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 HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 
 
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 INA HAYES 
 
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 A WONDERFUL PHENOMENON. 
 
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HISTORY m BIOGRAPHY 
 
 OF- 
 
 INA HAYES, 
 
 -THE- 
 
 TTON GIRL 
 
 A WONDERFUL PHENOMENON. 
 
 HJK 
 
 
 Copyright 1891, by Marion Hayes, j- 
 
 CAIRO, ILL., 
 CAIRO DAILY TELEGRAM PRINT, 
 
 1891. ...__-, -^ 
 
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 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In order to preserve the history of a won- 
 derful case that has caused more than local in- 
 terest, and which has proven inexplicable to 
 the medical fraternity and many learned men 
 who have given the case their attention, the 
 writer has carefully collected the evidence of 
 persons whose truthfulness cannot be ques- 
 tioned and now presents a plain statement of 
 the facts to the public. The time when people 
 heard of and witnessed strange things and as- 
 cribed them to witchcraft and voudooism, be- 
 longs to the remote past and in the present 
 
THE COTTOX GIRL. 
 
 science throws its light upon mysteries and 
 makes all things plain. But occasionally there 
 are freaks of nature and events that create 
 more than a nine days wonder, and are allowed 
 to pass without investigation or explanation. 
 When anything is brought before the public 
 which has baffled the skill of wise men and is 
 wrapped in mystery it should be carefully con- 
 sidered and treated according to the merit of 
 the case. 
 
 This is not a novel, but one of those 
 strange facts which are sometimes stranger 
 than fiction. The history is plainly told with a 
 higher motive than to make the simple and su- 
 perstitious shudder. There is no romance told 
 in the pages of this book, but the history of a 
 marvelous case is related. 
 
 Very Truly, 
 
 P. G. Jamison. 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 Near Greenfield, Tennessee, farmer Hayes* 
 and his family lived for years a quiet, peaceful, 
 industrious life. Though he worked hard, 
 tilling the soil and earning his bread by the 
 sweat of his brow, he possessed much natural 
 ability, a fair education and a mind well stored 
 with useful information. The products of his 
 farm gained a reputation for being the best in 
 the market and fortune seemed to smile upon 
 him and life rolled on in unruffled placidity^ 
 The people who lived in the surrounding coun- 
 try respected farmer Hayes and his family and 
 in their quiet rural home, away from the glare 
 and excitement of city life, they were as happy 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 as it is possible for mortals to be on this mun- 
 dane sphere. A son brought his wife to the 
 old homestead and later a little granddaughter 
 made still brighter the old farmhouse. The 
 child seemed unusually bright and when her 
 father died she was the comfort, as well as 
 pride of her old grandfathers life. It is said 
 that some malicious person predicted for the 
 babe a future of sorrow and affliction and said 
 she would prove a great care and source of 
 much grief to her parents. But who shall say- 
 such predictions can influence the future of an 
 innocent child? Ages ago people believed in 
 the "evil eye" and charms were invoked to pre- 
 serve children from fearful fates. But the belief 
 in such things disappeared as the world became 
 more enlightened and such superstitions and 
 fancies were relegated to the past. But the 
 child was destined to be afflicted iu a way that 
 would blight her life and throw a shadow over 
 the home that was so bright during her early 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 childhood. Fate decreed that her life should 
 be a subject for wise men to ponder on and phy 
 sicians to rack their brains in vain to diagnose 
 her strange malady. Every mortal must play 
 his or her part in lifes drama and it fell to the 
 lot of Ina Hayes to suffer and be the subject of 
 a terrible affliction that recalls the tales of 
 witchcraft and "spells" of the day of Joan of 
 Arc. But unlike the people who lived in that 
 age, the public of this period do not shrink in 
 terror from the mysterious but seek to unravel 
 and explain the causes that bring about won- 
 derful things. It is no longer necessary to 
 reach out into the realm of fiction to find sub- 
 jects to astonish and interest, for in every day 
 life there are events and creations upon which 
 volumes might be written and the half not told 
 and ages might be spent pondering on the 
 causes and yet leave much to learn. 
 
 Last June farmer Hayes' home became the 
 scene of so many strange occurrences it became 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 a place full of interest and people from far and 
 near visited it to learn if rumor had told cor- 
 rectly the happenings or if they had been dis- 
 torted and exaggerated from the ordinary. 
 Large pieces of cotton were every morning 
 found strewn about the house both inside and 
 out, yet no one was heard moving about the 
 premises during the hours devoted to rest and 
 sleep. No sane person could claim it was done 
 by some practical joker, for they would soon 
 have tired of a joke wherein there was no 
 laugh and when the family became first puzzled, 
 then alarmed, the joker would have been detect- 
 ed. But as silently as the snow falls from the 
 clouds the cotton was strewn over th Hayes 
 home and remained substantial proof in daylight 
 that some one or something had poured the 
 fleecy stuff in and about the building during the 
 night. Then a bedquilt that was hung out near 
 the house to air, disappeared, and after a long 
 search it was found several hundred yards from 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 the house spread out in a cotton patch. There 
 had been no high wind to carry it away and it 
 was hung above the reach of any animal that 
 might have mischievously taken it to the cot-, 
 ton field. Mrs. Hayes arose one morning to 
 find her shoes and stockings had been carried 
 off while she slept. Later they were found in 
 the cellar; but by whom removed none can tell 
 Curious sounds began to be heard about the 
 place, and life became full of terror to the in- 
 mates of the Hayes home. Bufrthey were not 
 prone to ascribe unaccountable things to su- 
 pernatural agencies and, lest they be 
 ridiculed, refrained for a long time from 
 mentioning the strange occurrences that 
 disturbed them. But as if some unseen 
 power was bent on bringing dire trouble on the 
 quiet family and put them before the public, 
 their granddaughter Ina become fearfully af- 
 flicted, She was between twelve and thirteen 
 years old and until she succumbed to her 
 
10 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 affliction was a healthy, ruddy, bright girl, who, 
 full of life and strength gave no thought to 
 superstitions or uncanny subjects. One day 
 she claimed a cat followed her. and continued 
 to try to call the attention of others to the 
 feline, but in vain, it was apparent only to the 
 girl. Her grandparents laughed at her and 
 tried to convince her that she was the victim 
 of an optical illusion or freak of imagination. 
 The following two or three days she claimed 
 to be followed by different animals and when 
 she found she alone could see them she seemed 
 terror stricken. The delusion, or whatever it 
 was, preyed on her mind and she grew pale 
 and wetik. At night she could not sleep, vow- 
 ing a skeleton stood by her bedside driving all 
 hope of slumber away. Her relatives became 
 alarmed and tried by every means to dispel the 
 fancies that seemed to be causing Ina so much 
 distress, but they were powerless to change her 
 belief that she was followed by strange beings 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 11 
 
 and she steadfastly affirmed their presence. 
 One morning her mother entered her room and 
 was startled to see the head of her daughter 
 enveloped in cotton. The appearance was 
 strikingly like some corpse prepared for ship- 
 ment to some distant place and the sudden 
 shock to the mother who had grieved and wor- 
 ried much about her childs ^fancies and grow- 
 ing weakness, fainted. Ina was aroused by the 
 alarmed household, but to their questions as to 
 the cause of the strange condition in which she 
 was found, could give no information. But 
 throughout the day one convulsion after anoth- 
 er followed in quick succession, and after each, 
 pieces of cotton appeared on her throat. She 
 •claimed a strange looking woman stood by her 
 beside and tried to choke her by placing cot- 
 ton on her throat. She seemed to suffer in- 
 tensely and as nothing they could do relieved 
 her and she continued to be convulsed by 
 strange paroxysims, Dr. Moore, a neighboring 
 
