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| Photo of the Arnold Family (late 1800's) original property of Arnold/Butterworth/Kenyon Family |
Join me today, as I take you back in time to revisit some of the former residents of the home and their ancestors. This will be the first of two blog posts regarding the ancestral genealogy of the family.
The area which we know today as Burrillville, Rhode Island, consists of 14 villages spread over 55 square miles. The property the Conjuring House is situated on is within the village of Harrisville, which was named after Andrew Harris, who purchased the area in the early 1800's (which was earlier known as Rhodesville). Prior to that, the land encompassing Burrillville had originally been considered part of Glocester, which is actually about 6 miles south of Harrisville.
It had been alleged that back in the 1600's, the land was "not worth surveying for settlement purposes since these outlands are too far from Providence," according to Blackstone Heritage Corridor's historical walking tour pamphlet.
According to the genealogical records and research by Pamela Kenyon Cardin (a direct descendant of the original families who owned the property), the original homestead for what was believed to be the Richardson family was said to be closer to the Massachusetts border on what was the original land owned by the family.
The genealogical lineage I have listed on this blog is in the proper order based on what Pam had mentioned was in her family Bible, her own research she did over the course of her life, and compared to my own separate research.
Let me make this very clear, although Pam helped me by giving me a list of her familial ancestors, I spent a lot of time researching to put the pieces together by way of searching vital records such as birth, death, marriage, census records and old archived newspapers, including some old deeds as well. Although I relied on the family's oral history to a point, I cannot stress enough the importance of doing your utmost to verify events based on documented records, if available.
I have been able to verify a lot of the more recent information in the family history going back to the early 1800s at least, via my vital records research. Please note the pieces of history that I was unable to confirm by way of documentation (going further back in time), I rightly state upfront here and now that it is my belief or that it is more than likely, not matter of fact, because some of this much older information is unknown and might never be known.
Going back to the early years, the property was said to have been a substantial amount of land, which is no longer part of the "Conjuring House" property today. Over time, parcels were broken up and sold off, and once the Perron's purchased the home, the land was significantly smaller than when the original families owned it.
When it was that the Richardson's or Arnold's amassed that large of acreage is unknown.
Regardless of which of the Richardson's or Arnolds were the first to own the property, or to have built on the property, this is still a detailed ancestry and/or genealogical record of the family who lived there for well over 200 years, going all the way down to the last lineage of this family, the Kenyons (through Sarah Butterworth, when she married Earl Kenyon Sr.)
Per Pam Kenyon Cardin's own words:
"One of the major problems with looking up the very early stuff for Burrillville is that anything before 1806, is in Gloucester, RI. When my cousin and I attempted to find info on something else, we discovered that Gloucester’s records were in such a mess that we couldn’t find anything. We did try more than once to no avail. Houses are sometimes recorded on a deed and sometimes not, so that’s another issue.
Frankly, I am not sure where they got the date of 1736 for the house. One of the dates I had was 1725. As I said, dating a structure on a piece of land is sometimes very difficult. If you have a will, that helps but may not be (and probably is not) when the house was built. A deed may well say something like ‘where he now dwells’ but is probably NOT when the house was built.
There were Arnold’s, Richardsons and Whipples in the vicinity from very early on. The farm was called the Arnold/Richardson place, so I believe that it was the Richardson family who first owned the property and built that house. Way out in the back on what I believe is Massachusetts land is the foundation of we presumed was a house. That is the one my grandfather referred to as the "Salem cellar."
There is nothing more I can tell you about that. I couldn’t find it again for anything. I have no idea who built it or owned it originally. The Arnold’s owned a huge amount of land some distance away and where the Arnold cemetery is at the corner of Brook Road and Sherman Farm Road, way off the road in the woods. "---
**Please note this doesn't mean all of these individuals listed below lived at the farm, just that they are the ancestors of those who would live on the farm as time went on.**
I. ISAAC RICHARDSON
Records show that Isaac Richardson was born on May 14, 1643, in Woburn, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He married Deborah Fuller on June 19, 1667, in Woburn, Massachusetts.
