Hannah Franke and John Burke

The Indian Ghost of Hannah Franke

Burrillville is the largest town in Rhode Island and home to many haunts. Its picturesque colonial landscape still defies time. No area in Burrillville is more picturesque or haunted than the Tarkiln section of town. This country hamlet is laced with historic homes along the few back roads and the woods boast the ruins of several old factories and mills ripe with accounts of restless spirits from the past. These alone are a sight to behold but it does not end there. Tarkiln is also home to Burrillville’s most famous ghost. The Indian ghost of Hannah Franke.

The Tarkiln area was settled around 1700 (no definite date is known) by John Smith who later brought his family to the beautiful land. The first industry was a tar kiln to make pitch and charcoal. That is where the name derives. They co-existed with the local Nipmuc Indians sharing cultural knowledge. A school was erected called the Smith Academy and became the center of education in the area. White man and Nipmuc alike attended the school. The first cotton and woolen mills were also established making the Smith family extremely wealthy for their era.

By 1815, Tarkiln boasted four mills, a tannery, a sawmill, and a gristmill along with about 200 settlers living in the village. Although the Nipmucs were not too pleased by this rapid growth most of them continued to live in harmony with the white man and his ways.

Hannah Franke was a nineteen-year-old Nipmuc Indian who worked as a housekeeper for Amasa E. Warmsley and his younger brother who were Nipmuc as well. A peddler from Vermont named John Burke came down on occasion to the thriving community to sell his wares and met Hannah on one of his visits to the house. He fell head over heels for her and gave her a gift. A courtship followed. There were no stores like we have in those days so traveling peddlers were common. Many of the town's women often anticipated the sound of the tinware clinking and clanging as the saleman came through the village, for there was a new pot or kettle that was surely to be procured by one of them.

Every trip down from Vermont was followed by another endowment to the young and beautiful Hannah. Her most prized gift of all was a beautiful shell necklace she never removed from her neck.

Then came the day, September 18, 1831 when John Burke proposed to Hannah and offered to take her back to his home in Vermont as his bride. At first she refused his proposal but in time, agreed to wed the gentleman from Vermont. The Warmsleys vehemently opposed the union, perhaps they wished Hannah's hand in marriage instead. Still, they wished them well and even celebrated with them at the Warmsley house. After much drink and merriment, Hannah packed her belongings and the two set out that afternoon down Log Road for a new life together.

The trip was short lived. The Warmsley brothers intercepted them at the corner of Log Road and Horse Head Trail and brutally attacked the couple. John Burke ran east down Horse Head Trail in hopes of diverting the brothers from Hannah but was caught a sevral rods away and beheaded on the spot with an ax. They caught up with Hannah who had managed to flee in the opposite direction on Horse Head Trail. According to court records the two then beat her to death with a large stick. During the attack her beloved necklace was somehow torn from her neck. As the very juice of life bled from her body, she managed to crawl up against a great pine tree where she sadly died.

Search parties later found the Indian maiden and John Burke. The murders were solved when a suspicious J.D. Nichols, owner of one of the largest mills in the village, coerced the truth out of his housekeeper who was the sister of the Warmsley brothers. Suspicion had already fallen upon Amasa as he was seen with a shirt that had bloodstains on it by several of the villagers. When asked how they got there, he gave several different answers.  Amasa was sentenced according to a Providence Journal article dated April 3, 1832 by Chief Justice Eddy to “Be Hanged By The Neck Till You Are Dead! And may God have mercy on your soul.” Amasa E. Walmsley swung from the end of a rope for the murders on June 1, 1832. It was the first hanging carried out by the state of Rhode Island. His brother Thomas J. Warmsley actually died when he fell from a cart before he could be brought to justice. Neighbors and friends buried the couple on the very spot where Hannah died. They fashioned two fieldstones into grave markers by rounding off the tops and smoothing one side. The stones still stand among the brush five hundred feet west of Log road across from the WLKW radio towers on private property.

Hannah’s ghost is now frequently seen roaming the woods where she was killed looking for her adored necklace and lost love. Residents of Log Road have witnessed her apparition during various hours of the day and night. The Woonsocket Sportsman’s Club is now located down Horse Head Trail. Members say that her spirit has been spotted at dusk in the woods near the gates of the facility a few yards into the trail from Log Road wandering to and fro as if she was endlessly searching for something. Long time resident Sheila William’s daughter Beth witnessed the frightening apparition in the woods on several occasions with others when they lived near the trail and walked it frequently. The first time she saw it she was with her cousin. They both became very frightened from the apparition and ran. It followed them, vanishing only when they screamed out of fear. After that she got used to the idea of what she called “The Indian Princess” randomly appearing in the woods near her home.

My wife and I have visited the sight on numerous occasions as we live in one of the historic homes of Tarkiln. We were given permission to search for the graves and ramble around the area for any signs of the spirit of Hannah Franke. Four times we took a voice recording of the woods and taped only the placid sounds of nature. We also have many photographs of the area but nothing unusual has been found in them. The only strange incident I encountered was when we were there one evening near dusk and I walked a few yards into the woods to take a picture. As I focused the shot, I heard a whisper behind me and turned quickly only to see what one might call a shadow person move out of the corner of my eye and quickly disappear. The woods are sparse enough to see well into the distance so if it was an animal, I would have seen it run off. It was gone before I could get a picture of it. Photos of the wooded area showed no ghost. The whisper seemed to sound like someone, or something, was saying, “My Justice.” Maybe it was Hannah saying, “My Necklace.” The voice was very distinct and close to my ear. I must admit it momentarily startled me enough to miss the exact phrase.

If it was the spirit of Hannah Franke I encountered then I am one of the many people who have witnessed the Indian ghost that is forever doomed to roam the woods of Tarkiln. It seems she is now a permanent and welcome fixture in the eyes of the local residents who sometimes watch for the girl in search of the necklace that gave her love, happiness, and sadly, an early demise, to the world of the living, at least.

Tarkiln is located on the Burrillville/North Smithfield border. Take Interstate Route 295 to Exit 8, North Smithfield, Route 7. Follow about five miles to Mattity Road. Take left at Mattity Road to end. Take sharp left onto Log Road. The area of the sightings is a few hundred yards up across from the WLKW radio towers. The graves are on private property near the towers.

	The corner of Horsehead Trail and Log Road	The well maintained graves of Hannah Franke and John Burke	Historical Cemetery 108 containing the graves of Hannnah Franke and John Burke.