1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 1: Welcomed unobscured a production of I Heart Radio and Aaron Minky. 2 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,399 Speaker 1: He rushed to embrace his father, but as he neared 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: the figure, it faded and disappeared. All of it was 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:21,119 Speaker 1: a shock, of course, because Henri's father was dead. He 5 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 1: collected himself and moved forward, but the experience left outs. 6 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: You see, before this moment, Henri hadn't believed in spiritualism. 7 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,559 Speaker 1: He'd heard the stories and visited a seance once to 8 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: see if there was anything to it. He, even so, 9 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: his story goes, managed to levitate a table at that sitting, 10 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: but he walked away unconvinced that there was something supernatural 11 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: going on the madness of some people, he laughed. After 12 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,159 Speaker 1: his father's death, though, that encounter with the vanishing figure 13 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: made him reconsider. It made him go back and start 14 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: to think again about what he had experienced in that seance. 15 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: It made him decide to turn to it. He scheduled 16 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: an appointment with a New Orleans medium who called herself 17 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,559 Speaker 1: Sister Louise. When they finally sat down together and formed 18 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 1: a harmonious circle, Sister Louise said she felt something. Ri's 19 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: hand was trembling, so she handed him a pencil, then 20 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:19,479 Speaker 1: any other context to shaky hand might be a reason 21 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: to stop writing. But sister Louise saw things with the 22 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: eyes of a spiritualist. As soon as the pencil was 23 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: in his fingers on reset and invisible hand wrapped around 24 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: his own and then started to write. Here's historian Emily Clark, 25 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: and at his first meeting with Louise, he just writes 26 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: and writes and writes and writes and writes, all under 27 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:45,959 Speaker 1: the powerful influence of spirits. And as he starts to 28 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: get tired, I mean, we don't do a lot of 29 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: handwriting anymore. We're always on our computers. But handwriting pages 30 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: and pages and pages, your arm gets tired. He begins 31 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: to get tired. In the spirit of his father, Bartholomy 32 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: comes to him and assures him, you can keep writing. 33 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: You're not really tired. Me and the other spirits will 34 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: sustain you. And so it's sort of this progression of 35 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: experiences that convinced him Henri would follow the spirit's command 36 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:17,799 Speaker 1: to write for the rest of his life. At first, 37 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: his seances were private. He started recording messages from the 38 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: spirits in a registered book marked Soul or Solo, but 39 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: he quickly received instructions to open his visitations to others. 40 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: You see, Henri was part of the Afro Creole community 41 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: in New Orleans. They spoke French, where Catholic educated, and 42 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: came mostly from families who were freed from slavery during 43 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: the colonial era. Both of Andre's parents had come from 44 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: Haiti after the revolution and became some of the most 45 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: respected among their Catholic neighbors in New Orleans. They found 46 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: that they enjoyed some of the freedoms denied to other 47 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: black neighbors, like owning property and serving as witnesses in court, 48 00:02:58,000 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: but they were subject to many of the same disc 49 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:04,680 Speaker 1: dominations that made publishing black newspapers and organizing religious groups illegal. 50 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: Even so, on Re followed the instructions of the spirits, 51 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: obeying their voices. He held a series of seances with 52 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,360 Speaker 1: Sister Louise for members of his social circle, and soon 53 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: enough spiritualism was bridging divides in New Orleans. Spiritualists around 54 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: on reconnected with mediums like JB. Valmore, who had been 55 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,519 Speaker 1: holding seances in the city for years, and the spirits 56 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: came to speak. But the entries and on Ree's registered 57 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: book came to an end in April of eighteen sixty 58 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: and we know why too. The voices of the spirits 59 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: had been drowned out by the march of boots and 60 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: the shouts of officers as the Southern States seceded. A 61 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: battle for a different nation and a different world swept 62 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: over them. In the opening clashes of conflict. The Civil 63 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: War had begun. This is unobscured. I'm Aaron Manky. They 64 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:30,720 Speaker 1: were scattered to the winds of war. But the New 65 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,719 Speaker 1: Orleans Sean Circle was only one of many things that 66 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: broke apart when shells fell on Fort Sumter in eighteen 67 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: sixty one. When the fighting began, un Re walked into 68 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:42,799 Speaker 1: the crowded room at a school his father had founded. 69 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: The other leaders there of the Afro Creole community had 70 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: gathered to decide how to wield their resources in the 71 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: coming conflict. They had also been teachers and administrators in 72 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:57,719 Speaker 1: the school. Now they would be soldiers. Henri and a 73 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,599 Speaker 1: thousand other free men of color joy into the Native 74 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: guards for on Re. This brought him a captain's commission 75 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: with the Confederacy. Here's Emily Clark once again. So on 76 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: Re and his brother Octave and others, many other Afro 77 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: Creole men in the city joined the war effort, but 78 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:18,600 Speaker 1: intel New Orleans was seized by the Union in eighteen 79 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: sixty two. When they joined the Louisiana Native Guards the 80 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 1: Black Regimen for the city, they had to muster for 81 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: the Confederacy, which was not what they wanted. That much 82 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: was clear when the officers and staff of the regiment 83 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: gathered to celebrate Christmas at the end of the year, 84 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 1: their service was compelled again to serve a social power 85 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: built to exploit them. Their property, their families, and their 86 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: lives were subject to violent retaliation if they didn't step 87 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:50,159 Speaker 1: forward for service. But when they gathered on re raised 88 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: his glass and a toast to all revolutions. He said, 89 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: for they give birth the progress of man and lead 90 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: him on the way of true fraternity. It was a 91 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 1: message that had come to him straight from beyond death, 92 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: against the institution of slavery that structured Southern society. On 93 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: ri and Valmore received from the spirits what they called 94 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:16,320 Speaker 1: the idea. They received so many messages that made mention 95 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,600 Speaker 1: of the idea, And when you put all these together, 96 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 1: it becomes clear that this was a concept that meant 97 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 1: humanitarian progress, brotherhood, egalitarianism, equality, harmony. It was similar to 98 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: some other ideas that are going around nineteenth century America, 99 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: ideas of millennial progress. This desire to build the Kingdom 100 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,839 Speaker 1: of God here on earth in the US, the idea 101 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: would require work to make. The idea of reality on 102 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: Earth would not just happen. The triumph of the idea 103 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:53,480 Speaker 1: would require free thought, democracy, equality, The progressive march of 104 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: humanity is not going to happen on its own. Gathered 105 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,840 Speaker 1: around that revolutionary idea, they took an aim for themselves 106 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,279 Speaker 1: that represented the world they fought for. They became the 107 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:08,159 Speaker 1: Cirque Harmonique. To them, spiritualism was the key to making 108 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: a fair and just world. It opened the doors to 109 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: the revolutionary leaders and thinkers who had otherwise been lost 110 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 1: to time. The idea, the revolutionary spark of the cirk Harmonique, 111 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: was lit from the flame of the Haitian Revolution, but 112 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: was smothered by the darkness of war. But it's still 113 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: smoldered under the cloak of Confederate service. In the coming months, 114 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: on Ri would publish a letter in the Afro Creole 115 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: newspaper The Union that celebrated the Native Guards. He wrote 116 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: that anyone watching his troops in parade, would see men 117 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:43,119 Speaker 1: of all races carrying the same bayonets, gleaming in the sun. 118 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 1: Be informed. He wrote that we have no prejudice. We 119 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: receive everyone in the camp, but that the sight of 120 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: a human salesman of flesh makes us sick. Statements like 121 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: that were clear challenges to the white supremacy of slave power, 122 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: and once the Native Guards were armed and trained, those 123 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: challenges became more frequent and more fierce. Their agenda was 124 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: to defend their families and homes from whoever threatened them, 125 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: once more from Emily Clark. They joined the war effort 126 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: because they felt strongly about defending their home, but they 127 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: disobeyed the Confederacy's orders. As the Union was approaching the 128 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: city in eighteen sixty two, the Confederacy orders all of 129 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 1: the troops out and the Black troops stay. They disobey, 130 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: and they want to stay with their homes and protect 131 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: their homes and protect their families. A committee of four 132 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: in the Louisiana Native Guards, including Onri and his brother Octave, 133 00:08:38,920 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: were the group that surrendered their weapons to the Union 134 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: when the Union comes into New Orleans. But then they 135 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:47,200 Speaker 1: quickly got them back because now they were able to 136 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,959 Speaker 1: serve on the side they wanted to, so Onri and 137 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: the Louisiana Native Guards took up the work of supporting 138 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: the Union army in their region, and that's when on 139 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,240 Speaker 1: Re met Colonel Nathan Daniels, the white Union officer given 140 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: command of Henri's regiment. You see, Daniels was a spiritualist, 141 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: and his diary includes the notes of his many sittings 142 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,200 Speaker 1: with mediums throughout the city. It's through Daniels that we 143 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: learned that even though the Sir Carmonique wasn't meeting during 144 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: the years of war service, that didn't stop on Ree's 145 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: work as a medium, and an excellent one. In Nathan's words, 146 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 1: the Native Guards worked as engineers for the Northern troops. 147 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: They built fortifications, chopped wood, fetched and carried Daniels wasn't 148 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: able to keep his command, though he was arrested and discharged. 149 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: The official military record says it was for mishandling lumber 150 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: used in construction. Daniels believed that was because he defended 151 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: his black troops against the racism of their white officers. 152 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: After his discharge, though Daniels continued to sit for seances 153 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: with Henri and velmore while they waited to see if 154 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,319 Speaker 1: the Native guards would be used for anything other than 155 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: manual labor by the Union Army. They were no killer angels, 156 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: but the spirits continued to speak throughout the war, and 157 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:14,559 Speaker 1: as they did, thousands were added to their number. Nettie 158 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 1: was close to spiritualism's beating heart. That is, she was 159 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: in Albany, New York, when troops clashed at bull Run 160 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: Creek near Manassas Junction. It was July of eighteen sixty one. 161 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:28,560 Speaker 1: As Nettie recalled it, The air in New York was 162 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: full of heady optimism. The call had gone out for 163 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:36,160 Speaker 1: seventy troops to join the Union Army. Despite the previous 164 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 1: efforts of New York City political and business leaders to 165 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 1: oppose the war, they sent eight thousand volunteers to the front. 166 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: Once the fighting began. Nettie wasn't far from those concerns. 167 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: In fact, she was close to the Governor of Connecticut, 168 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:52,520 Speaker 1: Thomas Seymour. It was after sitting with him that Nettie 169 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:56,320 Speaker 1: received entry into the capital of New York State. Nettie 170 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: Colburn was a twenty year old medium in the Fox 171 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,680 Speaker 1: Sisters Mold. Her story began as so many others did, 172 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:06,559 Speaker 1: with a spirit rattling through her family's house. It began 173 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: when her grandmother died, and they guessed that it was 174 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,560 Speaker 1: the old woman's spirit, striking dead clocks and frightening Nettie's 175 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:16,800 Speaker 1: grandfather with ghostly whispers, inviting him to join her in death. 176 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 1: Others answered that call as well, though, when the Civil 177 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: War started, her father and all four brothers were enlisted. 178 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:27,720 Speaker 1: Soon enough, they were preparing to head south towards Virginia 179 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:31,199 Speaker 1: and the coming fight. By that time, Nettie had become 180 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:33,960 Speaker 1: well known. One of her first supporters was a local 181 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,440 Speaker 1: silver plater and merchant who put his money behind her mediumship. 