12 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 physician was called, but after treating her for 
 three weeks and failing to afford her any relief 
 he gave up the case. At times Ina claimed the 
 apparition was on her knees and at such times 
 she screamed with pain and seemed to endure 
 the greatest agony, her toes would draw under 
 and though several persons tried to straighten 
 them, it was without avail. The news of the 
 strange affliction that had befallen Ina Hayes 
 spread throughout the country and crowds of 
 persons called to see the unfortunate girl. 
 Some laughed at her and believed she was ac- 
 ting a part, trying to deceive people lor some 
 ultimate gain. Others regarded the matter 
 more seriously and thus opinion was divided. 
 The family who had always lead a quiet, se- 
 cluded life, were the observed of all observers. 
 Their home was invaded by the curious who 
 often laughed at and scorned to believe the 
 suffering of the prostrate girl real. She became 
 a source of interest and a study to some, a ter- 
 ror to others and to a few an object of ridicule. 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 There was no possible gain for the girl to act 
 upon the credulity of people as a wonder, she 
 was the sufferer, and as such deserved sympa- 
 thy. All the pleasures usually looked forward 
 to by young girls just budding into womanhood, 
 faded from her and she realized with sorrow, 
 that a great blight had fallen upon her life, 
 perchance to cut it off e'er it reached its prime, 
 perhaps to bring years of suffering and social 
 ostracism. Those who took a serious view of 
 the matter realized that the girl could gain noth- 
 ing, but lose what she must prize as other girls 
 do, and were convinced some greaf mystery was 
 there. Newspapers reported it to the world and 
 people from all over the land felt an interest 
 in Ina Haye s and marveled at her affliction. 
 Some believed her bewitched and thought the 
 person who wielded the evil power over her 
 should be ferretted out and punished as in days 
 of yore. The old New England law was re- 
 membered and many wished it might be 
 
14 THE CO I TON GIRL. 
 
 applied, which read "Article III. Witchcraft, 
 which is fellowship by covenant with a familiar 
 spirit, to be punished with death. IV. Consum- 
 ers with witches not to be tolerated, but either 
 to be cut off by death or banishment or other 
 suitable punishment. ,, Such laws have long 
 been extinct yet the greatest legal writers of 
 latter days have not argued against the exis- 
 tence of witchcraft. Coke, Bacon and Hale 
 admitted the possibility of such a crime and 
 Blackstone said : "Its exclusion from the list of 
 crimes was not to be understood as implying a 
 denial of the possibility of such an offense." 
 The case of Ina Hayes, is to say the least a re- 
 markable one. History gives many wonderful 
 cases that were believed then to be caused by 
 witchcraft, but there have been few cases on 
 record in the last century so deserving of study 
 as an unaccountable wonder as the case of Ina 
 Hayes. The wonderful trial of 1664-65 is hard- 
 ly more startling — the Encyclopedia Brittanica 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 15 
 
 says of it : "Two widows named Rose Cullen- 
 der and Annie Duny were accused of bewitch- 
 ing young children. The main points of the 
 evidence were these. There had been a quar- 
 rel between the accused and the parents of the 
 children and the accused had uttered threats 
 against them. The children fell into fits and 
 vomited crooked pins, and once one of them 
 vomited a two penny nail with a bread head. 
 They cried out the name of the accused in their 
 fits; they could not pronounce the words 
 "Lord/' "Jesus," or "Christ" in reading but 
 when they|came to "Satan" or "Devil," they said 
 "this bites, but makes me speak it right well." 
 One of the children fell into a swoon after being 
 suckled by one of the accused, and out of the 
 child's blanket fell a great toad which exploded 
 in the fire like gunpowder and immediately af- 
 terward the alleged witch was seen sitting at 
 home maimed and scorched. Evidence of 
 finding the witches' mark was given, and then 
 
16 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 evidence of reputation, viz., that the accused 
 besides themselves being accounted witches, had 
 had some of their kindred condemned as such. 
 A farmer swore that when his cart once touched 
 Cullenders house it overturned continually and 
 they could not get it home. Sir Thomas 
 Browne testified that the swooning fits were 
 natural, heightened to great excess by the sub- 
 tlety of the devil co-operating with the witches. 
 The Chief Baron in his summing up said that 
 there were such creatures as witches were un- 
 doubted, for the Scripture affirmed it and the 
 wisdom of nations provided laws against such 
 persons. The report alleges that after the con- 
 viction of the accused the children immediately 
 recovered. 
 
 The above case with its testimony, verdict 
 and effect has been preserved by history and 
 is an undisputed fact. If such wonderful pow- 
 ers could be wielded over the innocent by evil 
 minded persons in that age, why not now? 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 1' 
 
 Human nature is the same and the best author- 
 ities claim the supremacy of strong minds over 
 weaker ones. The affliction of Ina Hayes is 
 equally as terrible as the children who suffered 
 over two hundred years ago because ot the en- 
 mity of a wicked woman for their parents. 
 
 The newspapers Ifrom north, south, east 
 and west have taken up this last unexplained 
 wondf r and have freely commented on it. The 
 following is taken from the Sunday News at 
 Baltimore, Md. ; "The case of Ina Hayes, of 
 Greenfield, Tennessee, still continues to be dis- 
 cussed in that part of the South and now some 
 o ! the Northern pipers have taken it up for dis- 
 cussion, for nothing since the first wrappings of 
 the Fox girls at Ro hester has created a great- 
 er sersation." 
 
