~THE WATSEKA WONDER~
Check this out. I find it very interesting! I saw the Booth Brother's documentary about it and it's really wicked....They say that it's the first documented possession in America!!!.
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THE WATSEKA WONDER - THE FIRST DOCUMENTED POSSESSION
"Called "America's first documented case of spiritual posession," the "Watseka Wonder" is the name given to the strange case of the possession of a young Lurancy Vennum by the spirit of Mary Roff, the daughter of a founder of the small town of Watseka."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://www.roffhome.com/watsekawonder.html
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"The small town of Watseka, Illinois is located about 50 miles south of Chicago and on the eastern side of the state, just a few miles from the Indiana border. The sensation that would come to be known as the “Watseka Wonder” would first make it’s appearance here in July of 1877."
"It was at this time that a 13-year-old girl named Lurancy Vennum first fell into a strange, catatonic sleep during which she claimed to speak with spirits. The attacks occurred many times each day and sometimes lasted as long as eight hours. During her trance, Lurancy would speak in different voices although when she awoke, she would remember nothing. News of the strange girl traveled about the state and during this time of popularity for the Spiritualist movement, many visitors came to see her."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://belindabentley.com/Public/archives/509
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WHO IS MARY ROFF?
Quote:
"Mary Roff was born in Warren County, Indiana, on 8 October,1846. When she was thirteen years old the family moved to Watseka, about 70 miles south of Chicago, Illinois. By that time Mary’s health had been badly weakened by epileptic fits, which she suffered from about twice a day. In spring, 1865, in an attempt to escape from depression caused by her health, she tried to commit suicide by slashing her wrists. Her parents found her unconscious from loss of blood and called a doctor. When Mary eventually regained consciousness she became so violent that it took several adults to hold her down in bed. She was delirious for five days, after which she suddenly became calm and slept for fifteen hours. She awoke to find bandages covering her eyes to protect them from her unconscious scratching; but instead of removing them, she discovered that she seemed to be able to see as easily while blindfolded as she had before."
Quote:
"Slowly, however, the young girl’s health deteriorated, and before long doctor’s advised her parents to put her in a mental institution. They refused and decided to care for her themselves. They took her with them when they visited friends in Peoria, Illinois, for the 4th of July holiday in 1865. While there Mary complained of a terrible headache and went to her room. A few minutes later they found her unconscious on the floor in a pool of blood and rushed her to the asylum, where she died on the afternoon of 5 July."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://www.mysteriouspeople.com/Lurancy_Vennum.htm
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"Mary's childhood had never been normal. Her seizures began when she was an infant and as a young child, began to complain of mysterious voices that she heard in her head. The voices, she said, came from nowhere and told her to do things that she knew she shouldn't. As she grew older, she began to experience long periods when she stayed in a trance-like state. Then came her moments of awakening, when she spoke in other voices and seemed to be possessed by the spirits of other people. During these trances, she was said to have manifested clairvoyant powers that were carefully investigated by "all of the prominent citizens of Watseka, including newspaper editors and clergymen." Mary was able to speak of places that she had never been to, often with uncanny accuracy, was reportedly able to predict future events and knew things about people that she should have had no way of knowing. Shortly after, her mind began to deteriorate and she became violent with stranger and soon, with her own family as well. Mary developed an obsession with blood and became convinced that she needed to remove the blood from her body, using pins, leeches and at last, a sharpened razor."
"After that final incident, her parents discovered her on the floor of her room, unconscious and lying in a pool of her own blood. They had no choice but to commit her to the state asylum and here, Mary endured more agony as the "cures" for insanity in those days were just short of barbaric. One of the favored treatments of the 1860's was the Water Cure, in which a patient would be immersed naked into a tub of icy water and then taken to a tub of scalding water after their body temperature had sufficiently lowered. In addition, female patients, like Mary, received a cold water douche, administered with a hose and then they were wrapped tightly in wet sheets to squeeze the blood vessels shut. This was followed by vigorous rubbing to restore circulation. The "treatments" were administered several times each week but not surprisingly, such techniques brought little success and most of the patients never got better. Mary, like so many others, showed no improvement and she soon died."