182 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:40,440 Speaker 1: In that way, Nettie's rise looks a lot like that 183 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 1: of Daniel Hume, when she found powerful, willing friends to 184 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 1: lift her into the world of the upper crust, and 185 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 1: once she was sitting with governors and their cohorts, she 186 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:53,960 Speaker 1: found herself controlled by prominent spirits to deliver lectures, give advice, 187 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: and even make political predictions. She was the kind of 188 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:02,319 Speaker 1: spiritualist and elected official could love. But even though there 189 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 1: was optimism in the air, the spirits wore Nettie against 190 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:09,600 Speaker 1: a sunny disposition. She didn't record which voices warned her 191 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:12,880 Speaker 1: away from celebrating the war's beginning, but she remembered them 192 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: telling her that the war would last for four years. 193 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: With her family at the front, this would have been 194 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:22,439 Speaker 1: a chilling thought. In the following months, Nettie started to 195 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: get messages describing a congress of spirits. There were statesmen 196 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:29,960 Speaker 1: and public figures who wanted to return to the material 197 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: world and offer their guidance over the affairs of a 198 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: nation at war. Nettie started telling people in her Albany 199 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,440 Speaker 1: circle that the spirits were demanding she speaked directly with 200 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 1: the President. The messages Nettie shared with her friends told 201 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 1: her to arrange a trip to Washington. The instructions were 202 00:12:46,559 --> 00:12:50,160 Speaker 1: too ridiculous to obey, though, so Nettie stayed in New York. 203 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: It wasn't until she received a note from her brother 204 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:57,719 Speaker 1: the following November that she decided to go south. He 205 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:00,320 Speaker 1: was in a war hospital and the waves of injured 206 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:02,680 Speaker 1: soldiers coming back from the front meant that he was 207 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 1: poorly cared for. He needed someone to help him get 208 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: a military furlough, and that was the spur she needed. 209 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,319 Speaker 1: Nettie set out for Baltimore and then on to Washington. 210 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 1: Through spiritualist connections, she met Thomas Gayle's Foster, a spiritualist 211 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:20,840 Speaker 1: lecturer who also happened to be a clerk in the 212 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 1: War Department. Foster welcomed Nettie to Washington and hosted her 213 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:28,080 Speaker 1: in his home. He heard her case and her brother's position, 214 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: and got to work turning the wheels of bureaucracy in 215 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 1: their favor. Soon enough, Nettie was catching a train to 216 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:36,360 Speaker 1: the war hospital to pass along the good news to 217 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 1: her brother in person. That night, when she returned to 218 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: the Foster's house, Nettie joined a seance that included officials 219 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: from across the government. During that session, Foster turned to 220 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 1: her while in a trance. Through him, the voices of 221 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:53,680 Speaker 1: the spirits told Nettie that she would succeed in sending 222 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: her brother home, but that she had other greater work 223 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:00,160 Speaker 1: to do in the capital. In the following days, he 224 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 1: pressed the furlough order from official to official, while in 225 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:08,440 Speaker 1: the evening, the spirit messages became more insistent. During these sittings, 226 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,520 Speaker 1: Nettie said she met the most powerful physical mediums in 227 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 1: Washington through introductions to Foster's friends, until finally Nettie herself 228 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,760 Speaker 1: was overcome During a seance, an unknown spirit announced to 229 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 1: the circle that Nettie should go to Lincoln herself. The 230 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: officials in the seance circle took this message seriously, as 231 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: they had all the other lectures and communications. They urged 232 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: Nettie to arrange a meeting with the presidents, and they 233 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 1: even offered to help her. She's still declined, but they 234 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 1: were convinced of the faded nature of the spirit's instructions. 235 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: It was only a matter of time before the circle 236 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:48,400 Speaker 1: made the arrangements anyway. Among Nettie's new spiritualist acquaintances were 237 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: the medium's Cranston Laurie and his daughter Belle Miller, who 238 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:56,000 Speaker 1: knew the Lincoln's personally through Kentucky friends. Cranston had worked 239 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: in the Post Office when it was building experimental telegraph 240 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: lines between baltim Or and Washington. By befriending Nettie, it 241 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,040 Speaker 1: seems that he also decided to open a depot in 242 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: his own home for a spiritual telegraph between heaven and Earth, 243 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: and it was through Cranston that Nettie finally received word 244 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 1: Mary Todd Lincoln had asked to see a trance medium. 245 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: Nettie could not be pushed. That much was clear, but 246 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 1: this was a poll and one that she could not decline. 247 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: As far as Cranston and Bell were concerned, Nettie Colburn's 248 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: moment had arrived. Spiritualists had to keep up the fight 249 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 1: even as the war raged on Ohio. Spiritualist author Hudson 250 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:47,160 Speaker 1: Tuttle wrote Reams of anti radical, anti reform articles in 251 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: May of eighteen sixty two. He complained that the universal 252 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 1: grasp of spiritualism has gathered the floating rubbish of the 253 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 1: seas of mankind. This was his view on spirit messages 254 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:01,920 Speaker 1: that argued for liberty. The land reformer was sure the 255 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: spirits were land reformers, he wrote. The advocate of women's 256 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 1: rights was equally sure that they advocated his hobby. And 257 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: even in the midst of the conflict, The Banner of 258 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: Light published Tuttle's opinions. He wasn't alone north or South 259 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: on the matter of slavery and abolition. Reformers like Sojourn 260 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 1: or Truth and the Posts faced comments from Christian spiritualists 261 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 1: who believed that God permitted slavery and that it was 262 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,960 Speaker 1: part of a divine law. They were the kinds of 263 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 1: positions that had pushed Isaac and Amy Post out of 264 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:37,280 Speaker 1: their religious tradition in the first place. The anti reform 265 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: impulse of men like Tuttle was echoed and reinforced among 266 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: many of the mediums we've already met. Cora, for example, 267 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: hosted the spirit of Thomas Jefferson at One Spirit Lecture 268 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: in May of eighteen sixty one. Through her, his voice 269 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: criticized radicals and told them to stop fighting against slavery. 