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The Mystery at Caledonia Mills: A Comprehensive Report I. Background and Family History The MacDonald farm was situated in a remote area known as Caledonia Mills, located primarily in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, with a small portion of the property extending into Antigonish County. The family at the center of the events was headed by Alexander MacDonald and his wife, Janet (née Cameron). They married in 1973 and had a daughter, Mary. In 1910, they adopted a young girl named Mary-Ellen. Mary-Ellen was one of four children of John Peter and Annie (Duggan) MacDonald of Pictou. Her biological father, a coal miner, had died in a mining accident. She was four years old when she was adopted from Westville, NS, and brought to live with the MacDonalds, who were then in their late sixties. At the time of her adoption, the MacDonalds' biological daughter, Mary, was 23 years old and had likely already married and moved out, leaving Mary-Ellen as the only child in the home with the elderly couple. The family history, particularly on Janet MacDonald's side, was marked by tragedy and mental illness. In 1899, Janet's mother, Mrs. Cameron, moved in with the family. Accounts describe her as suffering from severe mental distress; she would sometimes wander off and get lost in the woods or scream from her room. To manage her violent episodes, Janet reportedly had to tie her mother to the bed and lock her in her room. It was noted that many in Janet's family had spent time in asylums. A significant piece of local folklore surrounds Mrs. Cameron's death. The story goes that one evening, exasperated with her mother's condition, Janet exclaimed, "I hope the devil in hell comes and takes you before morning." At that moment, a mysterious black dog is said to have walked through the kitchen and vanished into Mrs. Cameron's room. She died that night. While some considered the black dog a powerful omen, others rumored that Janet, tired of being a caretaker, might have smothered her mother with a pillow. II. Early Disturbances (c. 1912 - 1921) Roughly two years after Mary-Ellen's arrival, strange and unsettling events began to occur at the homestead, long before the infamous fires. The family would hear inexplicable sounds in the house, such as bangs, roars, and the sound of dragging chains, which they initially ignored. Physical disturbances became more frequent. Laundry and a horse saddle would go missing, only to reappear later, sometimes found buried near the tree line of the surrounding woods. On one occasion, the family discovered a dead lamb on their steps, its throat slit and lying in a pool of blood. Some speculated a connection to Janet's brother, who had passed away two years earlier in a local asylum, though the link was unclear. These incidents continued sporadically for nine years. By March of 1921, the phenomena escalated. The family's cows began to get loose from the stable at night, and they would be found wandering outside in the cold for hours. Alexander reinforced the barn door with heavy timbers and solid wooden struts, and even wrapped haywire around the beams to keep them in place, but to no avail. In the morning, the heavy beams would be found scattered on the floor. Stories also circulated of unseen hands braiding the manes and tails of their horses. These events led to local talk of a "buckden" (or Bugbear), a type of hobgoblin or trickster spirit from rural folklore believed to haunt the countryside. Witness accounts from visitors and neighbors added to the mystery: •A group of visitors reported seeing a phantom horse running riderless toward the farm. As they tried to get a better look, it vanished, and a strange man appeared walking in its place. When they investigated, they found no tracks of either a horse or a traveler in the snow, and no one in the area had seen such a man. •On a few occasions, neighboring farmers saw what appeared to be flames coming from the MacDonald farmhouse and rushed over to help, only to arrive and find no sign of a fire at all. III. The Fires (January 1922) The phenomena took a terrifying turn on Saturday, January 7th, 1922. On that very cold morning, Alexander noticed a 20-centimeter-long charbroiled groove in a ceiling beam near the stove, a mark he had never seen before. That night, the family went to bed earlier than usual because Janet was feeling unwell. About an hour later, Janet woke up smelling smoke. Alexander found flames in the kitchen and extinguished them with a bucket of water, leaving a blackened scar. That same night, four more fires erupted in the loft over the kitchen. Alexander gave up on sleep and sat in the kitchen, watching the ceiling. •January 8th: The next morning, they cleaned the house. Alexander poured water down the chimney from the roof to cool it and went to sleep around 10:00 PM. A few minutes later, Janet's panicked voice woke him, warning of the smell of smoke. Alexander checked the house but found nothing. Twenty minutes later, Janet woke him again, and this time he heard Chief, the family dog, barking. The rocking chair in the kitchen was on fire. He tossed it out into the snow. Upon returning inside, he saw the couch was also on fire and threw that out as well. The next two nights were quiet. •January 11th: On Wednesday afternoon, while Alexander was in the barn, Janet called for him. A floorboard in the loft above the kitchen was on fire. He took it out and tossed it outside next to the burned chair and sofa, noticing a small scrap of cotton on the board. A second fire started in the loft shortly after, which they put out with wet rags. Thirty minutes later, a wall in the