ASPR Journal, V14 - Iapsop.com

Recent Experiments Continued. 177
after her death my Aunt, my father's sister, came to keep house
for father and to ·care for us children. In a few years she
married and this left our domestic affairs in such a condition
that father married his second wife. Her name was Margaret.
When my father's younger sister married, my grandmother who
had lived with this aunt, came to live with us for a time until her
death. Her name also was Margaret.
It is interesting to note the mistake about the Martha. She
is evidently taken for my stepmother, an error which is inexcusable
on the supposition of normal knowledge of her name and
relationship, as Mrs. Chenoweth had an opportunity to know it
from Vol. VI of the Proceedings which she had seen. But she
knew nothing about the name of my stepmother or my grandmother,
and if she had she should not have confused them. The
same confusion was made through Mrs. Piper. and also at another
time through Mrs. Chenoweth.
My mother was an orthodox believer in heaven and hell
and she would find death a " revelation " on that doctrine. The
statement regarding my father's inability to be a mother is quite
true, but perhaps is true of most fathers. It is especially true
of my father, however.
It is interesting to remark the statement, just after giving
the name Margaret, that the communicator is " mixing two
scenes together ". There is evidently a pictographic process
involved and the confusion regards the stepmother and my grandmother
whose names were Margaret.
Immediately following the reference to my grandmother at
the end of the message just commented on, came a reference to
spinning and making yarn from wool for the needs of the
family. This was pertinent, but not to the period just described.
My grandmother had done much of this work, but only in her
younger days and not at the time involved in the message about
events after my mother's death. The association is not abrupt,
but the time involved is. Then came a reference to " Sunday
afternoons and a walk sometimes taken by the children " and a
sudden and disconnected reference to where my mother was
buried. The first of these incidents has no meaning and the
latter is not made specific enough to emphasize. But an effort
was made to mention some " small blue flowers ", said " to grow
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