Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-01-06
FAMILIAR SPIRITS.
A MemPhIan sensafiOn-The seanees
Of EIrs. Hollis.


Seven times in all we have been present
and witnessed her manifestations. In each
instance the Company was composed OF
ladies and gentlemen we'll known in the
city, and who are regarded as beyond the
reach Of triCkery or egerdemain-sensible
people, who had their wits about them, all
Of whom al the close, save the writer, &C
ceded to the claims Of Mrs. Hollis that
what they saw and heard was the result Of
spirit power, and could not be any other.
For ourselves, while not believing 10 that
extent, we are at a loss to account for the
sometimes amazing results. For instance,
the ssfamiliars" Of Mrs. HOllis-an Indian,
ssSky," and an ex-Fsderal Soldier, Jimmy
NOlan"-brOught to the heads Of one of
our best families news Of not merely the
dead, but the living, gave counsel and ad-
vice that, when followed, was attended by
the results predicted, and warned Of
dangers that were avoided BY
following their advice; and at two Of the
seances the Indian brought to the gentle
man head Of that family, articles from his
room which he declared he had left, one Of
them in a bureau drawer, the other on his
dressing-table. News of the death Of rela-
tiyes was brought to this gentleman that
was subsequently verified, and multitude
nous proofs have been given which incline
him to the fullest confidence in these
spirits as in friends who have proven their
devotion in the most solemn movements Of
life. His every mOvement-in business or
for his family-has interest for them, and
they daily wait on him, as they say, to ''press"
him for his good, and direct him for his
welfare. And the experiences Of this gen
tleman has been the experience Of many
Others-of his wife and his children in
cluded-all Of whom assert that IN proper
tiOn as they believe, they receive, realizing.
through all the succeeding stages Of the
growth Of faith, an advance in the power
that brings to them so much of intelli-
gence, comfort and happiness.
at these seanCes the medium sits near a
large speaking-trUmpet, through which the
spirits speak, lifting it, as they say, only a
few feet from the floor, so that the voices,
loud and manly in tone and peculiar in
their distinCtness from that Of anything
the medium could affect or initiate, and
that answer, with invariable correctness. as
fast as the questions can be put by fifteen
or twenty eager and eXpeCtant men and
women. At a daylight seance, Mrs. Hollis
shut up in an imprOvised closet, examined
by US, produced the faces Of men
and women, and in one in
s.snce Of little child Of
perhaps a year old, so plain and distinct
and so beautiful as to challenge
exclamations Of wonder and delight. In
this case there was no possible cOllusiOn,
there being but five persons present whose
relationship or friendship precluded any
thought of trick or deception. But such,
even with that CirCle,was carefully guarded
against by an examination Of the room and
Of the clOSe., and the medium, being simply
clad, and having neither baggy sleeves nor
a thousand pockets, she could not have
concealed either "masks or faces" We
left this seance full Of wonder. At another,
where she was entranced against her will,
Mrs. Hollis was taken from her chair and
borne about the room, so that all could
testify to the fact and vOuch that there was
neither ventrilOquism nor legerdemain
at work. But time and space would fail us
TO recount all the wonders Mrs. Hollis
performs. Regarded by the spiritualists Of
Europe and America as one Of the best
test-mediums living, she has never failed
in our presence in the manifestations de-
sired, and this without the trance (save in
the instance mentiOned), and always while
she was participating in the desultOry con-
y-rsation the wonders might give rise to.
M=mphis, Missouri, has Mott, and New
England the Eddys, we here have a me-
dunn in nothing inferior to either and su-
perior to both: indeed, to all we have ever
encountered for the preservation Of her
personal dignity Of character and the quiet
earnestneSs with which, no matter what
comes or goes, she pursues her wOndrous
way.