Did Peter Gorman Really See a “Banshee” on the March Road in 1871?
Remarkable Story Told by a Respected Resident of the Third Line of March. Grandmother Died Three Day After the “Appearance.”
Mr. Peter Gorman, a respected whose grandfather came to these parts in 1848 tells of a weird experience which he (Peter) had in 1871 when living on the first concession of Torbolton. One night when coming from the barn to the house, he heard a sort of wailing cry close to the nearest corner of the house.
He looked in the direction of the noise and was surprised to see a spectre in the air. The spectre was about eight feet from the ground. Whatever it was had a face, but no feet. It was like a person who was wearing a sheet which was longer than his or her body. The spectre was about the size of the average woman.
The substance was impalpable, yet could not be seen through. The robe or sheet or body, or whatever it was had a sort of sheen. The spectre seemed to float in the air, but was stationary. The thing was uttering little whining cries or sobs. The noise was not loud, but could be easily heard fifty feet away.
As Mr. Gorman, then a young man, regarded it in wonder, the thing suddenly vanished. The first thing that struck Mr. Gorman was that he had been looking at and hearing a “banshee.” Mr. Gorman had heard some of the old people tell about the banshees that used to be heard, and sometimes seem in Ireland, but he had never heard one of them claim that they had ever known of a banshee being seen in Canada.
After the “banshee” or whatever it was had disappeared, Mr. Gorman went into the house and told his story, but was roundly laughed at. He was told there were no banshees in this country and that he had imagined what he had told. Mr. Gorman took the laughing in good part, but replied that they could laugh all they wanted to, but just the same he had seen and heard what he had seen and heard.
Just three days later, Mr. Gorman’s grandmother died. After that the people treated his story with respect. The old lady who had died had been very fond of young Peter. Mr. Gorman says he never had a supernatural experience before or since and he has no explanations to offer. If what he saw and heard was a banshee, then he is probably the only man who ever saw or heard one in Canada. Mr. Gorman says he presents the story for what it is worth. He will vouch for the facts as a resident of the third line of March.
I have personally never seen anything except maybe I saw a piece of an old print dress one night. I’m night auditor and I’ve heard a voice but not seen anything or any sign except maybe things dirtied after being cleaned-Last fall when we were filming a movie a dude saw her in the window.— Danny Delahunt
In 1837, a servant girl named Maud was murdered at what is now the Auberge Willow Place Inn in Hudson. Her crime? Overhearing a conversation she shouldn’t have about the Lower Canada Rebellion, a Palriote revolt against the British colonial power in Quebec. At least, that’s what local folklore will tell you. The Willow Inn is the subject of plenty of ghost stories, according to Dan Ducheneaux, the founder of Ghost Hunters of Ottawa for Scientific Truth, or GHOST. His organization, which is made up of hobbyists who lake a scientific approach to ghost hunting.
There are many questions in the air about Maud’s story, including whether she actually existed. “At this point, we don’t know if a murder actually did occur. There’s actually no historical documents proving that. We also don’t know if the girl’s name was Maud.
Legend has it that in 1837, a servant girl named Maud was murdered at the Willow Inn, one of many ghost stories involving the inn. According to the Hudson Historical Society, Francois-Xavier Desjardins ran a general store out of the inn at the time of Maud’s supposed murder. Desjardins was a known Patriot, Ducheneaux said, and the Willow Inn became a Patriotic meeting place under Desjardins’s stewardship.
The story says Maud was eavesdropping on a Patriotic meeting at the inn and thai she was murdered and buried in the basement of the inn, according to the historical society. “It’s quite an interesting slory. There (are) so many contradicting facts,” Ducheneaux said, adding that the inn’s patrons have reported hearing singing in the hallways and seeing apparitions. Patricia Wenzel bought The Willow Inn wilh her husband, David Ades. They had been coming to the inn for 30 years and even had their first few dates there, Wenzel said. The (ghost) stories kept coming to us. It’s a lot of stories, it’s not just one or two,” Wenzel said. While she said she doesn’t know how much validity there is to the tales, she was intrigued and she did her own research.
