Month: November 2011
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“Two Years Among the Spirits” by Dr. J. B. Bouton, pages 6 – 10
Freethought Liberal turned to spiritualism, much aided by the ministries of the mediumship of Dr. J. B. Bouton. Then in 1887-88 there was a fire at Bouton’s, a trap door was found, and his chicanery was exposed. Mr. W. S. Van Camp and Mr. J. H. Roberts had aided with acting as spirits. Rather than…
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“Two Years Among The Spirits” by Dr. J. B. Bouton, pages 1 thru 5
Freethought Liberal turned to spiritualism, much aided by the ministries of the mediumship of Dr. J. B. Bouton. Then in 1887-88 there was a fire at Bouton’s, a trap door was found, and his chicanery was exposed. Mr. W. S. Van Camp and Mr. J. H. Roberts had aided with acting as spirits. Rather than…
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Letter from Sarah Atwell Gilbert to Caroline Atwell Noyes, 1877
Sarah Ann Lydia Atwell Gilbert was Caroline Atwell Noyes’ sister. Mention is made of a number of people in the letter. Viola, who had been apparently ill, was Caroline’s daughter and would have been about sixteen. Sarah’s husband, to the best of my knowledge, was a dentist. Uncle Best was Thomas Best Scagel b. 1805…
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James Noyes in the Black Hawk War, 1832
From the 1869-1870 “Kalamazoo County Directory with a History of the County from its Earliest Census” compiled and published by James M. Thomas. The James Noyes mentioned was the husband of Sally Marble and father of James Allen Noyes. “On one of the last days of April, about ten at night, an express arrived from…
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Interest in Spiritualism in Freethought Settlers of Liberal, Missouri Prior the mid 1880s – Letter from N. W. Gilbert to Caroline Atwell Noyes, April 18 1879
The Noyes family of the socialist Alphadelphia Association, and the free thought community of Liberal, preserved many of the family papers and correspondence, but with the McCarthy scare in the 1950s, my Noyes grandmother, with her sister, Pansy, burned almost the entirety of the collection, fearful of exposure and retribution. A very few letters were…
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Bettie Brewer Noyes with son Ray James Noyes
Courtesy of Nancy Benton Bettie Brewer Noyes was the wife of Ray Noyes. They lived and died at Liberal, Missouri. Son Ray James was born 1903 at Liberal and died there May 15 1969. I don’t know where this photo was taken but my guess is a vacation is involved.
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Spiritualism at Liberal – An Account of the Bouton Manifestations
Liberal turned to spiritualism, which was a surprise for some of the freethoughters, but I imagine a fair number were previously inclined. O. E. Harmon writes of an incident in which a fire in a medium’s house revealed trickery by Dr. J. B. Bouton, a medium and resident of Liberal, who had been aided by…
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1926, Sedan, Kansas, Main Street
I’ve been in Sedan and the town is unchanged enough that this picture remains familiar. The Sedan picture isn’t a family photo. It is instead one I found on the internet and gave a little photo touch-up help, but not much, because there wasn’t much I could do with it. I can’t make out the…
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George H. Walser, Notary Public
A tidbit below on George H. Walser, founder of Liberal, Missouri, showing him as having been appointed to the office of Notary Public while in Illinois. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Journal of the senate of the General Assembly, Volume 23 Illinois General Assembly, Senate…