A Premonition of Her Death

The Charleston Daily Mail
November 29, 1915

Saturday, November 27th, 1915 was a bad day for the Baisden family of Laurel City (Boone County), WV. Around 5:30pm, Mrs. Baisden got into a pretty brutal argument with her neighbor, Mrs. Chandler. The fight turned physical, and Mr. Charles Baisden, hearing the chaos, started to approach the women to break it up. Unfortunately, at the same time, Miss Frankie Chandler, daughter of Mrs. Chandler, came out at the same time with a pistol. She shot the approaching Mr. Baisden twice, hitting him in the arm and into his side, hitting his spinal column. 

Mr. Baisden turned to flee, but realized his wife was still in jeopardy. He turned to try to reach her just in time to see her being shot in the breast by Frankie. She died ten minutes later. Frankie was later indicted for the incident and claimed she was not sorry for what she had done, and that she would do it again. It really makes you wonder what details the newspaper articles are leaving out---what started this fight and why did it turn so deadly?

This tragic tale also has a supernatural twist. 

A week before the shooting, Mrs. Baisden traveled to Madison to pay taxes and visit friends. While there she shared that she had a premonition that something was going to happen to her. She even shared that she had a dream about her deceased little girl who warned her to "be good." 

Be good? Does that mean that this horrible tragedy could have been avoided if Mrs. Baisden had done something differently? Was it she who started the horrific fight that quickly turned deadly? Could all of this have been prevented if the warning of a little girl's spirit had been heeded? We may never know, but that warning has earned this story a place in West Virginia's paranormal lore. 

*This isn't the only WV story where a daughter has issued important information to her mother through a dream or visitation. Please see my article on the Greenbrier Ghost.*