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Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Still More Dreams, Visions or Voices That Seemed to Foretell a Death

Dozens of examples of dreams or visions or mysterious voices that seemed to foretell a death are discussed in my posts herehere and here. Let us look at some more examples of dreams, visions or voices that seemed to foretell a death. 

In the book Glimpses of the Unseen, we have this account:

"My  eldest  brother,  Levi,  was  drowned  about  midnight  on  Saturday,  Sept. 10th,  1881, when  the  steamer  Columbia  foundered  on  Lake  Michigan.  That night  my  sister,  while  sleeping,  saw  him  drowning.  The  awful  sight  aroused  her from  slumber,  and  she  sprang  out  of  bed  screaming  with  fright  ;  and  as  Mr. Parkhill,  awakened  by  her  cries,  anxiously  asked,  ' What  is  the  matter?'  she told  him  that  she  had  seen  Levi  drowning  and  felt  sure  that  she  would  never behold  him  alive  again.  He  tried  to  dissuade  her  from  the  impression  ;  but  she  never  wavered  in her  belief  that  Levi  was  drowned  at  the  time  of  her  dream.  On  Monday  the  following  telegram  was  received  :   'The  Columbia foundered  Saturday  night  and  your  brother  Levi  is  drowned.' My  sister  was  living  at  Randwick,  Ont.,  and  my  brother  was  drowned  near Frankfort,  Mich.,  some  hundreds  of  miles  away."

In the same book we have an account by this same sister of another paranormal incident occurring about a year later. This incident was apparently not a dream, but a case of a spontaneous clairvoyant vision while awakeWe read this: 

"On  September  14th,  1882,  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  in  the  day, as  I  was  in  the  kitchen  helping  with  the  dinner  a  peculiar  sensation  passed  over me,  and...I  exclaimed  :   'Oh.  I  feel  so  strange'...As  I  stood  there  I  seemed  to  lose  sight  of  the  mill,  lawn,  and  everything before  me,  and  I  distinctly  saw  William  tossing  on  great  waves.  I  do  not know  whether  I  stood  there  one  minute  or  ten,  hut  this  I  know  that  I  saw William  as  plainly  as  I  ever  saw  him. ... As  I  beheld  him  struggling  in  the  waves,  I seemed  to  be  quite  near  and  gazed  horror-stricken  at  the  awful  sight.  At  length I  saw  him  throw  up  his  hands  and  sink  beneath  the  waters."

The sister asserted to others that she had seen William drowning, but they told her this couldn't be right. Later the sister soon learned William had indeed died at the time she had the vision:

"When  the  body  of  William  was  found,  his  watch  was  stopped  at  the  hour I  saw  him  drowning  ;  and  Mr.  Tinkiss  and  Miss  Morrison,  the  only  two  surviving passengers  ot  the  ill-fated  steamer,  stated  that  it  was  on  Thursday  at  the hour  I  have  named  when  the  steamer  was  wrecked  on  the   Georgian  Bay.   I  never  could  understand  or  explain  the  phenomenon  ;  but  this  I  know,  that I  never  saw  anything  more  distinctly  in  my  life  than  the  scene  I  have  faintly described  to  you." 

In the same book, we have on page 115 an account of a man who heard a mysterious voice which could not be connected to any person or apparition, one which simply announced that the man's grandmother had died:

"I  am  his  oldest  child,  and  I  well  remember  one  Sunday  morning  hearing him  relate  the  following  experience  to  my  mother  : 'I  was  awakened  about  three  o'clock  by  a  loud  rapping  at  the  door  of  my bedroom.  I  sat  up  in  bed,  and  asked,  '  Who's  there  ?  '  I  heard  the  answer distinctly  and  very  definitely  :  '  Your  grandmother  is  dead.'  I  got  up  and opened  the  door,  but  could  find  no  one  ;  and  I  heard  no  more.'

He  aroused  my  mother  and  told  her  at  once  the  strange  story  I  heard  him repeating  in  the  morning.  He  told  the  story  to  his  brother  and  other  neighbors after  church  the  same  day.  Some  of  these  neighbors  had  known  his  grandmother in  Ireland.  In  due  time  a  letter  came  announcing  the  old  lady's  death. Making  the necessary  allowance  for  the  difference  in  time  in  Ireland  and  in Canada,  she  died  at  the  exact  time  the  announcement  was  made  to  him."

