To many Spiritualists, the 31st March 1848 marks the beginning of the modern Spiritualist movement. Kate and Margaretta Fox first made contact with the discarnate spirit of a pedlar called Charles B Rosna on that date in Hydesville, New York.
This month is the 162nd anniversary of Spiritualism and to mark this event, it seems only fitting to elaborate on the events of the Hydesville Rappings.
The house was located in Hydesville, New York, about twenty miles from Rochester, and was previously occupied by a Michael Weekman, who during his time at the house, had noticed phenomena which included knocking on the front door, only to find that nobody was there. Weekman's eight year old daughter also had a frightening experience of what felt like a cold hand touching her face in the night and she refused to sleep in her room again. It is recorded that the Weekman family moved out of the house soon after these strange disturbances.
The Fox family with their two daughters Margaretta (14) and Kate (11), moved into the house in December of 1847. For the first two months of their tenancy they experienced nothing unusual. But it was during March of 1848 that the first rappings occurred. Starting quietly like a knocking sound, but gradually increasing in intensity to such a point that furniture moved.
The Fox sisters refused to sleep in their bedroom due to the phenomena which continued unabated until the 31st March 1848 when Kate Fox finally challenged the rappings to repeat the snaps of her fingers. In this historic moment the spirit copied Kate and so this was the one of the first recorded communications between incarnate and discarnate beings. The rappings of a murdered pedlar buried in the cellar of the house had made the link between two worlds. The events in Hydesville kick started the Spiritualist movement in America and eventually across the world.
