Spiritual Medium Elizabeth Allen Tomson

Seated is spiritual medium Elizabeth Allen Tomson. To the right is Clarence Tomson, husband and spokesman of the medium. The young woman to the left is their daughter Miss Nourhalma Tomson. This photo was taken in 1920.
I discovered this in the files at
http://library.pittstate.edu/spcoll/ndxhamlin.html#seance2
These are the papers of Irving Hamlin. Hewas born in 1873. The date of his death is currently unknown. He was an avid researcher of the paranormal, traveling frequently to participate in seances. It is clear he fequently visited Tomson who was one of his research subjects. He also kept up correspondence with the American Society of Psychic Research and with the Crandons.

I can find little more about Hamlin or Tomson except she gets her own comment (unpleasant as expected) by Randi
"In 1922, Scientific American offered two $2,500 awards, one for the first person who could produce an authentic spirit photograph under test conditions and the other for the first medium to produce an authentic "visible psychic manifestation" (Christopher 1975: 180). Houdini, the foremost magician of the period, was a member of the investigating committee. Nobody won the prizes. The first to announce she was ready to be tested was Elizabeth Allen Tomson, but after she was caught with twenty yards of gauze taped to her groin, flowers under her breasts, and a snake in her arm pit, she was never formally tested (Christopher 1975: 188)."

Oh well anyone know more?

Jim

Dear Sir!

The link http://library.pittstate.edu/spcoll/ndxhamlin.html doesnt work anymore. Would u have an update, please?

Hi Michael,

They have changed their system completey I can find a finding aid for the collection but not a digital version of it anymore, they have also letters between Irving Hamlin and the medium in that collection.

https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/fa/38/

You may find something in this Psychic Observer Archive but its not searchable. I believe IAPSOP are processing another collection of Psychic Observers and that will be searchable and more complete. Some are here http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/psychic_observer/



Best Wishes Jim

Following on from this IAPSOP have this


Diaries and Journals William Flick Seance Diary
This handwritten diary was written by William A. Flick from Dayton, Virginia. The first entries not included here are from 1893 -- the year of the diary's purchase -- when Flick was a travelling pastor and music instructor employed by Dayton's Ruebush-Kieffer Music Co. The later entries copied here were produced after his wife died in 1920, and he became an enthusiastic participant in seances, most notably during the Masonic Temple residency of the famous medium Elizabeth Allen Tomson. http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/wing_ephemera/1893-1920s_william_flick_seance_diary.pdf

Again with the help of IAPSOP she gets a mention scroll down to Page 729 for an exposure of her mediumship http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/light/light_v43_nov_1923.pdf

It seems she could not help herself