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88-563: The Davenports began in 1854, less than a decade after Spiritualism had taken off in America. After stories of the Fox sisters , the Davenports started reporting similar occurrences. Their father took up managing his sons and the group was joined by William Fay, a Buffalo resident with an interest in conjuring. Their shows were introduced by a former " Restoration Movement " minister , Dr. J. B. Ferguson ,

176-567: A materialist orientation and rejected organized religion. In 1854 the utopian socialist Robert Owen was converted to spiritualism after "sittings" with the American medium Maria B. Hayden (credited with introducing spiritualism to England); Owen made a public profession of his new faith in his publication The Rational Quarterly Review and later wrote a pamphlet, "The future of the Human race; or great glorious and future revolution to be effected through

264-553: A career out of painting the dead or "spirit portraits". Mina Crandon (1888–1941), a spiritualist medium in the 1920s, was known for producing an ectoplasm hand during her séances. The hand was later exposed as a trick when biologists found it to be made from a piece of carved animal liver. In 1934, the psychical researcher Walter Franklin Prince described the Crandon case as "the most ingenious, persistent, and fantastic complex of fraud in

352-550: A dubious Marie Curie . Thomas Edison wanted to develop a "spirit phone", an ethereal device that would summon to the living the voices of the dead and record them for posterity. The claims of spiritualists and others as to the reality of spirits were investigated by the Society for Psychical Research , founded in London in 1882. The society set up a Committee on Haunted Houses. Prominent investigators who exposed cases of fraud came from

440-402: A follower of Spiritualism, who assured the audience that the brothers worked by spirit power rather than deceptive trickery. Ferguson worked as their stage manager. The Davenports caused a sensation around the world with their vaudeville act. Their most famous effect was the box illusion. The brothers were tied inside a box which contained bells and musical instruments . Once the box was closed,

528-541: A half century without canonical texts or formal organization, attaining cohesion through periodicals, tours by trance lecturers, camp meetings, and the missionary activities of accomplished mediums . Many prominent spiritualists were women, and like most spiritualists, supported causes such as the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage . By the late 1880s the credibility of the informal movement had weakened due to accusations of fraud perpetrated by mediums, and formal spiritualist organizations began to appear. Spiritualism

616-523: A house believed to be haunted by the ghosts of three murder victims seeking revenge against their killer's son, who was eventually driven insane. Many families, "having no faith in ghosts", thereafter moved into the house, but all soon moved out again. In the 1920s many "psychic" books were published of varied quality. Such books were often based on excursions initiated by the use of Ouija boards . A few of these popular books displayed unorganized spiritualism, though most were less insightful. The movement

704-591: A long history of exposing the fraudulent methods of mediumship. During the 1920s, professional magician Harry Houdini undertook a well-publicised campaign to expose fraudulent mediums; he was adamant that "Up to the present time everything that I have investigated has been the result of deluded brains." Other magician or magic-author debunkers of spiritualist mediumship have included Chung Ling Soo , Henry Evans , Julien Proskauer , Fulton Oursler , Joseph Dunninger , and Joseph Rinn . In February 1921 Thomas Lynn Bradford , in an experiment designed to ascertain

792-541: A protracted planning process and consultations with English Heritage , its conversion to a hotel was agreed. During the hotel's construction, the Windmill Street and Southmill Street facades were demolished and the north block retained and connected by a triangular glazed atrium to a 15-storey block clad in stone and glass. Artifacts salvaged from the old hall, including 1950s statues by Arthur Sherwood Edwards and framed wall plaster autographed by past performers, decorate

880-716: A riot erupted with the cabinet being smashed. The impresario P. T. Barnum included this expose in his 1865 book The Humbugs of the World . On 25 February 1865, Henry Irving and his fellow actors Philip Day and Frederick Maccabe who had read about the Liverpool exposure reproduced the Davenport brothers séance phenomena through trickery at the Library Hall of the Manchester Athenaeum . Irving impersonated Dr Ferguson who had introduced

968-460: A series of intense mystical experiences, dreams, and visions, claiming that he had been called by God to reform Christianity and introduce a new church." Mesmer did not contribute religious beliefs, but he brought a technique, later known as hypnotism , that it was claimed could induce trances and cause subjects to report contact with supernatural beings. There was a great deal of professional showmanship inherent to demonstrations of Mesmerism , and