II. JOHNATHAN RICHARDSON
Johnathan Richardson was born on December 12, 1669, in Woburn, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was the son of Isaac Richardson and Deborah Fuller. Johnathan married Mary Isaac Cutler, and the two of them settled in Glocester, Rhode Island.
Johnathan and Mary went on to have at least three children that I could locate: Isaac, Johnathan and Miriam.
There are ruins of a homestead close to the Massachusetts border of that original property as Pam had previously mentioned, which her family believed would have been the first home to be built on the Richardson land, it is just not certain just who built that earlier structure.
It was my belief based on the records and research of Pam Kenyon Cardin, since her genealogical research dates the Richardson-Arnold house back to closer to 1725 (not 1736 as stated on a plaque at the house*), the more logical conclusion would be that the later structure, which is the home everyone refers to as "The Conjuring House" (have I mentioned before that I hate that name?) on Round Top Road was possibly built by or for Isaac Richardson, the son of Johnathan and Mary.
Again, I cannot confirm this by way of records as there are not many records available, especially ones that detail this specific farm. So, this is just an educated guess based on the time frame that the home would have possibly been built, and the lineage of the family during that time frame.
Isaac Richardson was born in 1701, and married Sarah Aldrich in Glocester on July 17, 1732. At some point Sarah would pass away, as there are records showing Isaac Richardson remarrying to a Bethiah Woodward in 1758. Isaac would then pass away around 1784. Isaac and Sarah had four children: Joseph, David, Deborah and Samuel.
IV. JOSEPH RICHARDSON
Next down the line in Pam's family tree would be Joseph Richardson. Joseph was born around 1733, to Isaac and Sarah Aldrich Richardson. Joseph married Susannah Smith on June 11, 1751 in Glocester. They went on to have three children: Anne, Joseph Jr., and Sarah. Joseph would pass away on September 29, 1764, at the young age of 39 years. His wife, Susannah would live to be 51 years old, passing away in 1775, in Providence.
V. ANNE RICHARDSON & NOAH ARNOLD, JR.
It was said that through Anne, Joseph and Susannah Richardson's eldest daughter, that the property would eventually merge into the "Richardson-Arnold" estate, when Anne married Noah Arnold, Jr., on July 21, 1768.
Was that the case?
According to Researcher and Archeologist, Kenneth Hillyard, he stated that he found deed records showing that Noah Arnold, Sr., actually purchased the property from Isaac and Joseph Richardson.
Hillyard states that on "November 20, 1762, Noah Arnold Sr. purchased a parcel of land from Joseph and Isaac Richardson consisting of 50 acres, including a house and farm (with farm referring to the outbuildings and related structures)." - Source: Glocester Deeds, 7:260, 265
As interesting as this is, it does show the land was once owned by Isaac and Joseph Richardson first, and was sold to the Arnold's, and there was a house on said property as well.
Going back to Anne and Noah, Jr., their union would bring forth several children. Kenneth Hillyard believes only half of the children were from Anne, and the rest were born after Anne passed away, when Noah remarried to Phoebe Aldrich. Let me make this clear, there is no record stating when Anne passed away, so we can only assume it was sometime around or before 1787.
According to Pam Kenyon Cardin's research, Anne and Noah were said to have lived in the house that stands today, and raised at least 8 children, although Kenneth Hillyard believes that Noah's brother, Aaron, first inherited the property, and that later on Noah Arnold, Jr., came to own the land. Whether or not he actually lived there in his lifetime is unknown. Noah would later pass away on June 20, 1822.
VI. JOHN ARNOLD
John Arnold was born around 1773. He married Abigail Cook Arnold, who was born on December 24, 1775, the daughter of Martha Hopkins and Sylvanius Cook, of Glocester in 1795. The couple had at least eleven children to my knowledge: Rosamond, Sally, Manning, Stephen, Sophia, Olive, Ellen, Elmira, John Jr., Mary and Smith.
