w ftp 1 1'- v a i i Class JB£_lHi Book. ^7 Goffyrightlf_ II W&k 5K & A 3httttr* ICtft Smimfitraieh OR TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS A PUBLIC MEDIUM By E. W. Sprague, THIRTEEN YEARS A MISSIONARY OF THE NA- TIONAL SPIRITUALIST ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." — I John, IV Chap., ist Verse. Published by ELI WILMOT SPRAGUE. 1908. i*.46KARY of CONFESS I iwo ttooies rtecawe* j OCT 13 W8 | | II 'I - - ■ Copyright, 1908, By E. W. SPRAGUE, Detroit, Mich. TO MY BELOVED ARISEN PARENTS WHO GAVE ME LIFE, AND FROM WHOM I INHERITED MY SENSITIVE ORGANISM AND MEDIUMISTIC NATURE, AND TO THE MEMBERS OF MY FAITHFUL SPIRIT BAND WHO HAVE AIDED ME IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE SACRED SPIRITUAL POWERS, AND WHO BY THEIR WISE COUNSEL AND BLESSED IN- SPIRATION HAVE TAUGHT ME THE NEW LESSONS OF LIFE, AND WHO HAVE AFFIL- IATED WITH ME CONSTANTLY THROUGH- OUT THESE MANY FRUITFUL YEARS IN THE WORK FOR HUMANITY, FULFILL- ING ALL THEIR PROMISES, THIS VOLUME IS LOVINGLY DEDI- CATED BY ITS AUTHOR. "And it came to pass, that when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance." — Paul, Acts xxii — 17. PREFACE. Mrs. Sprague and I are often asked about our early- life, how we came to be developed as mediums and many questions regarding our work in Spiritualism. After relating some of these experiences we have been urged to publish them. This fact, the desire to en- courage other mediums in the development of their sacred powers, and a wish to preserve a record of some of the important proofs of a future life that with the assistance of our beloved spirit friends it has been our happy mission to contribute to the great sum of such proof, that Modern Spiritualism is surely contributing to a spiritually starving and doubting world, constitute some of the reasons for the publication of this work. Kind reader, we love Spiritualism. It is to us the most soul inspiring and blessed gift of the Great Giver of all to the children of men. We long to see the day when Spiritualism will be known and under- stood, and its teachings practiced in the daily lives of all men. In that day, earth will be a heaven and all wrongs will be righted. Feeling thus, I am satisfied that no further excuse is needed for the giving to the world in this work some of the proofs that have so abundantly blessed many of our friends as well as ourselves. In presenting this work to the public, I am aware of its imperfections. In many instances I have failed to record the names of those who were participants in the experiences, and recipients of the messages and tests herein recorded, though many such names are given. My reasons for not mentioning more of them are as follows : We were constantly dealing with people with whom we were not acquainted. Our tests and mes- sages were usually given to strangers, many of whom PREFACE. V we never saw before and never saw afterwards. Their names were not secured at the time and so we could not record them. And others whose names we did secure, but whose permission we have not asked, may not care to have their names mentioned herein. In producing- this work we are keenly alive to the position that we occupy. No one knows better the trend of the public mind regarding the subject treated,, and the incapacity of the unsophisticated skeptic to grasp many of the truths herein recorded. Neverthe- less, the reader may feel certain of the fact, that every statement herein written is the plain truth according to the best of my knowledge and belief. Reader, I do not ask whether you believe in Spirit- ualism or not. If I were to ask anything, I would ask: "Do you know that Spiritualism is true?" A per- son cannot believe or disbelieve at his own option. That is a matter over which he has little control. Ex- perience with facts decides our true belief. We may say we believe, or we may resolve to accept anything without the evidence, but accepting anything- without evidence is hardly believing it. There is absolutely no merit in belief, or demerit in unbelief. Therefore, we would advise all to try to knozc before accepting or rejecting anything. This is the advice we would respectfully offer to the skeptic who may read this work. Most of the statements herein that appear in quota- tions were either written down at the time they were uttered or perhaps a few hours later. Mrs. Sprague, our daughter, and others, from time to time reported the Spirit messages and tests given through my mediumship, and I reported those given through Mrs. Sprague. Occasionally they were taken by shorthand reporters, in conversations, discussions, etc. I have not always given the exact words, but I have faithfully recorded the thought and sentiment uttered Our statements may be verified by reference to those whose names appear in connection with the statements VI PREFACE. herein recorded. This book contains but few of the many hundreds of proofs of a future life given through our mediumship and recorded in our diary and note book. Many thousands of equally as good and some of them even more convincing proofs that we have given were never recorded and consequently were lost, only to those who received them. Twenty-seven years of daily communion with the spirits of the departed has demonstrated pretty thoroughly to the writer that there is a spirit world and a future life and it has also demonstrated this mighty truth to the satisfaction of thousands of others all over this broad land, thanks to our dearly beloved spirit teachers and helpers. The reader will please notice that I use the personal pronouns "I" and "me" when referring to myself alone and "we" and "us" when speaking of Mrs. Sprague and myself, though sometimes her name has not been mentioned, as we constantly traveled together. I use the plurals "we" and "us" also in speaking of our tests, messages and lectures, as in all of these I recognize the agency and assistance of my spirit helpers. E. W. Sprague, Detroit, Mich. K. W. SPRAGUE. MRS. C. A. SPRAGUE. A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. CHAPTER I. Author's Birth — Parentage and Opportunities for Edu- cation — Religious Beliefs of Parents — Family is Mediumistic — Our Little Brother Dying, Hears Music and Sees Heaven — Our House Haunted — Spirit by Request Repeats