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Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn
I was raised in Central NY, farm country, the Finger Lakes, rolling wine country, red barns and cows.
Saw my first UFO above my house moving soundlessly eastward about 4 stories up.
What?
Now I'm sounding like someone else off topic... 
My sister and I agree now - that area was big in supernatural events. |
There were a lot of Supernatural events that happened in that greater area. Many of them of the early 1800's time period probably attributed to that of "Modern Day Spiritualism" coming to fruition.
Being this about the History of Spiritualism, I can not see, why what was going in that area in the 1840's, as some historians have indicated when they have discuss that event and other events of history.
Most historians mention the canal but I do not think any of them ever mentioned the mesmeric feel a person gets on riding on one of those old canal boats, especially if it was being pulled by mules, etc.
Another historian claims some of the farmers in that area grew Peppermint which probably had an effect on people. Then there must have still have been some Groves which some might have gone to meditate or to be just alone. For example, nearby was the Sacred Grove near Joseph Smith's home which many still visit every year. It was Joseph Smith Junior who had his first vision 28 years before the Fox Sisters and Mother in that grove.
As for the canal, it was used for hauling merchandise and people and also the printed word along with ideas. One group that moved westward around about the time of the Mormons (to be) was the group that would later be referred to as the Oneida Community. I would say that group may have had one of the greater influences on the various groups of that area but is rarely mentioned. I was always impressed with their extensive Library. The Syracuse University's Bird Library, the Special Collections Research Center, deals extensively about them.
That greater area had been the 'Frontier' but after it opened up, it moved forward very progressively. Roads made of planks, called Plank Roads were started to be 'laid' in the 1840's while new ideas were being perpetuated by the Oneida Community and various other groups. When the Fox Sisters and Mother began Rapping Mediumship, it is no wonder it caught on as rapidly as it did.