The History of Sleepwalking Provides Evidence for Clairvoyance

When writers refer to artificial somnambulism, a term often used before 1900, they mean the same thing as what is now called a hypnotic trance, produced by a hypnotist acting on some subject, trying to put the subject into a state of trance. There is very much written evidence for clairvoyance occurring during such a state of artificial somnambulism or hypnotism. You can read about such evidence in my post here and my post "Taboo Truth: The Reality of Hypnotic Clairvoyance and Hypnotic Telepathy," which you can read here. 

When writers refer to natural somnambulism, they refer to a natural phenomenon often called sleepwalking. One major difference between artificial somnambulism (hypnotism) and sleepwalking (natural somnambulism) is that in sleepwalking (natural somnambulism) there is no agent such as a hypnotist attempting to bring people into some abnormal state.  

In the fascinating 1839 book Curiosities of Medical Experience, we read this:

" Somnambulism was well known by the ancients ; and Aristotle tells us, 'there are individuals who rise in their sleep, and walk about seeing as clearly as those that are awake.'...There is no doubt but that in somnambulists the intellectual functions are not only active, but frequently more developed than when the individual is awake. Persons in this state have been known to write and correct verses, and solve difficult problems, which they could not have done at other times. In their actions and locomotion they are more cautious, and frequently more dexterous, than when awake."

Later in the same work we read this account of a sleepwalker or somnambulist:

"She also became capable of following her usual employment during the paroxysm. At one time she would lay out the table for breakfast, and repeatedly dress herself and the children, her eyes remaining shut the whole time. The remarkable circumstance was now discovered, that, during the paroxysm, she had a distinct recollection of what had taken place in former attacks, though she had not the slightest recollection of it during the intervals. She was taken to church during the paroxysm, and attended the service with apparent devotion, and at one time was so affected by the sermon that she actually shed tears ; yet in the interval she had no recollection whatever of the circumstance, but in the following paroxysm she gave a most distinct account of it, and actually repeated the passage of the sermon that had so much affected her. This sort of somnambulism, relating distinctly to two periods, has been called, perhaps erroneously, a state of double consciousness."

 In Volume 2 of his 1876 book The Mechanism of Man, Edward W. Cox discusses natural  somnambulism, also called sleepwalking. He states this, using the term "somnambule" to refer to a sleepwalker:

"With the vast majority of Somnambules the eyes are firmly closed, so firmly that considerable force is required to open them. The countenance is extremely placid, the face very pale, the extremities abnormally cold and clammy, the breathing regular and full, with frequent sighing, or rather, deep inspirations that make the sound of a sigh, but are not like sighing, expressions of mental emotion.

But here the resemblance to sleep ends. The conditions differ from those of sleep in many particulars. The muscles are not flaccid, but retain all, and often more than, the ordinary tension of waking life. The limbs are not relaxed, but in energetic action. The head does not droop. If the eyelids be forcibly raised (and they are always lifted with difficulty, so firmly are they pressed together), the eyeballs are found in an unnatural position, drawn upwards and inwards, so that the direction of the line of vision would fall within the upper orbit of the projecting frontal sinus — a position in which the exercise of sight would be impossible, even if the eyelids were raised. This remarkable position of the eyes is especially to be noted, for it is the characteristic of the somnambulist condition and distinguishes it at once from ordinary sleep, in which the eyes always preserve their natural position. It is important also in this respect, that it cannot he voluntarily assumed. No effort of the Will can place the eyes in the position exhibited by a Somnambule. It will be noted also that, when the eyeballs are in this abnormal position, they are not still, as in sleep, but in a state of rapid and constant quivering.

All the senses appear to be closely sealed. No sounds sensible to pain. Taste, touch and smell are paralysed. The strongest snuff does not cause sneezing. There is not the slightest wincing from the application to the nostril of the most powerful ammonia. Sight is impossible, for in the position of the eyes no ray from any external object can fall upon the retina.

Nevertheless, in this apparently helpless state, deprived of the assistance of all his external senses, the patient rises from his bed and walks with facility and firmness in the dark as well as in the light, avoiding obstacles as readily as if he could see or feel them. Thus he passes, without fear and with perfect ease and safety, over places dangerous even to the waking footstep— on the ridge of a house roof; across a narrow plank above a stream; down a steep and perilous path by a precipice over which he would be hurled if the footstep erred but a few inches ; through rooms crowded with furniture, threading his way without stumbling or mistaking.

Nor this only. The Somnambule, with his eyes closed and all his senses sealed in the darkness of the darkest night, will perform his daily work, however intricate— write, read, thread a needle, draw and paint, and do other acts requiring keen sight, manual dexterity and delicate touch. During the entire of this, all his external senses are paralysed. He neither sees, hears nor feels with the bodily organs. The Mind only is awake. Manifestly the Mind, in this condition of somnambulism, receives impressions of external objects and guides the actions of the body without the assistance of its usual informants, the senses. And these things are done, not tentatively nor with hesitation, as by one feeling his way or seeking for something in darkness, but firmly, unhesitatingly, easily, perfectly, and without mistakes, as if he had been awake and was acting in the daylight instead of in the dark."

In the five pages beginning on page 170, Cox cites quite a few cases of people who performed extremely complex activities while sleepwalking. In each case quoted we are told that the person's eyes were closed during such activities.  

A bit later Cox concludes this:

"But with the Somnambule the external senses only are sealed. All the faculties of his mind are wide awake. He has perceptions of external objects, although certainly through some other medium than the five senses, and he acts upon the impressions so abnormally received as perfectly and as rationally as when he is awake." 

