A Skeleton's Tale: the Origins of Modern Spiritualism

INVESTIGATIVE FILES JOE NICKELL

A Skeleton’s Tale: The Origins of Modern Spiritualism

ore than half a century one, two, three, four,” clapping her after modern spiritu- hands accordingly. Four raps came Malism began with pur- in response (Mulholland 1938, ported communications from the 30–33). ghost of a murdered peddler, the Next, the peddler’s spirit began reality of the messages was allegedly to answer questions by rapping, once confirmed. A skeleton was report- for no, twice for yes. He claimed edly uncovered in the cellar of he had been murdered and his the original farmhouse where the body buried in the cellar, but dig- séances had taken place along with ging there produced only a few bones the peddler’s tin trunk. Now, a attributed to animals (Weisberg century after that, the claims are 2004, 57). again being touted by spiritual- Before long, people discov- ists who have enshrined the exca- ered that the girls could conjure vated foundation (figure 1)—sort up not only the ghostly peddler of a spiritualists’ equivalent of the but other obliging spirits as well. Mormons’ Hill Cumorah (where The demonstrations received such Joseph Smith claimed he received attention that the girl’s older sis- a book written on gold plates from ter, Leah Fish, originated a “spir- the angel Moroni [Nickell 2004]). itualistic” society. “Spiritualism” Assisted by research librarian Tim- began to take on the trappings othy Binga, director of Center of religion, with hymns being for Inquiry Libraries, I sought to Figure 1. CFI Librarian Tim Binga stands at the enshrined site sung at the opening and close of the birthplace of Spiritualism. (Photo by Joe Nickell) un cover the true facts in the case. of a session (which they called a Margaret (“Maggie”) and Katharine “séance”). Fol low ing a successful Background (“Katie”). The girls claimed the noises visit to New York, Leah took the girls Modern spiritualism began in Hydes- were communications from the de parted on tour to towns and cities across the ville, New York, in 1848. At the home spirit of a murdered peddler. After a nation. Everywhere people were anxious of a blacksmith named John Fox, strange time, on the night of March 31 (All to communicate with the souls of their rapping noises began to occur in the Fool’s Eve!), the girls’ mother witnessed departed loved ones. bedroom of Fox’s young daughters, a re markable demonstration that she However, scientists and other ratio- Joe Nickell is CSI’s Senior Research Fellow. later described in a signed report. nal-minded investigators came forth to His numerous books include Real-Life Loudly, Katie addressed “Mr. Split- challenge Maggie and Katie’s claims. Early X-Files and Adventures in Para normal foot,” saying “do as I do,” and clapping on, University of Buffalo faculty mem- Investigation. His Web site is at www. her hands. At once, there came the same bers studied the girls’ raps. The exam- joenickell.com. number of mysterious raps. Next Maggie iners excluded “spiritual causation” and exclaimed, “Now do just as I do; count asserted, curiously enough, that the raps

