Post by spriskeptic on Feb 12, 2010 13:44:25 GMT -5
from Stony Creek News
www.stoneycreeknews.com
Valentine’s, ghost style: From Lover's Lane to Lover's Leap
By Gord Bowes, News Staff
News
Feb 11, 2010
Not all love stories have a happy ending. Just ask Daniel Cumerlato.
Nothing's wrong with his marriage, mind you, but the cofounder of Haunted Hamilton can tell you some tragic stories that resonate today.
Take the story of Jane Riley. Some people claim the tortured soul of the jilted lover still roams the woods around Albion Falls.
It was early in the 19th century in the hamlet of Albion Mills, as the area around the falls was once known and Jane was in love with Joseph Rousseau. In every respect, he was deemed worthy of her love and as far she knew, reciprocated her affections.
Trouble was, Joseph reciprocated many women's affections. When Jane found out, she was crushed.
"She went a little bit crazy," explains Cumerlato.
Jane began wandering around the woods, distracted and harassed, weeping in the deepest despair and raving like a maniac with her hair dishevelled, hanging loose.
She decided to put an end to her suffering by jumping off the rocks around the falls, as witnessed by workers in the nearby mill.
"She stood at the top and they watched her fall," says Cumerlato.
The workers said Jane's dress formed a parachute on the way down and apparently thinking it was slowing her fall, she was seen trying to collapse the impromptu parachute.
When the men reached her, they found her poor mangled body still alive, but she was unconscious and although she lived an hour, she never spoke again.
Feeling guilty about the actions of her son, Joseph's mother is said to have laid the blame for Jane's death on her shoulders. Years later, while apparently in good health, the mother exclaimed she could feel Jane's hand on her shoulder and dropped dead on the floor.
"The legend is that Jane is still out there," says Cumerlato.
One of the most famous ghosts in the city roams remote Ancaster, sometimes hand in hand with his true love, say witnesses –but other times behaving rather badly.
The Hermitage ruins lie on property once owned by Otto Ives, who lived there with his beloved Greek wife and her niece, whom he treated like a daughter.
William Black, Otto's trusted coachman and servant caught the eye of the niece with his kind nature and handsome looks.
The young couple started an affair, but laid low because of the class difference.
"They kept it a secret, going to different areas of the farm, hiding behind trees to court," says Cumerlato.
They were in love and wanted to marry. Eventually, William got up the courage to ask his boss for permission to marry the woman he thought of as his own daughter.
But Otto would have none of it,
"He told him, 'No way will my niece be married to a lowly servant," relates Cumerlato.
William was heartbroken and, as legend has it, suicidal. He returned to the coach house, fashioned a noose, stepped on a manure cart, threw the rope over a rafter and hung himself.
The next day, Otto was waiting outside of his mansion for William to bring the carriage. When the servant didn't pull up, the boss went searching for him.
It was there that Otto, a veteran of war and devout Christian, found William's lifeless body. Disgusted the man would take his own life, he coldly cut the body down, rolled it on the manure buggy to the corner of what is now Lover's Lane and Sulphur Springs and buried man and vehicle there.
"Since that day, it's said you can see William Black walking around from the corner to the ruins," says Cumerlato.
On dark, moonlit nights, William has also been seen, a lantern in hand, calling out for his lost love.
Then there's the story told by Hamilton Spectator columnist Robert Howard who wrote about a scary incident while partying near the ruins as a teen. A friend veered away from the group for a few minutes only to end up being told by the coachman's ghost it could finally have peace if the teen took the ghost's place at the end of the rope.
Of all the ghost stories Cumerlato has heard or spun with Haunted Hamilton, this is the only one where something has happened on a walking tour he could not explain.
"The one time I saw something right in front of my eyes was at Hermitage," he says. "I believe there's something there that can't be explained."
Cumerlato says it's not surprising that so many ghost stories spring from love gone bad. Tragedies, in particular suicides, lead to the type of high-energy situations from which ghosts often spring.
"They never get to live out their life the way they were meant to have," he says, adding people's natural desire for a happy ending may be why so many see William Black walking arm in arm with his love.
