"Conjured from Thin Air: The Story That Started It All"

 

Recently, a friend of mine in Rhode Island was walking through a local cemetery when she stopped to take a photograph and send it to me. It was Bathsheba Sherman's headstone. It was clean, cared for, and surrounded by her family. That is where she belongs; Not in a horror movie, not in a ghost story. In the cemetery, with her people, as a real woman who lived and died like anyone else.

The historic Riverside Cemetery — where the truth endures, long after the myths have faded.

Courtesy of Elise Giammarco Carlson

Right now, there is a lot of noise surrounding the so-called "Conjuring House" in Harrisville, Rhode Island. There are legal disputes, media stories, and plenty of people still trying to make money from the legend. But Bathsheba Sherman's grave is still there, quiet and real, while people continue arguing over a story that should never have began in the first place.

That image matters to me because I have spent years trying to correct this story. It has not been easy work, and it has not always been pleasant. But I have kept saying the same thing: the stories told by the Perron family is not supported by the historical record, and a real woman's name was used in a way that is unfair and false.

A lot of the drama around that property today comes from the false history built around it. The disputes, the headlines, the tourists, and the public fascination all trace back to a story that was never backed up by documented facts. That is not a side issue. That is the point.

So let us start with the facts. Who was Bathsheba Sherman? What was actually claimed about her? When did those claims first appear? And where does the evidence lead? The answer is not hidden. It is in the record, if people are willing to look at it.

The Name They Plucked from a Cemetery

 

Let me be as plain as I know how to be: Bathsheba Sherman had absolutely nothing to do with the farmhouse on Round Top Road. She was not a witch, she was not a murderer, she was not a Satanist. She was never accused of being any of those things — not in a court of law, not in a newspaper, not in a town record, not in any document that has ever been located in any archive in the state of Rhode Island.

She was a woman who lived, died, and was buried with her family. Then, sometime around August of 1973, someone took her name — either from a cemetery stone or an old newspaper clipping — and attached it to a ghost story. That is really what happened.

The idea appears to have originated with Carolyn Perron, the matriarch of the family that purchased the farmhouse, and with Lorraine Warren, the self-described clairvoyant who became deeply entangled with the Perrons' story. It was then amplified, dramatized, and ultimately monetized by Andrea Perron, the eldest daughter, who spent decades transforming a childhood memory into a trilogy of books and a Hollywood blockbuster.

 

"The real victim of this entire saga is not the Perron family. The real victim is Bathsheba Sherman."

 

I want you to hold onto that. Because in the years since The Conjuring was released in 2013, Bathsheba's name has been spoken millions of times in theaters, on podcasts, on YouTube channels, in articles and blogs, and in the breathless whisper of paranormal enthusiasts who have never once stopped to ask: where is the evidence? She has been called a witch, a child killer, a handmaiden of Lucifer — before a global audience that had no reason to question any of it, because it was presented as based on a true story.

She deserved better than this. She still deserves better. And the work of saying so — clearly, publicly, and with the documentation to back it up — is not optional. It is necessary.

The Spark That Started a Wildfire

 

The blame for this begins with Carolyn Perron and Lorraine Warren. Both made claims about Bathsheba Sherman, and neither appears to have done the basic historical research needed before making those claims. Because of that, a false story spread. It damaged a real woman's reputation and helped make money for people who had no rightful claim to her name.

Here is what the documented record actually shows:

There are no stories about Bathsheba Sherman, and no accusations against her, in any record before August of 1973. Not one. I have looked. Other researchers have looked. The absence of evidence is not a small problem for this story. It is the problem.

Carolyn Perron claimed that she did research and found historical records about Bathsheba. Those records do not exist. Whatever Carolyn believed she found, it has never been produced, never been verified, and never been corroborated by any independent historical source. You cannot find what was never there.

Lorraine Warren claimed something even more dramatic: that she stepped across the threshold of the Harrisville farmhouse and psychically sensed the name "Bathsheba." This story has been repeated as gospel in paranormal circles for decades. But here is what the timeline actually reveals: a woman named Donna, from a group called P.I.R.O. (Parapsychology Investigation Research Organization), had already name-dropped "Bathsheba" to Lorraine Warren before Lorraine ever set foot in that house — having gotten the name from Carolyn Perron in the first place. Lorraine did not psychically conjure a name from the ether. She was told the name, and she repeated it. That is a very different thing.

 

A Note on the Tabloid Record A sensationalist tabloid article, published approximately between 1981 and 1985 and written by Tony Spera, described "Carol and Ronald Barron" — a thinly veiled stand-in for the Perron family — being terrorized by a ghost. At that point in the story's evolution, the entity described was headless. Not bent-necked. Not hollow-eyed. Not jagged-toothed. Headless.

 

That same tabloid piece contained what appears to be the earliest written attribution of a specific supernatural act to the entity later identified as Bathsheba. The passage, attributed to "Ed" — presumably Ed Warren — read as follows:

 

"A 98 year old woman who practiced black witchcraft had lived there. In her earlier years, she had murdered her own child — by driving a nail through her head — as a gift to Lucifer!" — Attributed to Ed Warren, published in a sensationalist tabloid, circa 1981–1985

 

Let me be clear about this. That quote came from a supermarket tabloid. It was not a court record. It was not a town record. It was not a reliable newspaper account. It was a sensational story printed in the same kind of publication that ran stories about bat-children and alien abductions.

