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diff --git a/old/30403.txt b/old/30403.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..96c8c80 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30403.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1638 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Hydesville, by Thomas Olman Todd + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Hydesville + The Story of the Rochester Knockings, Which Proclaimed the Advent of Modern Spiritualism + + +Author: Thomas Olman Todd + + + +Release Date: November 4, 2009 [eBook #30403] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HYDESVILLE*** + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images +generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/americana) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 30403-h.htm or 30403-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30403/30403-h/30403-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30403/30403-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/hydesvillestoryo00todd + + + + + +HYDESVILLE. + + +[Illustration: ADVENT OF SPIRITUALISM 1848. +JOHN D. FOX. +HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTERS. +HYDESVILLE +NEW YORK U.S.A.] + +HYDESVILLE: + +The Story of the Rochester Knockings, +Which Proclaimed +the Advent of Modern Spiritualism, + +by + +THOMAS OLMAN TODD, + +Past President of the British Spiritualists' Lyceum Union. + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + +Published at +The Keystone Press, +Sunderland. + + + + +DEDICATED TO DAISY. + + +[Illustration] + + A creature not too bright or good + For human nature's daily food, + For transient sorrows, simple wiles, + Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears and smiles. + --Wordsworth. + +[Illustration] + + "Some secret truths from learned pride concealed, + To maids alone and children are revealed: + What though no credit doubting wits may give, + The fair and innocent shall still believe." + --POPE. + +[Illustration] + +"Rightly viewed, no meanest object is insignificant; all objects are as +windows, through which the philosophic eye looks into infinitude +itself."--CARLYLE. + +[Illustration] + + "Rivers from bubbling springs + Have rise at first, and great from abject things." + --MIDDLETON. + +[Illustration] + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The interesting events narrated in this book which occurred at +Hydesville, in the house of the Fox Family, are those by which Modern +Spiritualism made its advent into this world as a new revelation in +spiritual matters. + +History is not without its reliable records of similar phenomena, but, +just as many scientific men have experimented and stopped short of the +gateway of the actual discovery of Nature's secrets, so, many who came +in contact with phenomena similar to those of Hydesville whilst being +mystified as to the meaning of the operating power, stopped short of the +actual discovery that "It can see as well as hear." Notably in the case +of the disturbances at Mr. Mompesson's house at Tedworth (1661--1663) +and Mr. Wesley's parsonage at Epworth (1716--1717). + +The early literature of the Spiritualist Movement is replete with most +interesting records of phenomena of bewildering variety, but during the +past twenty years the demand for literature on this absorbing subject +has taken a more philosophic turn. The phenomena are admittedly real. +The philosophy is the subject of debate, hence these early records are +fast going out of print and becoming difficult to obtain. + +Some few years ago, when the writer paid what proved to be his last +visit to Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten, he was deeply impressed with her +desire that the early history of the Spiritualist Movement, for which +she spent the greater part of her industrious life, and with which she +had been so intimately connected, should not be allowed to pass into +oblivion, and that at least the story of HYDESVILLE should be published +in a handy form and at a reasonable price. For this purpose she +presented him with what appeared to be her only remaining copy of her +invaluable historical work "Modern American Spiritualism," and requested +him to undertake that duty. + +The incidents recorded in the following pages are based chiefly on the +information given in the work mentioned above, and considerable use is +made of the actual words and sentences penned by Mrs. Britten; these are +given without quotation marks. Some portions however have been +re-written to adapt them to the requirements of the present book, whilst +a few other facts have been gathered from various sources, chiefly +Robert Dale Owen's "Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World." Both +Mrs. Britten and Mr. Owen were personally acquainted with the Fox family +and many of the persons incidentally mentioned in connection with the +phenomena at HYDESVILLE--a fact which gives superior weight to their +records. + + T. O. T. + +Sunderland, 1905. + + + Manchester, + December 5th, 1897. + + Mr. T. O. Todd. + +Dear Sir, + +Having been a sad invalid since June of this year, and still suffering, +I do not quite remember whether I have or not written to you on the +subject to which I desire to devote this poor scrawl. If I have not done +so hitherto--permit me to say,--altho' I have been obliged from severe +illness to suspend my platform work and writings, I am as much +interested in the earnest desire to help the progress of Spiritualism as +I have been in my long years of past devotion to that cause. + +In consequence of my sad illness I have been obliged to refuse my kind +American Friends' urgent invitation to attend their Grand Celebration at +Rochester, N.Y., next June. + + * * * * * + +I am most anxious to do something for our noble cause, [enquirers] will +necessarily want to have some special accounts of the first opening of +the Spiritual Movement and the history of the poor Fox Family and their +immediate connection with the famous "Rochester Knockings." All this I, +who knew the Fox Family and all the circumstances of the case +personally and intimately, have written and published in full detail in +my widely circulated work "Modern American Spiritualism."--But this work +consists of 560 pages, and tho' bought by thousands of American +Spiritualists, I should not know in England where to turn to find a copy +except in my own bookcase. + +Now what I propose is this: In the first hundred pages is the full and +entire history of the movement; the life and labours of A. J. +Davis,--the life, sufferings, and bitter persecutions of the poor Foxes, +and all their early trials; friends, foes, and all connected with them. +Why cannot you . . . take those hundred pages, condense them, and make a +splendid pamphlet of them? + + * * * * * + + Sincerely yours, + EMMA HARDINGE BRITTEN. + + + + +SPIRIT RAPPINGS. + + +[Illustration: Decoration] + +(This poem will be found set to music in the "Spiritual Songster.") + +[Illustration: Decoration] + + + Rap, rap, rap! Rap, rap, rap! Rap, rap, rap! + Who is it rapping to-night? + Only invisible friends, + Come from those chambers whose light + Radiantly earth-ward descends, + Those whose dear forms you have covered from sight, + And mark'd by a marble shaft solemn and white, + Have come from the land where their life bloom'd anew, + And lo! by those raps they are talking to you. + + Rap, rap, rap! Rap, rap, rap! Rap, rap, rap! + Daintiest fingers of air + Wake the most delicate sound + Rapping on table or chair, + Lov'd ones of earth gather round + Making us know that our lov'd ones have come, + Come back to our hearts, and their dear earthly home, + Forget they will never, thro' glory bath'd years, + How lonely they left us in sadness and tears. + + Rap, rap, rap! Rap, rap, rap! Rap, rap, rap! + Guests we would honour are here! + Hear the light rappings, and know + Visiting Angels are near, + Greeting their earth friends below! + Oh, bid them welcome, in garments of white, + To hearts which are pure and illumin'd with light; + They wander at will o'er two wonderful lands, + Oh, list to their counsels, and give them your hands. + + Rap, rap, rap! Rap, rap, rap! Rap, rap, rap! + Lov'd ones are rapping to-night; + Heaven seems not far away; + Death's sweeping river is bright, + Soft is the sheen of its spray. + Magical changes those rappings have wrought, + Sweet hope to the hopeless their patter has brought, + And death is bridg'd over with amaranth flow'rs: + Blest Spirits come back from their bright homes to ours. + + --Emma R. Tuttle. + +[Illustration: Kate Fox] + + + + +HYDESVILLE. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +The birth-places of the greatest of the world's social, political, and +religious reformations have generally been of insignificant and lowly +aspect, and apparently under the most inauspicious circumstances for +producing any great effect upon mankind. The Babe of the lowly manger +becomes the Spiritual King of millions of human hearts and souls, and +the "Wood Hut" becomes the gateway through which Holy Ministers of +Light, from their world of Truth and Beauty, send the evidence of man's +immortality, through the instrumentality of a child, to the weary worn +pilgrims of earth, who, praying for the "touch of a vanish'd hand, and +the sound of a voice that is still," welcome with joyful hearts the +Spirit message "WE STILL LIVE." + +The scene of the manifestations dealt with in the following pages, was a +small wooden homestead, one of a cluster of houses like itself, in the +little village of Hydesville, near to the town of Newark, Wayne County, +New York (being so called after Dr. Hyde, an old settler, whose son was +the proprietor of the house in question). The place not being directly +accessible from a railroad, was lonely and unmarked by those tokens of +progress that the locomotive generally leaves in its track, hence it was +the last spot where a scene of fraud and deception could find a +possibility of a successful execution. The house was a humble frame +dwelling fronting south, consisting of two fair-size parlours opening +into each other, east of these a bedroom and a buttery or pantry, +opening into one of the sitting rooms; and a stairway between the +buttery and the bedroom leading from the sitting room up to the half +storey above and from the buttery down to the cellar. + +This humble dwelling had been selected as a temporary residence during +the erection of another house in the country, by Mr. John D. Fox, who, +with his family, soon afterwards became so prominently identified with +the phenomena which have since become world famous. Their little +dwelling, though so small and simply furnished as to leave no shadow of +opportunity for concealment or trick, was the residence of honest piety +and rural simplicity. All who ever knew them bore witness to the +unimpeachable character of the good mother, while the integrity of the +simple-minded farmers who were father and brother to the sisters who +have since become so celebrated as the "Rochester Knockers" stands +proved beyond all question. + +The ancestors of Mr. Fox were Germans, the name being originally "Voss"; +but both he and Mrs. Fox were native born. In Mrs. Fox's family, French +by origin and Rutan by name, several individuals had evinced the power +of second sight,--her maternal grandmother (Margaret Ackerman) who +resided at Long Island, had frequent perceptions of coming events; so +vivid were these presentiments that she frequently followed phantom +funerals to the grave as if they were real. + +Mrs. Fox's sister also, Mrs. Elizabeth Higgins, had similar power. On +one occasion, in the year 1823, the two sisters, then residing in New +York, proposed to go to Sodus by canal. But one morning Elizabeth said, +"We shall not make this trip by water." "Why so?" her sister asked. +"Because I dreamed last night that we travelled by land, and there was a +strange person with us. In my dream, too, I thought we came to Mott's +tavern on the Beech Woods, and that they could not admit us because +Mrs. Mott lay dying in the house. I know it will all come true." "Very +likely indeed!" her sister replied, "for last year, when we passed +there, Mr. Mott's wife lay dead in the house." "You will see. He must +have married again and he will lose his second wife." Every particular +came to pass as Mrs. Higgins had predicted. Mrs. Johnson, a stranger, +whom at the time of the dream they had not seen, did go with them, they +made the journey by land and were refused admittance into Mott's tavern +for the very cause assigned in the dream. + +The family of Mr. and Mrs. Fox consisted of six children, but at the +time of the manifestations the house was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Fox +and their two youngest children only, Margaretta, aged twelve, and Kate, +aged nine years. These details, insignificant as they may now appear, +are due alike to the family and posterity. When the future of this +wonderful movement shall have become matter of history and antiquity, if +not reverence for spiritual truth, and shall induce mankind to follow +the example of their ancestors and label the records "sacred," the names +now sunk in obscurity and masked by slander may perchance be engraved in +monuments of bronze and marble, and the incidents now deemed too slight +for notice become reverenced as "Holy Writ." These changes of chance +and time have happened before; if history repeats itself they will occur +again. It was reserved to this family to be the instruments of +communicating to the world this most singular affair. They were the ones +who first, as if by accident, found out that there was an INTELLIGENCE +MANIFESTED EVEN IN THE RAPPING, which at first appeared nothing more +than an annoying and unaccountable noise. + +In a publication of the early investigations connected with this house, +entitled: "A Report of the Mysterious Noises heard in the house of Mr. +John D. Fox, in Hydesville, Arcadia, Wayne County, authenticated by the +certificates and confirmed by the statements of the citizens of that +place and vicinity," we find that some disturbances had affected the +house before the Fox family came to live there. In the year 1843-4, the +farm was occupied by a Mr. and Mrs. Bell, who, during the last three +months of their stay were joined by a young girl--Lucretia Pulver, who +sometimes worked for them, and at other times boarded with them and went +to school, she being about fifteen years old. + +According to the statement of Lucretia, called forth by subsequent +investigations, a pedlar called at the house one afternoon whom Mrs. +Bell seemed to recognise as an acquaintance. He was a man about thirty +years of age, dressed in a black frock coat, light trousers and vest, +and carried with him a pack of goods containing dress material and other +draperies. + +Shortly after the arrival of the pedlar, Mrs. Bell called the girl to +say that she could not afford to keep her any longer, and that as she +was going to the next village the same afternoon, she might pack her +clothes and they would go together. Before going, Lucretia chose from +the pedlar's pack a piece of delaine, asking him to leave it at her +father's house; this he promised to do the next day. Mrs. Bell and +Lucretia then left the house, the pedlar and Mr. Bell remained behind, +the former apparently having decided to stay there