The Gazette
Montreal, Quebec, Canada12 Jul 2017, Wed • Page 3
Slamming doors, chairs knocked over, mysterious mushrooms and a singing voice are part of the spooky stuff attributed to Maud, a ghost said to be very much at home at Willow Place Inn in Hudson. While there are those who not only dispute Maud’s hauntings, they are dubious about the existence of a flesh-and-blood woman with that name, don’t tell Donald Major she’s just a flight of fantasy – he’s heard her go bump in the night too often to think otherwise. Sometimes her presence has been strong enough to send him racing out of the inn; where he worked as a bartender from 1971 to 1976. “I don’t think she was abad ghost but sometimes when I was there alone the noises she made would frighten me so much I would just run out of the place leaving all the doors unlocked,” he said.
Through the years, as the legend of Maud grow, historians have tried to set the record straight as to her identity. It is known that the house was built in 1820 as a private home for Frances Mallet and his family In 1824 it was bought and used as a general store by Xavior Desjardin, who held political meetings there: with the Patriotes during the 1837-1838 Rebellion. During these troubled times it was reported that firearms were forged in the cellar. At that time, according to the lore, a young girl by the name of Maud was employed there and she overheard the plans for the uprising at St Eustache that took place on Dec , 14,1837. – Maud had made it known that her sympathies were with the militia and she was murdered to keep her from informing on the Patriotes’ plans. She was secretly buried in the basement of the house and since then has been the resident ghost. Not so, according to Roy Hodgson, who says he believes in ghosts but that the Maud story is pure fabrication.
“It’s a historical fact that no one was ever killed in that house. I think it was all dreamed up to put some spice into a sleepy little town,” said the Hudson historian, who has written three books on local buildings and is past president of the Hudson Historical Society Like most lore, the story began with a kernel of truth, he said. There was a Mary Kirkbride who worked for Desjardin and she did inform the militia about the Patriotes plans to the burning of houses in the area. Desjardin was cleared of the charges but was captured and taken prisoner at the Battle of St. Eustache when the Patriotes were defeated.
But Hodgson’s documentation is a hard sell to those like Major who say they have felt the ghostly emanations of a woman who supposedly came to a bloody end. Another former employee says that while cleaning up in the dining room she felt Maud patting her back and at the same time there was a strong smell of damp moss. Those who are Maud believers and have worked at the inn contend that the ghost displayed definite mood swings. At times she could be like a playful child, hiding pens or bookends, and then she would become surly, particularly on cold nights when she was in a hurry to get warmed up.
Her mode of entry was to go hurtling through a window knocking down a set of Chippendale chairs. During her placid periods she sat in a rocking chair humming a pretty song in a little hallway alcove outside Room 8. One waitress saw the empty rocking chair going back and forth as if someone had just risen from it. It could only have been Maud, she said, because everyone was downstairs at dinner. At first Major tried to attribute the melodic tones he heard to the wind but he felt theywere much too pretty to be air moving through the walls.
Then there was the curious case of the manicured mushrooms that grew on the spot where Maud was alleged to have been buried. According to Major, mushrooms thrived in the damp basement and when they grew to a certain point they would suddenly appear to be neatly clipped, as if someone had snipped them with a sharp knife or scissors. It is still a mystery as to who cut them. No one has said they have seen Maud, or any type of apparition, but there are those like Major who are convinced that strange things begin to happen when the wind begins to cross Lac des Deux Montagnes and there is the sense of snow in the air. These strange things were reported 20 years ago but Maud’s legend lingers since then the original building was demolished by fire and was replaced with an new structure in its Georgian-Victorian style.
“When the old house burned down I think that’s when Maud disappeared, because that had been her home all these years,” Major said. While the blaze was being put out one of the firefighters was heard to say: “I guess Maud is really toast now.” Has Maud really gone? “Every now and then one of the staff will feel the sensation of a cool breeze in the hallway – and this is a new building where it is unlikely for draughts to penetrate the walls or windows,” said owner Michael Dobbie, who has himself had no run-in with Maud since buying the inn in 1982.
One of his present employees, who doesn’t want her name used, has the feeling that an unseen presence is trying to get a foothold in the inn. She doesn’t know whether it is Maud or not but there have been some unusual manifestations leading her to believe that perhaps some type of haunting is going on again. “On two occasions, while I was working late, the front door came flying open and I felt something come into the building, and our doors are heavy and close very tightly,” she said. “One night a Japanese businessman checked in and five minutes later he came down the stairs asking for another room,” she said. He explained: “I can’t stay there, I feel eyes on me everywhere.” Is Maud trying to get back into her old home?
