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 northwestern region of 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 haunted the Black Horse in hopes their patrons would migrate to his once preferred drinking establishment.

The ghost haunted the family in the form of strange dreams. He would be seen by various family members while they slept, 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 in her nightly slumber, 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 followed 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 toward 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 was rumored that the Indian scalped the doll in an angry drunken state, thinking it was a rude person who would not return his conversation. When he realized it was a doll, he became thoroughly embarrassed by the act. That was when the Narragansett chose to take his business down the road to the Pine Tree Tavern. 

That night, the ghost came to her in her dreams and requested that she remove the doll from the attic where it had been stored for many years. The next morning she followed the ghost’s wish and removed the doll. The haunting supposedly ceased, yet guests of the tavern still insisted the Indigenous man was making his presence known. Many who spent the night at the tavern were jolted out of a sound sleep in the dead of night by frightening war cries. Some claimed to be pulled out of bed by the hair. Still, others claimed that the ghost was appearing to them in their rooms at night, sometimes in their dreams. Soon the tavern saw fewer guests and over time, the inn became obsolete. Perhaps the Indian ghost fulfilled his mission of scaring customers of the tavern to the point where they transferred their business to the Pine Tree Tavern.

Although the structure is no longer a tavern, various owners have experienced some strange unexplained occurrences. Whether the Indian’s ghost still wanders the confines of the building, or perhaps the spirit of another person who was once involved in the history of the edifice, is a matter of conjecture. The story has stood the test of time, almost as long as the old tavern has.