Did their children grow up on this property? I do not believe so.
According to John Arnold's will which was kindly provided to me by Kenneth Hillyard, we find that he mentions that his son, Stephen is living on the property at the time of his death in 1837, and he leaves the property to Stephen.
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| John Arnold's Will (Courtesy: Kenneth Hillyard) |
John Arnold also mentions that he leaves his "home farm" to John Arnold Jr., which we now know was located off of Brook Road, where the Wallum Pond Rod and Gun Club is located today. So we know that is the farm John and Abigail were living on, at least when he passed away.
It appears that although Noah Arnold, Jr., did pass the property to his son, John prior to his death, more than likely John, already having his own farm, allowed his son, Stephen live on the property until it was later deeded to him upon his father's death.
Historian, Elise Giammarco Carlson found a juicy tidbit of information at the Burrilville Historical Society archives in regards to the other Richardson-Arnold House off of Brook Road, which was actually referred to as the Richardson-Arnold Duplex.
"This house stood on land now owned by the Rod and Gun Club. The large house was occupied by two married couples who ran the large farm here, with cow and horse barns where the club and its parking lot are today. The original house was later divided by a central wall which even divided the staircase, making two very narrow stairways, because the wives became bitter enemies in a domestic squabble. Each half of the house had its own kitchen-ell, and the backyard was dividedby a high fence so the women could hang their washings without encountering each other." -- (source: compilation of stories about Burrilville, contributed by historical society members.)
I would love to find out more about this family feud of sorts!
Moving along.....
As stated above, Stephen would inherit the farm, when John Arnold passed away on September 19, 1837 at the age of 64 years. His wife, Abigail Cook Arnold would pass away 32 years later on February 10, 1869, at the age of 93.
VII. STEPHEN ARNOLD
Time rolls on, and later we find Stephen Arnold and his wife, Sally Margery Eddy Arnold running the farm. Stephen was born in 1805, just around the time that Burrillville was "established." He married Sally Margery Eddy, the daughter of Doctor Levi Eddy and Prusia Aldrich. The pair had ten children that I could locate: Edwin, Prusia, Stephen Jr., George, Albert, Mowry, Emeline, Sarah, Abigail and Levi.
According to Pam Kenyon Cardin, two children had passed away from Typhoid.*
It appears that of the ten children, all grew to be adults, except for Abigail and possibly Levi. It appears Abby passed away at the age of 5 years in May of 1848. Is it possible that Levi is the 2nd child death that was recorded in Pam's records, with him possibly passing away at the age of 14 in 1859? There's no definite answer. Pam Kenyon Cardin's family Bible stated two children of Sally Eddy died young, and their causes of death were mentioned in it, but the names were not mentioned to me.
(*I had originally believed the children had died from Typhus but according to Pam, she believed it was actually Typhoid).
According to Pam, Sally also passed away on October 3, 1844, from Typhoid as well. Interestingly enough, Sally passed away before her two children, so thankfully she didn't have to experience the heartache of losing any of her children while she was alive. Stephen Arnold would pass away five years later, on October 25, 1849.
VIII. EDWIN ARNOLD
Moving forward, it was Edwin Arnold who would later live at the property and run the farm with his family. Edwin was born at the farm on February 28, 1821. He was married to Adeline Caswell in 1851 in Burrillville. They had three children that I could find information on: Abigail Frances Arnold, John Allen Arnold and Fremont Arnold.
The 1860 Census lists Edwin as a farmer, along with his wife Adeline, children: Abby (8), John (5) and Fremont (3), as well as Eunice Burlingame (7), Willis (3), Riley Barnes (50), and Eunice Caswell (69). It appears that Eunice Caswell was Adeline's mother, and the rest were obviously relatives, except for Riley, who was a farm laborer.
