In previous posts in this intermittently appearing "Spookiest Years" series on this blog (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here), I had looked at some very spooky events reported between 1848 and 1878. Let me pick up the thread and discuss some spooky events reported in the years 1879 to 1880.
On page 65 of the February 7, 1879 edition of The Spiritualist, we have an interesting account of an apparition of the living. We read this:
" I have myself had an exceedingly interesting experience of the apparition of the living, viz., my own appearance at the supposed death-bed of my sister, when we were three thousand miles apart. She was attended on this particular night by another sister, who distinctly saw me go into the room, and lean over my darling young sister. The latter was too ill to speak, but she whispered, 'Mary is here, now I’m happy.’ I ought to mention that my elder sister is not given to visions, and is indeed a very practical, matter-of-fact person; but she has always since declared that she saw me from my knees up, and the very dress was plain to her too. At this time I was just recovering after my confinement with my son, who is nearly seventeen. He was between four and five weeks old, when one night I fell asleep, thinking how much I wished to see this sister. I knew of her illness, and that she was not expected to recover, and of her intense desire to see me. Between us the most tender attachment had always existed, and it was thought that her illness had been much increased through her grief at our separation. The previous summer, when we came from the United States to this country, I had purposely kept from her and my mother the knowledge of my expected confinement, and they were only informed after the birth of the child in a letter from my husband. I mention all this to show how impossible it was for me to go to her, as she intensely desired. On the night referred to I had a most vivid dream of seeing her, in a bed not in her own room, and of seeing my other sister in attendance. I leaned over her and said, as I thought, 'Emma, you will recover.’ I told my husband I had been home when I woke, and my impression that she would recover. This dream comforted me very much, and from this night there was a change for the better with my sister, and she gradually recovered from what was supposed to be an incurable illness. When we came to compare dates, we found that my dream and my appearance to my two sisters occurred at as nearly as possible the same time. I was so lifelike to my younger sister that she thought I had really arrived on a visit; but, as I said before, to my elder sister I was shadowy below my knees, but perfectly natural in appearance. She afterwards remembered that I did not notice her as I passed into the inner room, although in my dream I saw her, nor did I seem to see anything but the one object of my love.”
Although reports such as this are very rare, there are other similar cases in the literature of parapsychology. See my post here for other examples of people reporting apparitions of the living.
On page 86 of the February 21, 1879 edition of The Spiritualist, we have an account of a child who seemed to experience spontaneous clairvoyance alerting her of the death of her father. We read this:
"A party of children, sons and daughters of the officers of artillery stationed at Woolwich, were playing in the garden. Suddenly a little girl screamed, and stood staring with an aspect of terror at a willow tree there. Her companions gathered round, asking what ailed her. 'Oh !' she said, ' there—there. Don’t you see ? There’s papa lying on the ground, and the blood running from a big wound.' All assured her that they could see nothing of the kind. But she persisted, describing the wound and the position of the body, still expressing her surprise that they did not see what she saw so plainly. Two of her companions were daughters of my informant (one of the surgeons of the regiment), whose house adjoined the garden. They called their father, who at once came to the spot. He found the child in a state of extreme terror and agony, took her into his house, assuring her that it was only ' a fancy,' and having given her restoratives, sent her home. The incident was treated by all as being what the doctor had called it, and no more was thought of it. News from India, where the child’s father was stationed, was in those days slow in coming. But the arrival of the mail in due course brought the information that the father of the child had been killed by a shot, and died under a tree. Making allowance for difference in the counting of time, it was found to have been about the moment when the daughter had the vision at Woolwich."
On page 6 of the March 15, 1879 edition of the Religio-Philosophical Journal, we have a letter by William Pinnock describing a spooky event involving the death of his daughter. Her husband was five hundred miles away, and after the daughter died, he was summoned by telegraph. The father states this:
"On the arrival of her husband, he, with three relatives, went into the room to see the remains of his wife, and while standing viewing the body, with his head resting on the shoulder of his brother, tears were seen to gush from her eyes, and upon being wiped away, came again and again, and the eyelashes had the wet appearance of those of a living person, who had been weeping. This occurred five days after death, and when the body was frozen for preservation."
You could probably write a small book entitled "Paranormal Tears" that would describe all similar reports, many of which would involve people reporting weeping statues, with many witnesses reporting such an effect occurring from the same statue.
On page 6 of the April 12, 1879 edition of the Religio-Philosophical Journal, we have this account of what seems like an early near-death experience:
"A curious incident is related by the Mineral Point (Wis.) Tribune. It appears from that paper, that Mrs. Ellen Ryan, of Ridgeway, died recently in her first confinement. She had been married but a year when her babe was born dead, and buried. A short time after the mother, to all appearance, died also; she was straightened out, and the mourners were busy making preparations for arraying the corpse in the habiliments of the grave, when in half an hour after her death, or supposed death, to the consternation of all, she opened her eyes, and in a loud, clear tone called for her husband. He came, when she told him that she had been to another world—to heaven; that she had passed through a dark alley to get there, and had recognized there her mother, (who has been dead some time) and her babe; and described in glowing language the place as being exceedingly beautiful, and that at half-past twelve she would again depart, and wished to be buried in her bridal clothes, and that her babe should be taken up, dressed in its best clothes, and laid on her arm, with her bridal veil thrown over their faces. At half-past twelve, precisely, she died, and all her directions were implicitly followed."
