The Indianapolis daily herald., 1865-12-27
Frsn sh- r.Hus rr-. rr.... D-s.ns.r ~.
Spiritual 80 Ixcitement an Battle
sress nIch sgsn.-suspeessd unr-

The quiet village q Battle Greek was thrown
into great excitement on Saturday lat. by the
discovery 81 the dead bodies q three children
Under circumstances which strongly induced
suspicion - foul play. c0roner's Jury was
81 once summoned. and a thorough investga-
ton 81 the affair was commenced, but was not
concluded when our informant len. The in
quiry has developed a condition Of social affairs
/ which = almost too much for ercduliiy %
swallow. That. IN this latter half Of the nine
I tenth century ir. the midst Of Christian
community. persons q both seNcs should herd
I together Ike cattle, In furtherance u a wild
religious fanatlcism. almost surpasses belief.
F When they 60 sfih nrthsr and add 70 their
+ previous crimes the most henious one known
F b. the laws q God or man, the community in
which they live may DO p4rd1ned for exhibit
ing symptoms q unusual excitement
The circumstances u this ease. 80 Tar A. de-
veloped. appears 20 be about a. follows. Last
spring q Mr.. Leonard LEFT her husband at
lPsiitnh aud went 20 Battle Greek. taking
Win her I've children. two by Leonard and
three By rfomer husband. II seems that she
Wa believer In the doctrines q modern
spirituali.In. and was Ted 10 desert her husband
through Instructions from the spirit world.
she her-elf possessed the power Of communi.
eating with spirits, being In the parlance Of
that sect medium" By advice from the
same supernatural source she dropped the
name u Leonard. and being matrimonially /
joined, according 70 the ordinances Ia vogue in
the spirit world, 20 her first husband, again a.
.uLed his name and called herself Mrs. llayi- .
land. When she reached Battle Creek With her +
children she had 500 in money, and set up In .
housekeeping by herself About thu, period +
another character appears upon the stage In .
the person 81 Doctor Baker, Of Adrian. who
was also a spiritual medium 81 great repute
among his sect. DR.. Baker boarded with Mrs.
IIayiland.
The house wa "a great resort tor .pirtualists;
there being many 81 that ,ect in ana about Battle
4 Frpk- anal 80 circles =" and the
principal occupation Of the gifted doctor and
his pupils: Tor il appear. that the liaylland
house was sort Of spiritual icadymy for the
training up 81 female mediums through the
superior knowledge and gifts Of the doctor.
Mis- Merritt, II Ionia. medium. was II The
and Miss llannas. of Battle Creek,
a young lady 81 seventeen years Of age. was "A
boardcr IN the family. She was developing
her gifts, with the help Of the other mediums.
As q test medium" that j.. the veracity of
spirits in general. aud loquacious ones In par
ticular. were tested through her superior gifts.
1 was said she "deyelOpcd" more RAPIDLY
than any test medium known in those parts.
being quick wittcd and ~hreyvd Thi. acade-
my went on with swimming success through
the summer and fall and furnished incontro-
verttbie spiritual ~ idcncc for the conversion
II the unbcieying.
About four weeks ago the doctor borrowed
$500 Of Miss Merritt and bought a lot in the
outskirts Of the town. upon which he built his
castle In the shape Of board shanty with one
room. Into this shanty with one room the
doctor moved the three women above men,
toned, and the live children, and they all lived
together. continuing 10 develop" the young
lady a. a tcst medium. Wonderful things
were related Of her powers in that capacity.
She could 20 into a trance. and when She ar
rived back again 10 this mundane sphere, would
relate wonderful things OF what She had seen
AMI heard. She has seen and talked with
any deceased friend YOU might name. and
IL no i'm. l..V.
she appeared in this life. the dress, size. color
Of hair and eyes,
= Wi mair o. horrible and awful,
hich cen To name would lac unlaw full"
The party We're getting ready 20 travel and
astOnsh the world by public display Of their
With the spirits. Mrs. Haviland had
procured place for her two children named
Leonard and had told the other three that she
would take care Of them.
ON Saturday afternoon last, some children
living In the neighborhood were PLAYING near
The ,hanty. when the TWO Leonard children
made their appearance. On being asked where
their older brothers ana sisters were. they
said they Were dead. The children ran home
md told hcirparents, some Of whom immedi-
ltely Visited the shlnty aud found the report To
pe true. The woman Leonard. diids Hayi-
and. said that the Youngest. a girl AGED four
years, died on Thursday about noon; the see
lnd. boy aged siN years, died on Friday
morning m ten O'Clock and the third a boy
i've o'clock. Miss Merritt says she asked tie
ioetor what they should do with the children
4 they should die. and he said he would make
box aud bury them on his lot. They claimed
hat the children died with scrofula. 10 was
generally believed, however. that these medi-
ans. wishing 10 travel and not bee encountered
with the children. determined quietly 10 re-
move them To better sphere.
Considering that they could be with them and
njoy their society quite as much in the spirit
AL world. without the inconvenience Of
aking care Of them and providing them with
bread aud butter and clothes, the plan, no
lo.Df. seemed very sensible one.
Y post mortcm examination Of the bodies Of
h. chillren was made by Drs. cox. French
Ind Saunders. the result OF which was that
lee children were healthy, aud had the APP
'earauee of HAY 3ng been poisoned. fhc stom-
iehs Were taken ont by the doctors. and the
.onteuts We're IN process Of being analyzed
When ctr informant left. The coroner'- Jury
Mere awaiting the result Of such analyzatiOn
before deciding on their verdict. The parties
lad been placed under arrest until the facts Of
he ease could be- more fully investigated. The
affair naturally created considerable excite
nent in the town. and the greatest Indignation
Na> manifested toward the mhuman mother
" no could perpetratc such a deed upon her
lNn offspring.