We do not know the ratio between eyes-closed sleepwalking and eyes-open sleepwalking. You sometimes may read statements claiming that sleepwalkers walk with eyes open, but such generalizations are not backed up by scientific studies, and may be made sometimes by those trying to "sweep under the rug" the clairvoyance-suggesting anomaly of skillful movement by sleepwalkers with closed eyes. I find quite a few statements claiming that sleepwalkers "often" have eyes open, an indication that such a thing is by no means invariable for sleepwalkers. There are many observational reports of sleepwalkers walking or moving very skillfully either with eyes closed, with eyes turned upward or in a state of darkness (some of them being quoted in this post); and in the quote above by Cox we read that "with the vast majority of Somnambules the eyes are firmly closed." Even when sleepwalkers have eyes open, there seems to be no real perception with the eyes. 

In the literature of sleepwalking, it is often reported that when sleepwalkers walk with their eyes open, their eyes are turned upwards in a way that would make normal vision impossible. So, for example, pages 60 to 61 of the document here reports a sleepwalker with the most astonishing physical dexterity in avoiding obstacles while sleepwalking; and page 62 says, "eyes were alternately shut and open, but when the latter, they were convulsively turned upwards, showing nothing but the whites, so that he could not have seen with them."

It seems rather clear that sleepwalking (the same as somnambulism) provides evidence for ESP or clairvoyance. This is the conclusion that was made by a writer in 1838, who stated this:

"II. Clairvoyance, or vision without the eyes. — In the most simple cases of natural somnambulism this phenomenon occurs. The person who rises in the night, dresses himself, moves from room to room, and performs with nicety and precision a variety of minute actions, presents us with this anomaly in its most familiar form. There are few sceptics who do not acknowledge cases of this kind ; for after all, somnambulism is a very common occurrence, and is observed to be hereditary in many families. Yet when this faculty becomes more perfectly developed, manifesting itself by finer discriminations, the very same philosophers, forgetting the fact which is universally accredited in domestic life, open their eyes with astonishment, and declare the whole thing utterly incredible. This is unreasonable. It is a notorious fact, that all sleep-walkers are clairvoyants."

The fascinating page here has an interview with Lee Hadwin, who has long produced remarkable art works in his sleep. The page has a headline of "Interview: Man Makes World-Famous Art in His Sleep But Has No Creative Talent While Awake."  We read this of Hadwin: "While he’s asleep, his creative side comes alive and he crafts portraits, landscapes, and abstract drawings that only someone with amazing artistic prowess can produce."  We hear that he sells some of his pieces created during sleepwalking for thousands of dollars a piece. We read that in his sleep Hadwin produced three portraits of Marilyn Monroe. The article shows one of them, which is of stunning quality. This is even though Hadwin has apparently had no artistic training. 

In the 1905 newspaper story here, we have a description of sleepwalking consistent with the description of Cox above:

At the link here, we have an article entitled "Teen Awakes From Sleepwalking 9 Miles From Home, Police Say." We may presume that something more than moving in a random direction is involved when journeys so long occur.

In the newspaper article here (in the right column and entitled "Somnambulism"), we have an account of a sleepwalker. We read of him writing intelligibly during sleepwalking. The last paragraph suggests telepathic or clairvoyant abilities during sleepwalking. 

"In the capital of the island of Syra, there is a young man from a town on the border of the Black Sea, -aged about eighteen years, tall in stature, and of robust constitution, who went to Syra to follow his studies at the Gymnasium. It frequently happens that, almost immediately after falling asleep, he gets up and makes remarkable declamations. Sometimes he recites very long speeches from Xenophon with perfect correctness although when awake he cannot remember more than a few lines. One night he wrote the theme he had to deliver the next day. In the morning having overslept himself, he was vexed at not having time to prepare himself for his tutor, but great was his astonishment at finding on his table his stipulated composition, written with his own hand, folded, and ready to be given in. The professor was surprised at finding it so well done and still more so when the young scholar became embarrassed, and unable to answer certain questions put to him on the subject. Doubts were entertained as to its being his own work, but a companion who slept in the same room with him came voluntarily forward and declared, that in the night he saw his fellow-student at the writing table writing, and calling upon his father to assist him in composing his theme.

When in a slate of somnambulism, he plays at cards, and uniformly wins. This is attributed to his having the faculty at that time of knowing what cards are in the hands of the rest of the party. When in this state, also, he has been taken by his companions to a tavern, and when, after eating and drinking with them, he awoke, he was greatly astonished at finding himself where he was. It appears that in his somnolescent state, his sense of feeling is entirely suspended, while all the other senses are alive and active. At first, the slightest touch would wake him; but now he is totally insensible to any violence, even that which would in others, or in himself when awake, produce acute pain. In general, on coming out of his state of somnambulism, he is so weak and languid as to faint away. One fact is more extraordinary than the rest: one day, when in his dormant state, he announced that three persons, whom he named, were coming to see him. In an hour after, these three persons entered his room.”

The 1834 book "Somnambulism : the extraordinary case of Jane C. Rider, the Springfield somnambulist" by L. W. Belden M.D. can be read here. We read of Jane sleepwalking many times in the dark, acting just as if she could see things  just fine. On the page here, we read this:

"Her  eyes  were  generally  closed,  but  at times  they  were  stretched  widely  open,  and the  pupil  was  then  very  considerably  dilated. These  different  states  of  the  eye  seemed  to occasion  no  difference  in  the  power  of  seeing — she  saw  apparently  as  well  when  they were  closed,  as  she  did  when  they  were open."

