Merrill House
Picton, Ont.
June 6, 2021
“Oh Look! They have a sign for ‘Dead Peoples Stuff’!” Rachel exclaimed as they slowed down for a stop sign. It was indeed true – there was a sign for ‘Dead Peoples Stuff’, a local antique store. “We have to go there one day,” she continued as they continued driving. It was only a few more minutes before they had reached the roundabout and were headed towards the downtown area and the location that they were investigating. “I wonder how many times we have driven by this place before and could only imagine what stories it had to tell,” she said to Jay. They had been to this town many times before, but this would be the first time investigating a place that was not derelict. As they pulled into the driveway, they could not help but marvel at the grandiose building that was ahead of them. “Oh wow….” said Jay, as Rachel parked their vehicle. We had officially arrived at the Merrill House in Picton, Ontario.
Built in 1878 by the Town Magistrate, Judge Edwards Merrill, the house was a home for himself, his wife Carolyn and their four children: Helen, Edward (Belden), Anne, and Theodesa (Muriel). Although they had built this extravagant home, the family only lived there for a year before building a new “Mini Merrill” house – a scaled down version of the original - on a nearby street. It is said that the reason (or town rumor) that they moved so soon after moving in was due to an unruly neighbour and that one of his daughters wanted to live on the Picton Harbor. Judge Merrill was a very prominent figure in Picton. Not only was he a Captain of the No.2 Company, 16th Regiment, but he was also an attorney, a Justice of the Peace, Mayor of Picton and eventually appointed to County Judge of Prince Edward County. He also strongly opposed Capital Punishment and resided over the 1884 Double Hanging of Joseph Thomset and George Lowder (which is a whole other story in itself). Judge Merrill and his family were also close with Sir John A. MacDonald – who visited frequently as a Colleague and Mentor. As Judge Merrill aged, his health declined, although he did not allow those to know. He was diagnosed with Assimilative Sclerosis (the early terminology for what we know as Multiple Sclerosis). In June 1904, his decline began to get the best of him. He declined an invitation to go on a boat excursion with visitors, stating that he still feeling under the weather from “La Grippe” (another old fashion term for Influenza). In September he wrote out his Last Will and Testaments. Seven months later (January 1905) he resigned from his duties and, County Judge, at the age of 64. On June 17, 1905, Judge Merrill was pronounced deceased. There are rumors about town and throughout the history books that Judge Merrill, suffering from a terminal disease, had hanged himself from the balcony of his “Mini-Merrill” home. However, his death record shows that his primary cause of death was Assimilative Sclerosis. Could his stature and high standing within society have stopped the Doctor from listing his death as Suicide?
“Was the man here a mayor?” Jay asked Rachel as they sat at the back of the building, awaiting the arrival of Lisa and Sheena. “He was a very prominent man in this town,” Rachel replied. “Let me check my notes and see,” she stated. Rachel then quickly rummaged through her notes and found that, yes, Judge Merrill was the town Mayor for 1883 – 1884. “Also, what’s up with the neighbours?” questioned Jay. “I pick up that there was some not so nice stuff. Like inappropriate, perhaps,” he continued. Rachel then told him that the Merrill family had built the house and lived there for only a year before moving because of an “unruly neighbour”. Jay was trying to dig deeper into his thoughts. “I don’t think the neighbour was one of those pain in the butt types, but I think this might have been more along the lines of a male neighbour getting too close to a girl in the family. That this was inappropriate, and that the family felt that moving would prevent anything unwanted from happening,” he stated. Rachel was intrigued. Could this be a reason why the Merrill family moved within a year? It would make sense, but there would be no way to prove it now. “There were girls in this family, right?” Jay asked. “Yes. Three and one son,” Rachel replied. Jay continued to sit in silence as he observed what was around them.
