One of our readers sent in the following report...

"At the Backus Mill Conservation Area near Port Rowan there is a large brick house that once belonged to the Backus Family. We had heard that it was supposed to be haunted but show me a century or older house that isn't supposed to be haunted.

While attending a War of 1812 re-enactment at the site my wife and my then 3 year old son along with a friend of my wife went in to the house to look at the artifacts and such. When they entered the kitchen my son pointed to a corner of the room and said "There's the boogey man." There was no one else in the kitchen area and my wife said it was quite eerie.

My son had not heard any of the talk regarding the house being haunted. So, was he just a little joker, did he say it because he was in an old house and he figured it fit the situation or are innocents more perceptive of paranormal activity?

Anyway, I am not here to judge just to relate an incident. Thank you."

We are planning on doing some more work within the site and, thanks to a previous visit, have had a chance to talk with some of the people involved with the site as well as other witnesses at the house.

Still, we would appreciate any information or data anyone can share as well about the house or on any part of the Backus site in general. If you can help us out, please e-mail us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and let us know. Your security and confidentiality are our primary concern and we will maintain your anonymity if requested.

Update October 2006: One of our readers writes:

I live in this area. I personally have never been inside the house, but some of my friends have worked at Backus Mill during the summer. The house does give off an eerie feel.

I asked my friends if they ever came across any ghosts in the house, and every one of them, (that had worked there), had experienced something happen around them at one point or another. Some people had just heard doors opening and closing for no reason, or things move around in the house.

My one friend told me that there are certain rooms in the house where these things mainly happen. The only one that stuck in my head was the basement, where I think only staff can go. Supposedly things move around non-stop down there and there's always weird noises.

One friend was moving a few things around down there, and actually saw a ghost of a man/boy, and it scared him so much he just ran out of there, and will never go back in the house. As well other people have seen a ghost of a man or boy while down there. I don't know for sure if its a young man or what, all I know is it's a male.

When I read the page on this on the site, it brought back this memory of my asking about the house. I don't know how much is true but that's what I have been told. And the fact that some little boy saw a "man" and my friends say the ghost was a male, links a little too well to be a false story.

Our thanks to our reader for the above information and the use of their photo.

2009 Backus Mill Investigation.

This investigation took place on June 26th, 27, and 28th 2009. Present were John M. Michelle M. Matthew M., Robin Bellamy, Rob S., Doug B and John David. We found Backus Mill and the investigation of the Backhouse Homestead to be one of the most compelling and interesting investigations ever! The reception of our group was outstanding and we were made to feel very welcome by  staff.

The following includes some eyewitness testimony, and experiences while on-site.
 
1.  There are several eye-witness accounts from staffers, although a handful were asked to be kept completely confidential.
 
2.  One of the custodians mentioned how a creature was seen at campsites 44-45-46 they chased it, but it kept moving away. In his description it had yellow eyes.
 
3. There was also a report to our sister website PSICAN that a visitor saw a gargoyle at the cemetery.
 
4.  A female custodian mentioned how they tried to move a table into another room at the homestead. All of a sudden there was a bad smell described as "the smell of death" another female staffer went into a trance like or catatonic state. She knew what was going on but could not move or speak. The other person she was with dragged her out of the house. She recovered and then they both went back in and put the table back to its original position as they felt this might have caused the strange happenings. Perhaps the family wishes to keep the parlor room the way it is?

 5. One of the staff members was attempting to light candles on the mantle piece of the homestead this occurred around Christmas time and as they were preparing for the season she bent over a rocking chair to reach the mantle and she felt as if she were being pushed. She lost her balanced and fell into the rocking chair damaging it.

 6. In the case of myself for the two-week period before the investigation conversations were heard around my house my wife complained that she could hear people talking in other parts of the house. She also mentioned that she periodically heard someone knocking at the back door I personally heard a conversation in the back bedroom of the house I thought the TV was on or the clock radio however when I went to investigate they were both off. My daughter was also experiencing conversations between two men in the same room as mentioned. My daughter also experienced while sitting in the living room with a friend who also experienced it was someone knocking on the back door of the house six or seven times in one night. Given the line of work I do I didn't pay much attention to this until during the actual investigation Rob experienced hearing the front door being knocked on but no one was there and no sound was heard on tape. The night of our return my wife, and I both experienced someone knocking on the back door and no one was there. Something I found odd was on the Saturday of the investigation a psychic had visited the homestead and through Amanda gave us the message that they were upset and they did not like our equipment. I found this odd because they hadn't even seen our equipment. My equipment is very unique so how did they know we had any? Unless of course they had already seen it at our house. Since the investigation my family has experienced no paranormal activity.

7.    On the way to the investigation Rob our other investigator saw a person that looked shabbily dressed in old clothes walking on the left shoulder of the 401 He was afraid that the old man wouldn't get hurt so he pulled out his cell phone to dial 911 but when he looked back the man was gone. I again didn't give much attention to the report until I took into account my own experiences and the eyewitness testimony of the staff.

9.  A custodian mentioned that while she was in the homestead she was setting the alarm to leave. She then heard someone come down the stairs and exit the door She followed and saw two men dressed like “Quakers”.  Thought they were visitors still in the house. She asked them why they did not lock the door as they were leaving. They both looked at her with a puzzled look and said “They never lock the door “ and they walked away.
 
