In previous posts in this intermittently appearing "Spookiest Years" series here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here & here I had looked at some very spooky events reported between 1848 and 1873. Let me pick up the thread and discuss some spooky events reported in the year 1874. My post will be a long one, because this year 1874 was perhaps the most notable one in the history of the paranormal.
At the beginning of 1874, there occurred in the January, 1874 edition of the Quarterly Journal of Science the publication of the paper "NOTES OF AN ENQUIRY INTO THE PHENOMENA CALLED SPIRITUAL, DURING THE YEARS 1870-73" by William Crookes, one of the greatest scientists of the nineteenth century, the main discover of the element thallium and the inventor of the Crookes tube that was an early ancestor of every television set. The paper can be read here. Crookes states this:
"My principal object will be to place on record a series of actual occurrences which have taken place in my own house, in the presence of trustworthy witnesses, and under as strict test conditions as I could devise. Every fact which I have observed is, moreover, corroborated by the records of independent observers at other times and places. It will be seen that the facts are of the most astounding character, and seem utterly irreconcilable with all known theories of modern science. ...Except where darkness has been a necessary condition, as with some of the phenomena of luminous appearances, and in a few other instances, everything recorded has taken place in the light. ”
Crookes then lists some classes of phenomena he was witnessed in good light in his own home:
Class I: "The Movement of Heavy Bodies with Contact, but without Mechanical Exertion." Crookes makes this remarkable statement about such a class of events: "These movements (and indeed I may say the same of every kind of phenomenon) are generally preceded by a peculiar cold air, sometimes amounting to a decided wind."
Class II: "The Phenomena of Percussive and other Allied Sounds." Crookes notes the extremely varied nature of such spooky sounds, and that they are much more than just "raps." Crookes notes that such spooky sounds occurred with great volume and variety, coming from a great variety of objects and directions, particularly whenever the medium Kate Fox was around. See the quote here and the next several pages for identical testimony by a former US congressman, who testified to hearing such inexplicable noises in a huge variety of places, particularly whenever Kate Fox was around. See the quote here by another author who describes very loud sounds coming from all different directions in the presence of Kate Fox, and who describes the mysterious sounds giving information known only to the author. See the end of my post here for a discussion of how Canadian author Susanna Moodie reported a series of the most inexplicable and startling successes occurring when she tested the medium Kate Fox. Crookes says, "With a full knowledge of the numerous theories which have been started, chiefly in America, to explain these sounds, I have tested them in every way that I could devise, until there has been no escape from the conviction that they were true objective occurrences not produced by trickery or mechanical means." He notes that these mysterious sounds often seem to be able to answer questions: "By a pre-arranged code of signals, questions are answered, and messages given with more or less accuracy." Most commonly this involved someone reciting the alphabet over and over, writing down which letters were followed by one of the mysterious noises.
Class III: "The Alteration of Weight of Bodies." Crookes refers to previously published work he did documenting this phenomenon. You can read about his very careful experiments documenting a paranormal alteration of weights in his 1871 work "Experimental Investigations of Psychic Force," which can be read here.
Class IV: "Movements of Heavy Substances when at a Distance from the Medium." Debunking the groundless legend that the physicist Michael Faraday showed that mysterious movements of tables could be explained by a theory of unconscious muscular "ideomotor force" produced by people touching the table, Crookes tells us this:
"The instances in which heavy bodies, such as tables, chairs, sofas, &c. have been moved, when the medium has not been touching them, are very numerous. I will briefly mention a few of the most striking. My own chair has been twisted partly round, whilst my feet were off the floor. A chair was seen by all present to move slowly up to the table from a far corner, when all were watching it; on another occasion an arm chair moved to where we were sitting, and then moved slowly back again (a distance of about three feet) at my request. On three successive evenings a small table moved slowly across the room, under conditions which I had specially pre-arranged, so as to answer any objection which might be raised to the evidence. I have had several repetitions of the experiment considered by the Committee of the Dialectical Society to be conclusive, viz., the movement of a heavy table in full light, the chairs turned with their backs to the table, about a foot off, and each person kneeling on his chair, with hands resting over the backs of the chair, but not touching the table."
