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The Haddock Family
Page 4

Emotionally, Amelia Haddock must have been an exceptionally strong woman. She married at 17 and suffered more mental anguish than any one person should have to bear: twins who died just hours after birth; five children taken by diphtheria; her husband and a son claimed by the sea; another daughter for undisclosed reasons. At the age of 42, when her husband drowned, she was left with two daughters, ages 13 and two years. The 13-year-old Jessie died seven years later, leaving just Amelia and Hilda. One can only imagine how terrified she must have been that this last child would also be taken from her.

Sources indicate that Amelia Haddock went blind before her death at the age of 61. She died of heart failure on 14 January 1901. It is a documented fact that diphtheria often affected the heart. It is entirely possible, then, that some lingering effects of this dread disease eventually claimed the second last Haddock child and, finally, their mother.

Hilda, now the sole survivor of the family, then put the homestead up for sale. Considering the heartache suffered in her family, she was no doubt ready for a fresh start. Sam Lake had recently returned from western Canada with the body of his brother, Tom, who had died from typhoid fever. He (Sam) bought the Haddock place sometime between 1903 and 1917. The land was used as pasture and a hay meadow for years. Uncle Sam built a house farther in on the land, in the proximity of what is now #60 Confederation Street. What happened to Dr. Haddock's house is unknown, but it was most likely torn down.

Lake's farmland was sold around 1973 or 1974 to be developed as building lots. The house at #5 Farm Road has four graves in the backyard. This area would probably have been somewhere behind the Haddock house. Human bones were uncovered when excavating the land for building. Because of indications that diphtheria victims had been buried there, the Department of Health sent officials to test samples. No trace of the disease could be found.

Merrill and Sandra Durnford bought the house at #5 Farm Road from Kurt Crews in 1978. After moving in, they experienced several unexplained happenings such as doors slamming for no apparent reason, and extremely cold drafts. One day Sandra left her laundry basket on the bridge, locked the door, and went shopping. When she returned, she unlocked the door and found the basket in the porch with a bag on flour beside it. A welcoming neighbour might leave the flour, but would not have had a key to get in. The incident was never explained, nor repeated. After several months, these strange things ceased happening.

Sandra's co-workers in the fish plant sometimes teased her about living in a graveyard. Her husband tried to explain away the mounds of earth in the backyard by reminding her that, since the land was once a farm, they were probably just old potato beds. She was out in the backyard one day when someone asked, 'Do you know you're sitting on graves?'

Natural curiosity led Sandra to ask questions. She talked to Jane Lake, wife of Uncle Sam's son Hedley. Jane told her that a family had lived on the land more than a hundred years earlier. She also learned that some members of the family had died of some terrible disease, and were buried there on the land. Bunches of yellow flowers used to grow on the graves at one time, Jane told her, possibly put there by some surviving family member in memory of departed loved ones. It is easy to imagine Amelia Haddock adorning the final resting place of her children, and possibly her husband, with flowers.

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Town of Fortune

The Haddock FamilyPage 4

The Haddock Family
Page 4