Haunted Ontario 3-Book Bundle. Terry Boyle
had been turned into a restaurant, and the log cabin across the street. They worked day and night to save the estate from ruin. Their earnest efforts were, eventually, fruitless and they, too, had their misfortunes and left. The MacDonald-Rosses had become part of the failed dream, part of the mystery and intrigue. To those who dream, this mansion is a castle.
Sir William Mackenzie, Canada’s railway baron, dreamed the first dream. The story began with John Mackenzie, born in 1810, in Ross-shire, Scotland. In 1832, John and his wife left Scotland for Canada where they landed first in Montreal, and then Toronto. In late 1836 they were assigned two lots in Eldon Township, Victoria County, and the family settled there.
According to parish records, William Mackenzie was born in a log cabin on October 17, 1849, although he later claimed his date of birth to be October 30. His mother, Mary, died when he was three and William went to live with his mother’s sister, Catherine. He completed his education at grammar school in Lindsay.
In 1868 he taught for a year in Bolsover and then moved to Kirkfield. At the age of 21 he began a new career with his brother Alex and his classmates, John and Angus McDonald. They opened the Shoofly Store, so-called because William was constantly shooing flies away. This young group of men supplied timber for bridges and for wooden roads, as the northern part of Victoria County and the district of Muskoka became populated.
In the 1870s William and his brothers operated a sawmill, a sash and door factory, a grist mill, and a small furniture company in Kirkfield. Their entire operation covered all parts of the industry from raw materials to finished product. They also had an exclusive license to cut timber in areas prohibited to others — no competitors!
The Mackenzie Inn as it appears today.
In 1872 William married a woman of rare beauty and quiet dignity; she was a local Catholic girl, Margaret Merry. They had a private ceremony in Lindsay without benefit of family; two strangers witnessed their vows. He was a Presbyterian and their families did not approve of the union. The Mackenzies had a long and happy marriage and raised nine children.
Between 1874 and 1876 William and Alex Mackenzie constructed bridges for the Victoria Railway, as well as the station and engine house in Kinmount, north of Lindsay. They were beginning to prosper financially.
William Mackenzie set out for Winnipeg in 1882 to set up a branch of the Mackenzie Brothers. Two years later he met his future partner, Donald Mann. These were railroad boom times. One of Mackenzie’s major projects was the construction of the Mountain Creek Bridge, one of the largest wooden structures ever built over a gorge in Western Canada.
After 1886 he and his associates were granted major construction contracts on numerous railways and by 1895 he was one of Canada’s leading railway barons and financiers.
His rise in economic stature helped to inspire his dream home. In 1888 William Mackenzie started construction of the splendid three-storey mansion that graces the main street of Kirkfield today. This was an extravagant structure measuring 1,400 square metres (13,000 square feet) with 40 rooms, two bathrooms and nine fireplaces. The cost was $18,000. Upon entering this home, one found oneself in a large reception area and from there one could be escorted to the parlour for tea and conversation, the dining room for a meal, or perhaps to the kitchen. An oak staircase found its way to the second floor and servants were housed on the third floor.
Some folks say that a tunnel under the building led underground across the street to the home of Margaret’s sister, Mrs. Mitchell. At any rate, Margaret Mackenzie was in her glory. She had come from a poor family in the district and now found herself with 13 servants to attend to her needs and whims. Money and fame, the townsfolk speculated, had gone to her head. People could see that she had become very ambitious. In 1993 Jennie Harrigan Manen, at the age of 97, recalled Margaret Mackenzie in her own memoirs, “She bought most of the farms adjoining Kirkfield. Each farm had a man working it. This was all on a grand scale, wages were good, the house free, there was a dairy farm and a racing stable. A golf course was set out on the sandy hills across from the cemetery. The two hotels were torn down and a large edifice called the Kirkfield Inn was built. Of course, the locals were not exactly welcome there, nor would they feel at home in such elegant surroundings.”
In 1912 Margaret Mackenzie had, indeed, torn down the two original hotels in town and perhaps one of the reasons the locals didn’t feel welcome was because she had imposed a ban on alcohol being served in any public building in the village of Kirkfield. Her Kirkfield Inn, of course, did not sell alcohol. One can imagine the resentment felt by some residents. The locals were forced, for “refreshment,” to ride to Bolsover to visit a female bootlegger by the name of Biddy Young. Ms. Young was not too fond of the Mackenzies and was heard to say on the village streets of Kirkfield that the Mackenzies had forgotten their humble beginnings. She felt she was blessed with second sight and she “saw” that one day the Mackenzie family would experience doom and gloom. Unfortunately for William and Margaret, time has proven her to be right.
Nevertheless, the Mackenzie’s fortunes flourished and they continued to live luxuriously. They purchased property on Balsam Lake, built a massive summer home and docked a yacht on the lake. Their impressive mansion in Toronto was called Benvenuto. Rumours about other investments abounded and the villagers, perhaps envious of their prosperity, felt that some investments might be unsavoury. None of this has been substantiated, however.
The locals in Kirkfield continued to feel the effects of Margaret’s strong influence. She not only imported trees and flowers from all over the world for her house, but also planted 600 maple trees along the streets of Kirkfield. To insure that these saplings did not fall prey to “inconsiderations,” she had the town officials impose a twenty-dollar fine for anyone caught tying a horse to a maple tree. She was sensitive in the extreme about the appearance of Kirkfield, and, so it seemed to the residents, oblivious to the feelings of others. If a home did not meet her standards for respectability, it was not unusual for a crew of men to arrive one day to paint the house at her request and expense, without the homeowner’s permission!
In 1895 William and Donald Mann organized and built the Canadian Northern Railway, which later became a transcontinental system. At that time he was said to be the second-richest man in all of Canada.
William continued to build his empire. He was a partner in the Toronto Street Railway and an early investor with Sir Henry Pellatt (famous for Casa Loma in Toronto) in hydro-electric power. He owned a fleet of ocean-going ships and was the founder of a Brazilian power and light company that eventually emerged as Brascan and he was its first chairperson.
William Mackenzie and Donald Mann were knighted by King George V in 1911.
In 1914 Sir William and family were in England. It was Tuesday, August 4, 1914, when they heard the news that the German army had crossed into Belgium. Britain and her empire were now at war. William was heard to say “I’m finished.” In a short time his transcontinental railway empire and other business enterprises faced serious financial crisis as a result of world events.
Sir William saw his empire crumble during World War I. And on June 14, 1917, Prime Minister Borden informed him that his railway would have to be nationalized. The government could no longer financially assist his railway dreams. He was, on all accounts, exhausted, and Lady Mackenzie was gravely ill with cancer. She had just undergone surgery and he had kept a ten-day vigil at her bedside. When he heard the news from the Prime Minister he lowered his head and wept.
The Mackenzie family, date unknown.
On November 29, 1917, Lady Mackenzie died at Benvenuto. Her body was taken by train to Gamebridge, where two horses and a light wagon took her body on to a burial place in the Kirkfield Cemetery.
Sir William Mackenzie died five years later on December 5, 1923. He, too, was taken by train and horse and wagon to be buried beside his beloved wife.
It took years for the estate to be settled. Eventually, Sir William’s heirs inherited about $800,000 — a