A singular phenomenon appeared here in 1847, which carried into foreign countries the name of our city by association in the title. In the year before that John D. Fox lived with his family in Hydeville, Wayne county. The house which they occupied became the scene of mysterious noises, not loud at first but eventually so violent as to disturb the neighbors, and these manifestations were finally traced to the instrumentality of the two little girls—Margaretta, aged twelve, and Kate, aged nine. Neither the parents nor any of the visitors were able to solve the mystery as to how these sounds, which had now taken the form of knockings or rappings on the walls, floors and ceilings of the dwelling, were produced. To prevent the possible collusion of the two children, they were separated, first one and then the other coming to Rochester lo live with their elder sister, Mrs. Lea Fish. As long as, either remained at home the noises continued there ; when the last one had departed they ceased entirely. Mrs. Fish. originally skeptical, soon became as expert a medium as either of her little sisters and the sounds soon came to be announced as messages from the departed spirits in another world. Seances were given at the residence of the Fox family, who had by this time removed to Rochester, and in the houses of persons whose intelligent interest or morbid curiosity impelled them to witness the manifestations, and in almost every instance the presence of any one of the three sisters was sufficient to obtain responses more or less satisfactory. The usual method was for some one in the group to call out slowly the letters of the alphabet and when the right one was reached there would be a rap or knock of approval, by which laborious process the entire sentence would here to be spelled out.
The whole city became greatly excited. and while most people were incredulous many became profound believers in the truth of the alleged revelations. At least a public demonstration was given in Corinthian hall on November 9th, 1849, after which a committee of five citizens was agreed upon by those present to make a thorough investigation and report at a subsequent meeting. A few days later they reported that they had been unable to discover the means by which the noises were produced. This did not satisfy the general expectation; the people wanted exposure, and they must have it; so another committee was appointed, with the same result, and finally a third. All the fifteen members of these different committees were men of the very highest standing is the community, of unblemished character and all of them without exception, absolute disbelievers in the new system. This last committee, determined to succeed where the others had failed, made a more thorough investigation than their predecessor, subjecting the mediums to the most rigorous tests and having their clothing examined by trustworthy women, selected for the purpose, to see if any artificial appliances were concealed. On the appointed evening Corinthian hall was crowded, but unfortunately the audience comprised a large number of lawless rowdies who went there for the purpose of creating a disturbance, and equally unfortunately the mediums were present on the stage to hear what they felt confident would be their vindication. The committee reported that, all their tests bad been futile and that the rappings had been plainly audible when the girls were standing on feather pillows or on glass, without shoes, and when placed in other positions. A moment of stillness and than a mad rush for the platform. Blood would have been shed despite all the efforts of the police and the lives of the girls might have been sacrificed had it not been that S. W. D. Moore, then police justice and afterward mayor of the city, a man of unusual size and strength, sprang forward and with his powerful arm beat back the foremost of the mob until their intended victims had been taken out by a back door and conveyed to a place of safety. After that outbreak the Fox sisters were allowed to pursue their activities without molestation and all the various phases of modem spiritualism were eventually evolved from the "Rochester knockings."