The Leavenworth weekly times., 1879-07-03
THE SPIRITUAL WEDDING.
The Spirit Wedding.


The alleged celebration of what is called
a spirit wedding at Leavenworth, ksnsas,
will occasion much discussion on account
of the high standing of the parents Of the
spiri; bride. The wedding reception took
place, according 10 the published accounts,
At the house of the brides father, Mr.. lssac
F. + ton, on the afternoon Of June 20
Two prominent trance and physical medl-
ums were in stteId lrce, and few of the more
intimate friends of NJ. and Mrs. Eaton
were pr. sent by invitation. At the ap-
pointed hour the guests psrtook OF the
usual wedding bres eskfasf, two seats bling
reserved for the spirit bride and her ethe
real husband. There was a cabinet in the
room, and through the opening in lis doors
the parents converted with their daughter
and son in law. One account saws that the
", 4 led pair left the cabinet at one time
az i made the circuit of the parlor, bu: this
is doubtless repOrtorial eXaggeration. An
&C 'Ount of the wedding having been pub
li-hed. Mr.. E,Ipn felt called upon TO write
a full history OF the affair for the Lesven-
worth TINES. This was republished in the
Globe DemOcT-t OF yesterday.
onlv chilli of Mr.. and Mrs. Eaton q girl,
died, after six weeks of troublesome soj)urn
upon earth, in 1873. Had she lived she
would now be in her thirty fourth year.
At mat, rislizing sceance al the house OF
one Mott, noted medium OF Memphis,
Missouri, one day last December, Young
LADY appeared at The cabinet door and in
troduCed herself to Mr.. and Mrs. Eaton "a
their loved and lors lost daughter, giving
her full name and relating some facts in
connection with her bri,f breathing spell
that convinced her hearers OF her identity.
On April 30th, at their o~n home in Leav-
enworth, -ke again appeared and emerged
from the cabinet, which contained no liv-
ing being but Mott, the medium, who
was in a trance. and talked with them quite
freely. In the meantime Mr.. Eaton had
been carrying on correspondence with
her through New York writing medium,
to whom he had been recommended by
Mott, in which be had asked her If there
were not "some young angel man" whom
himself and her mother might call son"
She wrote a rapturous reply, thanking her
parents for their enduring love and sssur-
ing them tha. she had superiu'end.d the
construction of beautiful mansion for
them, and with her tiny hands cosxed
eyergreens, rcses and vines all over
ii" also that, in addition to
her grandmother and Aunt Sarah, she had
met, lone of whom she would speak later"
This was on last Christmas. After con-
siderable coaIing, she wrote on March 30th
that her "mste, or husband, il no less than
the son of Franklin Pierce, once President
of the United S;ates," and with 3 touch OF
very earthly eirlishness, che bade her
father "tell mother | have the incest in
tended in all nv sphere" Mr.. Eaton, who
is a member of the National Democratic
Committee, hsd expected to secure an
office 10 the present Democratic Cons ress,
but, like mauy other aspiring statesmen,
was disappointed, and in this letter, his
daughter consoles him by the assurance
that his disappointment "is all right in the
economy Of the Good Father" He urged
her TO anne the day when the wedding would
take place, but she wrote back that "Bennie
had = sort of pride in keeping mum in that
matter" However. after talking it over,
they concluded to be married on June 20,
the ceremony to be performed bv Emanuel
Swedenborg. Wherenpon Mr.. Eaton
wrote to that distinguished departed divine,
ssking him to permit Medium Mansfield,
of New York, to be present at the wedding.
Swedenborg replied in his own handwrit.
ing, granting the petition. Subsequently,
Sarah Katherine, the daughter, wrote let
ter to her father. in which she demolished
the Scriptural doctrine that there is no
marrying or giving in marrisge in the
happy hereafter "That was simply q say
ing of the priests in early days." she
declared. to induce not only early but fire.
quent marriage for the money they derived
from such ceremony" Marriages take
places in the spirit life nore frequently
than in earth life, she ssid, though
such displays ss her own wedding are un-
frequent.
The wedding took place according to
agreement, and Medium Mansfield, who
professes 10 be somewhat familiar with the
doincs of the spirits, ,sssures.Mr. Eaton, in
long letter, that it was the grandest specta-
Gle his eyes ever behold. He m .de dia-
gram of the blower" and took q list of the
guests, much after the manner Of a wesk-
minded society reporter. The bride "wss
srrsyed IN a dress Of ME green" Mrs.
Pierce, the spirit moiher-in-law, was in
"pure white" The multitude present
passed the mediums ability to count
Among the more distinguished guests were
Pierce, Van Buren,, Polk and
Taylor, Winfield Scott, Stephen A. Doug
las, Rufus Choste, Reyerdy johnson, John
Wesley and Wilson Shannon. Since the
wedding, ''Sarah Katharine Eaton Pierce"
as abe is now called in the spirit land, has
written but little, being evidently some
what taken up with the enjoyment OF
celestial honeymoon. "Bennie," her hus.