The signs of the times: comprising a history of the spirit-rappings, in Cincinnati and other places; with notes of clairvoyant revealments

Front matter

f UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

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THE

Preface

In presenting the following work to the public, the author is fully aware of the unpopularity of the subject. As the first individual who brought the Rapping " manifestations" 7 directly before the readers of Cincinnati newspapers, he has heard enough, in the last three months, to know that he may expect censure and ridicule from all those who have not given candid attention to the '-mysterious manifestations" — who regard the Rapping stories as unfounded tales, connected with u haunted houses" — or, as gross deceptions, growing out of the excited imaginations of persons who seek after, and delight in the marvellous ; but he has seen enough of this world not to heed opposition from either those who follow it to gratify evil propensities, or from those who have creeds and opinions to sustain, that their defenders must not allow to be examined by any other than the light (?) of tradition, if they would have them in general favor.

In the following pages there are many statements, and many admissions, perilous very to one who is not of stern enough stuff to endure the satire and ridicule of this world — even when he knows fie is right — but, while skeptios and scoffers enjoy their jeers and gibes, the writer shall await promised "glad tidings" patiently.

If, as the majority declare, the " manifestations" are all delusion, he shall find it out, in the course he has marked out for himself — that of candid investigation — much sooner than those who, with their eyes blind-folded, cry " humbug;" and if, as he is impressed, there is true philosophy in the

PREFACE.

new-light, he shall aid in the spreading of truths which must teach all men to believe rationally, what many good men would now receive, who are driven to heretic ground, on account of the bigotry and superstition of the times, and the inconsistencies of the professed followers of Christ, viz : that there is a hereafter — that there is life above this world, in which the justice and mercy of God are divinely manifested.

Those who think for themselves — who are not under dictation of any description, and who, with fair evidence, would believe that the friends departed, for whom they weep, cannot be " forever and forever" shut apart from them, either in glory or torment, will thank the author for the " labor of love" which, to him, the following work has been.

For their sake would it were worthier. It has been written amid cares and perplexities growing out of the exacting duties of the post of Assistant Editor in the office of a daily newspaper, and the author has only been able to give it calm reflection at such odd hours as could be snatched from other pressing literary engagements. It is, therefore, necessarily imperfect, in the style of its preparation ; and crude, no doubt, to a very great degree, in many of the theories it suggests.

In this respect, of carping critics, the author may ask charity — in all other respects, he neither expects nor desires symthy from the mass — and perhaps should hardly anticipate aught else than angry persecution on the part of the majority — but " truth is mighty and must prevail."

Cincinnati, 1851.

INTRODUCTION,

" What if cherished creeds must fade ?

Faith will never leave us ; God preserves what God has made —

Nor can Truth deceive us.

Let in Light — the holy Light !

Brothers, fear it never !

Darkness smiles, and Wrong grows Right- Let in Light forever !

Let in Light 1 When this shall be

Safe and pleasant duty, Men in common things shall see

Goodness, Truth and Beauty."

In the summer of 1845, I became, from peculiar circumstances, interested in the subject of human magnetism. I had an excellent opportunity to witness experiments, and was soon impressed that there was something more in the developments, than the mere paralyzing of an arm or the exciting of phrenological organs. I experimented, myself, upon various Subjects, and was immediately led to the thought that, perhaps, beneath this unpopular and much ridiculed magnetism, might lie the true science oi mind — that by it, developments would some day be made, which would clearly demonstrate the relations of mind to body, and the relations of the spiritual to the material or physical world. The mure I reflected upon the questions involved in this theory, the more firmly was I convinced that my opinions were well founded. As I have watched the "progress" of magne-

SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

tism, from the common manifestations of an Operator's power over the Subject's muscles, to the higher developments of clairvoyance, I have felt that those investigating candidly, were being led towards a field of examination that would bring the philosophy of mental operation nearer to the comprehension of the people generally, than the wise men of olden time had ever dreamed. I have observed the course of public clairvoyants with deep interest : I have endeavored, by all proper means in my power, to learn from them, while they were in the superior condition ; and when the newspapers of New York published accounts of the "mysterious noises/' I was not disposed to treat them with ridicule, but to read and endeavor to understand, and was ready to believe, as far as the "manifestations" appeared to be well authenticated, and consistent with themselves and reason ; not reason from tradition or prejudice, but reason from nature, and the laws which, through magnetism, I had been taught, govern mind. In the statement that mind, escaped from the body, does communicate with mind yet connected with the body, there was nothing that conflicted with any theological notions I held, and whenever I witnessed " manifestations" that I was satisfied were not produced by mortal agencies, I was prepared to believe that they might be " spiritual manifestations."