270 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,480 Speaker 1: When his persona argued that the war was the result 271 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: of slaveholders bigotry clashing with the reformers fantasism, Cora's Thomas 272 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:07,240 Speaker 1: Jefferson offered listeners the sort of blame for both sides 273 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:11,479 Speaker 1: that's all too familiar and disheartening today. And just like 274 00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 1: the pulpits and public squares across the nation, the seance 275 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: table and the Spiritualist lecture were battlegrounds. The grip of 276 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 1: slaveholder power and white supremacy still choked out real condemnations 277 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 1: of the expansion of slavery that came with the Kansas 278 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 1: Nebraska Act, the Fugitive Slave Act, the Annexation of Texas, 279 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:34,119 Speaker 1: and the Mexican War, and everywhere it traveled. Both in 280 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: the United States and across oceans. Spiritualism was deeply and 281 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: inescapably political. As the question of slavery split the nation, 282 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:47,240 Speaker 1: so it split spiritualists as well. So it's not so strange, 283 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:50,960 Speaker 1: after all that spiritualist believers in positions of power would 284 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 1: turn to the other world for guidance. In Washington, d c. 285 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: Those spiritualists heard the voices of dead soldiers, dead presidents, 286 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:02,879 Speaker 1: and lamenting profits. But when Cranston Laurie pulled up to 287 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:06,360 Speaker 1: the Foster's house in an unusually elegant carriage to bring 288 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: Nettie to a seance, it was a surprise to her. 289 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:12,920 Speaker 1: Cushioned by Crimson Satin on the road, Nettie would later 290 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,520 Speaker 1: write that she should have known what was coming, but 291 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 1: she was so distracted by the trouble of getting her 292 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 1: brother the proper travel papers that she barely noticed that 293 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 1: the carriage door was opened for her by a well 294 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 1: dressed footman. When she arrived at the Laurie's house, Nettie 295 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 1: was greeted by a circle of new faces. The Secretary 296 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:34,120 Speaker 1: of Interior, the Chief Clerk of the Treasury, a Commissioner 297 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 1: of Agriculture, a congressman from Maine, and of course Mary 298 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 1: Todd Lincoln. From their very first meeting. The thing that 299 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:46,399 Speaker 1: Nettie remembered was Mary Lincoln's eagerness. She was determined to 300 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:48,879 Speaker 1: hear from the spirits. In fact, it made Nettie so 301 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:51,879 Speaker 1: nervous that Mrs Lincoln spent the first few minutes trying 302 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: to calm the medium by assuring her that her family 303 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,119 Speaker 1: would be taken care of. Her brother was sure to 304 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:01,320 Speaker 1: get his furlough and travel home. When Nettie had settled 305 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:04,159 Speaker 1: into a seat and the believers gathered around her, a 306 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:08,439 Speaker 1: new and powerful influence took possession of her body. It spoke, 307 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,680 Speaker 1: she later wrote, with great clearness and force. When Nettie 308 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,879 Speaker 1: finally came back to herself, Missus Lincoln was exclaiming to 309 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:18,719 Speaker 1: the men in the room, this young lady must not 310 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: leave Washington. She must stay here, and mister Lincoln must 311 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:26,640 Speaker 1: hear what we have heard. To keep Nettie in the capital, 312 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 1: Mary Lincoln turned to the Commissioner of Agriculture and told 313 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,600 Speaker 1: him to find Nettie a position in his department, but 314 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 1: she hardly had time to claim the role. Two days later, 315 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,719 Speaker 1: Nettie received a second invitation from the First Lady, this 316 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: time to hold a seance inside the White House, if 317 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 1: her memory was right. When she finally wrote her memoir, 318 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,280 Speaker 1: she arrived in the Red Parlor for the first time 319 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:51,880 Speaker 1: in December of eighteen sixty two. When the group filed in, 320 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: Mary Lincoln met them. Cranston Laurie's daughter, Bell was with them, 321 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 1: and while the group talked, she sat down at the piano. 322 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:02,159 Speaker 1: A march began to play, and soon, as the piano 323 00:20:02,359 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: so often did under Bell's hands, the whole instrument began 324 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:08,919 Speaker 1: to rise from the floor, but everything fell silent, and 325 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,320 Speaker 1: the instrument landed back on the floor the moment Abraham 326 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: Lincoln stepped into the doorway. One by one, the mediums 327 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: were introduced to the President. As Nettie describes it, he 328 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,520 Speaker 1: laid his hands on her head, saying, so this is 329 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:26,360 Speaker 1: our little Nettie. Is it that we have heard so 330 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,640 Speaker 1: much about? The pair talked for a few minutes, Lincoln 331 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:34,520 Speaker 1: asking about Nettie's understanding of spiritualism, although she was hardly 332 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:36,440 Speaker 1: able to squeak out more than a yes or no. 333 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:41,040 Speaker 1: Cranston Laurie stepped forward to explain how they ordinarily conducted 334 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,440 Speaker 1: their seances, but even as he did, Nettie fell into 335 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 1: a trance, it was time for the Congress of the 336 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 1: Spirits to be heard. In her memoir, Nettie wrote that 337 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:53,960 Speaker 1: the spirits lectured through her for more than an hour, 338 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 1: and they urged the President to go forward with something 339 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: that he was already considering, the Emancipation Acclamation. He was charged, 340 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:06,399 Speaker 1: she later wrote, with the utmost solemnity and force of manner, 341 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,199 Speaker 1: not to abate the terms of its issue, and not 342 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 1: to delay its enforcement as a law beyond the opening 343 00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:14,720 Speaker 1: of the year, and he was assured that it was 344 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:19,439 Speaker 1: to be the crowning event of his administration and his life. 345 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,200 Speaker 1: Nettie never forgot what she saw when she came back 346 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,360 Speaker 1: to herself. She stood in front of the President, who 347 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:28,680 Speaker 1: was sitting back in his chair with his arms folded 348 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,720 Speaker 1: on his chest, looking intently at her. Silence had settled 349 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 1: like a blanket over the room. Eventually the others began 350 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,639 Speaker 1: to question Lincoln. They circled him and muttered commentary that 351 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,960 Speaker 1: Nettie couldn't hear, but Lincoln said very little until the 352 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: flurry died down. Then he approached Nettie and thanked her. 353 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 1: He shook her hand, kindly, bowed to the rest, and 354 00:21:52,640 --> 00:22:05,680 Speaker 1: then vanished from the room. It wasn't the last time 355 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,680 Speaker 1: Neddie would see Lincoln. Of course, there was no question 356 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:11,320 Speaker 1: that it was Mary Lincoln who was the most enthusiastic 357 00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 1: about spirit communication, but that impulse had been planted by 358 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:20,919 Speaker 1: her friend Elizabeth Keckley. Here's historian Margaret Washington. Abraham Lincoln, 359 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,119 Speaker 1: after his son Willie died, went to a spiritualist. His 360 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:29,320 Speaker 1: wife convinced him to go, and she became interested in 361 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 1: spiritualism because her what would you call this woman dressmaker? 