Shakespeare asked in his play, Romeo and Juliet, “What’s in a name?”

Along the rolling hills and hollows that are traversed by Route 47, a small community exists in Ritchie County by the name of Burnt House.  The town is located east of Smithville and on the old Stanton-Parkersburg Turnpike. The hamlet’s unusual name begs for explanation and several accounts exist as to why this town was branded with such an odd name. My favorite haunted tale of the area, is that which involves a slave girl by the name of Deloris. There are various versions of the story but this one is my favorite.

At the intersection of Route 47 and Tanner Road, on the southern side of the road, there stands a large two story house. This building sits on the site of the original “burnt” house. Going back in time to the mid 1800′s, a man named Jack Harris came from New York with his son, William, and three slaves. Jack was a business man and decided to build a tavern along the turnpike at the present site of Burnt House.

Deloris was a beautiful slave at the tavern. People often gossiped about the fact that she and William Harris were quite taken with each other.  Deloris would often don new dresses sold by roving peddlers and the locals would notice this and began to wonder over the source of her good fortune. Peddlers would come and go and on one day, misfortune struck one of them. A peddler turned up missing and a rumor was soon circulated by a tavern stable boy who told of seeing William Harris, with one swipe of a razor sharp knife, cutting off the head of a peddler.

The body of the peddler was then allegedly taken by William across the turnpike and up into an area now known as Dead Man’s Hollow. Deloris disposed of the peddlers bloody severed head. The sheriff was alerted and swore out a warrant for the Harrises and their arrest. The family hurriedly left town leaving the beautiful Deloris behind as they headed westward, eventually changing their names.

The family had quickly sold the tavern, along with Deloris and another slave, to a local widow woman. Not too long after that, during a church service in town, the smell of something burning filled the house of worship. The congregation rushed outside and was shocked to see the tavern engulfed in an all- consuming fire.

As the people approached the flaming building, they saw a person dancing and swaying to and fro in the glass enclosed lookout of the tavern.  The figure was Deloris, the slave girl, in her finest attire. She was dancing and singing while the building burned swiftly. While the horrified people watched, they could see Deloris as she fell through the second story ceiling. They tried to save her life, but to no avail. She was lost in the flames of the wooden structure.

The story does not end there, of course.  Deloris returned to the community for a few more visits while in her spectral form. She would appear at first as a wavering bluish flame. The flame would eventually take the form of a young girl and she would begin a ghostly dance over the burnt ruins of the old Harris tavern.

The last appearance for her ghost was said to occur in 1882. A sudden electrical storm had swept thru the valley with complete chaos. Ground shook with thunder and it was said that balls of fiery lightening rolled down along the old turnpike. In the violent storm that darkened the skies, the ghostly form of the beautiful slave girl was seen for a brief instance. She danced one last solo dance across the old tavern site before she wandered off towards Dead Man’s Hollow. She was never seen again.

As Shakespeare asked “What’s in a name?” Indeed. The meaning of Deloris’s name? It means…sorrow.

    Sherri Brake is a paranormal investigator and published author. Visit  www.HauntedHistory.net.