MRS. GREEN’S MEDIAL HISTORY.
The following is a partial history of the development and mediumistic experiences of Mrs. Lizzie S. Green, the medium chosen by the spirits in transmitting the matter contained in this volume:
She was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, on the second day of December, 1844, and consequently at this writing is in her thirty-eighth year.
The following narrative of her mediumship was written by her husband, dictated by herself, and when written out was pronounced by her to be correct, and she adopts it her own. It is believed that this briefly recited history can not fail to be interesting to the general reader, since it contains matter and experiences not only absorbingly interesting but truly wonderful, and evidences the existence of a power that all thoughtful and candid persons will agree is worthy of investigation.
Those who have enjoyed Mrs. Green’s acquaintance socially for years invariably speak of her as a truly honest woman, faithful wife, loving mother, steadfast friend, in intellectual capacity far above and beyond her educational advantages, and as possessed of many other sterling qualities of heart. Those who have come in contact with her in the exercise of hermedial gifts can not fail to have been impressed with her frankness, simplicity of character, and the unquestionable honesty of her nature.
This tribute to her integrity and moral worth is given because well merited, and by one who not desiring notoriety and fame wishes simply to be known as
A Friend.
NARRATIVE OF HER MEDIUMSHIP.
“My conscious mediumship began in the fall of 1868. It commenced by the opening of my spiritual vision, enabling me to see spirits, scenes, landscapes, etc., in their spirit world. When in the proper state or condition of passivity I have been permitted to behold innumerable throngs of spirits, and at times to hear their voices. The phase of clairaudience added to my clairvoyance I prized highly, and sorely regret that shortly afterwards a fit of sickness deprived me of the gift of hearing spirit voices, and for a time seriously retarded my other mediumistic development. I am happy to be able to state, however, that with my gradual restoration to health my clairvoyant perceptions began to increase in power and beauty, and now the voices of the arisen dear ones again greet my anxious and ever attentive ears.
“I desire to state in this connection that in all my intercourse with spirits they have never deceived me in a single isolated instance. They have always been truthful and straightforward in their statements and dealings with me.
“In the earlier stages of my mediumship and still sometimes I was frequently controlled to personatethe peculiar and characteristic idiosyncracies of spirits during earth life, and to delineate their sickness and death. Sometimes I would be rendered entirely unconscious and at other times only partially so. I shall never forget one memorable occasion of complete unconsciousness and the occurrence during it as related subsequently by eye witnesses. An old lady was present in the circle who I had never met before, and of whose history I had no means of obtaining the slightest knowledge. At the time I was wholly ignorant as to whether she had ever been a mother or the maternal head of a family, until I saw and described minutely a spirit standing by her side, who she readily recognized as her deceased son. ‘What was the cause of his death?’ she eagerly inquired. Almost instantly my consciousness was suspended, preceded by a violent tremulous motion all over my frame. I fell to the floor in a violent fit, and so terrible was it, and so true to nature in all its terrible details that no little alarm was manifested by the various members of the circle. It thoroughly demoralized and threw them into consternation. I need only add that old Mother Thompson (for that was her name) has never since doubted the return of the spirit of her son George, for the poor man had not only suffered a quarter of a century from that appalling affliction, epileptic fits, but actually died in one. I soon recovered my normal condition and received the apology from the spirit for having used me so roughly, stating that his extreme anxiety to convince his beloved mother of his presence induced him to disregard delicacy and to overcome all obstacles in the way of the accomplishment of his purpose.
“A little girl came to me on a certain occasion and said to me, ‘Please go and see my mother and tell her I am not dead.’ ‘Where does your mother live?’ I inquired. After giving me the necessary directions where and how to find her, I said: ‘But your mother is a stranger to me, and perhaps if I go to her on an errand of that kind she will drive me from her door.’ ‘No she won’t,’ interposed the little pleader, ‘she will be glad to learn that I am not under the cold ground but alive.’ I marshaled the courage to go, yet I greatly feared the result. I was met at the door by the one I desired to see, and without giving sufficient time to explain the object of my call, I was cordially welcomed indoors. After being seated, and after the usual courtesies had passed, I opened the subject by saying, ‘You have a little girl that has gone to the other world?’ ‘Yes,’ said she, falling into tears, ‘she was a dear, darling child, and I have had no rest since she left me. She was the idol of my heart, and it seems that I can never become reconciled to her death. Really, at times, I can scarcely realize that she is dead.’ Here a pause ensued, and her grief was so intense that the waters of sympathetic sorrow involuntarily flowed down my own cheeks. Rallying, however, as quickly as I could, I said: ‘My good woman, your Mary is not dead. She stands there by your side and wants me to say to you, ‘Mother, I am not dead; do not weep for me, for I am still with you.’ ‘How! What does this mean?’ exclaimed the mother in apparent bewilderment, ‘I saw her poor little precious body consigned to the cold and cheerless grave.’ ‘Yes,’ I interrupted, ‘but her spirit—the immortal and only valuable part of herself—was not buriedbeneath the ground. Hold, she wishes me to describe her, and further, to prove her identity. She is a bright, blue-eyed girl of eleven or twelve summers, light auburn hair naturally inclined to curl, and falls in beautiful ringlets around her neck, forehead of the Grecian mold, face even and rounded, with a mark resembling a raspberry under her right eye, and she died from scarlatina.’ ‘Why, did you know Mary when she was living?’ was immediately asked. I assured her I did not. ‘Does the description fit her?’ I inquired. ‘Perfectly,’ was the reply; ‘who told you about her,’ she added. I answered: ‘My good woman, believe me, until to-day I did not know you were in existence. The facts I have stated to you I obtained from your Mary without the slightest knowledge of either your or her history.’ After further conversation on the subject, and after describing other spirits, whom she readily recognized, the interview terminated, with a pressing invitation to return, and the assurances that she had derived from my visit inexpressible joy and happiness. In a few days thereafter I was unexpectedly called away from St. Louis and have never returned. Letters from friends who were cognizant of the circumstance as related by herself, inform me that Mrs. Collins is happy in the knowledge of spiritualism, has become reconciled to the temporary absence as to physical form of her child, and sends me her benedictions.
