This is an old ghost story dating back a few centuries. It is typical of the romantic tales of haunted places that Rhode Island has become famous for. This account has been told and retold in several antiquated tomes. A tavern called the Black Horse once stood in the middle of Scituate Village in Rhode Island. A man named Reuben Jenckes owned the establishment and was cordial to all who entered its door, whether it was food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty or lodging for the weary.

As the story goes, the ghost of a Narragansett Indian haunted the building out of embarrassment for an event that took place many years before while he was alive and visiting the hostelry. Some claim he also haunted the Black Horse Tavern because he preferred the nearby Pine Tree Tavern in life and wanted the business to migrate there.

The ghost haunted the family in the form of strange dreams. He would be seen by various family members in their dreams, pointing to someplace on the property before slowly walking toward
where he was pointing. The vision was often followed by some sort of horrific nightmare.

One of the main recipients of the ghostly dreams was Reuben Jenkes’s daughter, Lucy. He often appeared to her while she slept, pointing toward the carriage house. In her dream, she would be
compelled to follow him, but he would either vanish before reaching the destination of his quest, or she would suddenly wake up.

One night, she saw the man in her dreams, but this time, she did not wake up and could follow
him as he moved toward the carriage house, with each turn, pointing the way. The ghost led Lucy
Jenckes to a loft in the carriage house where a coffin lay in the rafters. The next day, Lucy ventured into the loft where she spied the coffin she had been led to in her nightly vigil. She slowly ambled, towed the box, and opened it. Inside she found a dressmaker’s doll with its hair cut off. That is when an old tale came to light.

It is rumored that the Indian tried to scalp the doll in a drunken state, thinking it was a rude person who would not return his conversation. Thoroughly embarrassed by the act, the Narragansett chose to take his business down the road to the Pine Tree Tavern. The next night, the ghost requested that she remove the doll from the crime scene. She removed the doll, and the haunting supposedly ceased. Guests of the tavern still insisted the man was making his presence known, as many were jolted out of sound sleep in the night by frightening war cries. Some claimed to be pulled out of bed by the hair.

The tavern was used as a meeting house and local social place. The second floor held ample amounts of revelers until all hours of the night. There were other tavern owners, so the exact timeline of the haunting is unclear in records but is said to have taken place before the 19th century.

Deeds to such small towns with farming origins can become quite vague. What is clear is that licenses, which read for “Tavern, Ale, and Victualing House,” were handed out to early settlers like the Potters, Manchesters, Smiths, and Hopkins in the mid-18th century. Reuben Jenckes probably owned the Black Horse after 1800.

The structure is no longer a tavern, and various owners have experienced some strange occurrences or nothing. Whether the ghost still wanders the confines of the structure is a matter of conjecture. The building has long been renovated and sits on the corner of Danielson Pike and Route 116 (East Roa)