Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-12-13
SPIRITUAL LAW.
The Supreme Court on Ghostly
Communications and b.
gus Spiritualism.


spirits that fellows carry in their
pockets when they go fishing, nor the
spirits of just men made perfect. It's
about the spirit of a woman made as
imperfect as any yet on record. 1t
came up in the Supreme Court yes
terday. The parties to the suit were
VIM. Leighton, next friend TO Ber-
tina Walcott and Sadie Perry, "a. M.
M. Orr. Andrew Walcott was a
wealthy citizen of Lee county and the
father of one child, Bertha. Fortune
had smiled upon Andrew until he
counted wealth as his own, amounting
to fifty thousand dollars. His wife
was at the time he married her Wild
ow lady named Perry, and the moth
err of one of the plaintiffs, Sadie Per-
ry. At length she was gathered to
her fathers, leaving Bertha, Sadie,
and Andrew to buffet the world
alone and to mourn her departure.
Then M. M. Orr appeared on the
scene. She was a protesting Spiritu-
alist. She dreamed dreams and saw
visions, and among the strange COM
panions of her waking hours was the
spirit of the late Mrs. Walcott. Now
all the subsequent troubles could have
been avoided if there were no such
things as spirits. How much more
seemly it would have been for the
spirit to have remained quietly in her
spiritual boarding place instead OF
wandering perturbed about in q
world where chilblains abound in
winter and umbrellas are needed in
summer. Why exchange mama fol-
corned beef, and the waters of the
New Jerusalem for those of the Des
Moines after it had passed Ottumwa
But there's no accounting for tastes
and Mrs. M. M. Orr says the ghost o.
Mrs. w. did come down to visit anC
commune with her,
These facts she communicated tt
the mourning husband and they ther
formed eopartnership in the bust
ness. Mrs. Orr was the better medi
UNI. She not only conyersed will
the subject but procured from hel
own hands picture of herself, paint
ed by some ghOstly Raphael or pho
tographed by some ETHEREAL Saroni
This the medium placed with her owl
fair hand in the credulous palm of tn,
widower. They became extremely
intimate. lie couldn't bear to b,
separated from his spiritual guide
and SO they occupied the same coucl
at night, although no marriage II
ccnse had been obtained. Mean
time Walcott had married again ant
been divorced, but all the while hi
spiritual adviser was weaving abou
him the meshes of her charms and &C
quiring over him an unbounded in
fluence. Together they hunted fol
ghosts and when spooks were invisi
BILE they whilcd away the hours il
loves gentle dalliance. Time wore
on and Walcott, in 1873, drew neal
the close of his life. About tire,
weeks before his departure from Let
county and all things terrestrial, An
drew decided to nj. NJ. Orr propcrt,
worth $1,000, and presented her will
$S42 in greenbacks. Then he died
and after the funeral baked meat.
grew cold, Mr.. VIM. Leighton, mex
best friend Of the little girls Bertha
and Sadie, broughtsuit against nj. M
to compel her to relinquish whatever
color of title she had TO the propert,
SO decided. The consideration ex
pressed in the conveyance was ont
dollar, and Andrew stated that liz
made the gift OH account of his love
and affection for the grantee. Thu
case was tried i'm Lee county and thu
deeds were set aside. Then the de
fence appealed and yesterday the Su.
premc Court adjudged that the Lee
county judiciary had guessed cor
rectly and that the title still rested il
the estate of Walcott.-State Register