Psychics, Mediums, and Spiritualists

Beginning in the mid-19th century, Americans and Brits grew obsessed with ghosts. Inside the Spiritualist movement: its origins and its lasting impact.

A Spectre, artist unknown ca. early 1900s. An excellent example of Victorian spirit photography, in which photographers used tricks to make it appear as if they had captured a ghost in an image. © John Rylands Research Institute and Library

1848 was a year of upheaval in the Western world. Revolutions spread throughout Europe, as the people of Italy, France, the Netherlands, the Austrian Empire, and the German Confederation fought to overthrow archaic monarchies and abolish the remnants of feudalism.

In the United States, a quieter revolution was taking place. The call came not from peasants fighting for the end of serfdom, nor from citizens looking to topple a king: in the hamlet of Hydesville, New York, the message arrived from beyond the grave.

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The story goes that in March of 1848, Margaretta Fox (14) and her sister Catherine (11) began hearing strange sounds in their family’s farmhouse. Even stranger, the noises seemed to respond to their questions and commands. Maggie and Kate, as they were known, deduced that their home must be haunted.

Soon after, they invited a neighbor to visit; they claimed that the “spirit rapping” was most discernible at night. With their mother present, Maggie and Kate began communicating with the entity. They asked the spirit to count certain numbers, which was followed by the eerie sound of knocking throughout the room.¹

Patrons of the Gazette may find this tale familiar. This week, we launched our patron-only series on the Salem Witch Trials—another supernatural allegation levied by young girls. Had the Fox sisters been living in 1692, their ability to “speak” to the dead would surely have been viewed as demonic. But over 150 years had passed, and the United States had deviated drastically from the Puritans’ vision. Americans now enjoyed freedom of speech, freedom of the press—and crucially for the Fox sisters, freedom of religion.

This diversity of faiths was well embodied by the Burned-over District, a region of Western New York that earned its nickname because it was the epicenter of the Second Great Awakening. While the First Great Awakening of the mid-18th century was a Christian reaction against the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution (Jonathan Edwards’ 1741 sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” being a prime example), the Second Great Awakening was a pluralistic affair. Beginning in the early 1800s, this movement was influenced by Romanticism and emphasized a personal, emotional connection to spirituality. The term “burned-over” derived from the fiery sermons of religious leaders and “wild excitement” of congregations.²

It was here that the Fox family would send the girls. Rumors flourished about the haunted farmhouse in Hydesville, and the story evolved into a legend of a murdered man who wanted to communicate with the home’s residents. Perhaps out of fear, the girls’ parents sent them to live with their older sister and her husband in Rochester, a city that lied within the Burned-over District.

The Fox sisters. From left to right: Maggie, Kate, and Leah. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Their story, circulated in local newspapers, followed them to their new home. The rapping didn’t stop, either—and the Fox sisters’ psychic abilities, which seemed to have blossomed overnight, caught the attention of local Quakers. The Quakers were a progressive sect of Christianity whose members were early supporters of women’s suffrage and the abolition of slavery. Some prominent Quakers in Rochester championed the Fox sisters, and this early affiliation shaped the Spiritualist movement’s ties to abolition and women’s rights.³

On November 14th, 1849, the Fox sisters dazzled spectators with their spirit rapping at Corinthian Hall. Their older sister Leah, ever the entrepreneur, realized the commercial potential of mediumship and became the girls’ manager. The Fox sisters became famous mediums, traveling the country and spreading the new Spiritualist movement along the way. Forty years later, they would admit (and then take back) that the whole thing was a hoax.

Spiritualism was grounded in the belief that spirits continued evolving after death, and that they could be reached by skilled mediums. The movements’ early adherents were inspired by the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), a Swedish scientist and philosopher who began experiencing visions in his fifties. Swedenborg believed he was in communication with angels, whom he encountered in an altered state of consciousness achieved through special breathing techniques (akin to meditation). He extensively catalogued his experiences in a series of books, including Heaven and Hell (1758).⁴

Photograph of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by Walter Benington, ca. 1914. Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes series, was a devoted Spiritualist. In support of the movement, he published The History of Spiritualism in 1926. Via Wikimedia Commons.

An interesting aspect of the Spiritualist movement was that most psychics and mediums were women. Figures like Cora L. V. Scott, the Bangs sisters, and Etta Wriedt fascinated American audiences. (Wriedt and the Bangs sisters would later be exposed as fraudsters.) The movement would spread all over the world, though with particular enthusiasm in Britain. Famous Spiritualists included Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (bestselling author of the Sherlock Holmes series) and evolutionary biologist Alfred Russel Wallace, who is credited alongside Charles Darwin with formulating the theory of evolution.