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1056-633: A series of séances at Duncan's house and took flash photographs of Duncan and her alleged "materialization" spirits, including her spirit guide "Peggy". The photographs revealed the "spirits" to have been fraudulently produced, using dolls made from painted papier-mâché masks, draped in old sheets. Duncan was later tested by Harry Price at the National Laboratory of Psychical Research ; photographs revealed Duncan's ectoplasm to be made from cheesecloth , rubber gloves, and cut-out heads from magazine covers. Spiritualists reacted with an uncertainty to

1144-519: A single Heaven, but rather a series of higher and lower heavens and hells; second, that spirits are intermediates between God and humans, so that the divine sometimes uses them as a means of communication. Although Swedenborg warned against seeking out spirit contact, his works seem to have inspired in others the desire to do so. Swedenborg was formerly a highly regarded inventor and scientist, achieving several engineering innovations and studying physiology and anatomy. Then, "in 1741, he also began to have

1232-605: A study of Indian ghosts in seances: Undoubtedly, on some level spiritualists recognized the Indian spectres that appeared at seances as a symbol of the sins and subsequent guilt of the United States in its dealings with Native Americans. Spiritualists were literally haunted by the presence of Indians. But for many that guilt was not assuaged: rather, in order to confront the haunting and rectify it, they were galvanized into action. The political activism of spiritualists on behalf of Indians

1320-550: A tour of Australia and New Zealand. His death was attributed to "pulmonary consumption". The brothers had arrived from New Zealand three weeks previously; during the performances there William had "broke a blood vessel, and came to Sydney under the advice of his medical attendants". In 1895, Ira and Fay revived the act, but failed to attract an audience. Ira died in New York in 1911. The Davenport brothers were exposed as frauds many times. The stage magician John Nevil Maskelyne saw how

1408-477: A two-storey, nine-bay façade and concealed roof. On Peter Street, its ground floor arcade has rectangular piers with round-headed arches and spandrels bearing the coats of arms of Lancashire towns that took part in the Anti-Corn Law movement . The upper floor has a colonnaded arcade, its tympana frieze is richly decorated with carved figures representing free trade, the arts, commerce, manufacture and

1496-568: A type of séance in which spirits were said to communicate with people seated around a table by tilting and rotating the table. By 1897, spiritualism was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe, mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes . Spiritualism was mainly a middle- and upper-class movement, and especially popular with women. American spiritualists would meet in private homes for séances, at lecture halls for trance lectures, at state or national conventions, and at summer camps attended by thousands. Among

1584-838: A variety of backgrounds, including professional researchers such as Frank Podmore of the Society for Psychical Research and Harry Price of the National Laboratory of Psychical Research , and professional conjurers such as John Nevil Maskelyne . Maskelyne exposed the Davenport brothers by appearing in the audience during their shows and explaining how the trick was done. The psychical researcher Hereward Carrington exposed fraudulent mediums' tricks, such as those used in slate-writing, table-turning , trumpet mediumship, materializations, sealed-letter reading, and spirit photography . The skeptic Joseph McCabe , in his book Is Spiritualism Based on Fraud? (1920), documented many fraudulent mediums and their tricks. Magicians and writers on magic have

1672-585: Is best known as a chronicler of the movement's spread, especially in her 1884 Nineteenth Century Miracles: Spirits and Their Work in Every Country of the Earth , and her 1870 Modern American Spiritualism , a detailed account of claims and investigations of mediumship beginning with the earliest days of the movement. William Stainton Moses (1839–92) was an Anglican clergyman who, in the period from 1872 to 1883, filled 24 notebooks with automatic writing, much of which

1760-584: Is currently practiced primarily through various denominational spiritualist churches in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. Spiritualists believe in the possibility of communication with the spirits of dead people, whom they regard as "discarnate humans". They believe that spirit mediums are gifted to carry on such communication, but that anyone may become a medium through study and practice. They believe that spirits are capable of growth and perfection, progressing through higher spheres or planes, and that

