The Psychic Next Door (Part 2 of 2)

(Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) What made a psychic a psychic in turn-of-the-century Worcester?  More specifically, was there a typical profile common to members of Worcester's clairvoyant community.  My inquiring mind wanted to know, so I did a bit of research on Ancestry.com.  I searched some of the names I found in the city directories in the U.S. Census.  I also did a general search using "clairvoyant" under keyword and "Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts" under location which pulled up quite a lot.  I also did a general search in GenealogyBank, but unfortunately the more widely circulated Worcester newspapers are not indexed on GenealogyBank.  Not surprisingly, I did find lots of articles on clairvoyants in newspapers from across the country.  In general it seems when they weren't busy assisting in missing persons cases, they were in trouble with the law for one reason or other.

As far as Worcester's psychics go, I noticed a number of the women were older, often widows or divorced.  Many lived alone or in boarding houses.  I think it might be easy to be judgmental, and assume all psychics were con artists trying to make a quick buck at the expense of their customers.  While I'm sure that may be so for some my guess is many of the women, perhaps women with no education or limited financial resources, were trying to make a living as best they knew how.  A certain percentage probably believed they had a true gift.  Others may have had a flare for the dramatic. One woman lived with her adult son and his young family.  The son's profession is listed in the census as "actor."  And yes, I do know I found the correct people in the census, because for most of the people listed their profession is actually given as clairvoyant or spiritual medium.

Many, though not all, of Worcester's clairvoyants lived or had their business establishments in the downtown area with easy access by public transportation.  I love this business listing I found in the Worcester city directory for 1905.

MRS. DR. L. B. SMITH
Electric and Botanic Physician and
Medical Clairvoyant.
656 Pleasant St. Worcester, Mass.
Office Hours: 10 A.M. to 12P.M. and
1.30 to 4.30 and 7 to 8 P.M.
Wednesday and Friday Evenings reserved
'Phone call 2825-2
Diagnosis of Diseases by lock of hair $1.00.
Name, age and location of the person required.
The June and Tatnuck Electric
Cars pass the door every 7 to 10 minutes.
Take the cars at the corner of Main
and Pleasant Streets.

Mrs. Dr. Smith worked nights and weekends, AND was on a trolley line.  I'm fascinated by the "Diagnosis of Diseases by lock of hair..." thing.  I will admit to being more than a bit curious as to her education and the source of her credentialing agency or institution.  One of the non-Worcester related articles I read on GenealogyBank was about a  court case concerning a particular psychic and her use of the word "physician".  Apparently an MD took exception to her rather liberal interpretation of the word.  Also what's interesting, I noticed that earlier city directory listings for physicians include a wide variety of clairvoyants and their various sub specialties.  The 1872 volume of the Worcester city directory includes the following specialists--eclectic physician, pulmonist, analytical, Thomsonian, movement cure, botanical, Indian, electrician, cancer and tumor.  Aren't you just curious for more details on each one of those specialties.  I can't help but think God help the poor souls who sought the advice of a "clairvoyant physician" for guidance regarding their cancer treatment.

While I lean towards the skeptical side of things regarding psychics I did have a really interesting "psychic" experience once.  The experience was strange enough to keep my mind open to the possibility that true psychics do exist.  Many, many years ago my mom and I went in to Boston shopping on a cold winter's day.  We took the bus into the city.  At the end of our shopping trip we were waiting in the old, dingy bus station which use to be on Essex St. trying to get warm before our bus came.  This older woman, who looked like what we use to call a bag lady in less enlightened times, sat in the seat next to us and started talking to us.  It was like she knew all about us.  She knew I was an only child.  She knew my dad was in the Navy.  The conversation, which was mostly one-sided on her part, was filled with accurate information about our lives.  Coincidence?  Maybe, but let's just say the experience was strange enough for me to still recall it thirty years later.    