http://www.prairieghosts.com/watseka.html
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"‘Mary Roff died on the afternoon of July 5, 1865 while hospitalized at the State Mental Asylum in Peoria. She had been committed there after a bizarre incident when she began slashing at her arms with a straight razor. It was the final tragedy in Mary’s descent into madness and insanity. In the beginning, it had only been the strange voices that seemed to come from nowhere; next were the long periods when she stayed in a trance-like state; then came her moments of awakening, when she spoke in other voices and seemed to be possessed by the spirits of other people; then finally, came her obsession with blood. Mary was convinced that she needed to remove the blood from her body, using pins, leeches and at last, a sharpened razor."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://belindabentley.com/Public/archives/509
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LURANCY VENNUM - MOVING TO WATSEKA
Quote:
"Lurancy Vennum had been born on April 16, 1864 and she and her family had moved to Watseka when she was seven years old. Since they arrived long after Mary Roff’s death, the Vennum family knew nothing of her strange illness, nor did they know the Roff family, other than to speak to them on the streets of the small town."
http://belindabentley.com/Public/archives/509
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AND IT BEGINS...SOMETHING STRANGE IS GOING ON WITH LURANCY..
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"On the day of Mary Roff’s death, Lurancy Vennum was a fifteen-month-old baby living on her parents’ farm in Iowa. She had been born Mary Lurancy Vennum, on 16 April 1864, at Milford Township, Iroquois Co, Illinois. In 1871, the family moved to a farm seven miles south of Watseka. This was nearly six years after the death of Mary Roff; so there is no possibility that Lurancy Vennum could ever have seen Mary. Lurancy was a normal, healthy child of thirteen when the twelfth anniversary of Mary Roff’s death occurred on 5 July 1877. Next morning she told her parents - ‘There were people in my room last night and they kept calling ‘Rancy! Rancy!’ and I could feel their breath on my face.’ A week after this incident Lurancy was helping her mother stitch a broken seam in a carpet when she suddenly straightened herself up and said - ‘Maw, I feel bad; I feel mighty queer!’"
"Seconds later she became rigid and fell unconscious for five hours. This began to happen every day and usually consisted of Lurancy lying stiff, with only a faint pulse, her breath slow and weak, and her temperature below normal. She suffered from excruciating abdominal pains and would murmur about strange visions which usually involved what she called 'angels'. Sometimes the attacks lasted up to eight hours, during which time Lurancy would speak in different voices, though when she awoke, she would remember nothing."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://www.mysteriouspeople.com/Lurancy_Vennum.htm
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"It was at this time that a 13 year-old girl name Lurancy Vennum first began to fall into mysterious, catatonic trances during which she claimed that she was able to speak to angels and the spirits of the dead. The strange spells would often occur many times each day and some of them would last for hours. During the trances, Lurancy would speak in different voices and tell of places far away that she had no real knowledge about. When she woke up, she wouldn't remember anything that she said or did while she was under the influence of these spells."
"Word quickly spread around town that odd things were happening at the home of Thomas and Lurinda Vennum and soon the news began to spread out of town, to Chicago and around the state. Soon, many visitors began to arrive in Watseka, all hoping to see the young girl."
"The news of the girl's weird trances gained so much attention due to the fact that the Spiritualist movement was in the height of its popularity at this time. Spiritualism is a movement that is based on the idea that the dead can, and do, communicate with the living."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/watseka.html
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"On that otherwise ordinary morning, Lurancy got out of bed feeling very dizzy and nauseated. She complained to her mother about feeling sick and then suddenly collapsed onto the floor, passed out cold. She stayed in a deep, catatonic sleep for the next five hours but when she woke up, she said that she felt fine. But this was just the beginning. The following day, Lurancy again slipped into a trance-like sleep but this time was different. This time, as she lay perfectly still, she began to speak out loud, talking of visions and spirits and carrying on conversations with people that no one else could see. She told her family that she was in heaven and that she could see and hear spirits, including the spirit of her brother, who had died in 1874"
"After that day, the trances that Lurancy suffered came more and more frequently and sometimes they lasted for more than eight hours at a time."
Quote:
"While she was under the spells, she continued to speak about her visions, which were often terrifying. She claimed that some of the spirits chased her through the house and shouted her name. The attacks occurred as many as a dozen times each day and as they continued, Lurancy started to speak in other languages, or at least spouted nonsense words that no one could understand. When she awoke each time, she would remember nothing of what happened during the trance and was ignorant of her strange ramblings."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/watseka.html
IS SHE INSANE?
Quote:
"Doctors thought her mentally ill and could do nothing for her, only recommending that she be sent to the State Insane Asylum in Peoria. At this time the Spiritualist movement was at its height of popularity and news of the strange girl brought many curious visitors to see her. Mr. and Mrs. Asa B. Roff, the parents of Mary Roff and apparently Spiritualists themselves, heard about the case and were reminded of their own daughter’s similar problems. They visited the Vennums and persuaded them to allow a Dr. E. Winchester Stevens of Janesville, Wisconsin, a medical doctor and an advocate of Spiritualism, to investigate the case".
"Dr. Stevens visited the family, and found Lurancy sitting in a chair near the stove, with her elbows on her knees, her hands under her chin, and feet curled up on the chair, eyes staring wildly. For a while there was silence, broken only when Dr. Stevens moved his chair. At this Lurancy savagely warned him not to come any closer. She was surly and refused to be touched, calling her father ‘Old Black Dick’ and her mother ‘Old Granny."
"Dr. Stevens encouraged her to try and find a better control, after which she mentioned the names of several people who had died, eventually saying that there was one who wanted to come. Her name was Mary Roff. Mary’s father was present, and agreed to let her come, which she apparently did, astounding the whole company with the details she gave of the Roff’s house."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://www.mysteriouspeople.com/Lurancy_Vennum.htm
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"The Vennum family was not interested in mediums and Spiritualists however. They were only concerned with the health and welfare of their daughter and they took her to one physician after another in hopes that someone would be able to help her. The doctors could find nothing physically wrong with Lurancy and they eventually diagnosed her as being mentally ill. It was recommended that she be sent to the State Insane Asylum in Peoria. Heartbroken, the Vennum's felt they had no other choice and after the holiday season of 1877, they began to make arrangements to have their daughter committed. They knew there was little chance that Lurancy would ever come home again. In those days, mental hospitals were merely cages to store the insane and offered little in the way of treatment for their conditions."
"But before Lurancy could be sent away, in January 1878, a man named Asa Roff, who also resided in Watseka, arrived at the home of the Vennum family. He explained to them that his own daughter, Mary, had been afflicted with the same condition that Lurancy was suffering from. He begged the Vennum's not to send Lurancy to the asylum. He had mistakenly sent his own daughter there years before and she had died in confinement. Despite her death though, he was convinced that his daughter's spirit still existed. And little did he know but it would soon become apparent to many that his daughter's spirit was now inside of the body of Lurancy Vennum."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/watseka.html
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"Stories and rumors about Lurancy and her visions began to circulate in Watseka. People were talking about the weird happenings and the local newspaper printed stories about her . No one followed the case more closely than Asa Roff did. In the early stages of his own daughter's illness, she had also claimed to communicate with spirits and she often fell into long, sometimes violent, trances. He became convinced that Lurancy Vennum was suffering with the same affliction that Mary had. In spite of this, Roff said nothing until the Vennum family had exhausted every known cure for Lurancy and after the local doctor and a minister suggested that the girl be sent away to the state asylum. At this point, he became determined to try and help. He refused to see another young woman end up in the hands of the doctors who had tortured his Mary."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/watseka.html
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Quote:
"When Stevens first visited Lurancy, she acted like a wild animal. She appeared to have Multiple Personality Disorder, now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder. This is a psychiatric condition in which there are two or more separate personalities, alters, within a person's body and at least two of them take control of the person’s body at various times. The alters are not aware of the others and do not recall what happened when they were in control."