 The girl who is the subject of this story is 
 quite a good looking person, stoutly built and 
 well formed and a perfect specimen of the 
 blonde. She seems to be in good spirits and at 
 
 i 
 
18 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 times appears as a girl taking a lounge, though 
 the family say she is gradually loosing flesh. 
 She has had some school advantages and good 
 natural mental powers, and no sign of im- 
 becility whatever. Not long ago a party 
 of ladies and gentlemen visited the Hayes 
 family for the purpose of investigating the case 
 that had created such a sensation, and, using 
 their own language, "to see if the story of the 
 cotton was true or some enterprisingromance." 
 The girl was lying on a trundle bed near the 
 fire playing with a harp. She was cleanly but 
 plainly dressed, and her surroundings, though 
 homely were neat and scrupulously clean. They 
 said : "We gave the subject and surroundings 
 the closest investigation, and we found no cotton 
 concealed or unconcealed until the girl was at- 
 tacked with one of her spells. She screamed 
 and plead most piteously for help for a short 
 time, then cotton appeared on her throat/' 
 
 The same writer in anptfrer report says 
 
the cotton girl. 19 
 
 while present the girl had three attacks and af- 
 ter each, cotton in no stinted amount was 
 found on her throat, and during the convul- 
 sions she seemed to suffer intensely, but after- 
 ward, smiled and conversed as if there was 
 nothing the matter with her. When ques- 
 tioned as to how she felt while so strangely 
 agitated, she replied that she felt as if some 
 one was choking her and cutting her throat. 
 The only thing that has ever given her any re- 
 lief has been a brisk rubbing. At times the 
 cotton seems to exude from the pores of the 
 skin and can be drawn from her throat in long 
 strands. Her mind wanders while in these 
 strange paroxysms and she calls to those 
 around her to see the forms her fancy has con- 
 ceived. Sometimes it is animals she claims to 
 see, but oftener it is women, one in particular, 
 dressed in yellow, seems to trouble her very 
 much. 
 
 Another peculiar feature of the case is her 
 
20 TltE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 wonderful sense of hearing. Whether her 
 spirit leaves its earthly tenement for brief peri- 
 ods and travels over space, seeing and hearing 
 what occurs at places far away from where her 
 suffering body lies, or whether her hearing has 
 been made so wonderfully acute, is impossible 
 to say. But several instances or knowledge of 
 noises and conversations that occurred miles 
 away has happened, while in the s'range state 
 for which no name can be fitly or correctly ap- 
 plied. Her face will assume the expression 
 occasionally of one listening intently and she 
 will then repeat what she seems to hear and when 
 she tells from whence the sounds proceed, an 
 investigation has invariably proven that she re- 
 lated ver batim what was said, sometime miles 
 away. This cannot be cabled any slight of 
 hand perform mce, as the appearance of cot on 
 on her throat has been termed but it is but 
 one of many proofs that Ina Hayes is under some 
 spell for which man cannot account. Wonders 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 21 
 
 will never cease, has been said, and truly. Sci- 
 ence may teli when certain things will make 
 the elements war and storms sweep over the 
 land; it can bring the lance points of the army 
 of stars that gleam overhead near enough to 
 tell they are planets, worlds like our own, per- 
 haps inhabited with beings like ourselves; it can 
 tell us when comets and new heavenly bodies 
 will be brought within our range of vision; yet 
 there are things science may not yet make 
 clear. There are questions and problems upon 
 which the brains of nrghty millions are at work 
 trying to solve satisfactorily, yet nations will 
 be born an 1 die an! yet there wi I be wonders 
 whxh will bs new and incomprehensible. 
 
 The Hayes family have not announced to 
 the w:>rld that Ina was a wonder and then 
 closed their doors to all investigation. With 
 becoming modesty they at first, sought to 
 shun public scrutiny and criticism. They did 
 not wish their home bereft of the privacy and 
 
22 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 seclusion which is sacred to that charmed cir- 
 cle, and for a while they did not say anything 
 of the strange occurrences that marred their 
 peace. But when Ina became afflicted in such 
 a strange manner, it became necessary to call 
 medical assistance and to seek aid and relief 
 for her from any source where it might be pro- 
 cured. The news spread rapidly throughout 
 the neighborhood, then the state and now the 
 interest of a nation is turned to the unpretend- 
 ing home and girl. Once public criticism was 
 commenced, the relatives of Ina Hayes courted 
 a close investigation of the subject, for they 
 did not care to be accused of practicing decep- 
 tion. They do not ask people to believe what 
 has been told of this case but they say to one 
 and all "come and see." Many have called 
 and studied the case and have been compelled 
 to admit it the most wonderful thing they have 
 every seen. Physicians have gone to the 
 
THB COTTON GIRL. 23 
 
 Hayes 1 home with all the knowledge of medi- 
 cine to assist them, determined to diagnose the 
 case, and have been compelled to confess be- 
 yond their comprehension and beyond the pale 
 of medical science. Wise men who would 
 laugh at the superstitions of many have care- 
 fully investigated the wonderful exhibitions 
 and have confessed that it savors of the super- 
 natural and must be classed among the things 
 which cannot be explained. Spiritualists all 
 over the land are deeply interested in Ina 
 Hayes and many believe her a powerful medi- 
 um who will be the means of convincing thous- 
 ands that there is communication with thespirit 
 world beyond. What new and startling things 
 it may be her fate to reveal no one can tell, 
 but time will doubtless prove that she has 
 many powers beyond the comprehension of 
 her fellow beings. 
 
 Numbers of people who have lived near 
 the Hayes family fo* years and have known Ina. 
 
24 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 since she was a child and have given her afflic- 
 tion their attention, are willing to vouch for the 
 truthfulness of all that has been asserted in 
 this book. There have been some reports 
 made by persons but only the evidence has 
 been given in a court of justice and sworn to 
 as "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but 
 the truth. Mr. Lee Heath, Allen Sharp and 
 W. T. Jone*, who live near Greenfield, Tennes- 
 see, have expressed their w iilingness to testify 
 to a 1 that has been cl.umed and they are men 
 whose veracity cannot be questioned. The old 
 grandfather of the afflicted girl, who has lived 
 three score and ten years, while grieving very 
 much about the unfortunate affliction of his 
 granddaughter, takes a sensible view of the 
 matter, stares the inevitable in the face, in- 
 vites investigation and stands ready to protect 
 the innocent sufferer. 
 