Hymn He Composed and Used to Sing — Wrong Idea of Heaven — Spirit Promises to Rap no More — Sister Calista a Medium — "Beneath my Feet are Rivers of Oil" — Grandfather a Medium — Mother's Strange Ex- perience in Drowning. Author's Birth. I was born on a farm at North Boston, Erie County, N. Y., Sept. 18, 1847. My ancestors were English people. Both of my parents were born in America. My father, Alanson Sprague, was a Quaker by birth, but because he married one who was not a Quaker, his name was stricken from the Church roll. Later in life he became a great admirer of Thomas Paine, and he and his father, Elias Sprague, were known far and wide as infidels. Father passed to spirit life Dec. 24, 1878, aged 65 years and 15 days. My mother, Mary Ann Pond-Sprague, was an active member of the Baptist Church during her young womanhood and until about the year 1845, when the Universalists met and defeated the orthodox ministers in discussion. These discussions opened her eyes to the new interpretation of the Scriptures and she became a Universalist. She adhered to that belief for forty 8 A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. years and when Spiritualism came into our lives and our mother came to witness its phenomena and listen to the explanation of its philosophy, as it was pre- sented through our mediumship, she became an ardent Spiritualist. She loved Spiritualism and it was a great source of comfort to her in her declining years. She was called to the higher life Nov. 14, 1904, at the age of 88 years and 6 days. It gives us great satisfac- tion to know that we were the instruments through whom Spiritualism, the true Comforter, was brought to bless our dear old mother's later days of earth-life. There were four boys and two girls in father's family, namely : Franklin, Francis J., Calista, Elias, Eli W., and Sarah C. We were all more or less mediumistic, as I can now plainly see since learning the meaning of mediumship. When modern Spiritualism made its advent in the year 1848 my father became interested at once. He read everything he could get in those early days upon the subject, and finally accepted it without having wit- nessed any of the different phases of its phenomena. He said it appealed to him as the most rational and reasonable explanation of life here and hereafter with which he had ever come in contact. Eudcational Advantages. My educational advantages were very limited. I attended school ''in the little red schoolhouse on the hill" until T was fifteen years old, when I became my own master, and went out into the great world, earn- ing my own living, which I have done ever since. This gave me no further opportunities for attending school and thus my education was neglected. This lias been the regret, yea, the burden of my life. In later years T have sought to remedy the loss as much as possible by utilizing my spare time in diligent study. My spirit teachers have been my willing and competent helpers and have aided me to understand A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. 9 many things that I could not have acquired in school or college. I owe much to them and am truly grateful for their love and blessing. More Evidence of Mediumship. Our little brother Elias passed to spirit life Feb. 22, 1847, when 5 years of age, and nearly seven months before I was born. He died of inflammation of the brain. He was sick only from Monday until Friday. Just before he passed away he said : "O ! mother, hear that sweet music! Can't you hear that sweet music? It is so nice, mother." He talked constantly of the "pretty city" he said he saw, and wondered that mother could not see it. The .little fellow talked of the sweet music he heard and the beautiful city he saw until he breathed his last. Did this little one see and hear things spiritual? I for one have no doubt of it, and to me this is proof of his mediumship, the sweetest gift of God to man. Our House Haunted. When I was about twelve years old the spirits first manifested at our house. My first recollection of the phenomena occurring there was one night when we were awakened from our sleep by loud rappings or knockings about the room. These noises were so loud that they frightened my little sister and me very much. I well remember seeing my mother sitting on the edge, of the bed and my father hastily dressing while the raps in great pro- fusion were producing a perfect fusilade along the side of the house, then on the ceiling, traveling clear across it and down the other side, then coming back across the floor and ending with one tremendous rap in the center of the floor. As I look back upon this picture as it was presented to my childish mind, and from what my parents and older sister have told me, I feel certain that not only 10 A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. wore we two little children frightened but our parents also. I have heard spirit raps many times since I became a Spiritualist, but none of them have been quite so remarkable as those that occurred in that old New York home. At times the raps numbered dozens, all produced at once. There were little raps, medium- sized and large ones, and they had such variations in tone that they sounded very strangely. On one occasion when the raps had ended in one big one on the stove, my father said : "Well, that was as loud as a pistol shot." At another time when we were awakened in the night by them ; and a great rap had come on the outer door father said: "That was a peculiar sound; it was like that made by taking a wooden beetle and striking the end of a log." We were usually kept awake by these nocturnal visits of the spirits from one to two hours at a time. When they came it was useless for anyone to try to sleep. It was simply out of the question, the disturb- ance was so great. Father would often go outside and around the house in the hope of finding some solution to the problem, but was unsuccessful in his purpose. As is usually the case, people who never witnessed these manifestations were ready to explain them. This is often the case today. Those people who know the least about such things are sometimes so conceited that they assume to explain all about them. There were many of this class in that neighborhood and though each one was sure that he had solved the problem, no two explanations agreed. We were told that it was loose siding on the house rattled by the wind. But the raps came when the wind did not blow, and did not come when it did blow. All sorts of explanations were given, but none were satisfactory until the final solution was found, which I will record later. Some said it was mischievous neighbors whipping the outside of the house with fishpoles, but the knock- A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. 