Early in life I thought much upon spiritual matters. All men, I believe who think at all, can say with Festus, in the Poem of this name, by Philip James Bailey —

"In sp'te of all we suffer and enjoy The-e comes this question, over and over again, Driven in o the brain as a pile is driven — What, -hall become of us hereafter 1 what Is it we shall do— how feel, how be V

Introduction

While thinking these thoughts, 1 could not admit the generally received orthodox opinions, that the Spirit-world was a place to which we must travel — " a bourne whence no traveler e'er returns .' ' Although strictly taught that if there were spiritual influences in this world, they proceeded from God through his messengers — the Angels that dwelt in heaven ere the world was created — I could never understand, either from the Bible or other sources, why a man's guardian Angels might not be the spiritual existences of those who, in the flesh, knew and loved him. I felt that the history of the world showed that "manifestations" from departed Spirits had oAen been made, and I knew no reason why they might not now be made. Therefore, when " manifestations" were addressed to me, and I was confident, from various circumstances, as well as from the nature of the communication, that the sounds were not produced by any of the company of embodied Spirits around me, I was impressed that they were produced by disembodied Spirits around me, and I became deeply and permanently interested in them.

I have said thus much in relation to my convictions, that the reader may appreciate my position in the preparation of the history of the "Mysterious Noises" which I have heard, and about which I have been reliably informed.

Why may not the Spirit-world be around and about us ? May our world not be within it, as the world of the animal is within ours ; and while we know no more of the true condition of the Spirit- world than the ox knows of our mental world, is it not a most glorious thought that revelations can be made to us, through which we may see and know that those who die are not dead — taken from us — but that they are with us, in superior wisdom, watching over us — instructing us, hoping that we will so live, in harmony with nature, that they may commune freely with us in " our daily walk," and show us that we may truly begin to live in Heaven, before we pass the change called death.

It is objected that the Mappings are too low an order of "manifestations" to come from the Spirit-world — that if they were Spiritual manifestations, they would be made to all men, under all circumstances.

That a communication cannot be sent instantaneously along hickory poles, from Cincinnati to New York, is because hickory poles are not a medium of electrical transmission — that every man and every woman does not receive intelligent "manifestations," may be that neither every man nor every woman is a medium for the reception of Spiritual new-lights. If Spiritual "manifestations" were more generally made, they would rarely be received — the midnight blackness has not yet changed to gray. There is abroad over the land a holy and a superstitious horror of direct influences from the Spirits of the bodily entomed. How are the "manifestations," purporting to come from the Spirit-world, now regarded by the mass ? — the " precious few" only acknowledge them. Witness the ridicule, the scorn, the contempt, everywhere excited against them among the prejudiced, traditionled and unthinking. Of what service would Spiritual manifestations be, at this crisis, in every dwelling of the land, further than the awakening of a curiosity for the odd and strange, the new and wonderful, which is

INTRODUCTION. 11 akin to that curiosity that makes boys delight in a pantomime, a puppet show, or a farce. Although the history of the world's unpopular movements teaches that "manifestations" from the Spirit-world have been made in all ao-es, and the records of witchcraft show that hundreds of the unfortunate have been sacrificed to bigotry and superstition, for being the mere passing witnesses of what may have been true "manifestations" from the Spirit-world, mankind are yet benighted, and the foremost in the ranks of the persevering seekers after truth have but reached the porch of that great temple in which are contained the heavenly elevating explanations that belong to the perfect philosophy of mind and its hereafter — to be opened to the world, perhaps by means of discoveries that may be made through the contemned "mysterious noises." The "manifestations" are yet but raps, perchance because it is for man's good. Popular superstition still conjures fearful visions at the mention of " haunted houses." He who would wish to see a ghost is fool-hardy. Unquiet graves are yet feared by the most consistently pious of the orthodox faith, and churchyards, where the murdered rest, are, at midnight, the dread of thousands in every community ; and yet people hoot at the very mention of spiritual manifestations. A strange and confused idea indeed, is the prevailing one in relation to Spirits and the Spirit-world.

Communications highly important to the persons receiving them, have repeatedly been made in Cincinnati, Rochester, £Tew York and other places. When the world has confidence — when the world has comprehension, important communications may be made to it.