Sheena and Lisa finally arrived, with a recruit – “Walton”. Walton would be joining us on our investigation, only because it was necessary. You see, few days before our investigation, Lisa had a managed to break a bone in her foot. Because it was recent, she was instructed to keep it in an air cast (for structure) and be non-weight bearing. Walton was the name she had affectionately given to her air cast (Thanks to Sheena!). This would prove to be a remarkably interesting day for Lisa, and she was able to overcome the challenges of 3 flights of stairs, while learning how to do everything with one foot and crutches. As we made our way to the entrance, we were greeted by the Head Butler, Sean. He was going to be our gracious host for the day as the Property owner, Jordan, was busy. We entered the Merrill House as took a seat in the main room, to catch our bearings and allow Lisa and Walton to rest before we made the trek up to Third Floor room we would be using – The Haunted Room.
After the Judge Merrill and his family moved out, the house sold to and lived in by numerous people and their families: Peter & George McKenzie (1878), Charles Hoover (1884), James Clapp (1893), Frederick and Kate Slaven (1898), Merton Ostrander (1921), Barbara Vandusen (1968), H.T. and Nellie Lake (1968), Cornelius Slik Jr and his wife (1975), Edmond Devenish and his wife (1976), and then finally Fred Weeks (1981) who was the one to convert it into an Inn. Ed and Amy Schubert were the next owners of the Inn. They sold it the current owner, Jordan Martin, in 2018.
It appears that Merton Ostrander may have been the owner who converted the house into apartments. In 1949 the city directory lists two, possibly three, families residing at the residence – J. Philip Browne (Agent), Vera E, Browne (Housewife); Betty E. Browne (Office Clerk); Frank E. Bronskill (Musician), and Beatrice Bronskill (Housewife). Could any of these individuals still be visiting a place they had once called home?
Sheena and Lisa finally arrived, with a recruit – “Walton”. Walton would be joining us on our investigation, only because it was necessary. You see, few days before our investigation, Lisa had a managed to break a bone in her foot. Because it was recent, she was instructed to keep it in an air cast (for structure) and be non-weight bearing. Walton was the name she had affectionately given to her air cast (Thanks to Sheena!). This would prove to be a remarkably interesting day for Lisa, and she was able to overcome the challenges of 3 flights of stairs, while learning how to do everything with one foot and crutches. As we made our way to the entrance, we were greeted by the Head Butler, Sean. He was going to be our gracious host for the day as the Property owner, Jordan, was busy. We entered the Merrill House as took a seat in the main room, to catch our bearings and allow Lisa and Walton to rest before we made the trek up to Third Floor room we would be using – The Haunted Room.
After the Judge Merrill and his family moved out, the house sold to and lived in by numerous people and their families: Peter & George McKenzie (1878), Charles Hoover (1884), James Clapp (1893), Frederick and Kate Slaven (1898), Merton Ostrander (1921), Barbara Vandusen (1968), H.T. and Nellie Lake (1968), Cornelius Slik Jr and his wife (1975), Edmond Devenish and his wife (1976), and then finally Fred Weeks (1981) who was the one to convert it into an Inn. Ed and Amy Schubert were the next owners of the Inn. They sold it the current owner, Jordan Martin, in 2018.
It appears that Merton Ostrander may have been the owner who converted the house into apartments. In 1949 the city directory lists two, possibly three, families residing at the residence – J. Philip Browne (Agent), Vera E, Browne (Housewife); Betty E. Browne (Office Clerk); Frank E. Bronskill (Musician), and Beatrice Bronskill (Housewife). Could any of these individuals still be visiting a place they had once called home?
