Tales From Beyond
Foster, Rhode Island, seems to command a great deal of attention on the subject of ghosts and haunts. Old maps show places of legend and ghosts that have secured their place in the town’s history. One of those maps was drawn out by famous Scituate, Rhode Island map maker, George E. Matteson. Matteson made it a point to mark certain quirky places of interest in his hand drawn works. Because of this, the maps are well sought after and valuable not only for travel but entertainment as well. One the more prominent figures in his map of Foster, Rhode Island is a woman named “Aunt Lonnie (some say Lannie)” Davis and the now renowned Ghost Lot.
Davis was at one time said to be a beautiful young woman who met a local and they married, settling down on a small farm on Tucker Hollow Road. Time went by and the couple grew old together until her husband passed, leaving Lonnie to tend to the farm and home by herself. Time had also taken its toll upon her as her flowing colorful hair became white with age. This caused the locals to give her the name, “Aunt Lonnie” which may have caused her to detest and shun her neighbors.
Aunt Lonnie became known as a recluse. Some claim she was a witch. Lonnie would push her old cart down Route 6 to Hopkins Mills where she would procure her necessities then push the full load back up the steep hill heading towards home. Never once did she accept any assistance from the local gentry. It is related that she seemed to have an aversion with the townsfolk to the point where she made crystal clear that when she died, her home was to be demolished and her land never be built upon again. It was a strange request with an even stranger consequence. If so much as two boards remained nailed together, she would haunt the area until her wish was granted in full.
When Aunt Lonnie died, the townspeople failed to adhere to her demand and soon paid the price for their action. Whenever someone passed by the abandoned property, screams could be heard from the home and a cold breath would send a chill down their backs. If anyone dared venture onto the cursed land, a menacing voice would whisper in their ear followed by an icy cold chill that no doubt sent the unwanted trespasser fleeing for safer ground.
One hot summer day, a couple decided to sneak on the property and snoop around. When they came to the old well, a chill suddenly overcame them that they could not shake, it was the spirit of Lonnie letting them know they were not welcome on her land.
It came to pass that the only way the neighbors could be rid of Aunt Lonnie was to fulfill her last wish. The home was torn down and no two boards remained nailed together, or so they thought. Someone must have overlooked a plank or two. The land where Lonnie Davis once lived is now called the “Ghost Lot” and continues to be haunted centuries later. The lot is aptly marked on Matteson’s 1947 map of Foster as “The Ghost Lot.” There is still a foundation where Aunt Lonnie’s home once stood, and the land around the cellar hole has never been cleared or rebuilt upon.
Mary Davis and her husband Joseph are buried in the Tucker Hollow Cemetery very close to the Ghost Lot. Perhaps Aunt Lonnie was a nickname given to Mary; Lonnie could have been her middle name. Her birth date is unknown but her death date, 1799, is clearly marked on the rough stone marker that sits among the brush and growth in the old burying yard. As for the Ghost Lot, it is not recommended venturing there alone or after dark. Not only is it on private property, Aunt Lonnie’s ghost is still watching over the land and still remains, centuries after her death, not cordial to strangers.
Davis was at one time said to be a beautiful young woman who met a local and they married, settling down on a small farm on Tucker Hollow Road. Time went by and the couple grew old together until her husband passed, leaving Lonnie to tend to the farm and home by herself. Time had also taken its toll upon her as her flowing colorful hair became white with age. This caused the locals to give her the name, “Aunt Lonnie” which may have caused her to detest and shun her neighbors.
Aunt Lonnie became known as a recluse. Some claim she was a witch. Lonnie would push her old cart down Route 6 to Hopkins Mills where she would procure her necessities then push the full load back up the steep hill heading towards home. Never once did she accept any assistance from the local gentry. It is related that she seemed to have an aversion with the townsfolk to the point where she made crystal clear that when she died, her home was to be demolished and her land never be built upon again. It was a strange request with an even stranger consequence. If so much as two boards remained nailed together, she would haunt the area until her wish was granted in full.
When Aunt Lonnie died, the townspeople failed to adhere to her demand and soon paid the price for their action. Whenever someone passed by the abandoned property, screams could be heard from the home and a cold breath would send a chill down their backs. If anyone dared venture onto the cursed land, a menacing voice would whisper in their ear followed by an icy cold chill that no doubt sent the unwanted trespasser fleeing for safer ground.
One hot summer day, a couple decided to sneak on the property and snoop around. When they came to the old well, a chill suddenly overcame them that they could not shake, it was the spirit of Lonnie letting them know they were not welcome on her land.
It came to pass that the only way the neighbors could be rid of Aunt Lonnie was to fulfill her last wish. The home was torn down and no two boards remained nailed together, or so they thought. Someone must have overlooked a plank or two. The land where Lonnie Davis once lived is now called the “Ghost Lot” and continues to be haunted centuries later. The lot is aptly marked on Matteson’s 1947 map of Foster as “The Ghost Lot.” There is still a foundation where Aunt Lonnie’s home once stood, and the land around the cellar hole has never been cleared or rebuilt upon.
Mary Davis and her husband Joseph are buried in the Tucker Hollow Cemetery very close to the Ghost Lot. Perhaps Aunt Lonnie was a nickname given to Mary; Lonnie could have been her middle name. Her birth date is unknown but her death date, 1799, is clearly marked on the rough stone marker that sits among the brush and growth in the old burying yard. As for the Ghost Lot, it is not recommended venturing there alone or after dark. Not only is it on private property, Aunt Lonnie’s ghost is still watching over the land and still remains, centuries after her death, not cordial to strangers.
