DESCRIPTION
Published in 1885 | 509 pages | PDF reader required
CONTENTS
Introduction.
CHAPTER 1 - Hydesville
"Mysterious Noises" heard in the House of John D. Fox, in Hydesville (Town of Arcadia), near Newark, Wayne County, N. Y.—Statements of Witnesses.
CHAPTER 2 - Hydesville (Continued)
The Last Digging in the Cellar—Mob Antagonism—Noble Friends—Experiences and Theories—Antecedents of the House—Franklin.
CHAPTER 3 - Rochester
My First Knowledge of the Matter—Hasten to Hydesville—Rapping on a Canal Boat—Experiences—Mother Comes to Rochester—Calvin Brown—Devious Route of Projectiles—Upstairs from Cellar to Garret—A Death-knell Sounded all Night on the Keys of a Locked Piano.
CHAPTER 4 - Rochester (Continued)
Ventriloquism—"Proclaim these Truths to the World "—The Call for the Alphabet—Voices in Raps—God's Telegraph between the two Worlds—An Eviction—Committee of Five—No Money Accepted—Improper Questions to Spirits —"Done"—Struggle against the "Uncanny Thing"—Benjamin Franklin.
CHAPTER 5 - Rochester (Continued), November, 1848
Light Articles made Immovable—The Coffins—Adieu of the Spirits—Their Return—First Stops toward Public Investigation—"Hire Corinthian Hall"—First Committee of Investigation—Second—Third or "Infidel" Committee—Behaviour of a Great Dining-table—The Tar and Torpedo Mob.
CHAPTER 6 - Mediumistic Vein in Our Family
Some Family Antecedents—Our Great-grandmother—Phantom Prophetic Funerals—Vision of a Tombstone Nine Years in Advance, etc.
CHAPTER 7 - Mediumistic Vein in Our Family (Continued)
Marvellous Writing by a Baby Medium.
CHAPTER 8 - Rochester (Continued)
"Repeat the Lord's Prayer"—First Money Accepted—Muscular Quakerism—Letter from George Willets—Letter from John E. Robinson—Caution against Consultation of Spirits about Worldly Interests.
CHAPTER 9 - Albany and Troy. 1850
Excursion to Albany—Delavan House and Van Vechten Hall—Rev. Dr. Staats and the Judges—High Class of Minds Interested—President Eliphalet Nott—Pecuniary Arrangements—Excursion to Troy—Trojan Ladies—Mob Attempts on Life of Margaretta.
CHAPTER 10 - New York. 1850
"The Rochester Knockings at Barnum's Hotel"—Hard Work—Our Visitors—A Poisoned Bouquet—Hair of the Emperor Napoleon I.—Hair of John C. Calhoun—Investigation at Residence of Rev. Rufus W. Griswold, by the Leading Literary Celebrities of New York.
CHAPTER 11 - Return to Rochester
Letters and Newspaper Articles Respecting our New York Campaign—Letter from Amy Post—Letters from John E. Robinson—Article from a Sunday Newspaper—From the New York Day-Book—Letter from Dr. C. D. Griswold—Letter from Jacob C. Cuyler—Article by Horace Greeley—Poem from the Sunday Dispatch.
CHAPTER 12 - Buffalo. 1850-51
Urged to Return to New York—Visit to Buffalo—Attempt by a Pretended Friend to Frighten us Away—Thunderbolt from the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser—The "Females" Knee-joint Theory—Our Reply Challenging Investigation of it—The Doctors' Day—Mrs. Patchen's Peculiarity.
CHAPTER 13 - Buffalo (Continued)
Investigations upon Investigations—A Meeting at the Phelps House—Manifestations with Bells, etc.—Mr. Albro's Report—A Death Scene—Letter from Me to the Commercial Advertiser, and how I forced its Insertion—Article from the Buffalo Daily Republic—Letter from Mr. Greeley—Mr. E. W. Capron—Departure from Buffalo.
CHAPTER 14 - Buffalo (Continued)
Letters from John E. Robinson and Welcome Whittaker.
CHAPTER 15 - Extracts from D. M. Dewey's History
Letters from Rev. Charles Hammond and John E. Robinson.
CHAPTER 16 - The Ohio Campaign
Return to Rochester—Attempted Burglary—Summons to Ohio—"Rev." C. C. Burr—"Toe-ology"—Gold Medals and Jewelled Watch—First Public Speech—Committee Investigations as usual—Calvin's Illness, and henceforth Mrs. Brown—First Spiritual Convention.
CHAPTER 17 - Miscellaneous Letters Connected with the Ohio Campaign
N. S. Wheeler—E. S. Brownfield—Chillicothe Committee—Charles F. Whippo—M. L. Wright—D. A. Eddy—Extracts from the Press—"A Fair Challenge from Mrs. Fish" and Sequel—Columbus Committee—D. A. Eddy—M. L. Wright—Interesting Letter from Dear Amy Post—Article from the Cleveland Plaindealer.