Class V: "The Rising of Tables and Chairs off the Ground, without Contact with any Person." Further debunking the groundless legend that Faraday explained phenomena involving mysterious table movements, Crookes states this:
"On five separate occasions, a heavy dining-table rose between a few inches and 1.5 feet off the floor, under special circumstances, which rendered trickery impossible. On another occasion, a heavy table rose from the floor in full light, while I was holding the medium’s hands and feet. On another occasion the table rose from the floor, not only when no person was touching it, but under conditions which I had pre-arranged so as to assure unquestionable proof of the fact."
Class VI: "The Levitation of Human Beings." Crookes tells us this astonishing narrative:
"On one occasion I witnessed a chair, with a lady sitting on it, rise several inches from the ground. On another occasion, to avoid the suspicion of this being in some way performed by herself, the lady knelt on the chair in such manner that its four feet were visible to us. It then rose about three inches, remained suspended for about ten seconds, and then slowly descended. At another time two children, on separate occasions, rose from the floor with their chairs, in full daylight, under (to me) most satisfactory conditions ; for I was kneeling and keeping close watch upon the feet of the chair, and observing that no one might touch them. The most striking cases of levitation which I have witnessed have been with Mr. Home. On three separate occasions have I seen him raised completely from the floor of the room. Once sitting in an easy chair, once kneeling on his chair, and once standing up. On each occasion I had full opportunity of watching the occurrence as it was taking place."
You might dismiss such reports were it not that very many other witnesses reported seeing the same person (Daniel Dunglas Home) levitating. I have quoted the original versions of some of the earlier accounts of Home levitating in previous installments of this "Spookiest Years" series (here, here and here). Crookes states this:
"There are at least a hundred recorded instances of Mr. Home’s rising from the ground, in the presence of as many separate persons, and I have heard from the lips of the three witnesses to the most striking occurrence of this kind—the Earl of Dunraven, Lord Lindsay, and Captain C. Wynne— their own most minute accounts of what took place. To reject the recorded evidence on this subject is to reject all human testimony whatever; for no fact in sacred or profane history is supported by a stronger array of proofs."
The extent to which such very important observations have been censored from mainstream textbooks and articles is something that sheds light on the enormous power of a prevailing ideological regime to control narratives, repressing reports that defy its claims.
Class VII: "Movement of Various Small Articles without Contact with any Person." Crookes suggests that he saw an accordion floating in the air while playing a tune, along with other wonders.
Class VIII: "Luminous Appearances." Among other things, Crookes states, "In the light, I have seen a luminous cloud hover over a heliotrope on a side table, break a sprig off, and carry the sprig to a lady; and on some occasions I have seen a similar luminous cloud visibly condense to the form of a hand and carry small objects about." See Speer's account below for a similar account of a spooky light floating about.
Class IX: "The Appearance of Hands, either Self-Luminous or Visible by Ordinary Light." Crookes discusses seeing spooky hands in regular light, saying this:
"A hand has repeatedly been seen by myself and others playing the keys of an accordion, both of the medium’s hands being visible at the same time, and sometimes being held by those near him. The hands and fingers do not always appear to me to be solid and life-like. Sometimes, indeed, they present more the appearance of a nebulous cloud partly condensed into the form of a hand....I have retained one of these hands in my own, firmly resolved not to let it escape. There was no struggle or effort made to get loose, but it gradually seemed to resolve itself into vapour, and faded in that manner from my grasp."
Class X: "Direct Writing." Crookes cites cases of inexplicable writing he saw. He says, "A luminous hand came down from the upper part of the room, and after hovering near me for a few seconds, took the pencil from my hand, rapidly wrote on a sheet of paper, threw the pencil down, and then rose up over our heads, gradually fading into darkness."
Class XI: "Phantom Forms and Faces." Crookes states this:
"In the dusk of the evening, during a séance with Mr. Home at my house, the curtains of a window about eight feet from Mr. Home were seen to move. A dark, shadowy, semitransparent form, like that of a man, was then seen by all present standing near the window, waving the curtain with his hand. As we looked, the form faded away and the curtains ceased to move. The following is a still more striking instance. As in the former case, Mr. Home was the medium. A phantom form came from a corner of the room, took an accordion in its hand, and then glided about the room playing the instrument. The form was visible to all present for many minutes, Mr. Home also being seen at the same time. Coming rather close to a lady who was sitting apart from the rest of the company, she gave a slight cry, upon which it vanished."