"Lurancy told the doctor that several entities lived in her body. First, was Katrina Hogan, then, there was Willie Canning. Finally, Mary emerged. When Mary took over, Lurancy did not recognize her home or her family...."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://suite101.com/article/watseka-possession-a29989
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"The stories and rumors about Lurancy and her visions began to circulate in Watseka. People were certainly talking and even the local newspaper printed stories about her. No one followed the case more closely than Asa Roff, the father of Mary Roff. In the early stages of Mary’s illness, she too had claimed to communicate with spirits and would fall into long trances without warning. He was sure that Lurancy Vennum was suffering from the same illness as his poor daughter. But Roff said nothing until the Vennum family exhausted every known cure for Lurancy. It was not until the local doctor and a minister suggested that the girl be sent to the State Mental Hospital that Roff got involved. He refused to see another young woman end up as his Mary did in the hands of the doctors."
"On January 31, 1878, he contacted the Vennum family. They were naturally skeptical of his story but he did persuade them to let him bring a Dr. E. Winchester Stevens to the house. Stevens, like Asa Roff, was a dedicated Spiritualist and the two men had become convinced that Lurancy was not insane. They believed that Lurancy was actually a vessel through which the dead were communicating. Roff only wished that he had seen the same evidence in his own daughter years before."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://belindabentley.com/Public/archives/509
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ONE WITH THE DEAD - THE POSSESSION
Quote:
"Asa Roff called on the Vennum family on January 31, 1878. They were naturally skeptical of his story but he did persuade them to let him bring a Dr. E. Winchester Stevens to the house to examine Lurancy. Stevens, like Roff, was a dedicated Spiritualist and the two men became convinced that Lurancy was not insane. They believed that the girl was a vessel through which the dead were communicating. Roff only wished that he had seen the same evidence in his own daughter years before. He believed that because no one had been able to help Mary, she had been driven insane by the gifts and abilities that she possessed. He didn't want that to happen to another young woman and so he begged the Vennum's to let he and Dr. Stevens do everything they could for Lurancy."
"Thomas and Lurinda reluctantly agreed and Dr. Stevens "mesmerized" the girl and tried to contact the spirits through her. Within moments, Lurancy began speaking in another voice, which allegedly came from a spirit named Katrina Hogan. A few moments later, the spirit changed and now claimed to be that of Willie Canning, a young man who had committed suicide. She spoke with Willie's voice for over an hour and then suddenly, she threw her arms into the air and collapsed. Dr. Stevens took her hands and soon, Lurancy calmed down and gained control over her body again. She was now in heaven, she said, and would allow a gentler spirit to control her."
"She said that the spirit's name was Mary Roff"
SOURCE: READ MORE: .
http://www.prairieghosts.com/watseka.html
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"It was after this, in February, 1878, that the ‘control’ of Lurancy, or the 'spiritual possession' as some researchers have called it, began. Far from being sullen and aggressive the girl became mild, passive and polite, not recognizing her own family, but instead asking to be taken ‘home’. On hearing of the extraordinary change in the girl, Mrs. Roff and her daughter, Mrs. Minerva Alter, Mary’s sister, went to visit Lurancy. Lurancy was looking out of the window of her house at the time and when she saw them coming down the street exclaimed - ‘There comes my ma and sister Nervie!’- the latter being the name Mary used to call Mrs. Alter when a young girl. When they came into the house she hugged them and cried for joy. After this incident Lurancy became progressively more homesick and continually begged to be taken 'home' to the Roffs."