1848-604: Is known at times the Davenports employed as many as ten confederates. It was a night when a confederate was used that Alexander Herrmann (the stage magician known as Herrmann the Great) described in an article in the Cosmopolitan Magazine . The performance was being given in Ithaca, New York, and many Cornell College students were in the audience. They had brought "pyrotechnic balls so made as to ignite suddenly with bright light." When

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1936-549: The Spiritualist , attempted to view spiritualist phenomena from a scientific perspective, eschewing discussion on both theological and reform issues. Books on the supernatural were published for the growing middle class, such as 1852's Mysteries , by Charles Elliott, which contains "sketches of spirits and spiritual things", including accounts of the Salem witch trials , the Lane ghost, and

2024-626: The afterlife is not a static state, but one in which spirits evolve. The two beliefs—that contact with spirits is possible, and that spirits may dwell on a higher plane—lead to a third belief, that spirits can provide knowledge about moral and ethical issues, as well as about God and the afterlife. Many believers therefore speak of " spirit guides "—specific spirits, often contacted, and relied upon for worldly and spiritual guidance. According to spiritualists, anyone may receive spirit messages, but formal communication sessions ( séances ) are held by mediums, who claim thereby to receive information about

2112-523: The spirit world "at a rate more rapid and under conditions more favourable to growth" than encountered on earth. Free Trade Hall The Free Trade Hall on Peter Street, Manchester , England, was constructed in 1853–56 on St Peter's Fields, the site of the Peterloo Massacre . It is now a Radisson hotel. The hall was built to commemorate the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. The architect

2200-649: The 1840s in the " Burned-over District " of upstate New York , where earlier religious movements such as Millerism and Mormonism had emerged during the Second Great Awakening , although Millerism and Mormonism did not associate themselves with spiritualism. This region of New York State was an environment in which many thought direct communication with God or angels was possible, and that God would not behave harshly—for example, that God would not condemn unbaptised infants to an eternity in Hell. In this environment,

2288-529: The American Civil War was Cora L. V. Scott (1840–1923). Young and beautiful, her appearance on stage fascinated men. Her audiences were struck by the contrast between her physical girlishness and the eloquence with which she spoke of spiritual matters, and found in that contrast support for the notion that spirits were speaking through her. Cora married four times, and on each occasion adopted her husband's last name. During her period of greatest activity, she

2376-500: The Civil War was Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825–1875), a man of mixed race, who also played a part in the abolitionist movement. Nevertheless, many abolitionists and reformers held themselves aloof from the spiritualist movement; among the skeptics was abolitionist Frederick Douglass . Another social reform movement with significant spiritualist involvement was the effort to improve conditions of Native Americans. Kathryn Troy writes in

2464-508: The Davenport Brothers, writing exposés and performing duplicate effects. Edward Dicey who attended a séance in 1864 observed that there were a host of circumstances which suggested purposely designed trickery and described the Davenports performance as a "mere conjuring trick of no very high order". He concluded that "all but the most confirmed believers will admit that, if it can be shown the Davenport Brothers can slip their hands out of

2552-469: The Davenports escaped the theatre. The Davenports were rejoined by William Fay for a final American tour before William Henry's death in 1877. Fay settled in Australia and Ira Erastus lived in America until the two reunited in 1895 and toured with a show that failed. The magician John Mulholland also exposed the tricks of the Davenport brothers: A number of things immediately become less miraculous when it

2640-408: The Davenports into their box with a Tom fool's knot that could not be easily removed and thus exposed the trick to audience who demanded their money back. The brothers were unable to untie themselves from the knot and Ira complained the rope was too tight. Ira had begged their stage manager J. B. Ferguson to cut the knot with a knife and had received a hand wound in the process. The crowd was angry and

2728-614: The Davenports' spirit cabinet illusion worked, and stated to the audience in the theatre that he could recreate their act using no supernatural methods. With the help of a friend, cabinet maker George Alfred Cooke, he built a version of the cabinet. Together, they revealed the Davenport Brothers' trickery to the public at a show in Cheltenham in England in June 1865. Magicians including John Henry Anderson and Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin worked to expose

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2816-457: The Fox sisters became a sensation. As the first celebrity mediums, the sisters quickly became famous for their public séances in New York. However, in 1888 the Fox sisters admitted that this contact with the spirit was a hoax, though shortly afterward they recanted that admission. Amy and Isaac Post , Hicksite Quakers from Rochester , New York, had long been acquainted with the Fox family, and took

