Episode 60: The Bangs Sisters and their Paranormal Portraits
Only now, these practices have evolved into something we never would have pictured…
If there’s one thing that you should know about me by now, it’s that I’m deeply fascinated by the spiritual movement.
I mean over the last year, we’ve discussed a handful of different topics relating to spiritualism on this podcast. And I can honestly say that this is an era in history when I would have truly thrived.
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Now, I would be willing to bet that the same could be said about many of you. After all, between the seances, the invention of various spirit communication devices, and the boom of psychical research, the spiritual movement truly paved the way for the modern-day ghost hunter.
Of course, we are all well aware that the spiritualism movement has given the field of paranormal research somewhat of a bad name. And really how could it not, given how fraudulent many of the so-called psychic mediums of the era turned out to be?
But even still, you have to admit that these topics go hand in hand. And for what it’s worth, spiritualism may have made its modern-day counterpart that much more credible—with many of today’s paranormal investigators, attempting to debunk claims of paranormal activity, instead of trying to create them.
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I guess what I’m trying to say is that, while spiritualism might be dead, gone, and buried, as paranormal investigators and researchers, we can still see remnants of the movement to this day. Only now, these practices have evolved into something we never would have pictured.
I’m Courtney Hayes and you’re listening to haunts. Stay tuned…
By all accounts, May and Lizzie Bangs were mediums from the day they were born. Which believe it or not was pretty common for spiritualists of the era.
These so-called psychic gifts would manifest in a medium’s early childhood. Then from there, they would often be nurtured by an assortment of spirit guides and other mediums. And, of course, May and Lizzie were no exception to this sort of origin story.
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The Bangs sisters were born in the late 1850s and early 1860s into what would have been a typical all-American family. Their father Edward, was a tinsmith, and their mother Moreo, was a homemaker.
Alongside them, the girls grew up with two brothers— Edward and William— Who themselves never developed any sort of mediumistic abilities. And so it was likely their mother who shared in their psychic gifts.
In fact, more than a few of my sources claimed that Meroe Bangs herself had been a train psychic medium. And if that’s true, well she almost certainly played a role in her daughter’s spiritual careers.
Now it’s worth mentioning that Meroe’s abilities were never legitimately verified. And at least from where I’m standing, it seems that claims of her mediumship may have actually been made up after the fact.
But regardless, May, Lizzie, and Meroe Bangs definitely had a flare for the theatrics. Which, incidentally, made them some of the most influential and extraordinary women of the spiritualism movement.
May and Lizzie Bangs were barely even teenagers when they first began performing seances. It was August of 1872, and even in spite of their incredibly young age, the Bang Sisters had drawn quite the crowd.
Curious spectators would come from far and wide and they would pay good money too. All for the chance to visit the Bangs family home where these two young girls were showcasing abilities that were truly out of this world.
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For starters, the Bangs sisters displayed a form of physical mediumship in which they could produce concrete materials seemingly out of thin air. For instance, on more than one occasion, the audience watched in awe as coal rained down from the ceiling.
Beyond that, spectators could expect to see other inexplicable phenomena throughout these performances. One common report, for example, claimed that messages from the dead would appear on state tablets in full view of the audience even though no one was close enough to pen the messages by hand.
Another common claim was that furniture would move about the Bangs's residence at will. Meanwhile, music would play throughout the home, even when May and Lizzie were restrained inside a large wooden cabinet.
I know, this activity per se sounds more like a poltergeist than it does mediumship. But even still Bangs family remained adamant that May and Lizzie, with their keen ability to conjure spirits from the great beyond, had been solely responsible for these supernatural occurrences. And honestly guys, that isn’t even the half of it.
Perhaps the most dazzling part of the Bangs sisters’ career, was their keen ability to commission paranormal portraits. Yes, you heard that right. Between the two of them, Lizzie and May Bangs could produce images of those dearly departed without so much as lifting a paintbrush.
I should explain. In a typical sitting, the sisters would sit on either side of a table with a blank canvas propped up between them. This canvas would face the client, who was sitting at the table between May and Lizzie.
From there, the curtains would be drawn and the sisters would lightly grip either side of the canvas. Then and only then did something spectacular happen.