11 ings would proceed with great energy inside the house while some investigator was watching on the outside. There was a family of very poor people living in the neighborhood. They were old settlers and well known. They were suspected of being the cause. The only reason for their being suspected was that they were poor. The suspicious ones said: "It is just like them. They are always up to some mischief," etc. How like the "witch hunters" of old! Had this happened one hundred and seventy-five years earlier, and in the vicin- ity of Salem, Mass., these poor but innocent people would undoubtedly have been hung as witches and wizards, and for the crime of bewitching our house. These knockings continued at intervals throughout the entire winter. Seance Held in Haunted House. At the time of these occurrences my Grandfather Sprague's estate was being settled in the courts and much of it was being spent in that way. Some people who half-believed in "spirits" said that it was the spirit of grandfather who was so dissatisfied to see his property spent in the lawsuit that he wanted to com- municate with father in order to put a stop to it. There was a trance medium in the place and one evening in the spring a few of the Spiritualists came with this medium and held a seance. The medium was entranced, walked over to my mother and taking her hand called her by name and said he was the spirit of her father, Luther Pond, and that he wanted to communicate with her. He said he wished to en- lighten her regarding the future life and explain about heaven ; that her idea of those things was erroneous, etc. He then told of his experience in passing to spirit life, of the changes that had come to him since and of his present condition. He also gave a wonderfully lucid description of the spirit spheres and many other L2 A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. things he told my mother on that occasion which I shall not soon forget. Sister a Medium. He then took the hand of my sister Calista (who was at that time a young- lady) and talked beautifully to her for a few moments, then turning to mother he told her that Calista was a great medium; that it was through her mediumship that he had produced the loud rappings that had been going on in the house the past few months ; that his purpose in doing it was to gain communication with mother, that he might set her right regarding the future life and if possible to get her consent to let my sister develop her medium- ship. He begged my mother to let her sit for develop- ment, and declared that she had a mediumship that would startle the world when once it was developed. Spirit Repeats Hymn He Wrote. \\ nile talking to mother he asked her if she could not realize that it was her father that was talking to her. Mother said : "No, though you do talk very much as my father used to talk." She then said : "If it is you, father, I wish you would give me something that will make me know that it is really you." The spirit then asked what he could do to satisfy her that it was her father. Mother replied: "If it is you, father, will you sing the hymn you composed and used to .sing?" The spirit said he could not sing through that medium, but would repeat it for her. He then repeated the hymn and mother said it was every word correct. The eyes of those present were wet with tears when the spirit finished the hymn. The spirit closed this remarkable manifestation of spirit power by telling mother that it was he who had produced all of the remarkable rappings and who had A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. 13 communicated that evening, and said if she would let sister Calista develop her mediumship that he would take charge of her and would promise that no harm should come to her on account of it. He said that she would go up and down this land blessing the multitude which would gather to witness the wonder- ful phenomena that the spirits would produce through her mediumship and her fame would reach around the world. He said: "If you will consent to her development, I shall have accomplished my purpose. Can you not promise me, dear child?'' "I cannot do it ; I am afraid to do it," said mother. Grandfather said he could not exact this promise if it would cause mother pain, and that he must be satisfied. After assuring us all that we would hear no more knockings from him, he told mother that he would meet her in heaven, and bade us all good-bye, and leaving the medium, he was gone. Xo more raps ever occurred around that house so far as I know. I well remember seeing my sister, on two different occasions, sitting in a circle and shaking and trembling, her body swaying to and fro, and otherwise acting strangely, and each time mother appeared and took her away from the circle. I conclude that sister wanted to develop her medium- ship, but our dear mother was afraid to have her do so. Years later when I questioned mother about this seance she would say: "My son, it is very strange. That medium personated my father perfectly, the tone of voice, the peculiar expression and pronunciation were exactly like father's, and he could not have known the hymn that father composed and he repeated. It is all very strange, but I am afraid it is not right to call up the dead." Mother always felt this fear until she be- came a firm Spiritualist, and then she acknowledged that she thought she made a mistake in not allowing Calista to develop her mediumship. The experiences related above made a great im- ~ion upon my young mind, and it was lasting. 