Research source

Wesley, seven daughters,--Emilia, Susannah, Maria, Mehetabel, Anne, Martha, and Kezziah,--a man servant named…

Date of account: Published 1908
Source: Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters
Reference: Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters · selected passage 29
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Wesley, seven daughters,--Emilia, Susannah, Maria, Mehetabel, Anne, Martha, and Kezziah,--a man servant named Robert Brown, and a maid servant known as Nanny Marshall

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

Samuel, Mrs. Wesley, seven daughters,--Emilia, Susannah, Maria, Mehetabel, Anne, Martha, and Kezziah,--a man servant named Robert Brown, and a maid servant known as Nanny Marshall. Nanny was the first to whom the ghost paid its respects, in a series of blood-curdling groans that "caused the upstarting of her hair, and made her ears prick forth at an unusual rate." In modern parlance, she was greatly alarmed, and hastened to tell the Misses Wesley of the extraordinary noises, which, she assured them, sounded exactly like the groans of a dying man. The derisive laughter of the young women left her state of mind unchanged; and they too gave way to alarm when, a night or so later, loud knocks began to be heard in different parts of the house, accompanied by sundry "groans, squeaks, and tinglings."

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This comes from historical psychical research. Methods, witness handling and standards of evidence differ from present-day research and should be assessed from the cited passage and edition.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

The passage can support a history of claims and recurring descriptions. It does not establish a paranormal mechanism, and competing psychological, social and physical explanations remain relevant.

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