This matters because the story kept changing. First it was a headless ghost, then it was a woman with her head hanging to one side, then it became a bent-necked figure. Later, it turned into a full horror-movie image with hollow black eyes, jagged yellow teeth, wild hair, cobwebs, child sacrifice, Satanic devotion, and a 98-year-old body dragging itself through a farmhouse in Rhode Island.

That is not how reliable evidence works. When a story gets more dramatic every time it is retold, that is a warning sign. It shows how memory, suggestion, and myth-making can pile on top of each other until people start treating the later version as fact. It is not proof of a haunting. It is the opposite of proof.

From Conjecture to the Bank

 

Andrea Perron took what her mother and the Warrens had conjured — their assumptions, their interpretations, their speculations — and she ran with them, all the way to the publishing house, all the way to the movie set, and all the way to the bank.

She published three volumes about her family's experience at the farmhouse, long after the family had left and long after the story had been repeated, shaped, and reshaped. I am not saying this to be cruel. I am saying it because it matters. Andrea had a responsibility to check the facts, and she did not do that in the way this story required.

As an author who has published six historical non-fiction books, I can tell you that research is the most important part of the work. You do not get to publish claims you cannot prove. You do not get to name a real person as a witch, a murderer, and a Satanist without a single piece of documented evidence to support it. And when researchers present you with documented facts that disprove your characterizations — as happened with Andrea — you do not get to simply double down and walk away.

Andrea's public record has serious contradictions. They are not small mistakes.

In a 2013 interview for San Antonio Living (Channel 4), Andrea described what happened on the day the Perron family moved into the farmhouse. She said that within approximately five minutes of arriving — almost before they knew anything about the house at all — she encountered an oddly dressed man in the dining room and greeted him politely. Yet when Andrea appeared on the program Paranormal Witness (Season 4, Episode 10, aired October 28, 2015), she told a different version entirely: no encounter on moving day. Instead, she described seeing a reflection in the glass while washing dishes — a scene placed considerably later in their tenancy. These are not two sides of the same memory. They are two different stories.

On the subject of the film itself, Andrea first claimed that The Conjuring had "toned down" the real events — implying the truth was even more harrowing than what appeared on screen. She later reversed course and acknowledged the film was exaggerated. The reversal, conveniently, came while she was still actively promoting her books as the "true story."

Perhaps the most remarkable document I possess is an email Andrea sent to me in 2016, submitted through my website at jaimerubiowriter.com. In it, she wrote:

 

"The Conjuring and the Warren files did a huge disservice to Bathsheba's memory and I had no control over how she was represented and vilified in the film but I will always defend her because I do not believe she was guilty of what she has been accused of by Lorraine Warren." — Andrea Perron, personal email to J'aime Rubio, 2016

 

I want you to read that again. And then I want you to consider that in Andrea's own published books — the ones she authored, the ones she controlled, the ones she signed her name to — Bathsheba Sherman is demonized repeatedly. She is blamed for the alleged hauntings. She is described as "lusting" after Roger Perron, Andrea's own father. She is the villain of the entire narrative. Andrea wrote those words. No one forced her hand.

That contradiction matters. What Andrea told me privately does not match what she published publicly, and that is central to this whole story.

There is also the matter of description. Andrea has recounted her mother Carolyn's first encounter with the entity in extraordinary, cinematic detail:

 

"It floated. It didn't have any feet...hollow black sockets...jagged yellow teeth...sprigs of hair like wild sprigs of hair...covered in cobwebs." — Andrea Perron, as quoted in her public accounts of the Harrisville farmhouse

 

Compare this to what was actually published in 1977, in the North Smithfield-Burrillville Observer — the earliest known printed account of this story. That article described, simply, "an apparition of an old woman with head hanging to one side" who said: "Get out, get out, or I'll drive you out with death and gloom."

That first account was simple. It did not include hollow eyes, jagged teeth, wild hair, or cobwebs. Those details came later. When a story becomes more detailed and more frightening over time, that does not make it more reliable. It usually means the story has been changed.

 

On the Question of Memory and Responsibility I do not doubt that the Perron children experienced something unusual in that house — children are sensitive, imaginative, and deeply affected by their parents' anxiety and belief. But experiencing something unusual is not the same as experiencing what Andrea has described. And publishing those descriptions as documented fact, naming a real woman as their source, without a single piece of corroborating historical evidence — that is where experience ends and responsibility begins. At this point, I doubt Andrea even knows where her memories end and her fabrications begin.

 

What Pam Kenyon Cardin Actually Witnessed

 

I need to pause here and speak about someone who mattered a great deal to me, and whose testimony has never received the platform it deserved: Pam Kenyon Cardin.

This piece is dedicated, in part, to Pam's family — may they rest in peace. Pam was a direct blood descendant of the family that owned the farmhouse before the Perrons. She was an adult on the day the Perrons arrived. She remembered it clearly — not because it was supernatural, but because it was chaotic, inconvenient, and deeply disruptive to her family in the middle of a New England winter.

What Pam remembered contradicts several important parts of the Perron story. That is why her testimony matters.

