Tar River Mills Banshee

Tar River Mills Banshee

By Cole Herrold

Banshees associated with areas are a part of the phenomenon, although mostly this is due to a specific person or family line, so it's rare when we see a Banshee case that seems to not specifically point towards an individual person or familial line. However, the Tar River near Tarboro, North Carolina, allegedly has one such Banshee that not only appears to frequent the area but also appears to be vindictive as it appears to of been responsible for the deaths of several British soldiers toward the end of the American Revolutionary War. This version of vindictive Banshee has occasionally been reported, such as The O'Brien's Banshee, but this case seems to be of a less directly vengeful entity but one that seems to simply be just a Spirit of Vengeance. 

Along the Tar River, a man by the name of David Warner had opened up a mill that would be his source of livelihood, his undoing, and a future prison. David was a Whig and, as a member of the Whig party, was one of countless American Patriots during the Revolutionary War. David would use his mill to feed the countless troops that would come into the area corn and wheat and was known to absolutely hate the British. As the war raged on, he was still hard at work, but all that would change one August day in 1781. Word had reached the town that was near the mill that the Redcoats were indeed on their way towards the community, and so they all began to pack up and flee to avoid being caught in the onslaught. All of the town evacuated except for David Warner and his assistant. The following day the British had come to town, and almost instinctively, they worked their way to the Mill. Five of the British platoon had entered the premise, and Warner pretended not to notice them but instead began to speak to his assistant, saying, "Try to save every precious ounce of it my lad, and we'll deliver it to General Greene, I hate to think of those British hogs eating a single mouthful of gruel made from America's corn." The Redcoats, enraged by this comment and seeing him as a traitor, proceeded to seize the miller and took him outside, where each one began to hit and kick the man. After they had their fill of beating the life of him, they bent down and said that they would drown him in the river. Warner, bruised beyond recognition, looked up at his captors and said with a smile, "Do it, but if you do, the Banshee will get you all." Warner knew that the river was home to a bizarre female apparition that he had heard several nights crying; it seemed to always be there, and Warner seemingly knew more about it than anyone else in the area. The men looked at each other after this warning and hesitated; legends of such entities were not lost to them, and they knew well enough to avoid such beings at all cost. However, one soldier who had "evil eyes and a cruel mouth egged them on." The soldier proceeded to pick the beaten Warner up, and two of his still slightly unnerved companions began to chain him to several large stones by his back, neck, arms, and legs, and upon feeling that he was heavy enough to not resurface threw the miller into the river and watched as the throshing turned into small ripples and then only a few a bubbles till nothing appeared on the water at all. As soon as the water was placid, however, a haunting scream broke out over the stillness of the water. They could not see what was making the sound, but they could hear it as it seemed to bounce from one riverbank to the next. 

The men were terrified by this auditory manifestation and, realizing at that moment the terror they just unfurled on themselves, began to run into the only conceivable place of safety that they knew, namely the Mill. All was calm for some time after hearing the inevitable Banshee's Cry, but the men refused to go out and search the area. The hour grew late, and so the men decided to bunk down in the Mill until the first light of dawn. That night the Commander of the Platoon and the rest of the troops arrived at the mill and found the men who said nothing about the murder that they had committed or the eerie cry and the Banshee said to accompany it. The Commander and the troops began to set up a perimeter around the mill and set up camp. All was quiet, and soon almost everyone fell asleep in tents, but this would not last long. Sometime in the early hours of the morning, while the world was the blackest, a rain crow was seen flying which the few troops who were awake knew that rain was coming. As they began to find some preparation to stay dry during this oncoming storm, a loud hideous cry rang out from the river. This cry woke everyone in the camp, and as the Commander began to leave his tent, he saw what the disturbance was. There forming just above the water was a pillar of gray mist that slowly changed into the form of a woman. She was exceptionally graceful with long flowing yellow hair and a veil that obstructed her facial features from the soldiers. She continued to let out countless cries and sobs and continued to do this over the stillness of the water before vanishing without a trace. While the spirit was gone from sight, the cries continued for what seemed like hours until the soldiers raced from the mill and threw themselves at the feet of their Commander, where they confessed their crime upon which the crying stopped. The Commander realizing the evil the men did, proceeded to rule out sentencing in this impromptu trial and stated that the men would have to work in the mill for the rest of their lives, upon which he told the rest of his troops to start packing as they would leave as soon as possible. 

