things were going and how her family history was being told erroneously. That is why I created my blog "Deconstructing the Conjuring" and spent hundreds of hours researching the history of the home, the families who lived there and debunking false stories that have sprang up since the early 1970s. I do not want to see Pam's ancestral home continue to be treated like a amusement park -- it was a family home, where people lived and loved, and yes, some passed, but nothing nefarious ever took place on that property.

The truth of the home should be preserved and taught. Please consider my request if you are able to acquire the home. Please think of the original owners, the Richardsons, Arnolds, Butterworths and the Kenyons -- whom I know would not want their home to be treated the way it has been the last 6 years.

Thank you for your time,

J'aime Rubio, Author and Historian

Remembering Pamela Sweet Kenyon Cardin - Descendant of the Richardson-Arnold families

Pamela Sweet Kenyon
Class of '69

I have been meaning to write a post about my friend Pam for some time now. Honestly, it's been very difficult for me to find the words to share with the world just what a wonderful and true friend she was to me. I hope that by reading this post about my dear friend, that you will get to see just what a kind and caring person she was, and how much her family history meant to her.

First off, I didn't meet Pam until after I had done my research into the Conjuring House, debunking the false lore surrounding Bathsheba Sherman. In fact, I recall when I first met Norma Sutcliffe over 10 years ago, after she had provided me with information regarding the house, a few of the notes from Norma was email correspondence between herself and Pam.

Of course at that time I didn't want to just write her out of the blue and ask her questions, when I was literally a stranger. So, one day when I happened to be commenting on a Facebook post about the false history surrounding the Conjuring House, I noticed Pam had commented, too. I immediately took the opportunity to introduce myself and share with her my interest in sharing the truth about the house, which happened to be her ancestral home. We immediately hit it off, and became good friends shortly thereafter.

It was amazing to keep in touch with her for the few years that I knew her, getting to hear first hand about her memories at her grandparent's home, her research of her family genealogy and other stories surrounding the property and Burrillville itself, not to mention her family's opinion of the Perron family. With Pam's blessing, I started this blog "Deconstructing The Conjuring," to share the history to the best of my ability surrounding the genealogy of the families that lived on the farm, the history of the house itself, the stories of different owners who have lived there over the years, and everything else associated with the property, such as the false story behind Bathsheba Sherman.  My hope with this blog, which is a work-in-progress, was to share factual research surrounding this subject with the help of Pam, of course.

Over the time that we communicated, it was obvious she suffered from multiple health problems as she shared that she had developed Type 1 Diabetes in her early 50s, survived a diabetic coma, and was also breast cancer survivor, too. It was clear that Pam was a survivor, not a quitter; So, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine she would be taken from this earth so quickly. I have been very broken up about the loss of my friend for some time now, and that is one reason why I hadn't posted about her until today. 

Pamela Sweet Kenyon was born on July 8, 1951 in Harrisville, Rhode Island, to parents Earl Kenyon, Jr., and Marjorie Sweet Kenyon. Her grandparents, Sarah Butterworth and Earl Kenyon, Sr., owned and lived in the house on Round Top Road, where Pam's father also grew up. As a child Pam used to stay over at her grandparent's home and she loved visiting the farmhouse, and learning about her family history from her grandmother. 

Interestingly, Pam's ancestry on both sides were pioneer families local to the area. Not only did she descend from the Butterworth/Arnold/Richardson families who owned the farm the longest, but her mother's side of the family, the Sweet's, were also very well known throughout Burrillville/Harrisville area historically. Pamela attended school in town and was a graduate of Burrilville High School, class of '69. 

Pam is sitting on the 2nd row, 2nd seat (middle of photo) 

She also attended college and became an English teacher, and later on an Special Education teacher and she also along with her cousin, Joyce Remington McKenna studied to be a certified genealogist. She married Rick Cardin, and had daughter, Rhiannon (b. 1982) and son, Brian (b. 1984).  Pam loved her children so very much, and she often told me how difficult life was for her after losing her son, who passed away suddenly after an illness.

Besides the love she had for her family, Pam absolutely loved animals. If you knew her on social media, you would see she would often post about dogs and cats and her love for them, especially horses! She was big on horse riding when she was younger, and even rode in horse shows. She shared a photo of herself when she was child stating: 

"My two steadfast best buddies for most of my childhood -- Dusty, the pony with the iron mouth  and Rover, my father's collie who was my protector throughout most of my childhood. One vet thought Dusty was about 40 when he died. He was blind in one eye but that didn't stop him at all."--

It was clear by Pam's interest, she had a kind soul, but she also had an undying passion for history of her hometown.  As one of the founding members of the Burrillville Historical Society, Pam named their newsletter "The Historian," when she was the editor between 1982-1998. She also acted as secretary to the historical society for a time as well. 