kitchen caught fire, followed by a ball of fire appearing next to the stove chimney. Subsequent fires broke out in an upstairs bedroom above the parlor and then in a small bedroom next to the dining room. Alarmed, Alexander sent Janet and Mary-Ellen to the neighboring McGillivray farm, which had a telephone. A snowstorm was raging, making travel difficult. Mary-Ellen returned alone through the knee-deep snow, holding her lantern high to light the mile-long path. She was followed by Leo McGillivray and Duncan McDonald, with Daniel McGillivray coming behind them with a horse-drawn sleigh. When the neighbors arrived, the house seemed normal. They sat in the kitchen to watch for more fires. Suddenly, a bright light flashed across the room, and a strange blue fire ignited the curtains in the parlor. Leo McGillivray tore the curtains down and stamped them out. He described the fire as odd; it was not hot and made no sound, but it produced a lot of smoke. Leo, who had worked in the electrical business in Ontario, thought the white flash resembled an electrical malfunction, but the house had no electricity. Two more fires appeared: one on the wallpaper in the dining room and another on a calendar hanging in the parlor. Daniel McGillivray took the sleigh back to his home to call for more help. Alexander, Leo, and Duncan rushed from room to room, stamping out fires, slopping buckets of water on bedclothes, and tossing burned furniture into the snow. Daniel soon returned with several neighbors, including Michael McGillivray, John Kenny, Alex McIsaac, and Colin McIsaac. During the chaos, Michael McGillivray and John Kenny witnessed a bare forearm and hand extending from the parlor window, but when they rushed inside, they found everyone gathered in the kitchen. By 8:00 AM the next morning, there were over three inches of water puddled on the floor. The men estimated they had extinguished at least 31 fires that night. The MacDonalds packed what little they could and went to stay at the McGillivray farm for the next three days. IV. Investigations and Media Frenzy The story of the "fire spook" quickly reached Halifax and caught the attention of Harold Bigelow Whidden, a journalist for The Halifax Herald and The Evening Mail. On January 19th, 1922, he published his first article, titled "Antigonish Farming Community is Aroused by Mysterious Actions Believed to be the Work of Spooks." Five days later, a second article followed: "Story of Spooks Setting Fires in Antigonish Farmer's Home Confirmed." The case also attracted Detective Peter Owen Carroll from Pictou, a former and well-respected police chief. He arrived on February 2nd to conduct his own investigation. •The Carroll-Whidden Investigation (February 7th-8th): On February 7th, Carroll, Whidden, Alexander MacDonald, Duncan McDonald, and Dan McGillivray set up a camp at the abandoned farmhouse. The first night passed without incident. On the night of February 8th, amidst a storm, Carroll, Whidden, and Alexander stayed at the house. They went to bed at midnight. A short time later, Carroll woke Whidden with a gesture to be quiet. Carroll had been jerked awake by the strange sound of footsteps on the floorboards above them. They both listened as the thumping sound moved through the house, appeared to descend the stairs into the parlor, and then abruptly stopped. They searched the house but found no one. Returning to bed with a growing sense of unease, they were disturbed again less than half an hour later. Carroll was pulled from sleep by the feeling of a distinct slap on his arm and heard unrecognizable noises from the floors above. He distinctly felt the thud on his arm through several layers of shirts, sweaters, two coats, and a horse rug he was using as a blanket. He looked over to see Whidden sitting upright; Whidden had also felt a similar slap on his arm but had not heard any noise. Within fifteen minutes, the strange feeling in the house disappeared entirely. The three men searched the house from top to bottom with their flashlights before finally returning to bed at 4:30 AM. •The Arrival of Dr. Walter Franklin Prince (March 4th): The case's notoriety reached Dr. Walter Franklin Prince, a former Episcopal minister with a Ph.D. in Psychology from Yale University and the Principal Research Officer for the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR). On Saturday, March 4th, he arrived in Halifax and met with Whidden, Bryce Climo (The Herald's photographer), and Donald McRitchie (The Herald's artist). On March 7th, the team traveled to the MacDonald farm with Alexander and Mary-Ellen. They moved all the furniture back to its original position to recreate the scene. Prince, methodical in his approach, set up various contraptions to aid the investigation. In the hallways and stairways, he hung strings of bells from the skirting boards to alert them to any movement. V. The Automatic Writing Session (March 10, 1922) On the evening of March 10th, at Harold Whidden's request, Dr. Prince agreed to attempt an automatic writing session. This event would become central to Whidden's interpretation of the mystery. The following is a detailed account from Whidden's own pamphlet, "My Experiences at the MacDonald Homestead." Whidden sat at a table in a small bedroom while Prince sat on the bed nearby. Whidden held a pencil to a sheet of paper, his mind and hand relaxed. Suddenly, his fingers began to tingle, and his hand grew numb. The pencil began to move on its own, first slowly, then forming circles with increasing speed and pressure, tearing through several sheets of paper. After covering six sheets with circles and lines, it finally began to form large, peculiar letters. For the