The Fox Sisters: The Michael Jordan's of the Spiritualist Movement

               I thought I would take a step back to the beginning of the Spiritualist movement this week and speak about the" founding sisters" and first mediums of Spiritualism. Margaret, Kate, and Leah Fox were the starters of the movement.

Margaret Fox Kate Fox Leah Fox.

These three sisters grew up in Hydesville, New York. They moved into their home there in the middle 1800's and not long after mysterious noises started to occur. There were loud banging noises and "rappings" that occurred late at night and woke up all of the family members. Like many other people the father, John Fox, passed the noises off as the house settling. This all changed whenever Kate and Margaret Fox started to divulge their experiences. Kate woke up saying that a cold hand had touched her face and Margaret said that her bed sheets had been pulled off of her bed. After Kate made contact with the "spirits" and they showcased the ability to mimic her rappings on the wall John Fox became even more afraid. Several other events occurred and John brought in neighbors and friends to witness said events.

An artist depiction of the Fox homestead.


It was said that while some neighbors where at the Fox household the maid unearthed a dark secret. That she had discovered some disturbed dirt in the basement. It is said that the family began to dig in that spot and found the remains of a peddler that was said to have disappeared at the home when the first occupants of the house the Bell Family lived there.

After this startling discovery the Fox sisters fame grew immensely. Margaret and Kate's medium like characters and their ability to communicate with the deceased spread rapidly and they became very popular in the Spiritualist world. By 1849 they were both giving public performances and the mania of Spiritualism swept the nation and took the Fox sisters along with them. The eldest sister, Leah, did not join the movement until later and acted as their manager.

Like many other mediums the Fox sisters credibility was question several times throughout the movement. The main critic of the Fox sisters was that the story of the peddler's disappearance and discovery in the cellar was fake. Critics said they perpetuated this story to help ad credence to their supernatural abilities.

Another drawing of the Fox House

The Fox sisters seances became more and more extravagant with tables levitating and spirits appearing. Several other mediums arose during this time including P.T. Barnum and James Fenimore Cooper.

 P.T. Barnum       James Fenimore Cooper

Like several other young stars who grow up in the limelight things didn't work out all that well for the sisters. Margaret married a young Arctic Explorer Elisha Kent Kane. Elisha died in 1857 and left Margaret broke and she turned to alcoholism.  Much like her sister Kate turned to alcoholism which had a detrimental effect on her performances. After several other trials and tribulations it is said that Kate drunk herself to death in 1892 and Margaret died a year later, penniless.

An illustration of the Fox Sisters being examined by Dr. Austin Flint


*http://www.prairieghosts.com/foxsisters.html
* http://www.prairieghosts.com/spiritualism.html

I would like to make a note that these websites are not scholarly by any means and don't offer a lot of contextual information but did an excellent job of giving a run down of just how important the Fox Sisters were to the movement. Later on I will discuss the Fox sisters using more scholarly materials but I just wanted to provide my readers with a background on who they were since I knew they were going to be mentioned quiet a lot.