Published in 1870 | 154 pages | PDF reader required
INTRODUCTION
The brief sketches of individual character that follow, were, with a few exceptions, written automatically by the hand of Dr. John C. Grinnell, of Newport, R. I., in the summer and autumn of 1869, in the presence of the undersigned. Those with an asterisk, were obtained in Feb., 1870, in the same way. During the process of writing, the medium was generally in his normal state of mind excepting that a mist was thrown by spirit power over his vision, so that he was unable to decipher what was indited, that, as was alleged, the matter might not be affected by the action of his own mind. The sketches taken exceed fifteen hundred in all, (a portion of which are reserved for a future edition) and with the exception of those otherwise designated, purport to have been written under the control and direction of the spirit of the late Stephen B. Chase, of Newport, R. I., who was a man of a true and noble nature, and that of a Narragansett Indian, whose proper name was Opplahehota, but was called "Shanky" by the whites, from his speed of foot. A sketch of Chase's earth character and spirit condition as seen from the after-life as well as that of the Indian's and medium's, will be found under their appropriate lettering, and I think they are all correctly given.
To obtain the sketches, I was obliged to sit with the medium for the space of from one to three hours daily, for some one hundred and twenty days. At snch times as the mind of the medium was calm and composed, and not disturbed by outside influences, he would write from fifteen to thirty at a sitting, and on one occasion he wrote forty-one. On that and some other favorable days, the medium wrote rapidlv and pretty correctly without apparent effort. On other days, when his mental organism was disturbed from internal or external causes, he wrote but very few, and those indistinct, and full of repetition. I have, however, in compiling been very careful to retain the substance of these together with the exact words that are used to give point to the meaning. The reader will probably perceive that some of the terms used, such as'moral" and "cunning," are generally intended to be applied in their most enlarged sig-nication, whilst religion is almost always used to express an outward observance. The characters given under the Indian influence are copied word for word, exactly asgiven. When I first commenced taking the characters, I wrote down names of individuals as they occurred to my mind with little or no regard to their order, on blank sheets of paper. Alter taking some hundreds in this way, I found the communications were getting too lengthy for practical use, and commenced writing names as they occurred to me on small slips of paper prepared for the purpose, and for convenience wrote the names of the individuals I wished given, one on each side of the paper. Perhaps some two or three hundred characters were written under these circumstances; and among these I am led to suppose there may have been a few important mistakes or transpositions made, though I think as a general thing, the character of the individuals given are as correct as can be obtained from history or otherwise. Whilst writing under these particular heads, I observed that the medium often hesitated, and turned his paper over to look at the name on the other side. I finally asked why this was done, and then the controlling influence for the first time told me that the names operated as talismans to draw the spirit indicated, and their close juxtaposition caused such a mingling or transposition of their influences that be found it hard to separate them, asking me at the same time to write the names only on one side of each piece of paper. I did so afterward, and for convenience sake would write several in advance and lie them down together; but this mode was also soon objected too on like grounds as the other, and I was requested in future not to record any name until the moment I handed it to the medium. I did so, and found from that time forward that the communications flowed more freely, and as I think, more correctly, than they had done as a general thing before. After I had exhausted such names of interest as occurred to me, I had recourse to a very terse Biographical dictionary for a supply, and was throughout exceedingly careful to say nothing to the medium that might influence the communications, simply writing the names as they appear in the following pages, and verbally giving the nation of the person asked after when it was within my knowledge. This is all that was required by the controlling influence, which requested that nothing more should be added. To this rule I adhered throughout, excepting in the instances of Casar and Lucretia Borgia. The medium had never read a history or biography, except the Bible, in his life, and had probably never heard even the name pronounced of one in twenty of the historical persons asked after. I subjoin some facts relating to the medium's life and occupation furnished by himself, and will merely add that I know from personal knowledge, that many of the facts he relates as regards his former dreadful decrepit state and his seemingly miraculous cures of cancers and other maladies are literally true, and can be verified if necessary by judicial testimony.
Dr. John C. Grinnell was born Dec. 15th, 1831, of very poor parentage, in Hampton, Wind-ham County, Connecticut. His father died before he was eight years old, when he was placed in a cotton factory to work to help maintain the widowed family. At fourteen he went to labor on a farm, where he worked until his seventeenth year, when he was taken sick with typhus fever, and was confined for about nine months before be was able to be sent to his mother who was then struggling against poverty in Rhode Island. In a letter to the writer of this, dated Feb. 26, 1870, Dr. Grinnell says:
"The sickness and medicine produced inflammatory rheumatism which rendered me nearly helpless. The calomel I took caused dropsy of the blood, a stiffness of the joints, and I was growing worse all the time under the medical treatment, until nearly every bore and joint in my body was drawn from its location. At the end of about six years treatment under the old school practice, the doctors left me with my limbs and feet so swollen that every time I mored it seemed as if my limbs would burst, and I was not able to get up at all or move without help. My heels were drawn nearly into my back, and my head and chin drawn down to my chest. My left arm became helpless and very sore. My right hand was doubled up so that I could not use either of them. I did not have my clothes on for nearly a year, as my flesh was so sore I could not bear their weight. In ihis state I remained until the good angels came and delivered me. Before they came I had grown to be a hard, cold atheist, feeling that the God of the universe, if there was one, had left me to suffer, and this caused my unbelief. But in 1856, the power or influence of unseen angels came upon me, at first by tipping the stand, and then by controlling my hand to write. Before that I could not feed myself; but after they had thus controlled my hand a few times, I could use it to cut my food and eat with. Not long after a spirit purporting to be 'Samuel of old,' came and controlled my hand to write a letter to a lady residing in Fall River, by the name of Phebe Shelling, in which he told her that if she would come to Newport she could help me. The day after this she came to me. We were entire strangers to each other, and I had never heard of her only through the spirit communication. As soon as she entered the door, 'old Samuel' entranced her and commenced to operate on me, saying that he could and would make me walk. This was about five o'clock in the afternoon, and she worked on me about twenty minutes, and the next morning I got up and dressed myself, which was something I had not done before for seven years. "Old Samuel' said that if I would place myself under his directions, he would, through her instrumentality, soon have me walking about. I concluded to do so, and went to Fall River where Mrs. Shelling could see me every day, and in seventeen weeks she straightened my limbs so that I measured thirteen inches in height more than I did when she began, and she made me walk without crutches, which I had not done for many years, and I could travel nearly as well as ever.