“In 1869 while holding a circle at Aurora, Ind., composed of a few intimate friends and neighbors, a gentleman—a stranger to all of us—applied for admission, stating that he had been left by the east bound train, and not being able to resume his journey until thefollowing morning, and hearing of my mediumship, he desired, if agreeable, to have a sitting, or be allowed to join the circle for that occasion. My husband cordially assented. Our stranger friend had been seated but a short time when I saw a spirit forming by his side. I watched the process, and to my utter astonishment, which I at once made known, the spirit had a rope around his neck and presented a frightful appearance. I observed, ‘I see a spirit with a rope around his neck, with tongue protruding,’ etc. ‘Describe him, madam, if you please,’ spoke the stranger. I did so; the spirit for the purpose changing his appearance to that of his natural condition. The stranger became very much excited, arose, seized his hat, and nervously remarked, ‘This is a great test to me. Several years ago I was sheriff of an interior county in Indiana, and that man, Jim Roberts, was sentenced to be hanged for the murder of his father-in-law, and I am the one who executed the sentence of the court.’ When in the act of taking his departure, he suddenly turned around, and plaintively inquired: ‘Has Jim got any thing against me? I only did my duty as an officer of the law.’ On being assured that no ill feeling was entertained by the spirit against him, but that he appeared as he did more for the purpose of a test than any thing else, he took his departure. I have never seen him since. He gave me, however, considerable notoriety in the community by relating his wonderful experience with a spiritual medium, and advised every one to shun mediums unless they were prepared and willing to have every thing connected with their past lives revealed and made known. Perhaps this abused spiritualism may yet become the instrumentality ofcompelling people to walk uprightly in their dealings with their fellowmen.
“These are a few among hundreds of such instances that I might relate, but the space allotted will not permit. I wish now briefly to refer to another phase of my mediumship. At various intervals I have had prophetic warning, and prophetic revelations have also been given me. I have also had what might be appropriately termed panoramic visions of past events of those both in and out of the body, and of events to transpire in the future of earth life. These visions, especially those prognostic of the future, have been truly wonderful. It is an oft quoted saying that ‘coming events cast their shadows before,’ and there remains no doubt in my mind but what spirits—whether all, I am not prepared to say—can sufficiently forecast the future as to reveal events and actions concealed from mortal discernment in the bosom of coming time. Let me mention a few instances in my own experience as evidence of the existence of this power.
“In 1869, myself and husband were holding a seance alone, at Aurora, Ind. We were living in the lower part of the city, near the river bank. Aurora is situated on the banks of the Ohio river, twenty-five miles below Cincinnati, Ohio. A little above the center of the city fronting the river a small stream, called Hogan creek, empties into the Ohio. Three or four hundred yards above the junction of the two streams and on the banks of the aforementioned creek, is located the mammoth distillery, owned by Messrs.T. & J. W. Gaff& Co. It has been consumed three times by fire and as often rebuilt. At the time of which I am speaking, we put blankets up to the windows in the room to beused for our dark circle, and by this means effectually excluded all external light. After extinguishing our lamp light, we sat patiently, awaiting manifestations. In the course of a half hour I saw and said, ‘I see a large brick building on fire. The light from its ascending flames is flooding the river in front of the city. There, I see a poor man burning up in the fire. I see its majestic walls crumbling to pieces and falling into a huge mass of ruins.’ At this juncture, we heard out doors the cry of fire! fire! and soon the bells of the quiet little city began to announce to its citizens that the insatiate fire-fiend was engaged in his terrible work of devastation and ruin. We hastened to the door only to behold, true to thevisionpreviously given, the bosom of the river as brilliantly lighted up as though illuminated by the rays of the sun at his meridian height.T.& J. W. Gaff & Co.’s distillery was on fire and burned to ruins, and another concomitant of the vision was too sadly verified—a man wasliterallyburned to ashes.
“Soon after this occurrence, a very dear lady friend called to see me. She contemplated a trip to Indianapolis, and intended to start on the morrow train. I said to her, ‘Do not start to-morrow. Defer it until the succeeding day. I see an accident on the road, and I see written in the air these words, “Within twenty-four hours.” I prevailed on her to postpone the trip in accordance with the warning of the vision. She had no occasion to regret it for the train on which she intended to be a passenger jumped the track before it reached its destination, and while no one was very seriously injured, yet it might have been otherwise had my friend been on board. She might not have escaped so luckily.
“The shocking casualty of the collision between the United States mail steamers America and the United States, on the Ohio river, between Cincinnati and Louisville, will be well remembered, especially by the people along the line of that route. The night of the painful occurrence I was a member of a circle held at the residence of Mr. Lewis Shirley, of Jeffersonville, Ind. I saw the collision, the boats on fire, etc., at an hour antedating by several hours the time when the unfortunate event transpired. So thoroughly was I convinced that the verification of the vision was close at hand that I prevailed on a son of Mr. Shirley to meet the carrier-boy at the ferry landing early the following morning to procure a copy of a Louisville daily paper. When the boy returned with the paper I was not surprised to find in its columns an account of the disaster, which I had plainly and vividly seen a number of hours prior to its actual occurrence.
“On another occasion I saw a fire raging. I saw it was a two-story brick house. I saw men rolling barrels out of the burning structure, and from the rapidity of their movements and the ease and facility with which the barrels seemed to be handled and propelled along, I concluded they were empty and so expressed myself. My husband inquired, ‘Where is the fire at?’ I placed myself in as passive a state as possible, but could get no answer. The questions were then asked: ‘Is it Louisville?’ ‘No.’ ‘Is it Jeffersonville?’ ‘No.’ ‘New Albany?’ ‘No.’ ‘Indianapolis?’ ‘Yes.’ These answers respectively I saw written in the air or what appeared so to me. Onthat night, as we learned by the papers subsequently, a large barrel factory at Indianapolis was destroyed by fire.