On a later page we read this:

"The  members of  the  family  in  which  she  lived  were very  early  convinced  that  she  saw  both when  her  eyes  were  closed,  and  in  the  dark. They  were  irresistibly  led  to  this  conclusion, when  they  saw  her,  night  after  night,  perform that  which  seemed  impossible  for  her to  do  without  the  aid  of  vision,  when  at  the 

same  time  they  could  discover  nothing which  indicated  the  want  of  sight.  She never  betrayed  any  thing  like  hesitancy  or 

indecision — there  was  no  groping,  no  feeling after  the  object   which  she  wished  to  lay hold  of,  but  the  motion  was  quick  and direct,  as  if  perfectly  aware  of  its  precise 

situation.  When  obstacles  were  placed  in her  way,  or  the  position  of  a thing  was changed,  she  always  observed  it,  and  accommodated herself  to  the  change."

On the next page we read of a test performed:

"No  direct  trial  of  her  power  of  vision  was 

made  until  Sabbath  evening,  November 

10th,  when  it  was  proposed  to  ascertain 

whether  she  could  read  with  her  eyes 

closed.  She  was  seated  in  a corner  of  the 

room,  the  lights  were  placed  at  a distance 

from  her,  and  so  screened  as  to  leave  her 

in  almost  entire  darkness.  In  this  situation 

she  read  with  ease  a great  number  of  cards 

which  were  presented  to  her,  some  of  which 

were  written  with  a pencil,  and  so  obscurely, that  in  a faint  light  no  trace  could be  discerned  by  common  eyes.  She  told  the date  of  coins,  even  when  the  figures  were 

nearly  obliterated.  A visitor  handed  her  a 

letter,  with  the  request  that  she  would  read 

the  motto  on  the  seal  which  she  readily 

did  although  several  persons  present  had 

been  unable  to  decipher  it  with  the  aid  of  a 

lamp.  The  whole  of  this  time  the  eyes 

were  to  all  appearance  perfectly  closed." 

On another page we read of another test performed ten days later:

"On Wednesday, Nov. 20th, I took a large black silk handkerchief, placed between the folds two pieces of cotton batting, and applied it in such a way that the cotton came directly over the eyes, and completely filled the cavity up each side of the nose — the silk was distinctly seen to be in close contact with the skin. Various names were then written on cards, both of persons with whom she was acquainted, and of those who were unknown to her, which she read as soon as they were presented to her...Being desirous, if possible, to prove that the eye was actually closed, I took two large wads of cotton, and placed them directly on the closed eyelid, and then bound them on with the handkerchief before used. The cotton filled the cavity under the eyebrow, came down to the middle of the cheek, and was in close contact with the nose. The former experiments were then repeated without any difference in the result."

On a later page we read this:

"Her eyes were then covered with a white handkerchief folded so as to make eight or ten thicknesses, and the spaces below the bandage filled with strips of black velvet. She then took a book and read audibly, distinctly, and correctly, nearly a page." 

Page 74 of the document here gives us an account of sleepwalking with eyes eyes, combined with apparent clairvoyance:

"A servant girl aged fourteen, fell suddenly into a state of somnambulism, whilst in church. She had previously been visiting the grave of her sister’s child, to which she had been much attached, and by whose death she was deeply affected. She rose from her seat during the service, and, with her eyes closed, walked straight home where she was found half undressed, lying on the bed. She gave no answer on being spoken to, and when raised up remained without motion in the sitting posture. Thinking that she was only in a profound sleep, the people about her endeavoured to rouse her ; but after fruitless attempts to make her open her eyes, they left her sitting, and watched her. In a few minutes her head was suddenly drawn backwards by a spasm ; and on this giving way, she jumped off the bed and endeavoured to escape, her eyes continuing firmly closed. On finding her intention frustrated, she quietly went to a table, and took up the hymn book which she had brought with her from church, and after turning over the leaves quickly, she found the place in which they had been singing, and commenced reading from where she had left off in church. She afterwards became liable to frequent paroxysms of somnambulism..."

This apparently was an example of "sleep reading" with eyes closed.  After reading that the girl much later apparently sleep-walked two-and-a-half miles to her doctor (who wrote her a prescription) we read this on page 76:

"The girl delivered the prescription at the apothecary’s, and waiting for the medicines, put them into her basket, and went towards home, still continuing profoundly asleep. The doctor followed her at the distance of about fifteen or sixteen paces, and was astonished to observe, with what address she avoided the many vehicles on the road, and got out of the way of all obstacles, pursuing her road calmly and safely. After walking for half an hour, she suddenly awoke, and looked about her, bewildered and alarmed. The doctor then went up to her and accosted her, and found that she had no idea how she had got there or where she had been to."

On pages 76 to 77 of the same document, we read this about another girl:

"Dr. Dyce of Aberdeen relates the case of a servant girl, who, during similar paroxysms of day somnambulism [sleepwalking], used to continue her usual occupations. At one time, she laid out the table for breakfast,; and she repeatedly dressed herself and the children of the family, her eyes remaining firmly closed the whole time."

By providing evidence for clairvoyance, sleepwalking helps to undermine "brains make minds" ideas. The utter incompatibility of evidence for clairvoyance and "brains make minds" ideology is shown by the fact that those holding "brains make minds" ideas typically refuse to believe in clairvoyance. It is senseless denialism to deny the reality of clairvoyance. We have 200 years of written evidence for its reality, much of it written by doctors and scientists. You can study some of the evidence by reading my series of 14 posts here, continuing to press Older Posts at the bottom right. The best test subjects such as Alexis Didier very often passed "with flying colors" the most stringent tests of clairvoyance, both in public exhibitions and private demonstrations to careful observers. At the link here you can read a report of 52 pages describing clairvoyance tests of Alexis Didier. 