There in full view of the client, an image of their departed loved one would appear. It was as if the pigment materialized on the canvas instead of being placed there by hand.
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Okay, before we go any further, I should probably mention that this form of mediumship is incredibly rare. But it isn’t entirely unheard of.
They call it precipitation, which simply put, is a form of spirit communication that manifests or rather precipitates out of the ether and onto a surface. A blank canvas in this case.
Now when it comes to mediumship, most of us have a general understanding of the more automatic psychic abilities. You know, the sort where the medium themselves use their body to channel messages from the great beyond.
Whether that be through automatic writing, painting, or drawing. The medium typically perceives spirit communication and then channels the message by hand. But of course, that wasn’t the case for the Bangs sisters.
On the contrary, Lizzie and May were able to bring these messages into our physical reality simply by sheer will. There was nothing automatic about it. They didn’t even have to lift a finger.
I know, that’s quite the gift and an enviable one at that. Well, that is unless the Bangs Sisters were actually frauds.
Back in 1905, an article entitled "How Ghosts Paint Spirit Portraits" was published in the Chicago Daily Tribune. And for obvious reasons, it was a headline that drew some attention. Which didn’t bode well for the Bangs sisters. Because this article more or less outlined how they had been duping the public with their paranormal portraits.
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I know, I think it’s safe to say that many of us probably saw this coming. Because like I said, this is a rare gift and the Bangs sisters certainly weren’t the first spirit mediums to be accused as frauds.
That said, after reading it through, I actually felt that it was the article that had been full of it. Which is saying a lot coming from your resident skeptic.
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You see, the article posed that this so-called trick was facilitated through the use of a false table. Allegedly, May and Lizzie were removing the blank canvas through the table after the curtains had been drawn—replacing it with one that showcased an image of the deceased.
Now that alone I could probably wrap my head around. After all, this was the age of Houdini and who didn’t love a good show in sleight of hand? But it’s the next part that sort of lost me.
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According to the article, at least, the prepared painting, set to replace the blank canvas on the table, would actually be wrapped in several layers of tissue. The sister could then slowly break away those layers throughout the course of the seance. As if their clients wouldn’t have noticed a pile of paint-soaked tissues on the table.
That’s one theory I guess. But here’s the real kicker: A.T. Osborne, the Kansas City Minister who came up with this idea, said he did so in a dream. Which, at least from where I’m standing is a bit hard to take seriously.
Now don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bangs sisters and their paranormal portraits were fake. Especially considering that the Bangs women were eventually involved in their fair share of scandals. But I’m sorry, accusations made based on nothing more than a dream don’t carry a lot of weight in my book.
And apparently, the same could also be said for May and Lizzie Bangs. In fact, they went as far as challenging the minister to a bet, wagering $1000 that he couldn’t recreate their abilities using a false table and a pack of tissues.
For a moment there, Osborne considered the offer, but in the end, he decided to decline. Ultimately claiming that a minister would never bet $1000.
Now since I brought it up, I’d like to go ahead and end today’s episode by discussing the aforementioned scandals that the Bangs women had been a part of. If even only to get a better understanding of why this entire story should be taken with a grain of salt.
For starters, in 1881, May and Meroe Bangs had actually been arrested for illegitimate business practices. Specifically when it came to running a business without a license to do so.
In other words, they were offering their services, and collecting payments from grieving patrons. All without any sort of licensing or legal authority.
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Now that alone might not be enough to call their integrity into question. After all, owning and operating your own business means jumping through a lot of different hoops. So I don’t think it’s unreasonable to believe that Meroe and the Bangs sisters may have missed one by mistake.
But that doesn’t change the fact that a very pointed bill was passed by the Illinois State Senate in 1891. The likes of which prohibited anyone from personating spirits of the dead on penalty of fine, or even imprisonment.
It was an act that would ultimately cost many Illinois-based mediums their livelihoods. And at least one of them painted the Bangs sisters as the villains. Stating that while they had otherworldly powers “their greed for gold had led them to abuse it.”
Credits
http://iapsop.com/spirithistory/bangs_sisters.html