“I will now relate one of a more startling nature and of more recent occurrence. The ill-fated steamer Pat Rogers was at the time of her destruction in the mail line service, and plied between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Louisville, Kentucky. She left port Louisville for Cincinnati at 2P. M.At 4 o’clock, same afternoon, and two hours after her departure from Louisville, and nine or ten hours before the terrible casualty, I saw written in the air, ‘Steamboat disaster to-night.’ My husband remarked: ‘See if you can not get the name of the boat.’ Presently I saw plainly the namePat Rogers, which was immediately followed by presenting the whole vision, the conflagration, and passengers struggling for life amid the angry and turbulent waves.
“I might narrate many more instances of this kind that belong to my individual experience, and volumes might be written if similar experiences of others should be included.
“I come now to speak of my present powers and their development. When my husband had entered upon his second term as Mayor of the city of Aurora, he built us a home in a high altitude on a hillside overlooking the beautiful city in the valley below. Here in the purer atmosphere with quiet surroundings were my present powers brought forth by a noble and trusty band of spirits whom I shall never cease to love for their fidelity to me and to truth, and for their ability and unceasing and intelligent efforts to advance the great and blessed cause of spiritualism.My dear spirit sister, Alice Vernette WinesburghneeShirley, who, in her day, was a marvelous physical medium, has been and still is the active controlling spirit of my band, with others great and good, who sustain and aid her. She always signs her name simplyNettie, by which she was called and known in earth life. She has clung to me with the true devotion of a sister, and has sustained herself in the position assigned her by the band with signal fidelity and ability. I shall speak more of this band toward the close.
“In obedience to the request of the spirits we formed a circle for development, and found two gentlemen and their wives who were sufficiently liberal, and who had natural tendencies toward a belief in spiritualism. They agreed and we met twice each week, and it was not long before we discovered that power for physical manifestations was being developed. We sat in the dark around an ordinary plain stand, on which was placed a slate and pencil, a small bell, and a paper horn. We also would place on it a goblet filled with water. The manifestations began by the stand moving around and tipping. This phenomenon soon occurred in the light, and by means of it we at first were directed and instructed, using the alphabet in spelling out words. We met regularly and sat patiently. For a few months the development was slow but surely indicated progress, and the invisible operators continually exhorted us to patience, promising certain results from time to time, which they invariably performed. They stated to us what may not be generally known, namely, that all developments with a view to permanence are slow,advancing cautiously, step by step, leaving nothing neglected or uncared for. Besides the health and well being of the medium should be carefully guarded and too oft by hurrying forward the development ruinous consequences resulted to the instrument and the success of the mediumship. We soon noted the fact that we were in the hands of careful, prudent, and able spirits, and we therefore implicitly obeyed their directions, and have never since had any occasion to regret it. Finally the bell began to ring, and the various members of the circle were touched by materialized spirit hands. Also, names and words were written on the slate and occasionally materialized locks of hair would be found on the stand upon closing the seance, which, in a few hours, would wholly dematerialize. This indicated materialization of spirit forms and was so announced to us. The next step was whispering to us through the paper trumpet, and by that means they were now enabled to give directions. After the lapse of about twelve months we were directed to procure a curtain for materialization, which we accordingly did, but before this the manifestations in the dark had become simply remarkable, not to say extraordinary. On putting up the curtain and taking my position behind it, several sittings passed without any appreciable result, until finally faces were discovered protruding from behind and above the curtain, two or three at a time, and after this it was not long until full form materializations were obtained. Upon the expiration of my husband’s term of office, the band insisted that we should move to Cincinnati, if only for a year, assigning as the important reason, that they would be enabled there to collect andappropriate new elements necessary in the completion of the development. We had by this time learned that the wisest thing was to obey, and consequently in July, 1881, we moved to the Queen City. Soon after we got there the band concluded to abandon for the time being any further attempt to perfect the phase of materialization and demanded a tin trumpet, which was made according to their directions. In length, thirty-eight inches; at large end, four and one-half inches in diameter, and at the small opening one-half inch; and we commenced holding trumpet seances with amazing and astonishing results. Hundreds of the best citizens of Cincinnati can testify to the wonders of the trumpet circle in my presence. One seance written upbyJudge A. G. W. Carter, of Cincinnati, I here insert as illustrating partially only the magnitude of this power. It appeared in that excellent paper,Mind and Matter, of Philadelphia:
“My wife and myself, by invitation, were present on Thursday night, January 26th, at a seance given to a select circle of ladies and gentlemen by Mr. and Mrs. Green, at No. 309 Longworth street, this city, where Mrs. Green daily and nightly sits, giving private seances through her mediumship to any person or persons who desire to converse with the spirits, or see manifestations, and learn about the spirit world. There were about twelve persons, ladies and gentlemen, present, and being seated according to the direction of the spirits, a dark circle for spirit manifestations was held, and with extraordinary success. There was a large trumpet or horn standing beside the table, and a small music box and a guitar and a tambourine on the table.
“It was not long before the music box began its music, as well as the guitar and tambourine, and they all floated through the air, around the circle, and above our heads, and sometimes touching each one of the circle, as they were giving forth their music. Singing was indulged in by the members of the circle, and during the songs, the long horn or trumpet moved from its place, and went about the circle, through the air; and through it, or inside of it, different spirits accompanied the singing with their voices; sometimes so loudly as to take the full burden of the songs upon themselves. Then, when there was a cessation of singing, by means of the trumpet the spirits would freely converse with us—some in whispers, and others in sonorous voices, so that the whole company could readily hear and easily distinguish what was said.
“At one time one of the company, a Swede, Mr. Helleberg, sang a Swedish song, accompanying himself on the guitar; and in singing and playing this song in his native and, to us, foreign language, he was accompanied by a loud female voice, singing in his language, through this same horn. Mr. Helleberg then sang a Swedish love song, and was again, in perfect soprano harmony, accompanied by the female spirit voice.
“These demonstrations I thought were most remarkable, as I had never seen nor heard the like before, and they fairly attested the great mediumistic ability of Mrs. Green. At this time, and indeed during the whole seance, Mrs. Green was in a profound trance at the table, and kept so by a rough and gruff Indian spirit, who called himself ‘Chip,’ and occasionally spoke to us in a rough and gruff way about his ‘medy,’and the power he had to invoke and exercise in keeping her in the profound trance condition. Ever and anon, also, a smart, witty and talkative Indian maiden, who called herself ‘Winnie,’ by the permission and condescension of ‘Chip,’ would take possession of the medium, and talk most freely and interestingly to each and all of the members of the circle.
