The Fox Sisters

The Fox sisters were three sisters from Hydesville, New York who played an important role in the birth of Modern Spiritualism.  

The three Fox sisters were Leah Fox (1814–1890), Margaret Fox (also known as Maggie) (1833–1893) and Kate Fox (1837–1892).

The two younger sisters Maggie and Kate heard rapping sounds around the middle of March, 1848, the Fox family began to be disturbed by the loud
rappings and other strange activities. Maggie and Kate were so alarmed at what was happening that they refused to sleep apart and were taken into the bedroom of their parents.

The raps were so loud that the beds and walls would shake. Every possiblity was made to locate the source of the raps, but to no avail.

In November 23rd, 1904 a statement appeared in the Boston Journal:

"Rochester, N.Y., Nov. 22nd, 1904: The skeleton of the man supposed to have caused the rappings first heard by the Fox sisters in 1848 has been found in the walls of the house occupied by the sisters, and clears them from the only shadow of doubt held concerning their sincerity in the discovery of spirit communication.

"The Fox sisters declared they learned to communicate with the spirit of a man, and that he told them he had been murdered and buried in the cellar. Repeated excavations failed to locate the body and thus give proof positive of their story.

"The discovery was made by school-children playing in the cellar of the building in Hydesville known as the "Spook House," where the Fox sisters heard the wonderful rappings. William H. Hyde, a reputable citizen of Clyde, who owns the house, made an investigation and found an almost entire human skeleton between the earth and crumbling cellar walls, undoubtedly that of the wandering peddler who, it was claimed, was murdered in the east room of the house, and whose body was hidden in the cellar.

"Mr. Hyde has notified relatives of the Fox sisters, and the notice of the discovery will be sent to the National Order of Spiritualists, many of whom remember having made pilgrimage to the "Spook House," as it is commonly called. The finding of the bones practically corroborates the sworn statement made by Margaret Fox, April 11, 1848."

The tin box of the peddlar is found in the cellar and is now at Lilydale museum.

I have also embedded a video for those interested.  

ADMIN NOTE
Azur,

Sorry I must place this edit here because of the significant errors in this video
Please check round this site for the true history because this contains the same errors that the SNU have.
Specifically

There is no proof the peddlars pack was ever found indeed ther is some embarassment over this historical relic

There was no spectral hand

No one was trying to break out of the woodwork

30 people were not in the house at the time the children first made the communication

there was no Mr Splitfoot and it was not Katy that asked the Spirit to follow me

In reality the erroneous nature of this material means the video should be discounted

This video is a very flawed version of events

Hi Azur,

Sorry about that but on this site when errors of fact occur on vital information then they will be addressed. Please whoever this guy is he has not worked sufficiently on his knowledge of history and his videos are very flawed by the look of it.

The Woodhull one and this one are factually incorrect and people need to know it. I also have now found the Anna Eva Fay errors too.

Hi Azur,

It is always saddening to see how often the incorrect history of the early days of Spiritualism is put forward as in the case of the video. There are numerous errors in his retelling of the story.

For an accurate description of events at Hydesville may I draw your attention to the original report on what happened compiled by E. E. Lewis which includes the statements of Mrs Fox, Mr. Fox, Mr. Duesler, and many other witnesses. These statements were drawn up just days after the 31st of March 1848. The report in full can be accessed by going to http://www.woodlandway.org on which the Psypioneer Journal is archived. The relevant edition containing Lewis's report is Psypioneer Vol 1 No 12 April 2005 found by clicking on 'Psypioneer Journals' in the column on the left of the screen.

There was no spectral hand, nothing was trying to break out of the woodwork, and young Catharine (Katie) Fox did not say anything about 'Mr. Splitfoot' this being a story first introduced to the description of events much later and is of dubious origin as, indeed, is much of what Ann Leah (Fox/Fish/Brown) Underhill wrote in her book 'The Missing Link' 40 years later. She, in fact, actually falsely altered what was written in the Lewis report!

There are yet other errors in the video. The house was moved in 1915 and yes burned down in 1955, however, the provenance of the alleged Pedlar's pack held in the house in Lily Dale and which survived the fire, remains uncertain. In 1917, Mercy Cadwallader’s book, Hydesville in History, included a previously unpublished story written by P. L. O. A. Keeler, of the finding of the Peddler’s tin pack, claiming it was found along with the bones in 1904.

Keeler’s story had first circulated a few years earlier, however, investigations, as early as 1887, of this ‘slate-writing’ medium, cast significant doubt on the authenticity of his mediumship and his honesty. It must also be said that in the many newspaper reports at the time the bones were discovered, no mention was ever made of a ‘peddler’s pack’ also being found.

If you have the time, I highly recommend you taking a good look through the various editions of Psypioneer as you will discover some very good research into the issue of the pedlar and what his name might have actually been and when it was received. As it happens Jim and I very recently found the earliest mention of the pedlar's name and Paul Gaunt, who is involved in writing for Psypioneer will be publishing that information in an article in the next edition of that publication.

As I say at the beginning, modern 'records' (written, and on the internet) show that all too often Spiritualism’s early history, the places, people and events which helped to form the Modern Spiritualist Movement, are ill remembered, unacknowledged, and sadly, sometimes forgotten entirely. Inaccurate later versions of what happened have become the norm, and little effort seems to be made to correct the record, to get the story right.

Part of the purpose of this forum and Psypioneer is to get the true facts 'out there' so that finally we just might begin to get the story right at last.

The truly terrifying thing is that the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (NSAC) "official history ( http://www.nsac.org/FoxPropertyHistory.php ) still contains all of these and other historical errors. It seems their history of those earlier days begins and ends with Anne Leahs "Missing Link" which carries so many errors and overstatements it cannot be at all trusted.

It is seriously time that the two major organisations, the SNU and NSAC, put the history right to ensure that our claim to be a truth does not fall over at its first hurdle, historical facts.

From a very detailed and exhaustive study of newspaper archives between 31st March 1848 and December 1850 I have also established that the original name of the peddler was Rasme not Rosna.

I often mention the Hydesville events as the birthplace of an awareness which became a movement which eventually emerged as Modern Spiritualism.  

It's good that you guys are constantly striving to set the records right - even the official ones of the NSAC as you mentioned.  But I wonder how many associated with that organisation, or members of church congregations, actually care if they have accurate details?

Here in the USA there's such a minuscule awareness of Spiritualism online that it's a constant battle just to acquaint seekers with the most basic teachings about survival. Few ask about Hydesville even though for some it's in their back yard.

But please keep up the good work, guys, and if it's OK with you I'll hold a copy of your information to pass on if anyone asks for more details?

Thanks Mac, yes we do and of course we have close associations with Pauls Gaunt and Leslie Price with Psypioneer , with Marc Demarest of Chasing Down Emma and other dedicated researchers; its a great network of people who have become friends.
Happy to have our details passed on.