362 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:36,760 Speaker 1: She was more than a dressmaker. She was a confidance. 363 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,919 Speaker 1: She was a dressmaker. She dressed her hair. But she 364 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 1: was a former slave. Her son had passed for white 365 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 1: so he could join the Union Army at a time 366 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: when they weren't taking black people, and and he was 367 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:56,440 Speaker 1: killed almost immediately. And that was her only child. So 368 00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: spiritualism was very important to her. And then after Willie 369 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:05,640 Speaker 1: Lincoln died, then she introduced Mary Todd Lincoln to spiritualism, 370 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: and Mary Todd Lincoln took it very seriously. Lincoln, for 371 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,440 Speaker 1: his part, seems to have indulged his wife's enthusiasm at times. 372 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: He even made playful examinations of the spirit manifestations in 373 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:21,520 Speaker 1: Cranston Laurie's circle. Most famously, in the winter of eighteen 374 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 1: sixty three, he appeared with Mary unexpectedly at a seance 375 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,960 Speaker 1: circle that was being hosted at the Laurie's home. Neddie 376 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 1: was there that night too, and she was controlled by 377 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 1: the spirit of a doctor who recommended that Lincoln take 378 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,440 Speaker 1: a tour of the battle front to raise the dwindoline 379 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,200 Speaker 1: morale of the Union troops. But she wasn't the only 380 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:43,440 Speaker 1: medium working that night. Cranston's daughter Bell had once again 381 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: sat down at the piano. As she played, under the 382 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,160 Speaker 1: control of the spirits, her piano began to rise and 383 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,320 Speaker 1: fall in time with the music. Then Bell stood up 384 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 1: and rested an outstretched arm on the piano as it 385 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:58,399 Speaker 1: continued to move on its own. That's when Lincoln stepped 386 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,680 Speaker 1: toward it. He leaned down to see what he could 387 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,680 Speaker 1: detect beneath it. He swept his arm under the raised 388 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 1: legs of the piano, but didn't find anything. Turning to 389 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,680 Speaker 1: the group with a mischievous smile, he said, I think 390 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: we can hold down that instrument, and he turned and 391 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:17,760 Speaker 1: jumped on top of the piano. A congressman from Mayne 392 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: followed his lead along with a few others, but even 393 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: with the added weight, the piano kept rising and falling 394 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:25,879 Speaker 1: in time with the music. No one in the group 395 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:28,919 Speaker 1: could find a hidden device causing the motion either. The 396 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 1: spiritualists there later remembered hearing Lincoln say that he was 397 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:36,919 Speaker 1: perfectly satisfied that the movement was caused by some invisible power. 398 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:41,160 Speaker 1: In a later conversation with Cranston Laurie, Lincoln would say 399 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: that he could neither confirm nor deny the spiritual origin 400 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:47,440 Speaker 1: of the powers he had seen, whether they spoke through 401 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: Nettie or levitated a piano. From time to time, though 402 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,280 Speaker 1: he would pause from his duties to hear a spirit 403 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:56,280 Speaker 1: lecture from Nettie if she was visiting Mary Lincoln in 404 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: the White House. In his loyally way, this was the 405 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 1: most Lincoln ever seemed to say about the question of spiritualism. Usually, 406 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 1: it seems he was merely a silent spectator. Looking back, 407 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: we can see how other concerns must have required his 408 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: full attention. The word eventually got out, though, that the 409 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:19,520 Speaker 1: President was sometimes willing to hear from the spirits. Even 410 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: before that, rumors with a venomous tone were often launched 411 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:25,560 Speaker 1: by his critics who saw an opportunity to accuse the 412 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:30,040 Speaker 1: president of demonizing the country. In eighteen sixty three, one 413 00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:33,959 Speaker 1: anonymous author published a short book under the title Interior 414 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,880 Speaker 1: Cause of the War, The Nation Demonized and its President 415 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:42,560 Speaker 1: a spirit Rapper. It may have pushed some away from Lincoln, 416 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,639 Speaker 1: but it also brought spiritualists to his cause. The various camps, 417 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: from trans lecturers to the traveling healers and the private mediums, 418 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: finally drew together enough to hold a National Spiritualist Convention 419 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty four, bringing members from across the Northern States, 420 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: and it served a fuel Lincoln's reelection campaign because it 421 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:07,280 Speaker 1: wasn't just one meeting, but tides of rallies and conventions 422 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:11,000 Speaker 1: that gathered spiritualists together. And once they were under one roof, 423 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: they talked just as much about politics as they did 424 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:18,479 Speaker 1: about theology. Just as they had in Rochester in eighteen 425 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:21,960 Speaker 1: forty eight, the Spiritualists agreed on a thunderous call for 426 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 1: perfect and entire equality of rights between the sexes. Liberty 427 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:30,080 Speaker 1: was the responsibility of the harmonious men and women who 428 00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: followed the spirits. Like the front page of Frederick Douglas's 429 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,959 Speaker 1: North Star from sixteen years before they rejected the idea 430 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: that sex, in any instance whatever confers the slightest authority. 