Mrs. Shelling having a family of small children to attend to which she could not neglect, gave up her gift of healing. I remained in good condition for about four years, when I was attacked with paralysis which has obliged me to use a cane and crutch ever since. As yet the spirits bave not been able to restore me, but they promise to help me as soon as I get into a condition sufficiently harmonious to rective their iafluence fully. While I was under Mis. Shelling's influence I was made clairvoyant, and could see the different diseases of persons who chanced to come into the room and often when they were passing the house in the street, and could tell how and where they were affected. But being ignorant of all the laws of physiology, and remedies, I did not for some months apply my powers to examine into disease. But finally, the spirit of 'old Sammel' and others controlled me to examine and find remedies in the vegetable kingdom and I practised for years in Fall River without any remuneration except the consolation of my being made an instrument to benefit hundreds of people, and I have continued to practice with little remuneration up to the present time. I have during the last fourteen years kept an account of about thirteen thousand patients I have examined; and have not all down on my book, and I do not think there has been to exceed ten out of the whole number who have not expressed themselves satisfied with their diagnosis.
I have had almost every phase of mediumship, but examining and healing seems to be my especial gift. You ask me about my education and reading. I do not remember of ever going to school three months in my life, and I can say with truth that with the exception of the Bible, I never read a biography or history in my life. In fact, my mind cannot confine itself closely to any kind of reading. I practised healing seven years before I ever looked into a book, on bot-any, or physiology, and I never now think of consulting any medical or other book for healing as my spirit doctors are always in attendance when needed. I have had perhaps as good sue-cess in healing as most clairvoyants, but of myself I claim to have very little knowledge or wisdom, but rely entirely upon the higher influences that control my organism. I have operated on eighty-one cases of cancer, and have seventy-nine certificates of cures being effected, which I will show any who wish to see them. There are several cases in the vicinity of Newport that you yourself know about, among them Mrs. Hannah Allen, from whose breast 1 took a cancer as large as a tea-cup; Mr. John R. Peckham, from whose under lip I took two about the size of walnuts; Mr. William Howland, from whose nose I took one about as large as a marble; Miss Rogers, from whose wrist I took one about the size of a butternut. I have never failed but in two instances. One of these cases was that of Mrs. C—— whom you also know. It had five heals, and they were all healed except one which was about aslarge as a nickle cent, when she left m: at Newport to go home. When she came to me at Fall River afterwards, it was not bigger thin the end of my little finger, and the artery that burst was in the centre of this head."
I am well acquainted with this last named case that Dr. G. sets down as a failure. Mrs. C—— called on me, saying that she wanted to raise twenty-five dollars to pay a doctor to cut out a cancer on her breast that had already been operated on in that way twice, and had exhausted all her means. I told her that surgical operations on cancerous tumours could not possibly afford any other than temporary relief. She said that she was aware of that and knew that she must soon die, but thought if she could have it cut out once more it would enable her to work a few weeks or months more for her aged father and mother who lived with her and were both past work. I finally recommended her to go and see Dr. Grinnell. She did so and the controlling spirit told her that as aggravated as her case was he thought she might be cured. She accordingly took board near Dr. Grinnell's, a few persons contributing to pay all expenses. I occasionally visited the doctor whilst he was operating and saw the cancer several times. It was at first the most revolting thing to look at that can be imagined, and, as I remember, covered a space as big as a small saucer with several angry looking heads. After a few week's treatment these began to disappear, and a new coat of flesh came over the diseased portion covered with a thin transparent skin. When Ilast saw Mrs. C——she appeared nearly well, and insisted upon going home. The influence tried to prevent her doing so, telling her that the muscles and blood-vessels were very weak and would not bear being strained. She refused however to be advised and went to work, and the consequence was that a blood vessel broke as was foreseen. The fast is, the cancer itself was about cured, and no doubt soon would have been entirely well had Mrs. C—— listened to advise.
I know of several other cancers cured by Dr. G. Mrs. H. Allen, a case something like Mrs. C——s, who was, as she told me, cured in about three weeks, after several other doctors had failed. Mr. Howland's ease I know pretty well. For many months I had been advising him to attend to an angry tumor on his nose, telling him that it would be his death if he let it alone much longer. He delayed until it grew very troublesome, and then as he informs me, started with a determination to let Dr. G. operate on it. On his way he happened to meet a physician and told him the object he had in view. The doctor remarked that if he would come to him after he had sot through with the quacks he would cut it out for him. Mr. H. however persevered, and in a short time the cancer was successfully removed by Dr. G. This was nearly a year ago, and Mr. Howland's visage is yet free from even a scar.
I have hold seances with scores of mediums, but I think I never knew one who had a greater diversity of gifts, or who lived in closer rapport with the spirit world than Dr. Grinnell. With him the two worlds seem almost merged together, and he converses about as readily with the denizens of the one as the other, passing into and out of the trance state with astonishing facility. Facsimiles of his handwriting, when under influence of spirits, are given on a previous page; owing to the distorted state of his hands he has to write with a thumb and one finger only.
Newport R. I. March 1, 1870.
THOMAS R. HAZARD.