2904-579: The Free Trade Hall was closed by Manchester City Council . In 1997, the building was sold to private developers despite resistance from groups such as the Manchester Civic Society, who viewed the sale as inappropriate given the historical significance of the building and its site. After the initial planning application was refused by the Secretary of State, a second modified planning application

2992-562: The Ghost Club , who were challenging their claim of being able to contact the dead. The result of the Ghost Club's investigation was never made public. In 1868 the team was joined by Harry Kellar . Kellar and Fay eventually would leave the group to pursue their own career as a magician team. William Davenport died on 1 July 1877 at the Oxford Hotel in King-street, Sydney, aged 36 years, during

3080-744: The Hallé Orchestra, it was also used for pop and rock concerts. A Wurlitzer organ from the Paramount Cinema in Manchester was installed over four years and first used in public in a BBC programme broadcast in September 1977. When the hall closed, the organ, which was on loan, was moved to the great hall in Stockport Town Hall . The Hallé Orchestra moved to the Bridgewater Hall in 1996 and

3168-613: The London Spiritualist Alliance, which published a newspaper called The Light , featuring articles such as "Evenings at Home in Spiritual Séance", "Ghosts in Africa" and "Chronicles of Spirit Photography", advertisements for " mesmerists " and patent medicines , and letters from readers about personal contact with ghosts. In Britain, by 1853, invitations to tea among the prosperous and fashionable often included table-turning,

3256-834: The NSA in October 1909, at a convention in Rochester, New York . Then, in October 1944, a ninth principle was adopted by the National Spiritualist Association of Churches, at a convention in St. Louis, Missouri. In the UK, the main organization representing spiritualism is the Spiritualists' National Union (SNU) , whose teachings are based on the Seven Principles. Spiritualism first appeared in

3344-517: The Rochester rappings. The Night Side of Nature , by Catherine Crowe, published in 1853, provided definitions and accounts of wraiths, doppelgängers, apparitions and haunted houses. Mainstream newspapers treated stories of ghosts and haunting as they would any other news story. An account in the Chicago Daily Tribune in 1891, "sufficiently bloody to suit the most fastidious taste", tells of

3432-656: The United States, Russia and Poland. Palladino was said by believers to perform spiritualist phenomena in the dark: levitating tables, producing apports, and materializing spirits. On investigation, all these things were found to be products of trickery. The British medium William Eglinton (1857–1933) claimed to perform spiritualist phenomena such as movement of objects and materializations . All of his feats were exposed as tricks. The Bangs Sisters , Mary "May" E. Bangs (1862–1917) and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Snow Bangs (1859–1920), were two spiritualist mediums based in Chicago, who made

3520-539: The afterlife. As an informal movement, spiritualism does not have a defined set of rules, but various spiritualist organizations within the United States have adopted variations on some or all of a "Declaration of Principles" developed between 1899 and 1944. In October 1899, a six article "Declaration of Principles" was adopted by the National Spiritualist Association (NSA) at a convention in Chicago, Illinois. An additional two principles were added by

3608-701: The agency of departed spirits of good and superior men and women". A number of scientists who investigated the phenomenon also became converts. They included chemist and physicist William Crookes (1832–1919), evolutionary biologist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) and physicist Sir Oliver Lodge. Nobel laureate Pierre Curie was impressed by the mediumistic performances of Eusapia Palladino and advocated their scientific study. Other prominent adherents included journalist and pacifist William T. Stead (1849–1912) and physician and author Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930). Doyle, who lost his son Kingsley in World War I,

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3696-511: The alleged facts entirely imaginary, in a word, I believe that the D. B.'s are dead beats; in other words, that they are skilful jugglers, without the slightest real spiritual power about any of their performances." Randolph became convinced of the fraud of the Davenports by the spiritualist M. B. Dyott who wrote an expose of the Davenports in the Religio-Philosophical Journal in October 20, 1866. Magician Chung Ling Soo revealed

