The Death-Blow to Spiritualism

Mysterious knocking sounds and the claims built around them are the focus of Reuben Briggs Davenport’s account of the Fox sisters. Writing with the stated authorization of Margaret Fox Kane and Catherine Fox Jencken, he presents their rejection of Spiritualism as evidence against the movement they helped establish. His opening traces the Rochester noises to a childhood trick, then argues that adult encouragement and financial interests turned it into a public enterprise.

The book combines personal testimony with an argumentative history of mediumship. In the middle excerpt, Davenport reexamines an investigation by three Buffalo doctors, distinguishing their theory about bodily joints from their assumption about which joint produced the sounds. Readers interested in disputes over supernatural claims can follow how he uses statements, documents and competing explanations to make his case. His forceful language also makes the volume useful as a record of controversy, with its conclusions clearly belonging to an outspoken participant.