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| Excerpt about Harbour Main-Chapel Cove-Lakeview from the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, Volume 2. |
Just before the holidays we had a visit to our office from Patrick Whelen of Chapel's Cove. He was interested in dropping off two stories about the community. The first story is a true ghost story he experienced as a boy. Here is his written stories in his words:
"My friend Harold and I were walking home from Avondale one summer's night circa 1960. The time was approximately midnight. The walk home would take us about an hour to complete after accompanying our girlfriends home. The night was very bright with a full moon shining above Hickey's Mountain on the calm water of Second Pond. From the edge of the road to the water was about ten or twelve meters. There were low bushes growing in the pond and along the side with grass closest to the road. So there were no big obstructions.
I said to my friend, "Look do you see that?"
We stopped, and shouted, "Hey, hey!" at the man who kept moving and did not respond.
He was moving outside the bushes which were growing in the water. This pond has a deep muddy bottom. The silhouette showed that he had something resting on his shoulder and he was supporting the object in his hands. It looked like a rifle. His cap had the shape of a salt and pepper cap. Along the side of the road was crushed stone. We both picked up some and threw at the figure. Then we ran for about fifty feet or so before looking back. There was no one there. Also, when the person was moving outside the bushes, the water was not disturbed. The area where this event occurred was Lakeview. We were on our way home to Chapel's Cove."
Have you ever encountered a ghost near Lakeview? Let us know your experiences!
The next story is about the old cemetery in the community and how it was demolished. Below are the words Patrick wrote about his memories of the site:
"The old cemetery in Chapel’s Cove is located in the centre of the community. No burials took place after about 1900. A new cemetery was created on Chapel’s Cove ridge.
The old cemetery had small and very large aspen trees. The very large trees numbering about eight which lined the side of the road. In 1958 a hurricane topped the large trees across the road in front of the new school which we attended and watched the action. Some of the clearing crew used a large two man cross cut saw to junk up the large trees. Those trees were about 60 ft. high and approx. 30 in. diameter. Unfortunately, no one recorded the rings for age.
In 1959/60 Father Howard announced at Mass that the old Parish Hall would be torn down and a new one built. This old building served the Chapel's Cove residents as a church, school, and an entertainment hall. The location of the new hall was not yet to be decided. One Chapel’s Cove resident told Father Howard that he would give him the land to build a new hall.
Anyway one morning at Mass in Harbour Main Father Howard announced that he had permission from the bishop to build the new hall on the old cemetery approx. on the footprint of the old hall. Now the wheels are in motion the trees were all cleared and the old bldg was torn down by the local residents.
Next came the unbelievable, the excavation order to bulldoze the site, to a level property was indicated by Father Howard. Although the people of Chapel’s Cove were talking amongst themselves about this terrible atrocity, only one person, Dick Fewer, spoke openly about it. Since the R.C. Priest was the sole ruler of the community no one dared to question his motives.
A bulldozer from Holyrood was offloaded at the cemetery and began excavating. My school friends would look in awe as the bulldozer started to dig its blade into the ground and push whatever was in its path. He started to dig form Phil Whelan's property towards the river. This area was the location where Phil Whelan's two infant brothers were buried. Further over towards Murphy's fence were the remains of Dick Fewers' family. The land by Whelan's property was higher than the area towards the river, therefore he would cut off the high and fill in the low. As he was digging deeper we could see the skeleton remains and wooden boards from the coffins being pushed ahead of the dozer. The remains which were not pushed in front were crushed by the dozer going front and bak over the land. When any bones became visible we would collect and store them in a wooden container located near the site. During this excavation a dog was seen carrying a human bone in his mouth from the cemetery.
Now that the site has been levelled off, the graves at the lower area of the cemetery are there to this present day which is October 2024. This cemetery had only two white headstones and one wooden cross surrounded by a white pailing fence. All the remains are buried inside the main entrance gate at St. Peter and Paul cemetery, Chapel's Cove.
Unfortunately this is a sad but true story that the orders from one person could eradicate the first cemetery in Chapel's Cove."
Are there other older cemeteries that have been demolished? Let us know if you have one in your community!
I said to my friend, "Look do you see that?"
We stopped, and shouted, "Hey, hey!" at the man who kept moving and did not respond.
He was moving outside the bushes which were growing in the water. This pond has a deep muddy bottom. The silhouette showed that he had something resting on his shoulder and he was supporting the object in his hands. It looked like a rifle. His cap had the shape of a salt and pepper cap. Along the side of the road was crushed stone. We both picked up some and threw at the figure. Then we ran for about fifty feet or so before looking back. There was no one there. Also, when the person was moving outside the bushes, the water was not disturbed. The area where this event occurred was Lakeview. We were on our way home to Chapel's Cove."
Have you ever encountered a ghost near Lakeview? Let us know your experiences!
The next story is about the old cemetery in the community and how it was demolished. Below are the words Patrick wrote about his memories of the site:
"The old cemetery in Chapel’s Cove is located in the centre of the community. No burials took place after about 1900. A new cemetery was created on Chapel’s Cove ridge.
The old cemetery had small and very large aspen trees. The very large trees numbering about eight which lined the side of the road. In 1958 a hurricane topped the large trees across the road in front of the new school which we attended and watched the action. Some of the clearing crew used a large two man cross cut saw to junk up the large trees. Those trees were about 60 ft. high and approx. 30 in. diameter. Unfortunately, no one recorded the rings for age.
In 1959/60 Father Howard announced at Mass that the old Parish Hall would be torn down and a new one built. This old building served the Chapel's Cove residents as a church, school, and an entertainment hall. The location of the new hall was not yet to be decided. One Chapel’s Cove resident told Father Howard that he would give him the land to build a new hall.
Anyway one morning at Mass in Harbour Main Father Howard announced that he had permission from the bishop to build the new hall on the old cemetery approx. on the footprint of the old hall. Now the wheels are in motion the trees were all cleared and the old bldg was torn down by the local residents.
Next came the unbelievable, the excavation order to bulldoze the site, to a level property was indicated by Father Howard. Although the people of Chapel’s Cove were talking amongst themselves about this terrible atrocity, only one person, Dick Fewer, spoke openly about it. Since the R.C. Priest was the sole ruler of the community no one dared to question his motives.
A bulldozer from Holyrood was offloaded at the cemetery and began excavating. My school friends would look in awe as the bulldozer started to dig its blade into the ground and push whatever was in its path. He started to dig form Phil Whelan's property towards the river. This area was the location where Phil Whelan's two infant brothers were buried. Further over towards Murphy's fence were the remains of Dick Fewers' family. The land by Whelan's property was higher than the area towards the river, therefore he would cut off the high and fill in the low. As he was digging deeper we could see the skeleton remains and wooden boards from the coffins being pushed ahead of the dozer. The remains which were not pushed in front were crushed by the dozer going front and bak over the land. When any bones became visible we would collect and store them in a wooden container located near the site. During this excavation a dog was seen carrying a human bone in his mouth from the cemetery.
Now that the site has been levelled off, the graves at the lower area of the cemetery are there to this present day which is October 2024. This cemetery had only two white headstones and one wooden cross surrounded by a white pailing fence. All the remains are buried inside the main entrance gate at St. Peter and Paul cemetery, Chapel's Cove.
Unfortunately this is a sad but true story that the orders from one person could eradicate the first cemetery in Chapel's Cove."
Are there other older cemeteries that have been demolished? Let us know if you have one in your community!
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In the January 2025 edition of the Heritage Update:
