<h2>IX<br/><br/> <span class="smcap">The Watseka Wonder</span></h2>
<p>When the biography of the late Richard Hodgson is written one of its
most interesting chapters will be the story of his investigation into
the strange case of Lurancy Vennum. Archinquisitor of the Society for
Psychical Research, the Sherlock Holmes of professional detectives of
the supernatural, in this instance Hodgson was forced to confess himself
beaten and to acknowledge that in his belief the only satisfactory
solution of the problem before him was to be had through recourse to the
hypothesis that the dead can and do communicate with the living.</p>
<p>As is well known, subsequent inquiries, and notably his experiences with
the famous Mrs. Piper, led him to the enthusiastic indorsement of this
hypothesis; but at the time of the Vennum affair, with the recollection
of his triumphs in Europe and Asia fresh in his mind, he was still a
thoroughgoing if open minded skeptic; and to Lurancy Vennum must<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</SPAN></span>
accordingly be given the credit of having brought him, so to speak, to
the turning of the ways. Oddly enough too, scarce an effort has been
made to assemble evidence in disproof of his findings in that case and
to develop a purely naturalistic explanation of a mystery which his
verdict went far to establish in the minds of many as a classic
illustration of supernatural action. Yet, while it must be admitted that
until recently such a task would have been extremely difficult, it may
safely be declared that the phenomena manifested through Lurancy Vennum
were not a whit more other-worldly than the phenomena produced by the
tricksters whom Hodgson himself so skilfully and mercilessly exposed.</p>
<p>To refresh the reader's memory with regard to the facts in the case, it
will be recalled that Lurancy Vennum was a young girl, between thirteen
and fourteen years old, the daughter of respectable parents living at
Watseka, Illinois, a town about eighty-five miles south of Chicago and
boasting at the time a population of perhaps fifteen hundred. On the
afternoon of July 11, 1877, while sitting sewing with her mother, she
suddenly complained of feeling ill, and immediately afterward fell<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</SPAN></span> to
the floor unconscious, in which state she remained for five hours. The
next day the same thing happened; but now, while still apparently
insensible to all about her, she began to talk, affirming that she was
in heaven and in the company of numerous spirits, whom she described,
naming among others the spirit of her brother who had died when she was
only three years old. Her parents, deeply religious people of an
orthodox denomination, feared that she had become insane, and their
fears were increased when, with the passage of time, her "fits," as they
called her trances, became more frequent and of longer duration, lasting
from one to eight hours and occurring from three to twelve times a day.
Physicians could do nothing for her, and by January, 1878, it was
decided that she was beyond all hope of cure and that the proper place
for her was an insane asylum.</p>
<p>At this juncture her father was visited by Mr. Asa B. Roff, also a
resident of Watseka, but having no more than a casual acquaintanceship
with the Vennums. He had become interested in the case, he explained,
through hearing reports of the intercourse<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</SPAN></span> Lurancy claimed to have with
the world of the dead, the possibility of which, being a devout
spiritist, he did not in the slightest doubt. Moreover, he himself had
had a daughter, Mary, long dead, who had been subject to conditions
exactly like Lurancy's and had given incontrovertible evidence of
possessing supernatural powers of a clairvoyant nature. In her time she
too had been deemed insane, but Mr. Roff was confident that she had
really been of entirely sound mind, and equally confident that the
present victim of "spirit infestation," to use the singular term
employed by a later spiritistic eulogist of Lurancy, was also of sound
mind. He therefore begged Mr. Vennum not to immure his daughter in an
asylum; and Mrs. Roff adding her entreaties, it was finally resolved as
a last resort to call in a physician from Janesville, Wisconsin, who was
himself a spiritist and would, the Roffs felt sure, be able to treat the
case with great success.</p>
<p>This physician, Dr. E. Winchester Stevens, paid his first visit to
Lurancy in Mr. Roff's company on the afternoon of January 31. He found
the girl, as he afterward related, sitting "near a stove, in a common
chair, her elbows<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</SPAN></span> on her knees, her hands under her chin, feet curled
up on the chair, eyes staring, looking every way like an old hag." She
was evidently in an ugly mood, for she refused even to shake hands,
called her father "Old Black Dick" and her mother "Old Granny," and at
first kept an obstinate silence. But presently, brightening up, she
announced that she had discovered that Dr. Stevens was a "spiritual"
doctor and could help her, and that she was ready to answer any
questions he might put. Now followed a strange dialogue. In reply to his
queries she said that her name was not Lurancy Vennum but Katrina Hogan,
that she was sixty-three years old, and had come from Germany "through
the air" three days before. Changing her manner quickly, she confessed
that she had lied and was in reality a boy, Willie Canning, who had died
and "now is here because he wants to be." More than an hour passed in
this "insane talk," as her weeping parents accounted it, and then,
flinging up her hands, she fell headlong in a state of cataleptic
rigidity.</p>
<p>Dr. Stevens promptly renewed his questioning, at the same time taking
both her hands in his and endeavoring to "magnetize" her,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</SPAN></span> to quote his
own expression. It soon developed, according to the replies she made,
that she was no longer on earth but in heaven and surrounded by spirits
of a far more beneficent character than the so-called Katrina and
Willie. With all the earnestness of an ardent spiritist, the doctor
immediately suggested that she allow herself to be controlled by a
spirit who would prevent those that were evil and insane from returning
to trouble her and her family, and would assist her to regain health. To
which she answered that she would gladly do so, and that among the
spirits around her was one that the angels strongly recommended for this
very purpose. It was, she said, the spirit of a young girl who on earth
had been named Mary Roff.</p>
<p>"Why," cried Mr. Roff, "that is my daughter, who has been in heaven
these twelve years. Yes, let her come. We'll be glad to have her come."</p>
<p>Come she did, as the greatly bewildered Mr. Vennum testified next
morning during a hasty visit to Mr. Roff's office.</p>
<p>"My girl," said he, "had a sound night's sleep after you and Dr. Stevens
left us; but to-day she asserts that she is Mary Roff, re<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</SPAN></span>fuses to
recognize her mother or myself, and demands to be taken to your house."</p>
<p>At this amazing information, Mrs. Roff and her surviving daughter
Minerva, who since Mary's death had married a Mr. Alter, promptly went
to see Lurancy. From a seat at the window she beheld them approaching
down the street, and with an exultant cry exclaimed, "Here comes my ma,
and 'Nervie'!" the name by which Mary Roff had been accustomed to call
her sister in girlhood. Running to the door and throwing her arms about
them as they entered, she hugged and kissed them with expressions of
endearment and with whispering allusions to past events of which she as
Lurancy could in their opinion have had absolutely no knowledge.</p>
<p>Mr. Roff who came afterward, she greeted in the same affectionate way,
while treating the members of her own family as though they were entire
strangers. To her father and mother it seemed that this must be only a
new phase of her insanity, but to the Roffs there remained no doubt that
in her they beheld an actual reincarnation of the girl whom they had
buried twelve years before—that is to say, when Lurancy herself was a
puny,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</SPAN></span> wailing infant. Eagerly they seconded her entreaties to be
allowed to return with them; and, Mrs. Vennum being completely
prostrated by this unexpected development, it was soon decided that the
little girl should for the time being take up her residence under the
Roff roof.</p>
<p>She removed there February 11, and on the way an event occurred that
vastly strengthened belief in the reality of her claims. The Vennums and
the Roffs lived at opposite ends of Watseka; but the latter family, at
the time of Mary's death in 1865, had been occupying a dwelling in a
central section of the town. Arrived at this house, Lurancy
unhesitatingly turned to enter it, and seemed much astonished when told
that her home was elsewhere. "Why," said she, in a positive tone, "I
know that I live here." It was indeed with some difficulty that she was
persuaded to continue her journey; but once at its end all signs of
disappointment vanished and she passed gaily from room to room,
identifying objects which she had never seen before but which had been
well-known to Mary Roff. Her pseudo-parents were in ecstacies of joy.
"Truly," they said to each other, "our daughter who was dead<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</SPAN></span> has been
restored to us," and anxiously they inquired of her how long they might
hope to have her with them. "The angels," was her response, "will let me
stay till some time in May—and oh how happy I am!"</p>
<p>Happy and contented she proved herself and, which was remarked by all
who saw her, entirely free from the maladies that had so sorely beset
both the living Lurancy and the dead Mary. For her life as Lurancy she
appeared to have no remembrance; but she readily and unfailingly
recollected everything connected with the career of Mary. She was well
aware also that she was masquerading, as it were, in a borrowed body.
"Do you remember," Dr. Stevens asked her one day, "the time that you cut
your arm?" "Yes, indeed. And," slipping up her sleeve, "I can show you
the scar. It was—" She paused, and quickly added, "Oh, this is not the
arm; that one is in the ground," and proceeded to describe the spot
where Mary had been buried and the circumstances attending her funeral.
Old acquaintances of Mary's were greeted as though they had been seen
only the day before, although in one or two cases there was lack of
recognition, due, it was in<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</SPAN></span>ferred, to physical changes in the visitor's
appearance since Mary had known her on earth.</p>
<p>Tests, suggested and carried out by Dr. Stevens and Mr. Roff, only
reinforced the view that they were really dealing with a visitant from
the unseen world. For instance, while the little girl was playing
outdoors one afternoon, Mr. Roff suggested to his wife that she bring
down-stairs a velvet hat that their daughter had worn the last year of
her life, place it on the hat stand, and see if Lurancy would recognize
it. This was done, and the recognition was instant. With a smile of
delight Lurancy picked up the hat, mentioned an incident connected with
it, and asked, "Have you my box of letters also?" The box was found, and
rummaging through it the child presently cried, "Oh, ma, here is a
collar I tatted! Ma, why did you not show me my letters and things
before?" One by one she picked out and identified relics dating back to
Mary's girlhood, long before Lurancy Vennum had come into the world.</p>
<p>She displayed, too, not a little of the clairvoyant ability ascribed to
Mary. The story is told that on one occasion she affirmed that her
supposed brother, Frank Roff, would be<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</SPAN></span> taken seriously ill during the
night; and when, about two o'clock in the morning, he was actually
stricken with what is vaguely said to have been "something like a spasm
and congestive chill," she directed Mr. Roff to hurry next door where he
would find Dr. Stevens.</p>
<p>"But," protested Mr. Roff, "Dr. Stevens is in quite another part of the
city to-night."</p>
<p>"No," she calmly said, "he has come back, and you will find him where I
say."</p>
<p>Quite incredulous, Mr. Roff gave his neighbor's door-bell a lusty pull,
and the next moment was talking to the doctor, who, unknown to the
Roffs, was spending the night there. With his aid, it is perhaps worth
adding, brother Frank was soon relieved of the "spasm and congestive
chill."</p>
<p>In this way, continually surprising but constantly delighting the happy
Roffs, Lurancy Vennum remained with them for more than three months,
professing complete ignorance of her identity and enacting with the
greatest fidelity the rôle of the spirit who was supposed to have taken
possession of her. Early in May, however, she called Mrs. Roff to one
side and informed her in a voice broken by sobs that Lurancy was "coming
back"<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</SPAN></span> and that they would soon have to take another farewell of their
Mary. This said, a change became apparent in her. She glared wildly
around, and in an agitated tone demanded, "Where am I? I was never here
before. I want to go home." Mrs. Roff, heartbroken, explained that she
had been under the control of Mary's spirit for the purpose of "curing
her body," and told her that her parents would be sent for. But within
five minutes she had again lost all knowledge of her true identity, and
seemingly was Mary Roff once more, overjoyed that she had been permitted
to return.</p>
<p>For some days she continued in this state, with only occasional lapses
into her original self; then, on the morning of May 21, she announced
that the time for definite leave-taking had at last arrived, and with
evident grief went about among the neighbors bidding them good-by. It
was arranged that "sister Nervie" should take her to Mr. Roff's office,
and that Mr. Roff should thence escort her home. En route there were
sharp interchanges of personality, with the spirit control dominant; but
when the office was reached it became evident that she had fully come
into her own<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</SPAN></span> again. The night before she had wept bitterly at the
thought of leaving her "father." Now she addressed him calmly as "Mr.
Roff," called herself Lurancy, and said that her one wish was to see her
parents as soon as possible. Nor, as the Vennums were quickly to
discover, did she return to torment and alarm them by the weird actions
of the preceding months. On the contrary, they found her healthy and
normal in mind and body, completely cured, as a result, the Roffs
emphatically declared, of the intervention of the spirit of their
beloved daughter.</p>
<p>Needless to say, the people of Watseka and the surrounding country had
watched with breathless interest the progress of this curious affair;
but it was not until three months after the "possession" had ended that
the public at large obtained any knowledge of it. The first intimation,
outside of unnoticed reports in local newspapers, came through the
medium of two articles contributed by Dr. Stevens to the August 3 and
10, 1878, issues of <cite>The Religio-Philosophical Journal</cite>, one of the
leading spiritist organs of the United States. Traversing the case in
the fullest detail, and emphasizing the fact that up to the moment<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</SPAN></span> of
writing the principal actor had had no return of the ills from which she
had previously suffered, Dr. Stevens gave it as his unqualified
conviction that the spirit of Mary Roff had actually revisited earth in
the person of Lurancy Vennum, and had been the instrument of her cure.
This view naturally commended itself to spiritists, but by the
unbelieving it was vigorously combatted, not a few insinuating or openly
alleging that Dr. Stevens's narrative was a work of fiction. The
veracity of the Roffs was also attacked. "Can the truthfulness of the
narrative," one skeptical inquirer wrote Mr. Roff, "be substantiated
outside of yourself and those immediately interested? Can it be shown
that there was no collusion between the parties?" And another asked him,
"Is it a fact, or is it a story made up to see how cunning a tale one
can tell?"</p>
<p>Waxing indignant, Mr. Roff wrote a long letter to <cite>The
Religio-Philosophical Journal</cite> denouncing the imputation of fraud,
giving the names of a number of men who would vouch for his integrity,
and concluding with the statement: "I am now sixty years old; have
resided in Iroquois county thirty years; and<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</SPAN></span> would not now sacrifice
what reputation I may have by being party to the publication of such a
narrative, if it was not perfectly true."</p>
<p>Following this there appeared in <cite>The Religio-Philosophical Journal</cite>
several letters from well-known Illinois professional men warmly
indorsing Mr. Roff's character, and an announcement to the effect that
the editor, Colonel J. C. Bundy, himself of undoubted honesty, "has
entire confidence in the truthfulness of the narrative and believes from
his knowledge of the witnesses that the account is unimpeachable in
every particular." As for Dr. Stevens, Colonel Bundy declared that he
had been personally acquainted with the physician for years, and had
"implicit confidence in his veracity." After all this, accusations of
perjury and deception were obviously futile, and, no adequate
non-spiritistic interpretation being forthcoming, there was an
increasing tendency to accept the view advanced by those who had
participated in the affair.</p>
<p>Such was the situation at the time of Richard Hodgson's advent.
Primarily, as will be remembered by all who have followed the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</SPAN></span> work of
the Society for Psychical Research, Dr. Hodgson had come to this country
to investigate the trance mediumship of Mrs. Leonora Piper. But his
attention having been called to the Vennum mystery, he visited Watseka
in April, 1890, and instituted a rigorous cross-examination of the
surviving witnesses. Dr. Stevens was dead, and Lurancy herself had
married and moved with her husband to Kansas, but Dr. Hodgson was able
to interview Mr. and Mrs. Roff, Mrs. Alter, and half a dozen neighbors
who had personal knowledge of the "possession." All answered his
questions freely and fully, reiterating the facts as given in Dr.
Stevens's narrative, and adding some interesting information hitherto
not made public. In the main this bore on the question of identity and
tended to vindicate the reincarnation theory. It also developed that
while Lurancy had grown to be a strong, healthy woman, she had had
occasional returns of Mary's spirit in the years immediately following
the chief visitation; but that these had ceased with her marriage to a
man who, Roff regretfully observed, had never made himself acquainted
with spiritism and therefore "furnished poor<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</SPAN></span> conditions for further
development in that direction."</p>
<p>Appreciating the fact that Mr. Roff and his family would furnish the
best possible conditions for such development, and that he must be on
his guard against unconscious exaggeration and misstatement, Dr. Hodgson
nevertheless deemed the evidence presented to him too strong to be
explained away on naturalistic grounds. Contributing to <cite>The
Religio-Philosophical Journal</cite> an account of his inquiry and of the
additional data it had brought to light, he described the case as
"unique among the records of supernormal occurrences," and frankly
admitted that he could not "find any satisfactory interpretation of it
except the spiritistic."</p>
<hr style="width: 45%;" />
<p>Yet, as was said at the outset, it may now be affirmed that another
interpretation is possible, and one far more satisfactory than the
spiritistic; this, too, without impeaching in any way the truthfulness
of the testimony given by Dr. Stevens, the Roffs, and the numerous other
witnesses. To begin: apart from the supernatural implications forced
into it by the appearance of the so-called spirit control, it<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</SPAN></span> is clear
that the affair bears a striking resemblance to the instances of
"secondary" or "multiple" personality which recent research has
discovered in such numbers, and which are due to perfectly natural, if
often obscure, causes. In these, it has already been pointed out, as the
result of an illness, a blow, a shock, or some other unusual stimulus,
there is a partial or complete effacement of the original personality of
the victim and its replacement by a new personality, sometimes of
radically different characteristics from the normal self.</p>
<p>A sufficient example is the case of the Rev. Thomas C. Hanna, for
knowledge of which the scientific world is indebted to Dr. Boris
Sidis.<SPAN name="FNanchor_P_16" id="FNanchor_P_16"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_P_16" class="fnanchor">[P]</SPAN> Following a fall from his carriage, Mr. Hanna, a Connecticut
clergyman, lost all consciousness of his identity, had no memory for the
events of his life prior to the accident, recognized none of his
friends, could not read or write, nor so much as walk or talk,—was, in
fact, like a child new born. On the other hand, as soon as the rudiments
of education were acquired by him once more, he showed himself the
possessor of a vigorous, independent, self-reliant personality, lacking
all knowl<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</SPAN></span>edge of the original personality, but still able to adapt
himself readily to his environment and make headway in the world.
Ultimately, through methods which are distinctively modern, Dr. Sidis
was able to recall the vanished self, and, fusing the secondary self
with it, restore the clergyman to his former sphere of usefulness.</p>
<p>This, of course, is an extreme example. The usual procedure is for the
secondary personality to retain some of the characteristics of the
original self—as the ability to read, write, etc.—and give itself a
name. In this way Ansel Bourne, the Rhode Island itinerant preacher,
became metamorphosed into A. J. Brown, and, without any recollection of
his former career or relationships, drifted to Pennsylvania and began an
entirely new existence as a shopkeeper in a small country town.
Similarly with Dr. R. Osgood Mason's patient, Alma Z., in whom the
secondary personality assumed the odd name of "Twoey," spoke, as Dr.
Mason phrased it, "in a peculiar child-like and Indianlike dialect," and
announced that her mission was to cure the broken down physical organism
of the original self, which remained completely in abeyance so long as<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</SPAN></span>
"Twoey" was in evidence. Here, as is apparent, we have a case almost
identical with that of Lurancy Vennum, the sole difference being that
"Twoey"—who, by the way, is credited with having exercised seemingly
supernormal powers—did not pose as a returned visitant from the world
of spirits.</p>
<p>Thus far, then, depending on the argument from analogy, the presumption
is strong that Lurancy's case belongs to the same category as the cases
just mentioned. In the one, as in the others, we have loss of the
original self, development of a new self, and the enactment by the
latter of a rôle conspicuously alien from that played by the former. The
one difficulty in the way of unreserved acceptance of this view is the
character of the secondary personality which replaced Lurancy's original
personality. Here the positive claim was made that the secondary
personality was in reality the personality of a girl long dead, and by
way of proof vivid knowledge of the life, circumstances, and conduct of
that girl was offered. But on this point considerable light is shed by
the discovery that in a number of instances of secondary personality in
which no supernatural pretensions are advanced there<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</SPAN></span> is a notable
sharpening of the faculties, knowledge being obtained telepathically or
clairvoyantly; and by the further discovery that it is quite possible to
create experimentally secondary selves assuming the characteristics of
real persons who have died.</p>
<p>In this the creative force is nothing more or less than suggestion.
There is on record, indeed, an instance of mediumship in which the
medium, an amateur investigator of the phenomena of spiritism, clearly
recognized that his various impersonations were suggested to him by the
spectators. This gentleman, Mr. Charles H. Tout, of Vancouver, records
that after attending a few séances with some friends he felt a strong
impulse to turn medium himself, and assume a foreign personality.
Yielding to the impulse, he discovered, much to his amazement, that
without losing complete control of his consciousness, he could develop a
secondary self that would impose on the beholders as a discarnate
spirit. On one occasion he thus acted in a semi-conscious way the part
of a dead woman, the mother of a friend present, and the impersonation
was accepted as a genuine case of spirit control. On another, having
given several<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</SPAN></span> successful impersonations, he suddenly felt weak and ill,
and almost fell to the floor.</p>
<p>At this point, he stated, one of the sitters "made the remark, which I
remember to have overheard, 'It is father controlling him,' and I then
seemed to realize who I was and whom I was seeking. I began to be
distressed in my lungs, and should have fallen if they had not held me
by the hands and let me back gently upon the floor.... I was in a
measure still conscious of my actions, though not of my surroundings,
and I have a clear memory of seeing myself in the character of my dying
father lying in the bed and in the room in which he died. It was a most
curious sensation. I saw his shrunken hands and face, and lived again
through his dying moments; only now I was both myself, in an indistinct
sort of way, and my father, with his feelings and appearance."</p>
<p>All of this Tout explained correctly as "the dramatic working out, by
some half conscious stratum of his personality, of suggestions made at
the time by other members of the circle, or received in prior
experiences of the kind." In most instances, however, the original self
is completely effaced, and no consciousness is<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</SPAN></span> retained of the
performances of the secondary self; but that an avenue of sense is still
open is sufficiently demonstrated by the readiness with which, in
hypnotic experiments, seemingly insensible subjects respond to the
suggestions of the operator. Here, therefore, we find our clue to the
solution of the mystery of Lurancy Vennum. A victim of a psychic
catastrophe, the cause of which must be left to conjecture in the
absence of knowledge of her previous history, she was placed in
precisely the position of the adventurous Mr. Tout and of the inert
subjects of the hypnotist's art. That is to say, having lost momentarily
all knowledge and control of her own personality, the character her new
personality would assume depended on the suggestions received from those
about her.</p>
<p>Yet not altogether. Dr. Stevens's detailed record contains a reference
which indicates strongly that the spiritistic tendency manifest from the
onset of her trouble was to some extent predetermined. A few days before
the first attack she informed the family that "there were persons in my
room last night, and they called 'Rancy, Rancy!' and I felt their breath
on my face"; and the next night, repeating<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</SPAN></span> the same story, she sought
refuge in her mother's bed. These fanciful notions, symptomatic of the
coming trouble and possibly provocative of it, would act in the way of a
powerful autosuggestion, and would of themselves explain why there
resulted an inchoate, tentative, vague personality, instead of the
robust, definite personality that assumes control in most cases.</p>
<p>At first, the reader will remember, she sought vainly and wildly and
wholly subconsciously—it cannot be made too clear that she was no
longer consciously responsible for her acts—for a satisfactory self of
ghostly origin. The aged Katrina, the masculine Willie, and other
imaginary beings were tried and rejected; principally, no doubt, because
her thirteen-year-old imagination was unequal to the task of investing
them with satisfactory attributes. From her relatives she obtained no
assistance in the strange quest. They, disbelieving in "spirits,"
persisted in calling her insane—a comfortless and far from beneficial
suggestion. But with the intervention of the Roffs and Dr. Stevens
everything changed. Not questioning the truth of her assertions, they
confirmed her in them,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</SPAN></span> and offered her into the bargain a ready-made
personality.</p>
<p>Here at last was something tangible, a starting-point, a
foundation-stone. Mary Roff had had a real existence, had had thoughts,
feelings, desires, a life of flesh and blood. And Mary, they assured the
poor, perturbed, disintegrated self, could help her regain all that she
had lost. Very well, let Mary come, and the sooner she came the better.