for the day. The +pedlar did not call at Lucretia's father's house next day in fulfilment +of his promise to do so, nor, in fact, was he ever seen again, a +circumstance which should be borne in mind when the sequel to this story +is under consideration. + +About three days afterwards, much to the girl's surprise, Mrs. Bell sent +for Lucretia to return to her again. She did so, and from that time she +began to hear noises and knockings in her bedroom, the same room which +was afterwards occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Fox. On one occasion, when Mr. +and Mrs. Bell were away from home at Lock Berlin, and Lucretia had to +remain in the house, she sent for her young brother and a girl friend +named Aurelia Losey to stay in the house with her. During the night they +all heard noises which they declared sounded like the footsteps of a man +passing from the bedroom to the buttery, then down the cellar stairs, +traversing the cellar for a short time and then suddenly stopping. They +were all very much frightened and got up to fasten the doors and +windows, but were scarcely able to sleep the remainder of the night. + +About a week after the visit of the pedlar to the house, Lucretia having +occasion to go down into the cellar, stumbled and fell into a hole +filled with soft soil, this somewhat frightened her and caused her to +scream for assistance. Mrs. Bell coming to her rescue, Lucretia asked +what Mr. Bell had been doing in the cellar that it was all "dug up." +Mrs. Bell replied that "the holes were only rat holes," and a few nights +afterwards Lucretia observed that Mr. Bell was busy for some time in the +cellar filling up the "rat holes" with earth which he carried there +himself. + +During the remainder of the period in which the house was occupied by +the Bell family, the sounds continued to be heard, not only by Lucretia +but by Mrs. Bell. Lucretia's mother, Mrs. Pulver, was a frequent +visitor at the house, and on one occasion in particular, after the +foregoing events, when she called upon Mrs. Bell, she found the latter +quite ill from want of rest, and on enquiring the cause, Mrs. Bell +declared she was "sick of her life," and that she frequently "heard the +footsteps of a man traversing the house all night." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +A few months after these events happened the Bells left the +neighbourhood, and the house became tenanted by a Mr. and Mrs. Weekman, +who lived there about eighteen months, and left in the year 1847. Mr. +Weekman's statement respecting the noises he heard was to the effect +that one evening when he was about to retire for the night, he heard a +rapping on the outside door, and, what was rather unusual for him, +instead of familiarly bidding them "come in," stepped to the door and +opened it. He had no doubt of finding some one who wished to come in, +but to his surprise found no one there. He stepped out and looked +around, supposing that some person was imposing on him, he could +discover no one, and went back into the house. After a short time he +heard the rapping again, and stepped up and held on to the latch, so +that he might ascertain if any one had taken that means to annoy him. +The rapping was repeated, the door opened instantly, but no one was in +sight. Mr. Weekman states that he could feel the jar of the door very +plainly when the rapping was heard. As he opened the door he sprang out +and went around the house, but no one was in sight, nor could he find +trace of any intruder. + +They were frequently afterwards disturbed by strange and unaccountable +noises. One night Mrs. Weekman heard what she deemed to be the footsteps +of someone walking in the cellar. Another night Mr. Weekman and his wife +were disturbed by hearing a scream from their child, a girl about eight +years of age,--this happened at midnight,--they went to her and she told +them that something like a hand passed over her face and head; it seemed +cold, and so badly had she been frightened that it was some time before +she could be induced to tell her parents the cause of her alarm, nor +would she consent to sleep in the same room for several nights +afterwards. + +All this might have happened, and been only the idle fabric of a child's +dream, the Weekman family might have imagined what they gave out as +fact, and we should be inclined to believe that such was the case, if we +had not the most conclusive evidence that such manifestations were quite +common, not only in this house, but in various others where similarly +strange things have happened. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + "Know well my soul, God's hand controls + Whate'er thou fearest." + + +From the time the Fox family entered the house at Hydesville, about +December, 1847, they were incessantly disturbed by similar noises to +those heard by Lucretia Pulver and the Weekmans. During the next month +however (January, 1848) the noises began to assume the character of +slight knockings heard at night in the bedroom; sometimes appearing to +sound from the cellar beneath. At first Mrs. Fox sought to persuade +herself this might be the hammering of a shoemaker in a house hard by, +sitting up late at work. But further observation showed that the sounds +originated in the house. For not only did the knockings become more +distinct, and not only were they heard first in one part of the house, +then in another, but the family remarked that these raps, even when not +very loud, often caused a motion, tremulous rather than a sudden jar, of +the bedsteads and chairs--sometimes of the floor; a motion which was +quite perceptible to the touch when a hand was laid on the chairs, which +was sometimes sensibly felt at night in the slightly oscillating motion +of the bed, and which was occasionally perceived as a sort of vibration +even when standing on the floor. After a time also, the noises varied in +their character, sounding occasionally like distinct footfalls in the +different rooms. + +In the month of February, the noises became so distinct and continuous +that their rest was broken night after night, and they were all becoming +worn out in their efforts to discover the cause of the annoyances. These +disturbances were not confined to sounds merely,--once something heavy, +as if a dog, seemed to lie on the feet of the children; but it was gone +before the mother could come to their aid. Another time (this was late +in March) Kate felt as if a cold hand was on her face. Occasionally too, +the bedclothes were pulled during the night. Finally chairs were moved +from their places. The disturbances, which had been limited to +occasional knockings throughout February and March, gradually increased +towards the close of the latter month, both in loudness and frequency. +Mr. Fox and his wife got up night after night, lit a candle, and +thoroughly searched every nook and corner of the house; but without any +result. They discovered nothing. When the raps came on a door, Mr. Fox +would stand, ready to open the door the instant the raps were repeated. +Though he opened the door immediately there was no one to be seen. Nor +did he or Mrs. Fox obtain any clue as to the cause of the trouble, +notwithstanding all the efforts they made and the precautions they +exercised. + +The only circumstance which seemed to suggest the possibility of +trickery or of mistake was, that these various unexplained occurrences +never happened in daylight, and thus notwithstanding the strangeness of +the thing, when morning came they began to think it must have been the +fancy of the night. Not being given to superstition, they clung, +throughout several weeks of annoyance, to the idea that some natural +explanation of these seemingly mysterious events would at last appear, +nor did they abandon this hope till the night of + + FRIDAY, MARCH 31st, 1848, + +a date which was destined to be indelibly imprinted on the minds of the +coming generations as the daybreak of a new era in the spiritual +development of humanity, a date which has since been regularly observed +as marking the advent of the greatest spiritual revelation of modern +times, and recognised as the anniversary of the Spiritualist movement in +all parts of the world. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The day had been cold and stormy, with snow on the ground. In the course +of the afternoon, David, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Fox, came to visit his +parents from his farm about three miles distant. Mrs. Fox then first +recounted to him the particulars of the annoyances they had endured; for +until now they had been little disposed to communicate these to any one. +He listened to her with a smiling face. "Well mother," he said, "I +advise you not to say a word about it to the neighbours. When you find +it out it will be one of the simplest things in the world." And in that +belief he returned to his own home. + +Wearied out by a succession of sleepless nights and of fruitless +attempts to penetrate the mystery, the Fox family retired on that Friday +evening very early to rest, hoping for a respite from the disturbances +that harassed them. But they were doomed to disappointment. The parents +had had the children's beds removed into their own bedroom, and strictly +enjoined them not to talk of the noises even if they heard them. But +scarcely had the mother seen them safely in bed, and was retiring to +rest herself, when the children cried out "Here they are again." The +mother chid them and lay down, but as though in rebuke of her apparent +indifference, they were on this occasion louder and more pertinacious +than ever. Rest was impossible. The children kept up a continuous +chatter, sitting up in bed to listen to the sounds. Mr. Fox tried the +windows and doors, to discover, if possible, the source of the +annoyance. The night being windy it suggested itself to him that it +might be the sashes rattling, but all in vain; the raps continued and +were evidently answering the noise occasioned by the father shaking the +windows, as if in mockery. + +At length the youngest child, Kate--who in her guileless innocence had +become familiar with the invisible knocker, until she was more amused +than alarmed at its presence--merrily exclaimed: "Here, Mr. Split-foot, +do as I do." The effect was instantaneous: the invisible rapper +responded by imitating the number of her movements. She then made a +given number of motions with her finger and thumb in the air, but +without noise, and her astonishment was re-doubled to find that these +movements were seen by the invisible rapper, for a corresponding number +of knocks were immediately given to her noiseless motions, whilst from +her lips as though but in childish jest and transport at her new +discovery there sprang to life the words which revealed the sublimest +Spiritual Truth of modern times: "Only look mother + + IT CAN SEE AS WELL AS HEAR." + +Words which have since become a text which Doctors, Professors, sceptics +and scoffers have tried to crush out of existence--and ignominously +failed, but which on the other hand have brought comfort, solace, and +permanent joy to the hearts of hundreds of thousands--nay, millions +surely,--of earth's weary pilgrims. Words which declared a truth since +tested by every possible subtlety and sophistry which the ingenuity of +man could suggest or devise, but which has stood firmly through every +ordeal. Words which declare a truth that has already become the firm +foundation of faith for an ever progressive Spiritual Church, made up of +almost every nation of the earth, and embracing adherents from every +rank of philosophic, scientific, religious and social life, which, +moreover, reveals its own attributes to the child and the philosopher +alike, and provides the missing link between a finite material world and +a world of infinite spiritual possibilities by proving the continuity of +life. + +[Illustration: + + It can + SEE + as well as + HEAR + + HYDESVILLE + +March 31st., 1848.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Happily for the momentous work which the spiritual telegraphers had +undertaken to initiate in this humble dwelling, the first manifestations +did not appeal to the high and learned of the earth, but to the plain +common-sense of an honest farmer's wife, and suggested that whatever +could see, hear, and intelligently respond to relevant queries, must +have in it something in common with humanity; and thus Mrs. Fox +continued her investigations. Addressing the viewless rapper she said +"count ten;" the raps obeyed. "How old is my daughter Margaret?" then +"Kate?" Both questions were distinctly and correctly rapped out. Mrs. +Fox then asked "How many children have I?" Seven, was the reply; this +however proved to be wrong for she had only six living. She repeated her +question and was again answered by seven raps; suddenly she cried "How +many have I living?" Six raps responded. "How many dead?" a single +knock; and both these answers proved correct. To the next question, "Are +you a man that knocks?" there was no response; but "Are you a spirit?" +elicited firm and distinctive responsive knocks. + +Emboldened by her success, Mrs. Fox continued her enquiries and +ascertained by raps that the messages were coming from what purported to +be the Spirit of an injured man who had been murdered for his money. To +the question how old he was, there came thirty-one distinct raps. He +also gave them to understand that he was a married man, and had left a +wife and five children; that his wife was dead, and had been dead two +years. After ascertaining so much, she asked the question "Will the +noise continue if I call in some neighbours?" The answer was by rapping +in the affirmative. + +At first they called in their nearest neighbours, who came thinking they +would have a hearty laugh at the family for being frightened--but when +the first neighbour came in and found that the noise, whatever it might +be, could tell the age of herself as well as others, and give correct +answers to questions on matters of which the family of Mr. Fox was quite +ignorant, she concluded that there was something beside a subject of +ridicule and laughter in these unseen but audible communications. These +neighbours insisted on calling others who came, and after investigation +were as much confounded as at first. + +The reader must endeavour to picture to himself the scene which followed +the introduction of the neighbours to this weird and most novel court +of inquiry. Imagine the place to be an humble cottage in a remote and +obscure hamlet; the judge and jurors, simple unsophisticated rustics; +and the witness an invisible, unknown being, a denizen of a world of +whose very existence mankind has been ignorant; acting by laws +mysterious and inconceivable, in modes utterly beyond all human control +or comprehension, and breaking through what has been deemed the dark and +eternal seal of death, to reveal the long-hidden mysteries of the grave, +and drag to the light secrets which not even the fabled silence of the +grave could longer hide away. Those who have been accustomed to dream of +death as the end of all whom its shadowy portals inclose, alone are +prepared to appreciate the awful and startling reality of this strange +scene, breaking apart, as it did, like a rope of sand, all the +preconceived opinions of countless ages on the existence and destiny of +the living dead. + +Those who have become familiar with the revealments of the spirit circle +will only smile at the consternation evoked in this rustic party by the +now familiar presence and manifestations of "the spirits," but to those +who still stand in the night of superstition, deeming of all earth's +countless millions as "dead," "lost," "gone," no one knows whither; +never to return; to give no sign, no echo, no dim vibration from that +vast gulf profound of unfathomed mystery--what a picture is that which +suddenly brings them face to face with the mighty hosts of the vanished +dead, all clothed in life, and girded round with a panoply of power, and +light, and strength; with vivid memory of the secret wrongs deemed +buried in their graves. Our cities are thronged with an unseen people +who flit about us, their piercing eyes invisible to us, are scanning all +our ways. The universe is teeming with them,--"THERE ARE NO DEAD,"--the +air, the earth, and the sky above, are filled with a viewless host of +spirit--witnesses whose messages ever declare "There is no death." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Amongst the investigators introduced to the household was a Mr. William +Deusler, of Arcadia, an immediate neighbour of the Fox family at this +time, and from his testimony we gather a great many interesting facts as +to the evidence offered by the injured spirit in order that its identity +could be clearly established. + +Mr. Deusler had formerly lived with his father in this house, and the +message that the spirit had received an injury, prompted him to ask if +either he or his father had been the cause of such an injury. On +receiving an assurance that they were in no way responsible, the +investigation was continued, the results being here given in Mr. +Deusler's own words-- + +"I then asked if Mr. ---- [naming a person who had formerly lived in the +house] had injured it, and if so, to manifest it by rapping, and it made +three knocks louder than common, and at the same time the bedstead +jarred more than it had done before. I then inquired if it was murdered +for money, and the knocking was heard. I then requested it to rap when +I mentioned the sum of money for which it was murdered. I then asked if +it was one hundred, two, three or four, and when I came to five hundred +the rapping was heard. All in the room said they heard it distinctly. I +then asked the question if it was five hundred dollars, and the rapping +was heard. + +"After this, I sent over and got Artemus W. Hyde to come over.[A] He +came over. I then asked over nearly the same questions as before, and +got the same answers. Mr. Redfield sent after David Jewel and wife, and +Mrs. Hyde also came. After they came in I asked the same questions over +and got the same answers. . . . I then asked it to rap my age--the +number of years of my age. It rapped thirty times. This is my age, and +I do not think any one about here knew my age, except myself and family. +I then told it to rap my wife's age, and it rapped thirty times, which +is her exact age; several of us counted it at the same time. I then +asked it to rap A. W. Hyde's age; then Mrs. A. W. Hyde's age. I then +continued to ask it to rap the ages of different persons--naming +them--in the room, and it did so correctly, as they all said. I then +asked the number of children in the different families in the +neighbourhood, and it told them correctly in the usual way, by rapping; +also the number of deaths that had taken place in the different +families, and it told correctly. . . . + +"I then asked in regard to the time it was murdered, and in the usual +way, by asking the different days of the week and the different hours of +the day, learned that it was murdered on Tuesday night, about twelve +o'clock. The rapping was heard only when this particular time was +mentioned. When it was asked if it was murdered on a Wednesday, or +Thursday, or Friday night, etc., there was no rapping. I then asked if +it carried any trunk, and it rapped that it did. Then how many, and it +rapped once. In the same way we ascertained that it had goods in the +trunk, and that ---- took them when he murdered him; and that he had a +pack of goods besides. I asked if its wife was living, and it did not +rap. If she was dead, and it rapped. . . . This was tried over several +times and the result was always the same. + +"I then tried to ascertain the first letters of its name by calling over +the different letters of the alphabet. I commenced with A, and asked if +it was the initial of its name; and when I asked if it was B the rapping +commenced. We then tried all the other letters, but could get no answer +by the usual rapping. I then asked if we could find out the whole name +by reading over all the letters of the alphabet, and there was no +rapping. I then reversed the question, and the rapping was heard. . . . +There were a good many more questions asked on that night by myself and +others which I do not now remember. They were all readily answered in +the same way. I staid in the house until about twelve o'clock and then +came home. Mr. Redfield and Mr. Fox staid in the house that night. + +"Saturday night I went over again about seven o'clock. The house was +full of people when I got there. They said it had been rapping some +time. I went into the room. It was rapping in answer to questions when I +went in. . . . + +"There were as many as three hundred people in and around the house at +this time, I should think. Hiram Soverhill, Esq., and Volney Brown asked +it questions while I was there, and it rapped in answer to them. + +"I went over again on Sunday between one and two o'clock p.m. I went +into the cellar with several others, and had them all leave the house +over our heads; and then I asked, if there had been a man buried in the +cellar, to manifest it by rapping or any other noise or sign. The moment +I asked the question there was a sound like the falling of a stick +about a foot long and half an inch through, on the floor in the bedroom +over our heads. It did not seem to rebound at all; there was but one +sound. I then asked Stephen Smith to go right up and examine the room, +and see if he could discover the cause of the noise. He came back and +said he could discover nothing; that there was no one in the room, or in +that part of the house. I then asked two more questions, and it rapped +in the usual way. We all went up-stairs and made a thorough search, but +could find nothing. + +"I then got a knife and fork, and tried to see if I could make the same +noise by dropping them, but I could not. This was all I heard on Sunday. +There is only one floor, or partition, or thickness between the bedroom +and the cellar; no place where anything could be secreted to make the +noise. When this noise was heard in the bedroom I could feel a slight +tremulous motion or jar. . . . + +"On Monday night I heard this noise again, and asked the same questions +I did before and got the same answers. This is the last time I have +heard any rapping. I can in no way account for this singular noise which +I and others have heard. It is a mystery to me which I am unable to +solve. . . . + +"I lived in the same house about seven years ago, and at that time never +heard any noises of the kind in and about the premises. I have +understood from Johnston and others who have lived there before +----moved there, that there were no such sounds heard there while they +occupied the house. I never believed in haunted houses, or heard or saw +anything but what I could account for before. + + (Signed), + WILLIAM DEUSLER." + + "April 12, 1848." + +To the same effect is the testimony of the following persons, whose +certificates were published in a pamphlet by E. E. Lewis, Esq., of +Canandaigua, New York, namely: John D. Fox, Walter Scotten, Elizabeth +Jewel, Lorren Tenney, James Bridger, Chauncey P. Losey, Benjamin F. +Clark, Elizabeth Fox, Vernelia Culver, William D. Storer, Marvin P. +Losey, David S. Fox, and Mary Redfield. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[A] The son of the proprietor of the house at Hydesville. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +The news of the mysterious rappings continued to spread abroad, and the +house was filled with anxious seekers for the unknown and invisible +visitor. Up to this time the noises had only been heard at night, but on +Sunday morning, April 2nd, the sounds were first heard in the daytime, +and by any who could get into the house. It has been estimated that at +one time there were about five hundred people gathered around the house, +so great was the excitement at the commencement of these strange +occurrences. + +On the Monday following, Mr. Fox and others commenced digging in the +cellar, but as the house was built on low ground and in the vicinity of +a stream then much swollen by rains, it was not surprising that they +were baffled by the influx of water at the distance of three feet down. +In the summer of 1848, when the ground was dry and the water lowered, +the digging again commenced, when they found a plank, a vacant place or +hole, some bits of crockery, which seemed to have been a washbowl, +traces of charcoal, quicklime, some human hair, bones (declared on +examination by a surgeon to be human), including a portion of a skull, +but no connected skull was found. + +[Interesting facts relating to the missing portions of the human body +were announced in the public newspapers as recently as December, 1904, +for which see Appendix.] + +Such were the results of the examination of the cellar; such the only +corroborative evidences obtained of the truth of the spirit's tale of +untimely death. The presence of human remains in the cellar proves that +someone was buried there, and the quicklime and charcoal testify to the +fact that attempts were made to secretly dispose of the body of the +victim. + +The Fox family did not immediately quit the scene of this mysterious +haunting, but remained to witness still more astounding phenomena. The +furniture was frequently moved about; the girls were often touched by +hard cold hands; doors were opened and shut with violence; their beds +were so violently shaken that they were obliged to "camp out" as they +termed it, on the ground; their bedclothes were dragged from them, and +the very floor and house made to rock as in an earthquake. Night after +night they would be appalled by hearing a sound like a death struggle, +the gurgling of the throat, a sudden thud as of something falling, the +dragging as of a helpless body across the room and down the cellar +stairs, the digging of a grave, nailing of boards, and the filling up as +of a new made grave. These sounds have subsequently been produced by +request, and spontaneously also, in the presence of many persons +assembled in circles at Rochester. + +It was perceived that "the spirits" seemed to select or require the +presence of the two younger girls of the family for the production of +the sounds, and though these had been made without them, especially on +the night of the 31st of March, when all the members of the family save +Mr. Fox were absent from the house, still as curiosity prompted them to +close observation and conversation with the invisible power, it was +clear that the manifestations became more powerful in the presence of +Kate, the youngest daughter, than with any one else. + +As the house was continually thronged with curious inquirers, and the +time, comfort and peace of the family were consumed with these harassing +disturbances, besides the most absurd though injurious suspicions being +cast upon them, they endeavoured to baffle the haunters by sending Kate +to reside with her eldest sister, Mrs. Fish, at Rochester; but no +sooner had she gone than the manifestations re-commenced with more force +than ever, in the presence of Margaretta. In course of time Mrs. Fox, +with both her daughters, went to live in Rochester, but neither change +of place nor house, nor yet the separation of the family, afforded them +any relief from the disturbances that evidently attached themselves to +persons rather than places as formerly. + +Although the Fox family had for months striven to banish the power that +tormented them, praying with all the fervour of true Methodism to be +released from it, and enduring fear, loss and anxiety in its +continuance, the report of its persistence began to spread abroad, +causing a rain of persecutions to fall upon them from all quarters. Old +friends looked coldly on them, and strangers circulated the most +atrocious slanders at their expense. + +Mrs. Fish, the eldest sister, who was a teacher of music in Rochester, +began to lose her pupils, and whilst the blanching of the poor mother's +hair in a single week bore testimony to the mental tortures which +supra-mundane terrors and mundane cruelties had heaped upon them, the +world was taunting them with imposture and with originating the very +manifestations which were destroying their health, peace of mind, and +good name. They had solicited the advice of their much-respected +friend, Isaac Post, a highly esteemed Quaker citizen of Rochester, and +at his suggestion succeeded in communicating by raps with the invisible +power, through the alphabet (an attempt had been previously made but +without success). Telegraphic numbers were given to signify "Yes" or +"No," "Doubtful," etc., and sentences were spelled out by which they +learned the astounding facts that not only "Charles Rosna" the murdered +pedlar, but hosts of spirits, good and bad, high and low, could under +certain conditions not understood, and impossible for mortals yet to +comprehend, communicate with earth; that such communication was produced +through the forces of spiritual magnetism, in chemical affinity; that +the varieties of magnetism in different individuals afforded "medium +power" to some, and denied it to others; that the magnetic relations +necessary to produce phenomena were very subtle, liable to disturbance +and singularly susceptible to the influence of the mental emotions. In +addition to communications purporting thus to explain the object and +something of the modus operandi of the communion, numerous spirit +friends of the family, and also of those who joined in their +investigations, gladdened the hearts of their astonished relatives by +direct and unlooked-for tests of their presence. They came spelling out +their names, ages and various tokens of identity correctly, and +proclaiming the joyful tidings that they all "still lived," "still +loved," and with the tenderness of human affection and the wisdom of a +higher sphere of existence, watched over and guided the beloved ones who +had mourned them as dead, with all the gracious ministry of guardian +angels. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +But redolent of joy and consolation as is the intercourse with beloved +friends, at this time when orderly communion has succeeded doubtful +experiment, it must not be supposed that any such harmonious results +characterised the initiatory proceedings of the spiritual movement which +now made its advent in Rochester. + +Within and without the dwellings of the medium, all was fear, +consternation, doubt, and anxiety. Fanatical religionists of different +sects had forced themselves into the family gatherings, and the wildest +scenes of rant, cant, and absurdity often ensued. Opinions of the most +astounding nature were hazarded concerning the object of this movement; +some determining that it was a "millennium" and looking for the speedy +reign of a personal Messiah and the equally speedy destruction of the +wicked. + +It must not be supposed that the clergy were idle spectators of the +tumultuous wave that was sweeping over the city. On the contrary, +several of them called on Mrs. Fox with offers to "exorcise the +spirits," and when they found their attempts futile, and that though the +spirits would rap in chorus to the "amens" with which they concluded +their incantations, they were otherwise unmoved by these reverend +performances, they generally ended by proclaiming abroad that the family +were "in league with the evil one," or the "authors of a vile +imposture." + +Honourable exceptions, however, were found to this cowardly and +unchristian course, and amongst these was the Rev. A. H. Jervis, a +Methodist minister of Rochester, in whose family remarkable +manifestations occurred of the same character as in that of the Foxes, +and whose appreciation of the beauty and worth of the communications he +received, several of his published letters bear witness of. Mr. Lyman +Granger, Rev. Charles Hammond, Deacon Hale, and several other families +of wealth and influence, both in Rochester and the surrounding towns, +also began to experience similar phenomena in their own households, +while the news came from all quarters, extending as far as Cincinnati +and St. Louis, West, and Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New +York, East, that the mysterious rappings and other phases of what is now +called "medium power" were rapidly spreading from town to town and State +to State, in fulfilment of an assurance made in the very first of the +communications to the Fox family, namely, "that these manifestations +were not to be confined to them, BUT WOULD GO ALL OVER THE WORLD." + +The remarkable manner in which this prophecy has been fulfilled the most +casual observer will readily admit; for Spiritualism--even as a +religious power--has far outstripped any other form of religion in the +world in the rapidity of its growth, having reached every civilized +nation and permeated every other form of belief in less than half a +century. + +The Fox Sisters were still called the "Rochester Knockers," the "Fox +Girls," the "Rappers," and other epithets, equally foolish and obnoxious +to their interests and feelings. Catherine Fox, the youngest girl, had +been removed to the house of Mr. W. E. Capron, of Auburn. Mrs. Fish, +though generally present when phenomena were transpiring, was not in its +earliest phases conscious of being a medium. Margaretta, the other +sister, was then in reality the only one through whom the manifestations +appeared to proceed, when in November, 1848, the spirits, who had long +been urging them to permit public investigations to be made through her +mediumship, informed them by raps that "they could not always strive +with them," and since they were constantly disobedient to the spirits' +requests, and obviously opposed to their presence, they should leave +them, and in all probability withdraw for another generation, or seek +through other sources for the fulfilment of the high and holy purposes +for which this spiritual outpouring had been designed. To these appeals +the family were inflexible. They constantly prayed that the cup of this +great bitterness "might pass from them." They did not wish to be +"mediums," and abhorred the notoriety, scandal, and persecution which +their fatal gift had brought them, and when warned that the spirits +would leave them, they protested their delight at the announcement, and +expressed their earnest desire that it might be fulfilled. + +There were present at a circle, when communications of this character +were made, several influential persons of the city, who had become +greatly interested in the manifestations and were warm friends of the +family. They could not, however, realise that the threat here implied +would actually be fulfilled until the spirits, by rappings, spelled out +several messages of a particularly affectionate and valedictory +character. The scene became, says an eye-witness, solemn and impressive. +The spirits announced that in twenty minutes they would depart, and +exactly as that time expired they spelled out, "We will now bid you all +farewell;" when the raps entirely ceased. + +The family expressed themselves "glad to get rid of them;" the friends +present vainly tried to obtain, by solicitations, made, as it would +seem, to empty air, some demonstration that this beneficent and +wonderful visitation had not indeed wholly ceased. All was useless. A +mournful silence filled the apartment which had but a few minutes before +been tenanted with angels, sounding out their messages of undying +affection, tender counsel, wise instruction, and prescient warning. The +spirits indeed were gone; and as one by one the depressed party +separated and passed out into the silent moonlit streets of Rochester, +all and each of them felt as if some great light had suddenly gone out, +and life was changed to them. There was a mighty blank in space and a +shadow everywhere, but spirit light came no more to illuminate the thick +darkness. + +A fortnight passed away, during which the former investigators called +constantly on the Fox family to enquire if their spirit friends had +returned. For the first few days a stoical negative was their only +reply; after this, they began more and more fully to recognise the loss +they had sustained. The wise counsellors were gone; the sources of +strange strength and superhuman consolation were cut off. The tender, +loving, wonderful presence no more flitted around their steps, cheered +their meals, encouraged them in their human weakness, or guided them in +their blindness. And these most wonderful and providential beings their +own waywardness had driven from them. At last, then, they met their +enquiring friends with showers of tears, choking sobs, and expressions +of the bitterest self-reproach and regret. + +On the twelfth day of this great heart-dearth, Mr. W. E. Capron, being +in Rochester on business, called at the house of Mrs. Fish, with Mr. +George Willets, a member of the Society of Friends, and one of their +earliest spiritual investigators. On receiving the usual sorrowful reply +that "the spirits had left them," Mr. Capron said: "Perhaps they will +rap for us if not for you." They then entered the hall and put the usual +question if the spirits would rap for them, in answer to which, and to +the unspeakable delight of all present, they were greeted with a perfect +shower of the much-lamented sounds. + +Once more the spirits urged them to make the manifestations public. +Again they reiterated the charge with solemn earnestness, and despite of +the mediums' continued aversion to the task imposed upon them, the fear +of a fresh and final bereavement of the inestimable boon of spirit +communion prevented their continued resistance to the course proposed. + +When the persons who were called upon to aid the mediums and take +somewhat prominent parts in the work urged the awkwardness of the +positions assigned them, the spirits only replied, "Your triumph will be +so much the greater." There is no doubt that the severe warning they had +just received, and the fear of its repetition, acted upon the whole +party with more force than any argument that could have been used to +induce their submission. + +At the injunctions of the spirits a public investigation into the +possibility of communion between the world of spirits and the earth they +once inhabited was carried out. Magistrates, editors, and professional +men were the judges, and enlightened American citizens the jury. The