We read the following account in an 1889 book, describing a doctor who had a dream that seemed to allegorically indicate he might soon die, a dream occurring within a few days of his death: 

"Dr. A. M. Blackburn, of Cresco, Iowa, a well-known physician of that town, dreamed that he was called to visit a little girl in the neighboring town of Ridgeway. On his return he came to a broad river which it was impossible to cross. While waiting on the banks, an old friend, long since dead, appeared and assisted him in crossing. When the doctor arose in the morning he related his dream, and so strongly was he impressed with its prophetic meaning that he secured a policy on his life, talked over and arranged his business, and having adjusted all his affairs, he awaited the fatality he said was sure to overtake him. A day or two after, he was called to Ridgeway to visit a little girl, and on his return his horse ran away and he was killed. There is an allegorical element in this dream, and the presence of a departed friend who assists him over the stream, gives it a poetic cast. Yet who can say that it was not realized ?"

In the same book we read the following account quoted from a newspaper story, describing a sister who had a dream matching the details of her brother's accidental death:

"Yesterday morning W. S. Read, of Oakland, with a companion named Stein, started out from Long Wharf to reach a yacht upon which they were going on a fishing excursion. When about two hundred yards from the wharf the boat was capsized and Read was drowned. He started to swim to the wharf, but when within fifty feet of it he sank and did not rise again. Connected with this sad event is a dream : last Friday night the sister of the deceased dreamed that her brother had gone out in a boat on Sunday, that the boat had been upset and he drowned. So vivid was the impression of the dream, that on Saturday morning she went to her brother's office, told him of it, and implored him not to go out, but he laughed at her fears as the result of a disordered mind."

As you can see using the link here, George K. Cherrie was a very down-to-earth naturalist mainly interested in describing birds. He describes a dream he had three times on October 10th:

“I was back at my boyhood home, standing in the shadow of the great elms that surrounded it. I was being greeted by my old dog with tumultuous joy. The front door was open. As I entered, the figure of a woman rose before me and I felt the grasp of her hand in mine. No word was spoken while I was led unresisting to my mother’s bedroom, a sanctuary of peace and quiet, dimly lighted as of old when she had led me there to soothe and calm me after some childish tragedy. There my mother lay, her bed between the two windows, her face still and white, reflecting utter peace. Instantly I knew that she was dead. I felt no sense of overwhelming grief — rather a feeling of infinite peace. No one seemed to be present; even the shadowy form of the woman who had led me to the bedside seemed to fade away and I was alone. I awakened and remained awake a short time only. Three times during that night the selfsame dream was repeated, and each time the scene was the same.”

We read of this aftermath:

"Ten weeks later a letter from his sister told of the death of their mother on the night of October 10th. Every detail that he saw in his dream was confirmed, even to the circumstance of his mother’s bed having been placed between the two windows."

In the very interesting book Man's Survival After Death by Charles Tweedale, we have on pages 250-254 an account of a man who had signed on to be a crew member of a ship, but who was reluctant to assume the job because of a dream he had about dying in a storm while at such a job. The man took the job, and shortly thereafter died in a manner closely resembling the dream.  Pages 255-257 give a similar case of a dream matching a death that soon occurred. 

On page 339 of the document here, we read the following about a dream that seemed to foretell the precise time of a death:

"The following curious dream-story is related by Mr. A. MacHardy, Chief Constable of Inverness :— 'On Thursday, September 22, 1892 (the first of the two days of the Northern Meeting at Inverness), I got home to my house about 11 p.m...Went to bed about 12 o'clock, and I was not long in going to sleep, and dreamt that I was in the Northern Meeting park and saw the Marquis and Marchioness of Stafford in the grand stand, she having a child by the hand. I felt that I was immediately commanded to go and tell the Marquis that his father, the Duke of Sutherland, died at half-past 10 o’clock last night....I then awoke and felt excited and much agitated, and began thinking over my dream. Within a few minutes my telephone bell rang loudly, and thinking it was a fire alarm, I got out of bed, looked out of each of the two windows of my room, but could see no fire. The bell continued ringing till I got downstairs to the telephone, in the lobby. I spoke, saying, 'Well, who is there ? ’ The answer was, 'I’m MacAulay' (who was my deputy, and was on duty at the Northern Meeting ball). ‘ I am very sorry to trouble you, but I am sure you will be sorry to hear that the Duke of Sutherland died at half-past ten last night.' "

On page 43 of the document here, Maxwell Knight describes how he heard a Mrs. Wilde tell of a prophetic dream. In the dream Mrs. Wilde dreamed of a mother who had a child two weeks previously.  After describing seeing a tombstone in the dream, she stated this:

"Hardly had I spoken, when I beheld with horror the tombstone slowly falling forward. I watched it, fascinated, I could not move, or even cry out. Slowly and deliberately the stone fell; crushing J— ’s head beneath it. Then I heard my friend’s voice, and felt her pulling at my arm as though to drag me from the ill-omened spot. ' Come away, dear,’ she said, ' it’s only her head.’ "

Mrs. Wilde then described the tragic aftermath:

"The postman arrived and a letter was handed to me which I saw with a start of apprehension was from Mrs. R — . I opened it ; it merely said that ' Poor J— had had a relapse, that two nurses and a specialist were in attendance.’ It concluded with the sentence: ' Of course we are all very worried, but you will quite understand, it’s only her head ’ !  With a sudden shock, the words spoken in my dream flashed into my thoughts. ....Three days later I heard that poor J— was dead."

