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| True Rhode Island Ghost Stories
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The White Horse Tavern
Newport, Rhode Island
The White Horse Tavern was constructed in 1652 and became the residence of Francis Brinley. The building was sold in 1673 to William Mayes, Sr. who converted it into a tavern. The tavern became the meeting place for the Colony’s General Assembly, City Council and Criminal Court. William Mayes, Jr. a notorious pirate returned to Newport and took over the job of innkeeper from his father, followed shortly by his sister Mary and her husband Robert. In 1730 Jonathan Nichols became innkeeper and named the tavern The White Horse Tavern. In the late 1720s two men travelling by boat stopped at The White Horse Tavern one night for food and lodging. In the morning when the two men didn’t come down the owner and her helper went to investigate. When they got upstairs they found one man dead near the fireplace and the other missing. There were no gun shot wounds or stab marks and the two women could not tell how the weary traveler had died. Fearing it was a small pox outbreak the man’s body was taken away and buried immediately and the two women were quarantined on Coaster's Harbor Island. The man’s identity and cause of death remains unknown to this day. Mary and her helper did not get smallpox from the traveler but they did get it when they went to the island. The helper died but Mary recovered and returned to the inn. The ghost believed to be haunting the White Horse Tavern is that of the unknown traveler. He has been seen on numerous occasions wearing old fashion clothing, boots and an old hat. Strange footsteps are heard walking throughout the building and there are reports of people being touched by this unseen spirit.
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