Germania Ghost Town

For a more detailed history of Germania please read the other entry under Muskoka. Below you will find photos of the old church and school. The school became a community hall is is now used for storage.

The Murder of 2 year old, Dola Suter, of Germania (story courtesy C. Fraser):

In 1907, young Eva Suter gave birth to a son whom she named Dolan (Dola for short). Eva was the daughter of Martin and Jane Suter, who had 9 children in total. Jane died in 1905, but things were to become much more tragic for this family from Germania.

Dola lived with Eva, her father and brothers and sisters until the fateful day in Sept. 1909. There were allegations that the child was illegitimate.

Martin and Eva had had a fight the night before in which Martin told her she would have to leave unless she came home earlier and not at 1:00 am. The two had never fought before, but this was the straw that broke the camel(a)s back. The next day at 11 am, Eva left with little Dola, and the boy was never seen alive again. At 3 pm Eva was in Bracebridge. It was 2 weeks before locals had realized the child was missing and so the police were brought in to investigate.

Eva changed her stories around and then came out with the claim that her father had murdered her son by a swamp near the family farm. At first locals could not find the body, but Eva told them of a dream she had in which she saw her father bury the child by a tree by the swamp. Soon the body was found by the tree. The child was naked and had been strangled with a cloth still tied to his neck.

A huge trial occurred in Bracebridge. When Eva finally took the stand she brought forth allegations of incest against her father, which she claimed had started just 2 months before Dola(a)s birth. If incest were true it would have given Eva a possible motive for lying about her father murdering the child. She was also probably angry still with her father for scolding her during the fight they(a)d had.

Eva got off when the jury gave her a "Not guilty".

This page is dedicated to the memory of poor little Dola Suter.

This just in from C. Fraser: Although Dola was born out of wedlock he was given his father(a)s name of Colson (Frank H. Colson).. And it was Lot 3 Con. 3 that little Dola died in the swamp.

1. Eva Victoria Suter b. Jan 20, 1887 d. July 11 1960 (had a child Dola Ronald Colson Dec 30 1907 Draper Twp. out of wedlock who was killed in Sept of 1910) married Feb 11th 1911 to Nelson Ernest McCutcheon b. Oct 3 1888 s/o A. & Jane McCutcheon and had a son Ernest Borden who was killed in Italy in WW11 July 22 1943 age 25. He was with the Royal Canadian Air Force 420 Sqdn. Buried at Cassino War Cemetery Italy .

Children:- Dola Ronald Colson b. Dec 30 1907 murdered Sep 1910

i. Elmer Wm McCutcheon b. 1911 – 1911

ii. Evelyn Jean McCutcheon b. 1913 d. 1970

iii. Lottie Constance McCutcheon b. 1916 – 1917

iv. Ernest Bordon McCutcheon b. 1918 d. 1943

v. Melville Keith McCutcheon b. 1919 d. 1923

*from canuckcanuck, May, 2017 **

Completely collapsed schoolhouse. Old relics scattered around the property. There is an interesting board behind the schoolhouse on the last remaining standing wall with names carved in to the cedar. Lots of bugs so bring bug spray. The old baseball diamond is still there as well as a few climbing bars