Local Hauntings – The Willow Inn By Jules-Pierre Malartre–Undated picture of a ghostly figure allegedly taken at the Willow Inn (printed with kind permission from the Hudson Historical Society).
Hudson was involved in this important event in pre-Confederation history. The (original) Willow Inn, then owned by a Mr. Desjardins, was a site for Patriote activities. A Mr. Whitlock was another prominent English-speaking Patriote. John Thompson’s book Hudson: the Early Years Up to 1867 provides a wealth of information about the turbulent events of that era.
Those amongst you who read French should also have a look at the ethnologist Robert Lionel Seguin’s important work on the history of the insurrection in the county of Vaudreuil entitled Le mouvement insurrectionnel dans le Presqu’ile de Vaudreuil–1837-1838, published in 1955. As well, you might want to read Seguin’s history of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, also in French, published on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the parish of St. Thomas Aquinas in 1947. This last mentioned work is both difficult to come by and more than just a history of St. Thomas Parish. It is also a history of that part of the country of Vaudreuil that stretches along the Ottawa river. Read more about Hudson’s history CLICK HERE
Maud wasn’t the only one buried in the bottom of a building
The dwelling at the end of the lane has almost been forgotten in time.The fog dances along the walls and seeps through the hardwood floors. There is a small but tidy yard, but the owner’s preoccupation is with his home. He believes the house is haunted. The visitor sets up a video camera at the end of the hallway and places a digital audio recorder on a ledge near the kitchen. Finally, he brings out a device called a Mel Meter, an instrument that measures electromagnetic fields and temperature. These are the tools of a ghost hunter, he says and he is ready to document the disembodied eerie voices.
There are many moving lights and strange floating orbs and none of it can be explained. You have to be open to believing, but you also have to be skeptical as well. You can believe almost anything you want to, but this paranormal investigation is hoping to provide the evidence the owner needs. But are all these noises and sightings real? Who knows, they both say.
The duo started off by visiting the local cemetery down the road, where they say they caught something on tape. The investigator was walking by himself when his camera, but not his digital recorder, picked up a strange voice. It was really weird because the sound of it was really strong, and it was one of the first pieces of evidence that was captured.
Which brings us to the alleged haunted dwelling down the lane. The duo began by moving throughout the house. The owner, who had been renovating the property, says several of his tenants have complained of ghostly activities. One claimed she witnessed her child’s toys moving on their own. She left after a few weeks and wouldn’t stay the night, she admited, claiming she has seen various items fall over by themselves.
Next they turn off the lights and move from room to room. “If you are here, knock like this”, the investigator booms, pounding his fist on the drywall. The answering silence is both a relief and a disappointment. The Mel-Meter tells a different story. The device seems to have picked up a spike of energy. The lights blink on and off wildly before subsiding. When asked what it means, the investigator shrugs as the Mel-Meter isnt an exact science, but for those who are willing to believe, it does make for a creepy encounter.
The Mel-Meter
Next, a Ghost-box, a device that uses radio waves to talk to ghosts. The box sweeps through radio stations at a tenth of a second, he says. The idea is that it may pick up voices and not of the living. After an hour, the Ghostbox hasn’t spoken and the Mel-Meter is no longer registering any energy spikes. The night doesnt feel like a complete loss. The investigator and the owner of the house have hours of video footage to review. You’re lucky to catch what you catch, the investigator says. Ghost hunting is a lot like fishing. You can use the same lures and never catch a thing.
“Only certain ghosts will talk through a Spirit Box when asked a question with your voice. Make sure the lights are off.”
Neighbours assembled Saturday and Sunday outside a house in Carleton Place alleged to be haunted. It was located on William Street in 1921, and no mention who lived there was ever made. The police were forced to post extra men at the door in order to prevent entry by the curious.
Many of the people came from other neighbourhoods, and the police say they have never seen so many automobiles stationed in the area. The vicar of the Catholic parish blessed each room Sunday October 23. The town had made inquiries, and ascertained that fortune tellers had formerly occupied a part of the house. The fortune tellers had predicted by means of cards that terrifying happenings would take place there to anyone who would listen.
The police investigated after calls by neighbours and found the fortune telling cards were still there on the table. The priest not only blessed the house but he tore the cards up and flung them in the fire. Since his visit the neighbours stated that everything is now back to normal and life in Carleton Place can go on normally.