The soldiers, now millers, continued to live in the abandoned mill but took up the same duties as Warner; they would grind corn and wheat during the day and attempt to sleep at night. Sleeping was almost impossible for the soldiers as now whenever the darkness came, so too did the Banshee who would keep the men awake all night with the sounds of her keening. This continued for countless nights until one fateful night, the Banshee appeared at the door of the mill; two of the soldiers saw the spirit and began to creep away as she sobbed, but then the spirit did an odd thing it lifted the veil before its face, and the men seemingly seduced or entranced began to approach the entity as it beckoned to them. They followed the spirit to the riverbank, where the entity continued to float above the ground, going so far as to go above the water of the river where the deepest pools were. It hung there like some saintly figure, and the men still followed as they walked down the bank and walked towards the figure as their bodies slowly disappeared beneath the currents until they were gone. The Banshee would do this same Pied Piper-esque trance to the second set of men a short time later, with the result being the same. Leaving only the soldier with "evil eyes and cruel mouth." 

The soldier, now stricken mad from the lack of sleep and constant wailing at night, began to search for his friends. Over the course of the days since their disappearance, their bodies were never found, and in his delirious mindset, he had the hopes of them still being alive, so on one night, he walked into the surrounding wilderness by the mill calling out their names, and when that didn't work, he switched to the name of David Warner he did this for some time until a voice answered him. He ran to the voice, thinking it might be one of his colleagues, but as he approached the bank, he soon saw the misty form near the riverbank and knew the truth. Sometime later, his body was found floating in the river face up his face in a horrible expression, but the spot that he was found was eerily enough, the exact same spot that the soldiers had thrown David Warner to drown. It is reported now that the Banshee still does haunt the river and that on August nights, in particular, people will still hear the spirit's cries and that they will see a misty female figure either over the water or on the nearby riverbanks. 

This account seems to be very reminiscent of other alleged sightings and encounters that have been recorded over time, as most of the telling of these tales seem to be much more as a kind of folk narrative than a first-person account. I’ve covered several of these cases over the years, most notably those of the Red Dog Fox and Ghost Werewolf of Northumberland; these cases also date back to the Revolutionary War or a little after, depending on the variation, and also deal with ghostly apparitions. Such tales are rampant in Fortean literature as ghosts, and other strange figures are constantly associated with wars, but the problem with these accounts is that very few can be authenticated. These encounters tend to overlap with traditional Folklore and Folk Tales which, while interesting and a crucial part of life, make it difficult to assess whether these accounts are genuine and not as something created to entertain or pass the time during times of strife. Now with all that said, I do need to explain that Folklore, while it is the traditional telling of tales and customs and other forms of art, these tales are often cited as true accounts or at the very least are believed to be true and so with that as a researcher we have to keep an open mind with such tales as well while it's easy to paint these tales as explanations for drowning or some Creepshow-esque moral tale all of which is very important as a storyteller there is also the possibility that this case as with almost all cases of Folklore could have been formed by some true Fortean encounter albeit over time they might be dramatized or altered, but the main points possibly did happen and if so just what was seen?

When discussing the possible Identity of the Tar River Mill Banshee, it is important I feel to point out that it seems connected more towards a location and possibly was in the location before the formation of the community. If this is to be the case, then this entity is not the traditional Banshee as it has no connection to anyone specific nor any connection to any of the fae from Europe, which is seemingly where all these entities originated from. It's from this that the entity more than likely is some kind of traditional spectral apparition like a ghost or a death entity if such beings are their own category. The ambiguous nature of the entity in the report is bizarre; the face is covered by a veil, and it has a gray, misty form with yellow hair and seems to be interconnected with the location of the river. My first thought would be the traditional white lady accounts which are often women in white who died on their wedding day or through suicide; the veil instantly to me seems to be reminiscent of this, but of course, the problem with this is the vengeful nature of the entity after Warner's death as well as the fact that there is no clear indication that someone died in the river matching the description of the entity. Traditionally in antediluvian ghost cases such as this, there is some assumed identity of the entities seen, such as the spirits of two ghost boys in the Tower of London being associated with Princes Edward and Richard with this case, we have no frame of reference for this entity aside from the fact that the entity is only known as the Banshee. 

