The Holmestead Main Street Calais 1860s, home of the Historical Society
Mystics, mediums, soothsayers and those who claimed to have paranormal powers have been around since the Fox sisters of Hydesville New York claimed in the late 1840ss that they could communicate with the dead. Hundreds were drawn to their seances including many prominent citizens. According to an article in Salon magazine “For the next eight decades, spiritualism turned dining room tables across America into hubs of reverence and debates for believers and skeptics alike.” Mary Todd Lincoln hosted seances in the Red Room of the White House throughout Lincoln’s presidency to communicate with her son Willie who has died at the age of 11.
The St Croix Valley was as excited about the prospects of communing with deceased loved ones as the rest of the country. Nellie Holmes, the daughter of Job and Vesta Holmes who built and lived in the Holmestead wrote excitedly in her diary about a seance on December 3rd, 1851.
Wednesday, December 3rd, 1851: Mr. and Mrs. Boies were here to spend the day. After they went away Mrs. Porter came in she said she had been to hear the Spiritual Rapping this afternoon and this evening she said he made a pine table with four legs move, he was eleven years old. There was a gentleman there that spoke with them, the first question was: “Are there any spirits present?” and if there was, they rapped (when the answer is “yes”, they rap) and when the answer is “no” they remain silent. The spirit rapped then he asked him if he was a relative and rapped, he asked him if he died a natural death or unnatural and he rapped on unnatural. He named over fire and a good many other things and he rapped on fire and then they found out what age he was and it was two or three years old and he said sure enough he had a little boy burnt two or three years ago.Nellie also wrote that at least two of her classmates had paranormal powers and could move tables without touching them.
Early image of St. Andrews
This is not to say there weren’t many skeptics. The St. Andrews Standard reported on a performance by Miss Allen of Boston which left the audience less than impressed.
St Andrews Standard, July 6, 1843:
Mesmerism
On Saturday and Monday evening last Miss Allen, a young lady of Boston, delivered two lectures on Mesmerism, before a respectable audience, in the town Hall. After introducing the subject in which she alluded to the opposition it had met with reviewed its progress and alluded to the benefits that are to be derived from it, she mesmerized a young lady who accompanies her, and put her in communication with a gentleman of this place, in order to test her clairvoyant knowledge, which in this case proved to be tolerably good, but when put in the same relation with another gentleman he said that scarcely one answer out of five questions were correct. On Monday evening as before mentioned Miss Allen delivered a second lecture, and again threw the same young lady into a mesmeric state, and the replies generally with two gentlemen who were put in communication were very incorrect. In fact we believe that clairvoyance is a perfect humbug, nothing but guesswork; and that there is a certain mode of arranging the words in questions, which the mesmerizer puts to the mesmerized, in order to convey the idea of whether the article be sweet, sour, fruit, tobacco, etc., which the mesmerizer tastes.
Main Street Calais late 1800s
Advertisements for performances of Mesmerists and clairvoyants continued to appear in local papers throughout the latter half of the 19th century. A notice-too small to be read clearly announces a reading which may well have been associated with a clairvoyant. William and Mary Woods were well known for their belief in the paranormal and seances were often held over the store.. The store in the photo above is next to Beckett’s on Main Street. Calais was known locally at the time as a fertile ground for spiritualists. St Stephen’s St. Courier was skeptical but not willing to rule out completely that communing with the dead was possible. The paper promised to investigate.
St Croix Courier, May 16, 1872:
City of Calais
Spiritualism – For some weeks a belief in spiritualism has been increasing in Calais. These spiritualists hold meetings at several houses, and some of the revelations are truly wonderful to say the least.
There are several mediums, one of whom is under the control of Dr. Abernethy. Without any personal knowledge of anatomy or physiology he discourses upon the subjects in scientific style, prescribes for diseases, and scarcely ever fails to make out a correct diagnosis so far as can be learned by our inquiries. He has also at several seances conversed with those of whose deceased friends he knew nothing at all and has recalled to their minds incidents long forgotten by them. Disbelieve it as we do, there is yet something in spiritualism that gives it at least a claim to careful investigation as is shown by the actions of honest men whom we have known for years to be incapable of practicing deceit.
If natural laws cannot account for those revelations we hardly know where to turn for a solution of the problems presented by these spiritualists. We intend to be present in the flesh at one of these seances and shall give a report of the same.
It wasn’t until 1921 that the Courier announced the results of its investigation-but more on that later.
The Eastport Sentinel was always a skeptic on the subject and the paranormal was often ridiculed by the paper:
Eastport Sentinel, 1899:
Easily Explained: Skeptic: “You still believe in spiritualism, and yet, at the seance last night, the medium called up your grandmother, and she didn’t know how many daughters she had.” Believer: “Oh, well grandmother’s memory was getting very poor a few days before she died.”
Eastport Sentinel 1901:
British Museum Newton, the archaeologist, was a capital story teller. One is of a spiritualist seance, where an old cockney was informed that the spirit manifested was his deceased wife, whereupon the following dialogue took place:
“Is that you, ‘Arriet?”
“Yes, it’s me.’
“Are you ’appy, ’Arriet ?”
“Yes. very ’appy.’
“Appier than you was with me, ‘Arriet?”
“Yes, much ‘appier.’
“Where are you, ‘Arriet?”
“In ‘ell.”
The Arcadian Hotel, later the Mecca
1921 ad in Calais Advertiser
Leading spiritualists think that through the medium of spiritualist control a council of the dead will direct the affairs of the world. The outlook will not cause any enthusiasm to speak of. The dead, when they were alive, made many mistakes in guiding the affairs of the world, and from what mediums report of their sayings in the spirit realm, their passing of the gates of death did not add anything to their worldly wisdom. The living, after all, may be best qualified to care for the affairs of those who are alive.
As late as 1921 spiritualists and mediums came to St. Croix Valley but communing with the deceased was no longer the focus of their attention. Most were interested in knowing what awaited them in the future. Perhaps this was because the St. Courier had finally completed the investigation mentioned above and concluded it was a waste of time and effort talking to the dead. A cynical attitude perhaps but not without its logic.
1921 St Croix Courier:
Leading spiritualists think that through the medium of spiritualist control a council of the dead will direct the affairs of the world. The outlook will not cause any enthusiasm to speak of. The dead, when they were alive, made many mistakes in guiding the affairs of the world, and from what mediums report of their sayings in the spirit realm, their passing of the gates of death did not add anything to their worldly wisdom. The living, after all, may be best qualified to care for the affairs of those who are alive.