Per Betty at the Historical Society, and their March 2024, "The Historian" newsletter, "Pam was always generous; she donated part of the former Sweet's Hill property to the Society to sell in order to raise (much-needed) funds. It was sold for about $9,000 to DEM and is now part of Black Hut Management Area. Early in 2008, Pam sold her house on Sweet's Hill and moved to Florida. Before she left, she let the Society scan her entire collection of Sweet's Hill photos and donated artifacts from the farm and several large framed photos. She also donated a whole room full of books which started out tradition of having book sales."--

In one of our email exchanges to one another Pam mentioned to me that although she was living in the south, the south was just not for her. She missed her home, and the only place she really considered home was Rhode Island. She often commented on her memories of living up there and wished she was back there, back to that time period, back to that place. It was obvious that the best memories of her life were in Burrillville, and her heart ached because of it. 

I never found out what exactly happened, as I knew she had taken a bad fall in November of 2023, and after that she stopped posting on social media and I never heard from her, and she never responded to any of my emails or letters. Eventually, I got the news no one ever wants to hear, that she had passed away in December of 2023.  

I wanted to honor her on this blog, since she was the inspiration for me to create it in the first place. I had already debunked the nonsense surrounding Bathsheba Sherman's false history that the Warrens and Perron family have perpetuated in the film, "The Conjuring," and the books "House of Darkness, House of Light," but with Pam, we were going to delve even deeper into the history of the home, the history of the families who lived there and expose the truth for the world to see -- that this house is just an old farm house that several families considered "Home Sweet Home," just the way Pam saw it.

Rest In Peace My Friend. --

Courtesy: Burrillville Historical Society

(Copyright 2025- J'aime Rubio www.jaimerubiowriter.com) 

Animosity Continues to Brew Between Former Owners of the Conjuring House

 

So, a little over a month ago, I was watching my friend the "Side Eye Guy's" video on "The Boys at the Conjuring House." I just so happened to make a comment on the video when lo and behold, former Conjuring House owner, Corey Heinzen jumps on to argue with me. It seems that every time I am mentioned on Youtube regarding the history of the Richardson-Arnold house (aka the Conjuring House) or even when I just comment on a video relating to the subject, Corey shows up out of nowhere with something to say. Because I have been dealing with some health issues this year, I haven't been online as much as I have been in the past, especially within the last month, so I didn't really have a chance to reply in detail. So, it’s a little late today, but better late than never.

Today, I will be addressing his original comments as well as touching on the animosity that continues to brew between former owner Norma Sutcliffe and Corey Heinzen, which is all based on alleged dishonesty and unethical behavior on the part of Heinzen at the time of purchasing the property from Sutcliffe.

Although a lot of people out there think the Heinzen's are nice people, my personal experiences with them from the very beginning have been anything but nice. In fact, after finding out about them purchasing the property back in 2019, I reached out to them via snail mail with a letter sincerely asking them to preserve the factual history of the home and not to jump on the bandwagon with all of the paranormal groups perpetuating the false lore that has been spread for many years. I also provided them with a copy of some of my thorough research debunking Bathsheba Sherman's false attachment to the home's history, as well as debunking several false claims about deaths at the home claimed in Andrea Perron's books, so they couldn't say they weren't aware of the facts.  I was immediately met with a threatening message from their friend, Bill Brock on Facebook on July 27, 2019, which showed that someone had taken a sharpie and wrote the expletive “Fuck Off!” on my letter that I had sent to the Heinzen's.

I actually spoke to someone who was there at the house when this event took place and this person told me that he saw when Bill Brock took my letter and sent this and that Corey Heinzen was okay with it, despite Corey's email to me on August 1, 2019  claiming he had no idea that Bill had done that. 

But going back to the video on SEG's channel last month, this blog will be to set some information straight so that the public will actually have a chance to know Norma's side of the story, not just a one-sided story by the Heinzen's.

In Corey’s comment to me he states: “So why was Norma on Ghost Hunters, Season 2, Episode 2? Or better yet, why does she talk about it with Andrea Perron on countless videos?”  Then he goes on to ask: “Strange, it didn’t stop her from having other teams in to investigate? Or having her “tea time with the spirits”? Or talking to her former staff at the daycare about the ghosts? Would you like for me to continue? I honestly don’t think you were given the complete story by her.”

Originally my first response to Corey on the Youtube thread was this: 

"First and foremost G.H. Season 2 was filmed between 2005 and 2006. When Norma bought the house she was told a previous family claimed that the house was haunted. She found it interesting even though she was more skeptical than a believer. The Perron's, upon meeting Norma made vague claims about the house in the beginning. It wasn't until years later that Andrea started showing up at the house wanting to share stories with Norma. (Some of which were recorded). At that point Norma didn't know a lot about the history of the house and so Andrea made claims and Norma politely listened. One of Norma's friends talked her into doing the G.H. episode hoping to debunk the rumors. She regretted it later. After Norma started researching the facts about the house she saw that all the so-called " history" Andrea had tried to spread wasn't based on documented facts and Norma even tried to confront Andrea at a local Paracon. That was when Andrea got upset, screamed at her and ran off stage because someone had called her out on her over embellishments. So there you go....."--- --- 

Going back to all the questions coming from Corey on the Youtube video's comment thread, I decided to go straight to the source and reach out to Norma myself for her answers to provide to the public. But first, my question to Corey is how do you live with yourself knowing you tricked an elderly lady, a widow nonetheless, into selling her property to you under the guise you were going to use the property for people and/or children with disabilities and animal therapy? When Norma was told that the house would be in no way used for anything paranormal, and yet the ink hadn’t even dried on the property sales documents, and you were already planning paranormal business on the property.

