Andrews, Mary (ca. 1871)
Andrews, Mary (ca. 1871)
One of the earliest mediums for materialization. She was a plain, uneducated woman of Moravia, near Auburn, New York. Her seances were held in the house of a farmer named Keeler. In the dark seances, questions were answered by spirit lights, the piano was sounded, water was sprinkled into the faces of the sitters, they were touched by phantom hands, and spirit voices were heard. In the light seances, the second part of the exhibition, the medium sat in a cabinet, and busts, arms, and hands materialized, the lips of phantom faces were seen in motion, and, despite the dim light, many departed relatives were recognized.
T. R. Hazard, Epes Sargent, and Eugene Crowell provided accounts of Andrews's sittings, while John W. Truesdell offered a very critical appraisal of her seances.
Sources:
Crowell, Eugene. The Identity of Primitive Christianity and Modern Spiritualism. N.p., 1874.
Hazard, T. R. Eleven Days in Moravia. N.p., n.d.
Sargent, Epes. Proof Palpable of Immortality. N.p., 1875.
Truesdell, John W. The Bottom Facts Concerning the Science of Spiritualism. 1883. Reprint, New York, 1884.