Andrea Perron has stated that her family purchased the farmhouse in December of 1970 and moved in during the first week of January 1971. Public deed records tell a different story. The property was sold to Carolyn Perron, Roger Perron, and Cora Perron in January of 1972 — a full year later than Andrea stated. This is not a minor discrepancy. It is a verifiable, documented fact that calls into question the reliability of the timeline Andrea has presented as truth.

Pam remembered moving day vividly. Here is what she told me, in her own words:

 

"Perron had somehow gotten use of a moving van and we had to pack up my grandfather and move him all in one day...I have no idea why everything had to be done the way it was." — Pam Kenyon Cardin, as documented by J'aime Rubio

 

The Perrons arrived before her grandfather was fully moved out. That meant Pam's family had to pack him up and relocate him quickly, in winter, with very little notice. It was stressful. It was rushed. It was not paranormal.

If Andrea or her sisters saw an "oddly dressed man" in the dining room that day, the most likely explanation is that they saw Earl Kenyon Jr. — Pam's father — who would have been present helping with the move. An middle aged gentleman, perhaps dressed in practical New England working clothes, in a house that was mid-transition between families. Not a ghost. 

Then there is the matter of what Roger Perron reportedly said about the former owner's parting words. According to Roger, the previous owner told him: "Do your family a favor, keep the lights on at night." A chilling warning, if true. Except that Pam flatly stated it was not true. Her grandfather was a practical New England man. He had lived in that farmhouse without incident for over 47 years. He did not believe in hauntings. If he said anything about lights — and Pam doubted even that — it was because an elderly man navigating dark stairs at night needed to be careful. That is not the supernatural. That is common sense.

And the famous lightning incident — described in the tabloid article as a "beam of psychic light shooting down the chimney"? It was lightning. A real electrical storm. Real lightning struck the chimney, traveled into the house, and caused real physical damage. Sarah Butterworth Kenyon sealed all of the chimneys after that event — also, for practical reasons, because of chimney swifts. Terrifying to witness? Absolutely. Supernatural? Not even slightly.

I have thought often about what it meant to Pam to watch her family's home — a place of ordinary, lived life — be turned into a haunted house brand. Her grandfather's name attached to ghost lore. Her family's history swallowed by someone else's profitable fiction. Pam spoke to me with clarity and without drama, and that clarity deserves to be on the record.

Pam's testimony matters because she was there. She had no reason to dress the story up. This blog exists, in part, because her voice deserves to be remembered.

The Owner They Never Told the Truth To

 

There is one more witness who has been overlooked: Norma Sutcliffe. She owned the farmhouse during the years when the Perron story was turning into a worldwide franchise. I corresponded with Norma personally, and her account is important because it is practical, steady, and based on what she actually saw. She also wrote about her years in the house in her 2020 book The Old Brooke Farm.

In a 2016 Ocean State Paracon interview, Nancy Perron — one of Andrea's younger sisters — described a visit she and her sister Cindy made to the farmhouse after the family had moved out. According to Nancy, the visit was a supernatural event: a pressure engulfed them, spirits touched their hair and faces, voices said, "Oh my God, it's you! You're back!" — and Norma herself, Nancy claimed, confirmed that paranormal activity was taking place in the home.

Norma's recollection of that visit is considerably more mundane. It was the late 1980s — approximately a year after Norma had first met Andrea and Carolyn. Two women knocked on her door. They were enthusiastic and warm. They were, by all accounts, delighted to see the house. As Norma described it to me:

 

"Oh my God! This is so beautiful! If you are going to sell it, please, we want to buy it back!" — Nancy Perron, as quoted by Norma Sutcliffe in personal correspondence with J'aime Rubio

 

There was no paranormal activity. The visit was brief, friendly, and ordinary. Nancy left her phone number because she wanted to be contacted if the house ever went up for sale. That was it.

When Norma had first met the Perrons — Carolyn and Andrea — the claims were, as Norma put it, considerably more mundane than they would later become. Carolyn spoke of one thing: hearing trumpeting sounds in the cellar. No demonic possession, no Satanic witch terrorizing the family, no entity with hollow eye sockets and jagged yellow teeth, just trumpeting in the cellar. The story, in its earliest telling to the woman who actually owned the house, was nothing like the story that would eventually appear on movie screens around the world.

But the detail that Norma shared with me that I find most quietly devastating is this: after the Perron family moved to Georgia, Nancy — one of the daughters — stayed behind at the farmhouse alone for an entire year.

 

"Nancy didn't want to go. She wanted to stay in the house. 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." — Norma Sutcliffe, personal correspondence with J'aime Rubio

 

After Nancy finally moved out, she allowed a friend — a single mother with a newborn baby — to stay at the farmhouse for a time. Think about that. A newborn baby was allowed to stay in a house that, according to the later story, had tried to kill members of the Perron family. If they truly believed that, why would they allow it?

The answer, of course, is that the story we have been sold does not match the choices the Perrons themselves actually made.

Norma also told me something crucial about the name "Bathsheba." It was not until fifteen years after the Perrons left the farmhouse that Andrea called Norma and first told her the story about Bathsheba Sherman. 

The question Norma found herself sitting with after Nancy and her sister left that day in the late 1980s was the right one:

 

"If this house was supposedly so evil, and it tormented the family so badly when the Perrons lived there, why on earth would these two young ladies show up one day and say 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?" — Norma Sutcliffe, personal correspondence with J'aime Rubio

 

It does not make sense. And when a story falls apart under ordinary facts, that needs to be said plainly.