When we talk to children who are learning the letters of the alphabet, we do not give them explanations of Astronomy, Geology, Music, Painting or Elocution. When we address or communicate with the mass of tender mind in a Sabbath-school, we do not speak as does Daniel Webster, before the United States Senate, on questions involved in the permanency of the Union. A mind that reasoned well from cause to effect, was led to the theory of gravitation by the falling of an apple — another, to the discovery of the power of steam by the lifting of a teakettle 1 lid. That the art of Printing was not ascertained centuries before Guttenburg, was not because moveable types could not be constructed, but because the manner of their use was not known — that the steam engine was not discovered a century before Worcester, Watt or Fulton, was not because the power of steam did not exist, but because its power was not known — that we were not able to have instant communication with cities, thousands of miles distant, a century before Morse, was not because the magnetic fluid did not travel thus rapidly, but because men did not understand the manner of employing its speed — that the mode of communication from the Spirit-world was not recognized by "noises" long before the Hydesville " manifestations, " was not because " noises" had not previously been made, but because it did not happen that any one was so impressed by them as to properly follow out indications.

Clairvoyants are impressed that the " Kappings" are the lowest order of manifestations ; but if we follow out their indications, we shall surely be led to such communings with the Spirit-world as we cannot fail to recog-

INTRODUCTION. 13 nize — such as will not merely reply to trivial questions, but such as shall give us instructions that must purify and elevate all who receive them. Those who are nearest the proper mental and moral condition, will receive the earliest satisfactory communings with the higher circles of the Spirit-world, while those who now " grope in thick darkness'' will be the recipients only of glimmerings of light from the first or lowest of the Spirit-spheres. Wordsworth, in bis poetic appreciation of the simplest of nature's impressions, says : —

" She can so inform The mind that is within us, so impress With quietness and beauty, and so feed With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues, Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men, Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all The dreary intercourse of daily life, Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold Is full of blessings."

And again be says of one " who never felt the witchery of the soft blue sky'' —

" A primrose by the river's brim, A yellow primrose was to him — And it was nothing more."

And in times past, to those who heard the M mysterious noises," they were raps, and nothing more than raps — nor more than that, nor even that, to many are they now. But by the few who ^

" Have felt A presence that disturbes them with the joy Of elevated thoughts ; a sense sublime Of something still more deeply interfused^

they are regarded as the feeble utterances of a principle that has been long struo-cHjrio' against ignorance for appropriate recognition, and which is, at no distant period, to reveal luminous explanations of the human soul's great mysteries, and teach to all men, who are not wretchedlyperverse, the divine relations of that within them which is immortal.

We give our impressions and convictions thus preparatory to the history we have to relate, fully sensible that they may expose us to severe censure and bitter ridicule; but having enlisted in this "work" we have nothing to conceal ; and while we hope that all who have traveled thus far with us will journey on, we can assure each reader that, from title page to index, he will find the book bates not

" One tittle of the truth To smoothe its way to favor with the fearful."

HISTORY

MYSTERIOUS NOISES.

PART I. ' Tis sweet to fee] we are encircled here

By breath of Angels, as the stars by Heaven ;

And the soul's own relations, all divine,

As kind as even those of blood ; — and thns

While friends and kin, like Saturn's double rings,

Cheer us along our orbit, we may feel

We are not lone in life, but that earth's part

Of Heaven and all things. Festus.

GENERAL HISTORY.

The accounts given in the newspapers of the rapping "manifestations/' have excited great interest in all parts of the country. The writer has credible authority for a conviction that they have been heard in Cincinnati for at least three years, among people who have been much perplexed and troubled by them ; and he has no doubt they have been heard in other cities and in other countries ; but the first sounds to which general attention was called, and by which communications w^ere made in this country, were heard in a small village named Hydesville, in the town of Arcadia, Wayne county, New York. It has been stated in all the Pamphlets, which give a history of these sounds, that those at Hydesville were the first by which communications were ever made to the people of this earth. Such, on examination, does not appear to be the fact. It is well authenticated that in the year 1835, at the house of a captain Molesworth, situated at Trinity, about two miles distant from Edinburg, Scotland, mysterious sounds were heard, which caused the inmates of the house much trouble. The occupant supposed them to be occasioned by the owner, a Mr. Webster, but after every possible search, was unable to ascertain their origin. Sometimes, if a question were addressed which could be answered numerically, as, " How many persons are in the room?" correct answers would be given by the required number of sounds. Captain Molesworth had two daughters, one of whom had lately died, and the other, a girl about fourteen years of age, was feeble, and confined to her bed a great part of the time. The noises were heard most frequently in her presence. Captain Molesworth, determined to ascertain the cause of the sounds, tore up the floors of the house, broke the walls, burned the wainscots, but all to no purpose. The owner of the house brought suit for damages, and the case was unsettled for two years. Meantime, the young daughter and Captain Molesworth left the house, and those that have since occupied it have not been disturbed by mysterious sounds.

