Phantom Luminaries: Frederick Willis, Spiritualism, and Paranormal Investigators in the Age of Disruption

Abstract

“Phantom Luminaries” combines a biography of a singularly eccentric and well- connected American Spiritualist, Frederick L. H. Willis (1830–1914), with a study of the cultural furor surrounding his religion. An orphan, Willis grew disenchanted with his family’s Calvinism. He befriended Louisa May Alcott, boarded intermittently with the Alcotts from 1844–54, and absorbed Bronson Alcott’s Transcendentalism. In 1854, Willis became a Spiritualist medium, allegedly experiencing spirit manifestations and messages, levitation, and the ability to diagnose and cure people. He befriended Spiritualists throughout Massachusetts while also studying at Harvard Divinity School to become a Unitarian minister. In March 1857, Professor Henry Eustis accused Willis of falsifying his powers, leading to his suspension. The Willis affair sent the Boston– Cambridge area into an intellectual and moral panic about Spiritualism for several months. Citizens debated the veracity (and morality) of talking to spirits. Harvard professors Louis Agassiz, Benjamin Peirce, Eben Horsford, and Cornelius Conway Felton, along with journalist George Lunt and astronomer Benjamin Apthorp Gould Jr., launched critical investigations into Spiritualism because of the controversy. The Harvard scholars and their allies tried to discredit Spiritualism because it challenged their expectations for rational religion, respectable Protestant ministry, genuine scientific research, and moral behavior. Willis never regained his standing at Harvard, but he supported Spiritualism for the rest of his life. He built a career as a lecturer and metaphysical physician, stressing his scientific as well as religious expertise. Ultimately, Spiritualism, with its powerful combination of metaphysical and liberal ideas, offered Willis a supportive community and a compelling alternative to orthodox Protestantism. Despite the social ostracization he suffered in 1857, Willis derived enough strength and inspiration from Spiritualism that he remained loyal to it.