We have a small but lovely collection of original artwork at the museum. This painting by Mary Dodge is titled “House on William Street”. Does anyone recognize it?
Carleton Place Canadian 1988 thanks to Doris Blackburn/ Karen Chenier Blackburn
The white aluminum siding house that once sat next to the old Mac’s Milk was home for over 155 years to the Moore family and its descendants.
It is one of the oldest structures in Carleton Place
The house was built by James Pearson Moore, a son of William’s in 1833.
Carleton Place Canadian 1988 thanks to Doris Blackburn/ Karen Chenier Blackburn
It was once part of an 100 acre farm which extended from the intersection of Highway 7 and Franktown Road to Rochester Street and included Lake Ave East to Moore Street and Lansdowne Ave to Napoleon.
The logs for the structure came from the trees located the farm.
Renovations were done in 1970 changing the layout of the interior and a toy room was constructed in the kitchen.
In the far side of the building which once housed a hair salon there was once a small grocery store which was initially operated by James Moore and his wife under the name of JP Moore Groceries and Confectionery. It was operated by various family members until Mac’s Milk opened next door.
Photo Shane Wm Edwards
The house was said to have a friendly ghost live there which has followed the building’s move to its present location as the home of the Carleton Place Chamber of Commerce on Bridge Street. If you see shadows or smell the fragrance of violet perfume that would be the ghost of Ida Moore who died way too young at the age of 21 for tuberculosis.
It was once the home at the Moore Street location to Walter Renwick and Associates Travel Inc.
The building can now be seen at 170 Bridge Street in Carleton Place
Actual Carleton Place Spirit Orb shot by someone who wishes to remain anonymous.
One of the places that spirits likes to show up is in photos. This is because the camera is able to capture things that most of us cannot see with our naked eye. These circular “light balls” are known as orbs and are thought to be spheres of energy from the spiritual realm. Many people are of the opinion that orbs are spiritual beings such as angels or spirit guides. The brighter and more dense the orb appears, the more likely it is to be Spirit, the lighter and fuzzier the orb, the more likely it is to be a dust particle.
Actual Carleton Place Spirit Orb shot by someone who wishes to remain anonymous.
Orbs are a recently new phenomenon that have been captured with the introduction of digital cameras in the 1990’s. They were first thought to be malfunctions by the camera makers but to this day the manufacturers claim these “orbs” to be microscopic particles floating in the air.
Orbs have been accepted, certainly in the psychic community, as real evidence of spirit presences whereby they are supposed to represent the essence, or soul of a departed spirit. From the point of a medium who can see and sense spirits, they say this a reality. I have asked people to take photos when there is a spirit present and the majority of times, at least too many to count, an orb appears on the photograph.
Actual Carleton Place Spirit Orb shot by someone who wishes to remain anonymous.
There is really a lot of “energy’ on William in Carleton Place. I have had a few emails from people who live on this street inquiring about the particular history of a home. It is one of the original older streets in town that had a lot of things happen on it, so it makes sense the spirits hang around. The person that took these photos said: “They appear at different times and you always feel the energy so they advise anyone that senses the same thing to pull out a camera and catch them. In these photos there is a dog and a child and woman”.
Cat in Window-Actual Carleton Place Spirit Orb shot by someone who wishes to remain anonymous.
I have the same thing happen at my house, but others have sensed them and seen them. They don’t bother me much, they bother visitors, but as several mediums on the last house tour once told me.:
“Linda the spirits are alive and well in your home.”
Keep your eyes open!
From the guest book at the last house tour in my home.
Are there ghosts? Well that depends- within the sight of the Peace Tower there is a famous haunted house well designed and well maintained and the family just treats it a as a family retainer and somewhat harmless. But here is a Canadian ghost story that has travelled through the ages.
The McDonalds built their home on a plot of land in Wallaceburg, Ontario desired by a woman known as the old woman in the Long Low Log house. When McDonald refused to sell his land to the woman and her three children, the paranormal activity began. Between 1830 and 1840 bullets would shoot through the home’s windows before dropping harmlessly to the floor, the sound of marching men could be heard in the house, pots and pans would dance in the air and balls of fire would erupt in the house.
