A tragic walk along the tracks

It was the night before Halloween of 1880. Elizabeth Sullivan and two friends had been visiting the home of one of her relatives in River Point for a couple of hours. It was now getting dark, however, and it was time to return home.

The 45-year-old was the wife of Anthony Sullivan and the mother of at least eight children. Life had not been easy for the French-Canadian immigrant. Three of her children had died from accidental drowning and Anthony had recently suffered a second paralyzing stroke. Unknown to her that autumn night, the cruel hand of fate was not resting.

As it was difficult for the eyes of the party to penetrate the darkness, they decided to light a lantern and carry it with them on their walk back to West Natick. They decided the quickest route would be to cross the railroad bridge that spanned the Pawtuxet Valley Railroad, and they headed through the dim blackness in what they believed to be that direction.

So certain was Elizabeth that they were soon to approach the bridge, she walked ahead of her friends. It worried them that she was not staying between the tracks but was instead walking along the outside. They suggested she move toward the center, but she assured them she was all right.

When the party reached a point on the railroad, about a mile and a half from their destination, Elizabeth suddenly sunk out of sight. With a single step too far toward the side, she stepped off the 21-foot stone abutment and plunged to her death.

In a state of utter shock and fear, her friends ran for help. Soon, they returned to the site with others and descended the embankment. Although they knew the scene that awaited them would be nightmarish, they were not prepared for the horrific details.

Elizabeth lay with her head near the hard abutment, extremely lacerated. Her back was broken and her body bruised. Blood was chaotically spattered upon the stone.

Through the cold night, her body was carried to her home, now void of a mother or a wife. She was later laid to rest in St. Mary’s Cemetery in West Warwick.

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.