It was now time to head up to the third floor. While the struggle was real for Lisa and Walton, we successfully made it to the third floor with little issue. A huge accomplishment for Lisa, and proof that nothing will stop her from reaching the top! We were directed to a room that faces the front of the house. The door was opened, and we entered what is called “The Haunted Room”. The Merrill House Website describes the room as “Perched in the old servants' quarters on the third floor, the dark Victorian is meant to overcome you in this themed room with sweeping views of Picton's historic Main Street East.” The room was aptly decorated with interesting things – a skeleton, funeral flags and books about ghosts and spirits to name a few. It was interesting, but at the same time comforting. We would spend the next couple of hours completing an investigation of the room, but before we could begin, we had to set up our new piece of equipment – the SLS camera. This would be the first time we had used it since we acquired it. Thanks to the pandemic, we had been sidelined for almost a year. Today, would be the first time we would be able to use it – we would not be disappointed. Once we had settled in, our investigation began. “I feel like I am choking, like something is around my neck,” stated Lisa. “Was someone strangled or choked?” she asked. There was only one thing Rachel could think of. “Well, the original owner of the house is said to have hung himself,” she said. “But that didn’t happen here. It happened at another location where he was living at the time,” she continued. Lisa nodded and then continued with what she was picking up. “I am also getting a female. ‘Betty’. She lived here at some point,” said Lisa. “She doesn’t like all the pre-marital bedroom activities that go on here in the rooms. She really disproves of it all,” she continued. It was at this point that Rachel was interested in finding out more about who Betty could be, and it didn’t dawn on her that at the time that she had researched a Betty Browne, who was a former tenant/boarder in and around 1949. “She likes to stand there, displeased, when it happens. Shaking her head,” added Lisa. We had a bit of a giggle but tried to reassure Betty those times have changed, and this was the new normal now. Lisa also began to describe that she felt as if someone was directly over top of her, and then near here. We thought this would be a good opportunity to test out the SLS camera. As it mapped around the room, we didn’t notice anything, until we got close to Lisa. Suddenly the camera mapped what looked like a person standing over Lisa, doing a little dance, while the middle portion of their body was directly in Lisa’s face. We joked that she was getting an invisible lap dance, and that whomever it was, was clearly enjoying doing so. Just as quick as it appeared, the mapped figure disappeared. We then decided to turn on the Ovilus. Almost instantly it said a handful of words – ‘West’, ‘Them’, ‘Lagoon’, ‘Pole’, “Once’, ‘Cement’. “Cement?” questioned Rachel. The Ovilus then spoke a few more – ‘Slower’, ‘Found’, ‘Difference’. “Who had a candle in here?” asked Lisa. “I guess they would have used a candle for light,” she answered herself. “Well, Ya, in the 1800s,” added Rachel. “Ya, they use to put candles in the windows at night,” said Jay. Rachel decided it would then be a good time to turn the PS-B 7 Ghost Box on.
“Who’s touching my leg?” asked Lisa. The Ovilus spoke – ‘Foreign’, ‘Fine’. “A Foreign Fine?” Rachel said quizzically. A man was then hear through the Ghost box – “Help.” It seems that no one in the room heard this as Rachel began her session (but the audio picked it up). “Is there anybody in this room with us right now?” she asked. No response was heard. “Shoulder. Something to do with the shoulder,” said Lisa, as she insisted that her shoulder just started to hurt, and she knew the pain was not her own. “If this was old Servant’s quarters, servants were probably achy,” said Rachel. A female voice was heard “Ooof”. “Who is here right now?” asked Rachel. “Connor,” answered Jay. “I just got the name,” he added. A voice was heard through the ghost box – “Huh”. “Is there anybody in here? We can go to another room,” said Rachel. The team sat quietly hoping to see if there was a response. But nothing. Rachel then turned on the REM pod and placed in on the bedside table closest to the bathroom. She also turned the K2 meter on and placed in on the bed beside Lisa. Not a minute after Rachel had set it down, it started to light up. A female voice was heard – “Me”. “What did that say?” asked Lisa. “Who’s in here with us right now? Can you light it up to red?” Rachel asked. “Or make that thing over there go off,” she added, pointing to the REM pod. “Oh, it’s lighting