The ghost was exorcised by the local clergy and for good measure a medicine man was summoned also for extra measure. An enterprising Yankee was passing by and he said nailing a horseshoe above the door and for his trouble he was arrested on the spot for witchcraft. That 5 minute ordeal took 6 months to straighten out while our American friend languished in jail. One year later in 1830 things got worse and fires began to break out all over the house- over 50 outbreaks in one day alone. So cooking anything was out of the question but the demon just moved his fires out to the barn. Finally a fire broke in the home that was so bad the family barely escaped with their lives.
By this time the McDonald family figured they were under the spell of some witch and there are two plausible endings to this story so choose one. Most of the local folks offered different interpretations. Some say it was because of sacred native grave sites tampered with out of anger- and some said people just drank too darn much.
The McDonald’s employed the services of the famous Dr. John Troyer. Apparently the lost souls were getting tired at this point and said one more fire, and then the house would be at peace.
2. However, at the advice of a 15-year-old girl called Jane with supposed mystical powers, McDonald moulded a silver bullet and shot a goose with a black head that had evaded him on his farm. His bullet connected with the goose’s wing and it escaped into nearby reeds.
McDonald then went to the Long Low Log house and found the old woman who wanted to buy his land. She was sitting on her front porch in her rocking chair with a broken arm! From the time that the bird was shot and the old woman was wounded, no spiritual manifestations were ever heard of at the McDonald farm and peace again fell on the Baldoon….
So what do you think? I was taking pictures at night while waiting in line to get to Pumpkin Inferno and this appeared in my photo! Unedited. Most likely just a light reflection, but because it has a shape I really wondered about it! It is Halloween! Tammy Jordan photo
I would call the area next to Upper Canada Village called Chrysler Farm a sacred site. “The dismantling of the St. Lawrence Campaign during the War of 1812 was a two-step process. The first part was the Battle of Châteauguay in Lower Canada. The second part and the subject of today’s post was Crysler’s Farm. On November 11, 1813, John Crysler’s farming fields became the site of the decisive battle that marked the end of the attempt to capture Montreal.
The two sides met on a Crysler’s fields on the morning of November 11th. Since Morrison had picked the battleground, he was able to choose better positions for his men. To even get to the battlefield, the American troops were forced to make their way through two large ravines. Then they had to cross the actual field itself, which was muddy due to early morning rain and it was littered with split-rail fences”. The Battle of Cryslers Farm
The battlefield is a sacred place that few ventured near in days gone by. Medicine Men were known to sleep by them fasting for a long time until an evil creature came out so they could cast it out. I think the aboriginal people had it right, as if you think carefully to wars past, almost all were started by someone evil.
Near Crysler Farm it was said that a 3 month old baby was picked up by one of the soldiers as she was strapped to the back of her dead Mother. That soldier adopted the wee child fearing for her welfare and reared it as his very own.
Although the child never remembered what happened to her she inherited a notable trait– afraid of her own shadow. To those who have studied aboriginal culture this is an odd thing as most natives regard shadows as the ghost of another person. The aboriginals are obliged to respect nature, rocks, deer and the sun and the moon and so on. They say each of them carry a multitude of ghosts on either side of them in tribute. None the less spirits of any kind are very real to them. Every native has its ghost or devil place which are haunted localities. One of them seems to be the area Tammy Jordan took the above photograph.
That a malicious spirit or a form of the devil lives in this area is indisputable because practically every member of that aboriginal band that lived nearby had seen it. Stories were told that they used to go in number, hold hands and chanted while they waited for him to appear. From my point of view the red thing seen in the photograph has a tangible shell which contained a potency of some type of spirit. It was a definite malevolent spirit that goes flying about.
In the Indian mythology nearly every ghost seen near a battlefield is descended from from an ancestral giant of ferocious and dangerous attributes which was finally killed by some tribal heroe. As that little native girl that was adopted after the Crysler Farm war would learn years later, you just can’t run from the shadows– but you can invite it to dance. Like Tammy Jordan did taking photos.
PUMPKINFERNO
Award-winning Pumpkinferno returns featuring a selection of specially designed Canada 150 themed pumpkin-carved displays! This mesmerizing installation of artist-inspired, glowing pumpkins is a not-to-be-missed event for ALL ages!
This photograph is of the Grierson House in Crown Point. The picture and article were found at the Arnprior and McNab-Braeside archives by microfilm. – Archives October 1981
GRIERSON HOME AT THE TERMINUS OF THE DUNROBIN ROAD. VIEW FROM OTTAWA RIVER-Grierson House at Crown Point photos by Jacquie (Hedley) Emerson, London Ontario
When the Bender family left Kanata in 1975 and moved into the most famous haunted home in the Ottawa Valley they joked about its history. The two storey stone structure located near Constance Bay on what is called Crown Point.
