The tragic deaths of Stephen and Minnie Harvey

Sometimes graves give us more questions than answers. One such case is that of Stephen Osbourne Harvey and Minnie Edith Harvey.

We don’t know very much about Osbourne prior to his arrival in Canada. He was born in Lee-on-Sea, Essex, England, and spent 16 years with the British Army, including 13 with the Essex Regiment. He immigrated to Red Deer, where he was living when he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.). It was noted on Harvey’s attestation papers that both his arms and legs were heavily tattooed, including the King on his left arm and the Queen on his right.

At the time of his enlistment, Harvey was married to Minnie and they had a two-year-old daughter named Marjory Francis Creda Harvey. Minnie was also born in England, but nothing more is noted about her background other than that she immigrated with her husband.

Harvey sailed from Halifax on the S.S. Olympic on Dec. 20, 1916 and saw combat in France as a Company Sergeant Major, at times enduring heavy shellfire.  He was sent back to Canada suffering from neurasthenia, a general fatigue syndrome, and defective vision, but remained in the C.E.F. with the Command HQ in Calgary. He was released on Feb. 24, 1919.

Upon his release, Harvey returned to work at P. Burns Co. before taking a position as an instructor at a vocational school in East Calgary as a vulcanizing department instructor.

At 11 A.M. on Feb. 23, 1920, C. Iverson, who was also an employee of the school, stopped at the Harvey residence to obtain some keys. He knocked on the front door but, received no answer. Thinking he heard a child crying, Iverson walked in to find Harvey and his wife dead on their bed. Both of them were partially clothed, indicating that they had not died in their sleep.

Harvey’s face was noted as being discoloured and horrible to look at. Minnie was lying face down and, while there was blood on her face, her body had no marks on it. It was believed she had died not long before being discovered. Initially, it was theorized that Harvey, and possibly Minnie, had been poisoned and the original theory was that this was a double suicide. However, no reason as to why the couple would do this could be discovered. It was noted that Harvey had been drinking the night before and it was believed this was how the poison was taken.

At the time of her parents’ death, Marjory, who was now six years old, was visiting a family friend, Mrs. Ethel Gray, who kept her overnight when the Harveys did not arrive to collect her. The Harveys had been expected to come and visit that evening, but had not showed up. Marjory returned home at about 9 A.M. the following morning and, sadly, was the first to find her parents. It had been Marjory’s crying that had alerted Iverson that all was not right at the Harvey home. Fortunately, the little girl was not injured.

An inquest was held and the evidence from the autopsy indicated poisoning either through carbon monoxide or an ingested poison. The house was investigated by the Calgary Gas Co., which discovered that the fireplace was in poor shape and the chimney was completely blocked. The gas was escaping from the flue vent pipes into the home, tragically overpowering the Harveys and resulting in their deaths.

The date of their death was Harvey’s 38^th birthday.

While Harvey is buried in the Field of Honour as a war veteran, Minnie’s gravesite is in S section, farther to the south, in an unmarked grave. Possibly the military agreed to bury Harvey, but refused to allow Minnie to be buried with her husband as she would have required her own plot. Minnie’s grave would then have been purchased by the couple’s estate, which did not have or was unwilling to spend the money to erect a headstone.

Marjory’s fate is unknown.