next two hours, Whidden felt he was an instrument for an unseen force. He had no control over his hand, and at times his mind, heart, and even his speech seemed to be controlled by the entity. He called out to the others in the house: "Come if you want to see something that you may never see again in your life." McRitchie, Janet MacDonald, Mary-Ellen, and Dan McGillivray entered the room. As they watched, Whidden’s lips—uncontrolled by him—told Dr. Prince to ask: “Who set the fires in Alexander Macdonald’s house?” The question was simultaneously written automatically. Dr. Prince asked: “Do you know?” Instantly, “Yes” was written. Dr. Prince asked: “Can you tell?” The answer came at once, punctuated emphatically: “Spirits!” Dr. Prince asked, “Why?” At this, the pencil tapped impatiently and made frantic, black blotches on the paper, unable to form an answer. Whidden’s voice, not his own, shouted for everyone to be quiet and then ordered them to leave the room. Once he and Prince were alone, the writing continued. Prince asked if the spirit was the one that had slapped Whidden on the arm during his earlier investigation with Carroll. The answer was written: "Because I wanted to show him that the mystery fires were caused by spirits!" The unseen communicator then automatically wrote the question: "Who unfastened Alex Macdonald’s cows?" This was immediately followed by the answer: "I did!!", which was underscored six times. The message continued, filled with personal details for Whidden, including what seemed to be a message from his sister who had passed away in 1912. It contained philosophical and religious statements such as, "People must realize that those who have passed beyond are ever-present. God is merciful. God is good. He is just," and, "Spirits do visit the Earth after death." The entity wrote that it would trouble the MacDonalds no more and then offered a farewell. After the session, Whidden was left weak, limp, and in a stupor. He tried to play a game of cards with Mary-Ellen but could not focus. The strange sensations returned multiple times, forcing him to ask Dr. Prince to command the spirit to leave him, which it eventually did. VI. Conclusions of the Investigators The investigators emerged from the Caledonia Mills affair with three distinct and conflicting conclusions. •Detective Peter Owen Carroll: Carroll remained steadfast in his belief that the phenomena were supernatural. In his official report to The Halifax Herald, he stated, "I firmly believed that neither the fires nor the other strange happenings were caused by human hands." He openly disagreed with Dr. Prince's theory about Mary-Ellen, arguing that with six people in the small house, she could not have set the fires without being seen. He found her to be a bright girl for her age and circumstances. •Dr. Walter Franklin Prince: The psychical researcher came to a more complex, psychological conclusion. He stated, "The fires were set by human hands, but almost certainly without guilt, probably in an altered state of consciousness and possibly influenced by a discarnate agency." His reasoning was based on physical evidence: oNo fire marks were higher than Mary-Ellen's reach (about five feet), except in places where a burning object could have been tossed. oFires never occurred when the family, including Mary-Ellen, was out of the house. oThe ignitions always happened out of sight of witnesses. oHe found a match among the remnants of a burned glove in a door casing, proving a conventional ignition source. oHe found bottles of kerosene, turpentine, and separator oil on the premises. He theorized Mary-Ellen was in a "dissociated state" or a form of hysteria, not consciously aware or responsible for her actions. He acknowledged the sounds and slaps experienced by Carroll and Whidden were likely "supernormal experiences" and that the automatic writing was a "valid psychological fact" that was possibly, but not provably, supernormal. •Harold B. Whidden: The journalist's experience with automatic writing convinced him of a spiritual explanation. While he acknowledged Prince's theory that Mary-Ellen might have been an instrument, he believed she was no more responsible for the fires than he was for the words written by his hand. He concluded, "...in my humble opinion, the mysterious fires in Alexander Macdonald’s house and the mysterious unfastening of his cows were caused by the spirits." VII. Aftermath and Enduring Folklore On May 7th, 1922, Alexander MacDonald, his wife, and Mary-Ellen moved back into the house. After Alexander finished planting his crops, the terror began again. On the afternoon of June 7th, fires broke out in the upstairs of the house, reportedly worse than ever. The family fled for good, resolving never to return. They went to live with their married daughter about seven miles away. Alexander MacDonald died of pneumonia on March 26th, 1923, at his daughter's home in Alder River. Mary-Ellen's life was permanently scarred by the events. She became known as "Mary-Ellen Spook." In public, she was taunted, with people throwing lit matches at her feet. She moved to Antigonish and worked briefly as a chambermaid in a hotel, where it was rumored that more mysterious fires occurred. The rest of her life is shrouded in conflicting reports. One version states she later moved to Halifax, may have worked as a prostitute, and died in obscurity in Sudbury, Ontario. Another account suggests that after a period of institutionalization, she sought a private life, eventually finding a partner and living quietly until the age of 100, passing away in Victoria, British Columbia. The fires did not appear to follow her after she left the Antigonish area. The