"The distinguished Parisian Professor of Medicine, Rostan, gave at the time his corroborative testimony to the existence of this power in the article ' Magnetisme,' in the ' Dictionnaire de Medecine,'  wherein he remarked : 'There are few facts better demonstrated than clairvoyance' ....Innumerable instances are recorded of the possession of the faculty of clairvoyance by persons in the normal state, in sleep [hypnotism], and in some abnormal conditions of the system, " -- Edwin Lee, MD, "Animal Magnetism and Magnetic Lucid Somnambulism" page 103 and page 133.

Old Newspaper Accounts of Clairvoyance or Telepathy

 "The distinguished Parisian Professor of Medicine, Rostan, gave at the time his corroborative testimony to the existence of this power in the article ' Magnetisme,' in the ' Dictionnaire de Medecine,'  wherein he remarked : 'There are few facts better demonstrated than clairvoyance' ....Innumerable instances are recorded of the possession of the faculty of clairvoyance by persons in the normal state, in sleep [hypnotism], and in some abnormal conditions of the system. " -- Edwin Lee, MD, "Animal Magnetism and Magnetic Lucid Somnambulism" page 103 and page 133.

Although very abundantly reported in books and journals such as The Zoist (as you can read about in my set of 14 posts here),  reports of clairvoyance are rather hard-to-find in old newspapers. But some accounts can be found. For example, the following account appeared in 1905:

"MUSICAL CLAIRVOYANCE  PUZZLES PARIS PEOPLE.

 Paris is very much concerned at present over a new phenomenon, which is called, for lack of a better name, musical mediumship, says Public Opinion. In the same way that a few years ago the attention of French scientists was largely occupied with thought transference, now many investigators in the French capital are carefully following the experiments which are being conducted with the musical mediums. In the last number of the Journal des Debats. M. Henri de Parvllle carefully goes over the whole ground, and the facts presented are well worth considering. M. de Parvllle first takes up the case of a subject by the name of Aubert. 'This man, although he had but a rudimentary knowledge of music, performs on the piano, in a semi-hypnotic state, compositions which recall the musical style of Moxart, Chopin, Beethoven, Schubert and others. A second and far more remarkable case, however, is that of Mlle. Nydia. This woman, in a hypnotic state and with her eyes carefully bandaged, is able to play on the piano any piece of music which may be given her. Thus at a sitting recently held at the Theater de la Monnaie, in Brussels, Mlle. Nydia was led to M. Slyvayn Dupuy, chief of the orchestra of the theater, who gave her a piece of music composed by himself, which had never been published. M. Dupuy saw that the bandage had been tightly placed over the girl’s eyes. Mlle. Nydia then sat down, held the paper in her hands for a few moments, and then, to the great astonishment of everyone, played the piece without hesitation. 

Two physicians examined the young woman, and found her to be in a real hypnotic state and absolutely insensible to the exterior world. There were then placed over her eyes a succession of bandages, alternating black and white, and she was led to the piano. One of the spectators offered a new opera, which was placed on the piano. The hypnotizer looked at his subject, and immediately the girl played the piece with the greatest cleverness. Another spectator, who had just arrived from New Zealand, offered a piece of music which had never been performed in Europe. Mlle. Nydia, however, executed it at once, and she played with the same skill a piece which had just been composed by M. G. Germain. At public request she played a piece of Paderewski, which was unknown to her, and, finally, a lady wrote the title of a piece of music on a slip of paper, put it into an envelope, which was afterward sealed, and gave it to the girl. She placed it on her forehead for a moment, and the next instant was playing Beethoven’s ‘Clair du Lune’ sonata."

The writer is presumably referring to Debussy's "Clair de Lune," misidentifying the composer.  You can read the account here:

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=CR19050613.2.60&srpos=32&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txTI-clairvoyance-------

The terms "artificial somnambulism" and "mesmerism" were used for hypnosis before the word "hypnosis" became popular. An 1891 newspaper article states this: "The testimony in favor of subjects in this artificial somnambulism being able—some of them—to see what is going on at a distance, to read sealed letters, and to hear a conversation taking place several miles away, seems to be so conclusive that many distinguished scholars, physicians and philosophers are firm believers in clairvoyance and clairaudience." 

Below is the first part of a news article from 1931:

Below is the remainder of the story:

You can read the accounts using the links below:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1926-11-02/ed-1/seq-17/

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1926-11-02/ed-1/seq-24/

In the newspaper account below, we read of a Mr. Tyndall who is able to perform a "carriage test" of mind-reading or clairvoyance:

"Alexander J. Mclver Tyndall, the mind-reader, yesterday morning performed the carriage feat in the same manner in which it was performed by the late Mr. Bishop. On Saturday afternoon W. A. Spalding and W. O. Miller, two members of the committee appointed to superintend the experiment, hid a small silver match-safe in an oyster-stall of the Broadway market. Yesterday morning at 11 o'clock the committee, including Messrs. Spalding, Bennett, Miller, Dr. Bryant and two others, repaired to the Hollenbeck hotel. For a preliminary sample of Mr. Tyndall's peculiar power, a knife was hid in a crack of the brick wall surrounding the court back of the hotel, and the mind-reader, taking Mr. Spalding's hand, found the article without difficulty, although he bad been most carefully blindfolded. The committee, together with Mr. Tyndall, then descended to the street, where a carriage was in waiting. The mind-reader had again been securely blindfolded, and with Mr. Spalding mounted the driver's seat, while the rest of the committee occupied the body of the vehicle. Spalding placed his hand on Tyndall's forehead, concentrated his thoughts upon the article which had been hidden in the market, and the drive began. Tyndall had taken the reins and the whip, and as soon as he had thoroughly established communication between himself and his subject, he struck the horse a sharp blow and started down Spring Street at a sharp trot. At Fourth street be got off his course and turned down to Main at a gallop. Narrowly missing the curb at the corner, he turned down Main, and, with the horse still on the jump and the occupants of the carriage extremely nervous, he drove up Fifth Street to Broadway, down Broadway to Sixth, up Sixth to Hill, and down Hill street around old St. Vincent's college to the rear of the market. A door had been left open to admit the party. The mind-reader stopped the team, and, almost dragging Mr. Spalding by the hand, rushed by three or four doors, entered the one that was open, ran up to an ice-box, reached to the top of it behind a lot of rubbish, and placed his hand on a pasteboard box, which he lifted down. The match-box had been hidden in this box. The whole length of time occupied from the departure from the Hollenbeck until the finding of the hidden article was less than twenty minutes."