1 1 A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. Every detail, every trifling occurrence is as fresh in my memory as though it had occurred but yesterday. The teachings of my spirit grandfather regarding death and the after life, as given on that memorable evening are in perfect accord with the teachings of our spirit band and the generally accepted teachings of modern Spiritualism today. Though I was but a child they unfitted me for the acceptance of the doctrines of orthodox Christianity, and I never united with a church of any kind until I was 35 years of age and had become a Spiritualist. I then joined the only church in which religion and science harmonize; the church that stands for every reform and accepts only scientific truth for authority; the only church that is capable of demonstrating a future life, namely: The Church of Modern Spiritualism. My Grandfather *a Medium — His Inspired Prophecy Fulfilled. My grandfather — Elias Sprague — was a humani- tarian, and a reformer. He was an "infidel," a lover of Thomas Paine and his works, a strictly temperance man, and an uncompromising Abolitionist. He be- longed to the "Underground Railway," as it was called, and risked his life and the confiscation of his property in secreting and helping fugitive slaves from the South over the border line into Canada, assisting them to escape from this "Free Republic" to freedom under a monarchy. My grandfather and my father voted the first "Aboli- tion" tickets ever cast in their township. They had to write the name of their candidates on their votes as no tickets of that party were printed at that election. Grandfather hired halls and speakers and made all arrangements for meetings at his own personal ex- pense, that the anti-slavery doctrine might be taught to his neighbors. At one time he engaged the schoolhouse and adver- A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. 15 tised that he himself would deliver a lecture on the subject of "Human Slavery," though he was not a public speaker. When the time for the lecture came the house was crowded, and when he began to speak his listeners, some of them good (?) Christians, began to cough, scuff their feet and make other disagreeable noises. This finally developed into cheering, whistling and yelling, until the meeting broke up in a perfect bedlam. He tried a second time to hold a meeting and the results were the same. Abolitionism was not yet popular. Grandfather was very persevering and determined on another plan by which to reach the people. So he put his thoughts on paper and had pamphlets printed which he distributed over the entire county. His method was to go to schoolhouses and leave enough pamphlets so that each child could carry home one or two of them to its parents, requesting the teacher to distribute them among the scholars for that purpose at the closing hour of the school. In some cases the prejudiced school teachers con- signed the whole bundle of pamphlets to the stove and they were consumed. However, grandfather succeeded in getting his book on "Human Slavery in the United States," and another work on "Bible Fallacies," into the hands of the people over the whole county. I have been told that these books were very radical upon the subjects treated and created much discussion. I am sorry to say that I have never been so fortunate as to see one of them. Grandfather attended school only four months of his life. He had no knowledge of grammar, and yet when writing his books he would dictate a whole evening at a time, while my father would write word for word as he gave it, without making a grammatical error. My father and his adopted brother, James McCree, of Boston, N. Y., are my authority for this statement. This I think was a manifestation of his mediumship, such as has manifested itself through Dr. A. J. Davis and many others of our day. 16 A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. Grandfather made some remarkable prophecies. I will here relate one of them — which was current in our family — as it was told to me by Jeremiah Pierce, of Hamburg, N. Y., an old and reliable citizen, and one who was not a Spiritualist, but instead, a strong oppose r. The circumstance I am about to relate occurred at the time of the first successful public experiment with the Morse Electric Telegraph, in the year 1844. The newspapers were recording the fact of its success and much comment was being made, when one day Mr. Pierce, then a young man, was present while a deacon of the local Baptist church and grandfather were hav- ing a discussion over the probability of the truth of the newspaper reports regarding the matter. The discussion occurred in grandfather's front yard and became quite a warm one before it closed. The deacon finally declared that it was nonsense to suppose that anyone could send a message to another by light- ning ; that it was a great humbug and anyone must be a fool to believe it. Grandfather, much excited, declared that he was not a fool though he believed it, and that it was not a humbug, but a demonstrated fact, and that the deacon ought to know that it was true. He assured the deacon that they were living in a wonderful age ; that old theories were dying and new truths were being discovered; that the church was tottering on its foundation, for scientific truth was bound to overthrow false theology, religious errors and silly dogmas. Nature's laws were becoming better understood and natural truths were to take the place of unreasonable creeds and beliefs. Becoming greatly excited, grand- father cried out: "The world moves, sir! The won- ders that are to come to this world are beyond our comprehension. Why, sir !" stamping his foot upon the ground, "beneath my feet there are rivers of oil which will come to the surface before another genera- tion passes away !" This happened years before petroleum oil was dis- A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. 