NORMA’S ANSWERS: 

"Hi. To answer the questions, the only reason I did the Ghost Hunters show was out of sheer curiosity to see what they would claim, long before the movie or the return of Andrea to the farm.  Also, the only other group I had allowed in the home to investigate was Keith Johnson because they called me.  Seeing that he was the original investigator, both groups came because I was very interested in what they would claim, none of which used critical thinking, as Kent Spottswood and I did. 

Why would I speak about facts if I wanted to believe or to make claims about having ghosts? They just used Perron's claims, and Johnson made the same claims in his book without an investigation into the facts.  I never said I believed in the paranormal. Even during the filming of the show.  At the end I said it was “interesting” and would have this to show in the future.  If I wanted that attention I would have done my own ghost tours.  People will believe what they want….. no matter what evidence is given.  The hard evidence against Perron’s claims is at the library and town hall and all the lies about who died at the farm.   I confronted her (Andrea Perron) at the paranormal event in Harrisville in front of her followers and I was booed and told to leave."--

Regarding Operating a Daycare and “Tea Parties”:

"I operated the first group home day care in the state.  I was part of the development of home day care rules and began the home day care association in Rhode Island.  I never told the staff of my daycare that I believed in ghosts. I told them about the Perron claims.  We joked at times about ghosts but only jokingly.  Also, I never spoke of the claims at my tea parties.  I was given a lot of publicity for my “teas.”  In national magazines, local magazines, the news and on local radio and I never mentioned any ghost claims.   Also, my daycare was in Rhode Island Monthly and on the TV news as a great example of childcare in Rhode Island. 

I spoke of visits from the Perron family and Warren’s visit.  May I remind everyone that the Warrens said the Perron family were the most dysfunctional family they had ever met.  The Warren’s told the children their mother was possessed and never to play with Ouija board.  Never had any issues. I was well respected. Licensed in 1975.  Retired. 2012, at age 62. My daycare was unusual because I had sheep, horses, a dog and cats.  Long walks in woods on trails, swimming in the brook, sledding on the hill, etc.   I also did cooking workshops and was featured in many magazines for that.   I was well known in town, and I never received a complaint by any parent."---

Regarding the alleged drawings of the "Crooked-Neck Lady" that was revealed after the Heinzen's purchased the home: 

"There were never drawings in the house like that.  No children ever went to the basement. I saw a photo of  the drawing; they claimed it looked like it was inside door of white cabinet in cellar." --  According to Norma, this drawing was placed after the home was sold, and did not exist prior to her selling the house.     

Regarding the sale of the house and the many items Norma left in the house (antiques):

"Corey lied about his intentions and the neighbors and town were infuriated about it.  They knew me and my husband, how we fully restored the house and farm buildings.  Another lie claimed by Cory that he had to restore the house.

Corey and Roxanne claimed their intention was to open a farm for special needs children with animals. Roxanne was to raise funds having afternoon tea.  Right after closing, Corey forced Roxanne out.  I confronted Corey of their intentions of purchasing the house if it were due to the movie, he just said nothing but moved his head "No."  

Well, Corey lied to me about his intentions. I confronted him about exploiting the farm, he never admitted to his plan.  If he had, I would not have sold it to him.

Roxanne was the main person I spoke to throughout the days before closing.  She was the partner who told me the intentions they had planned.  She did the walk through.  I only saw Corey twice, at the initial meeting and one more time without Jennifer.   We never discussed why I was leaving.  Only asked Roxanne what she would like if I left items.  She was the one who showed the most interest in the books the other items.  During the walkthrough I had to schedule another clean out but Roxanne said don’t bother.  She would do it.  So, I told her what items I was going to leave.  

I had a dealer come who I had hoped would take all antiques I left but did not want large items.  So, I told Roxanne that I would leave big pieces since they belonged in the house. And she had shown great interest in books and large tables; I never discussed anything with Corey.  Except I said to him directly that I assume you do not have plans to exploit this home because of movie. He said nothing.  I went on to say because not only would I be angry, but the neighbors would retaliate.     

Never talked to either Jennifer or Corey about items in the house. That is why I signed a document describing items I left for Roxanne.   She was at the closing sitting right next to Cory.  Next day Corey told her she was out.   She had a key I gave her.  She went back to the house and took whatever she could handle and got a lawyer.   She has emails I believe discussing with Corey the terms of plan once the purchase went through.