aim +of wide-spread publicity was attained. Thousands heard and wondered at, +and finally believed in spiritual communion who would never have dreamed +of the subject but for the persecution and slander that was publicly +directed against the "Rochester Knockers." + +The records of these persecutions and slanders abound with disgraceful +and painful incidents which, whilst being discreditable to the persons +responsible for their propagation redound with full credit to the honour +and integrity of the mediums selected by the Spirit world to be the +forerunners of a new dispensation. + +And thus the fiery cross, carried by the hands of unseen messengers, +sped from point to point; the beacon fires lighted by invisible hands +gleamed on every mountain top, and the low muffled sound of the +spirit-raps that first broke the slumbers of the peaceful inhabitants of +the humble tenement at Hydesville, became the clarion peal that sounded +out to the millions of the Western Hemisphere, the anthem of the soul's +immortality, chorused by hosts of God's bright ministering angels. + + + + +THE MAIDENS OF THE DAWNING LIGHT. + + (Leah, Kate, Margaret.) + + * * * * * + + Oh, rustic little martyrs for the truth! + Whose earthly eyes so oft were dimmed with tears, + While on your cheeks the blush and bloom of youth + Was yet unsoiled by unborn struggling years. + + Long years of suffering, years of holy joys, + Years of defeats and years of victories; + Years of sweet singing and of brawling noise, + Despair--but ever angel messages. + + The memory of your mortal lives comes back; + Poor little girls! Why was the world so rough? + Of balm you brought there ever was a lack-- + Of heavenly tidings never half enough! + + Yet when to you the gentle "rappings" came, + Telling the story of immortal life, + The hungry world went crazy-mad to blame, + Accuse, defile, hunt, mob, make venomed strife. + + Humble and poor as Christ was--kindly, too, + It seems so strange the thistle, hatred, grew + To whip your tender backs, with great ado, + Because you builded better than you knew. + + But that is over. You have disappeared + From conflicts and from suffering, and to-day + From God's high country, we, your friends, endeared + By common aims, feel that you look this way. + + Welcome, oh, heavenly sisters! See the light + Your youthful fingers kindled! How it spreads, + Lighting up places where were sin and night, + Whitening souls and shaping princely heads. + + Lo! far it spreads! Beyond the rolling seas + Vast congregations celebrate the day + Your questionings unlocked death's mysteries, + And hailed the angels, who had come your way. + + --Emma Rood Tuttle. + + + + +APPENDIX + + + + +A SEQUEL to the "ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS," after 56 years. + + * * * * * + + Copied from the "Banner of Light," (Boston, U.S.A.) + December 3rd, 1904. + + * * * * * + +"TRUTH CRUSHED TO EARTH WILL RISE AGAIN." + + * * * * * + +Regardless of what the "Banner" knows of this matter, we prefer to +present the following statement as given in the Boston Journal of Nov. +23. To opponents of the claims made by Spiritualists, the account may +bear greater weight than if made by a Spiritualist paper. Take note that +the Journal says, "an almost entire human skeleton," and not the bones +of a large dog or of any four-footed animal. + +Rochester, N. Y., Nov. 22, 1904.--The skeleton of the man supposed to +have caused the rappings first heard by the Fox sisters in 1848 has been +found in the walls of the house occupied by the sisters, and clears +them from the only shadow of doubt held concerning their sincerity in +the discovery of spirit communication. + +The Fox sisters declared they learned to communicate with the spirit of +a man, and that he told them he had been murdered and buried in the +cellar. Repeated excavations failed to locate the body and thus give +proof positive of their story. + +The discovery was made by school children playing in the cellar of the +building in Hydesville known as the "Spook house," where the Fox sisters +heard the wonderful rappings. William H. Hyde, a reputable citizen of +Clyde, who owns the house, made an investigation and found an almost +entire human skeleton between the earth and crumbling cellar walls, +undoubtedly that of the wandering pedlar whom it was claimed was +murdered in the east room of the house, and whose body was hidden in the +cellar. + +Mr. Hyde has notified relatives of the Fox sisters and the notice of the +discovery will be sent to the National Order of Spiritualists, many of +whom remember having made pilgrimages to the "Spook house," as it is +commonly called. The finding of the bones practically corroborates the +sworn statement made by Margaret Fox, April 11, 1848. The Fox sisters +claimed to have been disturbed by rappings and finally by a system of +signals got into communication with the spirit. + +According to Margaret Fox's statement the spirit was that of a pedlar, +who described how he had been murdered in the house, his body being +buried in the cellar. There were numerous witnesses to the rappings, but +although the cellar had been dug up many times no traces of the body was +found until the crumbling cellar walls revealed the skeleton. + +The name of the murdered man, according to his revelation to the Fox +sisters, was Charles Rosna, and the murderer a man named Beck. In 1847 +the house was occupied by Michael Weekman, a poor laborer. He and his +family became troubled by these mysterious rappings, which followed in +succession at different intervals, especially during the night. The +family became so broken by fear and loss of sleep that they vacated the +house. On Dec. 11, the Fox family moved in and two months later the +rappings were resumed and the family became frightened. Finally Margaret +and Cathie grew bold and asked questions which were answered, revealing +the murder. + + +FROM HYDESVILLE. + + * * * * * + +The "Sunflower," December, 1904, says: "The following bit of information +was transmitted hitherward, which, if confirmed, will create additional +interest in Spiritualism, although, by no means confirming the latter, +as that does not rest exclusively on the phenomena at Hydesville; for +since then we have had many additional phenomena, as the varied physical +phases, materialisation, slate-writing and drawing, painting, +levitation, passing of matter through matter, trance-speaking, +clairvoyance, psychometric reading, and numerous other modes of +communicating with the spirit world. The correspondent says: William H. +Hyde, who recently found the arm and leg bones of a human being at the +old Fox homestead, made another search in the cellar where the bones +were first exposed by the caving in of the inside cellar wall. Mr. Hyde +discovered all the other important bones except the skull. The latter +corroborates the statement as made in the history of the first rappings, +a work entitled, 'The Missing Link in Spiritualism.'" + + * * * * * + +Note by Editor.--Attention is drawn to the fact that a portion of the +skull (which the foregoing report declares to be missing) was discovered +during the digging operations at the time of the "Knockings"--1848. + + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Obvious punctuation errors were corrected. + +Page 30, "harrased" changed to "harassed" (that harassed them) + +Page 59, word "Appendix" taken from page header and added to text. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HYDESVILLE*** + + +******* This file should be named 30403.txt or 30403.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/4/0/30403 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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