The Rev. John Wesley and the Poltergeist
Samuel asked Mr. Hoole, a rector, to visit and witness the phenomena. The man heard popping and rapping sounds. He tried to communicate with the poltergeist, but was answered only with rappings and groanings.
Susanna believed that rats made the noises and had a horn blasted in the rooms of the house to scare them away. After this, the noises happened day and night.
Emily, also referred to as Emilia, another Wesley daughter, recorded an eerie event. The family dog was sleeping and the cat was at the other end of the house. She went upstairs to get ready for bed and heard the sound of a stone breaking bottles and dived into bed. Sister Hetty was sitting on the bottom step of the attic stairs, with her back to the door which was shut. Something resembling a man in a loose night shirt rushed down the stairs.
The children were frightened of the noises, but, they did nickname it "Old Jeffrey." There had been speculation that the poltergeist was the spirit of Old Ferries, someone who died in the house.
There were attempts to communicate with the spirit. If someone yelled "Jeffrey" or stamped his or her foot, the spirit would reply by rapping.
One night Samuel heard rappings in the nursery and became angry. John recorded this incident. He called it a dumb and deaf devil and demanded to know why it was scaring the children. He told the poltergeist to come into his study. There was a loud knock that sounded like it would rend a board apart. Then, there was silence for the remainder of the night. Until this time, there had been no disturbances in the study. Samuel had the only key to the room, and, the next night, when he unlocked the door to enter, a force thrust him back violently.
The poltergeist was active when the family was praying and rapped furiously if prayers were said for King George and the prince. It reacted they same way when the word, "amen," was said. If the prayers for the king were not said, the poltergeist was silent.
Strange animals were seen in the house. Emily saw what appeared to be a badger and Brown saw what appeared to be a rabbit. A bed levitated with daughter Nancy in it. Hetty was the most affected by the poltergeist. When the noises happened during the night, she did not awaken. She
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