A Billion-Dollar Franchise Built on Slander

 

I want to talk about scale, because this is not just a local argument about an old farmhouse in Rhode Island. This story went far beyond that. The Conjuring franchise has grossed over a billion dollars at the global box office. It has spawned sequels, prequels, spin-offs, and a merchandising universe. It has made Bathsheba Sherman's name recognizable to millions of people worldwide — people who encountered it in a darkened theater, in a trailer, in a headline, on a podcast, and who walked away believing they had learned something true about a real woman from nineteenth-century Rhode Island.

They did not learn the truth. They learned a profitable story. Bathsheba Sherman, the real woman buried with her family in Rhode Island, received nothing from that story except a lasting association with child murder, Satanic ritual, and witchcraft.

I also want to address a specific claim that has circulated in the paranormal narrative and that deserves to be met with direct clarity. On the program Paranormal Witness, Carolyn Perron described reading a "medical report" that allegedly confirmed a baby had been found with a needle embedded in its skull — attributed to Bathsheba Sherman as an act of Satanic murder.

There was no baby. There was no death. There was no medical report. I have searched. Other researchers have searched. No such document exists in any archive, hospital record, town record, or court document in Rhode Island. Either Carolyn was lying or she imagined it. I do not say that lightly, but those are the only two possibilities when someone makes a claim this serious and no evidence exists anywhere.

The same applies to the broader canvas of alleged tragedy attributed to the property. There are no records of the suicides, drownings, or murders said to have occurred there. There is no record of any figure named Mr. McKeachern or McEachern in Burrillville who could plausibly have been the local historian Carolyn cited as a source for her claims. There are no accusations against Bathsheba Sherman in any court of law, any newspaper, any town meeting record, or any document of her era. None.

That is why the story had to lean on tabloids, psychic claims, and memories that kept changing. The archive does not support it. The records show something much simpler: Bathsheba Sherman lived an ordinary life, died, and should have been left in peace.

The only reason that property is still surrounded by conflict is because a false history was built around it. That false history has hurt real people, most of all Bathsheba Sherman, who has no descendants left to defend her name and no legal way to answer what has been done to her reputation.

That is why this work matters. That is why I keep doing it.

Standing Strong and Dignified

 

I come back, at the end of all of this, to that photograph of Bathsheba Sherman's new headstone surrounded by her family. That is the truth of where she is, no matter how much noise has been made in her name.

She deserved better than what was done to her. She deserved the ordinary dignity of a woman who lived her life and was remembered by those who actually knew her — not the grotesque caricature of a hook-nosed, hollow-eyed, child-murdering Satanic witch that a franchise built its mythology upon. She deserved to rest without having her name spoken as a punchline, a scare, a marketing hook, a brand.

She still deserves better. And the work of saying so — clearly, publicly, persistently — is not glamorous work. It does not come with a box office gross or a publishing advance. It comes with pushback from people who have a financial interest in the myth, with accusations of spoiling something beloved, with the particular frustration of watching documented facts be dismissed because the fiction is more entertaining.

But it is necessary work. And I am grateful that I have not had to do it alone.

I am grateful to Pam Kenyon Cardin. She spoke to me clearly and without drama. She had a direct family connection to that farmhouse, and that gave her testimony weight. She was there. She knew what she saw. She told the truth as she remembered it. The least I can do is make sure that truth is on the record.

I am grateful to Norma Sutcliffe, who lived for years in a house that had been turned into a haunted brand before she ever moved in, who extended patience and good faith to people who did not always extend the same to her, and who still found the words to describe what she actually witnessed — as opposed to what she was told to have witnessed. Her book, The Old Brooke Farm, deserves to be read by everyone who has ever watched The Conjuring and believed it.  There are many others who have joined in the good fight to share the truth that deserve to be remembered such as Ken  

I want to say one more thing plainly: history belongs to the record. Not to a profitable story, not to a tabloid, not to a psychic impression and certainly not to an embellished memoir or a Hollywood script. The record is not perfect, but it is the best thing we have when we are talking about people who can no longer speak for themselves. When we ignore it because a better story is more entertaining, we do real harm.

Bathsheba Sherman cannot defend herself. She cannot file a lawsuit, call a press conference, or correct the record herself. She can only rest where she has always rested — in a Rhode Island cemetery, with her family — while someone else stands up and says what should have been said years ago: this woman was not what they said she was. She was real, and she deserved better. 

I am willing to say it, I have been saying it for years, and I will keep saying it for as long as it needs to be said.  The truth does not need a franchise. It does not need a sequel. It just needs to be told. —

J'aime Rubio (Copyright 2026) www.jaimerubiowriter.com  deconstructingtheconjuring.blogspot.com 

 

 

For The Record - Why I Created This Blog

I would like to take a minute to state for the record, I have not made one single dime from my research of the history of the "Conjuring House," aka the Richardson-Arnold House, aka The Old Arnold Estate, aka the Arnold Farmhouse, aka the Old Brook Farm, etc, etc, etc....

So, why do I have this blog up? Simply because I care about the truth, and I was asked to help share that truth. By whom? I was asked by the last living descendant of the original family that lived in the home for over 200 years, Pamela Kenyon. She gave me permission to share the truth, the history of her family, her ancestral home, and above all to clear up the misinformation and flat out lies that have been shared far too long by others who claim to be the keeper of the house's history.