“And, by the way, I must relate this peculiar and remarkable fact, the only time of its occurrence in all my long experience with the spirits. There was in the circle another trance medium, Mrs. Taylor, who was put into the trance condition very easily and readily. Well, this spirit ‘Winnie’ would exchange from Mrs. Green to Mrs. Taylor every once in a while, talking through each medium with equal facility, and to the great delight and edification of the members of the circle. This was indeed something remarkable, and I ventured to inquire of the spirit ‘Winnie’ if this was a common occurrence. She replied, through one of the mediums, that it was so uncommon that she never knew of it occurring at a circle sitting before; that spirits always had their own medium, and it was very seldom that they would or could talk through more than one chosen medium, and especially at the same sitting of a circle, as was the case with us.
“To narrate all that occurred at this remarkable seance would fill many printed columns. Sufficient for the present to say, that we had all sorts of manifestations from the spirits through the gifted medium, Mrs. Green, for the long period of three full hours, and yet the medium or the spirits were not at all exhausted, and apparently not even fatigued. The manifestations, it seems to me, were quite equal to any I ever witnessedfrom Maud Lord, or any of the best mediums, and convinced me beyond all manner of doubt, that the gifted Mrs. Lizzie S. Green is destined to take a prominent and important stand in the glorious domain of mediumship. Angels bless and take care of her in all her ways.
“A. G. W. C.”
“In the meantime, the independent slate writing progressed wonderfully, and now constitutes one of my best and most highly cherished phases. They write now with the utmost facility with their own materialized hands, and, strange as it may seem, they have actually written without the presence of any visible pencil at all. They have written long messages on the inner surfaces of double slates, the parties holding on to them at the time the messages were being written. They have done this for me in the presence of C. G. Helleberg, John Winterburn and William Layton, and others, honorable people of Cincinnati, who will take great pleasure in certifying to the same. I do not refer to these truly marvelous things in a spirit of egotism or self-boasting, for I am entitled to no credit except in so far as I may have, by prudent conduct, honest living and carefulness, assisted in securing the proper conditions for the invisible intelligences—I mean invisible to mortal eyes only. While I naturally feel proud of these noble gifts, I have learned to be humble with them, as my spirit guides have so often admonished me to be. And I feel like using them for the benefit of humanity and the upbuilding of truth.
“My clairvoyance was an early and permanentdevelopment and still remains with me, the other development not seeming to materially interfere with it.
“I have had with me for many years two Indian spirits, from whose association I have derived great pleasure; and I have ever found them true, faithful and honest. The male Indian has never given me his full and proper name, telling me that it was ugly. He was of the Chippewa tribe, and has always been known as ‘Chip.’ Chip abhors fire-water and tobacco, and every thing immoral, and in very many respects widely differs from the leading characteristics of his people. The Indian maiden, whom we callWinnie, came to me in 1868, and gave her name as Winniepesaga, and said while quite young she was drowned in a stream of water in the Far West. She is sprightly, quite talkative, exceedingly smart and interesting in conversation. Naturally gifted with clairvoyant powers and prophetic abilities, she has given very many remarkable tests, and by reason of her equability of temper, general good disposition and real cleverness in colloquial gifts, she is generally well liked by all who have come in contact with her spirit ministrations. She has controlled me for years, does yet, and her influence is sweet, soothing and strengthening. Captain Oliver C. Curry died at Jeffersonville, Ind., in 1874, and was a lawyer by profession, and was for a long time city attorney of that city. He was a cousin of mine, and has belonged to the band for two years, and has been exceedingly active, especially in the trumpet seances. By his suavity, intelligence and witty sayings, he has made himself quite a favorite with many. Assisting in the development, I have had with me several spirits familiar with the laws of science, including adistinguished French scientist, our own Franklin and Professor Mapes. They seem to have only been engaged with the band temporarily in aiding the advancement of the development. They have my sincere thanks and profound gratitude. I come now to speak of another spirit, although of an humble name, yet a grand and highly progressed one, who has been my leading counsellor, adviser and friend. In 1868, I laid away the lifeless form of a dear little boy, and in my unutterable grief this noble spirit first appeared to me and gave me words of consolation. He has been with me ever since. He passed out of the form in the State of Georgia at the early age of thirty-three and had been at the time he came to me upwards of fifty years in spirit life. He always inspires me as being the very embodiment of purity itself, and his whole ambition seems to be to do good. This spirit also possesses wonderful prophetic power, and communicates with me only in case of an exigency, when I am in trouble, or otherwise need the sustaining and guiding power of the angel world. He gives me his name asHenry Teaney, and no Christian ever worshiped the gentle Nazarene with more devotion than I do my friend and guide, Henry Teaney. He is pure, noble and godlike, loves the right, hates the wrong, and never condescends to any thing little, hateful, or mean.
“Here I close after again returning thanks from the inmost recesses of my heart to my honored and noble band of spirits engaged with and through me in the great work of advancing the kingdom of God in thedisseminationof truths vouchsafed to the children of earth through spirit communion.”
A VISIT TO SPLIT ROCK, KENTUCKY—CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM IDATO HER PARENTS—ANNIE WINTERBURN TO HER BROTHER JOHN WINTERBURN,AND HIS TESTIMONY AND HER FAREWELL TO THE MEDIUM, MRS. GREEN.
Mrs. Green’s home proper, is at Aurora, Dearborn county, Indiana. Aurora is a beautiful and enterprising little city of five or six thousand inhabitants, and is located on the western bank of the Ohio river, twenty-five miles or thereabouts below Cincinnati, Ohio. It can be reached from Cincinnati in less than an hour’s ride over the Ohio and Mississippi railroad, which passes through it. While her husband pursues the legal profession at Aurora, Mrs. G., in obedience to the wishes of her spirit guides and attendants, devotes her time and medial gifts at Cincinnati from Monday until Saturday of each week, returning to her companion and daughter each Saturday, and remaining with them over the Sabbath. This statement is deemed proper in view of and as prefatory to what I am about to relate as occurring recently, and which can not fail to be estimated as a truly remarkable spirit manifestation.
