Spookiest Years, Part 3: The Year 1851

It is time for another installment of the intermittently-appearing "Spookiest Years" series on this blog, in which I discuss reports of the paranormal appearing during particular years, with an emphasis on quoting original source materials. This time I focus on the year 1851. In 1851 the newspaper The Spirit Messenger continued to published reports of dramatic events at seances. Page 174 of the January 4, 1851 edition reports spooky events at seances in Boston, including raps seeming to answer questions.  The January 25, 1851 edition on page reports this:

"Some eight of us were seated around a common card table. Numerous rappings were heard on the table and on the floor in various directions, in answer to different questions. Some most beautiful sentences were spelled out in the usual way. Soon the table was observed to move, and at the request of the company, it  moved from one to three feet, more than fifty times, while the feet and hands of the 'Medium' were held fast by some of the company ! The table was frequently raised from the floor more than a foot. In one instance it stood poised on two legs more than five minutes, while an examination was going on underneath for the purpose of detecting the agency by which it was moved. I took hold of it frequently while it was in this position, and found it stood quite firm. When I succeeded in bringing the side that was raised down towards the floor again, it would invariably fly back as soon as my hands were off. The 'Medium,' be it remembered, was an this time held perfectly still by one of the company."

On page 205 of the February 1, 1851 edition, we have an account of a long seance in which mysterious raps seem to answer questions correctly. On page 310 of the May 3, 1851 edition we have this interesting account of paranormal music:

"First there is heard low harmonious hreathings, like the hum of insects. It increases, until it resembles the softest chords of the Aeolian harp. Growing louder, it pervades the room with a full burst of the most  delicious music, as of the sweetest voices and instruments. Then are distinguished the words of the song, more or less plainly, until at last the unseen choir leave the room, and the sounds recede, growing more and more distant, until they are lost. The first manifestation of this kind.... occurred In the city of Troy [in New York state] a few weeks ago, under the following impressive circumstances. It was in an intelligent family, who were all thoroughly sceptical in regard to spiritual manifestations. One day they assembled around the death-bed of a beloved member. Just as she drew her last breath, and her features were setting into the rigidity of the tomb, every person present heard this low breathing, as of angels' harps. Had it been one person, it might have been an illusion of the imagination ; but it was an entire family. The sounds increased, swelling into a harmony. whose only name was heavenly. It continued full, and sweet, and strong, as one can conceive of angelic spirits making, for about a half an hour, when it passed from the room, and gradually faded in the distance, seeming to accompany the released soul in its heavenward flight. Since that time these musical sounds have been frequently repeated in that family, and they are also heard in several places in this city and Brooklyn."

This report was made decades before the invention of the phonograph and the tape recorder. On page 392 of the July 12, 1851 edition we have an account of mysterious occurrences in Providence, Rhode Island, which include a guitar playing by itself, and also levitating about. We read this:

"The instrument was carried by the spirit towards a window, through the upper part of which a dim moonlight shone ; and then we could see the guitar perform sundry fantastic tricks for our amusement. It would move sometimes horizontally and then vertically; it would dance, and then remain at rest ; dart back into the darkness, and then push forward into the dim moonlight, until we were perfectly satisfied with its lively performances·; when it was gently laid upon the table as if the operator wished for further orders."

A similar account appears in the 1853 account here, with the author saying he saw a guitar playing by itself for an hour, as well as moving around mysteriously. 

Page 17 of the edition of August 23, 1851 gives us one of the accounts of a phenomenon that would come to be extremely widely reported, and called "table tipping" or "table turning" (a diminutive phrase to describe the phenomenon, which very often included reports of table levitations or dramatic movements by untouched tables).  We read this:

"There has been considerable stir in town, of late, relative to what are called ' The Tippings.'  The hands of the medium are placed on a stand, and after an interval, the stand will tip in answer to questions, and will sometimes rock to and fro, and turn over upon the floor and rise again. The slighter movements of the stand appear like nothing extraordinary, as any one, without any apparent effort, by laying on his hands, can easily accomplish as much; but the more eccentric movements, such as the rocking to and fro,—the turning over and raising up of the stand, &c, are points which invariably elicit attention and inquiry, and produce the conviction that there is an influence at work beyond mere muscular effort...The 'tippings' first made their appearance in this town, in the family of Mr. John Morey, where, we believe, they have been somewhat accompanied with the Wrappings. This, however, is at present, peculiarly the case in the presence-of Mrs. French Cheney, the lady whom we have frequently alluded to in our columns, and through whom, at our request, the 'rappings' first manifested themselves in this place. She but places the tips of her fingers on the stand, and it will work itself into almost every imaginable posture, and the raps will be frequently heard much louder than when she is mesmerized [hypnotized]."