This blog has different articles or posts about various things that have to do with either the house, stories about people who lived in the house, and of course my research into debunking the false lore either surrounding the history of the home -- or people who have been erroneously attached to it. 

As I always state, it is a work in progress, meaning I am always adding information as I dig it out of my files and research. After all, I have been researching this history for many, many years -- unlike others who have recently jumped on the bandwagon claiming to know its history. 

This isn't a race to the finish line. This isn't a contest or some competition. This is about preserving the factual history. Many times people jump to conclusions and misinterpret deeds or even probate records that can lead you in the wrong direction. Similar to a ship at sea going off course just a few degrees can take them thousands of miles away from their intended destination. I have been going slow and steady - and even at times, stopping to take a rest. I know that in the end the only persons whose opinion matters to me are those who I made a promise to share the history about -- the Kenyon family, the Butterworth family, the Arnold family and yes, the Richardson family. 

They were real, they lived their lives and called this house a home. There was no evil, there were no murders, there were no suicides, there were no drownings at this house. Illness and old age? Yes, as is the normal cycle of life anywhere you go. There will be no sensationalism in my work. There will be no embellishments. Just the facts. Are you ready for the truth? 

Then join me on this journey to share the stories of the forgotten ones at the farmhouse on Round Top Road........

The Fight Over The Conjuring House

By J’aime Rubio — 

For several months now, the paranormal world has been glued to a spectacle — a tug-of-war over a house that never asked to be famous. The Arnold Farmhouse, a.k.a. the Richardson-Arnold house, a quiet New England home with over two centuries of real history, has been reduced to a battleground for egos, brands, and opportunists. Hollywood renamed it “The Conjuring House,” and ever since, people have been fighting over it like it’s a trophy. And now we have two parties at the center of the storm: Jason Hawes on one side vs Matt Rife with Elton Castee on the other. 

Look, I am not on either one's side because I don't agree with what either group is doing or how they are doing it, for various reasons. Most importantly the only side I am on is the side of the house itself, and the families who represented the long standing history of this property -- not the miniscule footnote of less than a decade that the Perron's lived there, but the actual family who lived there 200+ years....their wishes and their feelings matter to me most. 

Each one of the parties fighting over the house insists they are the “right” party to take over the property. Each one insists they will “do it the right way.” Each one insists they are the hero in this story. But when you strip away the PR, the fundraising language, and the social-media theatrics, the truth is simple: 

They’re all exploiting the same house — just in different ways. And none of them are really doing it for history.

Let’s start with the facts. 

Jason Hawes launched a GoFundMe asking the public to help him buy the house. He framed it as a mission to “preserve history,” but the reality is that by having others donate to this effort they are paying for a property that he will personally own, control, and ultimately profit from.

Meanwhile, Matt Rife and Elton Castee purchased the mortgage note from the bank that Jacqueline Nuñez owed for the house, giving them enormous leverage over the property. They also filed for a trademark on “The Conjuring House,” which has nothing to do with preservation and everything to do with branding and monetization. 

Andrea Perron, whose embellished stories helped turn a normal farmhouse into a billion-dollar horror franchise, begged Jason to get involved. And let’s not forget that Jason’s daughter Satori and her fiancé Cody worked at the house under Nuñez, giving them a personal stake in keeping the house within their circle. Jason stepping in isn’t surprising — it’s family business. 

If you want to know who truly cares about history, look at who shows up when it matters. 

When I created the GoFundMe to replace Bathsheba Sherman’s gravestone, I shared the fundraiser everywhere. 

The entire paranormal community saw it, because I sent messages to everyone including Jason Hawes and countless paranormal celebrities and influencers. Anyone who ever used Bathsheba’s name for clicks, views, or profit had every opportunity to contribute, but not one of them donated. Not a single cent. 

The people who stepped up were regular everyday donors, a few fellow writers,  local supporters, people who followed my work, and yes — even Jacqueline Nuñez, the owner of the house, who actually donated a significant amount. When the headstone was finally replaced and I shared it on my social media, suddenly the same paranormal celebrities who ignored my messages regarding helping with the fundraiser were now sharing my post as if they had been involved, Jason Hawes included.

Someone actually commented to him and thanked him for the post and for “helping,” and when I corrected the record — stating it was my post he was sharing and that in fact he hadn’t donated — he tried to say something along the lines of if I would have reached out, he would have donated. I did reach out. He never responded and he didn't donate, I know because I managed the GoFundMe account.  Also, my comment to the lady, that disappeared shortly afterward. 

Trying to stay relevent -- 

Let's just face the facts, the major television networks have dropped most paranormal celebrities. The era of big ghost-hunting shows is fading. Now creators are using streaming services to carry their series', and YouTube is way overinundated with jump-scare paranormal material. 

So what’s the next move? Buy a famous haunted house? Brand yourself as the hero? Get the public to fund it? It’s a clever business strategy — but it’s not altruism. 

I had a short conversation, if that is what you call it, with Jason on Facebook today, regarding my opinion of what is wrong with this movement regarding the house, and that despite the fact I made it very clear that the Kenyon family did not want this for their ancestral home, it doesn't seem to resonate with anyone. 

