Investigating Camp Chesterfield
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INVESTIGATIVE FILES JOE NICKELL Undercover Among the Spirits: Investigating Camp Chesterfield amp Chesterfield is a notorious erfield, which opened in 1891. Even processed the researchers saw that the spiritualist enclave of Chester- today, spiritualist friends of mine roll ghosts were actually confederates dressed Cfield, Indiana. Dubbed "the their eyes accusatorially whenever Ches- in luminous gauze, some of whom were Coney Island of spiritualism," it has terfield's name is mentioned, and they recognizable as Chesterfield residents. been the target of many exposes, notably are quick to point out that the camp is They had not materialized and demateri- a book by a confessed fraudulent not chartered by the National Spiritual- alized but rather came and went through medium published in 1976. A quarter ist Association of Churches. The intro- a secret door that led to an adjacent century later I decided to see if the old duction to an official history of apartment (Keene 1976, 40; Chris- deceptions were still being practiced at Chesterfield (Chesterfield Lives 1986, 6), topher 1970, 174). One of the re- the camp; naturally my visit was both admits it is surprising the camp has sur- searchers, himself a devout spiritualist, unannounced and undercover. vived, given its troubled past: was devastated by the evidence and In fact, in its 100 years of recorded railed against "the frauds, fakes and fan- The Background history, Camp Chesterfield has been tasies of the Chesterfield Spiritualist Modern spiritualism began in 1848 "killed off" more dian once! There camp!" (O'Neill I960) with the schoolgirl pranks of Maggie have been cries of "fraud" and "fake" An even more devastating expose (and these were some of the nicer and Katie Fox at Hydesville, New York. came in 1976 with the book The Psychic things we have been called!) and of Mafia written by former Chesterfield Although four decades later the sisters course, the "exposes" came along with confessed that their "spirit" rappings the regularity of a well-planned medium M. Lamar Keene. Saying that had been bogus, in the meantime the schedule. Oh yes! We have been money was "the name of the game" at craze of allegedly communicating with damned and downed—but the fact Chesterfield, Keene detailed the many remains that we must have been the dead had spread across America, tricks used by mediums there which he doing something right because: dubbed "the Coney Island of Europe, and beyond. At seances held in CHESTERFIELD LIVES!! darkened rooms and theaters, "medi- Spiritualism." He told how "apports" ums" (those who supposedly contacted Be that as it may, the part about the (said to be materialized gifts from spir- spirits for others) produced such phe- exposes is certainly true. its) were purchased and hidden in readi- nomena as slate writing, table tipping, A major expose came in 1960 when ness for the stance; how chiffon became and "materializations" of spirit entities. two researchers—both sympathetic to "ectoplasm" (an imagined mediumistic As adherents grew in number, spiritu- spiritualism—arranged to film the sup- substance); how sitters' questions writ- alist camp meetings began to be common, posed materialization of spirits. This was ten on slips of paper called billets were and some groups established permanent to occur under the mediumship of Edith secredy read and then answered; how spiritualist centers. Stillwell, who was noted for her multi- trumpets were made to float in die air Perhaps none developed such an ple-figure spirit manifestations, and the with discarnate voices speaking through unsavory reputation as Camp Chest- seance was to be documented using see- them; and how other tricks were accom- in-trie-dark technology. While the cam- plished to bilk credulous sitters (Keene Joe Nickell is CSICOP's Senior Research era ran, luminous spectral figures took 1976, 95-114). Fellow; his latest book is Real-Life X-Files form and vanished near die medium's Keene also told how the billets were (2001). cabinet, but when die infrared film was shrewdly retained from the various 2 2 March/April 2002 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER public clairvoyant message services held Rosie who had written a series of exposes first time in over thirty years!), and at Chesterfield. Kept in voluminous files and was banned from the grounds, had replacing my coat-and-tie look with a T- beneath the Cathedral, the billets— the nerve to return. Wearing a "fright shirt, suspenders, straw hat, and cane. I along with a medium's own private files wig," she got into one of Riffle's stances also adopted a pseudonym, "James and those shared by fellow scam and when the "spirits" began talking Collins," after the name of one of artists—provided excellent Houdini's assistants. From July resources for future readings. 