17 covered, and much derision was made of grandfather and his prophecy that there were rivers of "grease" in the ground. Some of the profane ones suggested that it might be true after all, providing the orthodox church was right in its teachings. Hell being beneath the surface of the earth, it was quite possible, yea, more than probable, that the fat of frying sinners had been accumulating for centuries and perhaps it might some day come to the surface, as in time there would probably not be room for it all, since the output of sinners was increasing greatly every year. Notwithstanding the derision made of our dear old grandfather, and the smart sayings of these witty ones, as well as the contempt of the "know-it-alls," grandfather's wonderful prophecy came true. Yes, it literally came true, for the "rivers of oil" have been discovered and brought out of the ground, and oil did come to the surface before another generation had passed away. The prophecy was made in the year lSH and Col. Drake and Mr. Bowditch sunk the first oil well in 1858, just fourteen years later, and tapped the "rivers of oil" of which grandfather in a moment of excitement had foretold. He said it would come to the surface before another generation passed away and it came in fourteen years. Grandfather Sprague was a medium. It is a pity he did not know it so as to have developed and used it for the benefit of those whom he always sought to bless. He finally became a Spiritualist and passed away under its comforting influence. He now re- turns to me as one of my "familiar spirits" and teachers, thus continuing his work for humanity. Mother's Strange Experience in Drowning. My mother related to me incidents in her life which prove that my mediumistic power came in part at least from her. When she was a girl she fell head foremost into a spring. She was reaching down to get a pail IS A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. of water, lost her balance and fell in. The spring was walled up with field stone; it was so narrow that she could not turn over in it and she must have drowned had not assistance arrived in time to save her. She said she never lost consciousness at all; that everything lo her was as light as day. She saw her father come out of the house, which was situated on the hill above the spring and heard someone call to him, saying: "Mary Ann has fallen into the spring." She saw her father turn and run down the hill to the spring and pull her out; she saw him carrying her body to the house and saw the people working over her trying to bring her back to consciousness. A half hour passed by before she was able to take possession and control of her body. After the body was resuscitated every little detail of the case was as clear to her as though she had been an eye-witness in the body to the whole affair, yet she was apparently lifeless until resuscitated. It is plain that mother saw what transpired on the material plane without her physical eyes. My mother had other strange experiences, but I will only record the following: For a number of years, while I was a boy at home, mother was subject to peculiar "spells," as we called them. She would cry out in a very strange voice in the night. The peculiar sound of her voice never failed to awaken some of us. and we would jump out of bed and hasten to her bed- side, there to find her cold, limp and apparently life- less. We could find no evidence of respiration or circu- lation ; we could find no pulse ; she was perfectly limp and, to all appearances, was dead. The only way we could bring her out of this condition was by rubbing her. Usually we would work over her, rubbing briskly her whole body for a half hour or more before we could discern a sign of life. When she recovered from those "spells" she would remember and tell us A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. 19 everything that had been said and done, repeating our conversation, etc., though animated life was apparently entirely suspended. She said that she was always perfectly at ease and happy only for our sorrow and anxiety, which she fully realized. In her later years she ceased having those "night spells." I remember, when I was quite small, seeing the dif- ferent members of the family surrounding the bed ; rubbing her and all crying. As I sat watching them and crying I thought, "Oh ! what will I do if my poor mother dies !" Words can never express the anguish that filled my poor little heart. Oh ! how I suffered as I thought, "Maybe she will never speak to me again." And then I would wonder what I would do if she did not recover. I well know how a child can suffer. That experience tells me today that a child can suffer mental agony as great or greater than an adult. I have never suffered since I arrived at man's estate as I suffered when a child for fear that my dear mother would die. One may love so deeply as to cause him to suffer the greatest agony. My mother was very mediumistic. A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. CHAPTER II. A Child Trying to Solve the Problem of His Creation and Destiny — Led Back to Indiana by Spirit Influence — A Spirit Raps Warning- of Death — Sister Emily's Transition — Joined in Wedlock — Our First Seance — Deeply Entranced — Mr. George Walker, of Hamburg, N. Y., Conducts the Seance — Father's Encouraging Message — Seance with Charles E. Watkins. Child Trying to Solve the Problem of Creation. I well remember when I was but a child of eight or nine years, trying to solve the problem of life. I would often sit in school with my head resting on my arm and my arm on the desk in front of me and become oblivious to my surroundings while trying to unravel the mystery of my creation and destiny. I would think back, carefully going over the things I could remember in my young life, and then try to trace my life beyond my birth. Where was I? What was I before that important event? After studying this great problem for a time and making no progress toward solving it, I would turn the other way and ask myself the question, "Where do we go when we die?" I would go carefully over the things of life that I knew about and try to gather some facts that would throw light upon the question, thus alternating between these two greatest subjects of life, "Whence came we?" and "Whither are we go- ing?" until my childish brain would become bewildered and my little head would ache. • This habit of study became frequent with me. I held my book in my lap usually and the teacher thought I A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. 