By the invitation of Mr. Green, Mr. Edwin Stebbins, of Cincinnati, and myself accompanied Mrs. Green to her home at Aurora on Saturday, August the 5th, for the purpose of joining a small party of excursionists on the day following to the celebrated Split Rock, some three miles down the river from Aurora, on the Kentucky side of the Ohio. Our hosthad chartered a small propeller steamboat known as the Wave, which we boarded early Sunday morning (the 6th), and it required less than a half hour to land us at our destination. Our party consisted of our host and hostess and their daughter, Cora B. Green; Mr. B. F. Vandegrift, his wife, three daughters and son; James W. Shirley, wife, and two small children.
During the afternoon we were threatened with a rain-storm, and our party divided, some going into the caves for shelter, others repaired to a farm-house near by. The rain passed around us, after which a party of five in number, namely, Mr. and Mrs. Green, Mr. and Mrs. Vandegrift, and myself, reassembled on the summit of the elevation overlooking the Split Rock. It was suggested by me that we have a spirit seance, but we had no stand, slate or pencil. The novelty of a spirit seance on that noted spot was sufficiently suggestive and interesting to induce us to improvise a seat for the medium, which consisted of a couple of stakes driven into the ground and a fence rail placed on them. I took out my annotation book and with lead pencil placed it on Mrs. G.’s lap, and she threw over them a rubber circular, making the necessary condition of darkness. We formed a semi-circle in front of the medium thus seated, and sang the “Sweet Bye and Bye,” and “Nearer My God to Thee.” In a few moments the covering over the writing material was raised up and down three times, indicating thereby that the writing had been accomplished. In this way we received in rapid succession three communications, which I hereby transcribe and number them in the order of their production.
Number One.“Good afternoon. Nice picnic. Many spirits with you, including Madam Ehrenborg and Swedenborg. Nettie, Emil, and Ida send much love to Mr. Helleberg and Mr. Stebbins.”Number Two.“Mr. and Mrs. Vandegrift’s friends send their greetings from summer land. Also, Mr. Green’s friends and relatives. All happy to be with you.”Number Three.“God bless you all, and hope we may all meet on this spot again. Good bye.“Nettie and Curry.”
Number One.
“Good afternoon. Nice picnic. Many spirits with you, including Madam Ehrenborg and Swedenborg. Nettie, Emil, and Ida send much love to Mr. Helleberg and Mr. Stebbins.”
Number Two.
“Mr. and Mrs. Vandegrift’s friends send their greetings from summer land. Also, Mr. Green’s friends and relatives. All happy to be with you.”
Number Three.
“God bless you all, and hope we may all meet on this spot again. Good bye.
“Nettie and Curry.”
We were not only delighted but enthusiastic over the success of our enterprise. Here on this spot, both romantic and famous in history, with illy-provided conditions, we had communed with the loved ones from the land of immortal souls.
As the spirit daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stebbins, of Cincinnati, Ohio, is mentioned as belonging to the party of tourists that visited the planet Mars, and as communicating with others at Split Rock, Kentucky, and for other good reasons, I have deemed it not inappropriate to incorporate herein a letter of Mr. Stebbins to theSpiritual Offering, a paper recently established at Ottumwa, Iowa, and which is ably conducted and devoted to the advancement of spiritualism.
[For the “Spiritual Offering.”]
INDEPENDENT SLATE WRITING,
BY
EDWIN STEBBINS.
On Christmas evening myself and wife secured an independent slate-writing sitting with Mrs. Lizzie S. Green, at 309 Longworth street, Cincinnati, Ohio, and we received the following communication from our dear spirit daughter, viz:
“Merry, merry Christmas to you all! I do not know of a better Christmas gift than to give you a spirit communication on this memorable day. I am so happy and excited I can not write good. Oh, I have a beautiful home and am advancing in music all the time. I have a beautiful library of books. I am a teacher, and have a nice little class. We do not have as many scholars here in the spirit world as you do. We can not teach every one like we did here. We have to be attracted to each other magnetically. Therefore our work is not in vain, for by this method spiritual growth must ensue. We work in harmony together, and nothing occurs to retard our progress in learning. You would be surprised, and I rather think you are now, even at my style of composition. If you could see me as I am here, and hear me talk, you would see how fast I have progressed. Oh, how happy I am in my spirit home, but my heaven is not there. It is with my dear pa and ma, but duty calls and I must obey. I have been made extremely happy by your obedience to my will and all will be well. Henney says this is quite new to him, but when hesaw you and me at his funeral his happiness was beyond expression. When you laid away my form of clay you did not think to see me here to talk and write to my loved ones dear.
“When you’re sad and sometimes cry,Remember your Ida, dear, is nigh,To bless and comfort you while here,And guide you to a brighter sphere.
“And when the time comes for you to go we will meet you with our golden boat, and row you safely over the beautiful river to our home that I have helped prepare for you. Now, thanking Mrs. Green for her kindness to you and Ida, I bid you good night. All the relatives are here, and send you their Christmas greetings.
“Good night, good night, to all that’s here,I leave and go to a brighter sphere.
Wishing you all success in the new year, dear pa and ma, ever hold sacred the Christmas gift I present you to-day. Good night, Mr. Green, wife and daughter. Good night, my dear pa and ma. This indeed is the happiest Christmas I have spent since I left my earthly home. I must leave, but it is hard. Your loving daughter,
“Ida.”
“My daughter passed away on the 18th day of December, 1875, at the age of seventeen, and she was an only child. The above message from her possesses peculiar value to me, for therein are a number of valuable tests and evidences of her identity. My belief in the return of the spirits of the departed is of brief duration in point of time antecedent, and was mainlybrought about, through the mediumship of Mrs. Green. I can not express the real happiness I enjoy since I have been the recipient of this new light divine and I can only say, ‘God speed the good work.’