3784-522: The atrium light well. The Free Trade Hall was a venue for public meetings and political speeches and a concert hall. Charles Dickens performed here in the summer of 1857 in Wilkie Collins 's play The Frozen Deep . In 1872 Benjamin Disraeli gave his One Nation speech. In 1904, Winston Churchill delivered a speech at the hall defending Britain's policy of free trade . The Times called it "one of

3872-455: The beginning of their movement. On that date, Kate and Margaret Fox , of Hydesville , New York, reported that they had made contact with a spirit that was later claimed to be the spirit of a murdered peddler whose body was found in the house, though no record of such a person was ever found. The spirit was said to have communicated through rapping noises, audible to onlookers. The evidence of the senses appealed to practically minded Americans, and

3960-497: The belief that spirits are capable of advising the living on moral and ethical issues and the nature of God . Some spiritualists follow " spirit guides "—specific spirits relied upon for spiritual direction. Emanuel Swedenborg has some claim to be the father of spiritualism. The movement developed and reached its largest following from the 1840s to the 1920s, especially in English-speaking countries . It flourished for

4048-420: The brothers anonymously. Randolph had been a friend of the brothers since the mid-1850s. However, he never published the work because he later came to the conclusion that the brothers were "deliberate impostors". In his book Seership , Randolph publicly admitted he had been deceived by the brothers and regretted writing the biography. He wrote that "I am now satisfied that the data furnished were wholly untrue, and

4136-464: The brothers trick known as the "Davenport Tie" in 1898. According to the magician Harry Houdini , Ira had confessed to him that he and his brother had faked their "spirit" phenomena. Houdini in his book A Magician Amongst the Spirits (1924) also reproduced a letter from Ira claiming "we never in public affirmed our Belief in spiritualism." The author and spiritualist Arthur Conan Doyle refused to accept

4224-465: The committee men noticed the ropes on the floor were not the originals. A spectator rushed the stage, "put his hand on the bench round which the cords are wound, touches a spring, the bench bends in the middle, and the cords fall at the feet of the captives". The crowd were angry and highjacked the stage but the French Gendarmerie were able to restore order after promising a refund. During the riot

4312-408: The continents. Above the tympanum is a prominent cornice with balustraded parapet . The upper floor has paired Ionic columns to each bay and a tall window with a pedimented architrave behind a balustraded balcony . The return sides have three bays in a matching but simpler style of blank arches. The rear wall was rebuilt in 1950–51 with pilasters surmounted by relief figures representing

4400-454: The early nineteenth century. Spiritualist camp meetings were located most densely in New England, but were also established across the upper Midwest. Cassadaga, Florida , is the most notable spiritualist camp meeting in the southern states. A number of spiritualist periodicals appeared in the nineteenth century, and these did much to hold the movement together. Among the most important were

4488-470: The entertainment which took place in the old hall. The Large Hall was in a classical style with a coffered ceiling, the walls had wood panelling in oak, walnut and sycamore. Pevsner described it as "the noblest monument in the Cinquecento style in England", whilst Hartwell considered it "a classic which belongs in the canon of historic English architecture." After its closure, the hall was sold and after

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4576-465: The existence of an afterlife, committed suicide in his apartment by blowing out the pilot light on his heater and turning on the gas. After that date, no further communication from him was received by an associate whom he had recruited for the purpose. The movement quickly spread throughout the world; though only in the United Kingdom did it become as widespread as in the United States. Spiritualist organizations were formed in America and Europe, such as

4664-486: The exposures of fraud, and insisted that in private Ira was a practicing spiritualist. In 1998, skeptical investigator Joe Nickell discovered the Davenports' scrapbook from the museum at the Lily Dale Spiritualist Assembly . Nickell examined newspaper clippings, personal notes and photographs from the scrapbook. He concluded that Doyle was correct about Ira endorsing spiritualism in private and Houdini

4752-509: The history of psychic research." The American voice medium Etta Wriedt (1859–1942) was exposed as a fraud by the physicist Kristian Birkeland when he discovered that the noises produced by her trumpet were caused by chemical explosions induced by potassium and water and in other cases by lycopodium powder. Another well-known medium was the Scottish materialization medium Helen Duncan (1897–1956). In 1928 photographer Harvey Metcalfe attended

