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Welcome back to the Ancestral Findings podcast. Rhode island may be the smallest state in the country, but it has never been short on independence or unusual stories. One of the original 13 colonies, Rhode island was the last state to ratify the United States Constitution. It finally approved the document on May 29, 1790, becoming the 13th state to to join the new union. Rhode island had already developed a reputation for going its own way. Colonial officials sometimes called it Rogue island, partly because smuggling was widespread in its busy ports and its merchants frequently resisted British trade restrictions. The colony was also known for religious liberty and for offering a home to people whose beliefs were unwelcome elsewhere. Until recently, the state's official name was the State of Rhode island and Providence Plantations. Rhode island voters chose to keep that name during a 2010 referendum. Ten years later, however, voters approved removing and Providence Plantations. Since 2020, the official name has simply been the State of Rhode Island. Roger Williams established Providence in 1636 after being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony because of his religious views. He reached an agreement with Naragan's set leaders, Canonicus and Myeantonymy for the land where Providence was found. The agreement was later recorded in a deed dated 1638. Long before European settlement, the region was home to native peoples including the Narragansett, Niantic, and Wampanoag. Their communities, traditions and conflicts with European settlers all became part of Rhode Island's history. With colonial settlements, rocky shorelines, old cemeteries, and centuries old homes, Rhode island has collected a surprising amount of folklore. Some stories grew from documented events, while others have been passed down as local legends. Here are several of the best known examples. The 2013 movie the Conjuring was inspired by the experiences reported by the Perron family, who moved into an old farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode island in 1971. Roger and Carolyn Perron lived there with their five daughters. According to members of the family, unexplained activity began soon after they arrived. They reported strange sounds, objects moving without explanation, doors opening by themselves, and encounters with figures they believed were spirits. Some of the reported presences seemed harmless. The Peron daughters later described spirits they believed watched over them or quietly moved through the house. Other experiences were described as threatening, especially those involving their mother, Carolyn. Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren visited the farmhouse after hearing about the family's experiences. The Warrens eventually conducted a seance at the house. According to accounts from the Perron family, the seance became so frightening that Roger Perron ordered the Warrens to leave. The movie presents a woman named Bathsheba Sherman as an Accused witch who hanged herself on the property. Bathsheba Sherman was a real person who lived in the area during the 19th century. But historical records do not support the movie's version of her life. There is no reliable evidence that she was a witch murdered A child lived in the Perron farmhouse or died by hanging. Records indicate that she died in 1885 after suffering a stroke. The Perron family remained in the farmhouse until 1980 when they were finally able to move. Andrea Perron, the oldest daughter, later wrote several books about what the family claimed to have experienced. Their stories, along with the Warrens involvement helped turn the farmhouse into one of Rhode Island's most famous paranormal landmarks. One of Rhode Island's most unsettling legends grew from the very real death of 19 year old Mercy Lena Brown of Exeter during the late 19th century. Tuberculosis, commonly called consumption, spread through the Brown family. Mercy's mother Mary died from the disease in 1883. Mercy's sister Mary Olive died the following year. Their brother Edwin later became seriously ill. Mercy died from tuberculosis on January 17, 1892. Because the ground was frozen, her body was temporarily placed in an above ground crypt rather than immediately buried. Some Exeter residents believed that one of the deceased's family members might be returning from the grave and draining the life from Edwin. Similar beliefs had appeared in other New England communities. When tuberculosis moved through families. People did not fully understand how the disease spread. So the gradual weakening and pale appearance of its victims sometimes encouraged fears of the supernatural. In March 1892, Mercy's father reluctantly allowed the bodies of his wife and daughters to be examined. The older bodies showed normal signs of decomposition. Mercy's body, protected by cold winter temperatures inside the crypt, was much better preserved. When blood was reportedly discovered in her heart, those present took it as proof that she was responsible for Edwin's illness. Mercy's heart and liver were removed and burned. The ashes were mixed with water and Edwin was given the mixture to drink as a supposed cure. It did not work. Edwin died from tuberculosis approximately two months later. Mercy was buried in the cemetery of the Chestnut Hill Baptist Church in Exeter. Visitors still seek out her grave and some claim to experience sudden chills or see a young woman walking through the cemetery. Whether those reports are supernatural or influenced by Mercy's tragic history, her story remains one of the best documented examples of New England's so called vampire panic. Near Wickford in North Kingstown is a rock associated with an old Rhode island legend known as the Devil's Foot. Rock marks in the stone have been described as resembling a human footprint and the print of a cloven hoof. Several versions of the story have circulated over the years. In one telling, a Native American woman killed a European settler and fled through the woods. A stern looking Englishman caught up with her near Wickford. The woman called upon Hobomoko, a spiritual figure whose name appeared in colonial accounts, to save her. The stranger claimed that he was Hobomoko before revealing himself as the devil. He stamped his feet against the rock, leaving the unusual impressions behind. The devil then carried the woman through the air to Purgatory Chasm near Newport and cast her into the turbulent water below. Like many legends passed down through European settlers, the story reflects colonial interpretations of Native beliefs rather than an authentic Native account. Hobomoko was often described by English colonists as an evil spirit or devil, but that description did not necessarily represent how Native people understood the figure. The marks in the stone almost certainly have a natural explanation, but the story attached to them has survived for generations. The Devil's Foot Rock remains one of Rhode Island's more unusual roadside legends. For years, a large inscribed boulder rested along the shoreline of Narragansett Bay near Pojack Point. The stone became visible mainly during low tide and was marked with two rows of symbols that some observers believed resembled ancient Norse runes. The stone became known as the Narraganset Runestone, or Kwidnasseet Rock. Supporters of the Norse theory suggested that Viking explorers might have carved the symbols centuries before Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic. There has never been convincing archaeological evidence supporting that interpretation. Some researchers questioned whether the marks were runes at all, while others suggested that they were much more recent. The mystery became more complicated in 2012, when the stone disappeared from the shoreline. State authorities investigated, and the boulder was recovered in 2013. In 2014, a Rhode island man named Everett Brown claimed that he and his brother had carved the markings during the summer of 1964. According to Brown, the brothers were interested in local history and attempted to reproduce symbols they had seen on other supposed supposed Viking relics. Some area residents disputed his account and said they remembered seeing the markings before the 1960s. The stone was eventually moved to Wickford, where it could be displayed and protected. Its inscriptions have never been conclusively dated or translated. The Narragansett Runestone may be evidence of a forgotten visit, a 20th century carving, or simply a local mystery that grew larger with each retelling. Whatever its origin, it has earned a lasting place in Rhode island folklore. Rhode Island's folklore shows how local legends often begin with a mixture of history, fear, misunderstanding, and imagination. A family's battle with tuberculosis produced a vampire story. Marks in a rock became the footprints of the devil. Strange symbols encouraged speculation about early explorers. A family's account of an old farmhouse eventually inspired one of Hollywood's best known horror movies. The facts behind these stories may differ from the legends, but both are worth preserving. Together, they reveal how Rhode Islanders have interpreted unexplained events and passed those interpretations from one generation to the next. If you've got a hard to find ancestor you're stuck on, I'd love to hear about it. Just head over to ancestralfindings.com and click on Contact to send me a message. 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