The claim by the woman to have "passed through a dark alley" to get to heaven where she saw deceased relatives reminds me of the claim so often made in recent decades by people having near-death experiences: the claim that they passed through a kind of dark tunnel before reaching some otherworldly realm in which deceased relatives were encountered.
Also on page 6 of the April 12, 1879 edition of the Religio-Philosophical Journal, we have this account by Elizabeth Bull:
"Suddenly I noticed in a corner of the room a small oval mass of misty whiteness....It rapidly increased in size until several feet in height; growing gradually dense and more opaque, and slowly opening, it revealed the glorified form of my dear sister. I say glorified, since language utterly fails to convey any idea of that lovely wondrous vision. She had died in her twenty third year of lingering consumption, ten years before; and had borne great suffering with Christian fortitude, joyfully looking for speedy release. Unselfish and lovable, a beautiful soul fitly clothed, she gradually wasted under the fell disease, and died at length in my arms. But now I saw her again—all traces of lingering disease had vanished, she looked radiantly beautiful as, holding back the surrounding envelope, she leaned towards me, the dear sweet eyes gazing into mine with a look of unutterable love. She wore a long, loose robe of dazzling whiteness, hanging about her in graceful folds, and there emanated from her a mellow, soft light, making the encrusting shell glitter like crystal. So gloriously beautiful was the appearance that I could not gaze upon It without pain, nor do I think that natural eyes could have seen it; but so soon as I had thoroughly realized this angelic presence she gradually drew the encircling mass about her, and ever steadfastly regarding me, was gradually hidden from view, the luminous envelope clouded, darkened slowly, shrank, and disappeared."
On page 186 of the April 18, 1879 edition of The Spiritualist, we have an account by six signed witnesses that they saw on March 31, 1879 the materialization (the mysterious appearance) of a spirit named Lillie, at a seance of a medium identified as "Miss Cook." This seems to have been Kate Cook, the sister of the famous medium Florence Cook. The account includes a description that seems to rule out any possibility of fraud, if you assume the truthfulness of the account. Similar accounts involving the same Kate Cook and the same mysterious Lillie are given on page 157-159 of the October 3, 1879 edition of The Spiritualist (with the very detailed account being of observations made a few weeks earlier), on page 226 of the November 7, 1879 edition of The Spiritualist, on page 62 of the February 6, 1880 edition of The Spiritualist, and on page 18 of the July 19, 1880 edition of The Spiritualist.
On page 6 of the May 10, 1879 edition of the Religio-Philosophical Journal, we have an account by a doctor who experienced a type of event that Raymond Moody has called a shared-death experience. We read this account:
"Early one morning I was called to attend a man who had attained some prominence as a speculator and operator in real estate. He had been discovered lying upon the floor of his lodgings in a dying condition from his knife wounds, the horrible instrument of his death still remaining where it had been thrust into his body to the hilt, penetrating through the right lung. There were evidences of desperate struggle haying occurred before the unfortunate man yielded to his fate. He was entirely unconscious in the spasmodic grips of death, and he breathed his last in a very few moments after I reached the spot. As his last breath went out I became conscious of a new and mysterious presence, and my mind seemed to pass under the control of a superior mental power. I yielded a passive obedience to the influence, and immediately the scene of a death struggle passed before my mental view. It seemed for an instant as if I was myself endeavoring to ward off a murderous attack. With one hand my assailant held a suffocating grip upon my throat, while with the other he plunged the deadly knife again and again into my body. I saw his clenched teeth, and his fierce, cruel eyes gleaming into mine with the malignancy of a demon. Such was the force and horror of the impression that I staggered and fell as if in a faint. The by-standers, who were inured to sanguinary scenes, supposed that I had been overcome by the spectacle of the murdered man, and their comments were anything but complimentary to my nerve and experience as a physician. But the cool and careful manner In which I subsequently performed the autopsy dissipated what might have been a fatal suspicion cast upon my professional capacity. I found the marks of clenched fingers upon the throat of the murdered man. I knew that I had beheld and experienced the incidents of his death-struggle precisely m they were impressed upon his own mind."
On page 82 of the August 15, 1879 edition of The Spiritualist, we have an account of a near-death experience, one made long before that term was commonly used. First we hear of how dire was the condition of the patient:
"On the 1st of August, 1876, a premature labour induced the disease which culminated in what was supposed to be death . At one time, Dr. Thorne, supposing his patient would soon die, remained with her. .. The spasms of the neck and hands now relaxed, the head dropped forward upon the breast, the eyelids opened, the eyeballs resumed their normal position, the pupils were dilated, and the film gathered upon the eyes. The woman was dead. A current of electricity passed from the base of the brain to the lower portion of the back failed to revive her. She did, however, finally revive, only to pass through another change called death, finally reviving again."