 Mr. Lee Heath, who lives n«-ar the Hayes 
 farm,siys when he fir^t f.earJ th^rjmor about 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 25 
 
 the affliction of his neighbor's grand-daughter 
 he was somewhat skeptical, yet he knew the 
 family were honest and intelligent and he 
 could see no reason why they would care to 
 deceive people. He determined to call and 
 convince himself. He thought perhaps the 
 cotton on her throat was taken from the bed- 
 clothes while she was in convulsions. He stood 
 by her bedside and watched the girl closely. 
 When the spell came upon her he put his hand 
 upon her throat and when he removed Jt there 
 was a large piece of cotton there. He was 
 amazed and mystified and says it was the most 
 wonderful thing he ever wtnessed. On Octo- 
 ber the eleventh he received the following let- 
 ter from Mrs. E. S. Sargin, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 "Dear Sir, — Please pardon me for troubling 
 you, but my curiosity is very much excited 
 over the enclosed article contributed by 
 'Ruthiel' to the Sunday News. I have been 
 very much interested in some of his articles but 
 the enclosed strikes me as such rank nonsense, 
 
26 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 I determined to write you, to whom he referred 
 as one of his endorsers. I wish to know if the 
 story is really an authentic one, or only to be 
 classed with the many newspaper fallacies we 
 see. Such a person as Mr. Lee Heath may 
 not be in existence for all I know and so I 
 write to learn and to find out if your endorse- 
 ment is a reality. By complying you will con- 
 fer a favor. ,, 
 
 Mr. Heath replied to the ab« ve stating 
 that the statement of Ina Haye's strange case 
 had not been exaggerated There is no need 
 to add anything to make the case marvelous; 
 there is enough in the real facts 
 
 Some one advised that Ina be carried 
 across running water as that was believed to be 
 a cure for certain spells. The relatives of the 
 girl, willing to do anything, no matter how un- 
 reasonable it seemed, at once prepared to try 
 the effect and she was taken across a stream 
 and to the home of Mr. Reed, one of their 
 friends. She remained there several days and 
 her host says there was rapping and. strange 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 noises at times and the convulsions and ap- 
 pearance of cotton on her throat continued. 
 
 Mrs, Warlicks, the proprietress of the 
 Warlick Hotel at Greenfield, was interviewed 
 and stated that she had called on the girl and 
 watched the symptoms and strange manifesta- 
 tions closely and that it was a great mystery to 
 her. She said she had answered so many 
 questions about the case and had been 
 laughed at for believing it real, by so many 
 who had not seen the girl, she felt some hesi- 
 tency about giving her testimony. 
 
 People have visited the Hayes home in 
 crowds and had the family desired to make 
 money out of the girl's affliction, it would not 
 have been a hard matter to have made hun- 
 dreds of dollars in a short time. But they 
 scorned the idea, willing instead, to give all 
 their worldly goods in exchange for the peace 
 and happiness that once prevaded their home. 
 Many supersticious persons feared to approach 
 
THE COTTON GIRt. 
 
 them lest they too might fall under some evil 
 spell. 
 
 At the suggestion of a friend who told 
 them to follow the advice given they tried a 
 very novel remedy with strange results. A 
 tree was given the persons named and seven 
 persons surrounded it with switches and 
 whipped it. Cotton appeared all over the tree 
 and struck terror to the hearts of those who 
 saw it, for they knew it was not put there by 
 any human agency. The girl, however, was 
 not benefitted. 
 
 One of the most peculiar of all of these re- 
 markable manifestations occurred upon one 
 occasion when Ina was going to the house of 
 ©ne of their neighbors a few miles away, riding 
 on horseback, behind her grandfather. She 
 had a number of the paroxisms while on the 
 journey, and Mr. Hayes found rolls and wads 
 of cotton sticking to his back, on his shoulders, 
 on his hat, in his pockets, and he asserts that 
 
*HE COTTOH GlRt. 29 
 
 he frequently saw quantities of it fall from his 
 own person, as well as from the person of the 
 girl, into the road as they passed along. He 
 also says that upon many occasions the cotton 
 has fallen upon him ard other members of the 
 family while they were engaged upon their 
 usual avocations about the little farm or hum- 
 ble abode, always, however, when Ina was 
 near them, but they never suffered any incon- 
 venience from these showers. 
 
 Once he and the strangely affected girl 
 started to go to a well which was about one 
 hundred yards from the house. The journey 
 there was without special incident, but when 
 they had filled their bucketsand were returning 
 Ina said that she rould see the strange appari- 
 tion that had hounded her so long standing on 
 a high black-oak stump, in the yard and near 
 the gate Close to the stump grows a tall 
 hickory sapling, probably six inches in diame- 
 ter. Upon this sapling she declared that the 
 
30 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 singular thing — being, spirit, hobgoblin or 
 whatever name it may be called by — was plac- 
 ing wads of cotton similar in all respects to that 
 which exhuded from her own person. Sure 
 enough when Mr. Hayes got near enough to 
 see them, he found quite large bales of the fibre 
 adhering to the small tree, and was positive 
 that the girl had not left his side, and that no 
 other human being had been near it since they 
 passed it a few moments before, when it stood 
 there in its normal condition, as free from cot- 
 ton as a cotton stalk is free from hickory nuts. 
 
 Mrs. Allen Sharp, a lady who lives near 
 the Hayes family, has witnessed many of the 
 phenomena, and will cheerfully give any infor- 
 mation to those who are seeking for the truth. 
 Her postoffice address is Greenfield, Tenn., and 
 was with the girl when she went upon a jour- 
 ney that will be told of later, and relates a 
 number of instances that are remarkable, to say 
 tfte least of them, and says that while on the 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 31 
 
 road Ina had several of her "spells" and that 
 at each time she would complain that the ap- 
 parition was following them. After these par- 
 oxisms had passed off she would declare that 
 she could still see "the thing," and that it had 
 gone on ahead and was in the middle of the 
 wagon road. At other times she would try to 
 i point out to Mr. Sharp something that she de- 
 clared looked like a great rooster sailing in the 
 air directly ahead of them, and expressed a fear 
 lest it should reach their destination before 
 them, and await their coming to afflict her 
 again. Mr. Reed, to whose house the party 
 was going, (as has already been stated) says 
 that before their arrival he and his family could 
 hear strange rappings, showing conclusively 
 that the ^ower that was exerting itself upon 
 the girl had preceded her there. He puts no 
 faith in the story of witchcraft, though frankly 
 admitting that while she was under his roof 
 ihe noises continued. He also affirms that he 
 
32 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 saw the other remarkable manifestation — the 
 exuding of cotton from the girl's person — 
 with his own eyes and stood by her, wirh his 
 hands upon her throat while she was suffering 
 from one of the paroxisms, and when it had 
 passed off he found under his hand the custom- 
 ary roll of cotton. While not admitting for a 
 moment the supernatural aspect of the case, he 
 candidly says he does not know what else to 
 ascribe it to. He says he knows Mr. Sharp to 
 be an honest, straight-forward man, who pos- 
 sesses the esteem of his neighbors, and whose 
 veracity is unquestioned, and that he would 
 not allow any trickery or humbugery to go on 
 in his house, nor by any one over whom he 
 had any control, therefore he is willing to be- 
 lieve that what Mr. Sharp says of this strange 
 case, really occurred. The author feels per- 
 fectly safe in saying that Mr. Sharp will answer 
 all questions asked of him, and that those 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 33 
 
 answers will be confirmatory of the facts as 
 they are stated in the preceeding pages. 
 