 You can read the full story here:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84025968/1892-02-01/ed-1/seq-2/

Below is another newspaper account of a mind-reader or clairvoyant, dating from 1895. It refers to a horse-driven carriage:

You can read the account here:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051168/1895-09-14/ed-1/seq-1/

Below is an 1886 report of mind-reading by W. Irving Bishop. Bishop became very well-known for his telepathy skills. He performed countless public demonstrations successfully, 

You can read the full account below:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn91099608/1886-12-14/ed-1/seq-4/

Bishop would become very famous as a mind-reader, before suddenly dying three years later (during a telepathy demonstration) from what a newspaper called catalepsy. His death is reported in the 1889 article below, one with a title of "Death of the Great Mind Reader":

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87060190/1889-05-14/ed-1/seq-1/

Below is a newspaper account of the clairvoyance of Mollie Fancher of Brooklyn, New York:

Below are some excerpts from the newspaper account:

"Dr. S. Fleet Speir, an eminent Brooklyn physician, has attended Miss Fancher ever since her first illness. 'I am a firm believer in her power of clairvoyance,' he said. 'It exists. That is all I know, and is all anyone knows. For years and years she took no solid food. During as many ensuing years her lips were merely moistened occasionally with fruit juices and other slight nourishment....Dr. C. E. Adamson said that he had visited Miss Fancher on many occasions with Dr. Speir. He continued: 'I really believe that Miss Fancher possesses in the highest degree the perceptivity those fraud clairvoyants pretend to have. She is a wonder....You could take a bank check and hold the reverse side toward her, or in fact, shield it entirely from the view of anyone but yourself, and Mollie would tell you the contents of the check, the name of the bank, the amount and the signature. In the same way you could read a letter and Mollie would immediately reproduce the contents. Mind, the person testing her would not move the lips in reading or give any sign or indication by which she could gain the knowledge she exhibited.' ...."

We read in the account that the wonder show organizer P. T. Barnum (convinced of her clairvoyant powers) offered Mollie a fortune if she would become a star attraction of his traveling wonder shows, saying, "I offered other than money inducements, such as all possible luxuries of travel in a private car, the finest quarters at hotels, the best of attendance, and, in short, a very great betterment of her mode of living." But Mollie turned him down flat, saying that "millions would not tempt her to exhibit herself for a single day to the public."

We read in the account of the accidents that led to Mollie becoming permanently bed-bound: first a fall from a horse, and later a fall from a street car. Then we read this account narrated by a Rev. Talmadge:

"That was about twenty-one years ago. Her nervous system seems to be shattered. She had alternative spasms and trances for a month, and that was followed by a death like continuous trance of two months. Then came nine years of a wonderful and unexplained condition. She lay in bed in an unaltered position, apparently blind and with her eyes tightly closed. Trances were interspersed with spells of a sort of ecstacy, during which she told of marvelous visions and supernatural experiences. She seemed to have the gift of second sight [clairvoyance], and this was tested daily. Her physical rigidity remained a singular accompaniment of her mental exaltation."

"It was in 1875 or ’76 that a change came to pass in her. Her

body relaxed, and she professed to have no recollection of what occurred during the nine years. But her clairvoyance developed, and the stories are innumerable of her reading of sealed letters, her discernment of visitors before they came into her room, and of all imaginable sort of second sight [clairvoyance]. The experiments were made so numerously and carefully, and by gentlemen of such unassailable probity, that there can be no doubt of their genuineness. Within the past two or three years she has recovered some of the lost flesh—for she had become little more than a living skeleton—and her appearance was much less spectral. But her mind reading power has been unimpaired.”

The Mollie Fancher case is described in my post here, and in the long book here. 

Similar to the case above are the equally dramatic cases of Eliza Hamilton and Mrs. Croad, discussed in my post here, and the cases of Frederica Hauffe and Adele Magnot discussed in my post here.  The denialism or evidence-ignoring under which male science professors refuse to mention or study cases of clairvoyance and mediumship so well documented in females (with other cases such as here, here and here) is a lamentable example of lingering sexism in the patriarchy of academia, where the most empirically groundless theories of male professors often get 1000 times more attention than the most well-documented and philosophically relevant effects related to female psychics or mediums. 

Speaking of females who act as if they have psychic abilities, the Internet is currently abuzz about the recent interview you can see here, in which two twins (Brigitte and Paula Powers) describe their mother's encounter with a thief.  It seems that for most of the three-minute interview, the twins seem to speak in sync, with one twin saying exactly what the other twin says at the exact time the other twin says it, as they both describe something they recently saw.

Another sync-speaking interview with the two twins is below:

Spookiest Years, Part 7: The Years 1860-1861

In previous posts in this intermittently appearing "Spookiest Years" series on this blog (here, here, here, here, here and here), I had looked at some very spooky events reported between 1848 and 1855. Let me pick up the thread and discuss some spooky events reported in 1860 and 1861.

