Sara Ann and Fort George, Part ll

In Part 1 of this post a brief description of one battle that occurred during the War of 1812 and the hauntings it caused are shared.

View of Fort George from Old
Fort Niagara on the American side
of the river.

Fort George is located near the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario, Canada. It was destroyed by the Americans during a battle in 1813 but was rebuilt as a National Historical site in more recent years.

This fort is considered one of Canada’s most haunted and several ghost soldiers have been seen at this location, but the most active ghost is a little girl by the name of Sara Ann. She is a very precocious spirit.

Sara Ann’s ghost has been seen so often over the years no one has kept count. Her youthful antics elicit smiles as opposed to fear.

Her ghost, when seen, is playful. She engages in games of peek-a-boo, hiding under beds and behind pillars. She is heard giggling quietly to herself.

She is known for tugging on visitors’ clothes. When they turn, they see her running away. She is described as bare-footed with shoulder-length curly blonde hair.

She wears a white dress and is often seen around the fort’s barracks. Three female visitors spotted just her hand resting on a staircase railing in this area.

At other times she appears as just a white cloud with a vague form.

Fort George today.

One summer night in August a group of tourists who were leaving spotted a little girl in the parking lot. She was skipping around a group of guides that worked at the fort.

She appeared to be wearing a white nightgown. Two women watched as she then faded from view. The men in this group did not see this little girl.

But these two women who did not know each other eerily told similar stories of what they saw. The guides despite being closer to this apparition reported they had seen nothing.

One well-documented encounter happened to a guide, storyteller, Kyle Upton who works at the fort. He had heard about Sara Ann's ghost but did not believe the stories.

The tunnel at the fort.

Upton led a group of tourists to the entrance of a subterranean tunnel at the back of the fort one night as storm clouds gathered, and lightning flashed.

When he reached the back of this tunnel, Upton waited for his group to gather around him. This is when he saw a form that was illuminated by a dim green-grey light.

He saw a small figure silhouetted in this light. It was a child standing just outside the tunnel looking in at him.

As he watched she playfully disappeared and then reappeared again. He saw her hop and skip around—then she stopped and looked to see if she was being watched.

At first, Upton thought she was a part of his group but after he took a head count, he realized she wasn’t.

It dawned on him that this must be the little ghost he had heard so many stories about.

Upton had trouble concentrating on his presentation for Sara Ann distracted him. Every time the lightning flashed at the entrance all he saw was the white wall of the nearby blockhouse, but when the lightning stopped, he would see her once more.

When the group exited the tunnel the little girl was gone.

St. Mark's Cemetery

It is believed that Sara Ann was the daughter of Hannah and Thomas Tracey. She died at age seven in 1840. Her grave and tombstone are located at St. Mark’s Cemetery.

Her father was a sergeant major with the King’s Dragoon Guards at Fort George. No one knows how she died or why her spirit lingers at this fort.

In Part l of Sara Ann and Fort George other ghosts seen at the fort are described.