Mary, her boyfriend, and another couple went to the Bellevue Mansion at night to explore the spooky old house, but also prove for themselves if the violent ghosts of the murderous man and young boy really did exist.
With them they brought a Ouija board. This was the best way to communicate, as none in the group claimed to have any psychic ability.
They arrived at about 11:00 p.m. that night and spent perhaps an hour walking through the house and looking at all the old rooms.
Mary was disgusted by how decayed the house was, seeing that many of the rooms were damp, mouldy, and some areas were already well beyond repair, including a back room with a caved-in ceiling.
Finally, they set up the Ouija board in the old parlour. Each of the four kids put two fingers on the planchette. Mary’s boyfriend called out, summoning the ghosts of the husband and the boy. Time passed and nothing happened.
Just as they were about to give up, Mary heard a knocking from the second floor. The knocking got louder and harder, so much that the house itself started to shake. All four got to their feet and ran for the door, but Mary tripped.
She thought it was just a rock, or something left on the floor, but realized she was wrong when an invisible hand started dragging her back into the house.
Mary’s boyfriend saw her being pulled away, but his fear was stronger than his sense of chivalry, and he kept running ... all the way home.
The next day, all the kids met at school, including Mary. She refused to tell any of them what happened after being dragged into the house. But needless to say, Mary and her boyfriend didn’t remain a couple after that unique harrowing experience.[9]
Haunted Hamilton also heard from a woman that there was a spirit sighting by a clairvoyant who was visiting the house. The clairvoyant lady, who was standing outside, looked up to see a woman with blazing red hair running back and forth on the second floor, waving her arms frantically in the air.[10]
The clairvoyant also reported seeing the ghostly figure of a man with light brown hair walking toward them on the grounds of the property.
Other common legends and reported paranormal activity occurring at 14 Belvidere include visions of a young girl playing in the front yard and phantom voices whispering out people’s names.
Bellevue Mansion, which was popular talk among the local teenagers for rumours of murders, suicides, and ghosts or demons haunting the abandoned lot and building, was Haunted Hamilton’s first official investigation, the one that Daniel and Stephanie used as their debut.
They visited the historic house, which they referred to at the time as “Belvidere Mansion,” on a beautiful sunny day, taking dozens of pictures with their 35mm Canon camera.
They captured amazing views of extremely high ceilings and walls painted in bright colours, beautiful decorative white plaster mouldings, and large windows that went right up to the ceiling. They witnessed extraordinary views of the city of Hamilton.
But they also caught images of severely water-damaged rooms and a sadly neglected home in a crumbling state of decay. They saw what was once a majestic building of comfort and luxury instead as a barren and deserted shell, echoing with the rumours of murder and evil spirits.
Because it was a popular hangout for thrill-seeking teens and the police were regularly called to visit the home due to the noise, owner Claire Sellens had the support he needed to demolish the building, something that had been opposed by people like Janice Kay and The Committee to Save Bellevue.[11]
Claire Sellens was quoted in the Hamilton Spectator as saying, “There comes a time when granny no longer should be maintained on life support.”[12] In the fall of 2000, Hamilton lost yet another battle to save a historic building from destruction. Bellevue Mansion was torn down on that fateful day in September.
On an overcast day in early August 2011, I diverted from the path I usually jogged in order to pay yet another visit to this lot that so intrigued my wife and I. Having read so much and written about the history of the building, I simply wanted to visit it one more time and perhaps see if I might sense any of the alleged spectres or even an eerie feeling from being there.
Taking a short pause from my run, I took off my headphones and explored the lot. Then, I hit the record button of the voice memo application on my phone and recorded the following:
I’m standing in the barren lot where the house used to stand with sheets of misty rain running down and cooling me off from the run I just completed. Three, perhaps four building towers from the city below peek out over the overgrown grass and bushes growing behind the wrought-iron fence at the back of the lot. There are sounds of traffic on the mountain access a hundred feet below. Standing on the spot where the house once stood and looking out onto Belvidere, I can see the entrance to the lot is overgrown with bushy trees and shrubs. I can hear a couple of cars passing by on that front street and catch a quick glimpse of them as they pass a small cut-out window in the canopy of greenery that blocks almost all of the street from view. This giant, beautiful, overgrown lot has sat vacant now for more than ten years. There’s barely any evidence left of the building that once stood here, except perhaps for the eerie feeling that I bring with me from the things I have read about it.
As I stood there recording my thoughts and observations about the lot, I realized that, though I had been prepared to be frightened, though I had been prepared to feel some supernatural chill in the air, perhaps even to sense an evil presence lurking in wait for me, I instead felt sad for the loss our city faced when the building came down.
A barren and overgrown lot stands, still empty, where the Bellevue used to majestically look out over the city from atop the mountain brow for over 150 years. The lot has remained empty since the remains of the building were taken away that fateful September in 2000, and nobody knows if anything will ever stand there again; the continued vacancy of the lot is perhaps evidence enough that people still believe the legends about the evil spirits, which might continue to haunt that land.
Chapter Four
Battlefield House Museum
Battlefield House is a living history museum that sits within Battlefield Park, thirty-two acres of field and forest nestled at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment in Stoney Creek near King Street West and Centennial Parkway. The park is the site of the historic Battle of Stoney Creek, which took place on June 6, 1813, during the War of 1812.
In 1812 the United States declared war on Britain and invaded Upper Canada from the border of the Niagara Peninsula. American forces crossed the Niagara River and captured Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake (then Newark) in May 1813. Approximately 3,500 American troops moved on in pursuit of the British who had retreated to Burlington Heights, a location in Hamilton where Dundurn Castle now stands.[1]
Approximately three thousand American troops arrived at Stoney Creek on June 5, 1813, and camped down for the night. The Gage House was used as headquarters by the two American generals, William H. Winder and John Chandler.
Early the next morning, the British launched a surprise assault under the cover of darkness. It was made possible through the assistance of Billy Green, a nineteen-year-old local civilian. Having witnessed the attack from the Niagara Escarpment, Billy rode and walked to Burlington Heights to alert the British soldiers. The British decided on a night attack, and Billy, an experienced woodsman who knew the area well, was given a sword and uniform and acted as a scout.
About seven hundred regulars of the 8th and 49th Regiments of Foot, under Lieutenant-Colonel John Harvey, stopped the American advance and allowed the British to re-establish their position in Niagara.
During the forty-minute battle, hundreds of soldiers died and the British captured the two American generals. The Americans retreated to Forty Mile Creek (Grimsby) and then to Fort George.[2]
This was the last time American soldiers ever advanced so far into the Niagara Peninsula region.