Parapsychology - Who Was David Phelps Abbott?

 



David Phelps Abbott (1863–1934) was a Spiritualist medium investigator and amateur magician.

He was born on September 22, 1863, in Falls City, Nebraska.

He had his early schooling at a small schoolhouse on the Nebraska grasslands for three months a year, followed by nine months at Falls City High School.

Abbott ultimately pursued a career as a money lender, but he was also fascinated by science and philosophy.

He also became an amateur magician, devising and executing a variety of mind-boggling illusions.

He spent some time in Omaha, Nebraska.

Abbott wrote a number of articles and books on the topic of psychical phenomena.

Many practices of false mediumship were disclosed in his book Behind the Scenes with the Mediums, including slate writing and billet testing (see pellet reading).

Abbott, despite his skepticism toward claims of mediumship, did not rule out the potential of actual occurrences.

"I mention these things to show that telepathy is far from established as a fact, yet I must say that I believe it to be possible under certain conditions, but positively it cannot be commanded at will in the slightest degree," he wrote in a thoughtful contribution to the second volume of Ram Narayana's The Dream Problem (Delhi, 1922).

He then shared his own and his family's veridical dreaming experiences.



Further Reading:


Abbott, David P. Behind the Scenes with the Mediums. Chicago: Open Court Publishing, 1912.

The History of a Strange Case. Chicago: Open Court Publishing, 1908.

Spirit Portrait Mystery . . . Its Final Solution. Chicago: Open Court Publishing, 1913.



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