farmhouse itself was eventually either burned down by villagers or simply fell into ruin. The story has become a cornerstone of Nova Scotian folklore, embellished with memorable details: •The Black Dog: The tale of Janet cursing her mother and the appearance of a black dog from hell remains a popular and chilling element of the story. •The Bishop's Note: Another persistent rumor claims an investigator (or priest) felt a compulsion to write a note at night, which was placed in a safe and given to the local bishop. The contents were never revealed, but the bishop allegedly warned people to stay away from the farm because what happened there was "not of this world," further fueling speculation. The "Fire Spook of Caledonia Mills" endures as a tragic and haunting tale, blending historical accounts, paranormal investigation, and folk belief, centered around a young woman whose role in the mystery remains debated to this day. The Caledonia Mills Poltergeist Case The following is a summary of four reports regarding the "House of Mystery at Caledonia Mills," a poltergeist case that took place in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1922. The case involved Alexander MacDonald, his wife, and their adopted daughter, Mary Ellen MacDonald, whose home experienced a series of unexplained fires and phenomena.1 Account of Detective Peter Owen Carroll Detective Peter Owen Carroll, hired by the Halifax Herald, details his investigation into the mysterious fires.2 He recounts the early outbreaks, starting on January 7, 1922, with cinders on the stove and burnt boards in the loft. Over the next few days, multiple fires ignited spontaneously in various parts of the house, including the loft, a rocking chair, a couch, and wallpaper. When the fires became more frequent, the MacDonalds sought help from their neighbors, the McGillivrays. Carroll notes that during the time Mary Ellen and Mrs. MacDonald were away seeking help, Mr. MacDonald, with the help of his neighbors, put out numerous fires, including some on an upstairs floor. One of the McGillivray boys and another neighbor also claimed to see a bare arm waving a piece of cloth from inside the house when no one was in the room. Carroll and his colleague, Harold B. Whidden, spent two nights in the empty house.3 During this time, they reported hearing footsteps and Whidden felt a distinct blow to his arm that left no mark.4 Carroll's official report concluded that the fires and other events were not caused by human hands. He and Whidden offered a $100 reward to anyone who could prove otherwise. He strongly disagreed with Dr. Prince's later conclusion that Mary Ellen was responsible, pointing out that multiple fires had occurred when she was not present. Pamphlet by H. B. Whidden Harold B. Whidden's account focuses on an "automatic writing" session he participated in during Dr. Prince's investigation.5 Whidden describes his hand becoming numb and, without conscious control, beginning to write and communicate. The writing, and his spoken words, claimed to be a "spirit" that had caused the fires to demonstrate its presence. The "spirit" claimed to have slapped Whidden's arm during his earlier stay in the house for the same reason. It also took credit for unfastening the MacDonalds' cattle. The messages were largely sympathetic and benign, and the spirit promised to stop troubling the family. Whidden states that he fully believes the events were caused by spirits and that his experience felt entirely out of his control. He mentions that most of the messages were of a personal nature and would not be divulged. Journal of Dr. Walter F. Prince Dr. Prince's report concludes that the fires were caused by human hands, specifically those of the sixteen-year-old adopted daughter, Mary Ellen. However, he maintains she was likely not morally guilty. His findings are based on a few key observations: •The burn marks on paper and wallpaper were no higher than what a person five feet tall (Mary Ellen's height) could reach. •Fires never occurred when Mary Ellen was away from the house, and he found no "definite, satisfactory evidence" that a fire ever started where she could not have been moments before. •He found a match head on a beam and bottles containing flammable liquids, suggesting human intervention. Dr. Prince theorizes that Mary Ellen may have been in a "altered state of consciousness," possibly due to a form of hysteria or even temporary obsession by a "discarnate intelligence." He concludes that the sounds and sensations experienced by Whidden and Carroll were likely "supernormal," while the automatic writing was a "valid psychological fact." Letter from Leo McGillivray Leo McGillivray, a neighbor, corroborates the strange events in a letter he wrote to a friend, John Kenney. He states that the newspaper accounts were "true" and that he now believes in ghosts, as he is certain "no living being could set the fires." He specifically mentions that on the night he was there, he and the others put out 31 fires, and the paper on the walls would instantly burst into flames even when wet, which he notes they couldn't replicate with a match. He states that the family moved out the next morning.   