up to Yellow,” exclaimed Lisa as she monitored the K2. A male voice was then heard through the Ghost Box – “Help”. “Help,” repeated Sheena. “Who needs help?” Lisa asked. But there was no reply. “Can you make that light up?” asked Rachel. A voice is heard – “Yup”. “To red?” Rachel clarified. But no response was heard. After a minute Rachel continued with her questions. “Can you tell us your name?” she asked. “I heard John,” said Lisa. “I was just getting ready to say a ‘Jordan’, or ‘Johnathan’,” added Jay. Lisa validated him. “Yes. I heard John/Johnathan,” she said. A voice was heard – “Me”. “Did that just say, ‘It’s Me’?” quizzed Lisa. Rachel agreed. “Can you tell us your last name through the Ghost Box here?” Rachel asked. Jay was quick to reply. “Cartwell?” he questioned. “I said through the Ghost Box, Jay.” Said Rachel. “I’m just telling you what I get,” he said with a mischievous smile. “Where you dancing on Lisa earlier?” Rachel asked next. “If so, can you light up the K2?” she added. “Were you sticking your unmentionables in her face?” she continued. “Did you just say vegetables?” inquired Jay. “Un-Mention-Ables.” Rachel said, as she pronounced the word slowly. “Though it could be a vegetable,” she joked. We enjoyed a good laugh when Lisa began to feel someone touching her hair. It was also noted that the K2 was lighting up more steadily. “Can you make it go to red for us please,” Lisa asked. “How about orange?” she continued. “Even if you get it to blink once,” Rachel added. A male voice was then heard – “Lisa”. “It sounds like it said my name,” said Lisa. The team asked a few more questions before it was decided to tune the Ghost Box to the FM frequency.
“Can you tell us your name?” asked Rachel. But nothing was heard. Rachel questioned if putting the REM pod on the bed beside the K2 meter would yield any further evidence. She decided it was best to see and placed the REM close to the K2 meter. “Can you make the REM pod light up?” asked Lisa. “All you have to do is come here,” she added as she demonstrated how the pod works. “Did you use to live here?” asked Rachel. A male voice was heard – “Thrice”. “If you lived here, can you tell me your name?” she continued. But there was no audible response. “Can you tell us your last name?” she added. No response. “Do you like what this building has become?” questioned Rachel. As we waited for a response, we all heard a noise that resembled a knock, coming from the corner of the room, closest to the bed, near the window. “Did you all hear that too?” Rachel asked excitedly. “Ya! I thought I was my thing falling over,” Sheena said. “If that was you, can you tell us your name?” asked Rachel. A muffled female voice is heard, but we cannot make out what she said. “There is a lady talking, but I can’t hear anything that she is saying,” stated Rachel. “Betty, is that you?” asked Lisa. But no response was heard. Since the REM pod was remaining inactive, Rachel decided it would be good to move it to the small table beside the door. “Please make that go off,” stated Rachel. A female voice is heard – ‘Mmm No”, followed by a second female voice – “Hurry”. “Did that just say Hurry?” questioned Rachel. Lisa was sure it said Geraldine, or at least someone said it. A noticeably clear female voice was now heard on coming through – “Look Up”, “Outside”. “Look up? Is there an attic? Is there stuff in the attic?” questioned Rachel. She also questioned if she should be “looking up” something research wise. “You are looking up?” asked Jay. A truly clear female voice is heard again – “Nope”. It was almost a unison response from everyone, repeating the “Nope”. “That was very clear,” Jay stated. “Something to do with an attic,” added Rachel. A female voice was heard again – “Look at you”, followed by a male voice – “Lipton” (also sounded like it could have been “Linton”). “What’s above us?” Rachel questioned. Since we were already on the third floor, there was much room above us for an attic. Was there something hiding in the ceiling? “Are there any Merrill’s here?” was Rachel’s next question. A female voice was heard – “Famous”, “Yes”. Rachel asked more question pertaining to who it could be but there was no response. “1854,” Lisa blurted out. “For…” Rachel asked. “That’s not when this was built,” Jay said with a bit of a questionable tone. A female voice is heard – “Wow”, “Nineteen”. As Rachel goes through her notes, the Ghost Box continues to run in the background and, while listen to the audio afterwards, Rachel heard 3 separate voices. A Man spoke – “Everything”, followed by a woman – “Men”, “Obviously”. “1854 is important,” stated Lisa. “And 1887,” she added. A few more questions were asked but no responses were heard. We turned the Ghost box off and welcomed Sean to join us for a bit.
