Rory Raven's Top Five Tales of Haunted Rhode Island

Providence mentalist and mind bender Rory Raven appears at colleges, clubs, theatres, festivals and private events entertaining audiences with his paranormal skills. An expert in the “Theatre of the Mind,” Raven also conducts the Providence Ghost Walk, and is the author of the 2008 book Haunted Providence: Strange Tales from the Smallest State.

1. Mercy Brown. Mercy Brown died of tuberculosis in 1892 at the tender age of 19. After her death, rumors began to circulate that she was a vampire, especially once her brother Edwin fell ill with the same disease. Following a bizarre folk medicine procedure, Mercy Brown’s body was exhumed and examined. According to legend, she had rolled over in her coffin. Mercy’s heart was removed and burned, and the ashes were mixed with water and given to Edwin to drink. This was supposed to cure him, but Edwin died a few months later. Mercy Brown is THE Rhode Island Hallowe’en story.

2. Ramtail Mill. This cotton mill stood in the woods near Foster for a number of years, patrolled by its night watchman, Peleg Walker. After a fierce argument with the owners, Peleg hanged himself, and it is said that his restless spirit continued making nightly rounds. Strange things began happening, including machinery starting on its own and the mill bell ringing in the middle of the night. Some reported seeing Peleg’s lantern shining through the building’s windows. The mill was eventually abandoned and stood empty for a number of years. In the 1885 census, the mill was described as “haunted,” making it Rhode Island’s only “official” haunt. The mill is long gone, but the stories remain.

3. Palatine Light. A passenger ship making its way from Holland to Philadelphia was blown off course and made landfall on the north side of Block Island. According to the most popular version of the legend, a gang of pirates called the Block Island Wreckers lured the ship onto the rocks by lighting false beacons, then looted the helpless vessel and robbed the passengers. The Wreckers set the boat on fire, and it was then carried away by the rising tide. One woman, who had lost her mind during the voyage, would not leave the vessel, and her screams were heard as the ship vanished over the horizon. Every year in December, a flaming ship appears off the north shore of Block Island, and the shrieks of a burning madwoman may be heard.

4. Benefit Street. Often called the most haunted street in the state, Benefit Street is home to many ghost stories and weird tales. Edgar Allan Poe courted fellow poet Sarah Helen Whitman at her home and at the Athenaeum, both on Benefit. Some say Poe still walks the street in the dead of night. Horror writer H. P. Lovecraft also roamed the neighborhood, even writing the 1924 short story “The Shunned House” about one of the allegedly haunted homes there. Benefit is as strange as it is picturesque.

5. The Old Rhode Island Statehouse. The Old Statehouse at 150 Benefit Street, which dates from 1762, was the scene of a notorious murder trial in the 1840s. John Gordon, a recent Irish immigrant, stood accused of murdering Amassa Sprague, a wealthy and prosperous mill owner from Cranston. The trial caused a sensation and was the most talked-about event of the day. John Gordon was found guilty and hanged. After the trial, however, new evidence was uncovered and new witnesses came forward, clearing Gordon’s name. The identity of the real murderer remains unknown to this day. John Gordon’s restless spirit has been said to haunt the building where he was tried and unjustly convicted so many years ago.