Very Mysterious: The Fox Sisters and the Spiritualist Movement
By Alice Askins, Education Coordinator at Rose Hill Mansion
Have you heard of the Fox sisters? The spiritualist movement began on March 31, 1848, in Hydesville, NY, when Maggie and Kate Fox reported making contact with a spirit. Spiritualism is the belief that the spirits of the dead can (and want to) communicate with the living. Spiritualists see the afterlife as a place where spirits continue to learn and develop. If spirits can speak to us, and if they are more advanced than we are, argued the Spiritualists, then surely they can provide us with useful knowledge. Some people were believed to have natural gifts for contacting the dead. They were called mediums, and they held formal communication sessions called séances. Their view of the afterlife divided Spiritualists from orthodox Christianity.
By May 1848, Geneva had heard about the Fox sisters. The Daily Gazette quoted the Rochester Daily Advertiser on May 7:
The excitement in reference to the mysterious knocking in a house at Hydesville…still continues…astonishing the multitude. A pamphlet has been published, containing a great number of certificates from individuals…who have heard the mysterious knocking, and have propounded to his ghostship a variety of questions, all of which have been answered by raps. The occupant of the house is named JOHN D. FOX…and himself and his wife both make a certificate in regard to the mysterious thumping. …they first heard the noise about the 30th of March…and that it has continued… The ghost not only answers all questions put to it, but readily gives the age of each child in the family, and of others in the neighborhood, but the ‘spirit’s’ history of its own affairs is altogether the most marvelous. …It states the body it once inhabited was that of a pedlar; that it was 31 years of age, and was murdered about four years since by the then occupant of the house…that the first letter of its given name was C, and that of its sir-name B., but it refused to give the entire name, (a very considerate ghost!) The manner in which these questions are said to be asked and answered, is this: For instance, when they wish to ascertain the first letter of its name, the questioner goes through the alphabet, and when the right letter is called, it raps. …it was asked who committed the [murder], and each individual was named who had occupied the house …No knocking was heard until the name of a very respectable man now residing at Lyons, Wayne county, was called, when it made three knocks…so many are the absurd stories about the matter, that the [man in Lyons] has felt constrained to procure a certificate of good character and respectability, signed by some forty or fifty of his former neighbors. …[I]ndividuals who have resided [in the Fox house] previous to the present occupants…now come forward and…certify that they too heard these same mysterious noises when they occupied the premises! …[the spirit] says that it shall keep up the rapping until its remains…are discovered…
The peddler’s name was supposedly Charles B. Rosna, but apparently there was no such person, and no vanished peddler of any name was ever identified. In 1904 some bones were found in the cellar of the Hydesville house, but at least some of them were animal bones. All the bones are now considered to be part of a hoax.
The Fox sisters. Courtesy Library of Congress.
Kate,12, and Maggie, 15, Fox became a sensation with their exciting story. Family friends Amy and Isaac Post, Quakers from Rochester, took the girls into their home in the late spring of 1848. The Posts became early converts and introduced the young mediums to their friends. The Fox sisters were soon earning their living by conducting séances, and many people followed them into mediumship. Soon spiritualism became a popular form of entertainment and a serious pursuit for some.
The Gazette seems to have taken a dubious view of spiritualism – reprinting the rather jocular article that called the alleged spirit “his ghostship,” and referred to the public excitement as “absurd.” Still, many Genevans were interested in the idea. A correspondent identified as C.C.G. wrote a piece for the Gazette on February 1, 1850. The author objected to skeptics who dismissed the Fox fervor without having investigated it themselves:
The Mysterious Sounds at Rochester and other places.
EDITOR: – I observe in the Rochester Advertis[er] two articles, one signed “C.D.” and the other “E.F.,” in relation to those mysterious sounds heard in that city. “C.D.” leads off with a knowing wink, and tells all strangers not to mind any more about this humbug, for we intelligent citizens of Rochester understand it perfectly, but in our immaculate wisdom we do not explain it. …Next “E.F.”makes a grand flourish…about how the world used to believe in witches and warlocks…but has got wiser now and believes in nothing but steam… He comes to the conclusion that…[the Fox sisters’ séances are humbug]…because the spirit constantly calls for dresses, shoes, and all sorts of goodly apparel for the girls. Well, we heard it some time, and never heard any thing of that sort at all. …Learned professors at a distance, may insult common sense with their ridiculous theories, but facts are greater than professors, whether they think it or not….
For the most part, it seems, the editor of the Gazette did not believe. He reprinted a piece from the Freeman’s Journal in March 21, 1851: “Spiritual Rappings. This modern humbug is by no means exploded yet.” Further, argued the Journal, spiritualism is blasphemous (we have to accept spiritualism or the Bible, one cannot believe both).