This would be Sean’s first experience with the paranormal at the Merrill House, and it was not to disappoint. We showed him the various equipment and let him see how the SLS Camera operated. We showed him how the camera maps out people as stick figures but can also map out things we cannot see with the naked eye. As we slowly made our way around the room, a figure was mapped in the corner. This not only delighted us, but we are pretty sure it left a lasting impression on our host. We reaffirmed that anyone that was lingering around the house in spirit form was no threat to no one and just wanted to remain and visit a location that they once enjoyed. After Sean had had enough, we continued with the SLS camera to see if anything else could be captured – See video to see what we captured – could it be someone? After our SLS camera session, we turned the PS-B7 Ghost Box back on to see if whomever was with us wanted to talk. Shortly after Rachel hit the sweep button, the audio recorder captured a male voice coming through the Ghost Box – “Paul”. “Are we uncovering something you don’t like?” asked Rachel. A male voice is heard – “Pick Her”, followed by a female voice – “Yeah”. These voices were not audible until the audio was reviewed. “Is there anywhere in this house you would like us to visit?” Rachel asked next. The Ovilus was heard – ‘Battery’. “Battery?” questioned Rachel. A female voice was picked up over the Ghost Box – “Hair”. “Hair?” Jay questioned. The same female voice was heard again – “Bash”. A male voice right after – “Healing”. The team sat quietly for a moment as it seemed whoever was using the device was telling a story. The male voice spoke again – “Leader”. The female voice spoke as well – “Them too/two”. An older male voice then spoke – “Hated me.” There seemed to be more voices coming through, in what sounded like a conversation taking place between men and women, but it was hard to discern. It was too garbled to make out. “People definitely see a lady in this room. Watching them,” Lisa said. Rachel began to talk about the house’s previous owner and tenants. It seemed that the Ghost Box was matching her conversation style. “Who is talking right now?” she asked. A female voice was heard – “Hooch”. “Who?” Rachel asked. But there was no reply. Suddenly a different voice was heard. This voice was very feminine and clear – “Hello!” “Hello! Who’s the lady? What is your name?” Rachel asked. A female voice was heard – “Veronica”, followed by another female voice - “Better”. “Who are we talking to right now?” asked Rachel. A female voice was heard – “Calling You.”. A few more questions were asked but no responses were heard. Rachel then continued with talking about the tenants who resided in the apartments in 1949, indicating where these apartments may have been located within the house. Hoping whoever was there wanted them to visit their old residence, Rachel asked, again, if there was another room in the house that they wanted them to visit. A female voice was heard through the Ghost Box – “Eleven”. “What is Eleven?” asked Rachel. It was an interesting number that didn’t make much sense to them. “Should we go to the Main Room downstairs?” Rachel asked next. A Male voice was heard – “Put ‘em Out/Up”. The team asked a few more questions, but no responses were heard. “I think this room is done with us,” stated Rachel. Everyone agreed and decided it was best to head down to the first floor to continue our investigation.
