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A Brief History of Spirit Photography
By Donna L. Marsh

Spirit photography, most popular during the nineteenth century, got its start in 1862 when William Mumler is said to have made the first spirit photograph. While developing a self-portrait, Mumler discovered that a “ghost” had appeared in the photo with him. Believing the faint, ghostly image floating beside him was a departed spirit, Mumler developed the premise of spirit photography.

Spirit photography had enormous appeal during and after the Civil War, as bereaved families sought some form of tangible proof that their loved ones lost during the war still continued their existence in some fashion. Mumler took advantage of this unfortunate time by placing advertisements in spiritualist publications offering two photographs of "Master Herrod of N. Bridgwater, Mass." for sale:

This young man is a medium. Before sitting for this picture three spirits offered to show themselves, representing Europe, Africa and America. As will be seen by the picture, this promise was fulfilled. Also a picture was taken while entranced, and shows his double. (The Religio-Philosophical Journal, August 24, 1872)

Master Herrod With His Spirit Double

Dr. Nandor Fodor, in his Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science (1934), explains that the spirits representing the continents were "a European, a Negro, and an Indian." And Fodor further quotes Mumler as writing,

It then occurred to me to take [Master Harrod's] picture while entranced, to see if I could get the controlling power; and to that end I asked if there was any spirit present would he please entrance the medium. In a few moments he threw his head back, apparently in a deep trance. I then adjusted the focus and exposed the plate, and took the picture as represented. The spirit seen here is undoubtedly his double as it is unmistakably a true likeness of himself.

While Master Herrod seems rather young to be dabbling in the occult, it should be remembered that spiritualism in America was launched by two young sisters in 1848. Margaret and Kate Fox were ages 15 and 11 when they began to converse with spirits of the deceased at their home in Hydesville, New York. This communication took the form of mysterious rapping sounds that answered spoken questions.

It wasn't until 40 years later that the sisters revealed the source of the rapping that touched off the international spiritualist movement: loudly cracking the joints of the ankle or toe.

P.T. Barnum's Faked Spirit Photo Featuring Abraham Lincoln

However, spirit photography also attracted many critics, prominent among them P.T. Barnum, the famous showman. Barnum felt that the spirit photographers were taking advantage of those whose judgment was clouded by grief.

In April 1869 William Mumler was brought to trial for fraud. Barnum volunteered to testify against him, and to prepare to do so he asked Abraham Bogardus, a respectable photographer, to prepare the image shown above. In it, the spirit image of Abraham Lincoln can be seen floating behind Barnum's right shoulder. Barnum wanted to demonstrate that spirit photographs can be easily manufactured by any competent photographer.

At the trial Barnum made a point to differentiate between his own 'humbugs' and those of the spirit photographers. He argued that despite his reputation for misleading the public, "I have never been in any humbug business where I did not give value for the money."

Spiritualism in America -- and more specifically, spirit photography -- was taken to court in New York City in 1869. The case: a preliminary hearing for William H. Mumler, who was charged with fraud for selling photographs that he claimed included images of ghosts or spirits. Testimony and arguments lasted for seven days. On Mumler's side, witnesses included a prominent former judge who was also a spiritualist. Among the opposing witnesses were several photographers who explained how the same effects could be achieved by darkroom tricks, and P. T. Barnum -- who said he purchased some of Mumler's photographs to exhibit them in his museum as specimens of humbug.

The hearing attracted nationwide attention, including the full cover page (and back-page cartoon) of the mass circulation Harper's Weekly.

In the end, the judge in the case reluctantly decided to drop the charges against Mumler, citing a lack of evidence. According to The New York Daily Tribune, the judge explained "however he might believe that trick and deception had been practiced [by Mumler], yet, as he sat there in his capacity as magistrate, he was compelled to decide ... the prosecution had failed to prove the case."

Both sides were thus able to declare victory. The prosecution had exposed Mumler, revealing that the same "ghost" appeared in certain photographs taken in Boston and New York -- a "spirit" who turned out to be very much a living mortal.

Mumler went back to spirit photography and gloated a bit in a pamphlet he published in 1875. But his brush with the law took its toll, both to his reputation and to his finances. Mumler never recovered from the $3000 cost of his defense, a staggering sum for its day. He destroyed all of his negatives shortly before his death in 1884.

 

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