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.

Mother and Maggie returned in about two weeks to Rochester, expecting to remain with us until the new house was finished. But “a change came over the spirit of our dream.” Things in spiritual matters grew from bad to worse. Our kind friend, Mrs. Vick, had died suddenly during mother’s absence, and the family soon gave up the house. It was rented by a new tenant, a diminutive, sickly-looking man who could not stand the “racket.” His wife complained to him, and declared that she was afraid to remain at home with the children while he was absent. One day, while they were eating dinner, they heard knocks on their table. He was furious in his irritation at this, and coming up to me said: “You are ventriloquists, and I will put a stop to your doings. I will have you arrested if I ever hear any noises in my house again.” I doubt if he had finished eating his dinner. He was very pale and trembled with excitement. My neighbor, Mrs. Bush, a very intelligent and talented lady, had called on me, and took up the argument in my behalf herself. She said to him: “Inasmuch as the sounds have been in your house, which have disturbed Leah all the morning, I think, if any one is arrested, you should be the one.”

The Spirits took “a new cue” from this visit of our neighbor. They seemed determined to take measures to satisfy him that his attempt to interfere with, or stop their manifestations, did not accomplish that object. They were, apparently, determined to settle the question of ventriloquism beyond any future doubt. They sounded their trumpets upon the house-top. In other words they carried on the manifestations on the very peak of the roof. It sounded like the frequent discharge of heavy artillery. It was stated to us, the next day, that the sounds were heard a mile away. We feared that the roof would fall in upon us. We all fell upon our knees and prayed for protection. We were in this position when Calvin returned. That night the sounds continued until daylight. The furniture on the second floor moved in every direction. Books were thrown about the room. The bureau in the bed-room was moved so that it blocked up the door. The music, from the parlor, flew at us while at breakfast in the dining-room. We knew not what to do. We had been in the habit of conversing by putting direct questions, which could be answered affirmatively or negatively; but we did not think of getting the alphabet, until our dear friend Isaac Post came in. He said to me, “Leah, why, don’t thee remember that thy brother David conversed with the Hydesville Spirits by using the alphabet? Perhaps they will explain what is wanted, if thee will call the alphabet now.” This seemed to be exactly what they did want; and I asked the question, “Do you want to say something to us?” There was a tremendous rapping in answer. I then commenced calling the alphabet, letter by letter in its order; and the first message we ever obtained in Rochester, through the Spirits, was this: “Dear friends, you must proclaim these truths to the world. This is the dawning of a new era; and you must not try to conceal it any longer. When you do your duty, God will protect you; and good Spirits will watch over you.”

I asked if the Spirits would give me a signal by which I might know when they wanted us to use the alphabet. They then spelled, “We will rap five times, in quick succession; and you will know whenever it is called for.” When this was concluded there was a tremendous rapping all over the room; and then each one gave his own distinctive signal. They have been continued from that day to this.

By this I mean that they gave their several rappings with such differences in sound as to be quite distinct from each other, and almost as clearly recognizable as would be their intonations of voice as speakers, or signatures as writers. On the occasion here mentioned I think there must have been a score of spirits who rapped one after the other, some on the table, some on the door, ceiling, windows, floor, etc. Some were loud, some low, some rapid and some slower, and no two of them seemed quite the same. Many persons who are familiar with these signals frequently identify them by the sounds.

I soon received letters from various places saying that it had been made known through clairvoyants, speaking mediums and seers, that the same signal had been given to all mediums.

Thus we see that God’s Telegraph[5] ante-dated that of Samuel F.B. Morse.

This work progressed too slowly to suit the Spirits. We could not consent to let it be publicly known that we were having such marvellous disturbances. So they sought out a new way to coerce us.