“Cincinnati, Ohio.”
ANNIE WINTERBURN.
“Dear Brother: Oh, how happy I am to-day to be able to write you on the inner surface of a double slate with your own precious hands holding it with the medium. You did not need this as a test, for your mind is clear and your heart is in the cause, but we give it to you because others have been thus favored, and we have resolved that you shall not be neglected when the good things pertaining to spirit intercourse are being given to others. Oh, John, you do give us so much real happiness by your noble and upright conduct, and by the opportunities you give us to hold sweet communion with you. Thus our lives become interblended, and the happiness of all increased. Spirits do derive great benefit from mortals, and to that extent are dependent on them. When a child dies in the tender years of infancy unschooled in the multifarious concernments of mortal life, it is brought back into contact with human affairs that it may learn those experiences of earth which were denied it by its early and untimely departure from the form. In all the pursuits of your life each individual is constantly attended by spirits interested in the same, and in these and many other ways are spirits aided in their progress and happiness. Whenever and by whomsoever you are told differently heed it not, but rely on what I have stated. We are interested in your proper instruction, and we will notlead you astray or into error. All those near and dear to you are here, and bid me to send you their love greetings. They pray without ceasing that you may be kept steady and firm in your high resolves and noble purposes until the end, when you shall rejoice in the anthem of victory. Hold up your head, dear and precious brother; be brave and resolute in the hour of temptation. Do no harm, but all the good you can in the world. And when the blessed angel called Death shall beckon you away from the labors and vicissitudes of mortal life to the sunlit evergreen shores of the summer land, be assured that among the hosts of others who will meet and welcome you with happy and rejoicing hearts you will see and be enfolded lovingly in the arms of your loving sister,
“Annie.”
“I, John Winterburn, resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, do hereby certify that the above and foregoing communication from my spirit sister came in the manner, to wit: I examined a double slate, and found it clean and without any writing whatever upon it. A small piece of slate pencil not larger than a grain of wheat was placed upon it and the slate closed. I then held on to one side of the slate, holding it tight together as folded, and the medium, Mrs. Green, held on to the other side. Soon we heard writing, and in the course of fifteen minutes the signal was given indicating that the writing was completed, whereupon the slate was opened, and on both sides of the inner surfaces was found, neatly written, the above communication. The t’s were crossed, and the i’s were dotted. I know, as well as I am capable of knowing any fact requiring the exercise of my senses in their normal state, thatthe communication was written by invisible power, and I firmly believe it comes from the source it purports to come, namely: my dear sister, now in spirit life. The seance was in broad daylight, and under circumstances that precluded fraud or deception on the part of the medium or any one else in the body.
“John Winterburn, 185 Longworth street.”
“This same Mr. Winterburn has had regularly one sitting a week with Mrs. Green for seven or eight months, and among other spirit relatives and friends who were active in communicating with him was his spirit sister Annie. She seems to possess considerable poetic ability, and occasionally wrote poetry to her brother. Recently Mr. Winterburn visited his mother country, England, and the last sitting with Mrs. G. before his departure, his sister Annie addressed the medium in the following feeling stanzas, which Mr. Winterburn copied as they came on the slate, viz:
“Dear medium friend, both good and true,’Tis hard that we must part from you,And though we cross the surging main,We will return to you again.“Returning with our spirits’ love and powerFrom British isle or sunlit bower,Our fond hearts’ loving blessings to impartTo comfort and cheer your noble heart.“Dear brother’s heart you have made glad,Dispersing sorrow and conditions sad;And where’er we roam, on land or sea,Our hearts shall turn in love to thee.“Farewell, dear medium friend, farewell,To thee our gratitude we ne’er can tell,We can only say heart’s full of love,We’ll meet you on the shores above.“And there, in that bright land of joy,Where mingles naught of earth’s alloy,We’ll lead thy steps with blessings rareTo our homes above our joys to share.“Angels of light, refulgent bright,Be with you when you take you flightFrom scenes of strife and sorrows hereTo a just reward in a higher sphere.“Farewell, farewell, alas! farewell,The parting is like a funereal knell;But when you climb the golden stair,Your true friend, Annie, will meet you there.”
A SPIRIT PEELS ABANANA, AND EATS SOME OF IT, AND DIVIDESTHE REST IN FOUR EQUAL PARTS—REPORTS OF CINCINNATIENQUIRER ABOUT SPIRIT SEANCES AT MRS. GREEN’S.
I desire to speak of a recent manifestation, which baffles my ability to understand, and proves that spirits by some chemical process are enabled to operate upon material substances and cause them to vanish. I only give one instance, and leave the reader to his own reflections and to adopt his own theory. I shall simply give the fact as it occurred.
I have a little grand daughter, Julia Muth, in the spirit world. When in the form she was partially fond of bananas. On the occasion of the recent anniversary of her eighth birthday, the 13th of July, 1882, I went to Mrs. Green for a seance, taking with me a large banana. These slate-writing seances, as has been heretofore explained, take place in the full light. I sat, as usual, opposite to Mrs. Green, with the small stand between us. I placed the fruit on a slate, with a short letter of greeting, and put it under the covering of the stand, while Mrs. Green held another slate of her own. The spirits, after writing on Mrs. Green’s slate for about an hour, wrote as follows: “Grandpa, take your slate from under the stand,” which I immediately did, and on the slate was written, “I peeled the banana, and ate some of it, too; your little Julia Muth.”
We removed the cloth covering from the stand andfound the peelings on the floor, and on my slate the banana divided in four equal parts after the end piece had disappeared. We searched diligently, but without our effort being rewarded by the discovery of the missing portion of the fruit. Whither had it gone?
TheCincinnati Daily Enquireris a leading as well as an extensively circulated paper, published at Cincinnati, Ohio, and, in October, 1881, Mrs. Green was visited by a reporter of that paper, who was present at two of her trumpet seances. Although probably not a believer, he turned out to be a fair minded man who would not allow his prejudices, if he had any, to interfere with an honest account of what he saw and witnessed. In three issues of that paper, to wit, October 16th, 18th and 21st, 1881, appeared his report of a visit to Mrs. Green, and two seances he attended. They are here inserted, in the order of the dates given.
