Lessons and Parallels of Four Paranormal Case Chronologies

Voirrey and James Irving / Alice Belle Kirby
   
  

This article is about four documented case chronologies showing parallels that eventually helped me to develop a perspective of the metaphysical significance interlinking all manifestations of occurrences sometimes categorized as involving 'paranormal phenomena.' 

 

Case No. 1 'The Bell Witch'

Robertson County, Tennessee
circa 1818-1828

   

Previous blog articles about 'The Bell Witch' talking poltergeist case describe the extant eyewitness testimonials, such as descriptions of future U.S. president Andrew Jackson's visit to investigate the haunting, an English investigator's visit, correlations with witchcraft legends, and anecdotes involving the Bell family's slaves during the period before the Civil War in Tennessee.  (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)  
 

Something that amazed me in 1995 was learning that there was Bell ancestry among some members of the family experiencing the contemporary Centrahoma 'talking poltergeist' case.  (A previous blog article presents a List of documented 'talking poltergeist' cases and articles.)  The following is an example of one of the correlations noticed with the earlier Bell case chronology of phenomenal occurrences.  I often mentioned these particularly illuminating parallels during my radio interviews following the publication of my case study book.  The following anecdote shared by Richard Williams Bell is from An Authenticated History of the Bell Witch (1894) by Martin Van Buren Ingram.

The company was treated one night to a repetition of one of Rev. James Gunn's best sermons, preached in the vicinity, the witch personating Mr. Gunn, lining the hymn, quoting his text and prayer, and preaching so much like Mr. Gunn that it appeared the minister himself was present.  A number of persons were present who attended the meeting that day, and recognized the declamation as the same sermon.  Shortly after this, Rev. James Gunn preached on Sunday at Bethel Methodist Church, six miles southeast, and Rev. Sugg Fort filled his appointment at Drake's Pond Baptist Church, seven miles northwest, thirteen miles apart, both preaching at the same hour, eleven o'clock.  It so happened that both ministers came to visit our family that evening, finding quite a crowd of people gathered in, as was the case every day during the excitement.  Directly after supper the witch commenced talking as usual, directing the conversation to Brother Gunn, discussing some points in his sermon that day.  Mr. Gunn asked the witch how it knew what he had preached about? The answer was, "I was present and heard you." This statement being questioned, the vociferator begun, quoted the text and repeated the sermon verbatim, and the closing prayer, all of which the preacher said was correct.  Some one suggested that Brother Fort had the advantage of the witch this time, that having attended Brother Gunn's service, it could tell nothing about Brother Fort's discourse at Drake's Pond.  "Yes I can," was the prompt reply.  How do you know? was the inquiry.  "I was there and heard him."  Then assimilating Rev. Fort's style, it proceeded to quote his text and repeated his sermon, greatly delighting the company.  There was no one present who had heard either sermon, but both ministers admitted that their sermons had been accurately reproduced, and no one could doubt the fact, or were more greatly surprised than themselves.

During my interview with Mc Wethy/Ball family members in Centrahoma, Twyla Eller said:

Sue was supposed to come get Brenda one night. I went to bed and I heard Sue come in and say, “Brenda, I’m sorry I was late.  I had a flat tire.  Steve had to change it.”  So I thought Brenda had left.  I come back in here an hour, thirty minutes later to get some — I said, “Didn’t Sue come get you?”  She said, “No, she’s late.”  I said, “Brenda, I just heard her come in and say she had a flat.”  Ten minutes later, she got here.  She’d had a flat and was apologizing.  It was like the house recorded the whole conversation.  It was playing it before it happened.

M. V. Ingram's An Authenticated History of the Bell Witch included eyewitness reports that include the following excerpts of disembodied communication.  The family's nickname for the Haunting Presence was 'Kate.'  I would later realize how anecdotes such as these show parallels with later 'talking poltergeist' cases.

Then it said, "Bennett, you will try to kill me if I visit your house."  "No I won't," replied Porter.  "Oh, but I know you," replied the witch, "but I have been to your house.  Do you remember that bird you thought sung so sweet the other morning?"  "Yes," replied Porter.  "Well that was me."  Then continued the witch, "Bennett, didn't you see the biggest and poorest old rabbit that you ever saw in your life, as you came on here this evening?"  "Yes," replied Mr. Porter.  "Well that was me," said the witch, and then bursted into laughter."


