Legend
< Remarkable Spiritual Manifestations in the House of the Rev. E. Phelps, D.D. (continued from page 7-264) >
On the evening of the 12th, Hr. Phelps, Harry, and two younger children, were seated at a table; responses were frequently given by raps under the table. Dr. Phelps inquired if it would accommodate them at all to have some substance to rap with; to which they replied affirmatively. He threw down a table-knife; the raps seemed immediately to be made by striking the knife against the table-leaf, and soon it was tossed up on to the table. A small tea-bell was then placed under the table; it was rung several times and tossed on to the table as the knife had been. It was again put down, and returned as before; the same being repeated several times in succession. The light was then extinguished, and the candle put under the table with a match-box containing matches, and the spirits requested to light it. They distinctly heard the match drawn upon the bottom of the box, which was prepared with sand-paper for that use. All saw the light; but the first match went out. Again the scratching of the match was heard; it ignited, the candle lighted, and was placed upon the table! The experiment was repeated several times, with the same result; every precaution being taken to prevent collusion in the matter.
On a subsequent occasion a chair was placed upon the table by invisible power, and the two children, Harry and Hannah, raised up and placed upon it; they could neither of them tell how it was done. The sensation was that of shine person placing a hand under them and raising them up. Many of these things occurred when the room was darkened, as has been the case in numerous other places, and for which explanations have been recorded, as given by the spirits. On the evening of the 20th of October, the light being put out of the room, the bell was placed under the table, with a request that it should be rung, and placed in the doctor’s hand. He was sitting by the table with both his hands lying on his lap open, with the palms upward. The bell rang several times with some violence, and then was placed in his left hand. This was repeated four or five times in succession. Dr. Phelps sat beyond the reach of any one, and the room was sufficiently light for him to have detected any movement on the part of persons present. He requested them to let him feel the hand that placed the bell in his. Very soon a hand came in contact with his, took hold of his fingers, shaking his hand, passed slowly over the back of his hand, then over the palm again, took hold of his fingers, and he felt what he is sure to have been a human hand. He describes it as being cold and moist, which accords with my own experience repeatedly, and that of my friends. They then took hold of his foot, shook it with much force, loosened the string, took off the shoe, and placed it upon the table before him. At his request the shoe was replaced, the heel adjusted, and the strings drawn up, but not tied.
On a subsequent occasion a large-sized tea-bell was rung under the table, then rose up, passed round the room, ringing violently all the way, and fell upon the table. The candle was in the closet, but the room was sufficiently light to make it certain that no person left the table to convey it. It was manifest that from the time Harry returned from New Lebanon the manifestations began gradually to subside. They were less frequent and less marked. It was arranged that he should accompany the family to Philadelphia, and go to a boarding-school at a town about twenty miles distant from the city. At different times he had been told that if he went there he would again be annoyed by bad spirits. The question was many times put, “Will you annoy him again if he goes to the school ?” Answer.—“We will not, but others will.”— “What others?” Answer.—“Those who were with him last summer.”—“Will they disturb him if he stays here and goes to the academy in Stratford?”—“No. They will not disturb him while he is with you.”—“What will they do if he goes to Pennsylvania?” Answer.—“They will tear his clothes, destroy his books, and break his windows.”—“Can you not control those bad spirits, and prevent their doing him any injury ?”—“No.”—“Will you do all you can?”—“Yes.” At another time Dr. Phelps inquired if they would not leave him, as his mother was so much opposed to the whole thing. “Will you not, to oblige her, leave him, that he may be a medium no longer?” said the doctor. The reply was, “If we leave him, evil spirits will get possession of him again.” These communications were made by what purported to be the boy’s father. For two weeks previously to going to Philadelphia the manifestations had almost wholly subsided; perhaps only occurred when requested; and notwithstanding the repeated declarations that when he should leave for the school in Pennsylvania, the bad spirits would come in and make him trouble, it was determined to try the experiment, and on the 11th of November the family set out for Philadelphia, where they were to spend the winter, while Harry was to go to school. He remained with the family in Philadelphia about a week, where a few communications were given to Dr. Phelps in private. The spirits said they would begin to annoy the boy on the cars, on his way to the school, would pinch him and tear his clothes, so that, when he got there, they would be found torn, and that the troubles would follow him in the school as long as he stayed there. Dr. Phelps, under all the circumstances, thought it best not to send him; but on consultation it was decided to have him go, and on the 19th of November he started for the school. Dr. Phelps went a mile or two with him, put him under the care of the conductor, and told him to report on his return if anything worthy of notice occurred on the way. In two days the doctor was sent for to come and take him away. He said that soon after his father left him on the cars, he was pinched, pricked with pins, and annoyed in various other ways until he reached his destination; that, on his arrival there, he found that his pantaloons were torn in front, between the waistband and the knees, in two places, several inches in length. He changed them for another pair, which were new, and made of very substantial material, and these were torn down in front, at least half a yard in length, before the doctor arrived there. The knockings had attended him in school and other places; his books were torn and damaged to the amount of two dollars, which the doctor paid. The family where he was had become alarmed, and would not keep him, and he was taken away. The boy stated that on one of the evenings, while he was there, he was walking in the street, when his cap was mysteriously taken from his head and thrown upon the side walk. As he stooped to pick it up, he saw the flash of a gun at some distance, and a bullet passed over his back and struck a board fence near him. He was afterwards informed by the rapping that, had he not stooped down, he would have been killed, and that his friendly spirit took this means to preserve him.
Dr. Phelps now concluded to return with Harry to Stratford, and was told that the bad spirits would have no control over him there. The family in which they resided in Philadelphia had become alarmed at the strange occurrences, and finally they again returned to Stratford. From that time the disturbances began to subside, and by the 15th December, 1851, they had ceased altogether. The family remained at Stratford till the spring of 1852, when they returned to their former residence in the city. The house at Stratford is occupied by another family, but no disturbances have ever occurred with the family which now occupy the house, and none with Dr. Phelps’s family since the above date.
Thus ends one of the most remarkable histories in the whole course of modern spiritual manifestations. The authority on which it comes to the world is indisputable, and the characters of all concerned are beyond suspicion. It will be observed that generally the demonstrations, as in the case of Mr. Calvin E. Brown, in the Fox family, were less boisterous after the family consented to hold communication with them. It seemed to be the desire of a spirit to communicate and set right a matter which was making him unhappy. This accomplished, the demonstration ceased.
From the foregoing narrative it will be seen that these phenomena do not attach to places, as some have supposed. It makes the fact equally clear that they do attach to persons, and that without certain media they cannot, to any extent, take place. If there is such a thing as “haunted houses,” they must belong to another class of phenomena, or a very different phase of the same, than <... continues on page 7-266 >