Horace Greeley

Relationship with the Fox Sisters

NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE
JALEESA GARDNER, TEJAY GREENWOOD, GERALD CICOTTE, EMILY HERT

Biography

Born: February 3, 1811

Birthplace: Amherst, New Hampshire

Died: November 29, 1872

Place of death: New York, New York

The third of seven children of Zaccheus and Mary Greeley.

At the age of fifteen, he became an apprentice to a small newspaper, the Northern

Spectator of East Poultney, Vermont where he learned the fundamentals of what was to
become his lifes work.

First college graduate in his family of weavers, millers, blacksmiths and carpenters

Greeley formed a partnership with Francis Vinton Story and Jonas Winchester. Together,
they did job-printing as well as printing Bank Note Reporter and the Constitutionalist in
1832, both dealing with popular lottery printing.

Biography

Together they attempted a penny paper called the Morning Post but the
venture failed due to lack of business expertise

Later went on to, successfully, put out a weekly paper titled the New-Yorker.

Then founder and editor of the New York Tribune in 1841

He was a political idealist; dedicated to the Whig Party but later turned
Republican because he was against slavery and womans suffrage.

Greeley was one of many deeply religious, people who turned to spiritualism in
the 1840s. (Williams, 2006)

Shared the belief that all die and are saved in heaven, where they become
spirits. There is no real barrier between the living and the dead (Williams,
2006)

The Establishment of Spiritualism

In 1848, Margaret and Kate Fox

claimed to hear mysterious rappings
in their home. Claiming the sounds
to be communication from spirits,
the sisters became the founders and
most famous seers of 19th-century
American spiritualism, which gained
about 1 million followers by 1855.

Greeleys Research on the Existence of

Spirits

Greeleys research on the Fox sisters was extensive. Leah the older
sister wanted part of the fame so she brought the sisters on tour, to
demonstrate communicating with the spirit world; which Greeley
observed the entire time.

In his grief, Greeley could not dismiss out of hand the possibility of
communicating with Pickie (the spirit Kate Fox was in contact with).

This educated man reluctantly couldnt rule out the existence of spirits
and couldnt find a way to disprove their conversations with the spirits.

Greeleys Opinion on Spirits and

Mediumships

Greeleys original thoughts toward the Fox sisters specifically was

suspicion, not necessarily disbelief but he didnt want to rule out the
possibility.

Spiritualism might be subject to frauds and impostures, he wrote in

the Tribune,

He is suggesting that their practice is believable but since they are

making a profit from the business others may fake the communication.

but there had also been real and momentous communications from
the unseen world. Spiritualist claims should be judged rationally on the
basis of available evidence, not dismissed out of the hand. Miracles
were possible. (Williams 122).

Greeleys Opinion on Spirits and

Mediumships

After researching the Fox sisters, Greeley was confident that he had not
been swindled and they had an ability to speak spirits.

Mediums were not all swindlers. We all need to open our eyes and
avoid preconceptions about the spirit world. (Williams 123)

Interestingly enough Greeley brings up God he is a Christian so

suggesting that the knockings are happening for a reason indices a
Godly or spiritual power which is unexplainable.

Rappings and knockings in the end would be shown to be consistent

with nature, reason, and God the Father of us all. (Williams 123)

Group Opinions on Greeleys Research

Gerald

Emily

I think that Greeley researched the Fox sisters without bias. He

was clear headed and attempted to rule out the basic frauds
that could have occurred, such as knee popping or toe cracking.
The spirit of Pickie could be talked to by Katie. The only
disbelief I have is when they went on tour. If there was a spirit
at the house that tapped to them how were spirits following
them on tour. In 1888 Maggie Fox admitted it was a Hoax from
the beginning.

Though Greeley admitted some may use the

mystic realm we know not much about for
money, I think that his research was somewhat
biased. He was open in his belief and fascination
of the spirit world. Personally, due to the limited
information of his research, it seems as though
he mainly observed their shows and then based
his belief off of that. Their wasn't much action in
disproving the sisters as there was proving.
Overall, Greeley was a highly educated and
sophisticated man, leading me to believe that
some of the Fox sister's shows could have been
legitimate.

Group Opinions on Greeleys

Research
Jaleesa

I believe that Greeleys perspective of spiritualism was

rather impartial. He was skeptical about the abilities of
Kate Fox, knowing that the world of Spiritualism is full of
frauds and impostures. But ultimately, he concluded that
the sisters were authentic; stating there had been real
and momentous communications from the unseen world.
(Williams 2006)

Tejay
While I respect Greeley and his work,
I feel like his studies were biased. I
dont believe he studied the spirits to
the fullest potential, and instead
biased what he saw based off of
what he wanted others to see.
However, Greeley was known to be
personally close to the fox sisters
later on, leaving open the possibility
that he knew more than he was
letting on.

References

http://
s1181.photobucket.com/user/nethryk/media/Volume%202/BowerUSA1177Gr
eeley2-3-61Payne.jpg.html

http://psychicmediums.weebly.com/the-fox-sisters.html

Cardoso, Jack J. "Horace Greeley." Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia.

Ipswich: Salem, 2014. 5. Salem Press, Jan. 2014. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.

"Fox Sisters." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press,

n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.

Williams, Robert Chadwell. Horace Greeley: Champion of American

Freedom. New York: New York UP, 2006. Print.

Horner, Harlan Hoyt. Lincoln and Greeley. Urbana: U of Illinois, 1953. Print.