King Philip's War Wasn't Fought At the Conjuring House Property

Encyclopedia Britannica

In recent years there have been statements made by people representing The Conjuring House  (man, how I despise that name) regarding the history of the land. First and foremost, the area known as Harrisville, a small village within the confines of a much larger area known as Burrilville, did not really even begin to have settlers making homesteads until the 18th Century. With that being said, when the mention of  King Philip's War gets brought up, it is laughable to me that they would make the ridiculous claim that there were battles on the property where the Richardson-Arnold house is located. 

Number one, the parcel of land that exists today that is owned by the current owner of the Richardson-Arnold house is only 8.5 acres. The original land deed was well over 1000 acres. That is a tiny, itty-bitty fraction of the original property. When the King Phillip's War took place the majority of battles were in areas where there were a populace of settlers gathered together. 

The area where Harrisville was, was literally considered "not worth surveying for settlement purposes since these outlands are too far from Providence," according to the Blackstone Heritage Corridor's historical walking tour pamphlet.

Recently, in a Youtube video titled "Boycotting The Conjuring House," former owner Corey Heinzen tried to discredit my historical statements I made in a recent Youtube Video by "The Side Eye Guy." 

According to Corey, who gets really angry when mentioning me ( see the 32 minute mark of the video), he tries to turn everything around on me as if I don't know the history of the King Phillip's War.

Corey's statement: 

"J'aime Rubio went on, was it SEG's freakin' (unintelligible) and she was saying 'oh the King's Phillip's war wasn't fought there,'.... it was fought there!  She's, she was trying to narrow it down to a specific battle, there wasn't a specific battle fought there. The war was fought all over Rhode Island."

Actually, no I wasn't narrowing it down to a specific battle.  I was very matter of fact in the video, that there is no evidence that any battle(s), that's plural, meaning more than one, were fought there, period. A property cannot be mentioned as being haunted for being involved in the King Phillip's war when there are no records showing that it was. 

Fact, the war was fought in certain areas of Rhode Island, not ALL OVER Rhode Island. Again, if you were to do some rudimentary research you would know this.

Corey goes even further with, "and yet she's trying to narrow it down to, 'oh! it was fought right here on this property'  No Mother - - - - - -! (unintelligible). God No! People don't understand they think they do the research correctly, but they're not. They're just jumping to a conclusion. Now, does she have a lot of good points? Absolutely. However, not with that. And that's what aggravates me. Because it's like, so you're throwing out a total, which kind of makes sense, even though it's a theory, but you're just going to throw it out because you think, the battle was fought here."

Correction again -- No, I never said that. I didn't come up with some theory here. 

It has been implied by others that the property is haunted because of it having "survived" the King Philips war.

The property was literally forests during that time period, and had no one living on or near that site during that time period. People settled together in groups back then, because there was safety in numbers, to avoid being attacked by Indians.

My statement on the Side Eye Guy's video was to give folks a history lesson that the war was fought in OTHER areas of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, but not anywhere near the property. Something the average person wouldn't have a clue of.   

Let's take a look at a few maps, shall we? If you look below I have highlighted in red the area where the house on Round Top Road is located according to the map. Where the word or name Narrangansett is on the map, the area where the "a" is encased in red, that is the approximate area where the house is located. 

Now, remember, the house did not exist when the King Phillip's War happened between June 20, 1675 and April 12, 1678.  White settlers did not live in that area at that time, as it was considered an outland of forests. 

Per Historian Elise Giammarco Carlson, "This is one of several maps I found. Where "Narragansett" is spelled sideways....the house is on the line between R.I. and M.A., approximately where the "A" lies. You know, in the big, empty hole between settlements and battles." -- 

Do you see any black dots at or near the red square? No, you do not. Because there were no English settlements in that area, and no attacks were made near there. 

Let's take a look at some more information..... 

I have marked on the map below in a small red square where the Richardson-Arnold house is approximately. Do you see any battles within the red square? No.