Appendix: Original Source Documents (Cleaned) A. Chapter XIII from Life and Adventures of Detective Peter Owen Carroll THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY AT CALEDONIA MILLS This mystery has attracted worldwide attention. I will herewith give you the facts of the case. Alexander MacDonald, his wife, and adopted daughter, Mary Ellen MacDonald, lived on a farm two miles from the main road at Caledonia Mills. This farm is situated in Guysborough County with the exception of a small piece, which is in Antigonish County. On Saturday morning of January 7th, 1922, when Alex. MacDonald went to light the kitchen fire he was surprised to see cinders on the stove and floor. He examined the floor of the loft overhead; the floor was of loose dry boards. He saw burnt places in two of the boards and in one of the beams. He naturally concluded that the fire had started from the stove pipe, and could not understand how the fire had gone out by itself, instead of burning the house down. On Saturday night they all retired to bed at the usual hour. There had been no fire in the kitchen stove since four o'clock that afternoon. About one hour after they retired, Mrs. MacDonald awoke her husband and said that she smelled smoke and heard wood cracking. Mr. MacDonald discovered the kitchen loft on fire. He put out five different fires in the loft before morning. On Sunday the kitchen fire was allowed to burn out early in the afternoon. Mr. MacDonald went up on the roof of the kitchen and poured water down the chimney before going to bed. Mr. MacDonald and Mrs. MacDonald and Mary Ellen went up to the loft and found everything in order. About ten o'clock Mrs. MacDonald said she smelled smoke. Mr. MacDonald got up and discovered the upholstery on the back of a rocking chair in the kitchen on fire. He threw it out on the snow; later he discovered a couch on fire on the opposite side of the kitchen. This he also threw out in the snow. There were no fires Monday or Tuesday. Late Wednesday afternoon Mr. MacDonald went to the barn to feed his cattle. His wife and Mary Ellen were left in the kitchen. Mrs. MacDonald smelled smoke and saw a fire on a board on the loft. She pulled it down and threw it out in the snow. Shortly afterwards another fire broke out in the loft. The next fire broke out over the door leading to the dining room. This fire left quite a scar. Mr. MacDonald put it out with a bucket of water. Another fire started in the dining room and another started upstairs. The next was in the wallpaper of the small bedroom downstairs, off the dining room. Mr. MacDonald, becoming alarmed by so many outbreaks of fire in different parts of the house, sent Mrs. MacDonald and Mary Ellen out into the storm for help. It was pouring rain and blowing hard. They ran through the woods to summon their neighbors, Dan and Leo McGillivray. Mrs. MacDonald, who is sixty-nine years of age and had suffered from ill health for over twenty years, became exhausted in the snow. She told Mary Ellen to keep on to the McGillivray house. As Mary Ellen neared the house the McGillivray boys and Duncan MacDonald, a brother-in-law, saw the light of the lantern coming, waving. Suspecting that something was wrong they ran to meet Mary Ellen. She told them to run quickly as fires were breaking out in the house. Leo McGillivray and Duncan MacDonald started on the run for the house while Dan McGillivray went back to put the fire out in his kitchen stove. When Leo McGillivray and Duncan MacDonald came to where Mrs. MacDonald was she told them to run and help Alex. When they arrived at the house they found Alex. MacDonald upstairs putting out fires. Mr. MacDonald had put out six fires since the women had left the house. Mr. MacDonald went out to assist his wife back to the house. Just then Dan McGillivray arrived. They put a fire on in the kitchen stove to make Mrs. MacDonald a hot cup of tea, as she was all in. They were all sitting around the kitchen stove when they smelled smoke and, on going into the parlor, they discovered the parlor blind on fire, also a small shoe box which was behind a picture hanging on the wall. A soiled bed sheet which was under the bed in a small bedroom was on fire. I have the bed sheet as a souvenir. The men had put out thirty-one fires during the night. On the morning of the 12th of January they decided to leave the house. Two neighbors came to help them move. They were Michael McGillivray and John Kenney. This was about nine o'clock in the morning. When these two men were passing the parlor window they saw a bare arm from the hand to the elbow waving a piece of cotton about seven inches long and about four inches wide at them. As they passed the window they were only a few feet from it. They ran into the kitchen. All the people were sitting around the kitchen stove. They all said that they had not been in the parlor. They went into the parlor but could not see anything. These people are all god-fearing people and they are willing to take their affidavits before any judge or magistrate. I was engaged by The Halifax Herald to proceed to the house of Alex. MacDonald to investigate the fires and strange happenings. On Monday, the 6th day of February, in company with Harold B. Whidden, The Halifax Herald representative at Antigonish, I left Antigonish at 2 o'clock p.m. We arrived at the home of William and Alexander Boyle at 7:30 p.m. after driving through fields and woods for the last seven or eight miles of the journey, as the main road was blocked with snow. We were in luck to put up at Boyle's where they used us like princes. In the morning we walked across the fields to the house that Alex. MacDonald had moved into. We had a long interview with Alex. MacDonald, his wife and Mary Ellen. They could offer no explanation whatever and were completely at a loss to even suggest a cause for the outbreaks of fire. They felt absolutely sure that no person could have set them. It had been my intention to have the MacDonald family move back into the house, but after seeing this kindly old lady suffering agony in her new home and seeing sickness written all over her face and wasted hands, I decided that another trip to the old home would