A long scholarly article in an 1875 edition of the Quarterly Journal of Science has a review of reported cases of levitation, and on one page it lists the following reports:
In a January 16, 1874 edition of The Spiritualist. page 33, Stanhope T. Speer, M.D. tells us the following account of events he recently observed (giving his address):
"I wish now to say, that on the 3rd of this month, at a seance held here, under very favourable atmospheric conditions ; a bright light, resembling a cylindrical luminous cake, about three-and-a-half by two inches in size, and surrounded by an oval-shaped luminous envelope, made its appearance, and remained visible, without fading, for upwards of forty minutes. It moved freely about the room in various directions, returning invariably and remaining upon the edge of the table, without (as in former instances) disappearing under the table, for the purpose of acquiring fresh brilliancy. It sometimes advanced, as though walking, to the centre of the table ; rose in the air, placed itself, drapery and all, in the palm of my hand, held up to receive it. It then, at my request, soared upwards and struck the ceiling three times, at the same time striking the chandelier in its passage."
In the April 3, 1874 edition of The Spiritualist we have an article entitled "Spirit Forms" written by the leading 19th century scientist William Crookes. In the first few months of 1874 Crookes had been busy testing the famed medium Florence Cook, doing extensive tests in Crookes' home. The appearance of the "Katie King" phenomenon at that home was the third residence in which that phenomenon had been observed, and presumably ruled out any kind of "trap door" explanation (as Crookes could not have been unaware of such a thing in his own home). Crookes states some observations tending to rule out any possibility that the mysterious Katie King was the same person as Florence Cook:
"On March 12th, during a seance here, after Katie had been walking amongst us and talking for some time, she retreated behind the curtain which separated my laboratory, where the company was sitting, from my library, which did temporary duty as a cabinet. In a minute she came to the curtain and called me to her, saying, ' Come into the room and lift my medium’s head up, she has slipped down.' Katie was then standing before me, clothed in her usual white robes and turban head-dress. I immediately walked into the library up to Miss Cook, Katie stepping aside to allow me pass. I found Miss Cook had slipped partially off the sofa, and her head was hanging in a very awkward position. I lifted her on to the sofa, and in so doing had satisfactory evidence, in spite of the darkness, that Miss Cook was not attired in the ' Katie’ costume, but had on her ordinary black velvet dress, and was in a deep trance. Not more than three seconds elapsed between my seeing the white-robed Katie standing before me, and my raising Miss Cook on to the sofa from the position into which she had fallen.....I went cautiously into the room, it being dark, and felt about for Miss Cook. I found her crouching on the floor. Kneeling down, I let air enter the lamp, and by its light I saw the young lady, dressed in black velvet, as she had been in the early part of the evening, and to all appearance perfectly senseless. She did not move when I took her hand and held the light close to her face, but continued quietly breathing. Raising the lamp, I looked around and saw Katie standing close behind Miss Cook. She was robed in flowing white drapery, as we had seen her previously during the seance. Holding one of Miss Cook’s hands in mine, and still kneeling, I passed the lamp up and down, so as to illuminate Katie’s whole figure, and satisfy myself thoroughly that I was really looking at the veritable Katie whom I had clasped in my arms a few minutes before, and not at the phantasm of a disordered brain. She did not speak, but moved her head and smiled in recognition. Three separate times did I carefully examine Miss Cook crouching before me, to be sure that the hand I held was that of a living woman, and three separate times did I turn the lamp to Katie and examine her with steadfast scrutiny, until I had no doubt whatever of her objective reality....Katie’s height varies; in my house I have seen her six inches taller than Miss Cook. Last night, with bare feet and not ' tip-toeing,' she was four and a half inches taller than Miss Cook. Katie’s neck was bare last night; the skin was perfectly smooth, both to touch and sight, whilst on Miss Cook’s neck is a large blister, which under similar circumstances is distinctly visible, and rough to the touch. Katie’s ears are unpierced, whilst Miss Cook habitually wears earrings. Katie’s complexion is very fair, while that of Miss Cook is very dark. Katie’s fingers are much longer than Miss Cook’s, and her face is also larger."
