thing I heard was a shot.”
Dorothy had taken the bank’s own revolver and shot herself in the head.
In those days each bank had a least one gun. Employees were expected to shoot it out with robbers.
Dorothy’s death sent shockwaves through the employees and, no doubt, her former lover.
Unexplained things began to happen immediately. The lights in the bank would go on and off by themselves. Locked doors were discovered to be wide open.
Redwood admitted, “We all felt something. There was someone watching us but you couldn’t see anyone. The cleaning staff became nervous about working in the bank after dark, claiming they heard funny noises. The women refused to use the upstairs washroom, so the bank was forced to build another one in the basement.”
Over forty years later, on June 18, 1993, the Hockey Hall of Fame opened the doors of its current home in this magnificently restored Bank of Montreal. The main mission of the organization is to collect and preserve objects and images connected with the game of hockey.
A second objective is public education about the history and rules of play of this great Canadian game. Schools, tourists, and hockey fans alike tour the facilities on a daily basis. Visitors enjoy the many exhibits on display, including the hall of hockey’s finest players. In the first year of operation, more that 500,000 people visited the building.
In 1993 William Houston of the Globe and Mail wrote, “The new Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto has just about everything, including a ghost. The ghost is Dorothy and she resides in the restored Bank of Montreal building that is part of the new Hall of BCE Place.
“Over the years, custodians of the bank have heard shrieking and moaning noises coming from the rooms. Items have gone missing or have been moved.”
Christine Simpson, who is in charge of publicity at the new Hall says, “If we’ve misplaced something we say, ‘Well, it must be Dorothy.’”
Recently a gentlemen and his young son arrived to tour the hockey exhibits. After proceeding through the lower concourse level they entered the building proper. Directly ahead of them, just to the left, was an elevator; the door was open. The son stood staring fixedly at the elevator doorway as he watched the ghost of a pretty young woman beckon him to enter. Seconds later the door closed and travelled up to the third floor.
For half a century Dorothy has remained behind. She gambled everything for love — and she lost.
Joseph Brant Museum
~ Burlington ~
A mysterious woman appears in the corridor dressed in a white-satin Victorian gown, a veil covers part of her hair. She searches for the door that will lead her to freedom and the person who has the key to that door. Her appearance is captivating but, nevertheless, chilling. Very few people have seen her. One person to whom she has spoken has never fully recovered from the experience. The “Lady in White” is waiting …
This strange presence walks the halls and grounds of the Joseph Brant Museum in Burlington, Ontario. Most people sense nothing out of the ordinary here. In fact, neither staff nor director admit to the existence of a spirit. Is it denial — or disbelief? A museum is, after all, a storehouse of historical artifacts to educate people about the past, to broaden and expand one’s sense of identity in time. Just how much of the “invisible” past can be housed along with it? Just ask the one visitor who has willingly shared an unforgettable, unexplainable encounter that took place twelve years ago in this museum. The experience was so intense that she never returned until this year when she was asked to reveal her story about the Victorian lady in white. What connection does this have to Joseph Brant’s home or to the hotel that once stood on this site?
The Joseph Brant Museum in Burlington.
Our story begins with Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea), a Mohawk leader who, in 1798, was granted 3,450 acres on Burlington Bay by King George III for service to the Crown during the Seven Years’ War and the American Revolutionary War. Brant built a home on his property just a few hundred yards to the southwest of the present-day museum. His dwelling was a two-storey house built of timber brought from Kingston by water in 1800. He chose a site at the Head of the Lake overlooking the bay and beyond. He and his wife, Catherine, and their family resided here. In 1807 Joseph Brant died in his home at the age of sixty.
Brant’s son, John, was thirteen when his father passed away and he and his younger sister, Elizabeth, continued to live there with their mother. Little is known of their lives over the years that followed. W.L. Stone, biographer of Joseph Brant, believes that Elizabeth and her husband, William Johnson Kerr, were residing in the old mansion in 1837. Apparently, Elizabeth inherited the home when John died in 1832.
In 1845 the Kerrs died, leaving behind four children. One son, W.J. Simcoe Kerr, followed in his father’s footsteps and graduated from Osgoode Hall in 1862 as a lawyer. It was during this time that the Kerrs, for reasons unknown, resided elsewhere and rented the estate and the farm to a Mr. Henry.
On December 17, 1869, Simcoe Kerr moved back to the homestead. A year later he married Kate Hunter. The couple had no children. Simcoe Kerr died on February 18, 1875. A year later his sister also passed away. It was during this period that the estate was sold and the homestead was incorporated as the Brant House, a luxurious summer resort. The house had a verandah that swept two sides and many gables. The interior, according to Clair Emery and Barbara Ford in their book From Pathway to Skyway, was turned into a series of individual motel-like apartments and became a popular spot for vacationers. The Halton Atlas of 1877 featured the Brant estate, which at that time sported twenty acres of gardens, croquet lawns, a bowling green, bathing “machines,” ice cream parlours, and a dance hall. The proprietor of the establishment was J. Morris.
A.B. Coleman eventually purchased the property and in 1899 began the promotion of a second hotel structure adjacent to the Brant House. On July 2, 1902, the new hotel, named the Hotel Brant, opened its doors to the public. Erected at a cost of $100,000, the Hotel Brant was described as “a spacious building with accommodation for 250 guests.”
The hotel was very modern and popular. It had elevators, electric lights, sanitary plumbing, and hot-water heating. This new tourist centre, surrounded by lawns and numerous shade trees, was situated on a high bluff overlooking both Lake Ontario and Hamilton Bay. The hotel’s dining room was a massive 900 metres (8,000 square feet) and live music played at mealtimes. Hotel rates started at $2.50 a day. A special feature of the establishment was a roof garden. An early brochure of the hotel advertised golf, tennis, croquet, bowling on the green, bathing, boating, fishing, cycling, driving, pin bowling, billiards, pool, bagatelle, and ping pong. The manager of these many fine amusements was Thomas Hood. The Brant House complex was renamed The Hotel Brant and Annex.
The Hotel Brant was unable to serve alcohol due to its location in the dry part of town. Male guests found this situation quite inconvenient. Mr. Coleman was sensitive to the needs of his guests and thereby resolved to purchase a piece of land across the way and open a country club in the wet section of town to satisfy his thirsty patrons. This building was later remodelled and became known as the Brant Inn. It was destroyed by fire in 1925 and then reconstructed. Famous entertainers such as Sophie Tucker, Ella Fitzgerald, Liberace, Lena Horne, and Benny Goodman were frequent entertainers at the Brant Inn.
In August of 1917 the Hotel Brant and Annex was expropriated by the federal government and remodelled for use as a soldier’s hospital. The expansive verandahs were boarded up and remodelled to create wards. Many of the other hotel rooms became operating theatres. The hospital staff resided in the annex. There are no reports to indicate how many soldiers were treated or died there.
In the 1930s the remaining veterans were transferred to Toronto. A short time later the hotel and annex were vandalized and parts of the building destroyed by fire. Eventually the buildings had to be demolished.
Ontario minister of highways T.B. McQuesten was instrumental in the erection of Joseph Brant