For months, Hugh Farley and his family, along with their boarder, Joseph Kairns, would be terrorized by an unseen occupant. It all began in August of 1884, in a frame cottage house on North Halsted Street in Chicago. At first, it was just knocking on the walls, and missing food. Soon it would escalate, leading to the death of multiple pets, and the family refusing to return to their own home.
The Knocking
Joseph Kairn was an early graphic designer, working for different book houses throughout the city. His work would often come home with him, as he worked late into the night on creating designs for book covers, magazines, and pamphlets. The Farley family was used to Joseph’s schedule, and would even set out a small meal for him to have at night.
On August 23rd or 24th, Joseph would switch up his routine a little bit. For two weeks prior, he had put in a great amount of work, and finally had a chance to relax. Taking advantage of his first night off in a while, Joseph went to the Academy of Music, and wouldn’t get home until later than usual.
As was usual, a small meal had been placed in Joseph’s room. He wouldn’t have the energy to eat anything, and immediately fell into a deep sleep. But that sleep would be short-lived. After just half an hour, Joseph would wake with a start, and would be unable to fall back asleep.
Still groggy, he had a faint recollection of hearing three slaps on the wall near his head. But Joseph had been tired, so he paid no real attention to it. The next morning, after getting dressed for the day, Joseph would discover that the milk that had been set out for him was gone, and his sandwich was now on the floor. The plate it had been set on had shattered. He chalked it up to one of the Farley kids having come in while he was out.
The next few nights would be quiet. But the stillness did not last. A few nights later Joseph would once again wake with a start, and was unable to get back to sleep. According to Joseph, he had never had issues with sleeplessness before, but over the following days, getting a good night’s sleep became increasingly harder.
As with the first occurrence, he would recall hearing knocks on the walls, but things had escalated a bit. Unlike the first time, he would now feel as if there was some presence in the room with him. Joseph would always be certain that that couldn’t be a possibility, as he would make sure that not only the door to his room was locked, but that the windows would also be securely fastened. Yet, he just couldn’t shake the feeling.
Spiritualism
While Joseph wouldn’t claim to be a Spiritualist, it was something he had dabbled in, and was even told that he was “mediumistic.” With the repeated nightly knockings, he would begin to think that maybe he was being contacted from the other side.
Now, Joseph had been diagnosed with consumption some time back, and had been considering moving to Florida, as it was believed it would help with his symptoms. Having this move in mind, he would begin thinking that maybe the nightly occurrences may have been a spirit attempting to communicate and guide him.
This view would be bolstered by a few of his friends who had more fully adopted the idea of Spiritualism. Joseph would mention not only the knocking, but also what he felt as a tugging of the sheets at the end of his bed. His friends would be ecstatic, and congratulated him on his good fortune.
They would drill him with questions, asking if he had anyone on his mind when the occurrences happened, or if he happened to be thinking of the same thing each time. He’d confess that he had been thinking of moving to Florida for some time. That was the end of the discussion. Joseph’s friends would say that was it, some friendly spirit was attempting to advise him to move. They were convinced that if he only followed that advice, he would recover his health.
Something More Sinister
While Joseph would be comforted by his friend’s suggestions, the assurance wouldn’t last. Not long after he would have quite the scare. Having put the light out in his room, he would hear, not long after, the plate and glass on the stand near his bed rattle. Lifting himself in bed, he would see “two sparks of fire” in the darkness.
Becoming alarmed, Joseph leaped out of bed and lit the lamp in his room. There was nothing to see though. Even after a thorough search of his room, there was no one and nothing that could be found.
Meanwhile, the family would continue to find milk missing. Often, the glass of milk left in Joseph’s room would be emptied, and Joseph would suspect the children had done something with it. But Mrs. Farley would also find milk missing as well, including a full quart that was on the dining room table, along with a “mess of frogs.” Mrs. Farley would be certain it was Joseph who had been guilty of taking the milk, and would even feel put out by the whole experience.
But soon, they would find out there was more going on, and it couldn’t be pinned on anyone in the house. Eventually, Joseph would suggest that the house must have mice or rats getting in, even though no such pests had ever been seen. Multiple searches would be had, as the nighttime occurrences began increasing.
Joseph would begin hearing things outside of his room, while Mr. Farley would even step on something that he thought was a rat at the time, but after looking, couldn’t find any trace of it. One night, the Farley’s little girl, Minnie, would fall asleep on the spring lounge in the dining room, when she was startled awake. They would be convinced that a rat must have gotten under her, or into the lounge, but pounding on it didn’t reveal anything. They suspected that it must have escaped somehow.
Wanting to put everything to rest, Mrs. Farley would end up getting a kitten. It would prove to be of little help, as it fell into frequent fits and seemed to be terrified of something within the house. It would be the lounge that the kitten would have the largest aversion to, even clawing away from anyone who held it and tried to sit down on the lounge.
At night, the fits from the kitten would be the worst, and at times it would sound as if it was struggling with a large rat. Yet, nothing would ever be found, and everyone just became used to the kitten’s nightly fits.
Joseph would eventually once again feel something move at the end of his bed. This time though, he discovered a hole in the end of his mattress, and was horrified to think that a rat had been nesting in it. Yet, once again, no rat could be found. And then, things began to from bad to worse.
Death
Shortly after finding the hole in Joseph’s mattress, the family would hear a large commotion among their pet birds. It would sound as if a rat had gotten into their cage, yet when everyone rushed to the parlor, no intruder could be found. The cage would be moved to a safer place, but that night, one of the birds would disappear while the other would be found lying at the bottom of the cage with its legs and wings broken. The family would try to doctor it up, and place the cage in yet a safer place, but the next night it too had disappeared.
A day later, their kitten would be found dead, having swollen up to a great size. Mrs. Farley was certain that something devilish, poisonous, was within their home. She would take her children to her sister’s house, while Mr. Farley and Joseph searched the home as best as they could. Again, nothing would be found.
Out of ideas, they would resort to once again buying a cat, but this time, they chose a big and powerful one. They would leave the cat in the house as they attended the theater, hoping their problems would be solved.
Upon returning home, the family’s blood would freeze; their dreadful companion, who had lived with them for months, was finally revealed. It wasn’t a friendly spirit, or even a rat. What they witnessed was so much more dangerous. As the family peered into the well-lit dining room, they witnessed their cat entangled with a large rattlesnake.
The cat had the snake’s head in its mouth, and was chewing on its neck, yet the serpent continued to struggle fiercely. Mr Farley and Joseph would unload their revolvers on the snake. After the smoke cleared, the snake would be dead, as was the cat. It was assumed, based on the snake’s rattle, that it was seven years old. It was just an inch short of four feet.
So how did the snake get into the house? The family was convinced it had come in with the new husk mattress that was bought for Joseph. The family would be so terrified that the snake’s mate was still in the house that they refused to return to the house, and Joseph would simply move away.