Research source

I then went home to my family and pondered over these strange things

Date of account: Published 1885
Source: The Missing Link in Modern Spiritualism
Reference: The Missing Link in Modern Spiritualism · selected passage 61
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

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

I then went home to my family and pondered over these strange things. Many were the conflicts in my own mind, and I heard the cry from all quarters of "humbug," "deception," "fraud;" but I could not believe that I wanted to deceive myself. Three months I thought of these things deeply, and _I could not go_ to Michigan. I concluded, if it was deception, it would do the world some good to find it out. The first of December, 1848, I moved from Waterloo to Rochester. A few days after getting here, the little girl spoken of came round to our house, and said that the "spirit" had directed her to come; for what purpose she did not know; we inquired what it was, and this was the communication: "I told thee if thee would come to Rochester, I would tell thee where thee could find employment: in four days from this time I will tell thee. In the meantime the anti-slavery folks are going to hold their fair; would it not be well for thee to help them?" No one was present at this time except my wife, the little girl, and myself.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This is a historical account assembled under the reporting and publishing conventions of its period. It may preserve testimony, hearsay, retelling and editorial interpretation together.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

A modern comparison can identify recurring descriptions and possible explanations, but the account is not treated as independently verified evidence merely because it appeared in print.

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