From a missing woman, to the First World War,
from the Spanish Flu epidemic to the Roaring Twenties,
this is the story of Chabby House
Part 2
The next owners of Chabby House were the Dixons. Jacob Dixon, his wife Mary May and children John and Grace arrived in Halifax from England in 1910. They travelled by train to Calgary and upon arrival purchased the now abandoned Chabby House. Only months after settling in, Jacob left his family to travel back to London on business. It would be his final trip.
He was to return to Canada via New York in April of 1912. He made the fateful decision to book his ticket on the Titanic and as they say the rest was history. Jacob was lost. His body never recovered. Mary May was devastated by his death. In an effort to help, her cousin, Hazel Gunn, came to Calgary with her baby girl Lilly.
Upon the arrival of Hazel, Mary May kept to her room, only venturing out in the evening to visit the memorial to her beloved husband. She dressed in mourning black for the rest of her life. Barely able to function, she turned the running of her household and raising of her children over to Hazel.
In August 1914, Canada was brought into WWI with Britain’s declaration of war. John marched off to war with many of his fellow Canadians. John was killed in action during the second Battle of the Sommes on August 24, 1918. Another blow to the fragile mind of Mary May. Another loss with no body to bury.
She began to claim she could see her son and would carry on long conversations with him. Hazel found her behaviour disturbing and embarrassing and began to lock Mary May away in her room whenever she could but somehow Mary May would find her way out in the wee hours of the morning and as was her habit would visit the memorials of her husband and son. Many people claimed to see her wandering about the Chabby House grounds. She always appeared to be in deep conversation but no one could see with whom she spoke.
It was during this time Mary May connected with a group of women she called Lavinia's Daughters, who shared both her grief and need to contact the dead. No one knew where these women came from and few actually saw them outside the house. They stationed themselves in kitchen where they brewed medicines, made meals and offered up counsel to the sick and distressed. The parlour was reserved for the many séances they conducted.
Hazel was furious and was frequently heard screaming at these women and cursing them as witches in league with the Devil. Hazel began to walk the halls of the house, fearing the women would steal them blind and condemn them to hell. Her obsession with saving the souls of the household led to a neglect of everything else - including her daughter Lilly.
It was only a matter of time before death wrapped its arms once again around Chabby House. John’s death was followed by the arrival of Spanish flu in October 1918. Both Mary May and her daughter Grace were struck by the illness. Mary May refused to allow any doctors within the house – declaring that Lavinia's Daughters could cure her and her daughter. They could not. Grace died on Christmas Eve 1918 with her mother, Mary May joining her on Christmas Day. They were buried side by side in the family plot.
As for Hazel, she had now lost most of her family. She retreated into Chabby House, turning her back on the outside world to wander the halls and empty rooms. Lavinia's Daughters continued to reside within the home. Hazel now taking her sister’s place at their table in vain attempts to contact the dead. No one knows for sure exactly who she was trying to contact or why.
In the early hours of October 31, 1924, Hazel threw herself a party. She put on her best dress. She put on some jazz and drank a bottle of wine. She could be heard laughing and singing, then screaming once again at Lavinia's Daughters. Neighbours reported that they heard “No, Lavinia, I won’t.” The yelling, changed to wailing in the early morning hours. Concerned neighbours telephoned the police. She was found a half hour later by police in the back garden. She had hung herself in the garden shed. Her ghost is said to wander there still.
What happened to Lilly? You may ask. The question of Lilly is puzzling. When police searched the house following Hazel’s death, they reportedly found evidence that a young child and an infant had recently been living in the home. What this evidence was, was never revealed. No sign of Lilly or the baby was ever found. New Years day 1919 marked the last time, Lilly, then 6 was seen by anyone outside the home. Hazel had committed suicide 5 years later.
In the search for Lilly we have found no record of who her father may have been. Hazel had never married. It appears Lilly was born out of wedlock. Perhaps, Hazel’s decision to join Mary May in Calgary was based more on the question of Lilly’s birth than any real interest in helping her sister. We will never know. Did Lilly fall victim to the flu that took her Aunt and cousin? Some say she fell down the stairs and broke her neck. Some say she didn’t die at all. Her mystery and that of the baby remain at this time unsolved.
As for the ladies of the kitchen, Lavinia's daughters, the police found no signs of any women having lived or worked in the kitchen. Were they a figment of the imaginations of two grief-stricken women? Likely not, as they were seen at different times by others in the neighbourhood. So what happened to them? Some say, they knew secrets about Chabby House and were able to hide during the police investigation and that they live there still. Aging, yet ageless women, making potions, stirring brews, contacting the dead as they have always done and will always do. It said by some that they are led by Lavinia Chabassol, who in the dark recesses of Chabby House continues the work she started so long ago.
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