10.  During the investigation a staffer walked upstairs. When we got to the top the bathroom door swung open which mad a spooky creaking sound and the staffer said that she might not have latched the door properly and upon further inspection by myself. The door was unleveled and opened by itself when not latched. Debunked
 
11.  During the mill investigation an employee, myself, Michelle and another staffer were talking when we heard one of the mill doors open no one was there at the time the employee mentioned that he was sure he had latched it closed and then re-latched the door and tried to open it but it would not open on its accord. No explanation
 
12.  During the investigation on Sunday One of our investigators (Robin Bellamy) was in the front room with myself and a staffer She noticed that a tapestry was hiding a connecting door to the “winter Kitchen” Robin mentioned that she would like to open that door and see where it leads. The staffer explained it to Robin and offered to take us into the winter kitchen by the other door if we would like but she said that there was really nothing in there. We went around the entrance from the hall and the staff member opened the door and went in. I however got the most overwhelming feeling to not go in there John David was in front of me I held his shoulders tightly and said don’t go in. I then turned to Robin and said are you feeling what I am feeling?  She said “yes” and we did not enter. Upon play back of the audio evidence we received an EVP during the time when Robin was in the front door asking where the door lead to which confirms to us our feeling towards the winter kitchen. There is an EVP that states “No.” but it is difficult to hear without special equipment.
 
13.  When we first entered the home on the Saturday the older lady who works at the restaurant said she had some connections to the family and the house. She said that the spirits that were there were not comfortable with us. Now moving on to Sunday two staff members, Rob and I were talking in the back Summer kitchen of the house John David was also present while I was talking to the staffers John David was talking but I was not paying attention to what he was saying. After reviewing the tapes I listened to what he was saying he said, “They were not comfortable noooooooo”. It occurred to me after that he used the same words as said before by the staffer on the Saturday. When questioned he said that he heard it on his walkie-talkies. He also said that heard a baby crying from the direction of a toy pram that was in the corner.

14. In further conversation with a staff member after the investigation he mentioned that paranormal activity increased after we left and that an eight year old boy who belongs to one of the directors was struck on the head or back.

 
15.  During a conversation between a staff member and Rob the staffer mentions a cane that is located in an umbrella holder at the front door when people try to move it always moves back to its original position.

Please see next page for EVP collection

These are a collection of EVP captured during our three day investigation in 2009. Please note they are presented here for your interest only and we do not claim with 100% certainty to know their exact origin. We allow you the listener to make up your own mind on what is being presented.

You may have difficulty understanding the evps it depends on the computer or playback device you are using. I have created a file stating what we think it was saying however try to decipher yourself first to see how close you can get, Some evps were slowed down to better understand them. In my investigations I have discovered that they can talk very quickly.


1.  The first one that was collected was during a morning walk to the cemetery present were a staff member, Matthew, Rob, and myself. It sounds as if it is in a different language we are postulating that is a mixture of French and Native American (Six Nations). There were no children near us at the time.

EVP 1 Sounds like "Che Che Che"

 
2.  This next one is in English. Rob our investigator was standing in front of my Parabolic Microphone which was being used in the abandon and retrieve mode he was asking for anyone to speak or pose for pictures. You will notice that the evp relates to the history of the house and one person. This evp was gathered in the Mill.

EVP 2 Sounds like "Damn, No, Sarah"

 
3.  This next evp is a fine example of place memory. The event probably illustrates a time when there was no indoor plumbing in the house and shows the normality of paranormal activity as it relates to everyday living.

EVP 3a  and  EVP 3b Sounds like "In the jug"

 
4. This evp is quite amazing as it involves two-way communication, which is very rare. Rob is in the front parlor of the house. He was alone and snapping pictures at the time We had been warned by a staff member that the spirits were very upset and they were gathered in the front parlor Rob was asking for the ghosts to smile and pose for pictures while explaining his equipment to them. There were several responses to him, which again is very rare.  It seems that they were ok with us being there.

EVP 4 Parlour Room Conversations
 
 
5. This first evp was slowed down a little too much but it occurs when Rob and a staffer are talking about the cane that moves please note how this also relates to moving things in the house. The second evp occurs again while they were talking about the cane but something thought that they wouldn’t be noticed.

EVP 5a  Sounds like "messy parlour room"  and  EVP 5b Sounds like "they won't look at me"

6. In this evp you can hear Rob our investigator explaining that we were done for the day and that we would be returning on the Sunday. Listen closely near the end.

EVP 6a  and  EVP 6b Sounds like "Are you coming back?'

7.  Not sure what it says if it is familiar please let me know.

EVP 7 Sounds like "nobody is looking"

 
8. Originally we told several times to get out both in the house and the Mill but after a while they did warm to us a little bit.

EVP 8 Sounds like "get out"

9. This is the first time that Rob was told to get out in the Parlor room after that they were ok with us.

EVP 9 Sounds like "get out"
 
10.   The boy who was with us at this point seemed to be quite sensitive himself you can here him saying NO but there were two other no's one before and one after in 10 B you will here him say he can hear laughter and baby crying there were two other investigators with him. They did not hear anything and in fact dismissed what he had said he heard listen closely to the beginning and the end of the evp.

EVP 10a Sounds like "no evp"   and  EVP 10b Sounds like "baby"

 
11.  Sometimes you can get stuff completely unrelated, this sounds like a Slavic accent and was captured during a conversation

EVP 11 Sounds like "No, he is away"

12.  This evp was captured just after Rob said goodbye for the last time at the homestead apparently they were very curious as to what we were going to do with the information.

EVP 12 Sounds like "who is this thing for"

 
On a personal note I can tell you that the evps are unique. Backus Mill is truly a historic and lovely place and should be left there for all to enjoy and if there are members of the family still there it would be a shame to take away the place they loved for so many years. I feel that if you dealt with them as any living people you would find that they would probably become more accepting of you.

Questions and comments may be sent directly to John Mizzi (lead investigator) at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it