One night there was a great uproar in the other house. Loud rappings were heard, the little man’s pillow was jerked from under his head, his wife nearly fainted, his children screamed, and he was badly frightened. He could stand it no longer. He arose in the middle of the night, and called up a party of his church brethren, who went to his house and witnessed the demonstrations. They then went to the office of my landlord and got his concurrence, and obtained a warrant for our removal from our house. It will be recollected that this was Mr. J.B. Bennett, to whom, when I engaged the house of him, I said I wanted a new house where no crime had been committed, as I believed the house I lived in was haunted; and that he replied, “I think you will have no difficulty on that account.” Yet he at once consented to our expulsion because my little neighbor had heard the sounds in his own house. The warrant was served in the morning. I immediately communicated with my friends, who rallied in large numbers, and before the week was out, we were all settled in a pleasant little cottage on Troup Street. It was about September 1, 1849, when we moved into the house. I cannot let this opportunity pass without paying a tribute to those dear friends.

They too were ridiculed and persecuted at home and abroad; but they stood firm, and defended the right, as they were fully convinced that it only required time to prove it to the world. Many of those precious souls have passed to the world beyond, and I know they rejoice in Heaven to-day over the happy discoveries they made, and which they tell us have greatly widened their capacity for usefulness and enjoyment in a higher sphere.

There was a marked difference in the manifestations during our meals. The rappings seemed more concentrated, and very near us. The Spirits appeared interested in much that we were saying, and often pressed us approvingly with their hands. On one occasion a Spirit child laid its little hands on mine (not in mine), and so long as I remained quiet and permitted the little angel to do as it wished to, without disturbing the conditions requisite to enable it to come so near me, there was no shrinking or withdrawal on the part of the Spirit, who had thus far re-entered this mundane sphere to prove to us, beyond a doubt, that she still lived, and loved us. We could not doubt it. There was no one to deceive us. The Spirit was my darling little sister. She pressed us with both her hands, and kissed them over and over again. We would close our eyes in daylight and they would kiss us naturally as in life. We were truly converted, and as the dear old Methodists used to say, “born again.”

We could then realize that we had something to live for, something to hope for, in that sacred hour when each one in our humble group “lay at the feet of Jesus,” willing to be guided and directed in the paths of truth and duty. The alphabet was called for, and the following message was given and signed by our ever revered grandfather, known to his family and friends as a man of encyclopÆdic knowledge, as well as of noble character. “You need not wait as I did for that great ‘change of heart;’ but adopt the course at once and live up to your highest light. Go where that leads you.”

“My dear Children:—The time will come when you will understand and appreciate this great dispensation. You must permit your good friends to meet with you and hold communion with their friends in heaven.

“I am your grandfather,
“Jacob Smith.”

This communication affected us all deeply (particularly my mother), and brought our souls together sympathetically. We read it to our visitors. They at once adopted the plan of sitting around the table with us. This method immediately, as a consequence, placed the subject before the community. It was discussed everywhere, both publicly and privately. Mr. Isaac Post’s store was beset, from morning until night, with inquirers who were anxious to visit us. As we were situated, our friends felt a delicacy in bringing strangers to our house, except by previous arrangement.

In a short time the interest increased to such a degree that it was thought advisable to form a committee of five in a convenient part of the city, through whom the rushing crowd of curiosity seekers could be accommodated. The names of this committee were Isaac Post, R.D. Jones, Edward Jones, John Kedzie, and Andrew Clackner. They were faithful friends, who never permitted any one to visit us unattended by themselves, or some reliable person. All through this, and, indeed, for the first two years, we scorned the idea of receiving money from visitors. We felt that it would be degrading to accept money for the exhibition of spiritualism. Our time and business were greatly interfered with, and the overwhelming question frequently arose, “What shall we do? We cannot endure this much longer.” But there was a course marked out for us (unconsciously to ourselves) to follow. For a time we fancied things were going on better, and we felt encouraged, but we little knew the bitter experience we were destined to pass through. Many of our visitors were anxious to learn, through the Spirits, how to make a fortune. Some wished to know the secrets of others; some, dissatisfied with their domestic relations, sought the aid of Spirits to help them out of their difficulty; some wanted to know what numbers they should buy in a lottery, to be successful; others would wish to be advised in their stock speculations.

To all such questions ready responses were given, but invariably ended in failures.

This order of investigation brought us in rapport with an entirely different class of Spirits. They had no particular motive in tormenting us, but they seemed delighted to lead us on, and deceive the visitors who sought them in such a spirit. But, when people sought for communications of a more elevated character, answers were given accordingly.