Despite negative references in much of the press, spiritualism continued to grow. It remained a topic of general discussion through the later 19th and early 20th centuries. (There is a certain amount of discussion still.) In the 1860s, local papers advertised the Banner of Light, a spiritualist periodical published in Boston. By the 1870s, Genevans were able to attend spiritualist performances. For example, in November 1871 the Davenport Brothers came to town and the following year the Snell Brothers presented a séance. On November 20, 1872 the Geneva Courier, reprinted an article from the Watertown Despatch about the Snell Brothers:
…We have seen the Davenport Bros., and thought them very mysterious, but this of the Snell Bros., is far ahead of them …Their Dark Séance is entirely different from the Davenports, as they are tied inside a cabinet and a rope is passed around the cabinet and sealed[.] The musical instruments are placed outside [and] perform wonderful antics… They will be sure of crowded houses wherever they go.
The word “séance” became so familiar that people used it as slang for “meeting.” The Daily Gazette reported on October 10, 1873: The facts of a new chemical discovery “were embodied in a paper addressed to the Academy of Science at Paris, at their weekly séance…”
Through the rest of the century the argument raged if scientists and magicians continued to expose fraudulent mediums, and the papers continued to report it, it was because more and more people believed. By 1897 Spiritualism claimed over eight million followers, mostly people from the middle and upper classes. It was especially popular with women. American spiritualists met in private homes for séances, at lecture halls for trance lectures, at state or national conventions, and at summer camps attended by thousands. One significant camp meeting was Lily Dale, in western New York State. Lily Dale was incorporated in 1879 as Cassadaga Lake Free Association, a camp and meeting place for Spiritualists and Freethinkers. The name was changed to The City of Light in 1903 and finally to Lily Dale Assembly in 1906. Its purpose is still to further Spiritualism.
Despite many “mediums” being exposed as cheats, spiritualism was very appealing, especially to people grieving for a loved one. Mary Todd Lincoln, for example, held séances in the White House, hoping to contact her son Willie, who died of fever in 1862 (and perhaps also her son Eddie, who died at four in 1850). There was a surge of spiritualism during the Civil War and another during World War I.
In 1888, the Fox sisters stated that their contact with spirits was a hoax, and explained how their effects had been produced. One sister later recanted the admission, but the damage was done to their careers as mediums. Spiritualism, though, continued on as though they had never spoken.
To learn more about the Fox Sisters and Spiritualism join us on Monday, October 2 at 7 p.m. when Tracy Murphy, curator and custodian of the Fox Sisters Hydesville Memorial Park in Wayne County, will share the Fox Sisters story and its connection to modern spiritualist beliefs.
Loved this article, particularly the newspaper quotes
One evening Bill and I decided to go hunting. Bills dog ran away and we attempted to find Bills dog. We called for him and heard a voice say honey there’s no one out there. Bill and I could die door open with a squeak from the hind he’s. We heard the door open and close it was a dark night, then Bill said with a sense of urgency let’s get out of here. I said why and bill aimed his flashlight at the old house. The old house didn’t have windows or doors and was not occupied. We departed the area, we never found Bills dog, and we didn’t return! That happened approximately 58 years ago!
LOLOL How exactly does a house have NO WINDOWS AND NO DOORS???????????
Although the uncaught and uncorrected. “Bill and I could die door open with a squeak from the hind he’s” makes it difficult to determine what precisely the writer is attempting to convey, it’s obvious that the nature of the occurrence is paranormal / supernatural. Part of the proof of that would be that the house had no windows or doors, for the very reason that such a house does not exist in the natural world. The point sailed right over your head.
AS a licensed hypnotist for years. I can tell ya that things like mediums and politicians. They employ many aspects of general hypnosis and advance, such as NLP. What makes a conman good and a conman is that he uses things such as this to manipulate others for his own gain. Sorta like having the internet. You can use it to become a highly educated individual, or to look at pornography. A large portion of my training involved knowing the right questions to ask and how to read the answers given to me. Both crucial when trying to help somebody who comes to you with a problem they would like to fix. Every answer you give to specific questions reveals more and more about you as a person, which reveals more and more the things that cause your issues. Whether its being overweight, smoking, or being afraid of spiders. Sadly, these types of people use their talents for NLP and hypnosis, to take advantage of people and exploit them.
Are you certain about that?
My sister once sat for a reading with a psychic. The psychic had been provided by a friend of my sister’s, to provide readings for anyone who wanted one at a Halloween party. There was no advance notice that my sister in particular, among all of the guests, would seek a reading. Even if there had been, what the psychic stated was not information that could be looked up, or obtained from anyone outside our immediate family.
The psychic advised my sister that our deceased mother had messages she wanted to convey. What the psychic then went on to say was just spot on with our mother’s personality, behavior while alive, and psychiatric issues, and her effect on her children, with none of the type of prompting to which you refer from my sister. My sister told me that she is aware that phony psychics use that type of trick, and so she was very careful to say nothing that would confirm to the psychic that what she had already said was either correct or incorrect. In addition, the psychic did not even ask my sister any questions. She just said, “Your mother is coming through” and went on to give the details, which are too personal for me to repeat here.
Does it 100% convince me that some psychics are genuine and that life after death does exist? No, but it’s important to me as a piece of evidence, because I have an open mind.