When looking at the Banshee, in this case, another figure immediately comes to mind, and that figure is La Llorona. La Llorona is very similar to other apparitions such as Bloody Mary and the Women in White figures but very unique when examining the full range of tales involving her. La Llorona is the apparition of a woman who drowned her children in life and now in the afterlife proceeds to weep bitterly as she searches for her children. Now that’s not the end of the story. La Llorona now is a sort of boogeyman figure that has been prominent in Mexican and Southern United States Native and Latin cultures and is believed to go after children who misbehave. La Llorona, also much like Bloody Mary, is a figure who features in a sort of summoning game that is often played at sleepovers. The goal of the game is to repeat her name a set number of times depending on the version you choose, and after so many times, the spirit will come from the mirror and kill you. Now the reason I mention this spirit is that she is said to appear wearing a wedding dress or simply veiled; she also is associated with rivers because of the fact that she drowned her kids in one and allegedly those who have encouraged her wrath or are singled out by them will be drowned. La Llorona also is said to seduce men, and interestingly enough, any who succumb to her charms will, of course, be drowned. This is almost exactly what happened to the soldiers, and there are a lot of parallels with the La Llorona legend and the Banshee as both are associated with death and water, but of course, the big problem with this connection and the case is that the entity seen by the soldiers was blonde. La Llorona is very much a Latin phenomenon; she is prominent in their beliefs and Folklore, and her story actually goes all the way back to the Aztecs and their weeping goddess of motherhood and fertility Cihuacoatl these stories seem to be interconnected or at least the origin of the entity either authentically or folklorically and if authentic La Llorona should look more akin to someone from Mexico and not a blonde-haired apparition so more than likely she is not the entity seen here even though variations of how La Llorona looks have been reported as some Latin communities in California will describe her as having the head or face of a horse or mule on a woman’s body with long flowing black hair so perhaps she can change her appearance depending on location or that there are a variety of similar entities altogether.  

As stated earlier, a lot of this seems to not fit the traditional Banshee category; however, one cannot take the fae off the table. One of the problems with this case is that the Banshee's history pre-David Warner's death is never stated or mentioned, so one can only speculate when the apparition appeared. While Warner is not exactly the kind of name one would expect to be connected with a Banshee, it does seem that the Warner had a lot of knowledge of the entity before his death, so perhaps the Banshee was his family Banshee and that he could have inherited it from some clearly Scottish, French, Welsh, or Irish parent or ancestor and that the Banshee being loyal to the family it was apart of proceeded in dealing with those who attacked its family. Fae are reportedly very protective of those who they become attached to, so a violent confrontation is not impossible and actually probably happens more than we are aware of. However, all of this is pure speculation, but I will say Warner does seem to be some sort of key in this case, just how or why I can only guess, however. 

Banshee cases are some of my favorite Fortean phenomena because of two main reasons; the main is I love diving into tales involved with cultures that I'm descended from, and two because the more one researches them, the weirder and different each case seems to be. Banshees are a bizarre bunch of beings as with every case, there are elements that are identical to those reported in Ireland and other European countries, but then there are those little details that have you scratching your head and wondering, well, that's not in the traditional literature so what is it or why is it appearing in that way or doing that? Personally, I would love to investigate a case like this because of the love I have for such entities but also because now there does not seem to be a multifaceted look into these cases; they almost always are lumped in with Ghost hunting, and I would love to try something new or different when researching a case like this and if possible have some sort of contact. Needless to say, however, Id have to be armed with iron, salt, or, if all else fails, a snorkel. 

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Faerie, Ghost, Supernatural Entity

Location: Tar River, Tarboro, Edgecombe County, North Carolina

Sighted: August 1781, Augusts since the initial sighting 

Works Cited:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ghosts and Hauntings By Tom Ogden

The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits By Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Ghost Stories from the American South By W. K. McNeil

Haunted Bridges By Rich Newman

Mysterious Tales of the North Carolina Piedmont By Sherman Carmichael