Haunted Ontario 3. Terry Boyle

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      In the Richmond Hill Manse office Bible pages are changed.

      The spirit of a little boy dressed in blue has been seen on a number of occasions in the house. Ruthan described him.

      “The boy wears blue shorts, a white shirt, suspenders and a little jacket. He has blond hair and wears knee high socks. His clothing would date between the 1870s and 80s.”

      “He isn’t afraid to appear to visitors at the village. He usually shows up when small children come through the house.

      “At Christmas the boy dressed in blue enters the house through the front door. He then proceeds to the parlour and can be seen walking through the existing table in the house. Then he enters the downstairs bedroom situated by the staircase leading to the second floor. To your amazement you can actually see a dent in the bottom of the bed where he is sitting,” said Ruthan.

      A female employee was working in the Manse house alone one night during Christmas holidays. To her amazement, she saw the minister standing at the top of the stairs on the second floor. He appeared quite angry. The employee fled the building.

      Ruthan mentioned that her husband Dennis, who also had worked at Black Creek, had actually seen the little boy.

      Another employee at the manse heard a woman humming upstairs and the tiny footsteps of a child coming from the upper floor.

      When Catherine was researching the ghost stories in the village, prior to the first Halloween ghost walk in 2006, she had decided to check out the manse for herself. This is what she discovered.

      “Although the downstairs was nicely decorated with comfortable furniture it felt very depressing to me. It was on the second floor, however, that I encountered the angry presence spoken of by employees and visitors. I was on the second floor landing looking down the stairs. To my immediate right was a bedroom and from the doorway of this room I could literally feel hostile eyes boring into me, willing me to get out of the house. The longer I stood there the more intense the feeling became. I started shaking with fear and had to come downstairs.”

      A couple who arrived to take the ghost walk tour decided to walk to the site where the Manse house is located and this is what happened.

      “The building intrigued them and they found an unlocked kitchen door and entered the house. They were standing in the kitchen when they heard distinct footsteps walking around upstairs.

      “They assumed it was the caretaker for the village. They had seen him nearby, walking alone, just prior to their entering the building.”

      This was not the case.

      “Much to the surprise of the couple, the caretaker walked in the front door of the manse while they were still standing in the kitchen — [he was] listening to the footsteps on the floor above. The couple asked the caretaker who was walking around upstairs since they had thought it was him. He said the second floor was closed to the public and was not in use that night and there should be no one upstairs. On further investigation he, in fact, found no one upstairs.”

      As if that wasn’t enough, later that night a tour guide had her own experience with the spirits of the Manse house. Catherine explained, “One of the tour guides had finished her speech to her tour group in the manse and after everyone had left the house, she shut the front door and started up the main road with the group. She happened to look back at the building and saw a curtain in the front parlour being pulled back by an unseen hand, as if someone were watching to make sure everyone had finally left the area.”

      Rhona Hastings has visited Black Creek Pioneer Village on several occasions over the past forty years. She states, “I have always been drawn to a few of the houses. I don’t call myself a psychic. I am just a little sensitive to things. I have a strong intuition.

      “The minister’s house I feel has energy. About sixteen years ago I went into this house and, as we all do when we visit the village, I looked around. It was a little unusual that there was no one in the house at the time telling the tale of the house or spinning the wheel as they do. I had a friend with me so I wasn’t alone. We were looking in one of the rooms and turned our heads to the left where there stood an old lady smiling at me. She was very close to me. She was dressed with a long coat and a scarf [babushka] on her head. She stared at me and had a very warm smile. She actually looked like what I might look like as an old woman. My friend and I looked at one another and then looked back to the old woman and she was gone!”

      Despite the apparent benevolence of the older woman who frequents the corridors of the manse, it would seem the reverend does not want you to overstay your welcome. So, as you enter the manse house I would suggest you take note of the time. The good reverend may, indeed, be watching over folks at the village — but it seems he is also keeping time and is happier once you’re gone.

      Roblin’s Mill

      ~ Black Creek Pioneer Village ~

      Canadian poet Al Purdy knew more than most people about the ghostly workers of Roblin’s Mill. This excerpt from his poem, entitled “Roblin’s Mill,” sets the mood of this site:

      The lighting alters...

       and you can see...

       a bald man standing

       sturdily indignant..

       ………

       ………

       In the building men are still working

       thru sunlight and starlight and moonlight

       despite the black holes plunging down

       on their way to the roots of the earth

      Built in 1842, the mill was originally located in Ameliasburg, near Belleville, Ontario.

      Ameliasburg was once named Roblin’s Mill, in honour of Owen Roblin, who had the mill built there.

      Catherine Crow said, “Owen died at ninety-seven years of age, after the turn of the century. Will Roblin, Owen’s grandson, took over ownership of the mill just prior to the First World War. He eventually lost interest in the mill and closed it down. Ameliasburg, without the mill, had a definite decline in commerce.”