Issue of October 16th:
“In a neatly furnished suit of rooms over No. 309 Longworth street lives Mrs. L. S. Green, a spiritualist medium. Upon her last evening a representative of theEnquirercalled. He was cordially received by the lady’s husband, being tendered a seat in a parlor in which was a piano, a pretty set of furniture; while an old-fashioned kerosene lamp threw its brightest rays over the room from a mantel-piece. Seated in a rocking-chair was Mrs. Green, plainly dressed, of a modest and retiring disposition, and features that stamped her as a faithful and loving wife. The mission of the newspaper man was quickly explained. Her husband replied that as a rule mediums avoided reporters, as they were liable to distort and ridicule their statements. But where the thing is conducted honestly and openly,‘I can not,’ he said, ‘see what we have to fear from publication.’
“In reply to a question, Mrs. Green said that she was about thirty-eight years old, and had been a clairvoyant since 1868, her first mediumistic inclinations having developed that year. Her history since that time as a spiritualist has been quite full of interest. Previous to her becoming a medium she was a member of the Christian Church, and was as great a skeptic as one could find. So, in fact, was her husband. While a member of the Indiana Legislature in 1867 he attended a seance, where he received a message from his dead mother. At a subsequent one, another spiritual letter came to him, telling him that his wife possessed the powers of a medium, and asking him to bring her to one of the circles. After some persuasion he finally gained her consent to go. She there saw her first spirits, that of an uncle of the medium of the assemblage, who had his head cut off by a train of cars. From that time her powers began to develop, showing themselves in messages that she wrote on paper or beheld in the air. Spirits as high as five hundred a day presented themselves to her view. Her continued increase as a medium so worked upon her that she lost her health, and she was compelled for the time being to abandon the business. About twelve months ago she resumed her writing—this time on slates. Messages Were written on the inside of folded slates, and often, after a seance, a fluid would be found on the outside of the slate, which, unless washed off then, could never be removed. This had been taken to chemist after chemist for analysis, and one and all had failed to make any thing out of it.
“One evening a small lock of hair was found in the corner of the slate, in the center of which was a small lead pencil. At that time this was believed to have been placed there by some one in the circle. It was folded in a piece of paper to be retained, but the next day it disappeared. From this time out Mrs. Green’s materializing abilities began. She had great success in her seances, and frequently described catastrophes which, on the following morning, were found to be exceedingly accurate. She foreshadowed the explosion of the steamer Pat Rogers, and graphically described the collision of the United States with the America. The details of a fire at a neighboring place one evening were recited by her. The next day it was learned that the hour and facts were most wonderfully correct.
“While the reporter and his friend were talking Mrs. Green called their attention to two spirits who were standing besides them, one a brother-in-law of the first-named, and the other a friend of the latter who died twelve years ago. Both were accurately described, much to the surprise and astonishment of the two skeptics. Mrs. Green, in explaining her power, said that she was entirely controlled by one spirit, and that when she first began to work it was shown by slaps on the hand, by shocks in her arms, etc. She did only as her influence compelled her to act, and while writing, etc., she knew not what she did, much to the surprise and astonishment of the two skeptics. Many startling results of seances were recited, such as the sounding of trumpets, the ringing of bells, singing, and the appearance of different spirits were detailed.”
Insertion of October 18th:
“Mrs. L. S. Green, the medium, gave a seance lastevening to a few friends at her house, No. 309 Longworth street. There were five people present, three of whom were skeptics of the worst kind. The gathering was seated in a medium-sized; plainly-furnished room. In the center was a small stand, over which was placed a heavy green spread. As an opening, the lady took a small slate upon which was laid a bit of slate pencil. This she held with one hand in under the table, and several messages were written on it in a clear and distinct hand. Then the cloth was removed, and on the table were placed a bell, two slates, washed clean, a glass of water, and a leather trumpet. At some distance from the medium stood a guitar, leaning against the wall, and a large trumpet, while near the newspaper man were two small trumpets. The light was then extinguished, the doors locked, and the seance begun. All took hold of hands, and one of the party sang. In a few minutes came a gentle tapping on the slates, then the bell rang violently, seeming to pass through air, returning and falling on the floor. The various members were touched about the face and body, and one exceedingly lady-like spirit took occasion to rub her hand down the reporter’s face, testing fully the power of his nervous system. Singing was continued, when the guitar was heard to play, rising in the air, apparently passing around over the different persons’ heads, hitting them lightly in the face, and finally landing in the reportorial lap.
“A breathing spell was taken when one of the party varied the programme with a selection upon the orgamina. The favorite old song, ‘John Brown,’ was given, and it pleased the spirits hugely, as a deep bass voice was heard to join in with an occasional blastfrom the trumpet. Then the trumpet took a trip around the circle, announcing its coming with a rap on the head or shoulders of each one. The bell rose in the air tingling rapidly and landed this time on the table. The familiar taps on the person were continued, then there was a tremendous note from the trumpet, and a sweet voice joined in with Mrs. Green, as she sang, ‘Nearer My God to Thee.’ Although the manifestations were quite good, especially to the reporter, who was continually dodging imaginary trumpets and blows, the medium said the weather was bad for the most satisfactory work. The spirits announced that they were about ready to depart by a loud rap on the table and a sprinkling of those present with water. The light being turned on, the following communication was found on one of the slates:
“‘Good evening, gentlemen. We are glad to meet you. The spirit band of the medium authorize and request me to thank the representative of that great metropolitan journal, theEnquirer, for the terms employed in reference to their medium and her gifts in yesterday’s issue of that paper. This treatment, so rare, betokens a spirit of candor and fairness commensurate with this transcendently important subject. We extend you a cordial invitation to visit us whenever and as often as it suits your convenience, and we shall always endeavor to treat you with courtesy and respect.
“‘Nettie.’
“The lines were very regular, the i’s and t’s are dotted, and the signature was especially plain, it being the name of one of Mrs. Green’s controls.”