21 was studying my lesson, but on these occasions I scarcely knew I had a book. My childish study of these two great problems was not in vain. It brought forth results, for one day when I had devoted my whole energy to the solving of the question until my brain was racked with pain, I suddenly came to the following conclusion, namely: God had hung up a curtain where we entered this life at birth, and another where we left it at death, and we should not try to look behind either of these curtains, for He did not intend that we should know anything about it; that it was undoubtedly best for us not to know, for God does what is best. After this decision I ceased to allow myself to become absorbed in this unsolved problem for many years. Today, though fifty years have passed since the above experience, I know no more about the ques- tion "Whence came I?" than I knew then, though, thanks be to the spirit friends, I have a little more knowledge regarding the other question, "Whither am I going?" Evidence of Spirit Power — Led Back to Indiana. On the 18th day of September, 1862, when I was 15 years old, my father "gave me my time." In other words, he told me I could go for myself and have all I could earn if I would take the responsibility of caring for myself. My brother Francis, who lived in Michigan, came to our father's home soon after I became "my own man." and I went home with him. His wife had gone to Indiana to visit relatives and we soon followed. We spent the winter until February in a log house near Lacrosse, Ind., on a farm that my brother bought. In February we packed and boxed our household goods and my brother and his wife went to board with a minister near Wanatah. I remained there but on* 32 A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. night. My brother and I slept on the floor in the parlor with his baby boy between us. His wife occu- pied a bedroom adjoining the parlor. Was It a Warning? While I was sleeping there came a rap or knock so loud that it awoke both of us. We were on our feet in- stantly and looked in Mrs. Sprague's room, expecting to find her awake and wanting something; but, to our surprise, she was sleeping quietly. We went back to bed, and in the morning my brother asked me if I thought the knocking that we had heard was a warn- ing of his wife's approaching death. That morning I left them and went to Dowagiac, Mich., to look after a farm that my brother held under lease, and he was to come and bring his family in March. I was to remain in Michigan until he came and then T was to work for him the following summer. I went up to the farm, which was three miles east of Dowagiac, and remained there three or four days, then started out on foot to visit an aunt who lived nine miles west of Dowagiac. When I came to the town I left the road and went across the common to the depot. I had no reason for doing this, and I was going out of my way considerably besides. I did not stop at the depot, but kept right on across the track, and was walking up the street, going away from the railroad, with my grip in my hand, when I heard the short, sharp whistle of a locomotive. I looked back, turned on my heel, and said to myself, "I will go back to Indiana," and ran back and boarded the caboose of that freight train. I was constantly asking myself why I was going back there, and reasoned that I had nothing to go for. My brother would come over in a few days to remain, etc., but all the time I felt impressed to hasten to him. The train could not go fast enough ; I was nervous, uneasy and did not know what was the matter with me. A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. 23 The strange part of the matter is that I had never thought of returning to Indiana until that locomotive whistle startled me and in that instant I was on my way. Arriving at Michigan City, I took a passenger train for Wanatah, Ind. Arriving there, I hastened to the place where my brother was boarding. As I neared the house my brother chanced to come out of the door and, seeing me, he ran and caught me in his arms and began to cry. "Oh," said he, "I am so glad to see you. Emily is dead and I have no friends left. We buried her over there in the cemetery yes- terday. Oh, dear! I know the good Lord sent you back to me, my dear brother." After he calmed himself a little we went to his room and he told me all. He said his wife had passed away the day after I left him, and after the funeral he came back to the place where he had stored his goods, and there he found some of his wife's relatives quarreling over the contents of her trunks. He said he became speechless for a few moments, then, step- ping forward, he selected a nice dress for one, a fine shawl for another, etc., until he had given each one something; then he closed the trunks and told them that must settle the matter. This angered them and caused him to feel that he and his little two years old baby boy were without friends. Forty-four years have passed since that day, and as I am copying this from an old memorandum my eyes are so full of tears that I can hardly see the words I am writing. My poor brother had parted with his life companion through her death, and was left alone with their little baby boy — alone among poor mortals who had no love for him or the little orphan their relative had left behind. The expense of the funeral had exhausted the ready money he had with him and he knew not where to go, in that country, for money to pay the expense of moving back to Michigan. My loan, therefore, was to him, as he said, "A godsend." It all worked out well, but 24 \ i i I i ki LIFE DEMONSTRATED. it was a great trial for my brother. I am this day thankful to the dear spirit friends who sent me to comfort him in his hour of trouble. It was nineteen years after this experience before I solved its mystery, and the reader of this hook will learn how it was solved. United in Wedlock. ( )n the thirteenth day of August, 1867, E. W. Sprague and Clarissa A. Pray were united in marriage at Dowagiac, Mich. We began life together at North Boston, N. Y., and soon began to attend the annual meetings of 'The Friends of Human Progress'' (Spir- itualists), which were held in old Hemlock Hall, North Collins, N. Y. We attended these "Three-Day Meet- ings'' each succeeding year until the year 1881, listen- ing to and enjoying the pholosophy, but not having the pleasure of witnessing the phenomena of Spirit- ualism. In the spring of the year 1881, with our two little children, Leslie and Marie, we moved to North Collins, which brought us in closer contact with Spiritualists and Spiritualism. Our First Seance. On the third day of September, 1881, we attended the yearly meeting of "The Friends of Human Prog- ress," held in old Hemlock Hall, accompanied by a number of friends from Hamburg and North Boston who were visiting us at the time. We all became very much interested in the meetings of that day, and at the close I went to its president, Rev. George W. Taylor, and asked if there was a medium present that we could get to go home with us and spend the night. I le said they were all engaged to go to other places, and we were disappointed. Subsequently we were introduced to a Spiritualist, Mr. George Walker, of I lamburg, and we invited him to spend the night with us. We told him that our friends who were stopping with us. as well as ourselves, were very anxious to A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. 