When the Perron family moved into the old Arnold estate on Rhode Island in the December
of 1970, they were given just one piece of advice by the previous occupants:
“For the sake of your family, leave the lights on at night!”
The haunting began almost immediately.
At first the spirits were largely friendly towards the Perrons.
The children, the five sisters Andrea, Nancy, Christine, Cindy and April, were the main
focus of the of the friendly apparitions’ attentions.
They would, in fact, grow very fond of two of spirits.
One of these entities was claimed to be the benevolent ghost of Mrs Arnold, who was reported
to have tucked the girls in at night and would kiss them on the forehead.
The other was Johnny Arnold, the boy who was said to have hung himself in the attic of
the secluded farmhouse in the mid-18th century.
So fond of the boy spirit were the girls that they lovingly nicknamed him “Manny”.
He was said to have played with their toys, and watch the sisters as they played outside.
The family, in general, especially welcomed what they called “the sweeping ghost”.
This spirit’s presence would only ever be heard from a distance: the sound of a broom
shuffling against the floor.
Whenever the family would go in and investigate, they would find a broom leaning against a
wall, with a neat pile of dirt next to it.
However, as time went by it became apparent that not all the spirits on the estate were
friendly.
Most morning at 5:15, spirits who smelled of “rotting flesh” would visit the sleeping
family to lift up their beds, tossing aside whomever were in them.
The Perrons also claimed to have encountered demonic forces at the farmhouse, who would
pull on the girls’ hair and limbs during the night.
Banging doors and disembodied cries were also a regular occurrence.
One night the family supposedly heard a voice that told of seven dead soldiers buried within
the walls of their home.
However horrible these occurrences were, there was one entity which made the rest pale in
comparison.
The events were supposedly so terrible that Andrea Perron, now a grown woman, still refuses
to talk in detail about it.
Her only comment about this malevolent entity was this:
“Let’s just say there was a very bad male spirit in the home – with five little girls.”
Aside from these spirits, there was one which is now infamous, brought into the popular
sphere by the horror film The Conjuring.
Her name was Bathsheba.
Much of Andrea Perron’s adult autobiographical account is dedicated to this spirit.
Bathsheba Thayer was born on Rhode Island in 1812.
In her early thirties she married Judson Sherman, and give birth to at least one known son,
Herman.
Bathsheba and Judson are believed to have had three other children, with all dying at
a very young age.
From what can be gathered from the public records, Bathsheba and Judson Sherman lived
out their days at the old Arnold Estate, both dying in the 1880s.
Their son, Herbert Sherman, outlived them, dying in 1903.
During Bathsheba’s lifetime, there was one incident which marked the familial home out
as a place of darkness.
It involved the death of an infant and the accusation of murder, caused by an incision
at the back of the head.
The infant had been in the care of Bathsheba at the time, and her neighbours were quick
to accuse her of being a witch.
Sadly, such an accusation was all too common a fate for any woman who was in any way associated
with tragedy and had attracted jealousy.
After all, Bathsheba had much to make her neighbours envy: she was beautiful and had
a husband who provided well for her and a young boy on a private estate.
It would not matter that the justice courts found Bathsheba not guilty: the corpse of
the infant would follow her for the rest of her life.
Her neighbours continued to believe she had killed the child.
Many speculated that the infant had been sacrificed to the devil to bestow Bathsheba with eternal
youth and beauty.
Some rumours were all the more malicious, claiming that she had sacrificed her own children
as well.
From there, rumours spread like wildfire.
The local community whispered that Bathsheba Sherman was a sadist who enjoyed torturing
her staff, much like Madame Lalaurie of New Orleans in the early 19th century.
When Bathsheba died, her body was said to have turned to stone: that was part of Satan’s
price for having granted her beauty.
Andrea Perron, when writing in her later autobiographical account, has suggested that the infamy of
the accusation levied against Bathsheba pained her throughout her life.
Thus, by the time Bathsheba died, all that remained of her once beautiful and youthful
self, was a woman filled with bitterness and rage.
A woman who had been tormented by the cruelty of her fellow man.
In the afterlife Bathsheba continued to nurture this hatred, howling angry cries in the night
and tormenting all those she encountered.