Page 163 of the November 8, 1851 edition of the Spirit Messenger gives an account by Charles Partridge of a meeting attended by "Judge Edmonds, Dr. and Mrs. Gray, E. Fowler and sister, Mrs. Fox and daughters, Messrs. Gordon and Cooley, Josiah Partridge and my family," among others. We read of a dramatic series of manifestations:

"A suggestion was made to darken the room, to enable us to see the lights which are sometimes produced by the spirits. We accordingly did so; and the lights which had been desired, were at different times and in different places seen, sometimes resembling phosphorescent flames, occasionally forming luminous clouds moving about the room ; sometimes they appeared like bright, glistening stars, and at other times like sparkling crystals or diamonds, &c. Physical manifestations increased in variety and force, and continued for three hours... The card table before mentioned began to move with violent force from one side of our circle (which was large) to the other, rocking and raising up and coming down, and finally the leaf was shut up, the cover turned round to its place, the table was gently turned upside down and laid at our feet....A chair, which stood outside of our circle and several feet from any one, was suddenly moved up to the circle and back, rocked, and finally, with great rapidity, conveyed from one end of the room to the other, winding its way among the people who sat there without touching them ; and yet at times passing with fearful rapidity within an inch or two of our persons. We were touched on different parts of our persons, simultaneously, as by a human hand, so distinctly that its size and temperature could be felt; and this was repeatedly done to different persons under circumstances in which it was not possible that it was done by any one in the form.... Afterward, the bass viol and violin were raised above their heads and out of their reach, (except one end, which sometimes rested on their hand, head or shoulder, often changing,) and in this position they were played and rapped upon as by human fingers, and the lime marked as before. A dinner bell on the shelf was raised up, and rung over their heads, then taken out into the parlor and carried round the room, ringing over the heads of fifteen or twenty persons sitting in the circle there, and then into the adjoining parlor, (where there was no person,) and carried nearly its length and dropped on the floor some fifteen or twenty feet from any human being. Another small bell was taken off the shelf, rung, and placed into and taken out of the hands of several persons. A pocket handkerchief was taken from the Judge's pocket, and tied into many knots, and put back again—a table-brush was taken from the shelf and put into the hands of several persons successive and taken out again, and their hair brushed with it."

Page 184 of the November 22, 1851 edition of The Spiritual Messenger gives us an account from Lebanon, New Hampshire dated October 21, 1851, an account signed by a variety of witnesses:  E. F. Brewster, Ohio; S. O. Hatch, Franklin; J. C. Hatch, S. H. Williams, J. C. Bill, Julia A. Blanchard, Fidelia Blanchard, Caroline Hatch, and Julia A. Williams. We read of a meeting at the house of D. Blanchard attended by Daniel Dunglas Home, whose name is misspelled as D. D. Hume. This may be the first published account of a medium who would go on to worldwide fame, and who would pass with flying colors a series of stringent tests by the world class scientist Sir William Crookes.  Compared to the later marvels observed in the presence of Home, such as Home himself levitating, the results are less dramatic. The main wonder reported (occurring under good light) is this: 

"It was suggested that they were to help in moving the table and an affirmative reply immediately followed. Then commenced larger and more decided movements—the table being slid freely about the floor and raised alternately one side and the other several inches, and at one time it was raised nearly to an angle of forty-five degrees, poised on two side legs, and then by oscillating movements the time was correctly kept to several tunes that were sung by the company."

Around page 198 of an 1853 book we have a discussion of someone who seemed to have been mysteriously moved  in 1851 to write down a record of someone's death, a death they had never learned of from their senses. The book reproduces the letter below:

" Fitchburg, Mass., Feb. 22, 1852. 

Mr. Charles Partridge :

Dear Sir: In reply to your letter of inquiry concerning Mr. Hooper's statement to you, I will say that, on or about the 20th of March last, Mr. Hooper told me that he had, for a number of days, been impelled to write, ' Your father, Thomas Hooper, is dead' and that, on inquiry of the Agency which influenced him to write this, when his father died ? he was further impressed to write, 'March 13th.'  He also told me that, ' he thought he was wrongly impressed, because he had but a short time before received a letter from England, where his father lived, and at the time the letter was written, his father was in his usual health.'

A few weeks after Mr. Hooper made these statements to me, he showed me a letter from a sister in England, informing him that his father died ' the 13th of March.' Of the genuineness of the letter from his sister, I will also add, there can be no question. These are the simple facts in relation to this case, as I know them...

" Yours respectfully, Charles Woodhouse."

A very similar account involving a different person (a Mr. Pecard of Lockport, NY) is told on page 200 of an 1851 book by Joel Tiffany, who earned a living as an official state reporter for the State of New York. We are told that Pecard was told in a seance that his daughter had died; and that upon returning from Rochester to Lockport, he learned that this had had happened.  After opening the book with much philosophical speculation,  the author tells us this:

"Thus during the winter past, I have frequently been present when sounds were produced, in answer to mental, oral, and written questions, entirely disconnected with any apparent physical agency. These sounds have been produced when there were no persons present but myself to hear them, and produced on objects directly under my inspection, so that I could positively know no physical agency was employed in their production. These sounds were frequently so heavy, that is, the concussion was so great, as to cause the table, chair, sofa, or whatever they were produced upon, to vibrate so distinctly as not only to be felt, but also to be seen. While sitting in a room with others, although entirely physically detached from all present, when I could positively know no person or physical agency was connected with the chair upon which I was sitting, sounds, clear, distinct and heavy, have been produced upon my chair, causing it to vibrate, and by placing my hand upon the place where the sounds were being produced, have received the concussion on my hand, and even had communications spelled out upon the back of my hand ; and this in open daylight, and when I was in the full possession of all my physical senses. I have not unfrequently sat by a table under circumstances when I could positively know that no person, either through machinery or otherwise, was in contact with it, when every part of the table was clearly within view, in open daylight, and have heard sounds produced upon the table with so much violence, as to cause ink stands, books and pencils lying upon it, to bound up from the table with much force.

