Research source

southern sentinel (plaquemine, parish of iberville [la.]) 1848-1858 — spirit rapping

Date of account: Newspaper page published 1853-05-14
Location: plaquemine, louisiana, united states
Source: Chronicling America paranormal and anomalous-report excerpts
Reference: southern sentinel (plaquemine, parish of iberville [la.]) 1848-1858 · 1853-05-14 · page 1
Rights: public_domain
Language: English OCR
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

A 1853-05-14 newspaper page contains wording relevant to “spirit rapping”. This is historical reporting or commentary preserved by the Library of Congress; it is not treated as verification that the described event occurred.

Published source text

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Source passage

Source text · mention only

... insanity is traceable to the spirit rapping delusion, and that the whole number of such patients in the United States are estimated at no less than six hundred.— What good have the "spirits" done to counter balance this fearful evil i The Shirt Tree. —in the forests of Ororoco, there is tree which attains the height of fifty feet. The natives make shirts of the bark of this tree which requires only to he stripped off, arid to be deprived of its red and fibrous parts. The sbirt is thus formed without seam. The head is thrust through one end, and the iataral holes are cut to admit the arms. Na tives wear th««« shirts ...

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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