This all began with Cory Heinzen’s lies.  Had I known, I would never have sold it to them.  Who would buy the farm now?   I had wished someone would have loved it for its own beauty and peacefulness."---     

What Norma has to say to those continuing to spread false information about the history of the home:

“You are all destroying truth and have no real evidence. So, if you claim the house is so obviously haunted, then get the real scientists and skeptics in to do the research.   But you don’t dare!"--   

In ending, as you can see from Norma's side of things, she has reasonable explanations for her side of the story. There are always two sides to a story, and Norma really hasn't been at the forefront lately stating her side of the story to the public, so unfortunately it's the attention whores who want to remain relevant in the paranormal field that keep spouting out their nonsense without actually stating the truth. Please use critical thinking and common sense to sift between the bullshit and the truth, and come to your own educated and informed opinion.

---- 

(copyright 2025 -- J'aime Rubio -- www.jaimerubiowriter.com) 

Bathsheba Sherman Gets A New Headstone

 

On August 30, 2024, we finally reached our goal to replace Bathsheba Sherman's headstone by seeing it all the way through, and having it finally replaced. I have to thank Betty and Carlo Mencucci for making this possible with their efforts throughout the last 4 years as well as Ocean State Monuments for doing a phenomenal job of replicating Bathsheba's headstone to the best of their ability given the type of stone and size. 

I posted the following post below on both Facebook and Instagram the day it was revealed, which quickly went viral. In fact, when Jason Hawes shared it, that led to over 200,000 views on that one post alone, so that was pretty amazing!

Photo: Elise Giammarco Carlson

"Yesterday, on August 30th, 2024, the Burrillville Historical and Preservation Society, c/o Betty and Carlo Mencucci, gave Bathsheba Sherman back the dignity she's so much deserved. A new headstone was finally placed a few feet behind the original base of her original headstone.

The innocent woman who was posthumously slandered by many people, some living still and some who have already passed on, has now been truly vindicated by having her headstone restored. This has been a long time coming. It's taken a lot of work and I'm so grateful to everyone who helped in this effort.

Thank you to everyone who donated, shared the links to the fundraiser, and who raised awareness of the truth about Bathsheba. That she was an innocent victim in all of this, and that "The Conjuring" film, and the book "House of Darkness, House of Light," made her out to be someone she was not.

For many years, her headstone lay there in the cemetery, broken, because of ignorant people who believed the fabricated lies about her that were literally conjured up in the 1970's.

There have been many people ( para celebrities) who claimed that they wanted to help, but yet during the time that we were raising the funds they were MIA. I will not be forgetting that. However, there were some people who stepped up to the plate and helped and I won't be forgetting them either.

In the end, it was the average person like you and I that made the difference. And now Bathsheba will have the final resting place and peace she so much deserves. (Photo Credit: Elise Carlson)"

@followers
#justiceforBathsheba #BathshebaShermansVindication #BurrillvilleHistory #TheConjuringWasALie #storiesoftheforgotten #jaimerubiowriter #newheadstoneforBathsheba

----

Fundraising Efforts Met

Several years ago, I had reached out to Betty at the Burrillville Historical & Preservation Society and asked if there was anything I could do to help Bathsheba get her headstone repaired. It was determined that the stone was damaged beyond repair and the original remaining pieces of the stone had to be put in permanent storage for its own preservation. I had reached out to some of the people  who I had spoken to over the years who happened to be related in one way or another to Bathsheba or her husband, Judson, and I had hoped to get her family involved to replace her headstone. 

Unfortunately, that met a dead end and even though I had reached out to various relatives, the historical society never heard from them to initiate a replacement. So then I started thinking about raising the funds myself, but I wanted to make sure it was done the right way. I wanted to make sure that everyone knew it was on the level and so I started a GoFundMe with the Burrillville Historical and Preservation Society listed as the beneficiaries, so that the public would see that I would not be the one collecting any money, it would all go directly to the historical society for Bathsheba.

Once Betty was on board, I got it started, and eventually Kerry Hopkins joined the team and the three of us managed the GoFundMe fundraiser online. 

I went and made a list of people within the paranormal field and reached out to them one by one individually. I contacted so many people asking for any help they could give be it a monetary contribution or even just sharing the link on their social media platforms since I know they all have a lot of followers, and we could get the word out much easier that we were doing something positive within the historical and paranormal community. 

What was the outcome? 

Out of all of the para-celebrities that I contacted, only a handful made a donation: Richard Estep, Penny Griffiths Morgan and Troy Taylor. Kenny Biddle, who is also part of the paranormal field but also on the skeptical side of things, also contributed to the fundraiser by sharing our link multiple times and reaching out to his followers. Biddle's added research and articles on the Skeptical Inquirer, as well as youtube live streams involving information regarding Bathsheba and the Conjuring House has also proved invaluable over the years.