431 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:46,720 Speaker 1: The remaining spiritualist who rejected the reform causes of Lincoln's 432 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 1: platform withdrew from the public meetings as the war advanced, 433 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,680 Speaker 1: but some warmed up to his leadership. Cora, who had 434 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 1: begun the war by channeling a Thomas Jefferson who pitted 435 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:00,239 Speaker 1: both sides against each other, was channeling different voices. By 436 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty three. She found herself frequently under the control 437 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,120 Speaker 1: of a popular Boston abolitionist who had died in eighteen 438 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:10,520 Speaker 1: sixty one of the men whose fantasism had been condemned 439 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:14,240 Speaker 1: by her, Thomas Jefferson. By eighteen sixty three, with two 440 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:17,280 Speaker 1: years of the war behind her, Cora now channeled the 441 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:20,639 Speaker 1: spirit that cried out for and I quote, a holy 442 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: crusade to eliminate slavery and redeemed the land from its 443 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:29,480 Speaker 1: bondage and its sin. This new message directly aligned her 444 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:33,720 Speaker 1: with the radical Republicans and their liberal social reforms, and 445 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 1: with President Lincoln's rhetoric about the war. In fact, Lincoln 446 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: spoke of the fighting as a national blood sacrifice that 447 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 1: might cover the nation's sins of slavery, which of course 448 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:48,640 Speaker 1: had been sojourner Truth's message for years. In fact, few 449 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: traveling speakers campaigned harder for Lincoln's reelection than she did, 450 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,440 Speaker 1: but other spiritualists did join her at meetings across the Northeast. 451 00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: Once Neddie Colburn was a featured speaker at a camp 452 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,640 Speaker 1: Pane rally. In her trance, the Spirits offered his gathered 453 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:07,200 Speaker 1: supporters the kind of certainty that forecasters today are always 454 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:12,880 Speaker 1: hoping for. The spirits were certain that Lincoln would win. Later, 455 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 1: Sojourner traveled to Washington and met with Lincoln, but their conversation, 456 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,639 Speaker 1: as far as we know, was little more than a 457 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:24,200 Speaker 1: brief exchange of courtesies. Other mediums, though, would get far 458 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:28,480 Speaker 1: closer to the president, and not always for the best. 459 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 1: His first seances were sensations. They were less your loving 460 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:44,920 Speaker 1: father wants to tell you he loves you, and more 461 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,480 Speaker 1: a wealthy murder victim can guide you to their buried treasure. 462 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: But the instructions he offered led his visitors to nothing 463 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 1: more than New York dirt. In his early days as 464 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:58,960 Speaker 1: a medium, John Conklin was an object of mockery, but 465 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:02,640 Speaker 1: he blamed the impish spirits. They were tricking him as 466 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:05,720 Speaker 1: well as his visitors, or so he said, at least 467 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 1: the dead word. Just having a laugh at the expense 468 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: of the living. That was what Conklin claimed about the spirits. 469 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 1: But I think it tells us more about his own 470 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: way of thinking. Even though he tried to pass the buck, 471 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,600 Speaker 1: John still got out of town and he made his 472 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 1: way to New York City. That's where, in his first 473 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:28,000 Speaker 1: campaign for the presidency, Abraham Lincoln anonymously visited John Conklin 474 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:31,320 Speaker 1: several times. It might have been just a meaningless lark, 475 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: but a report on this visit was published in December 476 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty as one of the early attempts to discredit 477 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 1: Lincoln by connecting him to spiritualism. Some of lincoln spokespeople 478 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: denied the stories, of course, but Lincoln himself never tried 479 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,479 Speaker 1: to fight them, and why should he. There were plenty 480 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 1: of people who spent a free afternoon or two sitting 481 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:55,120 Speaker 1: with a medium in New York City. For his part, 482 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: John Conklin had managed to work his way into a 483 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:01,840 Speaker 1: mix of mediums and performers who entered tourists with their seances. 484 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 1: It hadn't been easy, but he had a special talent 485 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:08,400 Speaker 1: for it and a taste for magical performances that outpaced 486 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:13,160 Speaker 1: the religious devotion of other spiritualists. Here's historian John Busher. 487 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 1: He was sailor baker. He had various odd jobs. He 488 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:23,760 Speaker 1: was born well and up in New York I mean 489 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:29,320 Speaker 1: Upper New York City, near Bronx, and spent a long 490 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:33,880 Speaker 1: time working on the docks and in the ships. And 491 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:40,520 Speaker 1: he'd always been fascinated by magic performing magic. Apparently he 492 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 1: was an early adopter and transformed himself into a medium 493 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:50,640 Speaker 1: who used it to make a living. He also set 494 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:56,400 Speaker 1: up a kind of exhibition space, performance space, I guess 495 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 1: quite near Arnemus Museum, and he would come to that 496 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:05,640 Speaker 1: as part of their experience of the big city. They 497 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:10,800 Speaker 1: would visit Arms Museum, uh, they might take in some 498 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:16,640 Speaker 1: other sites, but they would also visit his spirit room. 499 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:20,280 Speaker 1: John Conklin's spirit room would become the place where plenty 500 00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:23,800 Speaker 1: of curious visitors would have their first encounters with the spirits. 501 00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 1: In fact, it was at John Conklin's table that Emma 502 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:29,360 Speaker 1: Harding had sat for that shocking seance that sent her 503 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:33,560 Speaker 1: running from the room in horror. While some spiritualists turned 504 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:37,080 Speaker 1: their attention to troubling national matters. New York was different. 505 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:39,960 Speaker 1: John and others joined together to put on a sort 506 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:44,000 Speaker 1: of spiritualist variety show. One medium might give a lecture, 507 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,440 Speaker 1: then a performer like Emma would play some music. Someone 508 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:50,240 Speaker 1: like John Conklin might even step up and invite some 509 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:55,920 Speaker 1: audience participation. John's spirit demonstrations always came with a dramatic twist. 510 00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:59,560 Speaker 1: When he received spirit messages, they were written backwards on 511 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:01,880 Speaker 1: sheets of paper, so they'd have to be held up 512 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,200 Speaker 1: to the light, and when the spirits would tilt and 513 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 1: turn tables around him. They would also ask him to 514 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:11,240 Speaker 1: do other things like open combination locks, channel spectral winds, 515 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,200 Speaker 1: and answer questions that curious visitors carried and sealed envelopes, 516 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:18,880 Speaker 1: lead boxes, or inside bars of soap, as you might 517 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 1: be able to tell. His claims about spirit power were 518 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:25,120 Speaker 1: more than a little slippery, but they were also undeniably fun. 519 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 1: By the end of the eighteen fifties, though, John Conklin 520 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,880 Speaker 1: wasn't just doling out his blend of performance, magic and 521 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 1: spiritual assayance in New York City. He had stints in Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, 522 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,680 Speaker 1: and more. He even took a short trip south to Nashville. 