LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - NOVEMBER 1, 2020 by Lynne Belluscio In 1848, a small pamphlet was published in LeRoy, written by Lucy Ann Seymour, a teacher at Ingham Collegiate Institute. Lucy relates a most curious event that happened in 1842. It seems that the ladies at Ingham were experimenting with supernatural experiences through hypnosis. A quick search indicates that the introduction of hypnosis, also known as animal magnetism, was introduced by Franz Mesmer in Germany in the late 1700s. His theories remained popular through the 1850s (and thus the term “mesmerized”). Perhaps it was knowledge about Mesmer’s experiments, that led the Ingham sisters to participate in a rather unusual event. The story at Ingham centers around a Miss Belvidere Stillson of Rochester who was living at Ingham as a “parlor boarder.” (whatever that means). The dates are important, because this is before Emily married Phineas Staunton and before they were living in the Ingham Cottage, so it must have been in the old Ingham building on the corner of Trigon Park – the former site of the high school. Lucy Seymour gave this account: “The event was to “magnetize” Miss Stillson and in Miss Inghams’ quiet little room, Mrs. Hayes, the Misses Ingham, Misses Lake Wright and myself being present, it was accordingly done. To our uninitiated minds, the result was truly marvelous. She described things which she could not see and had never seen, told the location of articles which we hid in another room, and gave some exposition of things which we believed she could not do when awake.” In the meantime, the Modern Spiritualism movement had its beginnings in a little town in Western New York. Two young sisters, Katie and Margaret Fox, began communicating with the “other world” through mysterious rappings and séances. They lived in a house in Hydesville, New York, which was known for strange noises and events. On March 30, 1848, eleven-year old Katie Fox snapped her fingers three times and called out: “Hey Mister Splitfoot, do as I do.” Three loud raps, from out of nowhere were heard. Katie’s 14 year old sister, Margaret, clapped her hands and said: “No do just as I do. Count one, two, three, four.” Four raps were heard. The sisters established a code and asked the spirit many questions. They claimed that the spirit was Charles B. Rosnam a 31- year old peddler with a wife and five children, who had been murdered in the house in 1843. News spread about the mysterious rappings. Five hundred people visited the house on one day alone. It was said that Mrs. Fox’s hair turned white within a week. The notoriety became too intense and the family moved to Rochester where the sisters continued to communicate with other spirits and began to perform in public, charging a fee to the curious. Committees were formed to investigate the authenticity of the mysterious rappings. The Fox sisters toured the country, and many famous people attended their séances including James Fenimore Cooper, William Cullen Bryant, and Horace Greeley. Back in LeRoy, the interest in Spiritualism grew. William Samson, wrote about Spiritualism in the community. He said that Emily Ingham was particularly involved with Spiritualism and often held séances, however, she was afraid of its negative connotation and kept her beliefs very quiet. Samson also said that it was Belvidere Stillson that influenced his father, Russell, to become involved with the movement. His father subscribed to the “Banner of Light” and other Spiritual literature. And there were other people in LeRoy who were involved – Stewart Chamberlain and his wife, and Elliott Stanley and his wife. The Rev George McKnight, rector of St Mark’s Church between 1850 and 1856, was not pleased with the Spiritualists in his congregation and Russell Samson was not allowed to take communion. T h e S p i r i t u a l i s t mo v eme n t c o n t i n u e d and became very popular during the Civil War, when grieving families wanted to communicate with their deceased soldiers. And whether Emily Ingham remained engaged with the movement after the death of both her sister and her husband in 1867 is not known. The Fox sisters died, amid scandal and stories of fraud. Never the less, the National Spiritualist Association moved into a former church in Rochester, near Plymouth Avenue in 1893. A historic marker, facing 490 on the west end of the bridge over the Genesee River marks the location of that church. Conjuring the Spirits in LeRoy Portrait in back parlor of LeRoy House by Phineas Staunton. Top right: Marietta Ingham; lower right: Emily Ingham; seated at piano: believed to be Emily’s twin sister, Julia; woman in white unknown; woman in yellow on left is supposedly Miss Seymour.