 The visit to Kentucky proving unavailing, 
 failing utterly to do the girl any good, she was 
 taken home again, where the stra ge things 
 continue to occur. Mrs. Hayes declared that 
 she was perfectly satisfied that it was witchery, 
 and nothing else, that ailed the poor child. In 
 this she could scarcely be blamed Did she 
 not see with her own eyes things done that 
 were incomprehensible? Things that neither 
 she nor any of her friends or any of the vast 
 number of people who hid called at her hum- 
 ble home since these manifestations began, 
 coi<!d explain? If not done by human power, 
 it must be by some supernatural one, and as 
 the spirits of one's good friends would not de- 
 scend to such methods as cou'd only prove 
 annoying to the living— give pain, excite un- 
 favorable comment and cause disagreeable re- 
 marks to be made by the unthinking. What 
 
&4 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 was left for the half-distracted woman to be- 
 lieve except that uncanny witches were inflict- 
 ing torture *pon her grand-daughter? Refer- 
 ence has been made in the preceeding pages 
 to the celebrated "Fox Sisters," and as a proof 
 that such a thing as spiritualism does exist; 
 that it has many firm believers; that Mrs. 
 Hayes may be pardoned for entertaining the 
 same belief, especially so when the manifesta- 
 tions made through those ladies were even less 
 remarkable than those made through Ina 
 Hayes, we give a short resume of them and 
 their strange career: 
 
 The "spirit-rapping" phenomenon began 
 in March, 1848, in the family of John D. Fox, 
 in Hydeville, Wayne county, New York. Be- 
 sides Mr. and Mrs. Fox, only their two young- 
 est children, Margaret, 12 years old and Kate, 
 9 years old, were at home when the family 
 was startled by mysterious rappings that were 
 heard nightly upon the floor of one of the bed 
 
$H» COTTOtt GIRL. 35 
 
 rooms, and sometimes in other parts of the 
 house. They endeavored to trace the sounds 
 to their cause, but failed. It is also alleged 
 that a patter oi footsteps was sometimes heard, 
 the bed clothes were pulled off, and Kate felt a 
 cold hand passed over her face. On the 
 night of March 31st, when the raps occurred, 
 Kate imitated them by snapping her fingers, 
 and the raps responded by the same number ot 
 sounds. Kate said: "Now, do as I do; count 
 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6," at the same time striking her 
 hands together. The same number of raps re- 
 sponded, and at similar intervals. The mother 
 of the girls then said: "Count 10;" and 10 dis- 
 tinct raps were heard. "Count 15," and that 
 number ot sounds followed. She then said: 
 ''Tell me the age of Cathy (the youngest 
 daughter) by rapping one for each year/' and 
 the number of years was rapped correctly. In 
 like manner the ages of each of the four others 
 and then absent children were by request indi- 
 cated by the invisible agent. Mrs. Fox asked 
 
38 TITS COITON GIRL. 
 
 if it was a human being that was making that 
 noise, and if it was to manifest it by makit g 
 the same noise. There was no sound. She 
 then said; "It you are a spirit, make two dis- 
 tinct sounds." Two raps were accordingly 
 heard. Three weeks afterwards, it issaid.it 
 was made known by raps that the body of a 
 murdered man lay buried in the cellar, and the 
 exact spot was indicated where parts of a hu 
 man skeleton were actually found. The name 
 ef the murdered man was given, and it was 
 learned that five years before such a person 
 had visited the house and had suddenly and 
 mysteriously disappeared. After a while the 
 raps occurred only in the presence of the two 
 sisters, Margaret and Kate. The family hav- 
 ing removed to Rochester, the raps accompa- 
 nied them, and new phenomena, including 
 clairvoyance and the movement of ponderable 
 bodies without appreciable agency were devel- 
 oped. In November, 1849, the Fox girls ap- 
 peared in a public hall, and the phenomena 
 
THE COTTON &IRL. 37 
 
 were freely manifested and subjected to many- 
 tests; and a committee appointed for their inves- 
 tigation, after continuing their experiments 
 there and elsewhere for many days, reported 
 that they were unable to trace them to any 
 mundane agency. In May, 1 830, the Fox girls 
 arrived in New York; the alleged spiritual 
 manifestations became the subject of extensive 
 newspaper and conversational discussion; their 
 facts were published far and wide; "mediums/' 
 through whom they were said to occur, sprang 
 up in different parts of the country, and were 
 multiplied by hundreds and almost by thous- 
 ands. 
 
 Soon after the occurrence of the incident 
 at the well, told of previously, the Hayes fami- 
 ly concluded to take the trip to Kentucky, 
 that has also been referred to briefly. Inci- 
 dents that happened just previous to the start- 
 ing, and what occurred on the journey and 
 
38 TfiE COfTON GIRL. 
 
 subsequent, are graphicly related by a gentle- 
 man, an intimate friend of the Hayes family, 
 as follows: — 
 
 "It was about th* 27th day of November, 
 1890, that I first saw Ina Hayes alter her 
 strange affliction, though of course I have 
 heard of it, for the case here even then obtain- 
 ed wide-spread notoriety. I had been down 
 in Mississippi in company with Mr. Marion 
 Hayes, and on our way back Mr. Hayes, who 
 had seen her when she was first taken, propos- 
 ed to stop off and see her again. Much of 
 what had been told me of her was hard to be- 
 lieve, and I was quite willing to see for myself, 
 therefore I consented to do as he suggested. 
 We reached the little home soon after sunrise, 
 that morning, and found the family up and 
 busied about the household cares and affairs of 
 the little farm. Ina was seated in a chair be- 
 fore the fire when we entered, and as I was not 
 a believer in the peculiar stories that had been 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 39 
 
 told of her and her malady, I merely nodded 
 to her, after exchanging salutations with the 
 others of the family and taking a seat that was 
 offered me, addressing my conversation to Mr. 
 Hayes whom I have known since a child, little 
 thinking that I was soon to be an eye witness 
 of one of the strangest scenes ever enacted by 
 a human being, and the memory of whic^ will 
 linger with me as long as life endures. Sud- 
 denly Ina started up as if frightened at some- 
 thing that none of us could see or hear, her 
 face first grew ghastly white and her lips pur- 
 ple, she uttered a low, wailing sound such as 
 some animals do in distress; her eyes had a 
 fixed stare as though she was gazing upon 
 some horrible form without will power enough 
 to close them and shut it out; the wailing sound 
 deepened to a moan of pain; her pale cheeks 
 became dyed with crimson as the blood rush- 
 ed fmm her heart again; her arms fought the 
 empty air as if either struggling for breath or 
 to ward off the unseen enemy. 
 
