CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH
stairway, used by the servants, ran to the third story. The occupants of the house were my grandfather, who was often away upon business; my grandmother; my two aunts, Elizabeth and Gertrude, then unmarried; my mother and her children; my Aunt Sarah, whose illness prevented her from leaving the upper floor; Patrick Orr, a stableman; Fanny, a very black girl of about twelve years of age, whom Aunt Sallie daily and diligently tried to wash white and comb straight; and two girls in the kitchen. Across the road which ran by to Norristown lived “Auntie Jacobs,” a nice old Quaker lady with her two old bachelor sons—John and Benjamin. Prior to the Revolution the Jacobs family had been one of the most influential families of the Province, having their part in every important movement, but the lapse of time had lessened the nervous force and energy. John and Benjamin lived on the ancestral acres, cleanly and upright, full of anti-slavery traditions, a little given to science and chess, a little prone to adopt all of the advanced notions that came floating along, and without much of the vigor which leads to achievement. At Rochester, in New York, spirits had disclosed themselves to some women by rapping in mysterious ways and moving tables and chairs. Why they should so behave no one could explain, though the subject was talked about all over the country. John and Benjamin Jacobs came across the road to sit with my aunts about a round table with the hands of all four on the top of it, in an effort to get it to move, and listening for the raps which ought naturally in sequence to follow. After a few weeks of unresponsive endeavor the thing started with a vengeance in such a way as not only to discommode the family and make them uneasy but to disturb the neighborhood. The happenings always occurred at night. The bells rang long and loudly when there were no visitors, rappings were heard all over the house and there were tappings on the window panes, both up and down stairs. Blows were struck upon the doors as though with a club.
