About The First Spiritual Temple: Hydesville

About The First Spiritual Temple: Hydesville: "e events which took place with the Fox family in Hydesville, New York, are generally considered to have initiated the Modern Spiritualist Movement. We shall look at the reasons for this a little later on; but first, let us look at the characters involved and the events which took place on that fateful evening of March 31, 1848.

Hydesville was a small hamlet about 20 miles from Rochester, New York. On December 11, 1847, John Fox, along with his wife Margaret and their two daughters, Kate and Margaretta, moved into the house in question. The house had a reputation of being 'haunted'; there were several instances recorded of raps, taps, and other noises. In fact, the prior tenant, Michael Weakman, moved out of the house because of the inexplicable disturbances.

Beginning at around the middle of March, 1848, the Fox family began to be disturbed by the strange sounds and activities. The children were so alarmed at what was happening that they refused to sleep apart and were taken into the bedroom of their parents. The sounds were so loud, that the beds themselves often shook. Every possible opportunity was made to ascertain the source of the sounds, but to no avail. Finally, on March 31st, Kate Fox made history. She challenged the mysterious unseen power to repeat the snaps of her fingers.

To offer a more personal sense fo"