The reported observations seem to definitively rule out the idea that the mysteriously appearing Katie King was the same person as Florence Cook. A skeptic's only resort here is to claim that Crookes was lying, but other witnesses made reports similar to the one above, as described here. In a June 5, 1874 publication we read a Crookes article entitled "The Last of 'Katie King.' " We read this statement by Crookes:
"During the last six months Miss Cook has been a frequent visitor at my house, remaining sometimes a week at a time. She brings nothing with her but a little hand-bag, not locked; during the day she is constantly in the presence of Mrs. Crookes, myself, or some other member of my family, and, not sleeping by herself, there is absolutely no opportunity for any preparation even of a less elaborate character than would be required for enacting ' Katie King.'...The almost daily seances with which Miss Cook has lately favoured me have proved a severe tax upon her strength, and I wish to make the most public acknowledgment of the obligations I am under to her for her readiness to assist me in my experiments. Every test that I have proposed she has at once agreed to submit to with the utmost willingness ; she is open and straightforward in speech, and I have never seen anything approaching the slightest symptom of a wish to deceive. Indeed I do not believe she could carry on a deception if she were to try, and if she did she would certainly be found out very quickly, for such a line of action is altogether foreign to her nature. And to imagine that an innocent school girl of fifteen should be able to conceive and then successfully carry out for three years so gigantic an imposture as this, and in that time should submit to any test which might be imposed on her, should bear the strictest scrutiny, should be willing to be searched at any time, either before or after a seance, and should meet with even better success in my own house than at that of her parents, knowing that she visited me with the express object of submitting to strict scientific tests,—to imagine, I say, the 'Katie King ' of the last three years to be the result of imposture,—does more violence to one’s reason and common sense than to believe her to be what she herself affirms."
It should be remembered that the investigation by William Crookes of Florence Cook only started in very late 1873, and that we have a steady stream of very detailed published accounts of the "Katie King" materialization phenomenon dating from throughout 1872 and 1873 before his involvement, as documented in my earlier posts "Spookiest Years, Part 10: The Year 1872" and "Spookiest Years, Part 11: The Year 1873," including many accounts found in the 1872 and 1873 editions of the newspaper The Spiritualist. In a June 19, 1874 publication (page 298) we read this statement of S. C. Hall F.S.A:
"I state that I did distinctly see the form said to be a ' materialised spirit' and the form of Florence Cook at the same time. The ' spirit ' was standing in the door-way, and Florence Cook was on the ground at a distance of about four feet from the ' spirit.'.
In the same edition we read that "we read that Florence Cook (daughter of the lawyer Henry Cook) was married to the lawyer Mr. Hackney."
In the April 18, 1874 edition of the Boston publication Banner of Light we read of mysterious phenomena in the house of the Eddy family in Vermont. We read first hand claims by a Mrs. A. N. Tupper to have seen materializations of various forms a few months earlier, one of which came out from behind a curtain, and then reportedly kind of sunk into the floor, in what seemed like an act of dematerialization.
One of the most famous mediums was Kate Fox, present at the Hydesville event of 1848 that seemed like the start of a huge wave of paranormal phenomena. On December 14, 1872 Kate was married to Henry D. Jencken, a lawyer. The May 8, 1874 edition of The Medium and Daybreak reports a remarkable claim regarding the child of this couple. The paper reports that on March 6, 1874 a pencil was mysteriously placed in the hand of the couple's five- month-old child, and that the child wrote the message shown below:
The newspaper article contains an attestation that the words above were written by the five-month-old child, signed by Kate Fox Jencken, a J. Wason and a nurse, dated March 6, 1874, the date of the reported wonder. When evaluating evidence for the paranormal, it is always a strong point when you have written testimony of named witnesses, dated with a date as soon as possible after the described event. A report like this might have no weight coming from the average witness, but so many people reported so many inexplicable things occurring around Kate Fox that the report of this wonder cannot be summarily dismissed.
