Rhode Island’s Falsely Accused Conjuring ‘Witch’ Gets New Headstone Amid Truth

BURRILLVILLE, R.I. (WBSM) — As the Harrisville, Rhode Island home that was the real-life site of the alleged haunting that inspired the hit horror film The Conjuring continues to court controversy, a long-deceased woman who was unfairly maligned by the film finally has a sense of peace along with a new headstone on her grave.

J’aime Rubio describes herself as “an historical investigative journalist,” finding the truth behind some of the misinformation that has been perpetrated through history. The case of Bathsheba Sherman became a passion project for her after the release of The Conjuring in 2013.

In the film, which is partially based on Andrea’s Perrons three-part book series House of Darkness, House of Light, Sherman is portrayed as the vengeful spirit of a witch that somehow becomes a demonic entity and attempts to possess Carolyn Perron, the matriarch of the family that moves into a Harrisville, Rhode Island farmhouse.

The film suggests that Sherman was in league with Satan, including killing a baby by stabbing it in the back of the head with a knitting needle, and eventually took her own life by hanging on a tree on the property.

The movie is considered “based on a true story” because of the alleged hauntings the Perron family said they encountered in real life in the house now known as the “Conjuring House.”

However, Rubio said her research showed the stories presented about Sherman were woefully inaccurate in the film and slandered the good name of a long-dead woman.

“It is very important that people remember this: stories about Bathsheba Sherman did not exist anywhere on record whatsoever on this earth until 1973, when they were made up,” Rubio said in an interview on WBSM, indicating that Carolyn Perron herself made up the stories when researching her home and that daughter Andrea continued pushing the narrative in her book series.

“The story that she had been associated with (the Conjuring House), that she had worked there, that she had killed a baby…sacrificing it to Satan, it’s all ridiculous, but that’s what was said, and that folklore started in 1973 and spread like wildfire,” she said.

Rubio said her research suggests the stories about Sherman were a combination of Carolyn Perron’s claims and the exaggerations of Lorraine Warren, one half of the famed paranormal investigator couple along with her husband Ed who gained notoriety for their work investigating the house and whose files also served as the basis for the film.

“The original story started with the Perron family, and I believe it snowballed into a larger story as the Warrens used the opportunity to inject themselves into the story,” Rubio said.

Rubio said the claims that Sherman was a witch and that she committed suicide are easily debunked with just a little research.

Bathsheba Sherman was born Bathsheba Thayer in Harrisville, Rhode Island on March 10, 1812. She died on May 25, 1885, at the age of 72 after paralysis brought on by a stroke.

“During the time period that she lived, we’re not talking about the Salem Witch Trials time period,” Rubio said. “This was the 1800s, and that was not something that anyone ever brought up back then.”

Rubio also pointed to Sherman being eulogized by a priest and being buried in consecrated ground of the local cemetery, things that would not have happened if there were even accusations in her own lifetime of witchcraft or nefarious activity.

“The newspapers of the time would have exploited something like that” in Sherman’s obituary,” Rubio said.

As for the alleged infanticide, even with all of the attempts to clear Sherman’s name by Rubio and other researchers such as Shannon Bradley Byers and Kenny Biddle, there are still websites and blogs that claim that Sherman stood trial for the killing of a baby.

“None of it ever happened, there’s no record of it. The person who keeps perpetuating that nonsense is Andrea Perron,” Rubio said. “There was no inquest whatsoever, no records. That is all a farce. The sooner people realize that, the better.”

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All of the misinformation about Sherman even had a real-world effect when the headstone of her Burrillville grave was vandalized on multiple occasions.

“Her headstone had a little bit of damage over the years. It happens with older stones,” Rubio said. “It was repaired but because of that it was in a more fragile state.”

“When the movie came out and people were assuming she was a witch and jumping to conclusions, people came here and vandalized her grave and broke it several times. It wasn’t just once, it was a couple of times to the point that it was no longer repairable.”

Rubio then started a crowdfunding page to raise the money to purchase a new headstone for Sherman, and although it took a couple of years to raise all the funds, the new stone was put in place on Friday, August 30.

“It was made by Ocean State Monuments,” she said. “It’s a little different, a little smaller but they did a fantastic job trying to recreate the original.”

There may also be another addition to the gravesite in the future to help separate fact from fiction in the life of Bathsheba Sherman.

“We may have a plaque explaining the situation and how she was victimized, an innocent person who was slandered in death for something she didn’t do,” Rubio said. “That way, people will respect her grave and learn that all of the accusations shared over the years were unfounded.”