People feel entitled to the property. It is as if they think the world owes it to them to be able to go there, to investigate there -- it isn't a state park! It is a house. It was someone's home, where they lived and loved. It was never meant to be the circus it has became ever since the Heinzen's purchased it from Norma Sutcliffe and it has spiraled downward ever since. 

Going back to the subject, Jason's comment to me said everything: “Bottom line, it’s going to happen.” That one sentence revealed his entire mindset. Not, should it happen? Not, is it ethical? Not, what did the real family want? Just: “It’s going to happen.”  It's nice that he says they want to share the true history, but whose version of the true history? Andrea Perron's? No, thank you! That isn't history, that is an overactive imagination's fictional fantasies. The only people who were claiming demons were in the house besides the Warrens were the Perron family. The ones who started this mess to begin with! 

My reply to that: 

And then we have Rife and Castee, who aren’t really pretending to be historians or preservationists. They’re not even pretending to be noble. They’re Zak Bagans 2.0 — circus-style paranormal entertainment. They want content, shock value, a paranormal theme park, and a spectacle. They’re not hiding it. Jason, on the other hand, wants to look like the respectable alternative — the “good guy” in comparison. 

But exploitation is exploitation, whether you dress it up as philanthropy or parade it around like a carnival.

The saddest part of all of this is how the wishes of the actual family with blood ties to the property have been completely ignored. Pam Kenyon — the last living descendant with direct ancestral ties to the house — was clear: the house was not haunted by any evil force. Her family did not believe the home had anything dark and never approved of the Perron mythology. They were so angry when they first heard the stories the family was trying to push way back in the 1970s, and they immediately regretted selling the home once they saw it became a circus. They would never have allowed paranormal investigations there. They wanted the house respected as a family home. The Richardson, Arnold, Butterworth, and Kenyon families would be horrified by what is happening now. But none of these people care. Because to them, the house isn’t a home. It’s a product.

If Jason truly wants to be the “better” option, there is a way he can prove it: 

Should he acquire the property, then why not turn it over to the Burrillville Historical & Preservation Society? 

Not as a paranormal attraction. Not as an investigation site. Not as a ghost-tour cash cow. But as a real museum, curated by real historians, honoring the Richardson, Arnold, Butterworth, and Kenyon families — the true 200+ years of documented history.

If he did that, I would believe he’s different. If he keeps the house, continues to run it as a place people can come to investigate, then in my opinion he is exactly like the people he claims to be fighting against.

Just because you can exploit a historic home doesn’t mean that you should, and anyone who ignores the wishes of the families who lived, loved, and died there — in favor of profit, fame, or content — is not a steward of history. They are a participant in its erasure. 

(Copyright 2026 - J'aime Rubio) 

Shining a Light on the Truth Seekers

 

What makes a person a truth seeker? 

That is a really good question to ask yourself. For me, the definition of a truth seeker is someone who will leave no stone unturned to find the facts behind whatever subject matter they are investigating, be it a person or a place. They are also someone who will be unbiased in their quest for the facts.

"The Historian should be fearless and incorruptible; a man of independence, loving frankness and truth; one who, as the poet says, calls a fig a fig and a spade a spade. He should yield to neither hatred nor affection, but should be unsparing and unpitying. He should be neither shy nor deprecating, but an impartial judge, giving each side all it deserves but no more. He should know in his writings no country and no city; he should bow to no authority and acknowledge no king. He should never consider what this or that man will think, but should state the facts as they really are." --- Lucian (170 A.D.)

In the process of trying to uncover the facts, how then can someone fail to be a "truth seeker"? As Lucian pointed out, those who go into a project with a bias, or an agenda - those who plan on twisting the history to fit or follow their own narrative - those are obviously the exact opposite of a truth seeker. They might hide behind their shiny credentials or even have notoriety or connections to the rich and famous that gives them the appearance of credibility, but that means nothing when it comes down to brass tacks. 

What matters is the sincerity of the research. Did you use your due diligence to search every possible lead and work tirelessly to seek out all the facts, or did you lazily make a conclusion based on a weak Google search? Trust me folks, sadly there are people out there who claim to be "historians" who literally get their research from other websites or blogs without actually doing the real research and seeking out the oldest possibly primary sources. This is another example of someone who isn't a real truth seeker.

Look, we all make mistakes from time to time, we are not infallible -- I know I am not perfect, but when we find out that our work has an error are we humble enough to rise to the occassion, fix the error and adjust our opinions based on those new facts that came to light? Your ability to do just that can determine whether or not you truly are sincere in your research as a historian. 

So, now, I am going to share with you some real truth seekers that I have had the privilege to know, collaborate with on historical projects, and also people I am proud to call my friends. These people deserve to be recognized, so we are going to do that today!

Pam Kenyon

Pamela Sweet Kenyon-Cardin, as some of you know, was the last surviving Kenyon who had ties to the Arnold Farmhouse. Of all the people in all the world, she was the one that people should have reached out to for answers about her grandparent's home. Did they? Nope. Instead, the masses followed and soaked up every word spoken by those with overimaginative stories, fabricated tales and downright false history -- the ones who financially benefited from exploiting the house and the people who once were attached to it, or surrounding properties. 