The story goes that a superstitious innkeeper in the 1870s refused to let a stranded traveller in one night because he thought he was the devil. The exhausted traveller who gave up after awhile asking the inn keeper for entrance crawled away and froze to death. He came back to haunt the house and there has been trouble ever since.
Of course the Benders said they would not have put down the asking price of $100,000 if they believed those ghost stories to be true. Yet the consequences of the century old jinx hit the family hard. In the first few weeks the whole family suffered a terrible rash that the doctors concluded might be poison ivy. The family boat moored to the dock disappeared one night after an angry storm never to be seen again. After Mr. Bender’s father died of cancer complications, the family began to think there might be something to the curse.
Out of the blue a few weeks later an older woman came to the house with a Ouija board and confirmed the fact the home had ghosts. The Bender children had heard tales at school of a stone in one of the two fireplaces that was was hollow. Sure enough, after testing all the rocks they found that particular stone that was hollow to a knock. They had no idea why the stone was hollow, and wondered if spirits lived in that stone. Was the hollow stone a dybbuk?*
Things got worse, in fact they got deadly. The story that went around was that hree-year-old daughter Mandy Bender was let out to play one day. When her parents lost sight of her they noticed small footprints in the snow leading to an open patch of water in the ice-covered Ottawa River. There was no word if police divers ever recovered her body at the point of this particular article. Later I found out that one month later they found the body of Mandy Bender.
Locals said the real story was that she had woken up in the middle of the night and walked a perfect straight line to the icy water, almost like she had been called to her death by something in the open waters. After the tragedy the Benders got angry and wanted to meet these ghosts in their home face to face, but it never happened.
Mrs. Bender was so distraught she joined a group interested in psychic phenomenon and spoke in quiet tones about the hollow stone in her fireplace. Word had been passed on from generation to generation, and some older residents in the area won’t even speak about what has happened in that house.
The history of the house has been written up in the Carleton Saga in 1968 and was built by a naval officer in 1928. Built in 1865 at Crown Point, the Grierson House was originally home to Lieutenant John Grierson. It was also visited by the Prince of Wales when his steamer anchored there to take on some much needed wood. The ownership and usage of the home has changed hands over the years and has served as the Oddfellows Hall, medical clinic and then an inn. A few years after it became an inn and the dreaded curse was placed upon the structure and it fell in disrepair until 1950 when a resident refurbished it and put in plumbing and electricity. After that, the ‘curse’ of the stranger has been attributed to a few tragic deaths attached to the house.
The Benders bought it in the 70s from an Ottawa sports equipment dealer because they wanted a forever home for their young daughter Natasha and their two boys aged and and 14. The family said in the 70s they just couldn’t stay there, but they just couldn’t leave.
Joe Banks did an article for Arnprior Chronicle, in 1981 contacted Brenda Cain, who lived in the Grierson house in 1981. By that time, there had been a number of deaths in the house, but all explainable. The Benders did end up selling their home to a realtor, but have no idea what happened after. If you can fill in the blanks- drop me a line.
In Jewish mythology, a dybbuk (Yiddish: דיבוק, from the Hebrew verb דָּבַק dāḇaq meaning “adhere” or “cling”) is a malicious possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished its goal, sometimes after being helped. It is often trapped in a small box or hollow entity for safe keeping. Was the hollow stone a dybbuk?
Of further interest to ghost enthusiasts is the reports of mild poltergeist activity in the home. From doors rattling to phantom footsteps. From ‘thumping’ sounds in the attic to metallic rattling in the cellar.
2006--“At Crown Point a fine stone home, now occupied by Mr. Al Federer & family, was the eventual home of the large Grierson family.After the Grierson’s, the property served for a time as a tavern and Inn for travelers. It is referred to in the “Carleton Saga” and other writings as the ‘haunted house.’ Apparently, a superstitious innkeeper refused to let a stranded traveller into the inn during a storm night because he thought it was the devil.So, in spite, says the legend, the exhausted wayfarer crawled away to die and returned to haunt the house.” There is also an old family plot is in Crown Point, Dunrobin road, as you come down the last hill before you hit Crown Point Road. Its in the field up the hill to the left.
