By Veil Walker Paranormal
Everyone knows the story. in 1971, the Perron family moves into a historic farmhouse in Burrillville, RI wanting to start their life. However, doors started to slam, objects moved, shadows whispered and Ed and Lorraine Warren arrive to confront a so-called demon by the name of Bathsheba.
But what if the real story is far more complicated– and far less demonic that what we were told?
A House Built on Layers
The farmhouse at 1677 Round Top Road was built around 1736, according to the RI land and tax records cited by The Providence Journal and Rhode Island Monthly (2023).
Long before that, this region was home to Nipmuc and Narragansett Indigenous tribes, whose trails and seasonal camps covered what became Glocester (despite the look, it is the correct spelling) and Burrillville.
Archaeological surveys of the Blackstone Valley region confirm Indigenous settlements along the Clear River and Chepachet corridor centuries before colonization (Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, 2006)
So when settlers arrived after King Philip’s War (1675-76), they built their farms, literally, over sacred and historic grounds. Maybe what people call evil is simply echo.
The Warren’s Visit and the Bathsheba Legend
In January 1971, the Perron Family- Roger, Carolyn and their five daughters, moved into the farmhouse seeking a quiet country life. Almost immediately, they began experiencing unexplainable phenomena- unseen footsteps, disembodied voices, cold spots, and the smell of rotting flesh. Those experiences continued for nearly a decade, ultimately inspiring Andrea Perron’s trilogy House of Darkness, House of Light (2011-2014).
Andrea describes multiple spirits- some kind, others confused- but never identifies a single “demonic witch”. It was Ed and Lorraine Warren, who visited the home in 1974, that focused on Bathsheba Sherman, citing local rumors.
But research by historian Kenny Biddle (Skeptical Inquirer, 2020) and Paul Eno (Footsteps in the Attic, 2010) found no record connecting Bathsheba to the farmhouse itself. She lived nearby, died naturally in 1885 of paralysis from a stroke (Rhode Island State Death Registry, 1885, Vol. 26), and is buried publicly in Harrisville Cemetery. No witch trial. No execution. No curse.
The Real Bathsheba Sherman
Bathsheba Thayer Sherman was born March 10, 1812, in Thompson, Connecticut, a small mill town on the Rhode Island/ Connecticut border- just a few miles away from the farmhouse that would later become famous as The Conjuring House. She married Judson Sherman, a respected farmer, in 1844, and together they raised at least one son, Herbert.
Bathsheba ran a large household, oversaw farm labor, and was very active in her community. Hardly the life of a secret occultist. The rumors that she “sacrificed a child to Satan” appear to have originated decades after her death, likely as part of rural gossip and sensational storytelling that took root int the 20th century.
Contemporary census and church records show she attended local services, maintained good standing in town, and had no criminal accusations filed against her. Her headstone in Harrisville Cemetery still stands, marked simply:
Bathsheba, wife of Judson Sherman, 1812-1885
Even in death, her name became a symbol of fear rather that fact. And perhaps, as investigators, it’s time we give Bathsheba back her humanity.
The Witch Trials That Haunted New England’s Memory
Although Bathsheba Sherman was born more than a century after the last witch trial in New England, the shadow of that hysteria never truly faded.
Between 1647-1693, more than 200 people across New England were accused of witchcraft. The infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692 became the most widely remembered, but similar cases occurred earlier in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. In fact, the first American witch executions happened in Connecticut in 1647, in nearby Hartford- barely 30 miles from where Bathsheba would one day be born.
By the early 1800’s, when Bathsheba llived in rural Thompson, Connecticut, those old fears had simply gone underground. No one was being dragged to court anymore, whispers and superstition still lingered in farming communities. Women who lived on the edge of town, practiced herbal remedies, or suffered misfortune could easily become targets of gossip.
If a baby died unexpectdly, crops failed, or livestock took ill, someone would quietly ask, “who angered the spirits?”. It didn’t take much for an ordinary woman to become a legend.