Page 329 of the document here tells of a dreamed that seemed to foretell a death:

"Another remarkable dream was recounted to me by a lady who quoted it as the one psychic experience of her life. Her parents had been sent for to go and see a married brother who was very ill. They drove over in the evening, and as they did not intend to return that night, she retired early and was soon asleep. In her sleep she saw her brother’s sick-room, and her parents in it. She noticed each little detail, who came in and out, and she heard the few words muttered by the sick man and the parents’ replies. With them she watched through the night, hearing and seeing what went on, and finally just before dawn her brother said in a loud clear voice : ' I shall never go in the cart again, but into my coffin,' and with that he relapsed into insensibility and died, and her dream ended. An hour or two later she heard her parents return, and getting up and throwing on a dressing-gown she went to meet them.  Before they could speak she said hurriedly, ' Don’t say a word ! Wait, and I will tell you my dream,' and to their astonishment she related what had passed in her brother’s room, and they confirmed the accuracy of every word and detail."

On page 145 of the document here, Elizabeth Keith Morris gives this account:

"It was during my next term at school that I spent an unforgettable night, tossing in bed and unable to get any sleep. Two other girls shared my room and one of them inquired what was the matter.  'Some dreadful thing has happened in my family to-night,' I exclaimed. ' One of them has been killed. I don’t know which one it is, but I shall hear in the morning.' The girls good-naturedly tried to persuade me that for once my feeling must be wrong. But I refused to be comforted and lay awake until the rising bell rang. During the morning a cable arrived at my home, informing my father that my eldest brother had been killed the evening before. His death had been instantaneous."

On page 387 of the document here, we read two other accounts of dreams that seemed to foretell a death:

"The town of Cardiff, in January, 1912, was startled by the publication of details of a stränge dream in which a well-known citizen’s death was foretold. At the Offices of the Powell-Duffryn Steam Coal Company, Cardiff Docks, one Saturday morning, the accountants’ staff were getting out the books for the day’s work, when one— a Mr. Francis — said in a casual way, ' What do you think ? I had a strange dream last night. I dreamt that Mr. Gedrych [the chief cashier] is dead.' The remark raised a laugh of incredulity, particularly because Mr. Gedrych was one of the most regulär members of the office staff for over thirty-five years. But within five minutes a telephone message came to the office from Mrs. Gedrych to the effect that her husband was dangerously ill, and asking if Mr. Lloyd, the chief accountant, would kindly go to see him. The message was passed on by a subordinate to Mr. Lloyd, who had not yet heard of Mr. Francis’ dream. He hurried to the house of Mr. Gedrych and learned that that gentleman had expired suddenly. At the time the late William Terriss, the actor, was assassinated at the Adelphi stage-door, the fact was duly recorded that a member of the ill-fated actor’s Company dreamed an exact replica of the whole tragedy the previous night !"

On page 387 of the document here, we are given an account by A. B. Tapping of a dream he had. The dream seemed to depict the death of the noted British stage actor Sir Henry Irving, whose son was Laurence Irving. But the dream took place long after Irving died. Tapping recalls part of the dream like this:

"I looked round again and saw Mr. Laurence Irving, whom I had not noticed particularly during the moumful procession before his father. He was standing alone at the far end of the room. I went towards him and, stretching out my hand appealingly, exclaimed,  'Don’t you see what is happening ? Your father is dying. He has left us for ever.' The son looked past me with amazement in his eyes, and seemed for a moment as if he would collapse ; but suddenly drawing himself up and with a resolute expression on his face, he followed his father with unfaltering steps."

Tapping then soon learned of sinking of the large ship Empress of Ireland. He narrates this:

"On the same morning came the news of the disaster to the Empress of Ireland, but at that time I had no reason to suppose that Mr. Laurence Irving was on the boat. As soon as I heard the news, however, I recollected my dream and told it to the members of my Company, and also to my wife, remarking that I hoped Laurence Irving and his wife were not on board. The dream haunted me all the day, and when it became known that they had actually sailed on the Empress, the news quite unnerved me, as I felt certain it was a message that the young actor and his wife had perished."

Tapping later learned that Laurence Irving was one of roughly 1000 who died in the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, in what was the worst disaster in peacetime Canadian shipping history. An article on www.wikipedia.org confirms this, saying, "He died along with his wife, Mabel, in the RMS Empress of Ireland disaster."

The Empress of Ireland

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