4840-412: The instruments would sound. Upon opening the box, the brothers were tied in the positions in which they had started the illusion. Those who witnessed the effect were made to believe supernatural forces had caused the trick to work. The Davenports toured the United States for 10 years and then travelled to England where spiritualism was beginning to become popular. Their "spirit cabinet" was investigated by

4928-415: The lights were struck the Davenports were found to be on opposite sides of the stage waving musical instruments around in the air. Some from the spiritualist community also accepted that the Davenport brothers were fraudulent. From 1864–1869, Paschal Beverly Randolph worked on a biography of the Davenport brothers known as The Davenport Brothers: The World Renowned Spiritual Mediums , which was published by

5016-527: The loss of her son, organized séances in the White House which were attended by her husband, President Abraham Lincoln . The surge of Spiritualism during this time, and later during World War I , was a direct response to those massive battlefield casualties. In addition, the movement appealed to reformers, who fortuitously found that the spirits favoured such causes du jour as abolition of slavery, and equal rights for women. It also appealed to some who had

5104-513: The militant WSPU campaign for the vote. After Sir Charles Hallé founded the Hallé Orchestra in 1858, its home was the Free Trade Hall until the hall was damaged in the Manchester Blitz. The Hallé performed at the reopening in 1951 with the Orchestra's musical director and conductor, Sir John Barbirolli , who remained until 1970. The final concert there was in 1996. Kathleen Ferrier sang at

5192-405: The more mainstream churches because those churches did little to fight slavery and even less to advance the cause of women's rights . Such links with reform movements, often radically socialist, had already been prepared in the 1840s, as the example of Andrew Jackson Davis shows. After 1848, many socialists became ardent spiritualists or occultists. The most popular trance lecturer prior to

5280-566: The most powerful and brilliant he has made." In 1905 the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) activists, Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney were ejected from a meeting addressed by the Liberal politician Sir Edward Grey , who repeatedly refused to answer their question on Votes for Women . Christabel Pankhurst immediately began an impromptu meeting outside, and when the police moved them on, contrived to be arrested and brought to court. So began

5368-724: The most significant of the camp meetings were Camp Etna, in Etna, Maine ; Onset Bay Grove, in Onset, Massachusetts ; Lily Dale , in western New York State; Camp Chesterfield , in Indiana; the Wonewoc Spiritualist Camp , in Wonewoc, Wisconsin ; and Lake Pleasant , in Montague, Massachusetts . In founding camp meetings , the spiritualists appropriated a form developed by U.S. Protestant denominations in

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5456-429: The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, according to which an individual's awareness persists after death and may be contacted by the living . The afterlife, or the " spirit world ", is seen by spiritualists not as a static place, but as one in which spirits continue to interact and evolve. These two beliefs—that contact with spirits is possible, and that spirits are more advanced than humans—lead spiritualists to

5544-561: The occasion of the " Judas! " shout. The famous bootleg that circulated from Dylan's 1966 tour, which was incorrectly dubbed the 'Royal Albert Hall' concert for years, was in fact the recording from the Manchester Free Trade Hall 1966 concert. This concert was eventually officially released in 1998 as The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert . Duo Simon & Garfunkel played here in 1967, debuting their newly written song 'Punky's Dilemma' with

5632-632: The original opening line of "I wish I was a Kellog's cornflake, floatin' in my bowl takin' movies", and a new song for upcoming film The Graduate , " Mrs Robinson ". In the late 1960s Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention , The Moody Blues , T. Rex and The Dubliners played there amongst others. Pink Floyd played on five occasions. Genesis played twice, on 30 January 1971 (together with Lindisfarne and Van der Graaf Generator ) and in February 1973. On 13 May 1976, Kiss played their first UK concert at

5720-554: The pogroms. In England they were part of a bill, the chief part of which, was Hamilton's Excursions, a diorama, or early form of cinema, utilising a screen. ... De Vere and Welbo operated this system when it was shown at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, as well as presenting their dance act in another part of the programme. One of their scenes worked on the Diorama - silent pictures - was Napoleon's "Retreat from Moscow" in their native Russia." Bob Dylan played here in 1965, and again in 1966,