40 THE COTTON GURL. 
 
 "I gazed at her intently, when suddenly, to 
 my unutterable astonishment, I saw protruding 
 from her lips and apparently held tight be- 
 tween her teeth, a small roll of cotton, tightly 
 wound, and about as large as a man's thumb. 
 As Marion Hayes reached out his hand and 
 took the cotton from her mouth the paroxysm 
 passed off, and she sank back in the chair as if 
 exhausted. I was at first impressed with the 
 belief that she had the cotton concealed in her 
 mouth, and that what I had seen was only a 
 bit of very clever acting in the slight-of-hand 
 line. Knowing, however, that if she had held 
 the cotton in her mouth for any considerable 
 length of time that it would be wet, I immedi- 
 ately took it from his hand and examined it 
 critically and carefully, expecting, of course, to 
 find it wet. In this I confess I was disap- 
 pointed. I found slight traces of saliva upon 
 one end of the roll just as if it hct-d come in 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 41 
 
 slight contact with the end of her tongue. Nat- 
 urally I was surprised at this, but still could 
 not quite put aside the thought that the cotton 
 had been concealed in her mouth before we 
 entered, and waited patiently for another 
 spell, meanwhile watching her intently as I 
 talked to Mr. Frank Hayes of the scene we had 
 just witnessed, and asking further particulars 
 regarding her, the frequency of the spells, etc. 
 He told me that the one we had just witnessed 
 was the only one she had had this morning, 
 though another was liable to come on at any 
 moment. Soon after breakfast was announced 
 and we all sat down to the table. I had deter- 
 mined to keep my eye on her, and, if possible, 
 detect her in the trick, if she was really playing 
 a part. She ate as naturally as anybody, which 
 could not be the case if there was anything 
 concealed in her mouth, and she chewed her 
 food and swallowed it without more effort than 
 any one else would. I could best notice, too, 
 
42 THE COITON @IRL. 
 
 that her cheeks were sunken just as one might 
 expect in a person suffering from poor health. 
 Suddenly she sat down her coffee cup, and, 
 almost without warning, a roll of cotton ap- 
 peared in her mouth, and before any one could 
 touch it, it fell irom htr lips into the coffee be- 
 fore her. She hurriedly left the table and sat 
 down in another part of the room. While we 
 were still talking of this last incident she arose 
 and went to the water bucket and was in the 
 act of taking a drink out of a large gourd that 
 was usrd by the family as a dipper when once 
 more, without warning, another roll of cotton 
 fell from her lips, this time into the gourd of 
 water in her hand. 
 
 "Of course all this being new to me, I 
 took more interest in it than the others did, 
 and made many inquiries about it, and was not 
 a lit'le surprised to see that still another par- 
 oxysm was coming on. This time Ina was 
 afflicted in precisely the same manner as in th^ 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 43 
 
 first one we had witnessed. As before, Marion 
 Hayes again took the roll of cotton from her 
 lips when it appeared, and I immediately took 
 it from his hand for examination and to look 
 for evidences of water which I knew must have 
 wet the cotton if it had been in her mouth 
 when she was drinking out of the gourd. But 
 again I was doomed to defeat, for as before, 
 to my astonishment, the singular little roll was 
 moist at one end only, just as it would be when 
 the tongue comes in contact with it. I had 
 watched her carefully, thinking to 'catch on to 
 the racket/ but had signally failed and felt puz- 
 zled at the failure. The whole business was so 
 peculiar that I concluded to probe it to the 
 very bottom and satisfy myself, if possible, and 
 accordingly asked a great many questions, es- 
 pecially regarding the means adopted for her 
 relief. The family told me that an old Egyp- 
 tian woman had told them that if Ina was car- 
 ried over a stream of running water that she 
 
44 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 would have no more of the spells, and that they 
 had about decided to try the experiment and 
 take her to some friends in Kentucky. The 
 suggestion was made that our being there 
 would afford a good opportunity for making 
 the proposed journey, for they could have com- 
 pany on the road, Marion Hayes being a dis- 
 tant relative of theirs. Finally they concluded 
 that it would be advisable, and at once began 
 making preparations to go. While they were 
 getting ready I once more began talking to 
 Mr. Hayes, asking innumerable questions, but 
 found him rather disposed to be reticent upon 
 some parts of the subject, but think this was 
 mainly caused by his belief that my mission 
 was to discover if any slight-of-hand work was 
 being indulged in by him or Tna, or if there 
 was any collusion between them in this re- 
 spect, just to satisfy my curiosity. On a subse- 
 quent visit, however, he talked more freely, and 
 afforded me much information, giving me every 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 46 
 
 opportunity to investigate the case fully and 
 freely. 
 
 "Finally the women of the household an- 
 nounced that they were ready to start, and we 
 were soon on the road. While we were be- 
 tween the Hayes' residence and Greenfield Ina 
 was taken with another spell. She and her 
 mother and Mrs. Hayes were in a buggy and 
 Mr, Hayes and myself were walking in front 
 of them. I did not see her have this spell, but 
 knew that she did have it by the peculiar wail- 
 ing, moaning sound I had heard her utter 
 before. Turning around I asked what was the 
 matter, and Ina said that she could see a 
 strange looking woman beside the buggy. I 
 looked carefully for such an apparition as she 
 described, but could see no onejbut the three 
 in the buggy. I saw no cotton at that time, 
 but it must be said that we did not look for any, 
 and it may have been there. There were no 
 other manifestations between there and Green- 
 field, but there Ina said the strange apparition 
 
46 THE COTTON aiRL. 
 
 got on the train when we did. And also that 
 it got off with us when we reached the place 
 we were to leave the cars. 
 
 "Ina attracted much attention at Greenfield, 
 for many of the inhabitants had heard of her 
 strange affliction, and the entrance of so many 
 of us in a body was soon noised about the 
 country village, and when the train came, the 
 passengers were told that the "Cotton G.'ri" 
 was there. Soon after we entered the cars, 
 the other passengers gathered » round asking a 
 multitude of questions, and making comments 
 upon the poor girl and her appearance. 
 Among the passengers was a physician who, 
 seating himself near, made many inquiries 
 about her and seemed to take a great deal of 
 interest in the case. Expressing a desire to 
 see some of the cotton that had exuded from 
 her person. I gave him a piece that I had pre- 
 served. He examined it carefully and intelli- 
 gently, and pronounced it just like the natural 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 47 
 
 staple. He took some of it with him, and to 
 the best of my recollection, he said he intend- 
 ed to have it analyzed. 
 
 "I hive not seen as much of the case as 
 many others with whom I have talked have, 
 but what^I say I saw — I saw, and am willing 
 to tell any one personally of what came under 
 my observation, and be qualified to the state- 
 ment if they desire it; or I am willing to write 
 all I know regarding this case to any who write 
 for the information, if they enclose stamps for 
 return postage and address me, J. G. Jones, 
 ( unningham, Carlisle county, Kentucky." 
 