25 learn about Spiritualism. He said he was not a medium and would be of no- use to us in the way of demonstrating its truth. We hardly knew the differ- ence between a Spiritualist and a medium. We urged him, and finally he consented. In the evening Mr. Walker was asked to form a circle. He discouraged it, explaining that he was no medium and probably there was no one present who had such gifts, and that we would get nothing under those conditions. We persisted, however, and a circle was formed around a large extension table, consisting of thirteen persons [unlucky number( ?)]. Mr. Walker took charge, and as soon as we joined hands I began to feel strange. Thrills, shocks and chills were chasing up and down my spine. My heart beat so fast that it frightened me. My throat filled. My breath grew short. My eyes persisted in closing, and I would have broken away but I had been listening to the lectures, and they had impressed me very much, so I said mentally: "If it is spirits that are doing this, go ahead, but you can't have my consciousness." As soon as I gave my consent a strange prickling sensation passed over my body and I was soon deeply entranced. A pencil was placed in my hand, and it wrote the following words on a piece of paper pro- vided for the purpose : "Spiritualism is true." This message was handed to me after the seance, and 1 then knew that they were my father's words ; later he told us that it was he who wrote them. To me these three words had a mighty significance. I knew that I was not their author, and I knew intuitively that my spirit-father wrote them. My father was a spiritualist for many years before passing to the spirit-world, though he never saw any of the phenomena excepting that which occurred at our house when it was "haunted." During his last illness he frequently said he wished he could be sure that there was another life. I was not a Spiritualist at that time, but I said : "Father, you believe in Spiritualism. A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. don't you?" "Yes," said he, "I do believe in Spiritual- ism, but I cannot say that I know it is true. I believe it with all my heart, but I may be mistaken. Other men who are wiser than I, do not believe it. I regret not having seen the phenomena in their various forms, because, this being the supposed proof, perhaps after witnessing- it I would be able to say I know, where now I can only say I believe." Here is evidence that belief is not sufficient to satisfy when it comes to the test. Belief is helpful but knowl- edge is far preferable. I talked with father upon this subject several times just before his transition, and the above was his thought, which shows the value of spiritual phenomena. Let no one discourage the production and investigation of spirit manifestations. That night when I was entranced, father came back and answered the great question that weighed upon his mind so greatly the last eleven months of his earth life, and he answered it in the affirmative. I did not realize the full significance of that message until sev- eral days after it was given ; but when I came to real- ize its full meaning it brought me great comfort. Father had proved by his own experience in spirit life that Spiritualism is true and had returned to tell me that he had found it so, and his desire was satisfied. A Personating Medium. The other manifestations of that seance were still more wonderful. Immediately after father had written his message I was led to personate another spirit. Mr. Walker told the circle that I was evidently personating someone that was drowned. After going through a period of apparent strangling, struggling, etc., my hand moved forward on the table and turned over. Mr. Walk- er said :"I think he wants to shake hands with someone." Mrs. Sprague placed her hand in mine ; my hand closed slowly on hers then opened again. Mr. Walker said: "It is not for you ; let the next one take his hand." Mr. Hawkins took it and I grasped it tightly, sprang A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. 27 up and fell partly across the table, threw my arm around his neck and cried out : "Oh, Papa ! Oh, Papa !'' and the tears ran down my cheeks. Then Mrs. Hawkins, who sat beside her husband, touched my shoulder and said : "Willie, have you a word foi Mamma?" I grasped her hand and cried: "Yes, Mam- ma. Oh, Mamma ! Oh, Mamma !" The scene was so affecting that the whole circle was in tears. This darling boy of sixteen years had been drowned five weeks before. The above facts were given me by members of the circle after it had closed. When I came out of the trance I remembered but little in detail of what had transpired, and yet I was so greatly impressed with the experience that I was like a new Methodist convert. I walked the floor in the excite- ment of the moment and said to my friends : "Spiritual- ism is true. Now I know it is true." Words cannot express the joy that filled my soul. I felt that I had really entered heaven and had communed with the an- gels. It was indeed a happy experience and furnished some evidence of "A Future Life Demonstrated." I had not the remotest idea that I should be con- trolled when I entered this my first seance. It cannot be attributed to auto-suggestion, self-hypnotism, or anything of the kind. It was so unexpected, so won- derful, so overwhelming, so convincing and altogether inspiring, that even now as I look back upon the experience of that evening I am thrilled with its grandeur. I