unquestionably imperil her life. It would have been an injustice, not only to her but to Mr. MacDonald and all concerned. After dinner Alex. MacDonald and Duncan MacDonald came out with us to the house of mystery. We met Dan McGillivray and he came along with us. It was not long before we had our sheet iron stove set up in the dining room. We brought some hay in from the barn, which, with rugs, was our bed, on the floor of the dining room. Leo McGillivray came over in the evening. The McGillivray boys went home at 12 o'clock p.m. Alex. MacDonald went to bed. Duncan MacDonald, Whidden and myself stayed up the rest of the night playing cards. Nothing unusual happened that night. Next morning all of a sudden a blinding snow storm came up. Alex and Duncan went home. The house is situated on the height of land between the waters of Antigonish and Guysborough Harbors. During the day the storm was at its height. At times it seemed as if the house would blow down. It was a dreary day, as we could not see more than ten feet away from the house. The storm abated during the evening and Alex. MacDonald came trudging along through the snow, up to his middle. He was fatigued and suffering from a cold. Just at dark, Dan and Leo McGillivray and Duncan MacDonald arrived to get us a night's supply of wood. At 10:30 o'clock p.m. they returned home. Alex. MacDonald went to bed then. About 11:30 p.m. Whidden went to bed. I sat up by the fire smoking. At 12 o'clock p.m. I heard a noise upstairs and distinctly heard footsteps as if some person were walking. After awhile I lay down beside Whidden. He woke up and spoke to me. Just then the walking commenced again upstairs. Whidden asked me if I heard walking upstairs. I told him, "yes," to keep quiet. The footsteps seemed to come down the stairs into the parlor. We sat up in the bed for awhile. We then lay down again and as we did so I felt a slight impression on my wrist and at the same moment Whidden jumped up and asked me if I had hit him. I said "no, I did not hit you." He said that he had been struck on the flat of his left arm, above the elbow, by something. He said there was something strange about the blow which did not cause any pain—but was heavy enough to be distinctly felt through his heavy clothing. Whidden got up. Alex. MacDonald also got up. Whidden stripped his clothing off to see if there was a mark on his arm. There was no mark. We searched the house upstairs and downstairs but could see nothing. We remained up the rest of the night, keeping fire in the stove to keep us from freezing. It was one of the coldest nights of the winter, the thermometer registering 28 degrees below zero. Alex. MacDonald had a sore throat and Whidden had contracted a heavy cold. The house was a good place to catch influenza or pneumonia, so after spending two days and two nights in the house, and after getting the evidence from the different witnesses, we decided to start for Antigonish. We made the start, the horse plunging up to his neck in snow. Dan McGillivray and Duncan MacDonald had to shovel us out at different places. It took us three hours to make the Boyle house, which is about two miles from the "house of mystery." We remained at the Boyle house that night and left at 9 o'clock the next morning. We made Antigonish at 5 o'clock p.m. It was a hard pull for the horse, as the snow had filled in the cuttings, and the animal could do no better than trudge along. At some places on the road the snow was up to the top of the telegraph poles. My official report to The Halifax Herald was that I firmly believed that neither the fires nor the other strange happenings were caused by human hands. To back up my statement Whidden and myself offered a reward of One Hundred Dollars each to any person who could prove conclusively within a year that the fires were caused by any agency other than supernatural or preternatural. On March 6th Dr. Prince, a noted scientist from New York, arrived In Antigonish. On March 7th in company with Donald McRitchie, staff artist, Bryce Climo, photographer, and Harold B. Whidden, representative of The Halifax Herald, he left for the house of mystery to hold a thorough investigation. By this time all the leading newspapers in Canada and the United States had taken the matter up and their columns were filled with the mysterious happenings. Some of the stories published were very much exaggerated and untrue. After six days' study on the scene of the phenomena his official report was, that the fires were caused by human hands. He believed the girl, Mary Ellen, was responsible for the mysterious fires. I can only say that I differ from Dr. Prince's opinion. He thinks that the girl is obsessed with a discarnate spirit, with a mind of a child of six. The child, as he called her, is nearly 16 years of age and with the chance she had I think she is quite bright. Dr. Prince says that there is no definite satisfactory evidence that any fires broke out, where the girl could not have been a few minutes before. This is not correct, as her foster father told me that one hour had elapsed from the time she and her mother left for help, until they returned, as they had to go nearly a mile through fields and woods, in a snow and rain storm. During that time several fires had occurred, some upstairs and some downstairs, and when Leo McGillivray and Duncan MacDonald arrived at the house they found Alex. MacDonald upstairs putting out fires, and they helped to put out some themselves before the women arrived back to the house. In The Halifax Herald of March 11th one of Prince's own party, Mr. Bryce Climo, on returning to Halifax after he had taken photographs of the MacDonald homestead and the