On Friday, the 13th of October, the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library will offer patrons something spooky - a look back at the Capital City's history of seances, mediums and spiritualists. KPR Commentator Katie Keckeisen will present "Beyond the Veil: A History of Spiritualism." Her free talk begins at 6:30 pm Friday in Marvin Auditorium. We asked her to give us a sneak peek.
(Transcript)
William W. Aber: Topeka’s Spiritualist Fraud
By Katie Keckeisen
The history of modern Spiritualism – the belief that the living can communicate with the dead – is one that weaves itself throughout the history of America. While there were those who genuinely believed that communication with “the other side” was possible, most Spiritualists who advertised their mediumship turned out to be nothing more than frauds. Topeka was not immune from this trend. A perfect example of this is the story of William W. Aber, Topeka’s own fake Spiritualist.
Almost all historians point to modern Spiritualism beginning in 1848 in Hydesville, New York, where sisters Maggie and Kate Fox began communicating with a “spirit” in their home through rappings and knockings. The girls became a phenomenon; before long they were communicating with spirits around the nation in front of hundreds of rapt audience members. Soon, spiritual mediums could be found in almost every town in America.
Although there were people who truly believed they had the ability to communicate with spirits, there were also many frauds looking to make money off the grief-stricken. One of these frauds who made himself well-known in Topeka was William W. Aber. Aber was born on November 15, 1861, in Yates, New York and his family moved to Topeka in the early 1880s. Aber claimed that he knew from an early age that he had spiritualist gifts. Around 1881, he sat in on a séance held by a Mrs. Holladay in Topeka, where the spirits declared him to be a powerful medium.
Word of Aber’s mediumship reached J.H. and Josephine Pratt of Spring Hill, Kansas, who quickly became Aber’s patrons. In September 1888, Aber moved in with the Pratts and began holding daily seances for a group that became known as the “Aber Intellectual Circle.” Aber was miraculously able to regularly produce the spirits of Thomas Paine, Michael Faraday, John Pierpont, Mohammed, Voltaire, and Abraham Lincoln, as well as the departed loved ones of those in attendance.
But in the 1890s, Aber’s true colors began to show themselves. Aber had taken a room at the Olmstead residence in Topeka. He soon became enamored with Mrs. Olmstead and one night asked if she didn’t want to speak with the spirit of her first husband. The “messages” from this spirit soon turned suggestive, saying “she should that night visit Aber in his room.” Mrs. Olmstead was appalled and alerted the county attorney. Aber was arrested on charges of “indecent exposure” and put in the county jail for three days. He was released after Mrs. Olmstead had been persuaded to drop the charges. Subsequently, Aber left Topeka.
But William Aber seemed incapable of staying out of trouble for long. In the early 1900s, Aber’s fraudulent séances were exposed several times in the Kansas City area. In one instance, he was caught by two men who grabbed Aber dressed as a “spirit”. Aber managed to escape and locked himself in the bathroom until authorities arrived and he, once again, left town in disgrace.
William Aber spent the last few decades of his life in California, where he was the leader of a variety of new-age and Spiritualist churches. The 1930 U.S. Census also listed his occupation as a theater showman. He died on January 10, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois, at the age of 78.
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Commentator Katie Keckeisen is a local history librarian for the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. Her talk - "Beyond the Veil: A History of Spiritualism" - begins at 6:30 pm in Marvin Auditorium on Friday, the 13th of October!