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER July / August 2008 17 were “produced by the action of the will, on the floor, or we would drop the mourners attended her funeral. through voluntary action on the joints.” apple on the floor, making a strange Today, spiritualists characterize Mar- In a much later investigation, the “spirits” noise every time it would rebound. garet’s exposé as bogus, attributing it Mother listened to this for a time. She gave out erroneous information, and inves- could not understand it and did not to her need for money or the desire tigators caused the rapping sounds to cease suspect us of being capable of a trick for revenge against her rivals or both. abruptly by controlling Margaret’s feet because we were so young. How ever, not only were her admissions (Mulholland 1938, 34–38). At last she could stand it no longer fully corroborated by her sister, but she Then, four decades after spiritualism and she called the neighbors in and demonstrated to the audience that she told them about it. It was this that set began, sisters Margaret Fox Kane and us to discover the means of making could produce the mysterious raps just as she said (Christopher 1970, 181). The Discovery The Fox sisters had seemingly fooled The examiners excluded “spiritual causation” the world, but, after the turn of the cen- and asserted, curiously enough, that the raps tury, new evidence for their supposed genuineness was allegedly discovered. were “produced by the action of the will, As reported by the Boston Journal of through voluntary action on the joints.” Novem ber 23, 1904: The skeleton of the man who first caused the rappings heard by the Fox Sisters in 1848 has been found between the walls of the house occu- the raps. pied by the sisters, and clears them Katherine Fox Jencken confessed it had from the only shadow of doubt held all been a trick. On Sunday, October 21, Margaret explained: concerning their sincerity in the dis- 1888, the sisters appeared at the Acad- covery of spirit communication. My sister Katie was the first one to dis- The Fox sisters declared that they emy of Music in New York City. With cover that by swishing her fingers she Katherine sitting in a box and repeatedly learned to communicate with the could produce a certain noise with the spirit of a man, and that he told them nodding in agreement while a num- knuckles and joints, and that the same he had been murdered and buried in ber of spiritualists expressed their disap- effect could be made with the toes. the cellar. Evacuation failed to locate proval with groans and hisses, Margaret Finding we could make raps with our the body and thus give proof positive feet—first with one foot and then with of their story. revealed all from the music hall stage. both—we practiced until we could do She explained how she had produced the this easily when the room was dark. The Journal continued: rapping noises by slipping her foot from (qtd. in Mulholland 1938, 41–42) The discovery was made by school her shoe and snapping her toes. Placing Margaret also stated that Leah knew children playing in the cellar of the her stockinged foot on a thin plank, she building in Hydesville known as “The the spirit rappings were fake, and that demonstrated the effect for the audi- Spook House,” where the Fox sisters when she traveled with the girls (on ence. As The Evening Post reported the first heard the wonderful rappings. A their first nationwide tour) it was she reputable citizen of Clyde, who owns following day, “Mrs. Kane now locates who signaled the answers to various the house, made an investigation, and the origin of Modern Spiritualism in her found an almost entire human skel- questions. (She probably chatted with great toe” (qtd. in Christopher 1970, eton between the crumbling walls, sitters before the séance to obtain infor- undoubtedly that of the wandering 181). Mar garet went on to state: mation; when that did not produce the peddler who it was claimed was mur- I think that it is about time that requisite facts, the “spirits” no doubt dered in the east room and buried in the basement. the truth of this miserable subject spoke in vague generalizations that are “Spiritu alism” should be brought out. Examination revealed that a false It is now widespread all over the the mainstay of spiritualistic charlatans.) and unobserved inner wall had been world, and unless it is put down it Margaret repeated her exposé in built. Between this false inner wall and will do great evil. I was the first in the other cities close to New York. How- the original outer wall and near the field and I have the right to expose it. ever, explains John Mulholland (1938, center of the basement, the skeleton My sister Katie and myself were was found. It is interesting to know very young children when this horri- 43), “It was expected that this would that the false wall is composed of ble deception began. I was eight and give her sufficient income to live but stones like those used fifty years ago just a year and a half older than she. she shortly discovered that while many to build stone fences. This recalls a We were very mischievous children people will pay to be humbugged few statement made over fifty years ago and we wanted to terrify our dear will pay to be educated.” by Miss Lucretia Pulver, that Mr. Bell mother, who was a very good woman [the earlier house owner and presumed and very easily frightened. At night Perhaps not surprisingly, then, Mar- murderer] worked each night under when we were in bed, we used to tie garet returned to mediumship when she cover of darkness, carrying stones from an apple to a string and move it up needed money again. After her death on the fence into the cellar. The finding and down, causing the apple to bump March 8, 1895, thousands of spiritualist of the bones corroborates the sworn