During the same period of time I have witnessed the manifestation of physical power, other than the production of sounds, without any sensible or perceptible physical agency. One class of phenomena very common is the imparting an unnatural weight to material objects. Of this class I have witnessed the holding down of tables with so much force, that they could not be raised from the floor by any application of a power ten times greater than would be required to raise their natural weight ; and I have tested the genuineness of these phenomenal in such a manner as to leave no chance for mistake or doubt." 

On a later page the author recalls seeing a stand mysteriously move in a way that seemed to answer his questions, according to some code. We read this:

"I then arose, set my chair back and requested the spirit to answer my questions by moving the stand for an affirmative, and letting it remain at rest for a negative answer. To this it assented by moving the stand ; during the time, no person was standing within reach of it, and there was no machinery or other physical agency whatever connected with it. This I know, and the same can be attested to by all others present. I then commenced asking questions, which were all properly and correctly answered by moving the stand. This continued for the space of twenty or thirty minutes, during which time the stand in reply to every question requiring an affirmative answer was moved from four to six inches."

Later the author reports witnessing dramatic physical manifestations in Pittsburgh, seeing a heavy mahogany table being mysteriously lifted up and shaken violently. He also reports seeing in some other place a levitation and ringing of an untouched heavy bell.  On another page he reports seeing this:

"All these preliminaries being settled, the bell commenced ringing, the accordion was played, the violin fingered like a guitar, a small toy whip, which happened to be lying under the table at the time, was brandished about from one end of the table to the other, (some twelve feet), and a communication given by alphabet, and all these going on at the same time — after this, the large bell which had frequently moved up and down the table, came gradually up the foot and leg of Dr. W. (who was a member of the circle), until it came to the side of the knee and there it remained suspended without any physical agency, for some moments, until every member of the circle had an opportunity of examining it in that position."

Later the author gives an account very difficult to account for by any method of trickery:

"Again, that the agencies can read our thoughts, may be inferred from the fact, that they can answer mental questions with the same facility they can oral or written ones. I have often mentally questioned these agencies in such a manner as to require affirmative and negative answers promiscuously, through a long series of questions ; and which upon the sense of chance guessing, would render it absolutely impossible for any person to answer correctly. And yet these questions have each received their appropriate answer, rendering it as certain as certain can be, that whatever influence made the sounds in answer to my questions, that influence was dictated by an intelligence which was familiar with my thoughts. Again, I have witnessed answer after answer given by alphabet, when the questions were propounded mentally, from written ones, and that too, under circumstances which precluded all possibility of the medium's knowing any thing of the nature of the questions propounded, and in such cases, the answers given were most astonishingly appropriate and correct."

On pages 236 to 239 the author gives a ringing denunciation of slavery. 

It was not until 1853 that Judge John Edmonds published his two-volume work describing accounts of witnessing paranormal phenomena. But he makes it clear that he took very careful records, and his recollections are not based only on memories, but dated notes taken earlier. In the book he says this about an 1851 event:

"On the 23d of April, 1851, I was one of a party of nine who sat around a center-table, on which a lamp with glass pendants, was burning, and another lamp was burning on the mantlepiece. And there, in plain sight of us all, that table was lifted at least a foot from the floor, and shaken backward and forward as easy as I could shake a goblet in my hands. Some of the party tried to stop it by the exercise of their strength, but in vain, so we all drew back from the table, and by the light of those two burning lamps, we saw that heavy mahogany table susi)ended in the air." 

1851 saw the publication of the book Letters to a Candid Inquirer, on Animal Magnetism, which you can read online here.  The author was William Gregory (1803-1858), a professor of chemistry at the University of Edinburgh (founded in 1582, and the sixth oldest English university).  Some of the many very spooky accounts in the book are discussed in my post here. 

We get a good chronicle of the mysterious events occurring in New York State and New England between 1848 to 1851 in the first half of the 1852 book by John C. Bywater entitled The Mystery Solved, or a Bible Expose of the Spirit Rappings, Showing That They Are Not Caused by the Spirits of the Dead, But by Evil Demons or Devils. The second half of the book (attempting a  "demons did it" explanation) is pretty worthless, but the first half of the book provides some careful documentation of the mysterious events occurring between 1848 and 1852, helping to show the lack of any credible natural explanation for such events. 

The events described above (involving such as table levitations and tables standing on two legs at a 45 degree angle) were dramatic, but far more dramatic things were reported in the following years, with things seeming to get more and more spectacular as the years passed, as I will discuss in later installments of this intermittently-appearing "Spookiest Years" series. For two earlier installments of this series, see my posts here and here.