Maritime Mysteries (13 page)

For most people who lived in the Jenkins Home, including Patricia Jenkins, all they've ever heard were odd sounds such as the rustling of skirts going by. But all agree there is a spirit there.

Chapter Six
Possessions
and Church Tales

The Spook Farm

T
his story was first brought to my attention by my late camera man, Kevin Macdonald. Later, when I began researching this bizarre story, people in the know suggested that I should pick up a copy of N. Carroll Macintyre's
The Fire-Spook of Caledonia Mills
—an excellent account of this odd story, they told me. So, I give credit to both of these talented people.

The journey begins in a place called Caledonia Mills.

Caledonia Mills is nothing to write home about, unless you like a quiet rural setting. It's what happened there seventy-five years ago that had many people writing home about the place and its strange occurrences.

Without drawing you a map, Caledonia Mills is a small farming community some fifteen miles from the town of Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

The curious will be disappointed if they expect to find the homestead in this tale still standing. The house and barns are long gone. There was a time, though, back in the early twenties, when it was the home of Alexander “Black John” MacDonald, his wife Janet, and their adopted daughter, Mary Ellen. An older daughter, also named Mary, married William Quirk and moved off the farm to Alder River, N.S.

There were peculiar and unexplained things happening in the MacDonald household that the family kept secret for several years. It began when neighbours found belongings of the MacDonald household strewn near their property. The answer given by the MacDonalds?—blame it on the dog. No one bought that story when they later found pots and large cast iron skillets all over the place. No dog could do that.

Things became a lot more serious the day that Alex found the animals in the barn loose from their stalls when he went to feed and water them in the morning. He knew he had secured them the night before. The bizarre things that were happening were a harbinger of things to come.

One morning in the winter of 1922, while Alex was starting a fire in the kitchen stove, he noticed burnt pieces of wood on top of the stove. When he checked for the source, he saw charred areas in the rafters just above the stove. When the family retired that night, Janet MacDonald was awakened by the smell of smoke. Alex raced downstairs and found a chair and sofa on fire in the kitchen. All told, there were thirty-eight fires in the month of January alone! No longer able to cope alone, the family were forced to call in the neighbours for help. A few of the men of the village did help in fighting these mysterious fires. One witness said it was as if the whole house was illuminated by the blue arc of a hot electrical cable during a violent storm. It was a losing battle. Whatever power it was, the MacDonalds were driven from their home. They did attempt to return, but once again the demons had taken over, and drove them out.

What caused these fires? A poltergeist perhaps? There were several theories advanced. One: Janet MacDonald had taken her mother from the poor house and brought her to live with them at the farm. In time, Janet realized that she had made a terrible mistake—her mother was an uncontrollable raving mad woman. When she attempted to send her back, the authorities told her it was Janet's problem now. One day, a visitor was witness to one of the old lady's ravings and saw Janet race upstairs to her mother's bedroom screaming, “I hope the Devil comes and takes you before nine o'clock tomorrow morning!” Just then, a strange looking black animal came into the old woman's bedroom.

There would be no more screams, no more fits of rage. The next morning, Alexander found Janet's mother dead in bed. Official cause of death was never mentioned. Did she die under mysterious circumstances? By suffocation perhaps? By someone else's hand? But whose? Surely, calling on the Devil to take someone is merely wishful thinking. Or is it? And was that strange looking animal, thought to be a dog, dismissed out of hand? Did the spirit of that crazed old woman return to reek vengeance on the MacDonald household?

The professionals:

Peter Owen “Peachy” Carroll, a one-time police chief of the town of Pictou and a member of the provincial detective force of Nova Scotia, became intrigued by what was happening at the Spook Farm and made arrangement to investigate. Detective Carroll was quite confident that he would solve this Maritime Mystery.

Accompanying Mr. Carroll was Halifax Herald reporter, Harold Whidden, who would have an important role to play in this drama.

Alexander “Black John” MacDonald agreed to open his home to Carroll and Whidden, and also agreed to stay in the house with them.

Detective Carroll made a thorough investigation of the interior of the home. He saw the scorched walls, wallpaper, and blinds. He interviewed the MacDonald family and concluded they were God-fearing hard-working folk, and had no hand in setting the fires.

The only unusual occurrence happened on the second night. When Carroll and Whidden had retired while still awake, Whidden was slapped across the arm. Carroll denied hitting him.

After reviewing all the “facts,” Carroll concluded, that the fires were not started by human hands, but by an unknown force.

Carroll and Whidden went so far as to offer a reward of $200 to anyone who could prove the fires were caused by any agent other than the supernatural.

The news of the fire spook reached far beyond the counties of Antigonish and Guysborough. Interest was shown from all over North America and beyond. From the city of New York, a Dr. Walter Franklin Prince, a member of the American Society for Psychical Research who displayed more than a passing interest, was willing to come to Nova Scotia and investigate this phenomenon. But for a price. His expenses would be underwritten by the
Halifax Herald
.