There follows in the May 8, 1874 edition of The Medium and Daybreak a tale that most may think is too astonishing to believe. We are told that a halo of light was seen around the baby's head, and that streams of light were observed coming from the baby's eyes.
The writer N. B. Wolfe in an 1874 book reports observing some astonishing events at a seance:
"As soon as the room was darkened, 'the birds began to sing!' I never heard such singing — the many voices blending in perfect harmony, clear, loud, musical, and bewitching. It was a love-feast of celestial melody, which we, one and all, enjoyed to the full capacity of our appreciation. This charming concert continued about twenty minutes, unassisted by a human voice, until it suddenly ceased, and Mrs. Hollis seemed to be surrounded by a multitude of spirit-voices, speaking quick, confusedly, and in an undertone.... What next transpired, I will copy from my note-book : ' A spirit-voice began to chant a part of the Episcopal service, and then improvised a rhapsody that was indescribably sweet and beautiful. This musical manifestation continued about ten minutes, during which time we commented freely upon the quality of the voice. The singing had but scarcely ceased, when an indescribable sound, resembling that which is made by a startled flock of birds, was beard, and coinstantial Mrs. Hollis, affrighted, was heard over our heads floating along the ceiling of the room!...This aerial flight continued only for a minute, during which time I ordered her to clap her hands against the ceiling, and mark the wall with the pencil she had in her hand ; all of which she did.' "
Nowadays no one would be too impressed by the auditory part, and might assume that it was trickery involving sounds played back on speakers. But the account was published in 1874, three years before the phonograph was invented, and more than a decade before the tape recorder was invented, when there was no such thing as audio playback.
In a letter published in the July 11, 1874 edition of the Boston newspaper Banner of Light, the author Robert Dale Owen (formerly a US congressman) gave this account:
"After the strictest scrutiny, with every facility promptly afforded me by the mediums, to detect imposition had it been attempted, I here avow my conviction that the phenomena are genuine; that I have again and again, on more than twenty occasions, seen, heard, touched forms to appearance human and material, and to sense tangible; that these forms have stepped up close to me; that I have held conversation with them, occasionally receiving advice, sometimes having my thoughts read and adverted to ; that I have received, written under my very eyes, by a luminous, detached hand, a communication of some length, purporting to come from an eminent English clergyman who died twenty years ago, the style and the signature serving further to attest its genuine character; finally, that I have seen the form which had spoken to me a minute or two before, fade away till it became a dim shadow, to re-appear, a few minutes later, in all its brightness. ................ I have seen, during a single sitting of an hour and a half, three separate forms completely materialized, walk out from the cabinet to within a foot or two of where I sat, have touched all three, have conversed with all three, and this has occurred in the light, without any one in the cabinet, both mediums sitting beside me. Again, I have witnessed on six different occasions the levitation (that is, floating in the air) of a materialized form."
Dale was the author of the long and very readable 1868 book "Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World," which can be read here. In the July 17, 1874 edition of The Spiritualist, we read reports by named witnesses of recently observed seances in the United States, reports from Memphis and Indiana claiming materialization phenomena like those reported in the seances of Florence Cook. A ritual is followed of a medium placed in a small wooden box called a cabinet, and then tied up with elaborate knots. The witnesses report various mysterious figures coming out of such cabinets, of various ages, genders and sizes.