The account of these Rappings is given at page 410 of Catherine Crowe's work, entitled the " Night side of Nature."

The house in which the Hydesville Rappings were heard, was occupied during a part of the years of 1846 and 1847, by Mr. Michael Weekman. Mr. W. states that, one evening, about nine o'clock, as he was preparing to retire for the night, he heard a rapping on the out-side door. He opened it, but saw no one. In a few moments, the rapping on the door was repeated, and was louder than at first. He immediately stepped to the door, and opened it ; no person was to be seen. He went into the street and looked about the house, and returned, without seeing any one. Soon the noise was repeated, and, failing to see any person, he placed his hand on the latch of the door, in order to open it immediately, should the annoyance be continued. Again the rapping was heard — he felt the door jar, and sprang into the street. No person was to be seen anywhere in the vicinity.

The family of Mr. John D. Fox moved into the house on the 11th of December, 1847. They heard the rapping for the first time during the latter part of March, 1848, one evening, after they had retired for the night. It seemed to be in one of the bed rooms, and sounded as though some one was knocking on the floor, moving chairs, &c. Four or five members of the family were at home, and they all got up, to ascertain the cause of the noise. Every part of the house was searched, yet nothing could be discovered. A perceptible jar was felt by putiing the hand on the bedsteads and chairs ; a jar was also experienced while standing on the floor. The noise was continued, that night as Ion or as any one was awake, in the house. The following evening they were heard as before, and on the evening of the 31st of March, the neighbors were called in for the first time.

The following is an extract from Mrs. Fox's statement, made soon after the occurrences narrated took place. It is quoted from a pamphlet on the Mysterious Noises, published by D. M. Dewey, of Rochester, N. Y :

" On Friday night, we concluded to go to bed early, and not let it disturb us ; if it came we thought, we would not mind it, but tr}~ and get a good night's rest. My husband was here on all these occasions, heard the noise and helped search. It was very early when .we went to bed on this night ; hardly dark. We went to bed so early, because we had been broken so much of our rest that I was almost sick.

" My husband had not gone to bed when we first heard the noise on this evening. I had just laid down. It commenced as usual. I knew it from all other noises I had ever heard in the house. The girls, who slept in the other bed in the room, heard the noise, and tried to make a similar noise by snapping their fingers. The youngest girl is about twelve years old ; she is the one who made her hand go. As fast as she made the noise with her hands or fingers, the sound was followed up in the room. It did not sound any different at that time, only it made the same number of noises that the girl did. When she stopped, the sound itself stopped for a short time.

" The other girl, who is in her fifteenth year, then spoke in sport, and said, 'Now do just as I do. Count one, two, three, four,' &c, striking one hand in the other at the same time. The blows which she made were repeated as before. It appeared to answer her by repeating every blow that she made. She only did so once. She then began to be startled ; and then I spoke and said to the noise, ' count ten/ and it made ten strokes or noises. Then I asked the ages of my different children successively, and it gave a number of raps, corresponding to the ages of my children.

a I then asked if it was a human being that was making the noise ? and if it was, to manifest it by the same noise. There was no noise. I then asked if it was a spirit ? and if it was, to manifest it by two sounds. I heard two sounds as soon as the words were spoken."

These "manifestations" caused great excitement in the village, and mairy persons called at the house of Mr. Fox to hear the noises. Many questions were asked and answered by raps correctly. Sounds were only made when an affirmative answer was the correct one to a question, or when numbers were to be designated. According to the pamphlet before quoted, at one time, when those investigating wished to ascertain a certain name, the Spirit was asked if it would rap for the initial letters when they were named. The reply was in the affirmative ; and when the alphabet was called over, there was rapping at particular letters. Soon the experiment was carried still further, and by request, entire names and sentences of considerable length were swelled out. A

O J.

signal for the alphabet was soon understood to be five raps in quick succession.

