The house at which the manifestations [rappings] first commenced, that
have turned the eyes of the people of this generation to a more
minute and careful investigation of spiritual phenomena [Spiritualism] than
has characterized any preceding age, stands among a cluster of
houses known by the name of Hydesville, in the town of Arcadia,
county of Wayne and state of New York. It is a small framed
building, one and a half stories high, and, at the time of the occurrences which have made it a matter of interest and curiosity to so
many thousands, bore unmistakable evidences of age; and had
been the humble shelter of many a family previous to that of
Mr. Fox.
It has generally been supposed, and so published, in most of
the accounts of the commencement of these phenomena, that the
sounds were first heard when the house was occupied by a Mr.
Weekman. This seems to be an error, as there are, at least, two
witnesses, whose testimony is recorded in a small pamphlet, published by E. E. Lewis, Esq., at Canandaigua, N. Y., in 1848,
who testify to the sounds being heard by a family who occupied
the same house in 1844. These witnesses are Mrs. Ann Pulver
and Miss Lucretia Pulver. The former testifies as follows:
"I was acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. — (who occupied the
house in 1844). I used to call on them frequently. My warping
bars were in their chamber, and I used to go there to do my
work. One morning when I went there Mrs. — told me that she felt very bad; that she had not slept much if any the night
before. When I asked her what the matter was, she said she
did n't know but what it was the fidgets; but she thought she
heard somebody walking about from one room to another, and
that she had Mr. — get up and fasten down all the windows.
She said she felt more safe after that. I asked her what she
thought it was. She said it might be rats. I heard her speak
about hearing noises after that which she could not account for."
Miss Lucretia Pulver, in her testimony, says: "I lived in this
house all one winter, in the family of Mr. —. I worked for
them part of the time, and part of the time I boarded and went
to school. I lived there about three months. During the latter
part of the time that I was there I heard this knocking frequently, in the bedroom, under the foot of the bed. I heard it
a number of nights, as I slept in the bedroom all the time that
I staid there. One night I thought I heard a man walking in
the buttery. This buttery is near the bedroom, with a stairway
between. Miss Aurelia Lozey staid with me on that night; she
also heard the noise, and we were both much frightened, and got
up, and fastened down the windows and fastened the door. It
sounded as if a person walked through the buttery, down cellar,
and part way across the cellar bottom, and there the noise would
cease. There was no one else in the house at this time, except
my little brother, who was asleep in the same room with us.
This was about twelve o'clock, I should think. We did not go
to bed until after eleven, and had not been asleep when we heard
the noise. Mr. and Mrs. — had gone to Loch Berlin, to be
gone until the next day."
Capron, Eliab Wilkinson, Modern Spiritualism: its facts and fanaticisms, its consistencies and contradictions, Boston: Bela Marsh; New York: Partridge and Brittan; Philadelphia: sold by Fowlers, Wells & Co., 1855, pp. 33-34.
[...] Lucretia Pulver, states
that she lived with Mr. and Mrs. Bell during part of the
time they occupied the house, namely, for three months
during the winter of 1843-44, sometimes working for
them, sometimes boarding with them, and going to
school, she being then fifteen years old. She says Mr.
and Mrs. Bell "appeared to be very good folks, only
rather quick-tempered."
She states that, during the latter part of her residence
with them, one afternoon, about two o'clock, a peddler,
on foot, apparently about thirty years of age, wearing a black frock-coat and light-colored pantaloons, and having
with him a trunk and a basket, called at Mr. Bell's. Mrs.
Bell informed her she had known him formerly. Shortly
after he came in, Mr. and Mrs. Bell consulted together for
nearly half an hour in the buttery. Then Mrs. Bell told
her—very unexpectedly to her—that they did not require her any more; that she (Mrs. B.) was going that
afternoon to Lock Berlin, and that she (Lucretia) had
better return home, as they thought they could not
afford to keep her longer. Accordingly, Mrs. Bell and
Lucretia left the house, the peddler and Mr. Bell remaining. Before she went, however, Lucretia looked
at a piece of delaine, and told the peddler she would take
a dress off it if he would call the next day at her father's
house, hard by, which he promised to do; but he never
came. Three days afterward, Mrs. Bell returned, and,
to Lucretia's surprise, sent for her again to stay with
them.
A few days after this, Lucretia began to hear knocking in the bedroom—afterward occupied by Mr. and
Mrs. Fox—where she slept. The sounds seemed to be
under the foot of the bed, and were repeated during a
number of nights. One night, when Mr. and Mrs. Bell
had gone to Lock Berlin, and she had remained in the
house with her little brother and a daughter of Mr.
Losey, named Aurelia, they heard, about twelve o'clock,
what seemed the footsteps of a man walking in the buttery. They had not gone to bed till eleven, and. had
not yet fallen asleep. It sounded as if some one crossed
the buttery, then went down the cellar-stair, then
walked part of the way across the cellar, and stopped.
The girls were greatly frightened, got up and fastened
doors and windows.
About a week after this, Lucretia, having occasion to
go down into the cellar, screamed out. Mrs. Bell asked
what was the matter. Lucretia exclaimed, "What has Mr. Bell been doing in the cellar?" She had sunk in the
soft soil and fallen. Mrs. Bell replied that it was only
rat-holes. A few days afterward, at nightfall, Mr. Bell
carried some earth into the cellar, and was at work
there some time. Mrs. Bell said he was filling up the
rat-holes.
Owen, Robert Dale, Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1860, pp. 294-296.