Pam wasn't about that. She was humble and kind, but also a very strong-willed New Englander who didn't take any guff from anyone, and had no problem stating what was on her mind if she felt you were in the wrong. With the same token, if you were honest and good to her, and showed her and her family respect, she would be the best friend you could imagine. 

Pam grew up in Burrillville, and often spent time visiting her grandmother and grandfather, staying overnight  at the farmhouse as a child, a teenager and yes, at times she spent time there even as an adult, until her grandfather sold the property to the Perrons in January of 1972 (yes, 1972! I have copies of the deed).

Pam was a founding member of the Burrillville Historical and Preservation Society, who spent many, many years scouring the old archives to research local history and her own family history on both sides, the Sweets, Remingtons, Arnolds and Kenyons. In her younger years, she and her cousin spent a lot of time learning to become genealogists, and traveling all over Rhode Island and into Massachusetts just to follow a lead on her family history. She believed in the preservation of local history so much that she even donated property to the historical society to sell so they could raise money for their own needs. Besides property, she donated a multitude of her own research, items belonging to her family and other records before she left Rhode Island venturing off out of state. 

Pam and I connected after I had debunked the false and slanderous story surrounding Bathsheba Sherman who was erroneously tied to the history of the property. She was instrumental at inspiring me to continue my path with further research on the history of her ancestral home, and she provided me with a lot of her own personal and family research in order to enlighten the world with the truth about the property. Pam is the ultimate truth seeker -- and it didn't hurt that she was seeking the truth about her own history. Sadly, she passed away on December 23, 2023, but the mark she left on the town of Burrillville will remain forever. 

Kent Spottswood  

Kent grew up in Sudbury, Massachusetts, but ended up in Woonsocket when he pursued journalism for the local newspaper. He eventually became the copy editor and remained there for over 20 years. 

Kent was one of those types of guys full of talents, from writing to music, photography to his interests in history and local folklore. He did it all. He often found himself adventuring through the backwoods of Rhode Island, seeking out old cemeteries and stories long forgotten. 

During his lifetime he spent a great amount of his time researching  every library and archive in the state of Rhode Island searching for anything that would prove or disprove the alleged backstory of Bathsheba Sherman. Determined to find out the truth about her life, his efforts did not disappoint, as he was the very first person to prove that she was not a witch, not a devil worshipper, she didn't kill any babies (or anyone else for that matter) and that she didn't commit suicide at the farmhouse. Heck, he even proved she didn't live at the property either. 

With all the stories swirling around Burrillville -- created by Carolyn Perron, Lorraine Warren and later on continued by Andrea Perron, it was Kent who initially shined the beacon of light over Bathsheba's tattered and torn gravesite, exposing the truth -- that she wasn't the villain in the story, but instead was an innocent victim. Everyone owes a huge debt of gratitude to Kent Spottswood for being the very first truth seeker on this subject, someone who sought me out after he noticed that I was also researching and digging for the facts, and someone who ultimately became not only a fellow collaborator but a friend. Kent passed away on April 18, 2020, and the world lost one of its great truth seekers. 

Shannon Bradley Byers

Shannon is a kindred spirit who has been researching history and the paranormal for over 40 years. We originally connected through our mutual friend, Kent Spottswood, when we both were writing our own individual books debunking false history all over the country, and both of us were covering Bathsheba Sherman's story. Neither of us knew the other, yet we both wrote our findings which happened to be in sync with one another -- debunking the "fakelore," as she puts it... (by the way, I love that saying!!) -- and sharing the truth behind the real history. In all, both Shannon and I were able to get that ball rolling in order to spread the truth far and wide, gaining global momentum well over a decade until finally the tides turned and we started to see others also reporting Bathsheba's innocence. Vindication at last!  To read Shannon's work please check out her website here at: http://www.paranormalgenealogist.com/

Norma Sutcliffe

Norma is a truth seeker in her own right, being one of the former owners of the farmhouse. Did you know that she lived in the house over 30 years without any sort of negative paranormal experience? In fact, her longstanding residency at the property is the longest amount of time for any of the later owners of the house, besides the original family who owned it for over 200 years. Norma purchased the property with her husband, Gerry in the late 1980's and she remained there until reluctantly selling her dream home in 2019. 

During her time living in the house, she loved to hear any sort of history about the home from whomever had stories, one of those persons claiming to be "in the know" was Andrea Perron. Andrea told Norma all sorts of stories about the house and at the time Norma didn't think to question the history, as she believed Andrea probably had done some research on the house. Unfortunately, that was not the case. After a while though, Norma, being of more of a scientific and rational thinker felt that Andrea and Carolyn's tales just continued to spiral, growing larger and larger as the years went on, and so Norma decided to try to find out the truth about the house on her own.

People like to give Norma a hard time because she allowed Ghost Hunters to her house to investigate. If you watch the episode you would see that they really didn't have any remarkable events take place during their investigation, which didn't surprise Norma at all. She only allowed the crew to come out because she thought that if she had finally publicly allowed people to come out to the house she could finally put the whole nonsense to bed once and for all. 

You can love her or hate her -- but the one thing you cannot say about Norma is that she isn't a truth seeker - in fact, she was willing to confront Andrea Perron at the annual paranormal convention with Kent Spottswood in front of the entire audience while Andrea was on stage. Norma stated that Andrea threw a tantrum and ran off stage upset. The audience acted like a crazed mob and Norma and Kent had to leave abruptly. Even in the face of possibly assault from irrational zealots, Norma was willing to go the extra mile to expose the lies and shine a light on the truth. Yes, Norma is a truth seeker.

