Salem the scene for a truly bizarre courtroom battle
WITCHCRAFT, demonology, mesmerism — all were involved in one of the most bizarre trials in US legal history.
How bizarre? Well, the judge dismissed the case when the court ruled that it was not clear how it could prevent such mind powers being used, even if it were to imprison the accused.
Fittingly, the last witch trial to be held in America took place in Salem where, two centuries earlier, at least 20 innocent people were hanged after the infamous witch hunts.
This time, one Daniel H. Spofford was accused by Lucretia L. S. Brown of attempting to harm her with his “mesmeric” mental powers.
Spofford, a veteran of the American Civil War, had become interested in the Christian Science writings of Mary Baker Eddy, taking one of her classes in metaphysical healing.
The two became close colleagues.
He introduced her to her husband, helped arrange the wedding and acted as publisher of Eddy’s book, the snappily-titled Science And Health With Key To The Scriptures.
In this no doubt page-turner of a tome she’d developed the concept of “malicious animal magnetism”, a form of hypnotism or mental control which could harm others in what she called “mind crime”.
Eddy later relabelled it “demonology”.
But the two fell out over the terms of publication of a second edition, and early in 1878, Spofford was expelled from the Association of Christian Scientists on the grounds of alleged “immorality”.
Eddy had already lost a lawsuit against Spofford for unpaid tuition when Ms Brown, a spinster who suffered a spinal injury in childhood but claimed she’d been healed through Christian Science, suffered a
couple of relapses. Brown accused Spofford of being what she termed a “mesmerist” and stated that he had caused “by means of his said power and art great suffering of body and mind, and spinal pains and neuralgia and a temporary suspension of mind”.
The suit added: “She is wholly unable to escape from the control and influence he so exercises upon her.”
Many felt Eddy was behind the claim and though she denied this, she and 21 other witnesses
travelled to testify against Spofford.
When the Supreme Judicial Court opened in Salem, Brown’s attorney claimed mesmerism was an acknowledged fact.
But Spofford’s attorney argued that there was nothing in the law that remotely covered the alleged crimes of which his client had been accused.
The judge agreed, at the same time pointing out that prison bars probably couldn’t prevent such malicious mental attacks.
The judge agreed prison bars couldn’t stop mental attacks