"Now," says Kate, "I am your stepmother."  Father replied, "Kate, you know you are lying; my stepmother is a good woman, and the best friend I have.  She would not do so many mean things as you are guilty of."  "Now," replied Kate, "I can prove it to you."  Grandmother Johnson had an unruly servant who would go wrong, irritating her very much, and the old lady was constantly after Rachel, raising a sharp storm about her ears.  Father said the witch at once assumed the voice and tone of his step-mother, and got after Rachel.  "Tut, tut, Rachel, what makes you do so," imitating grandmother exactly. 

Case No. 2 'Gef''

Isle of Man, England

1931-circa 1938

Voirrey and James Irving

 

Another documented 'talking poltergeist' is known as the 'Gef' case that occurred to a family living on the Isle of Man.  The strange occurrences commenced in 1931 and lasted for seven or eight years.  I noticed puzzling and astonishing links between this case and the Bell Witch case.  As mentioned in a previous blog article — in addition to manifesting as a "talking mongoose," the Haunting Presence known as 'Gef' is reported to have identified himself as "a ghost in the form of a weasel," "a large stray cat," "the fifth dimension," "the eighth wonder of the world," and "the Holy Ghost."  On one occasion, Gef also found a way of intimating that he was also his host family's dog.  There was also the synchronicity of the "mutational mutterings" of the parrot encountered by Harry Price during his investigatory visit to the Isle of Man (as mentioned in his 1936 memoir Confessions of a Ghost Hunter).

The photograph above shows Dorlish Cashen residents James Thomas Irving and his daughter Voirrey.  James had grown up in the Liverpool suburb of Wavertree, where he lived at 30 Russell Road before moving to the Isle of Man, according to a recent book about the case by Christopher Josiffe.

Harry Price and R. S. Lambert wrote a case study of the strange experiences of the Irving family in The Haunting of Cashen's Gap (1936).  Some of the quotations of 'Gef' in their book are the following:

"I like Captain Macdonald, but not Harry Price.  He's the man who puts the kybosh on the spirits!"


"Of course I know what I am, and you are not going to get to know, and you are not going to get to know, and you are only grigged because I won't tell you.  I might let you see me some time, but thou wilt never get to know what I am."


[Notes for July 26, 1934]  Gef, in high glee, sings three verses of "Ellan Vannin," then two Spanish and one Welsh verse, then says prayer in Hebrew and a sentence in Flemish.

The book mentions other incidents that readers familiar with poltergeist cases will notice to pose correlations with other documented cases, such as: "Gef throws a small bell into the kitchen, saying that he had taken it off some harness in a stable at Shenvalla, three miles away" (May 19, 1932) and "Gef throws a halfpenny into Irving's bedroom after he has gone to bed.  Says he found it two miles away, and carried it home in his mouth" (June 17, 1932).  Researcher of psychic phenomena and author Nandor Fodor also spent a week with the Irvings and chronicled some other details about the intricate case.
 
One memorable incident from my interviews in Centrahoma was when the mother of the family, Maxine Mc Wethy, told me about one of the many strange and unexpected things said to her by ‘Michael,' the nickname used by the family for the most familiar audible yet unseen communicator.  Other manifesting voices were known by such names as Rachel, Sarah, 'E.T.,' 'Leader,' 'Trouble,' Katie, Ricky and Nicky.  I was especially intrigued that there were accounts of invisible "aliens" interspersed with the more familiar descriptions of human disembodied communication.  Maxine said to me on one occasion:

"Once I had a little black and white dog that Brenda gave me — an Australian Shepherd. That was the best little old dog . . . Well, one time it got so full of ticks and everything you find around here that the poor thing couldn't even walk on its hind legs.  Twyla and I were out there and she was picking ticks off of him and Michael hollered, ‘HELP ME, MAXINE’ — just like he was concerned about it."

Some of the quotations of the audible speech incorporated the pronoun 'we.'  This is a typical aspect of transcendental communication cases.  If a reader doesn't understand the implications of these anecdotes, many other blog articles offer further elucidation.  (including 1, 2, 3, 4)  The difficulty for some people concerning expanding one's spiritual awareness is relinquishing preconceived expectations of what may be learned about metaphysical aspects of life.

Richard Williams Bell shared one seemingly trivial bit of information that would later have unforeseen ramifications in relation to the Gef case.  This concerned the wife of a brother, Jesse, who was living away from the Bell household.
 

Jesse’s wife, whom the witch called “Pots,” observed mother’s policy in humoring the warlock, incurring favor or kindly relations, and she too was treated with such consideration as to relieve her fears of any immediate harm.