In a few months after the manifestations were first heard by the Fox family, several of the members removed from Hydesville to Rochester, and resided with a married sister, Mrs. Fish. The sounds were here heard in the presence of Margaretta Fox and Mrs. Fish. They were talked about, and elicited general attention — got into the newspapers, and were immediately speculated upon in all parts of the Union. The third town in which the raps were heard, was Auburn, 1ST. Y. Cathaiiae, the youngest daughter of Mr. Fox, visited this place, and the sounds were made at the houses she visited. In Rochester, the raps have not been confined to the Fox Family. Since the " manifestations" in Auburn, they have been communicated with in Greece, Monroe county, N. Y., in Sennett, Cayuga county, N. Y., in New York city, on Long Island, at Troy, N. Y., at Boston and Springfield, Mass., and a number of other towns and cities.

On one occasion, in Nov., 1849, at Rochester, the sounds communicated the following sentences to certain persons assembled for investigation :

" You have all a duty to perform. We want you to make this matter public."

Objections were made by several individuals against being personally engaged in the calling out of the sounds before a promiscuous auditory ; ' but finally a Hall was engaged and lectures were delivered by E. W. Capron, of Auburn, N. Y. An account of this public investigation was published in the New York Weekly Tribune, of Dec. 8th, 1849. In this account, the Committee of Investigation, consisting of A. J. Combs, Daniel Marsh, Nathaniel Clark, Esq., A. Judson, and Edwin Jones, reported, " That without the knowledge of the persons in whose presence the manifestations are made, the Committee selected the hall of the Sons of Temperance for investigation — that the sound on the floor near where the two ladies stood, was heard as distinctly as at other places, and that part of the Committee heard the rapping on the wall behind them — that a number of questions were asked which were answered, not altogether right nor altogether wrong — that in the afternoon they went to the house of a private citizen, and while there the sounds were heard on the outside, (apparently,) of the front door, after they had entered, and on the door of a closet. By placing the hand upon the door, there was a sensible jar felt when the rapping was heard. One of the Committee placed one of his hands upon the feet of the ladies and the other on the floor, and though the feet were not moved, there was a distinct jar on the floor. On the pavement, and on the ground, the same sound was heard ; a kind of double rap, as a stroke and a rebound, were distinguishable. When the ladies were separated at a distance, no sound was heard, but when a third person was interposed between them, the sounds were heard. The ladies seemed to give every opportunity to the Committee to investigate the cause fully, and would submit to a thorough investigation by a Committee of ladies, if desired. They all agreed that the sounds were heard, hut they entirely failed to discover any means by ivJiich it coidd be done"

Subsequently, another Committee of responsible men was appointed to investigate the " mystery." This Committee met at the rooms of Dr. Gates, at the Rochester House, and appointed a Committee of ladies, who took the young women into a room, disrobed them and examined their persons and clothing, to be sure that there were no fixtures about them that could produce the sounds. When satisfied on this point, the Committee of ladies tried some other experiments, and gave the young ladies the following certificate :

" When they were standing on pillows, with a handkerchief tied around the bottoms of their dresses, tight to the ankles, we all heard the rapping on the wall and floor distinctly."

(Signed,) Mrs. STONE,

Mrs. J. GATES, Miss. M. P. LAWRENCE.

Various other measures were taken to ascertain if the sounds were produced by the persons in whose presence they were manifested, and each investigation only served to show more conclusively, that if there were any deception, the ladies were deceived — that they did not produce the " noises," and if they did, they could not correctly have answered a tithe of the questions propounded, even by their most intimate acquaintances.

When Mrs. Fish and the Misses Fox visited New York city, every possible test was made to satisfy the sceptical and curious, as to the cause of the mysterious noises, and everything was calculated to increase confidence in the honesty of the ladies. There, as in Rochester, they were disrobed, and examined by a Committee of ladies, who reported that the sounds could not have been made by Mrs. Fish or either of the Misses Fox. Horace Greely, Editor of the New York Tribune, after an acquaintance with the Misses Fox, one of whom has spent some time in his family, said over his own initials in his paper — " We vouch for the perfect honesty and good faith of the Fox family. There we stop, awaiting more evidence. That some influence, outside and unconnected with the volition of the family, causes these ' manifestations,' we are confident ; what it is, we have yet to be assured. ******

Our columns are still open to statements of fact tending to shed light on these singular occurrences, whether on one side or the other. And it is but justice to the Fox family to state that at present there are not less than forty or fifty families — probably many more — in which \ manifestations' are from time to time taking place, similar, in general character, to those reported as occurring in theirs. Several of these families had never heard of the 'Rochester Mappings' when the like first commenced in their own dwellings. If all this can be the result of imposition and collusion, then it w'ill be hard to rely on human observation or human integrity hereafter."