Between 1860 and 1861 slavery in the US was near its end that would occur in 1865, and among those helping to bring its downfall were the newspapers reporting paranormal phenomena. The January 21, 1860 edition of The Spiritual Telegraph strongly denounced slavery on page 458. 

In an 1861 book we hear these remarkable claims: 

 "I spent the evening at Judge Edmund's house, and was introduced to his daughter, Miss Laura Edmonds, his soul companion. Both are cheerful, very genial, and interesting persons. Miss Edmond's health is very delicate, and for that reason the exercise of her remarkable mediumship is not now encouraged. Her gifts are various : she is a writing medium ; and the spirits speak through her in the trance state; she sees spirits in her normal condition ; and she can sometimes at will project her spirit : appearing in form and delivering messages to friends in sympathy with her, even though living at a distance — in proof of which she cited two or three instances. The power of the spirit to leave the natural body and to present itself in visible form and identity to another, though rare, is not an attribute of Miss Edmonds' mediumship only; as I am acquainted with a lady resident in London who has the same power, and who has exercised it several times, This lady told me that on one occasion having a young friend staying on a visit with her, a gentleman who called to see them, in the course of conversation ridiculed the belief in apparitions, and said that he would give anything to see a ghost. He laughed at her assertion that her spirit could appear to him that very night if he pleased, and dared her to try it, which she agreed to do. In the course of the night, she told her friend that she had been to Mr. ----'s bedside, and that finding him asleep, she awoke him by a box on his ear; and then, after repeating to him a verse from a poem of Keat's, came away. The gentleman called on the ladies early on the following morning, corroborated her statement, and acknowledged himself perforce a convert at all events to that phase of spiritual manifestations."

On another page the author becomes one of very many who claimed the most astonishing auditory manifestations around Catherine Fox (the same as Kate Fox). Describing a method by which a person calls out the alphabet and waits for raps, writing down the letters followed by raps, he states this:

"The rappings in her presence are very loud and precise. When I  called on her one morning, the room resounded on all sides as if a host were giving me a joyous welcome. I asked if the spirits who were present would give us their names, and the names of Harry, Isabel, and Sylvester were spelt out, no names having been mentioned by me in Miss Fox's presence, and of course I and my family relations were wholly unknown to her. These were followed by other names of friends, spelt out in full, and one, a relative of my wife's said, 'Let me speak.' A message followed, of a specially significant and touching character, which I am precluded from giving, as it relates to private family affairs; but I may mention that the tenor of the message is an actual apology offered for an assumed injustice done to me during her life-time, now 20 years ago."

Many distinguished witnesses gave similar reports testifying to the most inexplicable auditory phenomena occurring from a great variety of different directions and objects when Kate Fox (Catherine Fox) was nearby. For example, in 1874 in a scientific paper the world-class scientist William Crookes stated this:

"These sounds are noticed with almost every medium, each having a special peculiarity; they are more varied with Mr. Home, but for power and certainty I have met with no one who at all approached Miss Kate Fox. For several months I enjoyed almost unlimited opportunity of testing the various phenomena occurring in the presence of this lady, and I especially examined the phenomena of these sounds. With mediums, generally, it is necessary to sit for a formal séance before anything is heard; but, in the case of Miss Fox it seems only necessary for her to place her hand on any substance for loud thuds to be heard in it, like a triple pulsation, sometimes loud enough to be heard several rooms off. In this manner I have heard them in a living tree—on a sheet of glass—on a stretched iron wire—on a stretched membrane—a tambourine—on the roof of a cab—and on the floor of a theatre. Moreover, actual contact is not always necessary; I have had these sounds proceeding from the floor, walls, &c., when the medium’s hands and feet were held—when she was standing on a chair—when she was suspended in a swing from the ceiling—when she was enclosed in a wire cage—and when she had fallen fainting on a sofa. I have heard them on a glass harmonicon—I have felt them on my own shoulder and under my own hands. I have heard them on a sheet of paper, held between the fingers by a piece of thread passed through one corner. 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."

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, coming from many different directions and different objects,  particularly whenever Kate Fox was around.    On the page here, that congressman says that Kate Fox was "one of the most simple-minded" persons he had ever met, and that she was "as incapable of framing, or carrying on, any deliberate scheme of imposition as a ten year-old child is of administering a government." See the last few paragraphs of my post here for an 1855 account by Susanna Moodie of similar wonders occurring  when she visited Kate Fox, including Kate identifying very specific names, dates and facts known to Moodie but unknown to Kate (an account similar to the one quoted above about Kate Fox). The evidence for paranormal effects around Kate Fox is overwhelming, and comes from numerous corroborating witnesses (some very  distinguished) who give very similar reports in different years of seeing and hearing effects around Kate Fox that no magician of her time could have produced.  

An 1861 speech by Thomas Pallister Barkas to a large audience made these startling claims about things that happened in the previous dozen years:

"In an incredibly short space of time, the manifestations increased in number and variety ; and in addition to those which consisted merely of responses to questions produced by tables rising and rapping on the floor, to indicate letters pointed out on the alphabet, or expressed viva voce there occurred knockings on the tables, chairs, floors, and walls of the rooms... the knockings being heard in places quite beyond the reach of any one present. The rising of tables entirely from the floor, and the dancing of the same in the air, the hands of the operators being on the tops of the tables ; ringing of bells ; dotting of handkerchiefs ; pulling of clothes ; pinching of the bodies of those in the rooms ; tables, chairs...moving without contact, and quite beyond the influence of mediums and spectators; writing automatically by mediums; independent spirit writings, — no visible person or thing touching either pencil or paper ; music played on guitars, concertinas, pianos, &c. — no one touching the keys or strings of the instruments ; appearances of spirit hands, such hands occasionally shaking those of the persons forming the circles; spirit drawing, by automatic action, through mediums ; trance, and impressional speaking ; ponderous bodies, such, for example, as tables and chairs, floating in the air, — and not only without any visible person or agent aiding their flight, but when full grown men sat down upon them, for the purpose of preventing their movements, — on several occasions tables, chairs, and men have floated about the rooms : spelling out the names of long series of persons living in this world, and those who have departed to the spirit world ; forwarding of communications to very distant places, and almost immediately returning with messages that weeks after have been verified ; — these, and myriads of other occurrences, have taken place without any mechanical contrivance or collusion, and under every variety of circumstances, — the great majority of the mediums being private and unprofessional. These extraordinary phenomena continue of frequent occurrence in all the States of America."