When I’d written a screenplay adaptation about the events in the Bell Witch haunting, I’d scrutinized each situation, every word of dialogue, and the various names and nicknames offered by the assorted testimonials.  Therefore, I was startled when on Page 29 of The Haunting of Cashen’s Gap (1936) I saw:
 

The mongoose usually called Mr. Irving ‘Jim’ or ‘Pots’ . . .

‘Pots’ didn’t seem likely to be a common nineteenth or twentieth century nickname so I was left to wonder how it could be found among recollections about the speech of haunting entities in both An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch . . . and The Haunting of Cashen’s Gap.

“But why won’t he prove himself to us?” was among R. S. Lambert’s questions in a cross-examination of Mr. Northwood included in The Haunting of Cashen’s Gap.  Questions arise as to what would constitute proof and what would this proof signify at this particular occasion, considering an individual witness's existing attitudes and perceptions.  The Centrahoma family's anecdotes showed that no individual human was always physically present during the gamut of paranormal manifestations. 

Another intriguing case parallel involves the date of the Isle of Man haunting.  Charles Bailey Bell commented about his book being published in 1934: "The Spirit assured John Bell Jr., that it would make itself known to a Bell descendant of his, as it did to him.  The author would be the logical Bell upon whom this honor should be conferred, he being the only living son of John Bell Jr.'s oldest son.  It was estimated by John Jr. and J. T. Bell that the return visit would be some time in the fall of 1935."  The anticipated year of 1935 is the same year that The Haunting of Cashen’s Gap (1936) was written after being reported that year in the BBC magazine The Listener.  

Case No. 3 Mary Jobson

Sunderland, England

1839-1841

This was another ‘talking poltergeist’ case I studied before my research expedition to Oklahoma.  I was able to obtain a photocopy of A Faithful Record of the Miraculous Case of Mary Jobson from Harvard University in April 1995.  The setting was Sunderland, a city on the north east coast of England that in 1840 was a large shipbuilding port.  The author, W. Reid Clanny, M.D. was “physician in ordinary to H. R. H. the Duke of Sussex, and senior physician to the Sunderland Infirmary” in 1841 when the second expanded edition of his book was published.  As with other notable scientists who were willing to share the results of their investigations of unexplained phenomena although the data conflicted with preconceived notions (William Crookes, Gustave Geley, Oliver Lodge, Charles Richet, Albert Von Schrenck Notzing, Alfred Russel Wallace, et al.), Clanny was a person of scientific eminence.  He was an author and the inventor of a safety lamp for the use of coal miners.  (Further details are provided in an obituary.) 

As I began reading Clanny’s brief preface, details were provided concerning supernatural manifestations accompanying the manifestly spiritual cure of 12-year-old Mary Jobson.  Clanny professed that he had no doubt that the response of some readers would be to inquire about the object to be accomplished by such manifestations.  To these individuals he postulated, “is it given to you to understand the intention of the Almighty by such manifestations,—or are you so bigotted as not to comprehend that objects of the greatest moment may be accomplished by such events, though, at the present time you may not be enabled to fathom them?”

As I began reading Clanny’s description of his experience, supplemented by oral and written evidence provided to him by others, at first it seemed unclear if the voice that was heard in Mary Jobson’s room was emanating from her or in proximity to her.  Something that gave me pause was the abrupt sentence on page 5: "Mark—I am thy God, sounding out of the Heavens."  Clanny was recounting how he “endeavoured to write down what was spoken to me, which was as follows":

I am the Lord thy God, that brought thee out of the land of Egypt;—out of the House of bondage.  I am the Physician of the Soul.  I send Physicians, and Medical Surgeons to attend to the internal parts of the body.  There have been nine Physicians, and Surgeons seeing Mary Jobson.  I am making use of her body as a trumpet.  She should have been in her grave a fortnight and three days since.  I have only one Medical Surgeon to speak to, his name is Robert Blakiston Embleton.  On the 13th, three came, but were of no use.  Mark—I am thy God, sounding out of the Heavens.  The Surgeon that knew the complaint of Mary Jobson, had been only a year in practice:—he hath greater privilege than all of the nine.  Her brain is like a scalded cloth.  I am making use of her body as a bugle . . .