Frequently our friends would become so deeply interested in their manifestations that they would forget we were mortal and needed time to recuperate our physical strength. They did not know that every echo, as it came through our medium forces, consumed a portion of our vitality. The Spirit knew this, and would close the sÉances by spelling “done.” This, our friends would sometimes take exception to, and complain that they should break off so abruptly. We could not explain, to their satisfaction, that we were exhausted under the constant pressure of mind and body. The Spirits, knowing this, would give the signal “done.” After this word done was spelled, we never obtained anything of an elevated character. We could get physical manifestations, of an independent character, such as throwing things, and moving furniture in different parts of the house. Those manifestations seldom seemed to weaken us, but intellectual communications given through our immediate brain forces had a weakening effect upon us when continued too long.

A gentleman (Dr. C.D. Griswold) living in Batavia had induced his minister (an Episcopal clergyman) to visit us.

They arrived late; and, after a few questions had been answered, the word “done” was spelled. They did not understand the meaning of this, and continued their questions. Suddenly a loud rapping, in a distant part of the room, spelled out, “Why the devil do you ask questions after you have been told done?”

This was a terrible damper to us all. The minister stood aghast, looking first at one and then at the other with astonishment, as if wondering what kind of creatures we were. The friend who had brought him was mortified in the extreme. They remained in town, and called on us again the next morning. All things were quiet, and we sat down with these two gentlemen alone. The doctor asked this question, “Will the spirit of my dear father come and answer my questions?”

Immediately the alphabet was called for, and spelled out this sentence, “When good Spirits say ‘done,’ you should not seek for further communications. Order is heaven’s first law, and you should not overtax mediums; for no good Spirit will answer, after their guardians say ‘done.’”

The doctor received the explanation favorably, and felt greatly relieved when he saw his friend, the minister, was disposed to investigate further. With us all was turmoil and confusion. When manifestations and communications were consistent, we believed them to come from good Spirits; but when they were to the contrary, we condemned all as evil. We had no religious prejudices, no motive whatever in establishing theories. We could make no satisfactory explanations to the various interrogatories, made by promiscuous parties who were constantly in attendance.

Let me here emphasize the fact that the general feeling of our family, of all of us, including Calvin Brown, who was virtually one of us, was strongly adverse to all this strange and uncanny thing. We regarded it as a great misfortune, as it was an affliction, which had fallen upon us; how, whence or why, we knew not. The influence of the surrounding opinion of neighbors, and the country round about, reacted upon us in conformation of our own natural and educational impressions, that the whole thing was of evil origin, unnatural, perplexing, and tormenting; while its unpopularity tended to cast a painful shadow upon us. We resisted it, struggled against it, and constantly and earnestly prayed for deliverance from it, even while a strange fascination attached to these marvellous manifestations thus forced upon us, against our will, by invisible agencies and agents whom we could neither resist, control, nor understand. If our will, earnest desires and prayers could have prevailed or availed, the whole thing would have ended then and there, and the world outside of our little neighborhood would never have heard more of the Rochester Rappings, or of the unfortunate Fox family.

But the movement was not in our hands nor under our control. It had an object, and we, as reluctant and humble instruments, were in the hands of other and higher wills and forces, from whom it had proceeded, by whom it was directed, and, so to speak, engineered. We have since come to understand that all these events and incidents, perplexing and distressful as they were to us, were but the birth-throes of a new truth, which was destined to revolutionize this world, and establish a communication between the here and the hereafter; of the Earth and of the Spirit.

And I may here say that, inasmuch as Electricity and Magnetism seem to play some part in the machinery of this intercommunication, it is not surprising that the Spirit on the other side who seems to have been the principal initiator, not to say the inventor of this new development in the evolution of Humanity, was the great man known to earthly fame as the father of electrical science, as he was one of the great fathers of American liberty; he of whom it has been grandly written that he snatched the lightning from the sky, and the sceptre from the hand of the tyrant: the immortal Benjamin Franklin.

[5] It opened up communication between the two worlds of matter and spirit, as that of Morse had done between distant places in the material plane of our life.—Ed.