18 Volume 32, Issue 4 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER statement made by Margaret Fox [the In fact, no one has been able to find wall in question is actually just one of girls’ mother], April 11, 1848. . . . a single record or other proof of the four inner walls that likely represent an (qtd. in Mul doon 1942, 20–24) existence of a peddler named Charles B. original, boxlike foundation (figure 3). Additional stories appeared in other Rosna/Rosma/Rosa. One source (Pressing That foundation was apparently later newspapers (“Bones” 1904; “Fox” 1904; N.d., 63) was forced to conclude, lamely, en larged into a rectangular shape by the “Headless” 1904; “Topics” 1904). that the name “might have been mis- addition of new walls around the old This reputed discovery was trum- spelled,” but no peddler with any similar ones (creating unequal spaces between peted by spiritualists over the following name has ever been identified. We too the walls at either end and thickening decades, along with a “tin peddler’s pack”— looked—in vain. the front and rear walls at the same actually a tin trunk (figure 2)—that was allegedly discovered at the same site (Keller 1922, 60). The trunk was later Today, spiritualists characterize Margaret’s exposé as kept in the cottage that had been moved to Lily Dale spiritualist village in 1916 bogus, attributing it to her need for money or the desire and used as a museum. The cottage remained there until it was destroyed by for revenge against her rivals or both. However, not only fire in the 1950s. While the trunk was were her admissions fully corroborated by her sister, but saved, skeptics have long questioned its authenticity (Weis berg 2004, 266–267). she demonstrated to the audience that she could Investigation produce the mysterious raps just as she said. To review the alleged discoveries at the Fox cottage’s cellar, I twice vis- ited the site, taking photographs and making a diagrammatic sketch time). Perhaps the extra founda- of the stone structure; interviewed tion resulted from the house hav- knowledgeable persons; examined ing been expanded from a cabin Fox-related artifacts, including the into a cottage. We later discovered reputed peddler’s trunk at the Lily that the “two separate stone foun- Dale spiritualist museum; with Tim dations” were confirmed in 1904 Binga, conducted research at the (“Head less” 1904). Public Library at Newark, N.Y. As to the bones themselves, their (where I joked that my work was so authenticity was questioned at the important I had “brought my own time of their alleged discovery. The librarian”); and studied a valuable New York Times (“Topics” 1904) collection of old papers, clippings, reported that the bones had created and photographs that were gener- a stir “amusingly disproportioned ously sent over to the library for our to any necessary significance of use by the Newark-Arcadia His- the discovery.” That was because torical Society. We also sought out there was no proof either that the rare books and journals and did bones belonged to the “legendary much other work, all of it demand- peddler” or that the Fox sisters had ing but ultimately paying dividends. done anything more than capital- Unfortunately, as it happens, ize on a then-current rumor that there is reason for skepticism of a peddler was murdered at the nearly every aspect of the case. To site. The Times said of spiritualists’ begin with, the earliest published claims about the bones, “As usual, testimonies never gave the peddler’s Figure 2. Joe Nickell examines the alleged “peddler’s trunk” at Lily Dale Museum. (Photo by Diana Harris) they are taking all possible pains to name, only the initials “C.B.,” with render a real investigation of the the B specifically applying to the affair im possible, and are assuming surname (Lewis 1848, 10). Only later At the old cottage site we studied the as true a lot of things much in need of was the name said to be “Charles B. restored foundation and its double wall, other proof than their own assertions.” Rosna” or some variant; Sir Arthur the “false” interior one having ostensibly The Acadian Weekly (“Fox” 1904) Conan Doyle (1926, I: 64, 76) insisted been placed secretly to hide the peddler’s opined that while the bones might have it was actually “Charles B. Rosma.” corpse (Muldoon 1942, 20–21; Keeler been hidden in the wall for half a cen- Another source gives “Charles Rosa” 1922). However, it is apparent that the tury, they might equally have been “dis- (Guiley 2000, 141).

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER July / August 2008 19 interred from some cemetery and placed faking spirit writing and other phenom- to hide the legendary peddler’s remains there for effect.” The paper referred to ena (Nickell 2007). I examined the trunk but that it was merely part of an earlier, the original 1848 story of spirit commu- at the Lily Dale museum, whose curator smaller foundation. The best evidence nication at the cottage as “the old hoax.” Ron Nagy (2006) conceded there was no indicates that the 1904 “discovery” of Eventually, the true source of the real provenance for it nor any proof of its the peddler’s bones was a hoax; ditto bones was reported in an editorial in discovery in 1904. And the trunk’s condi- the later appearance of the tin trunk. the Journal of the American Society for tion appears far too good for its supposed Therefore, the Fox sisters’ confessions Psychical Research in 1909. A physi- half-century burial (figure 2). stand, corroborated by independent evidence that the spirit rappings they produced were accomplished by trickery.