Thankfully there were quite a bit of people within the paranormal community and historical community who kindly shared the link, regardless of whether or not they donated. For that, I am very appreciative. I also just learned yesterday evening that paranormal content creator, Amanda Millette, who goes by the pseudonym @spooky.new.england had also contributed to the fundraiser. 

There were others who donated such as Marcee Brightenstine, an author and historical investigative writer, Peter Meyerhoff, an experienced historian, and of course Tina Spottswood, the widow of the late, great Kent Spottswood. Without his invaluable research we would not know as much as we do about Bathsheba, as he was the first to debunk the "fakelore" as my friend Shannon Bradley Byers would put it. The world owes Kent a debt of gratitude for scouring through the archives years before the average person had a real clue of just who Bathsheba Sherman was. 

When it came to the "paranormal celebrities" I had contacted, very few replied to my message, most of them ignored me all together, and one had an excuse why he couldn't share the post -- not even bringing up the donation side of things. I was thankful for any reply but obviously disappointed that he couldn't even take the time to share the post. 

Sadly, there were several who had actually made money off of filming at the farmhouse, by doing television programs or having events there for one reason or another, who never reached out to us, and never donated or shared the link -- yet on film or in social media posts they claim that they cared so much about Bathsheba and wanted her to get a new headstone. Really? Then why didn't you help us? 

Again, money or not, the post could have been shared if they truly wanted to help our cause, but they ignored it. One perfect example was when I had reached out to a producer of a hit television paranormal series (that is now cancelled), and he had told me he would share my link to his two stars of his show, and I also reached out to both of them individually as well. Neither one replied, neither one shared the link, and neither one donated in any way. 

Again, I learned a lot during this time --- who actually cares about the dead, and who pretend to care on camera or social media so they can stay relevant and keep making money. That is a lesson a lot of you might want to pay attention to. Just because these paranormal people go on television and profess to care so much about helping share the truth about the dead, when it comes down to it, some of them are not really willing to go that extra mile to actually right those wrongs when given an opportunity to do so. 

I also wanted to touch on another habit that I noticed with a lot of fundraisers once they have reached their goal. A lot of times people will come out of the woodwork claiming they raised money for the cause, to make themselves look like they were involved when they weren't. 

In an interview recently with Dave Schrader, Andrea Perron mentioned the replacement of the stone and although she doesn't outright claim to have been involved, it's the way she mentioned it, even mentioning the costs to complete the job, that would leave the average person believing or assuming she was involved in some way. 

She wasn't. 

Besides the GoFundMe fundraiser I started, the Burrillville Historical and Preservation Society had one cemetery history tour event back in 2022, where they had asked for donations towards replacing Bathsheba's headstone, but that was the only time to my knowledge that donations towards her headstone were accepted outside of the Gofundme fundraiser online.

Did they? Or Didn't They?

After a filming of an episode of "Kindred Spirits" at the farmhouse for The Travel Channel; (Season 4; Episode 2; "Hell House"; Air Date: January 10, 2020), which I had previously provided producer James Gagliano my historical research on not only Bathsheba Sherman but also the history of the home prior to their filming,  I had learned there had been a screening of that episode there at the farmhouse with the owners, the stars of the show Amy Bruni and Adam Berry, and some members of the Historical Society. 

In a post going way back to 2020, after learning that I was planning a fundraiser to replace Bathsheba's headstone, Adam Berry had mentioned he was happy that "more than one group of people  are raising funds for the historical society!!" 

Then one of the former owners, Jennifer Heinzen, made a comment on social media this year, just after Bathsheba's headstone was finally replaced, claiming they had raised $550.00 for Bathsheba's headstone in 2020, which I believe was the same time of the screening the Kindred Spirits episode, given the photograph below. 

However, according to Betty Mencucci at the Burrillville Historical and Preservation Society when we spoke back on February 2, 2022, there were no funds raised for Bathsheba Sherman's headstone at that time. That was why I had started a fundraiser to begin with, because no one else had. I had been thinking about it for years.

In fact, Betty stated to me by correspondance: "When Kindred Spirits did their filming they said they would be happy to come back and do a fundraiser. Then Covid happened and everything stopped."

If any money was raised that evening in 2020, it became a donation towards the historical society itself, not any one specific cause. That must be clarified to the public.

For the record, the listed people below are the ONLY people to donate to replace Bathsheba Sherman's headstone via the GoFundMe fundraiser. These people below are the ones who made it happen, and they all deserve to be thanked publicly. 

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US, HELP BATHSHEBA SHERMAN! 