Read the full story and others at: www.stoneycreeknews.com
www.stoneycreeknews.com
Valentine’s, ghost style: From Lover's Lane to Lover's Leap
By Gord Bowes, News Staff
News
Feb 11, 2010
Not all love stories have a happy ending. Just ask Daniel Cumerlato.
Nothing's wrong with his marriage, mind you, but the cofounder of Haunted Hamilton can tell you some tragic stories that resonate today.
Take the story of Jane Riley. Some people claim the tortured soul of the jilted lover still roams the woods around Albion Falls.
It was early in the 19th century in the hamlet of Albion Mills, as the area around the falls was once known and Jane was in love with Joseph Rousseau. In every respect, he was deemed worthy of her love and as far she knew, reciprocated her affections.
Trouble was, Joseph reciprocated many women's affections. When Jane found out, she was crushed.
"She went a little bit crazy," explains Cumerlato.
Jane began wandering around the woods, distracted and harassed, weeping in the deepest despair and raving like a maniac with her hair dishevelled, hanging loose.
She decided to put an end to her suffering by jumping off the rocks around the falls, as witnessed by workers in the nearby mill.
"She stood at the top and they watched her fall," says Cumerlato.
The workers said Jane's dress formed a parachute on the way down and apparently thinking it was slowing her fall, she was seen trying to collapse the impromptu parachute.
When the men reached her, they found her poor mangled body still alive, but she was unconscious and although she lived an hour, she never spoke again.
Feeling guilty about the actions of her son, Joseph's mother is said to have laid the blame for Jane's death on her shoulders. Years later, while apparently in good health, the mother exclaimed she could feel Jane's hand on her shoulder and dropped dead on the floor.
"The legend is that Jane is still out there," says Cumerlato.
One of the most famous ghosts in the city roams remote Ancaster, sometimes hand in hand with his true love, say witnesses –but other times behaving rather badly.
The Hermitage ruins lie on property once owned by Otto Ives, who lived there with his beloved Greek wife and her niece, whom he treated like a daughter.
William Black, Otto's trusted coachman and servant caught the eye of the niece with his kind nature and handsome looks.
The young couple started an affair, but laid low because of the class difference.
"They kept it a secret, going to different areas of the farm, hiding behind trees to court," says Cumerlato.
They were in love and wanted to marry. Eventually, William got up the courage to ask his boss for permission to marry the woman he thought of as his own daughter.
But Otto would have none of it,
"He told him, 'No way will my niece be married to a lowly servant," relates Cumerlato.
William was heartbroken and, as legend has it, suicidal. He returned to the coach house, fashioned a noose, stepped on a manure cart, threw the rope over a rafter and hung himself.
The next day, Otto was waiting outside of his mansion for William to bring the carriage. When the servant didn't pull up, the boss went searching for him.
It was there that Otto, a veteran of war and devout Christian, found William's lifeless body. Disgusted the man would take his own life, he coldly cut the body down, rolled it on the manure buggy to the corner of what is now Lover's Lane and Sulphur Springs and buried man and vehicle there.
"Since that day, it's said you can see William Black walking around from the corner to the ruins," says Cumerlato.
On dark, moonlit nights, William has also been seen, a lantern in hand, calling out for his lost love.
Then there's the story told by Hamilton Spectator columnist Robert Howard who wrote about a scary incident while partying near the ruins as a teen. A friend veered away from the group for a few minutes only to end up being told by the coachman's ghost it could finally have peace if the teen took the ghost's place at the end of the rope.
Of all the ghost stories Cumerlato has heard or spun with Haunted Hamilton, this is the only one where something has happened on a walking tour he could not explain.
"The one time I saw something right in front of my eyes was at Hermitage," he says. "I believe there's something there that can't be explained."
Cumerlato says it's not surprising that so many ghost stories spring from love gone bad. Tragedies, in particular suicides, lead to the type of high-energy situations from which ghosts often spring.
"They never get to live out their life the way they were meant to have," he says, adding people's natural desire for a happy ending may be why so many see William Black walking arm in arm with his love.
Read the full story and others at: www.stoneycreeknews.com