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Page 9 of 12
The next instance of phenomena was experienced by Rick and a couple from Toronto that had visited the studio to watch the seance.
They were at the bottom of the stairs when all of a sudden; a very clear, very real child's voice said "Mamma! Mamma!"
Poor Rick, who also had not experienced a "ghost" before slowly made a move towards the staircase to see the couple. All three were almost slightly paralyzed. "Did you hear that?" was the first words uttered.
All three were standing at the foot of the stairs and had noticed a discernible chill in the air. Matthew, one of our staff members, Dorothy and the radio program host had moved into the lobby where the three were standing. Matthew put himself in the centre of the cold spot that had developed and goosebumps did break out.
Note: Upon leaving, Rick said he was going home to a BIG shot of gin before bed.
The last instance happened well after the show. Everyone had left the building but the investigative team was sitting outside discussing future investigations and how to share information once we have plowed through the tapes.
Matthew seemed to have misplaced one of our staff members's keys and they managed to attract one of the two engineers left in the studio. They let the duo in and one of our staff members and Matthew quickly made their way through the darkened corridors in search of the keys.
Nothing (other than the creepy feeling of being in a known haunted site and alone on the upper floors of the building,) happened until directly at the front doors of CKTB, one of our staff members backed up to look across the desk in the lobby and let out a muffled shriek.
Matthew heard this and only was able to ask, "What? WHAT!?!"
one of our staff members described the feeling as touching a "live electrical wire". A sudden shock. She asked Matthew to assume the same space as she had just been occupying but he felt nothing. Still, in Matthew's own words, he knows one of our staff members well enough to know that she had quite a scare.
Matthew later on in the week sent one of our staff members a "joke e-mail" of one liners... one of them said "What if you got scared half to death twice?"
one of our staff members replied that the joke might give the Merritt house ideas as it was already halfway there.
Of Note: On one of our last visits in the year 2000, we met a young woman who said she was an amateur historian and professional actress... Sadly, her name is lost in our notes... She had with her a book on William Hamilton Merritt and his family and noted to us that both he and Mrs. Merritt both were subjected to a medical treatment at the end of their lives which (being the mid 1800's,) was considered a "cure all" for any ailment and not exclusively to psychological problems, electric shocks. Please remember, electricity was a "new" thing back then and some physicians reckoned that since electricity had an effect on the human body, it MUST be doing something good so they would electro shock almost anyone who even complained of heart burn. Could this be an "explanation" for one of our staff members's "shocking" experiences in the lobby and the boardroom?
This time, we went through hours of tape and dozens of photos but this time the yield was nothing.
Below is some extra information about Merritt and reported events from listeners to the a now cancelled radio program on the paranormal radio show while we were on... The links open in new windows so you can easily return to continue reading about our investigations...
One of our newest members and a FANTASTIC researcher, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. asked to help us in investigations. Although invited to the on-site investigation of Merritt House, she was unable to attend but Matthew asked if she could trace William Hamilton Merritt's history especially relating to the Underground Railroad.
Here are her preliminary findings...
William Hamilton Merritt was born in 1793, and died in Cornwall Ontario in 1862. During his life he was credited with several things, he was a successful merchant in the St. Catharines, Welland area. His father bought up most of the area, and owned a good deal of St. Catharines proper, which William inherited. Later he branched into mill management.
His most famous accomplishment in Canadian history was his promotion of the Welland canal. He supported such expansion in Canada passionately.
In his later life he became politically active, serving as a member of local government. He was known to have an allegiance with Tory and moderate Reform (this means he was not really a political radical for his time, he kept within popular belief) His chief concern in all his actions seem to be to benefit his family business.
Here's the interesting part: He was active in the Church of England, and the Grantham Academy (1829) I don't know a lot about this need more info, it may be relevant.
He was a member of Refugee Slaves Friends Society and helped escaped slaves in the 1840s and 50s. This leads me to believe that he was active in the Underground Railroad. However, it will take a little more time to find some supporting evidence of this theory.
I have help from the staff at the Underground Railroad museum looking into this for me.
If anyone can add to this information or may wish to assist Erika, please e-mail us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
As with the last few times, (and as you've seen in our earlier pages on the subject,) the GHRS and another paranormal group have been on the a now canceled radio program on the paranormal, odd noises and strange sounds are either monitored or broadcast out. This last night was no exception..
Here are some snippets of e-mails we received about this phenomena... Also included are some of the notes as to the mysteries of Merritt's house...
From GHRS Research Lynda Quirino
| While listening, I picked up the following sounds drifting through my speakers and made some notes, ever the researcher: 10:40 p.m.: woman's voice saying,"oooh" as if sad 10:50 p.m.: strange interference, static (any tech problems? Since beginning of seance, lots of static and things going "wrong"...) 10:53 p.m.: sound of running water, first a trickle, then like a bath. 10:55 p.m.: male whispering while Pat talking. Could hardly hear Pat, actually, at one point the whispering was so loud. Could not make out what he was saying, however! 11:25 p.m.: knocking and other interference, followed by a muffled cry (like someone locked in a box). It was a distinct child cry. (4 yr. old?) (and it wasn't my 4 yr. old!!!) 12:21 a.m.: sound of a child's cry as if upset (I know this one!), followed by a sound of water (again). By the way, has anyone found out if Mr. Merritt's "sealed" files reveal anything he's trying to hide? Maybe he's angry with everyone because he knows the truth's about to be revealed ....(can ya hear the Twilight Zone theme in your head yet???) |
"Enchantra" from the alt.folklore.ghost.stories newsgroup...
| I caught the radio program last night with the seance. I kept hearing stuff in the back ground.....it was trippy ....I kept hearing things like "because I hate you" "go away" "leave me alone" stuff like that. That was cool and kinda trippy too....wish I could have been there to have seen if it was just background noise that my mind was putting things into, or if there was something "not there" that I was picking up on. :) |
Reminder from one of our staff members from another paranormal group...
| I told you Fish got an email at about 11:30 telling him they could hear a baby crying while Pat was channeling a small child. How many people recorded this stuff? we need to go over all our tapes etc. with a fine-toothed comb, but recordings of the show with anomalous noises would be really great. Merritt is worried his misappropriation will be discovered? Where did he HIDE his stuff? There must be an old safe somewhere, or a strongbox or something. The hostility they're talking about coming over the airwaves verbally is EASY to feel if you enter the boardroom. Are they sure that was a master bedroom? I'm pretty sure one of the ghosts is NOT happy with any of us, hence the tossed 2x4 and the high-voltage shock, not to mention the feeling of impending doom in the boardroom itself. WHY is that poor kid so distraught? Obviously wants his mommy. Who is his mommy? Who the heck is the kid? All that crying is very heartbreaking. Poor little guy. If that's how he spent his life there, he must have been miserable. Assuming it's a he. I still can't tell who our EVP belongs to, the woman or child. I need to hear that show and compare voices to get it. |