Elise Giammarco Carlson

Elise is the one who might go to an event and stands in the background, quietly observing her surroundings, getting a feel for the vibe of the crowd. She doesn't insist on the spotlight, she doesn't want to jump in front of the camera -- although she often should. She is an amazing researcher local to the Rhode Island area and one who I am proud to call my friend and colleague. She is constantly at the historical society or a library or an archive, searching, endlessly and tirelessly searching to solve a local mystery -- to uncover a forgotten story or just to satisfy her curiosity. She keeps an open mind to a point, but is often more of the skeptical nature - using rational thought as a compass to see through the muddied waters of the paranormal community. She doesn't get the credit she definitely deserves, so I am fixing that right now. Elise is definitely one of the good ones, a truth seeker if  ever there was one. 

Stevi Étés   

An absolutely tenacious researcher with a heart of gold, Stevi is one of my favorite people who I absolutely adore!! Not afraid to ruffle any feathers, she dives deep, taking on stories of the paranormal -- debunking story after story, most of the time related in one way or another to the Warrens, but she also takes on other stories as well. Stevi's knack for research is by far one of the best I have seen, always uncovering tidbits of history, revealing and exposing false narratives, resurrecting old interviews with the original journalists to cover various tales such as the original Annabelle doll story -- Stevi goes above and beyond what the average researcher will do for a story. She doesn't do it for fortune or fame, solely because she wants the world to know the truth and to expose the liars. For that I say that Stevi is probably the most geniune truth seeker on Youtube and Spotify and if you don't listen or watch her podcast, you should.

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/@truthordemonspodcast

Kenneth Hillyard  

Kenneth, a retired archaelogist and author, is someone whom I have become friends within the last year or so, who also turned out to become a great colleague and fellow collaborator.

His interests in journalism took him halfway across the world, writing about music, politics and history. Interestingly, he reached out to me after reading my blog and as it turned out, he was also researching and writing about this very subject. Over time we began to collaborate and share our research with one another, and I personally feel that was instrumental to uncovering missing pieces of the puzzle.

Kenneth's research is impeccable and his ability to read and transcribe these old colonial time deeds is almost like a superpower! Although we both are seeking the real story backed up by documented facts surrounding the history at the farmhouse property, both of us approach the subject in a different way, so I am very much looking forward to seeing how his project turns out.  To be quite honest, there is a lot of the earlier history in the form of deeds going back to the 1700's in the area that is just very complicated -- to put it mildly, and at times can be difficult to decipher. I would never have been able to locate much of those really old deeds had it not been for his help. I am a believer in giving credit where credit is due, and for this I thank Kenneth for his help and for being another truth seeker. 

Kenny Biddle 

Kenny Biddle is a former ghost hunter turned skeptic, who still keeps an open mind as he investigates the extraordinary. From analyzing objects, gadgets used during paranormal investigating, watching alleged videos of the paranormal and even investigating at locations such as the Arnold farmhouse, the Monroe House, the Bellaire House and many other places, Kenny goes into each investigation seeking a rational explanation for everything first, before jumping to any conclusions. When he first wrote his paper about the house for the Skeptical Inquirer in 2019, I was happy that he took on the task to research the claims about the house, as at the time Ghost Adventures had just done a terrible episode on the subject. Kenny always does a great job tearing apart anything related to Zak Bagans. In turn, his article reached a wider audience and helped share the truth even further, which was our ultimate goal. Getting the facts out there. I have always appreciated him coming to my aid when I asked him to take on this subject and for that he is on my list of fellow truth seekers. Thank you Kenny!

To read more of his work please click here: https://skepticalinquirer.org/authors/kenny-biddle/

Christopher Herlihy  

Calling him a young up-and-coming historian is an understatement. When I first communicated with young Christopher, I thought I was reaching out to an adult or maybe even college student on Find-a-grave to ask for permissions to use a few of his photos he contributed to the site. As I searched the different cemeteries throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts I found one thing, that this person known as the "Conjuring Kid" had taken photos at every grave I was looking for.  Once I finally got in contact with him via Find-a-grave to request to use those photos in my book, I was shocked when I learned that he is 15 years old, and still in school. 

In his spare time he will roam cemetery after cemetery searching for and photographing and cataloguing the graves in the area, with his particular interest in the Arnold and Richardson families. He visits the libraries and archives regularly seeking out the old death and birth ledgers, deed ledgers, and every town record he can get his hands on that will shed light on the Arnold family's life at that house. His sincerity and determination to find the facts is to be commended. He is definitely getting an early start in the field of history and I hope that he carries that with him into the future. If that isn't a truth seeker, then I do not know what is. Keep up the great work!

Conclusion

In ending this piece, I hope that you have enjoyed taking a peek into the backgrounds of these people whom I greatly admire and respect. Each one of these people listed above put the facts first, not their feelings, not agendas, not biases. They work tirelessly to seek out and find the answers to their questions in whatever subjects they are researching. Something that all writers and historians alike should strive to do always.

(Copyright 2026- J'aime Rubio www.jaimerubiowriter.com)