This is part two of a three-part series on the research and scripting of the annual Guided Spirit Walks at Victoria Lawn Cemetery. Make sure to read part one of the series to learn more about the source material for this year’s walks.

If you’ve attended the spirit walk program at Victoria Lawn in the past, you’re probably familiar with the generalities of the process of putting the tours together each year. If you’re not, feel free to dive deeper and watch a virtual lecture about the spirit walk program.

The challenge, which I always enjoy, is simultaneously selecting historic persons to include on the tour whose burials are located on an enjoyable walking tour route that also fit into the theme of that year’s tour, and whose life story can appropriately carry a relevant historical narrative. For example, there are several judges buried at Victoria Lawn which would have made a good fit to the theme but are not from the era in which this year’s tours are set or aren’t buried close enough to others to be feasibly included.

If you missed the first post in this series, this year’s tours explore the crime and justice in the 1850s. Incorporating more sensitive stories of crime and trying to locate and match historical narratives to less famous individuals, both victims and criminals, was quite difficult. Folks like Police Chief Adam Montgomery, Town Clerk Charles Camp, Mayor Thomas Burns, and even Oliver Phelps weren’t difficult to work into the tour. They served in public office as magistrates or on the police board and were named in the source material as having dealt with some of the historical crime we hear about on the tour. Other narratives are carried by female performers as the wives of victims sharing the impact of the crime committed on their family and on their community, like Catherine Neill whose husband Richard was murdered, or Margaret McNamara, who owned a tavern with her husband John near Lock 2 and had to deal with frequent property damage from drunken sailors.

Despite the interesting yet tragic stories I did include on the tour this year, I couldn’t find any criminal from the source material that fit the criteria for inclusion, that was also buried in the cemetery, near the tour route, and whose life story we would be appropriately and sensitively be able to share, with one exception.

John Motely appeared several times in the St. Catharines Constitutional and in front of the police magistrate for habitual drunkenness and frequent disorderly behaviour. It is quite clear from the source material that John was suffering from alcoholism and substance abuse; that society looked upon him without compassion and as the butt of some joke; and that the justice system, set up for crime rather than mental health, was only capable of punishing him with incarceration, rather than helping him towards recovery. John’s story is a sad one and is woven through the tour this year, as it was woven through the source material of the period.

You’ll have to come on the tour to hear more, but in the meantime, here are some of the historical profiles to pique your interest.

Michael O’Meala, d. 1851
Portrayed by Raiden Hearn

We don’t know a lot about Michael O’Meala. He was a tailor and was found drowned in the canal one evening. It was assumed at first, since he was Irish, that he was drunk, but later discovered on examination of the body by the coroner that he had not been drunk, but no further investigation was conducted.

Drowning in the canal was a common cause of death in the 1850s.

Margaret McNamara, 1826-1901
Portrayed by Robyn Crosby

With her husband John McNamara (1825-1894), Margaret owned a tavern at Lock 2 on the old Welland Canal. In the source material, John and Margaret suffered several damaging melees after drunken sailors imbibed with much enthusiasm and broke windows, doors, and other property several times between 1855 and 1865.

In this scene, Margaret complains about the benefits of a prohibitory liquor law, which would put her out of business. Instead, she suggests harsher punishments and a complete closure of the Welland Canal, which brings these “drunken dolts daily” to her doorstep. Both blaming the canal for crime and advocating for tougher sentencing was not a unique opinion in the 19^th century.

John Motley, 1836-1878
Portrayed by Joe Lamothe

We don’t know a lot about John Motley other than his criminal record for drunk and disorderly conduct, and frequent rowdyism. He was often sentenced to 21 days jail, in some cases ordered to pay costs.

It was common for the paper to report on John with a mean and comical tone and usually quoted John’s excuse for his mischievousness: “it was the whiskey that made me do it!”

Throughout the tour John makes his appearances just as he appears throughout the newspapers. It’s a reminder of the cruelty he faced in the press and must have experienced in society. While he was clearly a troublemaker, his addiction to alcohol was exploited and mocked.

