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In this article, we are heading to eastern Canada to chat about an old mystery I thought was interesting when I learned about it. Imagine spending a quiet day fishing only to discover a coffin floating onto the nearby beach. A coffin that had gone missing for 8 years.
Like many urban legends and mysteries, this one started with a disappearance and a subsequent search that went on for years. Later, it became a story that would explode beyond proportion. However, the actual story is just as fascinating as the legend.
This urban legend came up in a search for Canadian legends and mysteries, just like the Wendigo of Fort Kent. Just like that supposed legend, the true story goes a little differently when you are willing to dig into historical newspaper articles and archives.
The Life and Death of Charles Coghlan
Charles Coghlan was an actor back in the 1800s. Although there were some articles indicating he was Canadian, the truth is that he was born in France back on June 11, 1842. His father was originally from Dublin, Ireland, and his mother had been born on one of the islands of the English Channel. Charles had been groomed to take on a profession in law, but his heart was set on a different lifestyle – acting in theatre.
Not only did he love to act, but he also loved to write plays. Throughout his career, he wrote and adapted many plays and acted in them. He travelled worldwide, including to Prince Edward Island here in Canada.
The story says that he fell in love with the hamlet of Fortune Bridge, where an actor’s colony had developed – the Fortune Bay Colony. One source from 1981 stated that Charles was the one who started the colony himself. While there, he wrote plays that would later be shown on tour around the United States and Canada. He had even gone so far as to buy a small farm in the area before travelling to the United States with his company for one of his new plays. Unfortunately, he would never see Fortune Bridge again or the Bay Fortune, the nearby beach area.
Before leaving Fortune Bridge, Charles had supposedly claimed he would be returning to his home no matter what. Perhaps this is when the mystery really began, but while he was staying in Galveston, Texas, he had become ill. He had been there to act in his play, The Royal Box, but never went to take the stage. Another actor took his place, and Charles remained ill for a month, unable to travel nor act.
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