Mysteries We’ve Uncovered

Mysteries make life interesting and give people stories to tell. Unravelling these stories makes introverts happy. If you’re an introvert, you may enjoy some of the stories below.

I’m pretty handy with a computer, artifacts, and archival gloves. If you need archaeological, historical or genealogical research, reach out to hello@wend.ca. I’m especially good at uncovering the stories of Canadian World War 1 soldiers.

Canada

Montmorency and the Suspension Bridge over the Falls — Montmorency is the setting of an interesting historical story about ghosts, tragedy, love and suicide. This tragedy involves a suspension bridge that spans the length of the falls.

The Curious Case of Tom Thomson — Tom Thomson was a son, brother, fiancé, friend, a naturalist, park guide, recluse, secretive, shy, an enigma, and hailed as one of Canada’s greatest painters.

The Murder of Theresa Balsor — Theresa Balsor is from the small Bay of Fundy community of Donnellan’s Brook. She married a local farmer, William Grant McAuley and helped turn their 200-acre farm into a flourishing enterprise. Theresa also wrote a column for the Berwick Register.

The Mysteries of the Lachine Canal — The town of “La Chine” (now known as “Lachine”), was originally home to a set of treacherous rapids that for hundreds and hundreds of years (starting in the 1600s) traders and travellers worked very hard to circumvent.

The People Behind the Abandoned Canada Malting Silo on Toronto’s Waterfront — This is the first of two abandoned “bookend” silos on Toronto’s waterfront Eastside: the Victory Soya Mills silo. This building’s past is a mystery and plays a role in the bringing back of Canadian malting and brewing to Toronto.

The Person Who Built the Abandoned Victory Soya Mill on Toronto’s Waterfront — This is the second of two abandoned “bookend” silos on Toronto’s waterfront Eastside: the Victory Soya Mills silo. It was once owned by the beer king of Canada.

Wandering through Yorkville and Learning about Cholera — The sheer number of people who died during the epidemic presented a problem for a small but growing city like York/Toronto who simply couldn’t handle the number of people dying daily.

United States

H.P. Lovecraft’s Boston as seen through Pickman’s Model — After his mother was committed to an institution in 1919, H.P. Lovecraft began to venture away from his home. Boston was a common destination. It was during a 1927 tour of Massachusetts with Donald Wandrei that the two visited the sites that inspired Pickman’s Model.

The Granite Street Fracas, Barre — Barre is known for its granite and headstones. One local sculptor, Elia Corti received his own headstone when he was mortally wounded during a street brawl.

Civil Rights Violence & the Case of Wharlest Jackson — Two men, Wharlest Jackson and George Metcalfe, were targeted in two separate Ku Klux Klan-orchestrated explosions when the men left their jobs at the Armstrong Tire & Rubber plant.

Murderous Clues About the Calico Mining Community — The miners, prostitutes, school teachers, and families who were a part of the silver/borax mining community of Calico in the 19th century were long forgotten by the 1950s.

A Crypt, Death, Murder, and a Party — In 1905, Jane was in the process of lobbying to have the president of Stanford removed from his position when she died suddenly in Hawaii of what was believed to be (for a century) a heart attack.

Preston Castle Boys Reform School — The facility has long been a source for ghost stories, sightings, and paranormal investigations.

The two deadliest nightclub fires in the U.S. — These are the stories of two deadliest nightclub fires in the US. They are horrifying stories and a harsh reminder of why fire codes exist.

Europe

The Macabre Epilogue of those who Drowned in the Seine — In the 1880s a young woman was pulled out of the Seine and brought to the morgue. The coroner could find no sign of violence so her death was ruled a suicide.

Notre Dame’s Unfortunate Suicide History — Notre Dame is the site of the suicide of Antonieta Rivas Mercado, artist, socialite and daughter of wealthy socialites from Mexico’s Revolutionary era.

Édith Piaf, the Murder of Louis Leplée, and Montmartre — This is the sad tale of Edith Piaf who is known for taking a string of lovers out of obscurity and making them stars as she herself spirals downward into a world filled with pain, sadness, and addiction.

Discoveries triggered by sleeping effigies at Père Lachaise — Noir’s real name is Yvan Salmon (Noir is his pen name) and he was an apprentice journalist for the newspaper La Marseillaise, made famous by its founder Henri Rochefort who wrote a continual stream of criticism of the government and ruling families, particularly Napoleon III.

The Panthéon and Hoche — France’s great minds are buried in the cavernous, marble, maze-like halls of the Pantheon. But one important player in France’s Revolutionary history is not: Hoche.

The Patron Saint of Murderers and the Oldest House in Paris — Julian slew his noble parents in a case of mistaken identity. He believed his wife was with another man and struck them both.