In the August 28, 1874 edition of The Spiritualist, we have a letter dated August 1, 1874 by former US congressman Robert Dale Owen, one making some very remarkable claims that may seem utterly unbelievable were it not for all the testimony quoted earlier in this post. Owen describes seeing in Philadelphia beginning about July 5, 1874 a phenomenon of a mysterious figure arising not from a small wooden cabinet containing a medium, but such a cabinet starting out with no one at all. He states this:
"Substantially, indeed, it was but a reproduction and confirmation of the marvellous phenomena, so patiently sought out and so accurately described by Mr. Crookes. But we obtained these results without any human being in the cabinet, and without any entrancement of the mediums....Under the circumstances, we had, I think, every phenomenon which Mr. Crookes has recorded, saving this, that ' Katie' did not remain with us in the parlour, in full form, more than five minutes at any one time without re-entering the cabinet: but she was in the habit of coming out as often as five or six times in one evening, if we had a small, select circle, and two or three times when twenty or more persons were present. I have conversed with ' Katie' at the aperture more than seventy or eighty times, frequently in regard to the manner of conducting the sittings. On several of these occasions she read and replied to my thoughts...I have seen ' Katie' issue from the cabinet more than a hundred times in full form...I was in the habit, after each sitting, of carefully examining the cabinet; but neither cross, nor ring, nor bracelet, nor locket, nor chain was ever to be found ; minute search, with a light, did not even reveal a roseleaf. With such or similar phenomena you arc doubtless familiar; but I have seen ' Katie,' on seven or eight different occasions, suspended, in full form, about two feet from the ground for ten or fifteen seconds. It was within the cabinet, but in full view; and she moved her arms and feet gently, as a swimmer, upright in the water, might do. I have seen her, on five several evenings, disappear and reappear before my eyes, and not more than eight or nine feet distant. On one occasion, when I had given her a Calla lily, she gradually vanished, holding it in her hand, and fading out from the head down; and the lily remained visible after the hand which held it was gone; the flower, however, finally disappearing also. When she reappeared, the lily came back also, at first as a bright spot only, which gradually expanded into the flower. Then ' Katie' stepped out from the cabinet, waving to us, with all her wonted grace, her adieu ere she finally retired for the evening. Thus I have seen a material object, as well as a spirit, vanish and reappear."
Robert Dale Owen then tells us he saw two other figures inexplicably emerge from this empty cabinet: an "Indian girl, taller than 'Katie,' with dark face and rich Indian costume, who advanced to us, allowed us to touch her hands and her dress, and gave her name as 'Sauntee' and afterwards a sailor boy." A similar account is given by a different named witness (Thomas Brown) is given on page 228 of the November 6, 1874 edition of The Spiritualist, describing events on October 26, 1874, and naming several other witnesses.
On page 10 of the January 1, 1875 edition of The Spiritualist, we have a report by seven named witnesses of a meeting on December 23, 1874. The report states the witnesses saw this gradual materialization of a human form, also witnessing its gradual dematerialization:
"Presently in full view of all the sitters, at the entrance to the doorway of the screen, a something white appeared on the floor, though no mortal hand was seen to place it there; slowly and very gradually this white object grew in size and height till it reached about the height of three feet from the floor, from which it developed more rapidly till the full form of a man, clad in white, about five feet eight inches high appeared before us. We asked if it was 'Benny,' (one of the medium’s guides) ; he nodded in the affirmative, and waved his arms above his head. After two or three minor manifestations, he was requested to take a pencil and mark on the wall as high as he could reach, which having done, he retired to the door of the screen, and standing there in full view of all, gradually diminished in size and height till what remained appeared like a white pocket-handkerchief on the carpet, which itself shortly faded away."
The best of these accounts (and the best of other accounts in this series) are accounts in which a particular named witness tells what he saw on some particular day at some exact place, and who else witnessed the occurrence; and we know exactly how long the gap is between the written report and the day of observation (usually only a small gap), with the publication of the report occurring very soon after the reported observation date. When we have all such things, it helps to build confidence in the reliability of the observation.
We may compare the best of these accounts to the reports published in modern scientific papers. Today's scientific papers typically have quite a few different authors, and are written in a passive voice. We are typically not told that a particular person saw a particular thing on a particular day. Instead almost invariably a passive voice is used, so we have no idea of which person witnessed the event. We don't even know whether any of the listed authors witnessed the described event, or whether the reports of the event come from unnamed lab assistants or student helpers. We get "passive voice" statements such as this: "Mice were given an injection of the agent, and were tested using the Morris Water Maze test." Also, we are almost never given dates telling when the observations occurred, and are almost never told exactly where the observations occurred. We typically don't know how long a gap occurred between the observation day and the day the account was written. For all of these reasons, a typical experimental scientific paper published today is less reliable as evidence than the best reports I have cited in this "Spookiest Years" series. It is strange that people regard these scientific papers written today as much better evidence, even though they fall short on most of the characteristics we hope to find in good evidence.
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