Seances in Washington

This book is a first-hand account of the author’s experiences as a Spiritualist medium in Washington during the Civil War. The author, Nettie Colburn Maynard was a young woman from a modest family who through her work as a trance medium finds herself mingling with the elite of Washington society. It depicts the beginnings of the Spiritualist movement in the 1840’s including the Fox sisters, and describes specific séances and meetings with Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln that took place in the White House from 1863 to 1865. This book is one of the classics of Spiritualism. It was originally published in 1891 and reprinted in 1917 under the title “Was Abraham Lincoln a Spiritualist? Curious Revelations from the Life of a Trance Medium.” This revised edition includes much of the original work along with background information and explanations of many of the events described in the book.