19 to 23, "Jim," who seemed There were other exposes . bereft at what he said was the of Camp Chesterfield. In recent death of his mother, limped up and down the 1985 a medium from there grounds and spent nights at was making visits to Cj-' one of the camp's two hotels Lexington, Kentucky, where (devoid of such amenities as he conducted dark-room ma- CKESTERFrt TV and air conditioning). The terialization seances. He fea- results were eye-opening, tured the production of involving a panoply of discred- apports, the floating-trumpet- _* ited spiritualist practices that with-spirit-voices feat, and seemed little changed from something called "spirit pre- when they were revealed in cipitations on silk." To pro- The Psychic Mafia. duce the latter, the sitters' "spirit guides" supposedly took ink from through the trumpet the reporter began an open botde and created their own to demean them. According to Keene Billet Reading small self-portraits on swatches of cloth (1976, 48^49), Riffle recognized Rosie's I witnessed three versions of the old bil- the sitters held in their laps. I investigated voice immediately and went for her. let scam: one done across the table from when one sitter complained, suspecting "Grabbing the reporter by the back of me during a private reading, and two fraud. Laboratory analyses by forensic an- the neck, she ushered her up a steep performed for church audiences, one of alyst John F. Fischer revealed the presence flight of stairs, kicking her in the rump them accomplished with the medium of solvent stains (shown under argon laser on each step and cursing her with every blindfolded. light). A recipe for such productions given profanity imaginable." The first situation—with the by Keene (1976, 110-111)—utilizing a With these lessons in mind, I naturally medium working one-on-one with the solvent to transfer pictures from newspa- did not want to be recognized at client—involves getting a peek at the pers or magazines—enabled me to create Chesterfield—not out of fear for my per- folded slip while the person is dis- similar "precipitations" (Nickell with sonal safety but so as to be able to observe tracted. (Magicians call this misdirec- Fischer 1988). The prepared swatches had unimpeded for as long as possible. When tion.) For instance, while the medium obviously been switched for the blank in my younger years I was a private inves- directs the sitter's attention, say by ones originally shown. tigator with an international detective pointing to some numerological scrib- agency, I generally used my own name blings (as were offered in my case), she Undercover and appearance and, for undercover jobs, can surreptitiously open the billet in her I had long wanted to visit Camp I merely wore the attire that was appropri- lap with a flick of the thumb of her Chesterfield, and in the summer of ate for a forklift driver, steelworker, tavern other hand and quickly glimpse the con- 2001, following a nip to Kentucky to wdiici, oi odiet "role" (Nickell 2001). tents. As expected, the alleged clairvoy- see my elderly mother and other family The same is true for several previous ant knew exactly what was penned on members, I decided to head north to undercover visits to paranormal sites and my slip—the names of four persons who Indiana to check out the notorious site. gatherings (including a private spiritual- had "passed into spirit" and two ques- Now, skeptics have never been wel- istic circle which included table-tipping tions—but did not know that the peo- come at Chesterfield. The late Mable and other seances that I infiltrated in ple were fictitious. Riffle, a medium who ran the camp from 2000). Since I am often the token skep- One aspect of the reading, which was 1909 until her death in 1961 tic on television talk shows and docu- held in the seance room of her cottage, (Chesterfield Lives 1986) dealt with them mentaries on the paranormal, I have nat- was particularly amusing. At times she summarily. When she heard one couple urally feared I might be recognized, but I would turn to her right—as if acknowl- using the f-word—fraud—she snarled, rarely made any effort to disguise myself edging the presence of an invisible reports Keene (1976, 48), "We do not and usually had no problem. entity—and say "Yes I will." This was a have that kind of talk here. Now you get However, for my stint at Camp seeming acknowledgment of some mes- your goddam ass off these hallowed Chesterfield, I felt special measures were sage she supposedly received from a grounds and don't ever come back!" called for so I decided to alter my appear- spirit, which she was to impart to me. I Another skeptic, a reporter named ance, shaving off my mustache (for the paid the medium thirty dollars cash and SKEPTICAL INQUIRER March/April 2002 23 considered it a bargain—although not adhesive strips over her eyes followed by to do.