If there were any spirits attempting to make contact with the living, Dr. Prince believed he had the conduit in the person of Harold Whidden, who, again, went along, with other observers, as the
Herald
's representative. Mr. Whidden was more than familiar with the Spook Farm, having already spent two days and nights there with Peachy Carroll. Dr. Prince believed Harold Whidden would be a receptive candidate for psychological testing. When Dr. Prince finally got around to doing the test, he sat Whidden down at a table with pencils and paper and instructed him to hold the pencil above the paper and see what happened. The first three attempts failed, but on the fourth try, Whidden felt a sensation in his fingers and the pencil in his hand flew across the page. Not just one page, but several. Dr. Prince then conducted an interview with the spirit.

Question: Who set the fires in the Alexander MacDonald home?

Answer: Immediately written down on paper through Whidden's hand, the word “Spirits!”

Question: Why?

No answer. The pencil was taping quickly on paper, but only black marks were made.

And then, a voice spoke through Whidden. It told the people in the room to leave. Only Dr. Prince was to remain!

Question: Did you slap the arm of Mr. Whidden when he and Detective Carroll were staying here?

Answer: The word “Yes” was immediately written down.

Question: Why?

Answer: Again, Whidden's hand flew across the page. “I wanted him to know the fires were caused by spirits.”

Question: And the animals in the barn? Who let them loose?

Answer: “I did.”

The spirit also wrote that it would no longer haunt the MacDonalds, nor would it ever appear to them again, just as long as they did not return to the farm.

There were many more questions and answers. The spirit, through the hand of Harold Whidden, gave the reason for setting the fires, and gave its name! What followed, according to Dr. Prince, was of a personal and delicate nature. Because of that, the highly sensitive information revealed by the spirit was never released.

But witnesses confirmed the story of what happened in the room that night.

Following a six-day investigation, Dr. Prince concluded that the fires were started by the adopted daughter, Mary Ellen. Dr. Prince said no blame should be placed on Mary Ellen because she was in a state of altered consciousness at the time; she had been temporarily possessed.

MacIntyre writes in the final chapter of his book,

“This is the part of the strange manuscript of automatic writing by Harold Whidden, which was never released for public knowledge: Whidden of course knew, Dr. Walter Prince knew, others present knew, as did a priest from St Andrew's, but their lips were sealed. It has only been in the past few months that certain people who knew the true story would confide in me enough to hint as to the deep, dark secret that has been kept so well buried for the past sixty-three years. They knew that Mary Ellen was innocent as to the cause of the strange occurrences, even though they may have acted through her. They knew it was upon the head of Janet “Black John” where the blame should be placed; blame that had kept people guessing for all those years.

Did the MacDonalds heed the warning of the spirit never to return to the farm? They did not. In time, and because they missed their home, they did return. For a little while things appeared normal. So much so that Alex “Black John” decided to plant a spring crop. But a black cloud hung over the MacDonald farm. In less than three weeks, the fires started again. The MacDonalds fought these demons secretly, but in the end were forced to give up and leave the Spook Farm for good.

And what eventually happened to the principal players in this Maritime Mystery?

Alexander “Black John” MacDonald died on March 26, 1923, of natural causes at the home of his daughter, Mary Quirk.

Mary Ellen “Black John” MacDonald stayed in the area for a year and then moved to Ontario where she operated a boarding house. When she died, her remains were brought back to Nova Scotia for burial.

Janet “Black John” MacDonald died on March 17, 1930, also at the home of her daughter, at the age of eighty. Cause of death—third degree burns!!!

So the journey ends ... or does it?

One final warning: If you should go down Caledonia Mills way and you're trudging through the woods and accidentally come upon a clearing where there should be ample growth of trees and flowers and singing birds, but instead you find barren ground, then you have stumbled onto the property of Alexander “Black John” MacDonald. That barren piece of land you're standing on is the spot where the Spook Farm once stood. Nothing grows there anymore! And if you take a souvenir, such as a charred and broken piece of shingle, you do so at your own peril. Take it home and who knows where the next mysterious fires may start! The author of
The Fire-Spook of Caledonia
Mills
took an egg cup from the charred ruins. He of all people should have known better. Mr. MacIntyre placed the egg cup on the fireplace mantel of his summer home one holiday weekend and left. The only thing left standing in the morning was the chimney!

There are, even today, people living in Caledonia Mills who will not drive by the Spook Farm late at night, for fear of having a breakdown, mechanical or mental!

The Holy Ghost

T
he events I'm about to describe are from the pen, or rather the tongue of another, as it's an oral account. He, and he alone, is the author of this adventure into the paranormal. My only purpose is to continue the gifted tradition of that dying breed—the storyteller.

This spiritual tale came to my attention by way of Mickey MacNeil's story about a Priest who was owed a mass. This delightful piece of folklore, along with other delights, can be found in Ronald Caplan's
Cape Breton Book of the Night
.

Although I may have taking some liberties in the telling of this island yarn, the facts have not been altered one iota. This is how the tale unfolds:

Sometime around the turn of the century in a rural community in Cape Breton, a young boy was accused of stealing money from the church poor box. Discipline was harsh in those days, and the child would pay dearly for this alleged crime. The parish priest would teach this young scoundrel a lesson he would remember for the rest of his life. His punishment? Three nights locked up alone in the church. Apparently, no one thought the punishment unreasonable. The boy was taken from his home at the appointed hour and handed over to the priest, who locked the frightened child inside the church. The boy was left alone to consider his crime.