The Mystery of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Silver Islet Séance | TBPL Research Blog

Why would the famous Sherlock Holmes author and spiritualist, Sir Arthur Connan Doyle visit the Lakehead, let alone stay long enough to conduct a séance? Doyle visited the Twin Cities on two separate occasions; the first time in 1914 that appeared to just be part of his travels through Canada, however he did buy property on Victoria Avenue during his visit. His second visit was a part of a North American lecture tour entitled Proofs of Immortality that stopped at the Colonial Theatre in Port Arthur on July 5th, 1923.

Following the lecture in Port Arthur, legend has it that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had traveled to Silver Islet and conducted a seance during his visits. Here in the research department, we often refer people to the October / November 2011  issue of Lake Superior Magazine story, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Silver Islet Ghost by Bill MacDonald. In researching this story, we were shocked to discover that MacDonald has published four different versions of this séance that all have slightly different details. The story was published In Branches: Fifty Years of Family Secrets (1990), Close the Door Softly and Other Stories (2007), in the October / November 2011  issue of Lake Superior Magazine, and the summer 2013 issue of Geist Magazine. MacDonald has a way of writing that often blends fact and fiction together. He has many works that take place at Silver Islet and the town appears to have been a significant source of inspiration to him. 

The versions of the story in Branches and Close the Door Softly, are nearly identical. The story goes that the Aunt of the author (either Aunt Eulalie Truaxe in Branches or Aunt Lillian Truaxe in Close the Door Softly) went to the July 5th, 1923 lecture by Sir Conan Doyle and in addition to paying her ticket admissions, donated money to his travel fund. From there, the Aunt was invited to dinner where she mentions how there is a relative of hers in the Silver Islet Cemetery and the author was so intrigued that he asked to go to the cemetery with her to commune with the relative. The next evening, the Aunt, along with Sir Arthur Connan Doyle and his companions, set off on a steamer ship to Silver Islet. Once there, the group conducted a séance at the Silver Islet Cemetery and the residence of the Aunt’s deceased relative James Strathbogey, which MacDonald implies is an upper level of the Silver Islet General Store. The group heard footsteps, sighs, and felt the air grow cold when they finally made contact with James on the other side. Adding another layer of mystery to these versions of the story,  Bill MacDonald wrote two novels under the pseudonym James Strathbogey, Confessions of a Cornish Miner (1987) and Shaganash (1988).

The Geist Magazine and Lake Superior Magazine versions of the story name the departed relative they make contact with James Cawdor, and the aunt is named Muriel in the Lake Superior Magazine and Leone in Geist. In these accounts of events, the Aunt had met Sir Arthur Connan Doyle after a talk in 1914 (a talk which doesn’t appear in local papers even though other details of  his visit did), and convinced Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to come to the Silver Islet to conduct a séance. The author agreed and the 1914 trip resulted in an unsuccessful attempt to communicate with the beyond, nevertheless Sir Conan Doyle promised to return to Silver Islet to do a proper séance the next summer. He eventually returned in 1923. The account of the séance is relatively similar, however, James’ cause of death is more chilling:

“In his later years, [James Cawdor] became a bit of a recluse,” said Aunt Muriel. “He also became a bit of a dreamer. He concocted the idea that if he could lower himself down into the ancient workings of the mine, which had been abandoned since 1884, he might rediscover the vein, or find a bonanza of valuable silver ore. The day before he died, he told people he’d heard a voice, supposedly the voice of a long dead miner, who had advised him to get a rope a hundred feet long, or else build a ladder, and lower himself down. The miner’s ghost, if that’s who it was, would show him a secret hiding place full of silver nuggets.” - Bill MacDonald, Lake Superior Magazine October / November 2011 p. 30 

The addition of the supernatural cause of death to the Lake Superior Magazine definitely adds another layer of intrigue to the story. The other major difference from the magazine versions of the story to the book versions of the story is that the place where James resided is referred to as a cabin called the “Crannog” which is a term used in the British Isles to describe a home built on stilts in the shallow of the lake. We were not able to find anything labeled as the “Crannog” in any of our other Silver Islet publications or maps in Special Collections, but there is reference to a haunted house in the publication Historic Silver Islet by Gertrude (Woodside) Dyke except it’s a woman who haunts that location.

It’s very likely that the name changes of both the Aunt’s and James were done to protect their identity. But why did MacDonald use four different names for the Aunt over the years and not stick with one? Why did he use two last names for James? We checked both Ancestry and the Canadian Census and came up with no results for any of the names.  Also, why did he change the location of James' residence from what’s implied to be the General Store to a cabin called the “Crannog”?  And why was how the Aunt met Sir Arthur Conan Doyle changed?

We may never know what truly happened on those visits over 100 years ago, but if you have any insight on Sir Arthur Connan Doyle’s visits to Silver Islet, or about any haunted location in our region, please leave a comment or email us at research@tbpl.ca.