523 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:44,920 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty two, Conklin followed the Congress of the 524 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:48,000 Speaker 1: Spirits and the rumors of Influence to Washington, d C. 525 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:52,320 Speaker 1: At least once he'd heard generals and other government officials 526 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:54,840 Speaker 1: tried to use Neddie Coulvern as a means of getting 527 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: their concerns in front of President Lincoln. John Conklin thought 528 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:00,760 Speaker 1: that he had an even better idea, So he sat 529 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,280 Speaker 1: down at his desk in his boarding house room and 530 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:07,800 Speaker 1: started to write. Somehow, perhaps through one of Mary Lincoln's 531 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:12,160 Speaker 1: spiritualist friends, Conklin got a letter dropped into Abraham Lincoln's hand. 532 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:15,120 Speaker 1: It was written backwards, of course, and it was signed 533 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:18,360 Speaker 1: by Colonel Edward Baker, a senator who had died while 534 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:22,040 Speaker 1: commanding Union Army forces. His seats in the Senate had 535 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:25,600 Speaker 1: been Oregon's, but he had started his political career in Illinois, 536 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:30,280 Speaker 1: where he and Lincoln had been close friends. Apparently that 537 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:33,680 Speaker 1: note was enough to get Conklin a meeting with Lincoln. Soon, 538 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,440 Speaker 1: other mediums and writers were reporting that the New York 539 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:40,400 Speaker 1: magician turned spiritualist showman was in the circle of mediums 540 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 1: who made regular trips to the White House. In later years, 541 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:48,440 Speaker 1: Conklin and his friends would make some outlandish claims. Conklin 542 00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:51,240 Speaker 1: said that he held as many as thirty private seances 543 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,520 Speaker 1: at President Lincoln's request. Later, he would even go so 544 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: far as to tell Emma that through him, the spirits 545 00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:01,920 Speaker 1: had dictated the Emancipation Proclamation to Lincoln, letter by letter. 546 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 1: It's the kind of preposterous claim that highlights Conklin's theatrics 547 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,040 Speaker 1: with a pen and paper. In the context of his 548 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:13,320 Speaker 1: lifelong passion for tricks and sleight of hand, it's easy 549 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:16,560 Speaker 1: to laugh them off. But more reliable documents, like the 550 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:20,760 Speaker 1: private diaries of other politicians, confirmed that he offered Lincoln 551 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:24,080 Speaker 1: messages from his dead friend more than once, and those 552 00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:28,799 Speaker 1: letters did encourage Lincoln to end slavery. So maybe it's 553 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:33,040 Speaker 1: more a matter of exaggeration than outright lies. The stories 554 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,520 Speaker 1: took real seances that Conklin held with Lincoln and used 555 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:39,400 Speaker 1: them to the medium's advantage. But when it comes to 556 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,239 Speaker 1: disreputable kN men, Conklin was far from the worst who 557 00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:47,759 Speaker 1: entered Lincoln's White House. No, for that particular mark of distinction, 558 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:51,520 Speaker 1: we need to turn to someone new. Allow me to 559 00:34:51,640 --> 00:35:03,760 Speaker 1: introduce to you Charles J. Colchester. Charles Colchester rivaled Conklin 560 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,440 Speaker 1: for theatrics. He could read sealed letters, he could turn 561 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,120 Speaker 1: on the flash and style, crying out the names of 562 00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:14,360 Speaker 1: visitors deceased friends. Drums and banjo's would float around in 563 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:18,280 Speaker 1: the dark during his more public displays, making loud, annoying music. 564 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:23,239 Speaker 1: During his seances, his writing wasn't just lines of backward script. No. 565 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:26,480 Speaker 1: When Colchester did it, blood read letters would appear on 566 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:30,200 Speaker 1: his arms and forehead. There were many believers among those 567 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:33,480 Speaker 1: who sat with Charles Colchester for his seances too. By 568 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:36,520 Speaker 1: all accounts, he was charming and probably used the mark 569 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,520 Speaker 1: of his English birth to good effect as Emma Head, 570 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:42,399 Speaker 1: But there were plenty more people who saw something more 571 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: sinister in him. They saw him as the worst kind 572 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:48,840 Speaker 1: of fraud ster, someone who took advantage of grieving people 573 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:53,600 Speaker 1: to fill his pockets with cash. He began his march 574 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:56,560 Speaker 1: to the White House by befriending the First Ladies dressmaker 575 00:35:56,640 --> 00:36:00,520 Speaker 1: and confidante, Elizabeth Keckley. Once he gained hurt trust, he 576 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:03,040 Speaker 1: leaned on her to put him in front of Mrs Lincoln. 577 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:06,040 Speaker 1: All he needed was an introduction and then he could 578 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:11,200 Speaker 1: rely on his plentiful arsenal. Mary. Lincoln's beloved son Willie, 579 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:15,160 Speaker 1: was Colchester's first spirit manifestation, and soon enough he was 580 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:18,840 Speaker 1: exerting so much control over Mary that the President became concerned, 581 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:22,480 Speaker 1: so he called in some favors. Specifically, he asked the 582 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:27,440 Speaker 1: head of the Smithsonian Institution to investigate Colchester. When a 583 00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:29,960 Speaker 1: test wrapped up, he told the President that he couldn't 584 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:33,880 Speaker 1: find any illegal fraud in Colchester's displayed but just because 585 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:37,680 Speaker 1: there wasn't any evidence didn't mean everyone's suspicions went away. 586 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,720 Speaker 1: Lincoln next turned to his friend Noah Brooks, who pulled 587 00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:44,680 Speaker 1: Colchester aside and threatened to harm him if he didn't 588 00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:48,120 Speaker 1: leave Mary alone. He had good reason to be concerned too, 589 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:50,799 Speaker 1: you see. Even though they weren't able to collect good 590 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:53,920 Speaker 1: evidence to charge Colchester in court, the man had been 591 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:57,680 Speaker 1: blatantly open about his frauds. It was usually when he 592 00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:00,839 Speaker 1: got drunk a couple of pints in, and Colchester would 593 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:04,120 Speaker 1: start to make light of his spiritual consultations. He would 594 00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:07,839 Speaker 1: start loud to mocking conversations with the spirits about how 595 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:10,080 Speaker 1: many more drinks he ought to have, and then he 596 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:12,799 Speaker 1: would start talking about his real motive, the way he 597 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:17,759 Speaker 1: constantly worked his seance audiences for cash. He admitted to 598 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:21,440 Speaker 1: one politician that he often cheated fools. He laughed and 599 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,120 Speaker 1: said that it was so easy, but that's the problem. 600 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:28,280 Speaker 1: Colchester was constantly flying through his money. He made friends 601 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:31,160 Speaker 1: with the host of Washington's hard Party years, and was 602 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:33,480 Speaker 1: always on the lookout for the next mark who might 603 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:37,320 Speaker 1: be flush with cash and vulnerable to a conman's overtures. 