| Haunted
Hamilton knows about quite a few hauntings at the beautiful home
of Whitehern. This location is a feature stop on our Downtown
Hamilton Ghost Walk infact!
One of our
friends had a family member who used to work there, and they said
that they experienced strange things while there. The voice of
a woman singing as well as music playing can be heard late at
night. The strange thing is, there are no modern-day radios located
in the museum at all.
A story was
also told to us here at Haunted Hamilton directly from a staff
member who used to work in the museum. One day, while all alone
in the museum, she was walking down the main staircase towards
the main floor. All of the sudden, she felt a huge push against
her body... so strong infact that she was forced to brace herself
against the wall to prevent her from falling down the stairs.
As she quickly regained her footing, she saw the shadowy figure
of a man, completely grey, swoosh past her, down the stairs and
right out the front door, only to disappear.
We have a
theory of who this apparition could have been. Isaac McQuesten,
the son of Dr. Calvin McQuesten, actually died on the second floor
in the family home as a result of suicide.
The following
is an excerpt taken from the official Whitehern website:
"Isaac
died very suddenly on March 7, 1888, at the age of forty, after
consuming a combination of a sleeping draught and alcohol. His
death was immediately followed by bankruptcy with liabilities
of $900,000 and assets of approximately $20,000 in personal
and Real Estate. However, he had had the foresight to place
the house, Whitehern, in the hands of a law partner in trust
for his wife. His will left his entire estate to his wife and
she was named the sole executor.
The excerpt
from Isaac's "Obituary" provides some details of his
death:
I.
B. McQuesten, M.A.
All
classes of citizens will learn with regret that I.B. McQuesten
died at 9 o'clock yesterday. The deceased was enjoying the
usual health until Tuesday evening, but was taken sick about
midnight. Dr. Mullin was called in and was with him until
9 a.m. yesterday when he died. Mrs. McQuesten left him reading
in the library and went to bed. About midnight she heard a
fall, and on going downstairs found her husband lying in an
insensible condition. In a glass in the room were the remains
of a sleeping draught which the deceased was in the habit
of taking occasionally, and it is supposed that in his latterly
feeble state of health the dose proved too much for him. Dr.
Mullin was immediately summoned and stayed with him until
morning by which time he had partially regained consciousness,
but shortly after he relapsed into insensibility and died
in a few minutes.
(Hamilton Daily Spectator,
Thursday, March 8, 1888, p.3)
Isaac McQuesten's
story is a tragic one, beginning with the death of his mother
at the age of four and ending with his own untimely death at
the age of forty. The happy period in his life was his loving
relationship with his wife, and his pride in his children and
his community. Isaac's father's story, Dr. Calvin McQuesten,
represents the rise of the house of McQuesten, while Isaac's
story represents the fall of the house of McQuesten.
Fortunately
the house of McQuesten was eventually restored through the efforts
of Mary Baker McQuesten and her children, after the death of
Isaac in 1888. After the initial shock and grief, Mary took
on the role of the family matriarch of her six children who
were between the ages of fourteen and three, and she struggled
through at least twenty years of genteel poverty to maintain
the home, guide and educate her children, and finally to restore
the house of McQuesten to social prominence and prestige, if
not to wealth.
For
more information and the full history of Whitehern
please visit their website at:
http://www.whitehern.ca
©
Photo taken by Stephanie Cumerlato
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