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Philadelphia Spiritualists Association Seventh Annual Meeting Schedule & Reporting
Bucks County Gazette (Bristol, Pennsylvania), July 23, 1885.
Seventh Annual Camp Meeting
of the
Spiritualists of Philadelphia,
and Vicinity at
Neshaminy Falls Bucks Co.,
Beginning on
July 19th,
and Continuing until Sept. 6th.
The following are the speakers, and dates of their lectures:
JULY:
Sunday, 19. J. Clegg Wright and Elizabeth L. Watson. (Edgar W. Emerson, of Manchester, N. H. will follow each lecture with Spirit Delineations, from July 19th to 26th, inclusive.)
Tuesday, 21. Elizabeth L. Watson.
Wednesday, 22. J. Clegg Wright.
Thursday, 23. Elizabeth L. Watson.
Friday, 24. J. Clegg Wright.
Saturday, 25. Elizabeth L. Watson.
Sunday, 26. A. B. French and Elizabeth L. Watson.
Tuesday, 28. A. B. French.
Friday, 31. J. Clegg Wright.AUGUST:
Saturday, 1. A. B. French.
Sunday, 2. George Chainey, of Boston, and A. B. French.
Tuesday, 4. Georege Chainey.
Wednesday, 5. J. Clegg Wright.
Thursday, 6. George Chainey.
Friday, 7. J. Clegg Wright.
Saturday, 8.
Sunday, 9. J. W. Fletcher, morning & afternoon.
Tuesday, 11. Rev. Samuel Watson, late P. E., Memphis, Tenn.
Wednesday, 12. Adeline M. Glading.
Thursday, 13. Rev. Samuel Watson.
Friday, 14. Adeline M. Glading.
Saturday, 15, Rev. Samuel Watson.
Sunday, 16. Adeline M. Glading and Rev. Samuel Watson.
Tuesday, 18. J. Clegg Wright.
Wednesday, 19. C. Fannie Allyn.
Thursday, 20. C. Fannie Allyn.
Friday, 21. C. Fannie Allyn.
Saturday, 22, J. Clegg Wright.
Sunday, 23. C. Fannie Allyn and Amelia H. Colby.
Tuesday, 25. J. Clegg Wright.
Wednesday, 26. Amelia H. Colby.
Thursday, 27. J. Clegg Wright.
Friday, 28. Amelia H. Colby.
Saturday, 29. J. Clegg Wright.
Friday, 28. Amelia H. Colby.
Saturday, 29. J. Clegg Wright.
Sunday, 30. O. P. Kellogg, morning & afternoon.SEPTEMBER:
Tuesday, 1. O. P. Kellogg.
Wednesday, 2. O. P. Kellogg.
Thursday, 3. J. Clegg Wright.
Friday, 4. J. Frank Baxter.
Saturday, 5. J. Clegg Wright.
Sunday, 6. J. Clegg Wright and J. Frank Baxter.Ample accommodations at the grounds, for boarding and lodging, at the following rates: Good Table Board, by the week, $4.00. 35 cents each for Breakfast and Supper. Dinner, 50 cents. Lodging 30 cents.
Board and lodging can be had at farmhouses in the vicinity at reasonable rates.
All letters should be addressed “SPIRITUALISTS’ CAMP MEETING, NESHAMINY FALLS, OAKFORD, P. O., BUCKS CO., PA.”
After July 13th, the Frieight of Tenters marked “Care Capt. Keffer, Sup’t. Spiritualists’ Camp Meeting Neshaminy Station,” and delivered at Depot, Front and Noble Sts., before 10 A. M., will go the same day, free of charge.
For further information, apply to FRANCIS J. KEFFER, Superintendent, 613 Spring Garden Street, or on Camp grounds, after July 16th.
The Trenton (New Jersey) Times, July 20, 1885:
Among the Spirits.
The Opening Day at Neshaminy
A Large Assemblage of Believers and Skeptics—Controlled by the Spirit of an Indian—What a Medium Saw.The seventh annual camp-meeting of the Spiritualists opened at Neshaminy Falls yesterday. Fully 5,000 were present, including a large number from this city.