The growth of Spiritualism in the United States can be partially explained by the Civil War (1861-1865). The war remains the United States’ bloodiest conflict, with an initial estimation of 620,000 soldiers killed (though some historians now believe the numbers are closer to 750,000 casualties, if not more).⁵ These estimates don’t include the tens of thousands of civilians who also perished during the conflict. With many Americans grieving the loss of a loved one, the prospect of contacting the dead would have held tremendous appeal—indeed, one adherent was First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.

But around the world, Spiritualism provided another balm to the soul: mystery and magic in a rapidly-industrializing era. A strictly-materialist view of the world is, for most people, deeply unsatisfying. But the mechanization of everyday life, the smog-enveloped skies, the proliferation of (often unsafe) factories, working by the clock rather than the rising sun—the new reality was the hiss of steam from a metal valve, whispering that one was merely a cog in the wheel. Spiritualism refuted that principle.

A 1909 poster for a performance by Harry Houdini, who ardently worked to expose fraudulent mediums. Via the U.S. Library of Congress.

Towards the end of the 19th century, between four and eleven million Americans identified as Spiritualists. The difficulty in finding more precise numbers lies with Spiritualism’s diversity—for some believers, Spiritualism sat neatly beside their Christian faith. For others, it was their sole religion. Additionally, in a world where women were excluded from religious leadership, the movement gave them a voice and a platform. Soon, Spiritualists began organizing conferences, lectures, and dedicated communities—most famously, Lily Dale, New York. Lily Dale was incorporated in 1879 and still stands to this day.

Of course, Spiritualism drew plenty of skeptics, and professional stage magicians like Harry Houdini worked to expose the many con artists and fraudsters who found their home within the movement. Houdini was particularly incensed by “mediums” who used stage tricks—all too familiar to a professional magician—to take money from desperate individuals who were consumed by grief.

The initial fervor of the Spiritualist movement would fade after the 1920s, but its impact on our culture has lingered into the present. Today, we still have psychic parlors, tarot cards, and occult shops. Children can still purchase Ouija boards. Interest in astrology has skyrocketed among young people.⁶ Despite the decline of traditional religion in the United States, 41% of American adults say they have become more spiritual over time, not less.⁷

Like the Spiritualists of the Victorian age, we too are living through rapid technological advancement, not all of which has been to our benefit. Perhaps the onslaught of social media, artificial intelligence, and the loneliness of a life online have encouraged some to search for greater meaning in the stars, as our ancestors did centuries ago. It’s easy to dismiss the silliness of horoscopes. It’s not so easy to ignore what some may characterize as desire, others as revelation—that we are more than an assemblage of atoms, and that the human spirit is a force that cannot be destroyed, only transformed. The names and faces and movements may change, but the mystery will endure.

1. Rochester knockings! : discovery and explanation of the source of the phenomena generally known as the Rochester knockings, (George H. Derby and Co., 1851), https://www.loc.gov/item/11004741/.

2. It was Charles Grandison Finney (1792–1875) who initially described this area of Western New York as “burnt” in his Autobiography, published posthumously in 1876: “I found that region of country what, in the western phrase, would be called, a ‘burnt district.’ There had been, a few years previously, a wild excitement passing through that region, which they called a revival of religion, but which turned out to be spurious.”

3. Abbott Kahler, “The Fox Sisters and the Rap on Spiritualism,” Smithsonian Magazine, October 30, 2012, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-fox-sisters-and-the-rap-on-spiritualism-99663697/.

4. The full text of Swedenborg’s Heaven and Hell can be found for free here.

5. Guy Gugliotta, “New Estimate Raises Civil War Death Toll,” New York Times, April 2, 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/civil-war-toll-up-by-20-percent-in-new-estimate.html.

6. Sydney Page, “Young people are flocking to astrology. But it comes with risks,” Washington Post, June 13, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/06/13/astrology-millennials-gen-z-science/.

7. Asta Kallo, “Around 4 in 10 Americans have become more spiritual over time; fewer have become more religious,” Pew Research Center, January 17, 2024, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/01/17/around-4-in-10-americans-have-become-more-spiritual-over-time-fewer-have-become-more-religious/#:~:text=Some%2041%25%20of%20U.S.%20adults,they%20have%20become%20less%20religious.