5808-466: The practitioners who lectured in mid-19th-century North America sought to entertain their audiences as well as to demonstrate methods for personal contact with the divine. Perhaps the best known of those who combined Swedenborg and Mesmer in a peculiarly North American synthesis was Andrew Jackson Davis , who called his system the "harmonial philosophy". Davis was a practising Mesmerist , faith healer and clairvoyant from Blooming Grove, New York . He

5896-477: The publicity of fraud accusations and partly through the appeal of religious movements such as Christian science , the Spiritualist Church was organised. This church can claim to be the main vestige of the movement left today in the United States. London-born Emma Hardinge Britten (1823–99) moved to the United States in 1855 and was active in spiritualist circles as a trance lecturer and organiser. She

5984-423: The ranks of its adherents were those grieving the death of a loved one. Many families during the time of the American Civil War had seen their men go off and never return, and images of the battlefield, produced through the new medium of photography, demonstrated that their loved ones had not only died in overwhelmingly huge numbers, but horribly as well. One well known case is that of Mary Todd Lincoln who, grieving

6072-503: The re-opening of the Free Trade Hall in 1951, ending with a performance of Elgar 's " Land of Hope and Glory ", the only performance of that piece in her career. The following event is from a theatrical biography including details of pantomimes in the 1930s. "Elisse De Vere and Sam Welbo were direct from the continent with a graceful act, a combination of dance and acrobatics. ... De Vere and Welbo husband and wife originated in Russia. They fled

6160-552: The real Davenports. The imitation of the Davenports séance was successful and the audience cheered. The British newspapers praised Irving's expose and admired his acting skill. Irving and his actor friends were able to reproduce all the tricks of the Davenports and they repeated the performance at the Free Trade Hall to large crowds of influential people from Manchester. The Davenports were exposed in September, 1865 in Paris after one of

6248-458: The ropes, there is nothing supernatural, or even extraordinary, to explain in the exhibition." Dicey noted that the Davenport brothers employed three companions during their séances which was suspicious. Gymnast John Hulley and Robert B. Cummins followed the brothers around Britain . At a séance in Liverpool on the 15 February 1865 they were selected by the audience to tie the brothers. They tied

6336-496: The site of the Peterloo Massacre . Two earlier halls had been constructed on the site, the first, a large timber pavilion was built in 1840, and its brick replacement built in 1842. The halls were "vital to Manchester's considerable role in the long campaign for the repeal of the Corn Laws . The hall was funded by public subscription and became a concert hall and home of the Hallé Orchestra in 1858. A red plaque records that it

6424-717: The theories of evolution in the late 19th and early 20th century. Broadly speaking the concept of evolution fitted the spiritualist thought of the progressive development of humanity. At the same time, however, the belief in the animal origins of humanity threatened the foundation of the immortality of the spirit , for if humans had not been created by God, it was scarcely plausible that they would be specially endowed with spirits. This led to spiritualists embracing spiritual evolution . The spiritualists' view of evolution did not stop at death. Spiritualism taught that after death spirits progressed to spiritual states in new spheres of existence. According to spiritualists, evolution occurred in

6512-422: The two girls into their home in the late spring of 1848. Immediately convinced of the veracity of the sisters' communications, they became early converts and introduced the young mediums to their circle of radical Quaker friends. Consequently, many early participants in spiritualism were radical Quakers and others involved in the mid-nineteenth-century reforming movement . These reformers were uncomfortable with

6600-463: The visible, audible, and tangible evidence of spirits escalated as mediums competed for paying audiences. As independent investigating commissions repeatedly established, most notably the 1887 report of the Seybert Commission , fraud was widespread, and some of these cases were prosecuted in the courts. Despite numerous instances of chicanery, the appeal of spiritualism was strong. Prominent in

6688-674: The weeklies the Banner of Light (Boston), the Religio-Philosophical Journal (Chicago), Mind and Matter (Philadelphia), the Spiritualist (London), and the Medium (London). Other influential periodicals were the Revue Spirite (France), Le Messager (Belgium), Annali dello Spiritismo (Italy), El Criterio Espiritista (Spain), and the Harbinger of Light (Australia). By 1880, there were about three dozen monthly spiritualist periodicals published around