There were no end of bazaars for the dissemination of ginger beer and sarsaparilla, miles of narrow paths wound among the old trees, a hundred rowboats paddled up and down the shining stream that stretched up from the dam into the forest; shady little arbors lurked here and there, with ice cream freezer and some sponge cake as accessories, while at convenient intervals were pitched cozy little tents, where the pilgrims could drop in for a few minutes and hear the medium tell them what their departed relatives thought about the next life.
The formal opening of the camp-meeting took place in the morning. The benches under the maples in front of the speakers’ stand were well filled with the members of the First Association of Spiritualists, of Philadelphia, and their friends. There was, beside, a goodly sprinkling of unbelievers, who had evidently come to be amused, and who had fixed their faces so that they could laugh easily. The meeting was called to order by Benjamin P. Benner, the Vice President of the Association, who expressed his gratification at the fact that, notwithstanding it was the seventh annual camp-meeting, the people had not grown tired of it; rather was there noticeable a marked increase in popular interest. The band on the corner of the platform played the finale of “Sonnambula” and then accompanied the choir through several hymns. Professor J. Clegg Wright, a gentleman with mild blue eyes and a London accent, now arose and announced that the gods which mankind has worshipped in the past have been only ideals, phantasms of the imagination. The god who would be worshipped in the future would be mankind itself a sort of defied humanity, such as is described in Comte’s Philosophy.
Controlled by an Indian Spirit.
Professor Wright devoted an hour and a half to proving his assertion, and then yielded the floor to Edgar W. Emerson, of Manchester, N. H. Mr. Emerson was in a trance and was controlled by the spirit of an Indian. Mr. Emerson, in a falsetto voice, described twelve of the large number of spirits who were scattered among the audience, and who, one after the other, told him their names, where they were born and where they had died, together with several other minor facts in connection with their career in this world. His descriptions were recognized in several instances by members of his audience. One lady, in particular, was so much affected by the unexpected revelation that her husband, who died several years ago, was standing close beside her, that she burst into a torrent of tears and refused to be comforted. Another lady was delighted to hear that her little girl was holding her hand, and straightway became a believer in the truth of spiritualism.
This ended the morning’s services and everybody went to dinner in the tents or in the big dining hall.
A small man in an alpaca duster drove a thriving trade in Ingersoll’s lectures, Tom Paine’s works and Voltaire’s essays.
The thermometers that hung against the maples were sure that it was only 80º, and the people were correspondingly happy. All the manifold attractions of stream and grove were vigorously enjoyed until 3 P. M., when a large part of the roamers gathered again on the wooden seats and listened to Mrs. Elizabeth L. Watson. Mrs. Watson took the precaution to get into a trance before beginning to speak, so her two hours of assertion that spiritualism was the coming religion did not seem to tire her as much as it would otherwise have done. She talked very rapidly and with considerable eloquence, and evidently made a good impression on her hearers, even those who were unbelievers.
A Medium’s View.
Mr. Emerson, of Manchester, N. H., then reappeared and repeated his “spirit delineations” of the morning. There were even more spirits mixed up with the audience than there had been before, and Mr. Emerson gave the years they died in, with a particularity that proved his accurate knowledge on that point.
“And here comes a spirit down the path,” said he, in conclusion, “who has curly hair and is dark complected. He carries in his hand an anchor of lilies, emblematic of hope. He tells me his name, when he was in this life was Prof. S. W. Gross, of Philadelphia. ‘You are probably surprised,’ he says to me, ‘to see me here, but since I died I have progressed a great deal.’ And behind him stands a spirit who says his name is Henry Fenno, and that he is remarkably happy as he is now situated.”
Prof. Wright will make an address this afternoon and will alternate throughout the week, with Mrs. Watson. Mr. Emerson of Manchester, N. H., will continue every day to describe to the tangible minority of his audience the intangible majority, while the band in the pavilion on the rocks above will lead the dancers through waltz, polka and quadrille.