CHAPTER 18 - New York City, from January, 1852
Competing Claims upon Us—Decision in Favour of New York as Residence—Death of Calvin R. Brown—Remains Removed to Rochester for Burial—Personal Friendships—Alice and Phœbe Cary—Course of Test Experiments at Dr. Gray's—The Monday Evening Circle—Rules of Séances.
CHAPTER 19 - New York City (Continued)
Our Brilliant Success with the Superior Intellectual Classes—Whiskey at Washington—Cognizance of Domestic Secrets—Discomfiture of Anderson, "the Wizard of the North"—Remarkable Experience with a very Notorious Person.
CHAPTER 20 - Phosphorus
Spirit Lights Visible at Dark Séances—Private Circle in Jersey City in 1857—Solid Granules of Phosphorus Appearing in Earth which I had Touched—Surprising and Distressing Letter—The Good Spirits and Daniel Underhill to the Rescue—Benjamin Franklin—Marriage to D. Underhill, November 2, 1858, and Close of my Public Mediumship—Analogous Phenomena in Private at Home.
CHAPTER 21 - Boston and the Harvard Professors, 1857
Agreement for an Investigation by a Committee of Harvard Professors—Expulsion of a Student from the Divinity School for the Crime of Mediumship—Professor Felton Agassiz—Varley, the Electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.
CHAPTER 22 - Boston and the Harvard Professors (Continued)
Disinterested Judgments upon the Sham Investigation—Our Part in the Proceedings—More Fair Investigation by the Collective Representatives of the New England Press—Investigation by a Body of Unitarian Clergymen—Our Triumphant Return Home—Theodore Parker.
CHAPTER 23 - Robert Dale Owen and Professor Felton, President of Harvard College
Masterly Letter from Mr. Owen.
CHAPTER 24 - Experiences of Robert Dale Owen through the Mediumship of the Author
Moving a Ledge of Rock on the Sea-shore—Raps on the Water, and in the Living Wood—Seeing the Raps—Moving Ponderable Bodies by Occult Agency—Crucial Test—A Heavy Dinner-table Suspended in the Air by Occult Agency.
CHAPTER 25 - Experiences of the Author with Robert Dale Owen (Continued)
CHAPTER 26 - Spirit Cures—Mr. Catron's Wife
Statement by E. W. Capron—Wife of General Waddy Thompson, of South Carolina—Wife of Mr. Davis, of Providence, R. I.
CHAPTER 27 - Miscellaneous Letters
J. Heddon—S. Chamberlain—John E. Robinson—A. Underhill—George Lee, M.D.
CHAPTER 28 - Miscellaneous Letters (Continued)
E. F. Norton—John E. Robinson—Governor N. P. Tallmadge—Pauline M. Davis—Same—John E. Robinson—Prof. J. J. Watson.
CHAPTER 29 - Some Observations on Mediumship
Mysteries of Mediumship—To Prove the Immortality of the Soul—Passivity and Harmony at Séances—Honest and candid Scepticism—Imaginary and Self-induced Mediumship—Deceptive Communications—Cautions—Rappings—Spirits made Visible—Beware of Fraudulent Mediums—not all Spirits Reliable—Cabinets.
CHAPTER 30 - Miscellaneous Incidents
Felicia Hemans—Spirit Dictations of Music
CHAPTER 31 - Miscellaneous Incidents (Continued)
Crowd of Spirits made Visible by Lightning—Scarcely Credible but True—A Game of Euchre—Margaret's Dream—Mistaken Names Corrected by Spirits—An Unwilling Convert made Grateful and Happy—A Spirit Knows better than the Postmaster—Opening of a Combination Lock—A Visitor Magnetized into a Medium Himself—Curious Story about a Mutilated Limb—Disturbance in the Troup Street Cottage—A Caution against Cruelty to Orphan Children—Mrs. Hopper's Mysterious End— "Touch Samantha"—"I felt my Handkerchief Tied Tighter every Minute"—"Xo Brimstone yet"—Kitchen Work by Night—'Sieh a Gittin' up Stairs'—The Death of Isaac T. Hopper—William M. Thackeray—"Witch Stories"—George Thompson—A Child's Letter—Extracts from D. Underhill's Minute Book—Practical Jokes Performed and Rebuked—A Prophetic Dream—James A. Garfield—"Incident" Related by the Editor.
CHAPTER 32 - Actions of Spirits through the Mediumship of a Five-month's old Infant
Various Manifestations around the Baby—Writing in Greek through his Hand.
CHAPTER 33 - "The Missing; Link"
Finale.