The 1870 Census lists Edwin again as a farmer, along with Adeline, children: Abby (18), John (15), Fremont (13), along with Riley Barnes (59), Sturbridge Taft (27) both listed as farm laborers, Prudence Taft (18) as a house keeper and Ednah (2). It is obvious that Sturbridge and Prudence were a married couple with their child, Ednah, living and working on the farm for the family.
On July 9, 1871, Abigail Frances Arnold would wed Sumner Walling in Douglas, Massachusetts.
On May 27, 1874, Abby's husband, Sumner would die in Douglas, Worcester, Massachusetts, where he is also buried. After the death of her husband, Abby moved back home to her parents farm in Burrilville. The couple would have one child together Sumner, Jr., who was born on December 9, 1874. This year would prove to be a difficult one for poor Abby, as the child would die only 8 days later.
The 1880 Census lists Edwin as a farmer, Adeline, their adult children: Abby (28), John (25), Fremont (23), Riley Barnes (72). All of the men are working for the family as a farmer laborers.Please take note of the photograph posted at the top of this blog, which has been widespread over the years to perpetuate "The Conjuring" story, was more than likely taken sometime in the late 1800's, thus the people listed in the 1870-1880 census' are more than likely those within the photograph, along with relatives who may have been visiting or even possibly close friends from a neighboring property.
The photo was taken on the property of the Arnold family, which was passed down through Abigail Butterworth down to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, eventually belonging to the Kenyon family. Per former owner, Norma Sutcliffe, "This was a picture that was taken, that was handed down from the Arnold family. I was given a copy of the original and, sadly, I gave it to Andrea Perron. This was all long before the movie."--
So we know now how that photo got circulated all over the internet with false information pertaining to the house and the erroneous story of Bathsheba Sherman.
Celebrating Thanksgiving with the Arnolds....
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| December 8th, 1894 (Pascoag Herald) |
On October 24, 1903, while walking home one evening, Edwin disappeared. His body was located against a rock wall on Smith Aldrich's farm on December 17, 1903. Apparently, he stopped to rest due to exhaustion and he died from exposure from the cold. His body had missing for nearly two months.
The newspaper clipping of the discovery read:
"FOUND AT LAST -- The Body of Edwin Arnold Discovered by a Hunter Yesterday Morning.
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It goes on to detail that he had been trying to take a short cut, by cutting through various farms, to avoid the highway, when he probably grew tired and stopped to take a rest, only to pass away in the freezing weather temperatures.
"The funeral of the later Edwin Arnold was held from his residence on the Douglas Road last Saturday afternoon at 1 o'clock and was attended by many relatives and friends. Rev. Walter Ela, pastor of the Laurel Hill M.E. Church, officiated. the bearers were Smith B. Mowry, A.B. White, Sewell Chace and Horace Arnold. Interment was in the family lot in the Tassel Top Cemetery." -- Pascoag Herald, 12/25/1903
In ending, this first part of my ancestral genealogy blog post, we have learned that there have been many people who have lived and more than likely died on the property from old age perhaps and illness, but there are no records of any sort of foul play, accident or suicide on this property. Although Edwin died, he did not die on this property, and Sally Eddy and her two children died of illness. It is safe to conclude that there were many more deaths prior to and up to this point in the home's history, based on the fact that there were many generations who lived here and grew old here. Family took care of their elderly until they passed away, but that didn't mean anything negative took place on the property.
CLICK HERE TO READ PART 2. The Ancestral History of the Richardson-Arnold House.
* The plaque you see at the house that says the house was built in 1736 is not accurate. The date was etched in cement on a back step when Norma lived there. You must remember that cement wasn't readily available until the late 1800's and the early 1900's, so the date that was placed on the step had been done well over a hundred years after the home was built, perhaps even later. There is no way to know when the cement step was put in, and just who decided to add that date to it.
-(COPYRIGHT - J'aime Rubio, 2024, www.jaimerubiowriter.com )
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