Explore the beginnings of the Spiritualist religion with this look at its history in upstate New York.
Advent of Modern Spiritualism
On March 31, 1848, in a small cottage in the hamlet of Hydesville, two young girls made a concrete connection to spirit.
The Fox family had heard raps in the cottage during the long, cold winter, but couldn’t find the cause of them. Other phenomena also occurred—furniture moving, the sound of footsteps walking down the hallway and down the cellar stairs, and the touch of a cold hand upon skin.
Previous occupants of the cottage had experienced similar spirit manifestations, and had moved out.
But on the evening of March 31, Catherine Fox (who was 12 years old) decided to see if the cause of the rappings could hear her. “Mr. Splitfoot (their nickname for the ghost), do as I do,” she said, clapping her hands. The spirit responded, clapping the same number of times. Then her sister, Margaretta (14 years old), told the spirit to do as she did and rapped her hand against the other four times without making noise. The spirit responded with four raps, proving it could see as well as hear.
Margaret Fox (their mother) started asking the spirit questions: whether it was in spirit, if it was injured in the house, how old it was, and other information. By using the alphabet to spell out words, the spirit told them that he was a 31-year-old father of five children who had been murdered in the house and buried in the cellar. His name was Charles Rosna.
Spiritualist Manifestations Shared with Communuity
The Fox family then invited the neighbors into the house so that they could experience and verify the phenomena.
Later on, the Fox sisters moved to Rochester, N.Y., with their sister, Leah. The phenomena continued at her house and became known throughout the community. Friends of the Fox’s, Isaac and Amy Post, suggested that they try using the alphabet as they had done in the Hydesville cottage.
The first spirit message they received was: Dear friends, you must proclaim these truths to the world. This is the dawning of a new era. You must not try to conceal it any longer. When you do your duty, God will protect you and the good spirit will watch over you.
And so the sisters complied, even though they were accused by some of trickery, fraud, joint cracking and ventriloquism.
First Public Spiritualist Demonstrations
They organized the first public meeting for Modern Spiritualism in Corinthian Hall in Rochester, N.Y., in 1849. Several noted and respected members of the community spoke about the rappings and the sisters demonstrated the rappings to a committee of five upstanding men. They reported favorably on the manifestations, causing threatening cries from the audience. Two more committees formed, on subsequent evenings, and came back with similar favorable findings—even after examining the sisters’ clothing and taunting them.
Regardless of the sisters’ tribulations, Modern Spiritualism had been born and was spreading its roots. Just a few months after later, the sisters became in high demand and began traveling around the region demonstrating spiritual phenomena.
Their sister, Leah, became their manager and spokesperson until 1858.
Lives of the Fox Sisters
Margaretta Fox demonstrated spiritualist phenomena until 1853, when she became engaged to Dr. Elisha Kane, an arctic explorer who asked her to give up the demonstrations. She agreed, and he went off on an arctic adventure, forcing her to leave her family and start schooling. Kane returned two years later, but his family disapproved of Margaretta and forced her to sign a public statement saying that they were never engaged. Kane died in 1857, causing her much grief. Eventually, she returned to doing demonstrations and holding circles, even visiting England.
Catherine Fox continued demonstrating Spiritualist phenomena, moving to London, England, in 1871. In 1872, she married Henry Jencken, and continued her mediumship work. Jenkcen died in 1881 and Catherine moved back to New York four years later and continued holding circles. She suffered from bouts of alcoholism and died in 1892.
Reference: Morris Pratt Institute Educational Course on Modern Spiritualism.
Previously published on Suite101.com.