Fox Sisters

Entry in A Dictionary of Ghost Lore
The Fox sisters, Margret (1838-1893) and Kate (1841-1892) are claimed to have been the originators of spiritualism as an organized movement seeking to establish life after death. This followed their experiences during the last century at Hydesville in New York State. Their home was said to be haunted by a ghost that made strange rapping noises, and in 1848 the girls devised a means of apparently communicating with this spirit, whom they called "Mr. Splitfoot," by tapping out messages in code--different numbers of taps signifying specific questions and answers. As a result of the nformation received fromthe ghost, digging took place in the cellar of the Fox homeand a skeleton was found--seemingly verifying the spirit's sad story of its death and burial. Such was the sensation caused by this story that soon others were trying similar means of making contact with the dead--and spiritualism was born. The Fox sisters, however, led far from happy lives thereafter--at one time confessing that the events at Hydesville were all fraudulent and then almost immediately retracting this "confession." Nonetheless, they set in motions a movement now world wide. There are numerous studies of the Fox sisters and spiritualism in general, of which Spiritualism: Its History, Phenomena and Doctrine by J.A. Hill (1918) and Spiritualism Today by Maurice Barbanell (1969) can be recommended.