The continuing discourse encompassed warnings of judgments and angels appearing "with drawn swords in their mouths" should the surgeon attempt to see her brain.  Clanny admitted that several sentences were completely lost in consequence of the voice speaking so rapidly.  Throughout the book, it would be hard to accept quotations as verbatim with the understanding that there were no tape recorders back then.  As with similar historical accounts of unexplained phenomena, the haunting entity’s character at times may have been circumscribed by the personal perceptions of witnesses.  Clanny noted the accompanying manifestations to this discourse.
 

After the voice had done speaking, several loud knocks were heard, as if proceeding from the bed; then a scratching, like a person, or rather several persons scraping their nails along a table.  I have now only to say, that the voice was certainly entirely different from her own natural one: and although I am incapable of describing it, I shall mention some differences which were most striking.  Previous to this time, throughout the disease, the voice was soft and feeble, and when it spoke, it was in a whining and childish tone, until this peculiar change took place; it was now on the contrary, loud and strong, and spoke as in a tone of authority:—but this was not all, for although it might more strictly said to be allied to the voice of a male, rather than a female, yet it had such a delightful sweet sound, as to render it almost an impossibility for any male to imitate it:—it certainly came more up to my ideas of the “Angelic,” than any thing I had ever before heard . . .

Mary’s mother, Elizabeth Jobson, also shared sentiments with Clanny that she had heard expressed by “the voice.”
 

I am he whom thou knowest not; be not deceived, for you know not who I am: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending.  I told your child that she was going to have a long illness, and that I was going to work a miracle with her.  She is like young Samuel who kept his Father’s laws, for when you desired her to say her prayers and go to sleep, she obeyed; and when the remainder of the family was in sleep, she would arise, and on her knees, pray without ceasing, to her Father in heaven.  There will be many that will come here, who will not believe in this; some will believe, because they know that all things are possible with God; but, blessed are they who may not hear nor see, and yet believe.  There are numbers of angels in the room, I will call them by their names, but in names that you cannot understand; but as I order them to do signs, you will hear them distinctly in all parts of the room—from one to three knocks, first low, up to very loud ones—some like clashing of arms—some like fluttering of wings—some like small, and others like to immense quantities of water rushing about the room.

Clanny’s book consists of testimonials from the family members and their friends as well as doctors, among the various witnesses to the uncanny happenings.  Several accounts make it clear that the voices weren’t limited to the Jobson residence.  Margaret Watson was another witness who recited a similar speech by “a voice” and also recounted other phenomena.
  

The voice called upon certain angels by their names, (which I do not remember,) to sprinkle water, and which to my astonishment, took place, for water was sprinkled upon the door as if one had put the hand into a basin of water, and sprinkled it upon the door, and soon afterwards the water was called to fall upon the floor, and accordingly, no sooner was the word said, then water was seen at the side of the bed, and the quilt of the bed was wetted to the extent of a small plate.  I wrung the water out of the quilt soon afterwards.  At other times, I heard different signs, some of which were loud, and others were not so loud.  There were also different sounds of voices, which we were informed were distinctive of the different Apostles.


I often heard heavenly music, which delighted me exceedingly.  Sometimes I heard sounds, as of bells ringing at some distance, during public rejoicings.  Two earthenware mugs were at different times taken away; one of them was away for a week, and was returned.

Mary Jobson’s mother, Elizabeth, provided the following observations.
 

The signs continued, and the voice spoke at different periods, till the 22nd day of June, 1840.  On the morning of that day, the child was exceedingly ill, and it was thought she could not exist long: she continued so, up to five o’clock, when the voice ordered her clothes that she usually wore, to be laid out, and you shall judge what we experienced.  There were present at the time, Joseph Ragg, Ann Ragg, his wife, Margaret Watson and myself: the voice ordered all these persons to leave the room, which we did.  We were accordingly out of the room a quarter of an hour, when a loud voice, called, “Come in,” and on entering the room, we found the child sitting on a chair, with her youngest sister, an infant two and a half years old, sitting on her knee.  She was completely dressed in all her clothes that were ordered to be laid out, she appeared as though she had not had one day’s illness, and has so continued up to this 30th day of January, 1841, when this brief evidence was presented.

Joseph and Ann Ragg informed Clanny about the miraculous transformation of Mary Jobson: "Previous to that day, the voice said, that 'If she were to die, the sound of a bell tolling would be heard, but if she were to live, heavenly music would be heard in the house,' and accordingly, upon that evening in which she was restored to health, heavenly music was heard by every person in the house."

In 2019 A Faithful Record of the Miraculous Case of Mary Jobson is readily available in an online edition except for three missing pages and these are presented at the end of this article.  One of the missing pages is 5 that includes the sentence "Mark—I am thy God, sounding out of the Heavens." 
 