Catherine Neill, unknown
Portrayed by Kathie LeBlanc

We also don’t know a lot about Richard and Chatherine Neill, who lived on St. Paul Street nearby Flannery’s Tavern. Richard was murdered in 1855 during a drunken street fight. It was reported that after the coroner’s investigation, Catherine returned to her home in Ireland with her family.

Alcohol-fueled street fights were common, and the newspapers spent pages reporting on them and the investigations that followed. On more than one occasion, the chaotic scenes made it next to impossible for clarity across testimonies and many were acquitted, even for murder.

Eliza McClelland, 1831-1891
Portrayed by Rachelle Longtin

Wife of teacher Robert McClelland, who taught at St. Catharines District Grammar School (Grantham Academy/Robertson School).

Somehow, the entire schoolhouse was emptied of its newly purchased contents in 1855 and while the mystery was investigated by Police Constable Adam Montgomery, the crime was never solved. The newspaper inferred it might have been a prank, but the contents were never returned and no explanation offered.

Oliver Phelps, 1779-1851
Portrayed by Des Corran

Oliver Phelps was born in Connecticut and grew up in New York. Phelps became a significant contractor on the Erie Canal in the 1820s. He moved to present-day Merritton in 1824 to bid successfully for a contract to build thirty-four locks on the Welland Canal, in 1827 to tackle the difficulties at the Deep Cut, and in 1829 for the aqueduct over the Welland River. Alongside his successful milling operations, he was responsible for the organization of the First Presbyterian Church in 1831. He was a strong advocate for temperance. He was elected to the police board in 1846.

Adam Montgomery, 1810-1874
Portrayed by Ian Ashman

Adam Montgomery was the chief police constable in the 1840s and 1850s and reported to the new Board of Police of St. Catharines in beginning in 1845.

While chief constable, he worked diligently to grow the police force and applied for its proper funding. A sticking point for between him and the Board of Police (Town Council at the time) was compensation for extra services, including transporting criminals from St. Catharines to Niagara (Niagara-on-the-Lake) for the Quarterly Sessions and Assizes, before the county seat was moved to St. Catharines in 1862. Several constables quit over the issue since the higher courts were the responsibility of the Niagara District and later Lincoln County, and the town refused to pay, directing them to the District/County for reimbursement.

Nancy Rykert, 1834-1918
Portrayed by Brenda Schultz

Wife of prominent farmer, lawyer, and Member of Parliament John Charles Rykert, it’s quite clear from the source material that Nancy Rykert ran the family farm.

Several instances of theft from the farm – including Catherine Sparrow stealing fresh milk from his cows in his fields to sell for profit – seems to have been a local pastime in the 1850s.

Charles P. Camp, 1828-1902
Portrayed by Chris Butt

Charles Camp served as town clerk and treasurer in the 1850s and 1860s before immigrating to Buffalo in 1868 but remained engaged in the community and was buried at Victoria Lawn Cemetery in 1902. Camp as also a School Board Trustee and was involved in establishing Central School, a segregated school.

Very unfortunately, Camp held quite racist views about the Freedom Seekers, the itinerant Irish population, and seemingly anyone who caused him any bother whatsoever. The source material reveals a diligent administrator who did not suffer any fools.

Thomas Burns, 1813-1881
Portrayed by Dan McKnight

Thomas Burns came to St. Catharines in 1830 to study law, beginning as a clerk in the law office of E.C. Campbell. In 1841, he was appointed clerk to the First Division Court for Niagara. He quickly established himself as a significant lawyer. Burns was elected to the Board of Police in 1848 and 1849 and later served as Mayor in the 1860s and continued in the criminal courts in the 1870s.

His court records, including sentencing, are in the Museum’s archives and make up most of this scene which quickly demonstrates the gross imbalance of crime-to-sentence ratio that I wrote about in my previous post focusing on the source material.

There’s more to come in my next blog post about a few other characters that help tie it altogether, along with further reflection on this year’s very meaningful themes.

In the meantime, make sure to get your tickets for this annual production as they are selling quite quickly. For all the information and tickets, please visit our events calendar.

Adrian Petry is a public historian and Visitor Services Coordinator at the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre, and has researched, written, directed this year’s walks (along with many others).