LIST OF DONORS: 

1. Tina Spottswood (widow of Kent Spottswood, the original historian to debunk Bathsheba Sherman's false history) $25.00
2. Penny Griffiths Morgan $5.00 
3. Andy Dimitras $5.00
4. Peter Meyerhof $50.00  
5. Troy Taylor $40.00  
6. Donna Wolk $20.00
7. James David $20.00
8. Richard Estep $40.00 
9. Jennifer Sprague $10.00
10. Karen Carothers $10.00
11. Angela Haklar $ 10.00
12. Patricia Austin $10.00
13. Shari Cain $10.00
14. Jennifer Campbell $20.00
15. Lisa Krick $ 20.00
16. Leanna Tallet Leanna $20.00
17. Anonymous * 20.00
18. Christina Quentin $25.00
19. Ileata Kenley $25.00
20. J'aime Rubio $100.00 
21. Dora Huber $ 25.00
22. Kandy Sumpter $25.00
23. Chelsea Hartupee $25.00
24. Judy Lucas $40.00
25. Anonymous *$10.00
26. Rikki Suen $10.00
27. Dayle Dooley $ 20.00
28. Anonymous *$5.00
29. Daniel Echt $25.00
30. Susan Doughty $10.00
31. Amanda Millette $20.00 
32. Jessi K $5.00
33. Johnelle Bergeron $ 20.00
34. Anonymous * 20.00
35. Marcee Brightenstine $25.00  
36. Anonymous * $10.00
37. Jillian Auffinger $10.00
38. Mikayla McKivergan $ 50.00
39. Gregory Duhamel $20.00 
40. Anonymous* $15.00
41. Rebecca Bonin $20.00
42. Crystal Pesaturo $50.00
43. Jacqueline Nunez $1,200.00 
44. Summer Paradis $50.00
45. Tanya Gilroy $10.00
46. Brooke Coen $5.00
47. Bonnie Pulver $ 25.00
48. Donald LaCroix $50.00
49. William Bryan $ 10.00
50. Ashley Dupont $ 5.00
51. Anonymous * $10.00
52. Elizabeth Thornton $ 20.00
53. Ken Krippeler $ 35.00

TOTAL FUNDS RAISED: $ 2,365.00

Last but not least, for the record, no one involved with the Warren's or N.E.S.P.R., nor any members of the Perron family have donated a single penny towards this fundraiser to replace Bathsheba's headstone. That should speak volumes to the world. The two families who benefited the most financially, besides James Wan and Warner Bros., didn't have anything to do with helping right one of  the most egregious wrongs done to Bathsheba posthumously. Not to mention the fact both of these families, the Warren's and the Perron's are actually the ones to blame for the start of all of this madness to begin with.  I don't think I need to even say another word about that. 

Current owner of the Richardson-Arnold farmhouse, Jacqueline Nunez's contribution shortly after purchasing the property was a large amount that put our fundraiser past its original goal.  Although it's unfortunate with the recent turn of events taking place at the farmhouse, and all the unnecessary drama going on which takes away from the historical integrity of the property, (which I do not approve of in any way), we did appreciate her generosity donating when she did.

Although there were dozens upon dozens of people who have used and exploited the "Conjuring" story and Bathsheba Sherman for their own financial gain and to promote their celebrity status, there are still good people out there who want to tell the truth, regardless of money or fame. Those are the people who keep sharing her true story, those are the people who donated to this fundraiser. Those are the people who made the difference. THANK YOU! 

Rest in Peace, Bathsheba -- from the people who really, truly care about you and getting your story correct, and respecting your final resting place. You will never be forgotten. 

(Copyright- 2024 -- www.jaimerubiowriter.com) 

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Experienced Archaeologist Sets The Facts Straight About Alleged Burials At The Conjuring House

 

In the last few years, since Norma Sutcliffe sold the Richardson-Arnold House (and surrounding property) in 2019, there have been some insinuations by both the Heinzens and the new owner, Jacqueline Nunez making claims about human burials of people on the property. 

Thanks to the amazing work of Historian, Elise Giammarco Carlson, who has discovered a vintage 1939 aerial view of the farm (you can view the original maps on this site), she has confirmed with photographic evidence that some areas that have more recently been alleged to be the site of burials were actually sites of previous foundations for out buildings that were used for the farm. 

You have to remember, this was a farm, it had animals and it had other buildings, sheds, barns, etc., to house those animals at different times. So, besides Elise's amazing discovery, we also have first hand knowledge by someone whose family owned the property for over 200 years, Pam Kenyon-Cardin. 

According to my interviews with Pam back in 2023,  "The Arnold’s are buried (most of them) in the Arnold cemetery which is out in the woods at the corner of Sherman Farm Road and Brook Road about 3 to 5 miles from the house. There are Richardson cemeteries all over. Many in Massachusetts. I can pretty much account for all the burials that occurred in Burrillville. Like I said, the Arnold’s were a huge family and all related one way or another. There were a lot of them in nearby Massachusetts.

My great grandmother had cows so it’s probably Bessie. It could also be a dog, a horse, or the rooster my father hated because it would chase him. He wasn’t very old at the time but he never forgot it. When I left my home in R.I. I left the graves of my horses, too. Come to think of it, Uncle Freemont Arnold had a horse. They might be disappointed but they shouldn’t be surprised. It was a farm!"--

Besides consulting with Pam and Elise, I decided to reach out to an archeologist with experience in the field of Ground Penetrating Radar at burial sites, Dr. Robyn Lacy.  I discovered Dr. Lacy while doing my own research on GPR. Dr. According to her website, Dr. Lacy's research is focused primarily on "burial landscapes and community burial organization in the 17th century North America." In fact, she has a PhD in Historical Archaeology and is considered an archaeologist, death scholar and burial ground conservator. 

