The Missing Link in Modern Spiritualism. A. Leah Underhill
called on the “Ghosts” to manifest themselves if they could, but no responses came to such invitations. They now concluded it was about dinner-time, and said to us, “You can go home and get your dinner. Perhaps the ghosts will be more sociable in the afternoon;” plainly intimating that we could go home and prepare ourselves for rapping, and that things would be more satisfactory after our return. It was now my turn to be the speaker; I told them: “No, we shall not stir from this room until the time for this investigation shall expire; which will be at six o’clock P.M.” Some of the Committee exclaimed, “Good for the Rappers! That looks like business. Ladies and gentlemen, let us have dinner in this room. We will give the girls fair play.” A sumptuous dinner was prepared and brought in to us, and all took seats at the table. They taunted us in every way. Sometimes we felt ourselves forsaken, and disposed to give up in despair. Our friends were locked out, and not permitted to come into the room; but we could hear their faithful footsteps outside the door, in the hall of the hotel—Isaac and Amy Post, Mr. and Mrs. Pierpont, George Willets, and others. My young sister Maggie was by my side, bathed in tears. Dr. Gates was carving. I was struggling with a choking emotion, and could not taste food. The party were joking and funning at our expense, when, suddenly the great table began to tremble, and raised first one end and then the other, with loud creaking sounds, like a ship struggling in a heavy gale, until it was finally suspended above our heads.
For a moment all were silent and looked at each other with astonishment. The waiters fled in every direction. Instantly the scene was changed. The ladies threw their arms around us, one after another; and it was their turn to cry.
They said to us: “Oh, you poor girls, how you have been abused! Oh, how sorry we are for you; after all, it is true!” The gentlemen with one accord said, “Girls, you have gained a victory. We will stand by you to the last.”
Let it be understood that this Committee of ladies and gentlemen took us to the parlors of the Rochester House, which could be divided into two rooms by closing the folding-doors. After dinner the gentlemen of the Committee insulated the table by putting glass under the legs, procured two sacks of feathers, and advised the ladies how to conduct the investigation. They then closed the doors, and (the gentlemen of the Committee having retired) left us and the lady members of the Committee alone. By this time the Committee had become kindly disposed toward us. They suggested to us that we should stand upon the sacks of feathers on the table, with our dresses tied tight above our ankles. We complied with all their suggestions, cheerfully. Immediately the sounds were heard on the table, floor, and walls. The ladies instantly opened the doors, and the gentlemen came in and witnessed the manifestations themselves.
The ladies, at my suggestion, signed the following certificate:
“When they were standing on pillows, with a handkerchief tied around the bottom of their dresses, tight to their ankles, we all heard the rapping on the table, on the wall, and floor distinctly.
“Mrs. Stone.
“Mrs. J. Gates.
“Miss M. P. Lawrence.”
Before we left the room, word was sent to the Committee, saying, “Do not go to the Hall this evening; for if you report favorably to the girls you will be mobbed.” Our friends, who anticipated a riot and feared for our safety, as soon as we got to the house after this terrible day’s work and anxiety, urged us not to go to the Hall. But what were we to do? Even the Committee were threatened if it made a favorable report; but they all informed us that they would protect us in any event.
E. W. Capron and George Willets said, “What are we to do, if you forsake us at such a time?” Amy Post said, “Go, I will go with you.” The Spirits spelled, “Go, God will protect you. You will not be harmed.” Margaretta had been so harassed during the day, and had been so urged by some of her friends, that she resolved not to go to the Hall that night. This would have spoiled all our success so far. It would be utter ruin to us. Amy Post (that darling little Quaker lady), who stood firm as a rock, said, “We will go and sit down by ourselves, and see how we shall feel about it.” I soon said, “Amy, if you will go, I will go with you, if I go to my death.” Margaretta did not change her mind until we were preparing to go, when she said, “I cannot have you go without me. I must go, although I expect we will be killed.” So we all went. We found the faithful friends, who were appointed to sit on the platform, already in their places. There were but few words said by Mr. Capron, as every one was anxious to hear the report of the Committee. When it was made, it was more full than any of the others. It rehearsed the fact that they had excluded from the room, in which the examination was conducted, all our friends, and we were left alone to fight the battle. Each member of the Committee reported separately, agreeing with, and corroborating the first statement.
The reports of the different committees did not satisfy the rowdy element, which at this time had become a howling mob, who were predetermined to assault us, and also the last Committee, if they did not report against us. They even warmed tar, and had it concealed in a closet at the head of the stairway adjacent to the door of the Hall. Some of our friends, knowing this, took the precaution of calling on the police. Our Committee was informed of the proceedings of the mob, and when we separated at six o’clock and went to Mr. Post’s to await the hour of meeting at the Hall, declared to us that they would stand by us, in these words: “Never fear, girls, you have gained the victory; we will stand by you to the last.” And they did, nobly.
We were directed by the Spirits to go forth and submit to everything lawful; but that the committees chosen by the audience should be composed of such as represented the best intelligence of the community.
Josiah Bissel was the presiding genius of the mob. He had caused to be purchased some torpedoes which he distributed among his rowdy friends to throw upon the floor, and thus begin disturbance. It had been agreed upon by his bosom friends (the rowdy element) that he should ascend the platform, and with a long heavy stick, which he carried as a cane, give a signal for the onslaught. The other leaders in this mob were Lawrence R. and Leonard W. Jerome, Alderman Lewis Seelye, Major Packard, and others, awaiting the signal. But no sooner was it given them than a fine, large, respectable-looking gentleman sprang upon the platform and took a seat between myself and my sister, whose hand he took in his. I thought, at the moment, he was an enemy, and ordered him to leave, and not dare touch my sister. He replied, “I am your friend; I am the Chief of Police—look, these men in front are all my men; and they have come to protect you.”
At the sound of the signal made by Bissel, the mob rushed to the platform. Torpedoes were heard in every part of the Hall. The Chief of Police quietly informed Josiah Bissel that if any one was taken into custody he would be the man.
As the mob began their demonstrations, one gentleman, Mr. Alfred Hubbell, who had been an investigator at our house, raised his hand and said in a loud voice: “Girls, you have nothing to fear. Don’t be afraid. I have fifty good men here all ready to protect you.”
Mr. Abelard Reynolds, proprietor of the Hall, was on the platform, determined to stand between us and the mob. The ringleaders of the mob, followed by their gang, quickly disappeared. Our work, as planned by the Spirits, for that time was done. Our triumph was complete. The promises of our Spirit friends and directors were all fulfilled. However they may have allowed suspicion to come upon us, which it was not in their power to prevent, they had always brought us safe and sound out of the apparent difficulty, and gained a signal triumph through our humble agency.
CHAPTER VI.
MEDIUMISTIC VEIN IN OUR FAMILY.
Some Family Antecedents—Our Great-grandmother—Phantom Prophetic Funerals—Vision of a Tombstone Nine Years in Advance, etc.
I will here interrupt the course of this narrative with a chapter about our family, principally in reference to that peculiar and strange constitutional something, which, in us three children (myself and the two younger ones, Margaretta and Catharine), has come out so strongly into what is called “mediumship,” and which