Hopkins' Tomb

Samuel Hopkins was originally born in Ireland, and came to Toronto with his family in 1831, where he signed up for the military at the age of 16. It was while he was stationed at Port Maitland Ontario that he met and married his first love, Joanne Jones. When Gold Fever broke out in California Sam left his family to strike it rich, and set out to the gold fields on foot. It took him six months to get there, whereupon he was to fall victim to bad luck by becoming too ill to work. By 1851, he had made his way back to Dunnville, and moved his family to Port Colborne, where he both opened, and purchased the businesses that were to make his fortune. It was during this time that his first wife passed on, and he met his second wife, Catharine Thomas, who divorced him, and came away with a sizable part of his fortune. It was shortly after this that Samuel became ill, and passed on.

Some versions of the story have it that his last wishes were not carried out, either because of out and out greed, or a careless lawyer who drew up the will. One persistent story goes that anyone who circles the tomb three times will be cursed and suffer a tragic end soon after, as will anyone who defiles the resting place, as three young men in the early 1960's found out the hard way. Personally, I've been told that circling the tomb three times will bring you good luck, so who knows? Over the years, old Mr. Hopkins has been sighted walking around the cemetery, and beyond, sometimes on his own, other times with his faithful dog, who also has been known to put in appearances sitting on the steps of the tomb, guarding it from vandals, and chasing them away when needed. There have also been reports of strange noises coming from within the tomb itself, even though it has been sealed for many years.