Research source

M. Rhys, a manufacturer of conjuring implements and himself an inventor of tricks, wrote the Davenpo

Date of account: Published 1924
Source: A Magician Among the Spirits
Reference: A Magician Among the Spirits · selected passage 35
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Then too his mother had the reputation of being possessed of so-called “second-sight” and he may have inherited traits which helped to make the life of a medium look attractive to him

Published source text

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Source passage

Source text · mention only

Then too his mother had the reputation of being possessed of so-called “second-sight” and he may have inherited traits which helped to make the life of a medium look attractive to him. At any rate, claiming the assistance of his mother’s spirit, he tried out his mediumistic powers at the homes of the neighbors with such success that before long he announced to his aunt that he was going to set up as a _professional Spiritualist_. The lady, a devout Trinitarian, was so shocked and disturbed, he tells us, that “in her uncontrollable anger she seized a chair and threw it at me.” But much as she disliked the idea of the young man becoming a medium his performances soon attracted so much attention that she was reconciled to his leaving her home in Norwich to go to Willimantic, Connecticut, where he began his life-long custom of living on the bounty of friends and dupes. His first feats were of the simplest kind such as are in the repertoire of every itinerant sideshow proprietor, but his success seems to have been instantaneous.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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