After reaching out to her and explaining the situation she provided me with the following professional opinion:

"Unless the visibility is really good and you can roughly tell the size of the burials, it is going to be extremely difficult to tell whether anomalies underground are for humans or animals. If it's a human vs a horse, you might have a better chance of comparing them, but something like a pig or goat vs a person's grave would appear relatively similar. If the potential human graves in question are a few hundred years old, they might not even have been buried in coffins, but might have just been shrouded instead....

Basically, there isn't a good way to confirm that they are animal graves or human graves without exhuming them, which would have to be done by an archaeologist under permit in case they are actually human. If family members of the original property owners are telling you that they are animals, and they remember animals being buried in that area, then I would be inclined to believe that, especially with the confirmation of subsurface anomalies identified using GPR....

I wouldn't expect those GPR anomalies to be human burials, especially with the family's oral history of having buried farm animals in that area. If they do want to do excavations and expect human remains, they'd have to have an archaeologist so those burials are probably pretty safe."-- 

So there you have it folks. Besides the spots that have been determined to have previously been structures on the property, the other questionable anomalies discovered are very unlikely to be anything but farm animals who passed away and their owners gave them the respect everyone deserves, a burial to rest in peace. 

In the future, instead of jumping to wild conclusions people should really try to use logic and find the most rational explanation before assuming the worst. This was a family farm for over 200 years. It would be illogical not to believe that animals were buried on the property. Where else would their bones have gone? 

(Copyright 2024- J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com) 

Thank you to Dr. Robyn Lacy, Elise Giammarco Carlson, Pamela Kenyon (RIP) and The University of Rhode Island Environmental Data Center.

The Conjuring House's Connection To The Legend of the Burrillville Giant

 

There have been legends of large skeleton's being unearthed all over the country for over a century. From the stories of giants remains found in caves in Lovelock, Nevada, to other stories of gargantuan skeletons found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. 

Even an 1892, edition of the Burrillville Gazette mentioned a giant skeleton, over nine feet tall had been discovered in Palermo, Sicily back in the 16th century, and a Native American skeleton unearthed near Antietam in 1897, which made news headlines at the time, too. These stories intrigue and mystify us all. 

There are even stories that date back to the 1800's in Burrillville about a giant man whose remains were found buried under the house of a local resident. 

According to Horace Keach's book, "Burrillville: As It Was, As It Is," published all the way back in 1856, he mentions this alleged giant and another name caught my attention. 

"A few years ago a discovery was made by one of our citizens which reveals the physical character of those with whom our ancestors had to contend. In 1836, Capt. Samuel White, in excavating beneath his wood house, found the remains of a human skeleton of proportions altogether unlike our moder inhabitants.

He called several neighbors to view it, and among them was Doct. Levi Eddy. The body was lying upon the side, with arms folded, head bent forward, and the knees drawn upward. It was exhumed, the bones were put together, and all parties were surprised at its gigantic height. After surveying it awhile the Doctor exlaimed, "He was a bouncer! he must have been as much as eight feet high!"

The author speculated on whether or not this was bones of some ancient Native American. but as he ends that story, "Tradition is silent, echo has no answer."  

Were they ancient native bones? Or could they have been the bones of earlier, larger inhabitants, possibly even ancient ancestors of the norsemen who were said to have explored North America long before anyone else from the European continent? Without the bones to examine, which seem to have been lost to the annals of time, we may never truly know for certain.

What we do know:

Samuel White was about 55 years old when he uncovered the remains of this mystery giant while digging under his home. Why was he digging? The only information given was that he was "excavating" under his home. Perhaps to work on his cellar?  

His neighbor, Doctor Levi Eddy was 61 years old at the time that he examined the alleged remains. I tend to believe this story, only because Doctor Eddy was a prominent figure in the area at the time. I don't believe he would have put his reputation on the line to push a false story for some publicity or fame.  

The connection this event has with the Richardson-Arnold house is simple. Doctor Levi Eddy was the father of Sally Margery Eddy Arnold, the wife of Stephan Arnold. Stephan would have inherited the farm sometime after his father, John Arnold passed away in 1837.  

Although nobody involved in this "giant" incident was living at the farmhouse, and Doctor Eddy certainly didn't live there at any point in time, it is still a fun fact to share, as it did happen in Burrillville.

Yes, there is a connection between the giant skeleton and the house via the Eddy family. Was that supernatural? No. Was that historical? Yes! 