 

Case No. 4 Alice Belle Kirby (middle name spelled Bell in some newspaper articles)

Jonesville, Louisiana

circa 1938

 November 28, 1938 Newsweek caption for a similar photo: Alice Belle moved the furniture

When researching books and magazine articles written about the Bell Witch, I found an article about an individual named Alice Belle Kirby in the November 28, 1938 issue of Newsweek magazine.  Other newspapers nationwide also featured articles about her.  The fact that there were times when phenomena did not occur in her presence revealed that hers was not the 'power' or 'ability' causing the supernatural happenings — as with channelers, psychics and mediums, spiritual healers, etc., an omnipresent Force manifests in unusual ways in the lives of individual people for the enlightenment of others.  One parallel to the New York City incident described in the Newsweek article is seen in Uri Geller's 1973 TV appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.
 

Shy Spirits

Alice Belle’s Table Tippers Balk on Arrival in New York

Newspaper readers scoffed last week at tales of "miracles" performed by Alice Belle Kirby, 13-year-old daughter of a cotton and corn farmer in Jonesville, La.  The stories told how 5,000 persons had gone to see Alice Belle perform such stunts as making tables dance, playing a piano without touching it, and staying suspended in the air.

A Newsweek correspondent visited Alice Belle and found her an ash-blonde, gray-eyed child with far more than usual poise for her age.  She took him into a darkened room and promptly astonished him—although the spirits had previously failed another reporter, who had been told to return for a second try four months hence.  As the correspondent reported by telegram: "Table she used with me ordinary one which had no draperies and apparently nothing attached.  I firmly held her hands and despite pressure I exerted table came up pressed against my chest."

Later the furniture repeated its dance, and the reporter learned that under Alice Belle’s promptings ten other tables had destroyed themselves—seven small specimens and three large dining-room tables.  Mystified, the Newsweek reporter interviewed seasoned and normally skeptical fellow townsmen of Alice Belle.

H. W. Wright, for 21 years education superintendent of Catahoula County, declared he had seen Alice Belle make a table leave a room, walk down the hall, through a screen door, proceed ten paces into the yard, and then return.  F. H. Shiel, Alice Belle’s school principal, testified to similarly astonishing performances.  Charles E. Smith, assistant manager of a Jonesville motor company, described the child’s levitation powers: "I saw her rise slowly into the air about 2 feet with nothing in the world to hold her."

Alice Belle begins each seance with the same incantation, her grandmother’s: "If there be any spirits present, show me a sign by tipping the table."  If the spirit is disobedient she calls it a dumb cluck.

This week the dumb clucks wouldn’t work.  After Alice Belle and her mother flew to New York Monday, the child couldn’t move any furniture despite her constant pleading: "Come, table, rise."  Although they’d accepted transportation expenses to appear on a radio program, they weren’t sure whether they’d take up a challenge by Joseph Dunninger, head of the Universal Council for Psychic Research, who maintains a $10,000 standing offer to anyone producing phenomena he can’t mechanically duplicate.

Concerning the image of Alice used for the Newsweek article, I was able to find an original 'International News Soundphoto" photograph with caption.  The caption utilizes all capital letters —
 

JONESVILLE, LA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THE AUTHOR OF STRANGE AND ALMOST MIRACULOUS DOINGS, 13-YEAR-OLD ALICE BELL KIRBY IS SHOWN HERE.  ACCORDING TO WITNESSES THE GIRL CAN MAKE TABLES MOVE BY HOLDING HER HANDS ON THEM OR MAKE THEM MOVE WITHOUT TOUCHING THEM.  SHE CAN MAKE A HEAVY PLAYER PIANO HOP ACROSS A ROOM AT COMMAND -- AND OTHER UNCANNY STUNTS.  MORE THAN 5,000 PERSONS HAVE TREKED TO THE 425 ACRE FARM OF FARMER LEON KIRBY TO SEE HIS DAUGHTER PERFORM "MIRACLES."  SOME SKEPTICS COME AWAY CONVINCED OF HER SUPERNATURAL POWERS, BUT HERE ALICE HAS BOTH FEET ON THE GROUND, AND IN SPITE OF APPEARANCES THE FEET OF THE HALVED YOUNG LADIES IN THE BACKGROUND ARE ALSO FIRMLY BASED.

Below are shown the Preface page 1 and the three missing pages from the current online edition of A Faithful Record of the Miraculous Case of Mary Jobson.