wish I could find words to convey my experience of this one evening to others, that they might understand and appreciate its full meaning. From this time we began a thorough investigation of Spiritualism. Our opportunities were of the best and the results were entirely satisfactory as will be shown as we proceed. do \ it rURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. Seance With Charles E. Watkins. The next day we attended the lien. lock I lall meet- ing, where I arranged for a seance for a few friends and ourselves, with Charles E. Watkins, one of the most wonderful slate-writing mediums. Five of the members of this seance were in our circle the previous evening. These, together with two other persons, making seven beside the medium, composed the Wat- kins seance. We were given slips of paper, and each sitter wrote several names of their spirit friends and asked them questions. These papers were all of one size and just alike. W'e rolled them up into little balls or pellets and mixed them all together on the table, so that no one could tell his own from the others. The medium never saw what was written on them or touched them after they were given to the sitters. And the names thereon written were all given and the questions all satisfactorily answered by the medium. One of the questions written by Mrs. Hawkins read as follows : "Willie Hawkins, did you ever come to me before?" Mr. Watkins apparently became en- tranced, repeated the question written on the pellet, and in answer to it said, "Oh, Mamma ! why do you ask that question, when you know that T came to you through Mr. Sprague last night?" Independent Slate Writing. We then took two ordinary school slates and placed them together, with a small piece of slate pencil be- tween them, and all the members of the circle took hold of them, holding them directly over the table. The medium reached over the circle and touched the frames of the slates, and pretty soon we heard the writing as it proceeded. When it ceased the slates were opened by Hon. Norman Sprague, of Orchard Park, N. Y., who sat beside me. We read the writing, and as Mr. Sprague finished, he cried out: "Merciful A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. 29 God ! that is from my mother and it is in her own handwriting*. It is her own signature," and he wept for joy. We received three slate writings that day, and all the questions, numbering twenty or twenty-five, were correctly and satisfactorily answered. This seance also added to our stock of evidence of the truth of Spiritualism. CHAPTER III. Home Circle Formed — Pellet Reading- Developed — Spirit E. V. Wilson Joins Our Spirit Band — A Strange Phenomenon Explained — "I Do Remem- ber My Promise" — A Remarkable Test. Home Circle Formed. Soon after the seance mentioned in the previous chapter we formed a circle in our home and began a thorough and systematic investigation of Modern Spiritualism, and from this time the phenomena, phi- losophy, science and religion of Spiritualism were pre- sented through our own mediumship evening after evening, three hundred and sixty-five times each year for six fruitful years, and two or three times each week for two years more. Thus we labored for our education and development, following always the ad- vice and instructions of the spirit friends, who some- times used strange and peculiar methods in preparing us for our work in the great movement. Many proofs of spirit presence and spirit power, and many com- munications were given at nearly every meeting. Pellet Reading Developed. At a meeting held in the home of Sarah and Jane Paxson, in the town of Eden, N. Y., a medium, Mrs. Ellen Landon (now Mrs. Wesley Ford) left the circle in which we were sitting and wrote something on a :; " \ FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. slip oi paper, folded it, and came and placed it upon my forehead. At once I began to see and describe spirits and to bear them speak. I told her what 1 saw and beard, and it proved to be the true answer to her written question. I knew nothing of what she had written. This became a favorite phase of my mediumship, and was often practiced at the fort- nightly meetings held at the farmers' homes in Eden, Evans and Lawtons, as well as at our home circles. Of later years we have used this phase of mediumship only for ourselves and when we have desired some important question answered or problem solved that we could not answer or solve for ourselves. Spirit E. V. Wilson Comes to Us. One evening in the latter part of October Mr. and Mrs. Henry Candee, of Pontiac, called on us. We held our usual circle, and they sat with us. A power- ful influence took possession of my hand, shaking it and beating the table in the attempt to control it. A pencil was placed in my hand, which quieted down at once and began to write slowly. This was purely automatic writing, as I did not have the slightest idea what was being written. My hand moved slowly, then ceased to move. Mrs. Candee took up the slate and, turning it toward the light, read aloud, "E. V. Why," she exclaimed, "it is E. V. Wilson." Instantly I was taken to my feet. My under jaw protruded be- yond the upper one, and I was transfigured. My looks and manners were entirely changed. My voice was not my own. In short, I was thoroughly entranced by the spirit of E. V. Wilson — one who was well known in earthly life as one of the greatest platform test mediums of Modern Spiritualism — who began speaking through me. He said, "I have been fishing for this lad a long time, and at last I have caught him." He then went on to state that I had splendid mediumship, and with our consent he would under- take to develop it. Tie said that he would be able A FUTURE LIFE DEMONSTRATED. 31 to develop it to that extent that he would speak through me in public and so personate himself and manifest his individuality that his old friends would know and recognize him ; that he would develop me until he could give tests and readings in private and from the platform in a way similar to those that were given through him while he was in earth life. He said that I would go over this whole land preaching the gospel of Spiritualism and demonstrating its truth. Mrs. Sprague was sitting at the table. She was sick, and had become so poor