The third and last appeared in the issue of October 21st, and is as follows:
“QUITE INTERESTING—A SEANCE HELD LAST EVENING—SKEPTICS AND BELIEVERS ASSEMBLE TOGETHER.
“A very interesting seance was held last evening at the residence of Mrs. L. S. Green, 309 Longworth street. Seven persons were present, including two mediums. The spirits were unusually frisky, and the manifestations were particularly gratifying to the believers, and rather dumbfounding to the skeptics. The arrangements and room were the same as in the others previously described, except that there were more musicians present. Very excellent music was rendered by an orgamina, a violin, a guitar, and a music-box. The selections given were sweet enough to summon the most bashful friends of the medium from their spiritualistic retreat. The departed were less inclined to epistolary efforts, and slate-writing was not conducted with any favorable results.
“During the evening one of the gentlemen sang a Swedish song, accompanying himself on the guitar. A female voice at one time, and a powerful bass later, were heard plainly in concert with him. The human singer alleged quite emphatically that his spiritual aids rendered the air in the same language he did. The guitar took numerous trips around the room, sometimes high in the air, again touching those present on the head and different parts of the body. A huge tin trumpet was blown most furiously, the blast sounding like the greatest effort of the bass-horn. Then it was pounded and thumped, creating a most awful din. This was explained as being the doings of a very powerfully materialized spirit. The statementwas acquiesced in by a skeptic, who received a vigorous whack on the knee, fully convincing him that muscle, lots of it, too, backed the trumpet.
“A little music-box was taken from the table and wafted through the room, playing its peculiarly sweet airs all the time as it sailed toward the ceiling and over those about the table. It could be heard in every corner, high and low, and if a medium or friend was carrying it, said person must have been exceedingly lively, climbing over chairs, a bed, etc., without making any noise. It was claimed that when the box ran down it was wound up by those who took it through the air.
“Whenever songs were sung, or selections were played upon the instruments, soprano or bass voices joined in plain to all present. Members were delicately touched in the face and body. The tolling of a great bell was most cleverly imitated, and a little one was rung frequently. The spirits of loved ones were reported as standing at the sides of different members, some of whom were quickly recognized by the description given. Water was sprinkled on all, and the goblet filled with this fluid was passed around, touching some in the face, others on the body. No communications were received except very brief ones.”
EXTRACTS FROM EACH OF TWO FUNERAL DISCOURSES BYBISHOP SIMPSON AND REV. W. H. THOMAS, D. D.,WITH CONCLUSIONS OF C. G. HELLEBERG.
In closing it has been deemed advisable and proper to append an extract from each of two funeral discourses delivered by two eminent divines—one the eminent Methodist Bishop, Mr. Simpson, and the other a distinguished minister of Chicago, who, of late, experienced some little annoyance from his flock, who were mere sticklers for forms and creeds, and because their shepherd had grown a little beyond their cramped and narrow limits.
BISHOP SIMPSON.
“The very grave itself is a passage into the beautiful and glorious. We have laid our friends in the grave, but they are around us. The little children that sat upon our knee, into whose eyes we looked with love, whose little hands have clasped our neck, on whose cheek we have imprinted the kiss, we can almost feel the throbbing of their hearts to-day. They have passed from us, but where are they? Justbeyondthe line of the invisible. And the fathers and mothers who educated us, that directed and comforted us, where are they but just beyond the line of the invisible? The associates of our lives that walked along life’s pathway, those with whom we took sweet counseland who dropped from our side, where are they but just beyond us? not far away; but now it may be very near us. Is there any thing to alarm us in this thought? No. It seems to me that sometimes when my head is on the pillow there come whispers as of joy that drop into my heart—thoughts of the sublime and beautiful and glorious, as though some angel’s wing passed over my brow, and some dear one sat by my pillow and communed with my heart to raise my affections to the other and better world. The invisible is not dark, it is glorious. Sometimes the veil becomes so thin it seems to me that I can almost see the bright forms through it, and my bending ear can almost hear the voices of those who are singing their melodious strains. Oh, there is music all around us, though in the busy scenes of life we recognize it not. The veil of the future will soon be lifted and the invisible shall appear.”
REV. W. H. THOMAS, D. D., OF CHICAGO.
“How can we linger over the bier of the departed and go in the eventidetotheir graves, and sit down in the stillness there, hoping in some way to come in communion with them. They carry their loves over to the other side, and is it unreasonable to suppose that a mother who has passed from these shores should still seek to be the guardian angel of the children she watched over in this life? Is it unreasonable that the great hosts of life, column on column, world on world, that have gone out from this state, should seek to come with their higher wisdom and tenderer sympathy to minister to those they loved in this life, and help them to cling to the truth that saves? To methis doctrine of the spirit life, the eminence and presence of helping and guiding spirits is a comforting thought. It brings me into the presence of the innumerable host that people the spirit land. It gives me somehow a consciousness of the great fact of immortality. It gives me a sweet consciousness that my friends live on the other shore; that to me they will come as ministering angels in the dying hour to receive the spirit, tired by work, weakened by sickness, wearied with years, pale from death, and bear it to the love and life above.”
If these utterances are not in harmony with spiritualism, and its central and prominent idea of the very nearness of our spirit friends and the spirit world, then I am wholly incapable of recognizing and understanding the force of plain and direct language. They can have but one meaning, and that in perfect accordance with spiritualism.
I find these extracts published in the AuburnAdvertiser, of New York, from which I copied them. There they are; read them carefully, and then propound the question to your own heart and intelligence, namely: What does all this mean if spiritualism be false? And if spiritualism be true, how can these men and those holding similar views, oppose spiritualism and be consistent and maintain their self-respect?
C. G. Helleberg.
Footnotes:
[1]This has reference to forget-me-not seeds which she sent me from Sweden.
[2]This Polheim was Sweden’s greatest architect, mathematician and builder, who projected the canal between Stockholm and Gottenburg.
Transcriber’s Notes:
Punctuation has been corrected without note.
Errata corrections have been made in this text by the transcriber. They are noted by red underline.
Page and line number errors in the Errata have been corrected without note.
Other than the corrections noted by hover information, inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original.