Obviously this post is not an in depth study of spiritualism or even the spiritualists/clairvoyants in my own home town.  I am simply interested in learning about people and social patterns, and find this subject absolutely fascinating and thought I'd share a little bit of my own experience and what I learned researching the psychics in my town.  Is there a psychic in your family tree?  Were there psychics in your town?  Have you or a family member had an interesting experience with a psychic.  I'd love to know.

I see a blog comment in your future...


The Psychic Next Door (Part 1 of 2) - Halloween


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Amanuensis Monday: Clairvoyants and Distractions
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The Psychic Next Door (Part 1 of 2)

The Psychic Is In...

(Original Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette)

Was Your Granny A Medium?

Last winter I was reviewing some microfilm at the library and came across several ads in the classified section of the newspaper that caught my attention.  The ads were listed under the "Clairvoyants" section heading of the classifieds.  Here's one of them:

*****

THE TRUTH OR NOTHING
   I do not paint a picture of roses and sunshine for you when trouble and darkness is really about you. I do not gladden your ear for the sake of gold--for gold is not my God.
   One dollar may seem to you a great outlay, but when you stop and consider it will protect you against weakness and nervousness, troubles and worriment perhaps all the rest of your life.
   It will insure success to every hope, ambition and business venture.  It will bring about such conditions of happiness and contentment such as you may have never know before, and you will have confidence in yourself to have power over friends and foes, to make them do your bidding, which will be simply MARVELOUS.  It is truly a wonderful secret power.


AMERICA'S GREATEST SPIRITUALIST
168 Pleasant St.


CAN BE CONSULTED ON ALL MATTERS OF INTEREST, BUSINESS, LAW, LOVE OR MARRIAGE.  SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.


Special Offer Coupon to Ladies
   Cut this out and bring it to 168 Pleasant Street, Worcester, and receive a $3 reading for $1.  This coupon is good any time.  Save this for future reference.  Hours, 10 to 8 p.m.


Readings Will Be $3 and $5 After This Month

*****

Wow, AMERICA'S GREATEST SPIRITUALIST and a coupon!  AND all right here in Worcester! If you're like me, there's nothing better than a serious deal with a coupon to draw you in.  Let's just say that if I was in the market for psychic services all the other clairvoyants' ads would pale in comparison once I spotted that coupon.

On another visit to the to the library I noticed a business subject heading for "Clairvoyants" in a Worcester city directory.  I never knew clairvoyants had their own business listing in the city directory!  Not only that, there were a bunch of people listed.  I started to wonder, who the heck are all of these people?

I will admit, my fascination with the whole clairvoyant thing predates my more recent discoveries in old classifieds and city directories.  My husband refers to it as my "fascination with the strange, the mysterious, and the hard to believe."  How can you not love that stuff?  Frankly I thought, "Psychics! What a great topic for a blog post for October!"  It's kind of like peanut butter and jelly or Mom and apple pie.  Halloween and psychics--they just go together!  Plus you just can't go wrong with a good psychic story.

So back to my original question, who are these people?  I reviewed the "Clairvoyants" section of the Worcester city directories from 1900 through 1920 (Clearly I don't have enough to do with my time...).  Over a twenty year time period a total of 38 people, mostly women, are listed.  Not surprisingly, there are more clairvoyants listed in the earlier directories.  By 1920 there are only four clairvoyants still practicing the "craft."  What's interesting is many of these people were not fly-by-nighters ready to cash in on a quick buck and then move on.  Worcester's psychics were rooted in the community and sometimes lived in the city for years.

Here is a list of people who appear in the "Clairvoyants" section of the Worcester city directories business listings from 1900 to 1920.  Their years as active psychics (meaning the range of years for which they were listed in the directory) appear in parentheses.  I'm not including their business or home addresses, because not surprisingly, many of them moved around quite a bit.