**We should mention that during our sessions, the Ovilus was still running and speaking words. A list of the words is located at the end of the story.*
We entered the room on the right at the bottom of the stairs. It was uniquely designed, with chairs that resembled giant eyes – pink and blue in colour. As Lisa sat down, the Head Chef entered the room to share some of the experiences he has had at the House. He described how he would hear footsteps and noises that resembled someone being in the house – however he knew that he was the only one, or he knew that where other employees were at the time of hearing the noises. He was not going to come up from the restaurant (which is in lower part of the house) to investigate the unexplained noises. He had also heard doors closing, fully knowing that there wasn’t a living soul upstairs. Lisa promptly reminded him that there was nothing to fear in the house, that the spirits were going about their business, just as he was going about his. She also gave him a short, personal reading that helped him understand her gift of connecting and receiving messages from loved ones. As we listened to her insight, a couple of guests arrived. Sean was giving them a tour of the building and introduced us to the guests, who were a little bit in awe of what we were doing, but also hoping that they would not have any experiences. They were staying on the third floor, in the room directly across from The Haunted Room. Once the guests had ventured up to their room, we shifted our investigation to the room across the hall. This room would have once been a Parlor room. Lisa was adamant that this was not just a room for visiting. “This is the room that they use to have seances in,” she said. “It wasn’t just one, but many. And this was in the past, not recently,” she continued. This would make perfect sense. Spiritualism began is movement in the late 1840s. As it grew in popularity it became mainly a middle and upper-class movement, especially with women. Spiritualism was especially active in Bloomfield, a small town close to Picton, as the eldest of the Fox Sister’s (the ones who started the Spiritualism movement in New York), lived nearby and would be visited by her mother and sisters in the 1850s. Spiritualism had reached its peak by the 1920s, so it’s very possible that the wives of the men who owned the home between 1878 and 1921 had conducted seances in the parlor room.
It was now time to conclude the investigation. We said our good-byes to the staff and headed towards our vehicles. Still in awe over the extravagant house and history, we knew there was more that this location had to offer. We talked about returning to conduct more research and hoping to uncover some stories that have been long lost within the walls and give them new light. We felt a connection with the location and deep down, knew that we would return one day soon.
If you wish to visit the Merrill House, you can visit their website at www.merrill-house.com or contact Jordan and his amazing team directly by calling (613) 476-7451.
Reserve a night, or two, in The Haunted Room and perhaps you will have a ghostly visitor. We can promise you that, even if you sleep soundly, you will not be disappointed with the location. But then again, every room may have a ghostly visitor. It was previously their home after all. Sweet dreams!
OVILUS 5 WORDS SPOKEN
WEST
THEM
LAGOON
POLE
ONCE
CEMENT
SLOWER
FOUND
DIFFERENCE
MOUTH
COTTON
FOREIGN
SIGN
THREAT
ALTER
SHOW
AROUND
HALO
SCIENCE
BRITISH
ARRIVED
AKASHA
IRON
SHAKEN
TOUCH
BATTERY
CRESCENT
HAMMER
WIRE
It was now time to conclude the investigation. We said our good-byes to the staff and headed towards our vehicles. Still in awe over the extravagant house and history, we knew there was more that this location had to offer. We talked about returning to conduct more research and hoping to uncover some stories that have been long lost within the walls and give them new light. We felt a connection with the location and deep down, knew that we would return one day soon.
If you wish to visit the Merrill House, you can visit their website at www.merrill-house.com or contact Jordan and his amazing team directly by calling (613) 476-7451.
Reserve a night, or two, in The Haunted Room and perhaps you will have a ghostly visitor. We can promise you that, even if you sleep soundly, you will not be disappointed with the location. But then again, every room may have a ghostly visitor. It was previously their home after all. Sweet dreams!
OVILUS 5 WORDS SPOKEN
WEST
THEM
LAGOON
POLE
ONCE
CEMENT
SLOWER
FOUND
DIFFERENCE
MOUTH
COTTON
FOREIGN
SIGN
THREAT
ALTER
SHOW
AROUND
HALO
SCIENCE
BRITISH
ARRIVED
AKASHA
IRON
SHAKEN
TOUCH
BATTERY
CRESCENT
HAMMER
WIRE