Quote:
"For fifteen weeks Lurancy Vennum lived as Mary Roff among her family and friends, and everything she did convinced people that she was the real Mary Roff, whom she had never known. When Mrs. Roff asked her if she recalled the family moving to Texas in 1857 (when Mary was eleven) the girl responded promptly that she remembered it well, particularly seeing the Indians along the Red River and playing with the young daughters of a family named Reeder, who were among the same travelling party. The Roffs also tested her with a velvet head dress Mary used to wear; which she recognized immediately."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://www.mysteriouspeople.com/Lurancy_Vennum.htm
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"On February 11, Lurancy --- or rather "Mary" --- was allowed to go to the Roff home. Tom and Lurinda agreed that this arrangement would be for the best for now, although they desperately hoped that Lurancy would regain her true identity. The Roff's, however, saw the "possession" as a miracle, as though Mary had returned from the grave. They took Lurancy across town and as they were taking the buggy ride, they passed by the former Roff home, where they had been living when Mary died. She demanded to know why they were not returning there and they had to explain that they had moved several years before. This was, as far as Asa Roff and his supporters were concerned, further proof that Lurancy had been possessed by the dead girl."
"For the next several months, Lurancy lived as Mary and seemed to have forgotten her former life. She did, however, tell Mrs. Roff that she would only be with them until "some time in May". But as the days passed, Lurancy continued to show that she knew more about the Roff family, their possessions and their habits than she could have possibly known if she had been merely faking the whole thing. Many of the incidents and stories that she referred to had taken place years before Lurancy had even been born. Her physical condition began to improve while staying with the Roff's and she no longer suffered from the fits that had plagued her."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/watseka.html
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THE FORMER LIFE
Quote:
"Dr. Stevens often asked ‘Mary’ about her former life, and on one occasion she told him about cutting her arm, and asked if he had seen where she did it. After receiving a negative answer, she started to pull up her sleeve to show him the scar, but suddenly stopped, as if realizing something suddenly, and quickly said - ‘Oh, this is not the arm; that one is in the ground,’ and carried on to describe where it was buried, how she witnessed it done, and who was standing around at the time."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://www.mysteriouspeople.com/Lurancy_Vennum.htm
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"In conversation with Dr. E. W. Stevens about her former life, Lurancy Vennum, possessed by the spirit of Mary Roff, speaks of the time she had cut her arm with a knife. She asks if he had ever seen where she did it. He says no, and so she proceeds to slip up her sleeve as if to exhibit a scar, but suddenly arrests the movement. She quickly adds, "This is not the arm: that one is in the ground."
"She tells where it is buried and how she had seen it done and who stood around, and how they felt. but she says that she did not feel bad. She tells Mr. Roff and the others present how she wrote him a message some years ago through the hand of a medium, and gives the name, time, and place. She also tells of rapping and spelling out a message by another medium, and gives the time, name, and place. Mr. and Mrs. Roff later admit all facts and details to be true."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://www.roffhome.com/watsekawonder-arm.html
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REST IN PEACE...IT'S ALL OVER NOW...
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"Finally, in early May, Lurancy told the Roff family that it was nearly time for her to leave. She became very sad and despondent and spent the entire day going from one family member to another, hugging them and touching them at every opportunity. She became increasingly upset over the next few days, weeping at the thought of leaving her "real family". Over the next two weeks, a battle raged for the control of Lurancy's physical body. At one moment, Lurancy would announce that she had to leave and at the next would cling to her father and cry at the idea of leaving him."
Quote:
"On May 21, Lurancy returned home to the Vennum house. She displayed none of the strange symptoms of her earlier illness and her parents were convinced that she had somehow been cured, thanks to the intervention of the spirit of Mary Roff. She soon became a healthy and happy young woman, suffering no ill effects from her strange experience."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/watseka.html
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"‘Eight years later, when Lurancy turned 18, she married a local farmer named George Binning and two years later, they moved to Rawlins County, Kansas. They bought a farm there and had 11 children. Lurancy died in the late 1940′s while she was in California visiting one of her daughters."
SOURCE: READ MORE:
http://belindabentley.com/Public/archives/509
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If you are interested in the Booth Brother's documentary about the Watseka Wonder, you can find it on Amazon.com..It's called:
"The Possessed" and it's directed by the Booth Brothers..
...Great stuff!
- Rachel Livingston