(Copyright, 2024 -- J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com) 

Norma Sets the Record Straight Regarding Nancy and Cindy's Trip Back to the Farmhouse

 

Back in 2016, when Harrisville hosted the Ocean State Paracon, Andrea, Nancy and Roger appeared before the crowd as a panel of speakers to discuss experiences at the house on Round Top Road. In a segment the Youtube channel that aired this interview dubbed "When They Touch You," Nancy relates her story of when she and her sister, Cindy, decided to drive up to the old farmhouse for a trip down memory lane.

"When they touch you," Nancy started, "It becomes a whole new ball game. You have a vested interest in them, you become almost a part of them. It happened to me, it happened to my sister, Cindy, and I'll never forget it. Not for the rest of my life, I will never forget it. When they touched my face and they touched my hair and they said to us, 'Oh my God, it's you! You're back!'

This is when my sister Cindy & I went to visit after we had moved. It was approximately five years later. 

(Andrea leans in and interrupts - whispers something to Nancy)

Nancy responds, "Well, I don't remember what year it was, all I know is that Cindy and I one day decided we're going to go back and visit and so we headed up to Harrisville and we knocked on the door, and Mrs. Sutcliffe answered the door, and she said apparently she had some things to do, but she was so interested in having us there, that she decided to, you know, to give us a little bit of time to go in and see the house. 

She had a lot of questions for us, and my sister, Cindy and I, we went from what was the wood shed into the summer kitchen and we walked into the house and all of a sudden, imagine yourself inside a balloon. And the balloon is blown up around you and the air pressure is very intense. They began touching my hair very gently, and touching my face and began saying, "Oh my God, it's you! You're back!"

Mrs. Sutcliffe said to us, "Something is happening to you right now, isn't it?" and I was embarrassed and I said "no." But I could hear my sister Cindy say "yes." I didn't realize that she was in that so-called balloon with me. And Mrs. Sutcliffe told us at that point that she had been experiencing some paranormal activity in the house. Her husband had also been experiencing things, and friends of her who had come to visit and stay overnight who were also experiencing some things, and she gave us a tour of the house. 

She asked us several questions, about, an example that was "where was your mother's bedroom?"

And we told her what room it was, and she said "okay, now that makes a lot of sense, we've had a lot of trouble with this room." And that's where the spirit had appeared to my mother and threatened her."---  Nancy's interview, 2016, Ocean State Paracon. 

(to watch this interview please click here)

According to Norma Sutcliffe, who was the owner at the time of Nancy and Cindy's impromptu visit, the story was a little different. It was the late 1980's, about a year after Norma first met Andrea and Carolyn, when she got a knock on her door.

"One of them was Nancy," Norma explained. The other sister's name had slipped her mind. "They came in and were like, "Oh my God! this is so beautiful! If you are going to sell it, please, we want to buy it back!"

Norma recalled that she hadn't heard all the "horror stories" about the house yet, just what Lorraine had told her, and when she had met Andrea and Carolyn just a year prior, the only thing Carolyn spoke of was hearing trumpeting in the cellar. As Norma stated, "back then, the family's claims were a lot more mundane than they later became."

Norma continued to share that the girls talked about their childhood memories and how much they loved it, and that Nancy gave her phone number to her, and insisted that if she ever sold the house, she wanted to buy it. Norma also mentioned that the girls talked about the Warrens and the seance at the house, but that was it. There was no paranormal activity at the house when Nancy and Cindy visited the home. 

On top of that, Norma learned that before the Perron's sold the house to the Schwartz family, that Nancy had lived in the house alone for an entire year.

"Nancy didn't want to go. She wanted to stay in the house," Norma shared. "Now, if the house had been haunted, one would presume that Nancy's parents would have vetoed this. Instead, they moved to Georgia, and they allowed Nancy to stay in the house for a year." 

After Nancy moved out, it was said that she let one of her friends, a single mother with a newborn baby, live in the house for a short time, alone. 

"Why would you bring an infant into a house that apparently tried to kill your kids?"-- 

Norma claims that it was a whole 15 years later that Andrea called her up on the phone, and that is when Andrea told Norma the story about Bathsheba. Now, Norma had only heard that name once before, way back when Lorraine Warren paid a visit to her house unannounced, and long before she had met any of the Perron's. 

We will delve into much more as time goes on: more of Norma's story, more interviews of the Perron's, and of course more about Lorraine Warren, too. But we will save those for another day.

In ending this short blog post, please remember there are always two sides to a story. Nancy claims she had an experience at the house when she visited, yet Norma claims nothing of the sort took place and that it was a very short, and uneventful visit. 

The one thing Norma did recall was thinking that day after Nancy and her sister left, was "if this house was supposedly so evil, and that it tormented the family so bad when the Perron's lived there, why on earth would these two young ladies show up one day and tell her how much they love the house? How much they enjoyed their childhoods there? And that they wanted to buy the house if they could in the future?"

It just doesn't make sense. ---

(Copyright 2024 - J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com)

Sources:

Norma Sutcliffe personal correspondance

"The Old Brooke Farm," by Norma Sutcliffe, 2020

"Perron Family Round Table," Youtube Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1wGP1si_Qc