 After the family had been in Kentucky 
 long enough for the fact of her being there to 
 be known she was visited by a great many per- 
 sons, some of whom went away declaring that 
 there was nothing unusual the matter with her, 
 as they did not see any of the wonderful mani- 
 festations they had heard so much about, for 
 the truth is there had been an improvement in 
 
48 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 her health and she did not have many of the 
 spells. However, she did have some of them, 
 and cotton was not infrequently found in her 
 room and in other parts of the house which 
 could not be accounted for. As but little, if 
 any, cotton is grown in that part of the coun- 
 try, quite a good many thought that while she 
 remained there she would cease to be afflicted. 
 But this is a mistake. She had and continues 
 to have these spells occasionally. 
 
 When the family first reached Kentucky 
 they stopped at the residence of one of their 
 friends. Neither he nor any of his family had 
 any faith in the truthfulness of the stories they 
 had heard regarding Ina Hayes and her strange 
 affliction; indeed, they doubted that the cotton 
 they had heard of had any other existence 
 than in the vivid imaginations of sensational 
 gossips; yet on the very first night that she re- 
 mained beneath their roof she had one of her 
 jsfrange spells, and an unusually large ball of 
 
THE COTTON &IRL. 49 
 
 cotton was found adhering to her throat. On 
 the following day, after she and her mother 
 and grandmother had gone to the home of 
 other friends, the family where they had passed 
 the night, found at different times all during 
 the day, large rolls and balls of cotton scattered 
 in various places about their home — even on 
 floors which had been swept only a few mo- 
 ments before — showing that the influence 
 which caused the fibre to make its appear- 
 ance on the girl's person still made its presence 
 manifested in the dwelling even after she had 
 gone elsewhere. The family told me afterward 
 that there was no cotton on their place except 
 a .small quantity which the lady of the house 
 had left over after padding a quilt, and even 
 that was packed away in a trunk in an upper 
 room, and none of the family even knew of its 
 existence except t">e lady herself. The myste- 
 rious cotton, however, continued to be found 
 abcut the house, on the freshly swept floors, 
 
50 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 and even in closets for several days, and then 
 ceased as suddenly as it had commenced. 
 
 Meanwhile the girl had no spells, her health 
 began to improve as has been told and a much 
 longer period elapsed between times* than ever 
 before. Her mother began to hope that she 
 was going to get well, as the old Egyptian 
 woman had said she would. But, alas! her 
 hopes were doomed to disappointment; ail their 
 fond anticipations and cherished plans of hap- 
 piness that should ensue when Ina was fully re- 
 stored to health and freed from the malign in- 
 fluence of witchery, were crushed, and once 
 more they were plunged into the depths of de- 
 spair for when the cotton ceased making its 
 appearance in the house of the friends with 
 whom they stopped the first night she was 
 again afflicted and the horrid spells came back 
 apparently with renewed energy. 
 
 Now comes one of the strangest features 
 of this more than strange history. It will be 
 
THE COTTON GIRt. 51 
 
 remembered that when she was first afflicted 
 her feet were drawn and distorted in a wonder- 
 fully peculiar manner, and this fact had caused 
 her no little inconvenience and actual trouble. 
 One night quite recently she awoke her mother 
 and told her that the apparation had made its 
 material presence known, takingon the form of 
 a large cat, wh ; ch, pouncing upon one of her 
 crooked feet, had straightened it out to its nor- 
 mal shape again. Then ensued a spell of un- 
 usual severity, which in due time passed off, 
 only to be succeeded by another, in which an- 
 other cat-like form was seen by her, and the 
 remaining foot was straightened, and both have 
 remained straight ever since, though the par- 
 oxysms continue to be monotonously regular, 
 and the cotton continues to make its appear- 
 ance on her throat. "Will she ever get well ?" 
 is now a question anxiously a.sked by all those 
 whose happiness depend upon her recovery. 
 "Is she a spiritualist, a medium of rare but as 
 
52 THE COTTON GMRL. 
 
 yet undeveloped power ?" is asked by those 
 who are convinced that all that has happened 
 to her is caused by some supernatural power. 
 "Is she an impostor, who has been playing 
 tricks and imposing upon the credulity of the 
 people and has so far escaped detection? " ask 
 the skeptics, or really under the witchcraft 
 power and influence of the woman who lives in 
 Gibson county? Who can tell? 
 
 That some unseen power acts in this case 
 cannot be doubted. For weeks the girl has 
 been confin d to her bed fading away to a 
 mere shadow of her former self and suffering 
 the greatest physical and mental agony. There 
 seems no human relief for her and what the re- 
 sult will be, no man knoweth. All who have 
 seen the girl, watched her suffering, noticed 
 her wonderful faculty for hearing noises at 
 great distances and seen the fleecy cotton that 
 appears on her throat, pronounce it the great- 
 est wonder of the nineteenth century. The 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 6S 
 
 threats of an evil woman who vowed to wreck 
 a terrible vengeance upon her are recalled by 
 her friends and some are ready to believe that 
 she not only has the power to do so, but is act- 
 ually putting the awful threat into execution. 
 It is unnecessary to tell the readers of this 
 little book that witchcraft is nothing new. 
 For ages and ages people have believed in its 
 existence. A witch is a person supposed to have 
 formed a compact with Satan, and the prac- 
 tic of the powers thereby acquired. The 
 term witch, though applied to both sexes; in 
 strictness denotes a female, wizard being the 
 appropriate term for a male. The belief in 
 witches, as formerly entertained in Christian 
 countries, supposed Satan to be in rebellion 
 against God and in warfare against the church, 
 and to exercise his marvelous influence through 
 the agency of human beings, who by formal 
 compact had agreed to become his subjects 
 
54 THE COTTON &IRL. 
 
 and to serve him. Such persons became pos- 
 sessed of supernatural powers, including the 
 ability to injure others, to read their thoughts, 
 to call up the spirits of the dead; to transform 
 themselves into the likeness of animals, to be 
 present in apparation at a distance from the 
 actual locality of their bodies; to fascinate by 
 a look, etc They were supposed to bear up- 
 on their bodies a "witch mark," affixed by 
 Satan, which was known by the point where it 
 was made becoming callous and dead. At 
 the time of the settlement of the country the 
 belief in witches was general, and unknown 
 diseases extraordinary occurances, or circum- 
 stance- not explainable on known theories, were 
 commonly attributed to the influence of the 
 devil and the agency of witches. Witchcraft 
 was regarded as the blackest of crimes, and 
 the punishment of death was inflicted on per- 
 sons convicted of it. Several persons were ex- 
 ecuted as witches in Massachusetts prior to 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 55 
 
 the extraordinary outburst at Salem. The 
 latest instance has been the hanging of an 
 Irish woman in Boston in 16S8, accused of be- 
 witching four children belonging to the family 
 of a Mr. Goodwin. During the winter of 1691- 
 '2 a company consisting mostly of young girls, 
 was in the habit of meeting at the house of a 
 clergyman, Mr Parris, in Salem Village (now 
 Danvers Centre), for the purpose of practising 
 the arts of necromancy, magic, &c. They soon 
 began to exhibit strange actions, exclamations, 
 and contortions, at times being seized with 
 spasms, dropping insensible to the floor, or 
 /writhing in agony. The village physician de- 
 clared the children bewitched, an opinion in 
 which a council of the neighboring clergymen, 
 including Mr. Parris, concurred? Being pressed 
 to make known who had bewitched them, the 
 girls first accused an Indian woman named Ti- 
 tuba, a servant of Mr. Parris; Sarah Good, a 
 woman of ill repute; and Sarah Osburn, who 
 