The woman (Diana Powellson) gives this account:
"On the night of my first dying, the more I died the less pain I felt. I was so happy at going (oh ! sir, I suffered so much); felt no misery of any kind ; pain in the head all gone ; it seemed that I lost all consciousness but for a moment; when I came to my senses again I knew I was dead, but everything was very dark to me. I thought I was still blind. I became filled with terror, anticipating the worst. My husband (who died in 1866) soon, however, took hold of me. He told me I was on the wrong road. Others of my departed friends and my family did the same. The darkness suddenly vanished. I saw all my friends and millions of others, I saw hills and valleys, trees and flowers, rivers, seas, lakes, and birds, and heard such music as I cannot describe. The people were not what I expected to see. They were ordinary men and women. Some were bright and beautiful, and others were lean and miserable-looking. I saw their homes. They lived in communities. All were much more beautiful than any we have, but some were not so beautiful as others. I saw many bright spirits, but was very much surprised that they had no wings. My friends led me from the dark place into the light. I did not come through this dark place any more, either in coming back or returning at any time. I saw many meetings or congregations, but did not learn what they were doing. I thought I was at home, but was told that I must return to my body again. My husband told me this. I cried and was very much angered at him, and still am for sending me back. I long to be in that beautiful home that they told me was mine."
The account is several paragraphs longer. We have here several elements that are common in near-death experiences reported after 1975, including going to some mysterious realm, encountering deceased relatives, being told that the person having the experience must return to the body again, a feeling that the mysterious realm was in some sense "home," and the person having the experience being upset about having to return back to an earthly body. The account here and the Ellen Ryan account given earlier in this post are only two of quite a few pre-1975 near-death experiences I have documented. By using the link here and continuing to press Older Posts at the bottom right, you can view all of them. Below is a 1972 story on near-death experiences and out-of-body experiences that preceded Raymond Moody's 1975 book Life After Life. Use the link here to read the original document.
"Our correspondent informs us that his patient, on recovering from a prolonged state of coma, insisted most strenuously in the assurance that he had visited a scene and noted every detail of an event many miles away. He appeared to be so thoroughly convinced this was no mental delusion that careful inquiries were instituted, which led to a surprising corroboration of all the circumstantial minutiae. Utterly astonished at such an unexpected manifestation of mental faculties beyond the limits of any abnormal power of the ordinary senses, our correspondent was induced to repeat the experiment, selecting another patient unacquainted with the marvellous occurrence related. On returning to sensibility this patient also described events he had mentally witnessed, all which proved to be accurate in every particular."
On page 38 of the January 23, 1880 edition of The Spiritualist we hear of an apparition sighting:
"Mr. Shakespeare, one of the members, suddenly looked up, exclaiming, ' Good God, there is my father ! ' The whole Council then saw a figure of an unknown person glide through the chamber into another room which had no outlet, and disappear."
It was later determined that the man's father had died at a distant location. The report of the apparition gliding is a common feature of apparition reports.
On page 135 of the March 19, 1880 edition of The Spiritualist we have an account of apparitions at the Knock village of Ireland, interpreted as involving the Virgin Mary. On page 139 there is a long list of people claiming extraordinary cures from visiting the village, without being treated by doctors.
On page 73 of the August 13, 1880 edition of The Spiritualist we have this account:
"Mr. Berks T. Hutchinson, surgeon dentist, Cape Town, South Africa, writes:—'I have seen Mr. Eglinton float about in my seance room, just like a balloon; he was in a deep trance condition. There were ten others present who can vouch for what I say.' "
On page 4 of the July 31, 1880 edition of The Banner of Light we have this account by John Wetherbee of events at a July 23 seance:
"The room was light enough to consider it a light circle, and so many things were done and at once for the space of half-an-hour that no one could question but invisible spirits were the actors, even if the mediums had had their hands free, but being held by the two sitting with them made the matter doubly sure. To me the most interesting part of the manifestations was the writing by spirit hands, perfectly visible, while the paper was held by the friends in the room. During the manifestations, from the start, the sitters in front of the curtain were manipulated by spirit hands, and all saw them and knew they did not belong to the mediums; and the hands being disposed to write, some of the friends present put pencils into the grasp of these hands, sometimes in one place and sometimes in another, where they happened to be, and holding a sheet of paper the hands wrote with the pencil intelligent messages on the sheets of paper so presented ; all could see this done and know that it was accomplished by spirit hands, which belonged to no visible human body, yet every human personage in the room was visible. I have never seen anything more satisfactory than this writing was; they were spirit hands, and no mistake, materialised for the purpose."
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