604 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:42,439 Speaker 1: Despite all of this, it seems Colchester did have Lincoln's ear. 605 00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:46,200 Speaker 1: At least once or twice. Noah Brooks continued to watch 606 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,239 Speaker 1: the predator. He dropped in on his seances and hung 607 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:54,000 Speaker 1: around to undermine his meetings and conversations. It infuriated Colchester 608 00:37:54,239 --> 00:37:56,960 Speaker 1: so much that, once during a seance that Brooks had 609 00:37:56,960 --> 00:38:01,200 Speaker 1: forced his way into, Colchester physically attacked him. Even so, 610 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:05,920 Speaker 1: something must have changed after that. Maybe at some point 611 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:09,120 Speaker 1: Colchester dropped the cheery charisma that was the cover for 612 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:12,600 Speaker 1: all of his deceptions. Maybe he just became more insistent. 613 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:15,640 Speaker 1: Maybe he finally had a message to pass on that 614 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:19,799 Speaker 1: was actually believable. Whatever the case, at some point in 615 00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:22,680 Speaker 1: the spring of eighteen sixty five, in the days leading 616 00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:24,680 Speaker 1: up to the signing of the treaty that would end 617 00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:27,400 Speaker 1: the war. At Appo Mattos, Lincoln got one of the 618 00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:30,360 Speaker 1: many warnings from a government official that his life was 619 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:34,040 Speaker 1: under threat. It was, sadly nothing new, but this time 620 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:39,200 Speaker 1: Lincoln responded with the strange message. Yes, he said, Colchester 621 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:42,840 Speaker 1: has been telling me that it would be natural for 622 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:45,520 Speaker 1: Lincoln to have ignored the warnings. From the time he 623 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:48,520 Speaker 1: took office, Spiritualist had been flooding his mail room with 624 00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:53,240 Speaker 1: letters of warning alongside demands, request for favors, and plenty 625 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:57,719 Speaker 1: more too. A correspondent secretary responsible for checking the president's 626 00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:02,680 Speaker 1: mail later remembered that and I quote, Spiritualist favored him constantly, 627 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:06,520 Speaker 1: and I still have in my possession urgent epistles signed 628 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:09,560 Speaker 1: with the facts simile signatures of half the dead worthies 629 00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:13,120 Speaker 1: in our history, not to speak of sundry communications from 630 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:17,200 Speaker 1: the Apostles and the Angel Gabriel. Of course, most of 631 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:19,720 Speaker 1: these letters ended up in the trash, although a few 632 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:23,480 Speaker 1: still remain. Among them are dire warnings of plots against 633 00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:27,239 Speaker 1: Lincoln's life. So yeah, it only made sense for the 634 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:30,279 Speaker 1: president to dismiss the eager ramblings of a man he 635 00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:34,520 Speaker 1: distrusted as much as Colchester but despite the con man's 636 00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:37,560 Speaker 1: litany of frauds, this was one case in which Lincoln 637 00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:39,600 Speaker 1: would have done well to take his words to heart. 638 00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:44,759 Speaker 1: Not because of any kind of spiritual wisdom or special revelations. No, 639 00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:48,960 Speaker 1: the voice murmuring in Colchester's ear was far more mundane 640 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:52,640 Speaker 1: than that, and it was also more dangerous because Colchester 641 00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:55,279 Speaker 1: was in a unique position to know precisely what he 642 00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:59,400 Speaker 1: was talking about. You see, one of Colchester's closest friends, 643 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:02,480 Speaker 1: a drink partner and an associate, on his late nights 644 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:05,680 Speaker 1: of carousing with someone who had been telling Colchester about 645 00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:10,160 Speaker 1: plans so dark that even the compulsive trickster himself couldn't 646 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:13,240 Speaker 1: help but fill the chill of fear. And this drinking 647 00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:17,480 Speaker 1: associates name will sound all too familiar to most of us, 648 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:25,200 Speaker 1: an aggrieved Maryland actor named John Wilkes Booth. That's it 649 00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:29,279 Speaker 1: for this week's episode of Unobscured. Stick around after this 650 00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,600 Speaker 1: short sponsor break for a preview of what's in store 651 00:40:32,719 --> 00:40:41,760 Speaker 1: for next week. Next time on Unobscured. Without her father's schemes, placebos, 652 00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:45,760 Speaker 1: and outright poisons rattling on the margins of every seance, 653 00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:48,400 Speaker 1: Victoria was able to give her full attention to her 654 00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:52,600 Speaker 1: clients and the spirits, and those clients paid for nothing 655 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:56,480 Speaker 1: but her time, her words, and her sympathetic ear. From 656 00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:59,319 Speaker 1: our vantage point today, it's easy to see her work 657 00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:03,160 Speaker 1: as something psychotherapy. But while the physical wounds of war 658 00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,600 Speaker 1: were terrible, Victoria was most haunted by the stories she 659 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:09,759 Speaker 1: heard from women whose lives sounded so much like her own. 660 00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:14,200 Speaker 1: Victoria would go on to spend the coming decades writing 661 00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:18,200 Speaker 1: down accounts of abuse of marriages and terrorized wise women 662 00:41:18,239 --> 00:41:21,480 Speaker 1: who hated their husbands but were forced into sex and motherhood. 663 00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:24,640 Speaker 1: They didn't want young women who were abandoned to fend 664 00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:29,000 Speaker 1: for themselves, And in all these dark mirrors Victoria saw 665 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:33,279 Speaker 1: the suffering of her own life reflected back. Perhaps that's 666 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:36,480 Speaker 1: why it didn't take much encouragement from James for Victoria 667 00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:40,560 Speaker 1: to turn her talents away from personal consultations. She had 668 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:44,120 Speaker 1: started thinking about how a larger platform as a spiritualist 669 00:41:44,520 --> 00:41:46,640 Speaker 1: might give her the chance to fight for the rights 670 00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:50,960 Speaker 1: of all women. As a former army officer, James could 671 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:54,400 Speaker 1: see it too. The fight for reform would indeed be 672 00:41:54,560 --> 00:42:01,000 Speaker 1: a battle, necessary but difficult, and Victoria, he believed, would 673 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:20,560 Speaker 1: lead the charge. Unobscured was created by me, Aaron Mankey 674 00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:23,960 Speaker 1: and produced by Matt Frederick, Alex Williams, and Josh Thane 675 00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:27,480 Speaker 1: in partnership with I Heart Radio. Research and writing for 676 00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:29,640 Speaker 1: this season is all the work of my right hand 677 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:32,880 Speaker 1: man Carl Nellis and the brilliant Chad Lawson composed the 678 00:42:32,920 --> 00:42:37,200 Speaker 1: brand new soundtrack. Learn more about our contributing historians, source 679 00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:40,480 Speaker 1: material and links to our other shows over at history 680 00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:45,480 Speaker 1: unobscured dot com, And until next time, thanks for listening 681 00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:55,480 Speaker 1: Unobscured as a production of I Heart Radio and Aaron Monkey. 682 00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,279 Speaker 1: For more podcast for My Heart Radio, visit i heeart Radio, app, 683 00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:00,840 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.