Pinhey Cottage was built in the 1820s for Captain James Grierson of the Royal Navy. Grierson was born September 28, 1782 in North Leith, Scotland, and came to Canada in 1825 upon receiving a land grant in Torbolton as a reward for his service to his country during the War of 1812. At this location, he built his family a log cabin, now known as Pinhey Cottage, a simple one and a half storey, gable roofed dwelling similar to log cabins built throughout Canada in the 19th century. Grierson lived there with his family for a number of years, eventually moving across the road to a more substantial stone house. In the 1930s, the 100 acre property where the house is located was purchased by The Girl Guide Local Association at the urging of Major E.C. and Mrs. Woolsey, after whom the property was named. It has served the needs of the Guide Camp since. When the land was purchased, the log house was in very poor condition and it was repaired through the financial assistance of Ruth Pinhey, a resident of nearby Pinhey’s Point. It was subsequently named in her honour.
You would also know about the lady on the community centre road in Constance Bay many declared they seen her or heard while driving and walking I was always freaked when walking home from any sports.Crown Point friends that lived there always knew it was haunted
Join us and learn about the history under your feet! This year’s St. James Cemetery Walk will take place Thursday October 19th and october 21– Museum Curator Jennfer Irwin will lead you through the gravestones and introduce you to some of our most memorable lost souls! Be ready for a few surprises along the way…. This walk takes place in the dark on uneven ground. Please wear proper footwear and bring a small flashlight if you like. Tickets available at the Museum, 267 Edmund Street. Two dates!!! https://www.facebook.com/events/1211329495678960/
October 28th The Occomores Valley Grante and Tile Event–730pm-1am Carleton Place arena-Stop by and pick up your tickets for our fundraiser dance for LAWS. They also have tickets for Hometown Hearts event at the Grand Hotel fundraiser
Photo by Linda Seccaspina- Former barn on High Street
The barn look haunted I thought to myself. I looked up from the overgrown grass growing around the barn and noticed the structure looked gaunt and lonely. It was missing windows, and the one small window left at the top of the barn looked like a haggard eye closed in death. It had been long neglected, and the ragged bushes and local gossip was that it was haunted. But, isn’t every old structure haunted with memories of once was?
I remembered another small barn near where I once lived that had been built for a woman that was said to be taunted by a ghost of evil, revenge and a bitter heart. She had considerable wealth and chose to flaunt it and ended up dying alone in the very shadow of that haunted barn. From the first stone that was laid in hatred for the foundation of the barn you could not speak of anyone or anything with appreciation without calling thunder clouds to the woman’s brow. Infiltrated by demons, there was something forced about her smile and even her dog looked like it had the blues.
She used to sit in her bedroom window at night staring out at the barn and was said to have seen apparitions. But, then again she wasn’t sure if they were real because even she knew there is a thin line against imagination and reality.
When she died some said she had been possessed by a woman who had been murdered when her home was built. This woman had been done away with before she had moved into the house and fragments of her had been cemented into the foundation of the barn.
After she died the people that entered the house found out there was nothing frightening about the home. To their disappointment there was only silken curtains spun by successive generations of spiders waved across the windows when the door opened to admit the autumn air.
The barn was no different, and the mystery of the odd woman remain unsolved much to the chagrin of the gossipers of the town. No clue was ever found to who was murdered, and the next person that bought the house and the barn decided to pull it down and not one stone was left of the ill-omened place with its evil entities and unsolved murder mystery. After all, who knows what they would have found because everyone knows: old barns tell the best stories.
Photo by Linda Seccaspina- Former barn on High Street
Join us and learn about the history under your feet! This year’s St. James Cemetery Walk will take place Thursday October 19th and october 21– Museum Curator Jennfer Irwin will lead you through the gravestones and introduce you to some of our most memorable lost souls!
Be ready for a few surprises along the way….
This walk takes place in the dark on uneven ground. Please wear proper footwear and bring a small flashlight if you like.
Tickets available at the Museum, 267 Edmund Street. Two dates!!! https://www.facebook.com/events/1211329495678960/
October 28th The Occomores Valley Grante and Tile Event–730pm-1am Carleton Place arena-Stop by and pick up your tickets for our fundraiser dance for LAWS. They also have tickets for Hometown Hearts event at the Grand Hotel fundraiser
Photo by Linda Seccaspina- Former barn on High Street
lindaseccaspina 