The story of modern spiritualism begins in America, and, more precisely, in a house in Hydesville, New York State, in 1848. The village of Hydesville was made up of wooden houses and the people were farmers. The nearest significant town was Rochester, which was thirty miles away, and New York itself was two hundred and fifty miles away – at least two days’ journey. One of the wooden houses was inhabited by John Fox, who lived with his wife and two of their children, Margaretta (or Maggie), aged fifteen, and Catherine (Katie), aged twelve. Their married daughter, Leah Fish, lived in Rochester and their son, David, lived two miles away. From February 1848 strange rapping sounds were heard whenever the two younger girls entered a room. The family decided that the rapping sounds were the communications of a departed spirit; they spoke to the unseen spirit and the spirit duly responded to their yes–no questions by means of the raps – when the girls were present. Neighbours came to witness the phenomenon and ‘heard’ the spirit claim to be a murdered man. The girls were separated and sent to stay with relatives, but the rapping continued around them. After a time other spirits presented themselves, and made it clear through raps that they wished Maggie and Katie to give public displays of their talents in spirit communication, and that the sisters should charge people to watch. Thus began the Fox sisters’ careers as mediums.

The sisters were investigated by the press, legal representatives and politicians, and were initially rewarded with favourable reports. Horace Greeley, the editor of the New York Tribune, declared himself impressed with the sisters. In 1851, Judge Edmonds of the New York Supreme Court not only accepted the veracity of the phenomena, but he then discovered his own mediumistic powers. The daughter of Governor Tallmadge of New York found a hitherto hidden gift for mediumship which included the ability to play music and speak several languages. The Fox sisters, guided by their sharp-minded elder sister Leah, began to move in the higher social circles of New York and Washington, even performing for the wife of the President. As early as 1851, however, as their careers were in ascendancy, the sisters’ integrity was questioned.