Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClain Smith, where for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make it into the previous show. In our last episode, Negative Space, we looked at the chilling tale of the Purran family haunting, which, like many people, I first came across through the film The Conjuring. It was also through this film that I first heard about Lorraine and Ed Warren, with whom the
Puran's story has subsequently become inextricably linked. There is little doubt that, for whatever reason, some members of the Puran family had noticed and experienced various things occurring in their home, which they later came to speculate might be the result of a haunting. However, it was from the involvement of the war that the story really began to solidify into something that appeared to give the Peron's concerns some legitimacy
and would later inspire the filmmakers of The Conjuring. I don't think for a moment that those filmmakers have a duty to present a story based on facts or truth. It is a film for entertainment and doesn't present as
anything else, nor should it be required to. However, since many of the Warrens and Peron's assumptions and associations drew on the history of real people, it feels necessary to go a little deeper into the conclusions that they eventually drew and the subsequent mythology that has now been attached
to the story. Having become increasingly unsettled by the peculiar events taking place in her home, Caroline Peron became convinced that her family was being haunted by at least one malicious spirit, and so in the summer of nineteen seventy two, she took it on herself to try and find a possible culprit. Caroline is said to have begun by going through the records at Burrowville Town Hall, the town which incorporates the area of Harrisville in Rhode Island, where the
Perron's home was located. Despite finding some useful information about the past owners of the house, a family named Arnold, it wasn't until she met Franne, who worked at a local store, that she apparently began to get somewhere. After telling Franne about the supposed entity she had seen with the broken neck. Franne is said to have recognized the description of its clothes, a simple dress with wide pockets, as being typical of local fashion in the nineteenth century.
From here the pair came across the name Bathsheba Sherman, as documented in a three part series of books titled House of Darkness, House of Life, written by old as daughter Andrea Peron. Caroline was then introduced to a mister mckeachen, an elderly member of the local community, who had in fact known Bathsheba as a young boy. What mckeachen is said to have gone on to tell Caroline gave her
serious pause for thought. Back when Batsheba had been a young woman, it was said that a baby, possibly hers or someone else's it isn't clear, died mysteriously while in her care. The cause of death was thought to have been the result of a wound made by a needle that was found impaled at the base of the infant's skull. This event was said to have taken place when Bathsheba was staying at the farmhouse back when it was known
as the Arnold's Farm. Batsheba was apparently accused of murdering the child, but ultimately escaped conviction when the judge presiding over her trial failed to find sufficient evidence to condemn her. As a result, it was said that the local community remained suspicious of Bathsheba for the rest of her life, with some accusing her of being a witch in league
with the devil, and that was only the beginning. Having felt uncomfortable in the barn on numerous occasions, Caroline was also said to have been shocked to learn that one of the Arnaults had hung themselves in the barn, and that pantry door leading just off the parlor that wouldn't stay shut, might, as she is said to have discovered, have had something to do with the eleven year old
girl raped and murdered in there many years before. It was some months later that a friend of Caroline's was attending a lecture in the town of Putnam, roughly twenty miles away, being given by Lorraine and Ed Warren. Lorraine and ed Warren had been making a name for themselves as a self described clairvoyant and demonologist, respectively, offering their
services to clear unwonted spirits from people's homes. The Warrens had first met back in nineteen forty three, and after marrying two years later, went on to set up the New England Society for Psychic Research in nineteen fifty two. Ed had grown up in a house which he believed was haunted, and having convinced Lorraine of the idea, came up with a plan to see if they could find
other homes that were also haunted. Ed, who had spent some time at art school, would paint the apparently haunted homes and offer the paintings to the owners in return for a chance to investigate the house. It was from these unconventional beginnings that the pair developed a reputation as
paranormal investigators. Though their Psychic Research Society had been founded simply to investigate apparent haunting, their approach changed when in nineteen sixty five, the Warrens claimed to have conversed with the spirit of a young child named Cynthia, who was trying to find her mother. The pair as said to have been so touched by this apparent communication that instead of merely investigating hauntings, they became dedicated to helping the
supposed spirits they encountered. As self described paranormal investigators, the Warrens received their first break in nineteen sixty eight, after looking into the alleged possession of a raggedy ann doll, a toy that had become popular in the US in the nineteen tents. The doll, which would later inspire the film Annabel, was said to have been possessed by the
