On the evening of December 24, 1924 the Babbs Switch School was having their Christmas program and a student dressed as Santa Claus was handing out gifts to kids. During this part of the program the student accidentally bumped into a Christmas tree that had lighted candles as decorations which began a tragic fire that would take the lives of 36 people.
Babbs Switch Fire
After the fire all people dead, alive, and injured had been accounted for with the exception of one person and that person was 3 year old Mary Edens. Mary's aunt stated that she had Mary in her arms when she passed her through an open window to someone and that was the last Mary was seen by any member of her family. The family believed that a childless couple had taken advantage of the situation and took off with Mary to raise as their own. Mary's parents spent a lot of money on detectives trying to find her but to no avail however in 1957 that would change. A woman from California claimed that she was Mary Edens and a reunion was planned for her and the Edens to meet on a T.V. show called Art Linkletter's House Party. After the show a journalist uncovered that the lady claiming to be Mary was a fraud and contacted Mary's father. Mary's father asked the journalist to not say anything because it would make his wife feel like she had lost a kid a second time. The lady claiming to be Mary would write a book in 1980 called Mary, Child of Tragedy: The Story of the Lost Child of the 1924 Babbs Switch Fire. She would die in Colorado at the age of 86.
Mary Edens Morgan Grossnickle (1921-2008) - Find...
Whatever happened to the real Mary Edens is still not known. Did she end up being taken by a childless couple like her parents suspected? Did she die in the fire? Was her aunt (who died a couple of days later due to severe burns) mistaken about handing the child off to a stranger? Not sure this will ever be solved but perhaps someone here has some ideas.
Babbs Switch Fire
After the fire all people dead, alive, and injured had been accounted for with the exception of one person and that person was 3 year old Mary Edens. Mary's aunt stated that she had Mary in her arms when she passed her through an open window to someone and that was the last Mary was seen by any member of her family. The family believed that a childless couple had taken advantage of the situation and took off with Mary to raise as their own. Mary's parents spent a lot of money on detectives trying to find her but to no avail however in 1957 that would change. A woman from California claimed that she was Mary Edens and a reunion was planned for her and the Edens to meet on a T.V. show called Art Linkletter's House Party. After the show a journalist uncovered that the lady claiming to be Mary was a fraud and contacted Mary's father. Mary's father asked the journalist to not say anything because it would make his wife feel like she had lost a kid a second time. The lady claiming to be Mary would write a book in 1980 called Mary, Child of Tragedy: The Story of the Lost Child of the 1924 Babbs Switch Fire. She would die in Colorado at the age of 86.
Mary Edens Morgan Grossnickle (1921-2008) - Find...
Whatever happened to the real Mary Edens is still not known. Did she end up being taken by a childless couple like her parents suspected? Did she die in the fire? Was her aunt (who died a couple of days later due to severe burns) mistaken about handing the child off to a stranger? Not sure this will ever be solved but perhaps someone here has some ideas.
