THE FOX SISTERS
With Psychs dating back to the mid 1800's there are many people who wonder if this rare ability is in fact true. The beginning of this claim was introduced by three sisters Kate, Maggie, and Leah Fox. Kate and Maggie first tricked their older sister Leah that they were communicating with spirits. Leah then took advantage of this trick, and managed their careers as spiritualists for quite some time. The three sisters went around giving readings to people, and convincing hundreds of people that spiritualism is real.
During the beginning of their new found "power", both younger sisters were sent to different houses. Maggie to her brothers house, and Kate to their older sister and manager Leah's house. Where they claimed that the rappings continued to happen. Soon after the two sisters were invited into the home of Amy and Isaac Post, the families Quaker friends. It tool no time at all for the Posts to buy into the scam. They soon spread the word throughout their Quaker community. After this the Quaker community became the early core of Spiritualism. As the two sisters became more popular they soon started attracting the media, although not in the way they would have liked. It was not long before there were many skeptics trying to prove their fraud. Such as Dr. Charles Grafton Page, who was a patent examiner of Washington D.C. Page had attended two sessions done by the fox sisters, at which he used his skills for detecting fraud to expose them in his book Psychomancy. Page noticed that the noises the sisters were claiming to be sprirts were coming from underneath their long dresses in which touched the floor. When Page asked if the sisters could ask the spirits could make a noise in the distance they were unable to do so.
By 1888 Maggie confessed that everything had been a hoax, and that they had been fooling everyone from the very beginning. She then publicly demonstrated how the sisters were able to pull such a hoax off. Not soon after all of the sisters passed away due to different causes. However the claim of spiritualism and mediums still remains today. But the question is why? There is proof from so many different examples such as people confessing their lies, yet so many people hold on to this belief as if it comforts them.
During the beginning of their new found "power", both younger sisters were sent to different houses. Maggie to her brothers house, and Kate to their older sister and manager Leah's house. Where they claimed that the rappings continued to happen. Soon after the two sisters were invited into the home of Amy and Isaac Post, the families Quaker friends. It tool no time at all for the Posts to buy into the scam. They soon spread the word throughout their Quaker community. After this the Quaker community became the early core of Spiritualism. As the two sisters became more popular they soon started attracting the media, although not in the way they would have liked. It was not long before there were many skeptics trying to prove their fraud. Such as Dr. Charles Grafton Page, who was a patent examiner of Washington D.C. Page had attended two sessions done by the fox sisters, at which he used his skills for detecting fraud to expose them in his book Psychomancy. Page noticed that the noises the sisters were claiming to be sprirts were coming from underneath their long dresses in which touched the floor. When Page asked if the sisters could ask the spirits could make a noise in the distance they were unable to do so.
By 1888 Maggie confessed that everything had been a hoax, and that they had been fooling everyone from the very beginning. She then publicly demonstrated how the sisters were able to pull such a hoax off. Not soon after all of the sisters passed away due to different causes. However the claim of spiritualism and mediums still remains today. But the question is why? There is proof from so many different examples such as people confessing their lies, yet so many people hold on to this belief as if it comforts them.
Although the Fox sisters have admitted to being frauds, they have forever influenced the thoughts of people and spiritualism. Without their hoax it remains a question if spiritualism, mediums, and psychics would have ever come to be. These sisters have forever changed the thoughts and views of people all across the world.