MacDonald family, and the witnesses, when interviewed said that in every detail he substantiated what had been already published in The Halifax Herald and Evening Mail. The reports from Caledonia Mills, he declared, had not been exaggerated or colored in any respect but were a true representation of what had actually taken place, and ended his interview by saying that as far as he was concerned, he believed that the mysterious fires and strange happenings at the MacDonald homestead had occurred without the knowledge of any member of the family. The public in general do not seem satisfied with Dr. Prince's report, and he believes the girl guilty but has not proven it to the satisfaction of the public. I challenged Dr. Prince in the issue of April 1st, of the Montreal Standard. If Dr. Prince had discovered the mystery why didn't he claim the reward? He also claims to be the man who solved the Amherst Mystery in 1878. I might here say that I have a copy of "The Amherst Mystery," in my library, by Walter Hubbell, the author, and I fail to find Dr. Prince's name mentioned in the book. On May 7th Alex. MacDonald his wife and Mary Ellen moved back again into the house. Mr. MacDonald had finished putting in his crop, and on June 7th in the afternoon, fires again broke out in the upstairs of the house, worse than ever. They left the house and resolved never to return to it. They went to live with their son-in-law about seven miles from the house of mystery. Alex. MacDonald died the 26th of March, 1923, of pneumonia at his daughter's home at Alder River, Guysborough County. B. Pamphlet: "My Experiences at the MacDonald Homestead" by H. B. Whidden (Excerpts dealing with the automatic writing session) ...Friday afternoon, March 10, Mrs. Macdonald and her adopted daughter, Mary Ellen, drove to the house at the request of Dr. Prince, as part of his programme of carrying out the investigation... It was not seven o’clock then, Dr. Prince went into the little bedroom off the dining room, and sat down to read. I was lying on the bed in the dining-room having a smoke, when suddenly I got up, and walked into the bedroom. If my recollection is correct, I touched the doctor slightly on the shoulder and asked him if he would mind giving me a test then—or if it was convenient for him to do so. He turned round and replied that he would be glad to. He cleared the small crude wooden table and I placed a few sheets of ordinary copy-paper on it... I sat down, took my Eversharp pencil from my vest-pocket, and placing my right arm and hand on the table, held the point of the pencil on the upper left hand corner of the paper. My hand and arm relaxed. I sat with my head turned sideways towards the wall on my left. Dr. Prince sat on the bed, on my right-hand side... Suddenly I felt a prickly sensation in the end of some of the fingers of my right hand, which increased. The hand then became numb. Before I realized what was happening, the pencil began to move slowly, without any effort or intention on my part. This lasted less than a minute, probably, when it commenced to form circles... it began to write in large, peculiarly shaped letters. This whole experience lasted over two hours. A message seemed to be transmitted to me in this weird manner... I had no control over my hand, which was numb; I had a feeling of numbness about my heart as well; and although I could appreciate what was transpiring, my mind seemed to be controlled by some unseen power. Every movement appeared to be dictated or automatic. The writing was not of my own volition. ...The unseen power seemed to increase its influence all the time, and less than thirty words of the message were written when my speech was even controlled by it... Soon after the pencil began to shape words, I called to McRitchie and asked him to come into the room, saying, I believe: “Come if you want to see something that you may never see again in your life.” He, Mrs. Macdonald, Mary Ellen Macdonald, and Dan MacGillivray came immediately to the room. Twenty-six words had been written before they came... First my lips—not controlled by me—told Dr. Prince to ask: “Who set the fires in Alexander Macdonald’s house.” This was written automatically, besides being asked verbally. Dr. Prince asked: “Do you know?” Instantly, “Yes” was written. My recollection is that Dr. Prince asked: “Can you tell?” The answer came at once, punctuated emphatically as shown here: “Spirits!” Dr. Prince asked “Why?” The apparent attempts to answer failed. The pencil tapped impatiently and with force on the paper. Frantic efforts were made to write, but instead black blotches were made... My voice—not of my own will—shouted to everybody to be quiet, and later told all to leave the room. Mrs. Macdonald, Mary Ellen, Dan MacGillivray and Mr. Ritchie went into the dining room; Dr. Prince closed the door... The pencil began to write the answer again, but the sentence was not completed. Dr. Prince then asked the following question in, I believe, slightly different words: “Did you slap Harold Whidden on the arm the second night he and Mr. Carroll were in the house?” The answer “Yes” came instantly. Dr. Prince asked: “Why?” The answer was: “Because I wanted to show him that the mystery fires were caused by spirits!” The exclamation mark was included. Thereafter, in response to questions asked by Dr. Prince it wrote the reason for causing the mysterious fires and gave its name... “Who unfastened Alex Macdonald’s cows?” was written automatically, the question coming from the unseen communicator. The answer, “I did!!”, punctuated as shown and underscored six times, followed in great haste... Most of the written statements were of the utmost significance