Calling all history buffs and those who are excited by the paranormal – there is an opportunity to participate in a candlelight tour of the oldest house in Winnipeg. Seven Oaks House Museum is giving people the chance to explore the grounds where John and Mary Inkster built their lives in the mid-1800s, all while night sets over the city. “I think you can imagine with any site that’s as old as this one, it has this vast history that has permeated the site, the land itself, and the walls of the home,” said Tracey Turner, the curator and manager of Seven Oaks House Museum. “The paranormal history of Seven Oaks House has been something that’s been talked about and shared via stories and experienced for, I believe decades, if not longer.” The history of the Inkster property The Inkster family was an influential Scottish Métis family that was part of the Red River settlement, Turner said. Mary was originally from Oxford House in northern Manitoba, while John was born in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The couple got married in 1826 and built their first home on the land in 1831 – a small log farmhouse. The farmhouse eventually was converted into a store after the family moved into the nearby Seven Oaks House – a Georgian style mansion – that was built between 1851 and 1853. Turner said the Inksters were quite a powerful family – they operated a windmill on their land and John eventually became the president of the steam mill company. “They were very prominent in the Red River settlement. If you understand how York Factory was functioning, that was the port through which everything was arriving from overseas – all of the trade goods, all of your mail, etc. Their first house later became a store…it was the first store in Kildonan and it was providing access to trade goods and mail, postal services, etc. So economically, a very important, powerful family.” ‘Pretty good reasons for paranormal stories’ Matthew Komus, the author of Haunted Winnipeg and Haunted Manitoba, is running the tours at Seven Oaks House. He said there are so many stories about the home and surrounding area that can be told just because of how long it has existed in the province. “We know at least 12 people have died in the house,” said Komus. “It’s not like there was any murders or anything like that, it’s just that was the reality of an old house when people got sick. When people were older, they stayed at home, so it’s far more likely to pass away at home. And if an accident did happen, again, you don’t have like the emergency services that you can call today.” Even before the Inkster’s took over the property, the Battle of Seven Oaks happened not far from where the family eventually built their home, Komus said. He notes it was the largest armed battle in the province’s history, with 21 people losing their lives in the fight. “So right there, some pretty good reasons for paranormal stories.” While these tours do focus on the haunted aspect of the area, Komus said there is something for everyone. For those who are a bit more skeptical about ghost stories, he notes the history of the area still pulls people in and they learn aspects of the neighbourhood and city that they didn’t previously know. Those who prefer hearing about what goes bump in the night, the tour can enthrall those visitors in a way that is different than visiting during the day. “The shadows are different, the lightings different. Like when you’re inside the house, it’s all with candlelight. So it’s a very different effect than a typical visit to the museum or park would be.” ‘History goes hand in hand with hauntings’ Kelly Smith and Ashley Barnes know firsthand some of the haunting experiences that can happen at Seven Oaks House. The pair are the co-owners of the Winnipeg Paranormal Group – an organization that performs public and private paranormal investigations. “We do have events where we show people our equipment and they get to use it. We show them how to use it and we go attend a place that’s known to be haunted,” said Smith. “Our main thing when we started out…is still private investigations. If you’ve ever watched Ghost Hunters, that’s more like what we do…we go into homes, we interview the people and we see if it warrants an investigation. We’re trying to find concrete evidence and we’re also trying to give them peace of mind so that they can sleep at night in their home.” Smith and Barnes said Seven Oaks House holds a special place in their hearts, as it was the location of their first public investigation. They have learned so much about the house during each investigation they have carried out. “We always say history goes hand in hand with hauntings. You can’t have one without the other,” said Barnes. “I’ve had my shirt pulled on by what I can only assume is a little child, just based off of where I was pulled. I’ve experienced headaches in Mary’s room upstairs. We have a picture of what looks like an owl in the kitchen, but it’s see-through, so you know, it’s obviously not really there.” ‘Scandals and crime and murder’ While Seven Oaks House is a focal point in Winnipeg for its paranormal atmosphere, Komus said the entire city and province of Manitoba offer so many opportunities to explore the otherworldly compared to other areas around Canada. The reason for this is twofold, according to Komus – change happened quickly, going from only Indigenous people calling this part of the country home to settlers coming in and morphing Winnipeg into a major hub. “Winnipeg was the gateway to the west,” he said. “It goes from an area with a few fur trading forts to the third largest city in Canada in a very short amount of time. So that led to thousands of people coming and many of those people got sometimes caught up in scandals and crime and murder.” The other reason is many of the historic buildings that built Winnipeg up so quickly are still standing and in use, giving the paranormal world a place to thrive. “You never really hear the haunted parking lot type of thing,” Komus joked. “I think that’s also what sets Winnipeg apart is because we have all these great heritage buildings, not that other cities don’t have some, but the sheer scale that we have, I think that really plays into it.” Komus enjoys the history and the hauntings of some of the theatres in Winnipeg, such as the Pantages Theatre, Burton Cummings Theatre, and the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Smith said one of her favourite locations in Winnipeg is the Fort Garry Hotel. “We’ve definitely found activity there. We’ve both slept in room 202 on a couple of occasions,” said Smith. Outside of the city, Barnes enjoys exploring the Fort la Reine Museum on the outskirts of Portage la Prairie and the Daly House Museum in Brandon. “It’s just this old, beautiful Victorian home that they’ve turned into a museum and it’s just gorgeous inside. There’s so much history and lots of activity,” said Barnes. There are three days left for the tour of Seven Oaks House, with two time slots for each of those days. The museum said tickets are selling out fast with only a few more spots left up for grabs. If this is the kind of activity that peaks your interest, Turner is encouraging people to give it a try and learn about a part of Winnipeg in a unique, exciting way. “It allows you to explore a different aspect of history. The idea that history isn’t passive, that history is something that is dynamic, is ever present,” said Turner.