That’s the world Bathsheba Sherman inherited- a place still haunted by the memory of Puritan fear. And long after she was gone, that memory twisted her name into something she never was.
Even the Warren’s Had Doubts
In later interviews, Lorraine Warren admitted that not every case they investigated could be proven.
In a 1992 Providence Journal interview, she said, “We could never prove everything we witnessed. Faith is part of it.” Privately, she told colleagues that it “was one of the most complicated” hauntings they faced. Even Andrea Perron confirmed that the Warrens’ seance in her home “made things worse” and that her mother refused to let them return (Interview with Andrea Perron, Travel Channel, 2019).
So while they believed something happened there, even the Warrens stopped short of saying they proved anything.
The Hollywood Effect
Warner Bros.’ The Conjuring (2013) amplified Bathsheba’s legend for dramatic effect, merging several real hauntings rom the Warrens’ files into one cinematic storyline.
Director James Wan acknowledged this in a 2016 Collider interview:
“We had to condense and dramatize. It’s not a documentary- it’s inspired by true events.“
That one line, “inspired by true events” is doing the heavy lifting here…
The Power of Storytelling
The deeper you look, the more the Bathsheba story unravels. What remains is something older and more complex: Indigenous energy, colonial survival, and centuries of emotion embedded in the land. Sometimes hauntings aren’t about hellfire– they are about memory. They’re echoes of human lives overlapping across time.
A New Chapter for an Old Haunting
As the Conjuring House heads to auction on October 31, 2025, one cannot help but wonder what stories will unfold under its next owner. Whether the new caretakers treat it as legend, history or sacred ground, the energy of this land will always remain.
The truth, as always, isn’t in the fear- it’s in the listening.
The Veil Walker Perspective
At Veil Walker Paranormal, we don’t chase demons. We chase the truth- with empathy, curiosity, and respect for history. Whether a spirit is peaceful, angry, or simply lost in its own century, we approach it with open minds and grounded methods.
Maybe the real haunting of the Conjuring House isn’t one woman’s curse at all. Maybe it’s the echo of centuries calling out to be understood.
Closing Thoughts
Ed an Lorraine Warren were pioneers of their time, but even they admitted not every story was clear. The Conjuring House, which Andrea Perron did not like that name, remains one of New England’s most mysterious locations- but the truth is more human than Hollywood.
Whoever becomes its next caretaker, and I believe the house will chose its next one, they will inherit more than a house, they will inherit centuries of stories, emotions, and energies woven into the land itself.
And I will say this as a seasoned investigator and medium, who believes deeply in honoring what came before: Whoever owns that house must treat it with respect. Learn it’s history in its entirety, listen to its voice and feel its energy. Don’t provoke, but understand what is there. Because when you approach the paranormal with compassion instead of confrontation, the spirits respond in kind. I always say, if I was treated in death with confrontation and provocation, I too, would be angry. Remember, the spirits were once human too, not all but many were so treat them with respect. Maybe then, the land and house might have a chance to heal.
Sources:
- Andrea Perron, House of Darkness House of Light: The True Story (2011–2014 trilogy)
- Ed & Lorraine Warren case files, The Conjuring Investigations (1970s – archived notes and interviews)
- History vs. Hollywood, “The Conjuring: History vs. Hollywood” — historyvshollywood.com
- Smithsonian Magazine, “The True Story Behind ‘The Conjuring’” — smithsonianmag.com
- Rhode Island Historical Society archives on Harrisville, Burrillville Township (19th century land records)
- Local archives: Thompson, Connecticut Vital Records (birth of Bathsheba Thayer, 1812)
- Providence Journal, “The Real Bathsheba Sherman: Separating Myth from Legend” (feature, 2013)
- Andrea Perron interviews — Travel Channel: A Haunting, Kindred Spirits, The Curse of the Conjuring House
- The Conjuring House Official Website — www.theconjuringhouse.info (tour information and property history)
- New England Legends Podcast, Episode 268: “The Witch of Bathsheba Sherman”