and not a few of them were of an entirely personal character. For that reason the greater part of the contents of the strange manuscript will probably never be divulged. In one place, for example, it seemed as if my sister who passed away on August 13th, 1912 was sending me a message. One sentence in the writing which followed was: “People must realize that those who have passed beyond are ever present. God is merciful. God is good. He is just.” And later: “Spirits do visit the Earth after death.” The whole message was full of kindly expression and sympathy. There was no sign of malice or enmity in it. It wrote that it would trouble the Macdonalds no more, and that it would never appear to them. This was followed by a farewell... After writing and acting automatically for over two hours, my hands lay limp on the table... I walked into the dining-room with some difficulty in a stupor... I felt all the previous sensations coming back. I anxiously returned to the bedroom and asked Dr. Prince to ask “It” to leave me. My hand grasped the pencil and a few words were written in the same weird manner as before, this time saying good-bye for the last time. ...Four or five minutes later, however, I felt that the spirit had gone, and I was myself once more... This may all seem incredible to some people, but every word of it is true... I will, as a result, believe to the hour of my death at least, that the fires in Alexander Macdonald’s house and the mysterious unfastening of his cattle were caused by spirits. C. Dr. Walter F. Prince: Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research (Selected Findings) The Fires: In my judgment, the fires were set by human hands. Yet, I hasten to add and shall afterward show, the person whose hands were employed was probably not morally guilty of and responsible for the acts. This person was the girl of the family who is sixteen years old, but very, very young mentally, a happy, fun-loving child whom her foster mother says has always been a good child... The explanation of the paradox will be made later in this report. The fires left their record... It is upon these that I placed chief reliance to tell the inside story... 1.In no place where wallpaper or paper objects in proximity with the walls were set on fire, is there any existing mark of burning higher than the reach of a person five feet tall... and is it not odd that this rim began just where the reach of a person five feet tall leaves off? That is the stature of the girl. 2.There is no definite, satisfactory evidence that any fire broke out where the girl could not have been a few minutes earlier. 3.There were never fires when the family, including the girl, were out of the house. 4.The actual starting of the fires never took place where another than the agency which started them could be a witness. 5.In the recess back of the upper casing of the door in the dining room... I found a match with little burned but the head. That is, the match had evidently been used to ignite the glove... Hence, whoever set this fire did it with a match. 6.I found old bottles on beams in the kitchen which contained three inflammable fluids, kerosene, turpentine and separator oil. The Mental Causation Back of the Physical: The layman thinks that if a sane person does a thing he knows it and is responsible for it... But this does not necessarily follow. Two possibilities remain... 1.The girl had a form of hysteria and was in an altered state of consciousness, which she afterwards imperfectly, or not at all, remembered. Such was the case with Esther Cox of Amherst. 2.The other theory would be that a discarnate intelligence incited the childish consciousness of the girl that it was a case of obsession. Restatement of Findings: In a few words, I restate my findings. The fires were set by human hands, but almost certainly without guilt, probably in an altered state of consciousness and possibly influenced by a discarnate agency. The sounds and tactual sensations experienced by Messrs. Whidden and Carroll were probably supernormal experiences due to causes which psychical research has not yet determined. The automatic writing of Mr. Whidden was an absolutely valid psychological fact which possibly, though not yet probably, transcends the purely psychological, and if so, would be in harmony with the suggestion that the girl was temporarily obsessed. D. Leo McGillivray Letter to John Kenney Caledonia Mills, March 4/1922 Dear friend, Just a few lines in answer to a letter which I received some time ago and was glad to hear from you. This is quite a while ago, and well, I intended writing before now but didn't get around to it until today... I suppose you saw the Halifax Herald and all that was in it about the spooky. The statements we made to the reporters were printed as we made them and it was true. It was the queerest thing I ever saw. I never believed much in ghosts but I have to now, for I know that no living being could set the fires. The night we were there, we got there about half past eight, and between then and five o'clock we put out 31 different fires and also one at eight o'clock the next morning, making 32 fires, and someone else put out nine before we went there. The paper on the wall would blaze up in fire in an instant, even if it was wet. We could not set it on fire with a match. They moved out the next morning. That was the fourth night it was burning. They were to see the priest. He is going to come over after a while, but I don't think they will ever go back there again... Well John, as I am a poor writer, I guess this will be all for now. I will say goodbye. Hoping to hear from you soon. Your old friend, Leo McGillivray Caledonia Mills