Patience Worth
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THE CASE OF Patience Worth By Walter Franklin Prince [Background and poetical excerpts] 1927 CONTENTS Explanation of Abbreviations 10 Autobiographical Sketch 11-15 Mrs. Curran in the Witness Box 15-21 Other Witnesses 21-30 Prelude to and Announcement of Patience Worth31-36 Table Talk of Patience Worth 37-47 Later Table Talk 47-55 Opinions and Reviews 55-78 Patience Worth and the Poets 78-98 Imagination 98-109 Nature 110-116 Stimulus and Cheer 117-126 Sentiment 127-139 Love and Friendship 140-144 Infancy 144-145 Ethics 146-152 Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 153-156 Religion 156-166 God 166-173 Death and the Hereafter 173-181 Wisdom 181-194 Whimsy 195-197 Sparks 198-205 One Evening's Work 206-212 Patience Worth's Estimate of Her Poems 213-218 Discourses 218-224 Telka [skipped] 224-240 CONTENTS Extracts from Novels [skipped] 241-246 Impromptu Proverbs 247-271 Prayers 271-280 [The following chapters are skipped except for the Summary] Stunts of Composition 281-294 Patience Worth on "Spirit Manifestations" 295-300 Telepathy 301-321 Visual Preludes and Accompaniments 321-331 A Competition in Composition 331-336 The "Dialect" of Patience Worth 336-344 Mechanism of Delivery 344-352 Records and Motives (By Mr. Yost) 352-356 The Evidence in Telka (By Mr. Yost) 356-369 The Problem of Knowledge (By Mr. Yost) 369-392 A Nut for Psychologists (By Mrs. Curran) 392-403 Mrs. Curran's Early Capacity for Writing Poetry 404-410 A Test of Mrs. Curran's Former Interest in Poetry 410-413 Stories Written by Mrs. Curran with Conscious Effort413-417 Mrs. Curran's Library 417-420 Dr. Hyslop's Criticisms 420-428 Patience Worth (By Dr. Cory) 428-437 Reply to Dr. Cory 437-464 Mary Austin on Patience Worth 464-470 Minor Attempted Explanations 471-486 Summary 486-509 10 THE CASE OF PATIENCE WORTH EXPLANATION OF SIGNS AND ABBREVIATIONS Wherever in this book an asterisk (*) precedes a composition by "Patience Worth," it means that its language has been made slightly less archaic, mainly by modernizing the spelling. Wherever the subject of a composition is put in quotation mark they indicate that the subject was given by some person immediately before the composition began. P. W.:=Patience Worth. P. W. P. M.=the book Patience Worth: a Psychic Mystery. L. B.=the book Light from Beyond. P. W. M.=Patience Worth's Magazine.' Thus far the following books containing Patience Worth literature have been published: Patience Worth: a Psychic Mystery, by Casper S. Yost. Henry Holt & Co., 1916, pp. 290. The Sorry Tale: a Story of the Time of Christ, by Patience Worth. Henry Holt & Co., 1917, pp. 644. Hope Trueblood, by Patience Worth, Introduction by Casper S. Yost. Henry Holt & Co., 1918, pp. 363. The Pot upon the Wheel, by Patience Worth, edited by Casper S. Yost. The Dorset Press, St. Louis, Mo., 1921, pp. 141. Light from Beyond, poems by Patience Worth, selected and compiled by Herman Behr. Patience Worth Publishing Co., pp. 281. All the above are obtainable from the Patience Worth Publishing Co., 31 Tiffany Place, Brooklyn, N. Y. Light from Beyond has also been translated and printed in German. Telka about to issue in German, and later will appear in English. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Written at request W. F. P., in October, 1926. Born, Mound City, Illinois, February 15, 1883. Father, George G. Pollard, English and Welsh; mother, Mary E. Cordingley; Irish and English. Mother nervous, keen, ambitious, talented as a singer, aspired to write before marriage at eighteen, no attempt after that and never published. I have seen none of her efforts. Father educated at a military school in Ithica, N. Y., as I recall. Tried art a while after graduating, then sold his studio and went, I think, to Texas. My mother was his second wife and married him at Mound City where he had been employed by a railroad company, and had then been with the "Courier" newspaper of Charleston, Ill. Moved to Forth Worth, Texas, when I was about eight months old, and my father was again employed in some railroad company's office. My first recollections date from my third year. I recall being distressed to see my mother cry, and that my father was quiet and gentle. I will set down the pictures I retain for whatever value they may have. I seemed to be let attend to my own play, as I remember no storytelling or knee- trotting. I remember playing under Chinaberry trees and hearing the berries "pop" as