H. Melville Fay
From Kook Science
| H. Melville Fay | |
|---|---|
| Born | 31 January 1841 Portage Township, Summit Co., Ohio |
| Died | 28 May 1889 (48) Cleveland, Ohio |
| Burial | Glendale Cemetery, Akron, Ohio[1] |
| Spouse(s) | Augusta Lamphere (m. 1862);[2] Anna E. Heathman (m. 1872) |
| Children | John Fay (1877-1908) |
| Parents | Nahum Fay and Lucia Cummings |
Henry Melville Fay (January 31, 1841 - May 28, 1889) was an American psychical demonstrator and touring physical medium, his performances alternating between professing legitimacy of his powers to acting as a skeptical debunker of rival acts, including the Davenport Brothers.
Press Coverage
1860s
- "H. Melville Fay as L-Roscrusian member of the Imperial Order of the Rosy Cross, and the greatest living physical medium in the world, gives an exhibition...", Bangor Daily Whig and Courier (Bangore, ME): 2, 21 Apr. 1863, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/662908418/
- "SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS.", Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT): 2, 22 Feb. 1864, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/369132810/
- "Advertisement for H. Melville Fay and wife at the Academy of Music in Cleveland, Ohio on 27 August 1864", Cleveland Morning Leader (Cleveland, OH): 4, 26 Aug. 1864, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83035143/1864-08-26/ed-1/seq-4/, "Mr. Fay has been a member of the 150th Regiment, for the past hundred days, and now, on returning, will endeavor to give the citizens of Cleveland an opportunity to witness some of the most startling Phenominal Wonders of Spiritual powers ever recorded."
- "A SPIRITUAL HUMBUG EXPOSED. H. Melville Fay, the Spiritualist, Outdone — Successful Repetition of his Performance by a Clergyman — The whole thing Explained — Discomfiture of the 'Medium.'", Cleveland Morning Leader (Cleveland, OH): 4, 31 Aug. 1864, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83035143/1864-08-31/ed-1/seq-4/
- "FAY FINALLY WITHDRAWS.", Cleveland Daily Leader (Cleveland, OH): 4, 1 Sep. 1864, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/75691188/ — in which Fay retires from mediumship after being debunked by Rev. Dobbs
- "Mr. H. MELVILLE FAY, The Celebrated American Humorist!!", Western Reserve Chronicle (Warren, OH): 3, 26 Oct. 1864, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/143562007/ — in which Fay is now a comedian and vaudevillian
- "SPIRITUAL LECTURE.", Fall River Daily Evening News (Fall River, MA): 2, 7 Oct. 1865, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/589951918/ — in which Fay is a medium again in a new market.
- "H. MELVILLE FAY'S GREAT EXPOSE - OF - DAVENPORT AND EDDY BROS.", Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT): 3, 28 Dec. 1865, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/368977759/
- "THE MYSTERIES OF THE 'DARK CIRCLE' EXPOSED — THE GREAT HUMBUG HURRIEDLY LEVVES ON THE MORNING TRAIN.", Quad-City Times (Davenport, IA): 1, 9 Oct. 1868, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/299454765/
1870s-1880s
- "EXPOSURE OF SPIRITUALISM. What Laura Ellis Did, and How She Did It — The Fay Performances as Described by a Performer — A Detailed Account of Wholesale Jugglery", St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, MO): 10, 20 Aug. 1876, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/571053522/ — reprint from the New York Graphic of an article by W. F. Van Vleck, including a recounting of a meeting with H. Melville and Anna Eva Fay in July 1871.
- "PROMISED EXPOSURES! BUT FOR ANOTHER FIFTY CENTS ADMISSION. C. H. Read's Interesting Show in the Baptist Church — He Makes Peripatetic Spiritualism Ridiculous, but 'Exposes' Very Little — Come Again.", Daily Evening Herald (Stockton, CA): 3, 18 Oct. 1881, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/488635801/ — in which C. H. Read is revealed to have revealed that he taught H. Melville and Anna Eva Fay everything they know, that H. Meville Fay was C. C. Braddon and was married to Carrie Sawyer.