In the January 21, 1860 edition of Banner of Light, we hear an account by J. W. Hitchcock M.D. of apparition sightings in Terre Haute, Indiana. We read this account of a Mr. H. seeing apparitions in his house:

"He saw three men standing near the middle of the floor. It was a bright moonlight night, and sufficient light was admitted into the room by three large windows on the south and west sides. The men were engaged in earnest conversation, and he heard their voice, but could not distinguish what was said. Supposing, very naturally, that they were there for no good purpose, and, of course, fully prepared for offense or defense, Mr. H. felt that his situation was anything but agreeable; however, before he had resolved what to say or do, the three figures faded away, and he neither saw nor heard them again."

The same account tells us this:

"Mr. B. had his attention called to unaccountable noises in the back part of the house, and going thither to look to the matter, he saw a man come out of the cellar-way, and stood facing him within a few feet. Before he had recovered from his surprise, the apparition melted away."

On page 3 of the March 17, 1860 edition of Banner of Light, we have this remarkable account of sleepwalking (somnambulism):

"An extraordinary instance of somnambulism occurred in Stamford, shortly after midnight, on Monday last. About one o’clock, Sergeant Harrison, while on duty at the lock-up, observed a person, clothed in white, walking toward St. Paul street. Supposing it to be some one who had assumed a disguise for the purpose of playing a joke, he walked up to the individual, whom he found to be the wife of Mr, J. Oliver, cabinet-maker, having nothing on but her night-dress. She was walking about with her eyes wide open, apparently awake, but in reality in a state of perfect somnambulism. She was taken to her home, which was close at hand, and her husband aroused, by whom she was placed in bed. It appears that she got up, walked down stairs, unlocked the front door, and went into the street, without either disturbing her husband or arousing herself; nor was she conscious of what had taken place when she awoke in the morning. But the most remarkable feature in this case is, that, although she had been unable to walk without crutches or assistance for the last year or two, she was, when discovered, walking as well as any other person, and without either the support of the wall or a crutch."

On page 6 of the March 24, 1860 edition of Banner of Light, we have a story called "A Dead Woman Brought to Life," told by D. M. Lapham of Springfield, Illinois. He tells us this:

"Mrs. D.R. Judkins (medium) has the written certificates of persons who were present on the occasion, testifying to the truth of the following:  A woman came to this city, last spring. Her name was Elizabeth Cordell. Soon after arriving here she was taken very sick. One night, about nine o'clock, the girl who had been attending her went to the house of Mrs. D. R. Judkins, and told her the woman was dead, and asked her if she would go and help lay out the corpse. Mrs. J. said she would willingly do so. Arriving at the house, she found several persons congregated in the room. They said she had been dead about one half hour. As soon as Mrs. J. stepped into the room, she felt the power of the spirit with her, and was immediately controlled to make three passes from the head to the feet of the inanimate form before her, then took the hands in her own for a short time, when they became lifelike and limber. The medium's hands were then raised above her head, and brought together with a quick, sharp slap, accompanying the act with the words, 'Come out;' when, strange and miraculous as it may seem, the eyes were thrown open, She began to breathe and talk, and from that time gradually recovered her usual health. There were some half dozen persons present, who had examined the condition of the body, and pronounced it dead. The names of three witnesses of this manifestation are: Wm Trow, A. T. Wilkins, Julia A. Trow. These persons all live in this city."

The Lady Elgin was a steamship which was "rammed in a gale by the schooner Augusta in the early hours of September 8, 1860."  The ship sunk in Lake Michigan with the loss of about 300 people, according to the article here. On page 4 of the September 29, 1860 edition of Banner of Light, we read a quotation from the Columbus State Journal speaking of some paranormal events related to this disaster. We get this quotation:

"In Milwaukee, on the morning of the disaster, and about the very hour of its occurrence, the Chief of Police was awakened from sleep by the sense of a terrible calamity, so that he rose and visited all the police stations of the city, to see that nothing should happen which his care could avert, and at daylight returned to bis room with the same vague yet fearful presentiment depressing him. When he arose again at nine, the news of the wreck had thrilled the whole city. During the night, a lady whose husband was lost on the Elgin, was warned of his death in a dream. The wife of Capt. Barry dreamed that she saw the Elgin wrecked and her husband sink, as actually befell. A lady, who had no friends on the ill-fated vessel, awoke in the night with the feeling that, as she expressed it, 'something dreadful was happening,’ and was so wrought upon by terror that she could not sleep again, and rose and waited till the news of the catastrophe interpreted her forebodings. A mother who was lost gave her child in charge of a friend before going upon the excursion, with the injunction to place it with the Sisters of Mercy if she should not return. This request was, made playfully, as if the mother attached no particular importance to it; at the same time she would not leave until she had exacted a solemn promise to that effect."

