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.
On page 224 of the November 7, 1879 edition of The Spiritualist, we have this account which sounds impressive but which is not backed up by any specific details:"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."