For knowledge of Mary, of her characteristics, her relationships, her
friends, her earthly career, it was necessary only to tap telepathically
the reservoir of information possessed by Mary's family; and there would
be available besides a wealth of data in chance remarks, unconscious
hints, unnoticed promptings. She had been too long in search of a
personality not to grasp at the opening now afforded. Focused thus by
suggestion,—that subtle, all-pervasive influence which man is only now
beginning to appreciate,—the basic delusional idea promptly took root,
blossomed, and burst into an amazing fruition. Banished were the
spurious Katrinas and Willies. In their stead reigned Mary, no less
spurious in point of fact, but so cunningly counterfeiting<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</SPAN></span> the true
Mary that the deception was not once detected.</p>
<p>Mark too how suggestion sufficed not only to create the Mary personality
but to expel it and restore the hapless Lurancy to perfect health. If
the responsibility for the creation rests on Dr. Stevens and the Roffs,
to them likewise belongs the credit for the cure. Their insistence on
the fact that Mary's spirit could and would be of assistance, was itself
as powerful a suggestion as could be hit upon by the most expert of
modern practitioners of psychotherapeutics; and in unconsciously
persuading the spirit to set a limit to its time of "possession" they
made another suggestion of rare curative value. To the suggestionally
inspired fixed idea that she was not Lurancy Vennum but Mary Roff was
thus added the fixed idea, derived from the same source, that in May she
would become Lurancy Vennum again, and a perfectly well Lurancy. It was
as though the Roffs had actually hypnotized her and given her commands
that were to be obeyed with the fidelity characteristic of the obedience
hypnotized subjects render to the operator.</p>
<p>When the time came the transformation was<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</SPAN></span> duly effected, though, as has
been seen, not without a struggle, a period of alternating personality,
with Mary at one moment supreme and Lurancy at another. But this is a
phenomenon that need give us no concern. Exactly the same thing happened
in the last stages of the Hanna case. Nor do the fugitive recurrences of
the Mary personality signify aught than that Lurancy was still unduly
suggestionable. Note that these recurrences, according to the available
evidence, developed only when the Roffs paid her visits; and that they
ceased entirely upon her marriage to a man not interested in spiritism,
and her removal to a distant part of the country.<SPAN name="FNanchor_Q_17" id="FNanchor_Q_17"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_Q_17" class="fnanchor">[Q]</SPAN></p>
<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_P_16" id="Footnote_P_16"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_P_16"><span class="label">[P]</span></SPAN> In his "Multiple Personality."</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_Q_17" id="Footnote_Q_17"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_Q_17"><span class="label">[Q]</span></SPAN> It is proper to add that since the recent publication of
this paper as a contribution to <cite>The Associated Sunday Magazine</cite>, the
charge of fraud has been revived in connection with the "Watseka
Wonder." It is asserted by a resident of Watseka that although Lurancy
Vennum unquestionably was a sufferer from "nervous trouble," she
consciously impersonated the "spirit" of Mary Roff, her motive being a
desire to be near one of the Roff boys, with whom she imagined herself
in love.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</SPAN></span></p>
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