The Lady Elgin, which sunk with about 300 dead

On page 6 of the October 13, 1860 edition of the Banner of Light, we read this:

"The Schenectady News vouches for the truth of the following:— 'A very remarkable case of presentiment, bordering on the supernatural, has just been told us by a gentleman nearly related to the persons concerned. Mr. W----- .... about three weeks ago, was awakened from his sleep by au unusual noise, which he thought proceeded from the adjoining room. More surprised than alarmed, he lighted a candle and went into the apartment, which was used as a spare bedroom. As he opened the door his light went out with the current of air, and he was in total darkness. Presently, however, ns ho turned to grope his way back, the room grew light as a cellar on a rainy afternoon, through a ground glass overhead, and Mr. W----- dimly saw his oldest son on the bed, clad in the habiliments of death, and the coffin beside him, resting on two chairs across the foot end. In a moment the illusion vanished, and Mr. W---- returned to his own room and struck another match, and again entered the spare bed-room, but everything seemed natural as usual.  Little was thought of the optical illusion, but last week the eldest son of Mr. W------was taken ill, and he died last Friday. He was a bright boy of some ten summers."

Page 5 of the December 29, 1860 edition of Banner of Light is a report by William Henry Burr dated December 17, 1860, and describing what Burr witnessed on December 13, 1860. Burr says that he saw in the presence of a medium named Mrs. French a seemingly paranormal production of drawings, made with incredible speed. We have this description of the drawings made, and the speed in which they were made:

"No. 1. Bird and bird’s nest—half a dozen flowers, leaves and stems. Time, eight seconds.

No, 2.—Rose on moss—three buds—seven leaves, Time, six seconds.

No. 3. Flowers—serpent coiled about one of the stems. Time, ten seconds.

No. 4. Two birds on branches— two flowers and thirteen leaves. Time, eight seconds.

No. 5. Basket of flowers, various kinds, light and dark. Time, eight seconds.

No. 6. Lake scene -- a row boat with men in it— Three sailing vessels— Mountains and Sky—Dimensions , seven inches by eleven —a perfect rectangle. Time, ten seconds.

No. 7. Storm at sea — a vessel wrecked and nearly submerged—Dimensions, ten inches by thirteen. Time seven seconds."

In the May 18, 1861 edition of Banner of Light, page 4, we have a May 3, 1861 account signed by eleven witnesses who claim to have seen this (among quite a few other wonders) on May 1, 1861:

"A large bright spot, an inch and a half in diameter, was now made upon the back of the violin by rubbing it with phosphorus. The light was put out, and very soon the violin rose six or seven feet above the floor and floated rapidly around in the air,  making a largo sweep at times, of seven or eight feet. In its movements it could easily be followed by the eye, as the phosphorescent spot made upon it ; was distinctly visible; it was also easily followed by the ear, as its strings were thrumbed upon during its flight. As the violin floated around, the medium repeatedly exclaimed, in a loud voice: ' I am  here, I am here,' giving us the assurance that he was still in his chair and not following the violin in its movements. The light was called for, and the medium was found tied, as already described, and his feet within the pencil lines."

Robert Dale Owen was once a US congressman. In an 1872 book he describes events of July 10, 1861:

"On the tenth of July, 1861, I joined a few friends in an excursion from the city of New York, by steamboat, to the Highlands of Neversink ; Mr. and Mrs. Underhill being of the party. It occurred to me, while sitting on deck by Mrs. Underhill, to ask if we could have the raps there. Instantly they were distinctly heard first, from the deck; then I heard them, and quite plainly felt them on the wooden stool on which I sat. In the afternoon our party went out in a sailing-boat, fifteen or twenty feet long. There, again at my suggestion, we had them, sounding from under the floor of the boat. It had a centre-board, or sliding keel, and we had raps from within the long, narrow box that inclosed it. At any part of this box where we called for the raps, we obtained them.... I proposed to try if we could have raps from the ground : and immediately I plainly heard them from beneath the ground on which we trod : it was a dull sound, as if blows struck on the earth. Then I asked Mrs. Underhill to touch one of the trees with the tips of her fingers, and, applying my ear to the tree, I heard the raps from beneath the bark. Other persons of our party verified this, as I had done." 

The next few pages tells a similar account. On pages 350 to 352 Owen describes a mysterious light floating around in the presence of himself and others.  On page 362 Owen gives this account of a seance that produced the levitation of a table weighing 120 pounds:

"Our session was on the evening of October 12, 1860, lasting from half-past nine till eleven. It was held in the same room and at the same table mentioned above, and by gas-light. Present Mr. and Mrs. Ubnderhill, Kate Fox, Mr. Harrison Gray Dyar, of New York, and myself. We had very loud rappings, from various parts of the room and on the chairs. Then, while our hands were on the table, it began to move, sometimes with a rotary motion, sometimes rising up on one side, until finally it rose from the ground all but one leg.....After a time we asked whether, if we removed our fingers from the table-top, while it was in the air, it could still remain suspended ; and the reply (by rapping) being in the affirmative, after aiding it to rise as before, we withdrew our fingers entirely, raising them above it. The table then remained, nearly level, suspended without any human support whatever, during the space of five or six seconds ; and then gradually settled down, without jar or sudden dropping, to the floor.

Then, anxious to advance a step farther, we asked if the table could not be raised from the floor without any aid or contact whatever. The reply being in the affirmative, we stood up and placed all our hands over it, at the distance of three or four inches from the table-top : when it rose of itself, following our hands as we gradually raised them, till it hung in the air about the same distance from the ground as before. There it remained six or seven seconds, preserving its horizontal, and almost as steady as when it rested on the ground : then it slowly descended, still preserving the horizontal, until the feet reached the carpet. As before, there was no jar or sudden dropping. The same experiment was repeated, next evening in the presence of Robert Chambers, after we had completed our tests with the steelyard; and with exactly the same result."