Tag: poltergeists


There is a legend told at Rideau Ferry of murder most foul, of travelers disappearing, of human bones found. In the early 1800s, a Mr. Oliver set up a ferry business at today’s Rideau Ferry. His ferry, a rough hewn raft, linked roads leading from Brockville and Perth. Mr. Oliver had one unusual quirk. He would refuse to take travelers across to the far side after dark, preferring to put them up in his house overnight and send them on their way at first light in the morning.  His neighbors seldom saw the travelers in the morning. When asked about them, Mr. Oliver would simply say “They went on their way at first light. You must have been asleep”. One strange thing kept happening though. Many of the travelers who had stayed overnight at Oliver’s house did not arrive at their destination… victims perhaps, the neighbors thought, of murderous highway robbers.  Years later, long after Mr. Oliver has passed away, a bridge was to be constructed to replace the ferry service. When the outbuildings on the Oliver property were dismantled to make way for the bridge, human bones were found under the floors and in the walls. The travelers had never left.