I stepped on them, and their unpleasant odor, also being bitten by a "rat and tan" dog and being comforted with candy. I recall that my mother was pretty but also that she was too thin to afford me a comfortable pillow, although I wanted to be cuddled. Father seems vague to me at this period. I collected broken china and bits of colored glass, and spent hours worrying "doodle bugs" with a stick. I did not like dolls—liked a stick of stove wood with a mud face, wrapped in a towel, quite as well,—preferred live toys, and dressed Try cats in doll clothes and wheeled my dogs in the doll cart. I did not name my pets, nor did they seem specially dear. I don't remember any playmates at this period or much else than some of my doings. I was quiet and quite healthy. At about four, due to my mother's health, I was sent to St. Louis and was with my grandmother, uncle and aunt (the Cordingleys) for a year. I recall little, but have pictures of my pretty young aunt and of my grandmother holding my hand as I went to sleep. I do not recall my uncle at all at this point—I do recall him arrayed in a queer costume for a masked ball (I think as a ballet girl), which puzzled me. He was a medium, though no others of the family were spiritualists, but I remember nothing else about that at this period. 12 THE CASE OF PATIENCE WORTH I don't remember my trip back to Texas, except that we lived in a little cottage, it was quite cold and mother had made me red flannels and they itched. A little later, the darkeys who worked for us called me "ram's head" because I appeared so old and "wise," and mother said I became conversant with family matters, reporting to neighbors the grocery bill and bits of conversation at home, also the family opinions of the neighbors. I was "kept home" for this and it worked well. Here, before being sent to school, I was started in music with Mrs. Frank Brantley, but did not understand what it was about and played with the lessons. Mrs. B. called me "Pearlycue" and affected my dignity. I was impudent; it was reported to my mother, who said I must apologize. So I asked Mrs. B. if she remembered the "little trouble we had." She said: "Yes, Pearl," and I replied: "Well, if you are willing to overlook it I am." This was rather startling at five and a half, but I think I was copying some admonition my mother had given me, and got it pretty straight only for the turn to my in advantage. This was perhaps the first defense I ever put up. I did not go to church, or to Sunday-School yet, as my parents did not attend. Once mother took me to St. Andrew's Church; but had to remove me because I insisted on singing the offertory, which was unfortunately a solo. At about six came school, my teacher's name Mrs. Vaughn. I was not interested, save in my new lace-trimmed aprons and silk-sleeved jumper-dress. We read from a "chart," pointing to each letter with a "pointer" which I did not relish, as it was foreboding and was rapped threateningly for order; I remember little else of that period, except that I was bored and wanted to play with a crowd of little darkeys, and did once and was spanked. My personality was beginning, I think, to assert itself. I recall some "paddlings" by my mother over which my father would almost weep. I recall little of the home life. Mother sang or played at night and I felt "in the way" and neglected. I was spoiled by too much grown-up association. When I was about seven we moved to "Lawn Terrace Addition" in the same city, and I was transferred to the Boaz School, with a Miss Hall as teacher. I must have been about to the second grade. Miss Hall was a good sport and understood children. My first lie was caused by a desire to appear well to her and to "be in things." A small boy stole a knife and I was sorry for him. The teacher told those who knew anything about the case to raise their hands and I raised mine, though I knew nothing. She discovered my plight from my testimony and kindly told me I had better run along home. I had an uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong, although I had thought that I was discreet and wise, not realizing that I had actually lied. Another time the children recited "pieces," and I raised my hand and was told to say mine. I knew none, and began babbling, and floundered and swallowed AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 13 and rambled—perhaps this was a Patience Worth urge!* until the teacher told me that as it was so long I had better finish on next Friday.