56 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 was bedridden. They were brought before the 
 magistrate for examination on March I, 1692. 
 the excitement became extreme, and spread 
 through the neighboring country; others were 
 accused, and the most eminent clergymen and 
 laymen encouraged the prosecution, in the be- 
 lief that Satan was making a special effort to 
 gain the yictory over the saints. But few had 
 the courage to resist the delusion. A special 
 court of oyer and terminer was appointed for 
 the hearing of the cases, but the trials were a 
 mere mockery. It opened at Salem of the first 
 week of June, and several sessions were held, 
 the last opening on Sept, 9. Nineteen persons, 
 among them some of the most pious and re- 
 putable citizens, were hanged, the first execu- 
 tion occuring in June the last in September- 
 Six were men, including one clergyman, and 
 thirteen were women. Giles Corey, a man up- 
 wards of 80 years of age, for refusing to plead, 
 was pressed to death. A reaction in public 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 57 
 
 sentiment now began to set in, and through a 
 court held in January, 1693, three persons were 
 condemned, no more executions took place; 
 and in May the governor discharged all then in 
 jail, to the number, it is said, of 150. Mr. 
 Parris, who had been one of the most zealous 
 prosecutors, was dismissed by his church in 
 1696, although he acknowledged his error. 
 
 Cotton Mather, a name that seems appro- 
 priate to use in this book descriptive of the 
 "Cotton Girl," was a famous preacher who died 
 in Boston in 1728. He was a believer in witch- 
 craft, and published a book entitled "Memora- 
 ble Providences Relating to Witchcraft and 
 Possessions," narrating cases which had oc- 
 curred at intervals in different parts of the coun- 
 try, which was used as an authority in the pros- 
 ecution of the "Salem tragedy." When the 
 children of John Goodwin were strangely 
 affected in 1688 he was one of the four minis- 
 ters of Boston who held a day of fasting ancj 
 
58 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 prayer, and favored the suspicion of diabolical 
 visitation. He afterward took the eldest daugh- 
 ter of hi j house in order to inspect the spiritual 
 and physiological phenomena of witchcraft, 
 and his experiments are wonderful instances of 
 curiosity and credulity. He discovered that 
 the devils were familiar with the Greek, Latin 
 and Hebrew, but seemed less skilled in the In- 
 dian languages, suspected that they were not 
 all alike sagacious, and was persuaded that he 
 himself was shielded against their power by 
 special protection of Heaven. A discourse, in 
 which he pronounced witchcraft ' the most ne- 
 fandous high treason against the Majesty on 
 high/' was printed with a copious narrative of 
 his recent researches, and the particulars re- 
 printed in London with a preface by Richard 
 Baxter. When the first phenomena occurred 
 at Salem in 1692 he at once became a promi- 
 nent adviser concerning them, expressing his 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 59 
 
 eagerness "to lift up a standard against the in- 
 fernal enemy," whose assaults upon the coun- 
 try he regarded as (4 a particular defiance upon 
 my poor endeavors to bring the souls of man 
 unto Heaven;" and in order to convince all who 
 doubted the obsessions and disapproved of the 
 executions, he wrote his "Wonders of the invis- 
 ible World" (1692) which received the appro- 
 bation of the president of Harvard college and 
 of the governor of the state, though it was de- 
 signed to encourage the excesses and to pro- 
 mote "a pious thankfulness to God for justice 
 being so far executed among us. 7 When the 
 reaction in the popular mind followed he vainly 
 attempted to arrest it, and though he afterward 
 admitted that "there had been a going too far 
 in the affair," he never expressed regret for the 
 innocent blood that had been shed, and charged 
 the responsibility upon the powers of darkness. 
 Finally he sought to shun the odium of the 
 popular feeling by declaring the subject "too 
 
60 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 dark and deep for ordinary comprehension," 
 and referring it for decision to the day of judg- 
 ment. 
 
 Be this ali as it may (and no human being 
 can say positively that the manifestations re- 
 counted in the preceding pages are untrue) this 
 case is certainly new for modern times, and Ina 
 Hayes and all who are connected with the 
 wonderful story will go into the pages of his- 
 tory set apart for unexplainable events and be- 
 come a part of this great nation's productions 
 of the marvelous. Sensible, conservative peo- 
 ple are slow to express ther opinions either for 
 or against any grave question. : They are will- 
 ing to study it in all its phases, and look at it 
 from various standpoints, sitting deductions un- 
 til they are able to arrive at a rational conclu- 
 sion, and then having announced that decision, 
 adhere to it through good and evil repute. It 
 is only those who are wise in their own conceit 
 that make the greatest ado over what they are 
 
THE COTTON GIRL. 61 
 
 pleased to call the weakness and credulity of 
 others. Lacking the moral courage, and, per- 
 haps, the industry, to seek for themselves they 
 make haste to cast odium upon anything they 
 cannot understand, thinking, like the ostrich, 
 who banishes its enemies from its sight by 
 burying its head in the sand, that if they can 
 not see what is going on, no one else can 
 either, while investigating minds stand forth as 
 living monuments ol the poetical truths — 
 
 •'Few and precious are the words which 
 the lips of wisdom utter." 
 
 And on the other hand it is forcibly illus- 
 trated by the old saying — 
 
 'They most assume who know the least/' 
 Ever since the mysterious words, written 
 with a pen of fire upon the walls of the palace 
 of the King of Persia, were deciphered and in- 
 trepreted to foretell the destruction of and 
 death of the King, the world has been more or 
 less inclined to a belief in spiritualism. It will 
 
62 THE COTTON GIRL. 
 
 not do to say that only the weak-minded, those 
 who are easily influenced by others or those 
 who see but cannot understand believed in this, 
 believed in it with the Fox Sisters, orbelievers 
 in it now when confronted with the facts re- 
 garding Ina Hayes. 
 
 Some of the greatest names the word has 
 ever known believed that spirits, good and bad, 
 had power to come to earth again and chter or 
 afflict their friends or enemies. Napoleon be- 
 lieved it. One of the most eminent Chief 
 Justices of the United States Supreme Court 
 believed it, and was guided in some of his most 
 intricate and notable decisions by good and 
 evil spirits. 
 
 Many who have seen Ina Hayes believe it, 
 and after a careful perusal of the foregoing 
 pages, the author confidently believes that the 
 reader will give the whole subject a careful and 
 impartial investigation, and then draw his own 
 conclusion.