You can see a orange arrow showing where English offensives traveled towards Nipsachuck, which we will delve into in just a moment. Looking at the areas on the map, you can plainly see there were no battles on or near the house.

Let's go even deeper into the history.....

According to the book, "Soldiers In King Philips War," by George Bodge, 1891. Bodge mentions briefly that "the English left their horses with a guard , and, with the Mohegans in the van, marched silently forward to a field, at a place called "Nipsachick" (said to be within the present town of Burrillville, R.I.)  The night being very dark, they were forced to wait for light. At dawn they made their attack upon what provide to be Weetamoo's camp. The Indians were taken by surprise and fled, leaving everything behind them. But the Mohegan's and English rushing forward found themselves confronted with Philip's fighting men entrenched behind trees and rocks ready for battle. Adopting the tactics of the enemy, the English and their allies engated them fiercely until 9 o'clock, when still fighting desparately, but with powder nearly spent, the hostiles sullenly retired, leaving many of their dead upon the field. Some twenty three of the enemy were killed, it is said, including a prominent chief Woonashum, called by the English, Nimrod. Of the English, two were killed and one wounded."--- Page 15.

In reality though, Nipsachick, or later "Nipsachuck," was not in Burrillville. 

The First Battle of Nipsachuck as it would later be called, took place on August 4, 1675 in North Smithfield, which is approximately 12 miles from the Richardson-Arnold House. The Second Battle of Nipsachuck took place at Mattity Swamp on July 2, 1676, which is still considered to be within the area of North Smithfield, and approximately 10 miles away from the house as well.

According to a direct descendant of the Richardson-Arnold house's original inhabitants, and certified genealogist, Pam Kenyon Cardin, no battles during the King Philip's War took place near her ancestral home on Round Top Road. In fact, Pam had made this remark when we discussed the accusations made about different types of events at her ancestral home's property. When she mentions the word "mess" she was speaking about the lies being told about the property's history, as she was keeping a record or notes on each allegation.

"Somewhere amongst the mess was a notation about the farm being an active site for King Phillip's war. No. Most of that took place in southern R.I. and in the Great Swamp. Also, in Bristol County, Mass. NOT IN BURRILLVILLE. There were certainly Native Americans living in Burrillville. Many, in fact. Hence why my great grandfather called the dairy "Indian Acres." We have many artifacts from their habitation. In a book Wallum Pond Estates, it gives a brief history of the Native Americans living in the area. I have no idea where the bit about King Phillip came from. Unless someone read various Native American names and somehow decided they must be connected. NOPE. Ah, what a little bit of research could have done for some of these people."--  Pam Kenyon Cardin, 2023.

According to the book, "Wallum Pond Estates," by Harry Lee Barnes in 1877, it states on page 8, that "Ten miles southeasterly of Wallum Pond in Nipsachuck, a place through which King Phillip passed in his flight westward to the Nipmuck country."  That is the only mention of that war in his book after that. And it correlates with the story in the other book, which took place in present day North Smithfield, not Harrisville, Burrillville. 

Fact, there are NO RECORDS or DOCUMENTATION whatsoever that prove ANY sort of battle between Native Americans and English Settlers or Soldiers took place in Harrisville, let alone at the property on Round Top Road. That is my point. Just because a war took place in various spots in Massachusetts and Rhode Island DOES NOT mean that every square inch of those states saw fighting between settlers and Indians. It was in specific documented locations. 

It isn't a THEORY, it is a FACT.  

Yes, there were battles in different areas in Rhode Island, but not on the land where this historic house is situated.

In ending this blog post today, I hope that you have walked away with a better understanding of the history of the property and the general area of that part of Rhode Island. It is easy to make statements when you do not have documentation to back up what you are saying. I do not make statements without having researched the subject before hand. I strongly recommend that anyone wanting to know the truth about the history of the area, to do thorough research on the topic before going on the record and making opinionated statements about it. 

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