6776-471: The world. These periodicals differed a great deal from one another, reflecting the great differences among spiritualists. Some, such as the British Spiritual Magazine were Christian and conservative, openly rejecting the reform currents so strong within spiritualism. Others, such as Human Nature , were pointedly non-Christian and supportive of socialism and reform efforts. Still others, such as

6864-409: The writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) and the teachings of Franz Mesmer (1734–1815) provided an example for those seeking direct personal knowledge of the afterlife. Swedenborg, who claimed to communicate with spirits while awake, described the structure of the spirit world. Two features of his view particularly resonated with the early spiritualists: first, that there is not a single Hell and

6952-620: Was Edward Walters . It was owned by the Manchester Corporation and was bombed in the Manchester Blitz ; its interior was rebuilt and it was Manchester's premier concert venue until the construction of the Bridgewater Hall in 1996. The hall was designated a Grade II* listed building in 1963. The Free Trade Hall was built as a public hall between 1853 and 1856 by Edward Walters on land given by Richard Cobden in St Peter's Fields,

7040-414: Was also a member of the Ghost Club . Founded in London in 1862, its focus was the scientific study of alleged paranormal activities in order to prove (or refute) the existence of paranormal phenomena. Members of the club included Charles Dickens , Sir William Crookes, Sir William F. Barrett , and Harry Price . The Paris séances of Eusapia Palladino were attended by an enthusiastic Pierre Curie and

7128-439: Was also correct about their public "spirit" phenomena being the result of trickery. According to Nickell "taken as a whole, the evidence of the scrapbook does indicate that Ira Davenport was a practicing spiritualist, or at least pretended to be, although he and his brother used trickery to accomplish the effects they attributed to spirits." Spiritualism (movement) Spiritualism is a social religious movement popular in

7216-428: Was also strongly influenced by the socialist theories of Fourierism . His 1847 book, The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind , dictated to a friend while in a trance state, eventually became the nearest thing to a canonical work in a spiritualist movement whose extreme individualism precluded the development of a single coherent worldview. Spiritualists often set March 31, 1848, as

7304-468: Was built on the site of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. The Free Trade Hall was bought by Manchester Corporation in 1920; but was bombed and left an empty shell in the Manchester Blitz of December 1940. A new hall was constructed behind two walls of the original façade in 1950–51 by Manchester City Council's architect, L. C. Howitt . opening as a concert hall in 1951. As well as being the venue for

7392-433: Was extremely individualistic, with each person relying on his or her own experiences and reading to discern the nature of the afterlife. Organisation was therefore slow to appear, and when it did it was resisted by mediums and trance lecturers. Most members were content to attend Christian churches, and particularly universalist churches harboured many spiritualists. As the spiritualism movement began to fade, partly through

7480-525: Was known as Cora Hatch. Another spiritualist was Achsa W. Sprague , who was born November 17, 1827, in Plymouth Notch , Vermont. At the age of 20, she became ill with rheumatic fever and credited her eventual recovery to intercession by spirits. An extremely popular trance lecturer, she traveled about the United States until her death in 1861. Sprague was an abolitionist and an advocate of women's rights. Another spiritualist and trance medium prior to

7568-436: Was said to describe conditions in the spirit world. However, Frank Podmore was skeptical of his alleged ability to communicate with spirits and Joseph McCabe described Moses as a "deliberate impostor", suggesting his apports and all of his feats were the result of trickery. Eusapia Palladino (1854–1918) was an Italian spiritualist medium from the slums of Naples who made a career touring Italy, France, Germany, Britain,

7656-433: Was submitted and approved. Walters' original façade was retained, behind which architects Stephenson Bell designed a 263-bedroom hotel, demolishing Howitt's post-war hall but preserving the main staircase and the 1950s statues that were formerly attached to its rear wall. The hotel opened in 2004, having cost £45 million. The Italian palazzo-style hall was built on a trapeziform site in ashlar sandstone . It has

7744-518: Was thus the result of combining white guilt and fear of divine judgment with a new sense of purpose and responsibility. In the years following the sensation that greeted the Fox sisters, demonstrations of mediumship (séances and automatic writing , for example) proved to be a profitable venture, and soon became popular forms of entertainment and spiritual catharsis. The Fox sisters earned a living this way and others followed their lead. Showmanship became an increasingly important part of spiritualism, and

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