The Perrons claimed that Bathsheba would disturb the children by moving their toys around and
making their things disappear.
The spirit of Bathsheba, however, had a particular hatred of Carolyn, Andrea’s mother.
It was said that Bathsheba was infatuated with Roger, Carolyn’s husband, and as such
wanted Carolyn out the way.
Because of this, Roger only ever encountered Bathsheba’s sweeter side: with nothing but
light-fingered caresses and sensual advances from the spirit.
For Carolyn, not only would objects in the house disappear, but she reported being physically
hurt and emotionally tormented, her energy constantly consumed, almost like Bathsheba
intended to possess her body.
Before too long, the Perron family were exhausted - and desperately in need of help.
And so, they reached out to the paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Lorraine, a clairvoyant, said she immediately sensed a dark spirit living in the house.
Bathsheba.
She pointed to an small circular incision at the back of Carolyn’s leg, identifying
it as Bathsheba’s handiwork.
Lorraine stated that the wound possessed the same characteristics as the one found drilled
into the infant’s skull, and that Bathsheba had indeed been guilty of the horrific crime.
As such, Bathsheba was posthumously denounced as a witch.
The Warrens declared the house to be diabolically infested, with all its inhabitants in danger
of falling under Bathsheba’s power.
However, they stated that an exorcism was not possible because the Perrons were not
religious.
They did, however, attempt a seance with Carolyn in the cellar of the house.
It backfired.
Instead of cleansing the house, Carolyn was possessed by Bathsheba and thrown 20 feet
backwards.
After that, there would be no stopping Bathsheba or the spirits that had taken over the house.
Ed and Lorraine Warren were forced to retreat.
Even to this day, Lorraine is still traumatised by the Old Arnold Estate.
In her own words:
"The things that went on there were just so incredibly frightening.
It still affects me to talk about it today."
For years after the Warrens’ visit, the Perrons continued to live alongside the dark
entities of the house.
Years later Perrons would leave the house and Norma Sutcliffe would move in.
After the release of The Conjuring movie in 2013, fans of the film began trespassing on
the property.
This prompted Norma to make a response to the movie’s claims.
According to her account, she researched town hall records and talked to other people who
had lived in the house.
She found out that all the supposed suicides and murders linked to the secluded farmhouse
did not happen there, but rather at other locations around town.
The story of young Johnny Arnold hanging himself in the attic of the house.
The case of the eleven year old girl, Prudence Arnold, being assaulted and murdered by unknown
hands on the property.
The elder lady, Mrs Arnold, killing herself in the barn.
All most likely happened elsewhere.
Even the trial of Bathsheba Sherman was found to be dubious, with there being no historical
record of it taking place.
Her grave, however, is known to be at a nearby Baptist cemetery.
It is recorded that at her funeral the Baptist minister honoured her with a eulogy.
Something which would probably not have happened if Bathsheba had truly been suspected of infanticide.
After living in the house for many years, Norma states that she has never seen a ghost
or spirit.
It is, however, interesting that, in 2005, the Syfy channel’s Ghost Hunters were invited
to investigate the house.
The team reported finding several cold spots, and recorded a door opening of its own accord
in the house.
All of this surprised Norma at the time.
Whilst the history of the house may have been muddled, either intentionally or otherwise,
across the decades, it is still possible that the house is haunted.
Indeed, Andrea Perron and her family continue to confirm that the haunting really did occur.
What is more, it is a possibility that the haunting was not directly connected to the
house, but rather to the family themselves.
After all, in cases of hauntings children are often the focus of spiritual activity,
such as with young Daniel Lutz in the case of Amityville.
Carolyn and Roger Perron had five daughters.
Sadly, there is, however, little evidence for the Perron family’s haunting beyond
their collective testimonies.
If there were evil entities at the house, it is unlikely that one of them was Bathsheba
Sherman, as records show no evidence of any of the accusations levied against her.
However, evil spirits, or even demonic forces, have never needed a name.
If they exist, they would probably have no scruples as to how we identify and categorize
them.
Evil entities, much like evil people, would simply change names and faces to suit their
aim of deception.
Thus, much like the nameless serial killers who grow to old age and die quietly, the truth
of what happened to the Perrons shall always be elusive.
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