Acknowledgments The modern unearthing of the Fox cottage’s In addition to Tim Binga, I was assisted by many others, including my wife Diana Harris foundations did nothing to support the claim that and Paul E. Loynes who did the typesetting. I also wish to thank the helpful staff of the in 1848 schoolgirls had communicated with the Newark Public Library and the Newark- Arcadia Historical Society (notably John spirit of a murdered peddler. Zornow and Chris Davis), Ron Nagy at Lily Dale and Judge Harold Stiles.

References Bones in “old spook house.” 1904. New York Times, November 23. cian had been asked by another Cadwallader, M.E. 1922. Hydesville in History. Chicago: Progressive Thinker. publication (the Occult Review) Christopher, Milbourne. 1970. ESP, Seers to investigate the alleged discovery: and Psychics. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. He reports to us that he found a Doyle, Arthur Conan. 1926. The History number of bones there, but that of Spiritualism, in two vols. Reprinted there were only a few ribs with New York: Arno Press, 1975. odds and ends of bones and among Editorial. 1909. Journal of the American them a superabundance of some Society for Psychical Research. March, and a deficiency of others. Among 191. them also were some chicken bones. The Fox House figures again in a sensation. 1904. The Arcadian Weekly Gazette, There was nothing about the prem- November 23. ises to indicate that they had been Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. 2000. The buried there, but might have been Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits. put there by boys in sport. He also New York: Checkmark Books. reports that within a few days past Headless skeleton in Fox Sisters’ home. 1904. New York Times, November 24. he has learned that a certain person Keeler, P.L.O.A. 1922. The skeleton in the near the place had put the bones Fox cottage, in Cadwallader 1922, 59–60. there as a practical joke and is now Lewis, E.E. 1848. A Report of the Mysterious too much ashamed of it to confess Noises Heard in the House of Mr. John it. Whether there is any better foun- D. Fox, in Hydesville, Arcadia, Wayne County [N.Y.]. Canandaigua, N.Y.: E.E. dation for these incidents than for Lewis. the original story it is not possible Muldoon, Sylvan. 1942. Famous Psychic to decide, but it is certain that the Stories, Psychic Series Volume II. probabilities that there is anything Darlington, Wiscon sin: The New more than a casual coincidence or Horizon Publishers. Mulholland, John. 1938. Beware Familiar than a trick played on the credulity Spirits. Reprinted New York: Charles of the defenders of the Fox sisters Figure 3. A reputedly false inner wall (left) of Fox cottage is Scribner’s Sons, 1979. are very much shaded. (Editorial actually only part of a smaller, four-walled, inner foundation. Nagy, Ron. 2006. Interview by Joe Nickell 1909) (Photo by Joe Nickell) and Diana Harris, September 1. Nickell, Joe. 2004. Joseph Smith: A mat- But then what about the ped- ter of visions. Chap. 35 of The Mystery Chronicles. Lexington, Ky.: The University dler’s trunk, allegedly found at the same Conclusions Press of Kentucky, 296–303. site and time as the bones? As a matter of The modern unearthing of the Fox ———. 2007. Adventures in Paranormal Investi- gation. Lexington, Ky.: The University Press fact, the trunk was never reported in any cottage’s foundations did nothing to of Kentucky. of the contemporary sources we uncov- support the claim that in 1848 school- Pressing, R.G. N.d. Rappings That Startled the ered. The earliest mention of it I have World. Lily Dale, N.Y.: Dale News. girls had communicated with the spirit Topics of the Times. 1904. New York Times, found is an account penned years later of a murdered peddler. Instead, the November 25. by one P.L.O.A. Keeler (1922), a Lily excavation made it possible for everyone Weisberg, Barbara. 2004. Talking to the Dead. New York: HarperSanFrancisco. Dale medium who had a reputation for to see that no “false wall” had been built !

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