Hopkins Tomb - Port Colborne, Ontario - Weird Story Locations on Waymarking.com

Sam Hopkins was born in Cork, Ireland December 17th, 1822. Mr. Samuel Hopkins, the man, had a deep interest in making money. He came to Toronto, Canada in the year of 1831 with his folks that immigrated into Canada. When Sam Hopkins reached the age of 16 he signed up to join the army and was assigned to a gunboat (Niagara) and later was assigned to the man of war mines that were located on the Grand River in Port Maitland. It was during this time that Hopkins dreamt of wealth and riches that could be made by various ways in the business world. While stationed in Port Maitland, Ontario he met his first love, Joanne Jones, and then they got married. Two years had passed after the marriage when they had their first born, a son, that they named "Fredrick". About a year later they adopted a girl named "Ida".

When "Gold Fever" broke out in California, Sam Hopkins was overwhelmed by the idea of getting rich fast. He'd met some men that were planning a trip to where the gold rush was taking place in California. He left his family in Dunnville, Ontario in the year of 1849 to seek his claim with the other men and made the trip by foot. It took six months to reach California. Once he arrived at the gold mines he managed to work in the mines for only a short time. Bad luck had fallen upon his shoulders for he became very sick and had to abandon the idea of staking his claim.

He then travelled to San Francisco where he worked as a dockhand and then on a steamboat and traveled to New York. By the year 1851 Mr. Hopkins and his family pulled up stakes from Dunnville and moved to Port Colbourne, Ontario. Once they had settled in Mr. Hopkins opened up a tug boat business and made a lot of money. He also acquired through various business ventures into such places as the McNeal Hotel, The Imperial Bank on Main Street where he had various bank stocks and share holdings. He also had a building that was called the "Hopkins Block" later to be known as Lewis Textiles. After a few years he owned several residential wooded lots. There was some doubt if Sam Hopkins came by some of the holdings he had honestly or through dubious business practices.

No matter what the view by those wondering how he made his money, he was a very successful man in business.He also got into politics and became reeve of the village. He enjoyed the social parties that would come about in the town. He was also the type of person to tell a joke or pull a prank. After the death of his first wife Joanne, he met another women by the name of Catherine Thomas. However this marriage was short lived as she took him for a lot of money through the courts after leaving him. After suffering a long time illness Sam Hopkins, on October 12th 1899, made his journey to the great beyond. Or Did He?

Samuel Hopkins was laid to rest at Oakland Cemetery located just west of Port Colbourne, Ontario along lakeshore Road.
There is something very odd about the documents of who is inside the tomb. Sam and his son's names are conspicuously missing from the old records that are kept at Oakland Cemetery Office. It is very ironic that a man that was so affluent and well known in Port Colbourne was not acknowledged after death.
There are many reported ghostly stories from Hopkins Tomb. As well, the tomb is said to hold a curse for anyone that approaches. It has had a long history from sightings of ghosts as well as sounds that seem to come from inside. Are all these amazing stories of Hopkins Tomb just mere fabrication of overactive young minds or is there any truth to these tales told?

Type: Local Legend or Lore Referenced in (list books, websites and other media): http://www.hamiltonparanormal.com/hopkins1.html Additional Coordinates: Not Listed Website Reference: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   11/25/2011 outsiders2 visited it