Mrs. Sarah E. Ashton (1900-1916)
E.W. Bond (1902-1905)
Mrs. Katherine Brochwitz (1917-1919)
Mrs. M. Jennie Brown (1904-1909)
Mrs. Fannie Bruce (1904)
Freda Davis (1917)
Mrs. Sarah E. Deforest (1909-1910)
Mrs. Jennie Devoe (1900-1901)
Richard L. Drexel (1912)
Mrs. Reba Eames (1901-1914)
Dulsie B. Everton (1905)
Lucinda Gamage (1903)
Mrs. Gena F. Grant (1904-1905)
Herbert L. Harwood (1905)
Mrs. L.T. Jeffries (1905-1916)
Mrs. Helen W. Kenney (1912)
Mrs. Rose Laraney (1900-1901)
Madame G. LaRoche (1919-1920)
Maybelle Lefort (1908-1919)
Mrs. F.F. Linwood (1900-1905, 1916-1920)
Lillis Nichols (1913-1916)
Mrs. Annie M. Manning (1900-1913)
Mary Zinn Masia (1917)
Mrs. Alice A. Middlemas (1916-1920)
Mrs. Lillie O'Connor (1917-1918)
Annie M. Pentlaw (1903-1908)
S. Henry Prentiss (1900-1911)
Mrs. Christabel Rich (1905, 1908-1909)
Mrs. L.B. Smith (1903-1913)
Mrs. Julia A Spaulding (1900-1902)
Mrs. G.M. Spring (1901)
Mrs. Willard Stewart (1908-1920)
John B. Strand (1900)
Mrs. F. Washburn (1903-1904)
Mrs. Mary Ella Whitney (1900-1910)
Mrs. Mary A. Wilkins (1902-1903)
Clarence L. Willis (1916-1917)
Mrs. Lillie M. Zade (1918)


The Psychic Next Door (Part 2 of 2)


Other Posts You Might Like:

Amanuensis Monday: Clairvoyants and Distractions
COG 97: Researching "The Coldbrook Tragedy" (Part 1 of 4)
A Comedy of Errors: My Family in the Census (Part 1 of 3)
Reading the Classifieds - Amanuensis Monday

Amanuensis Monday: Clairvoyants and Distractions

(Copyright (c) 2010 Cynthia Shenette)

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

Thanks to John Newmark at Transylvanian Dutch for providing the idea for Amanuensis Monday.

Articles like this one are what distract me from my appointed task of reviewing microfilm for obits at the library. How can you not love this one? Read on...

Worcester Daily Telegram. Friday, September 10, 1915, page 9.

SPIRITUAL MEDIUMS AND CLAIRVOYANTS

They Organize the Liberal Thinkers Educational Society to Meet on Every Sunday

Spiritual mediums and clairvoyants of Worcester have organized a new society which will be called the Liberal thinkers educational society.

The society will meet every Sunday at 2 o'clock and 7, in Malta hall, 306 Main street. The meetings will be open to the public, and the men who have organized the association are arranging a program of seances which promise to be better than any ever seen in Worcester. Table-lifting mediums, message carriers, and all other kinds of spiritual experts will take part in the seances every Sunday, starting Sunday.

The society was started by M.B. Magoon, 21 Clinton street, and so far the membership is large enough to warrant meetings in public. Mr. Magoon is president of the association, and A.A. Kimball is vice president. Other officers have not been chosen. Directors are Drighton H. Dow, Frank Ellis and C.H. Stewart.

Mr. Magoon said, last night: "We have been at work a long time to bring about the organization of such a society or association, and at last our plans have materialized. The society will be non-sectarian, and the meetings will be open to the public. No admission fee will be charged, but we will have a silver collection at every meeting. The guests may give if they please, but we do not force them.

"We will stage some of the best seances ever seen in Worcester, and we are busy engaging mediums and trance experts from all parts of New England. We will also have some speakers at our meetings, and they will choose their topics from spiritual, socialistic and general topics. I mean socialistic, because we will have some socialists here to speak.

"The founders of the society are practically all what is called spiritual healers. This is a new science, but it is prospering in Worcester."

Gottcha! See, this one sucked you in too. Now get back to work!

There are hundreds of stories in the city and this is just one of them...


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