spirit of someone called Annabel Higgins. By the nineteen seventies, the Warrens had well and truly cemented their reputation and were embarking on a tour of lectures to explain their practices when Caroline's friend Barbara went to see them in Putnam. Speaking to them afterwards, Barbara told them all about what was apparently taking place at the Pearan's home. With their interest piqued, the Warrens appeared one morning at the Peran's
farmhouse and requested permission to inspect the property. Caroline Julie agreed, also showing them all the apparent evidence she had amassed about who she believed might be responsible for the hauntings. When Caroline then mentioned an inexplicable wound she had received while resting one afternoon in the parlor, Lorraine Warren had a sudden epiphany. Since the wound was a small, circular puncture in the skin as if made by a needle. It was clear who the culprit was Bathsheba Sherman. Are
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Unexplained podcast to day to get started. That's t e l a d oc dot com slash Unexplained podcast there was indeed a woman named Bathsheba Sherman who lived in Burrowville, Rhode Island at the time in question, having been born in eighteen twelve after dying in eighteen eighty five around the age of seventy three. It is also conceivable that mister mc keachen had met her as a young boy, although he would have had to have been in his nineties in nineteen seventy one to have had any real
recollection of this. However, there is nothing on record to suggest that Bathsheba ever visited the Arnold's farmhouse, let alone lived there for any prolonged period of time, nor is there any record of her being involved in the possible murder of a child. In fact, no evidence of any scandal of the thought having taken place in the Burrowville area has ever been found. What is known is that Bathsheba born Bathsheba Thya, was married to a Judson Sherman
in eighteen forty four. The record state the pair had four children together. The first three would die tragically young, not in any way unusual for the time, with their only surviving son being a Herbert Sherman born in eighteen forty nine, when Bahbad died in eighteen eighty five, most likely from a stroke. Not only was a eulogy given by the local Baptist minister, but she was buried alongside
the graves of her first husband and deceased children. As writer and historian Jamie Rubio has pointed out, both these incidences would have been unlikely if the local community had suspected her of any of the crimes she had apparently been accused of. Neither was there any mention of these alleged crimes in Sherman's obituary. As for the other individuals that had been suggested as potential spirits, Jamie Rubio unearthed
some interesting information about them too. It was claimed that an elderly woman of the Arnold family had committed suicide by hanging herself in the barn, although this isn't true. A member of the Arnold family, when the family was still in possession of the farm was found to have hung themselves back in eighteen eighty six. However, the woman in question, Susan Arnold, didn't die at the farm house,
nor was she elderly at the time of death. In a devastatingly tragic account of the incident, Susan Arnold's obituary recounts how her husband, John, who had a disability at the time, struggled to break into a store room which
had been locked from the inside. When he finally managed to get in after climbing through a back window, he found the fifty year old Susan's lifeless body suspended from a wardrobe hook with a very small cord, evidently having had every intention of succeeding with her plan to commit suicide. A loaded gun, a life and a file of mercury
was also found by Arnold's body. Another connection drawn by Lorraine Warren to the Peron's home was with the death of a young girl named Prudence Arnold, who Warren claimed was raped and murdered in the pantry. This also was found to be some distance from the truth, ten miles to be precise. Again, tragically, an event similar to this did take place, but not in the Perron's home, rather
in the nearby town of Uxbridge. It was there that, in eighteen forty nine, twenty two year old William Nolton became so angry at twelve year old Prudence's refusal to marry him that he slit her throat and watched her bleed to death. Nolton was eventually convicted of the crime and sentenced to death by hanging, justifying his actions as the simple consequence of love and jealousy, which he stayed
would lead a man to do anything. If you enjoy listening to Unexplained and would like to help support us, you can now go to Unexplained podcast dot com, Forward Slash Support. All donations, no matter how large or small, are massively appreciated. All elements of Unexplained are produced by me, Richard McClain Smith. Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show.
Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com, or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com, Forward Slash Unexplained Now it's time to take care of yourself. To make time for you, teledoc gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video any time between seven a m. To nine p m. Local time, seven days a week.
Teledoc Therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download the app, or visit teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained podcast to day to Get Started. That's t e l a d oc dot com slash Unexplained podcast