Camp Chesterfield
Encyclopedia
Camp Chesterfield was founded in 1886 and is the home of the Indiana Association of Spiritualists, located in Chesterfield, Indiana
. Camp Chesterfield offers Spiritualist Church
services, seminary
, and mediumship
, faith healing
, and spiritual
development classes, as well as psychic reading
s for patrons.
. Members of "scientific investigation societies" were welcomed to these public meetings. In 1848, many of these same societies became Spiritualists when Andrew Jackson Davis
in his New Harmonial Philosophy dictated while in the trance state, and the rappings of the Fox sisters brought the immediacy of psychic phenomena to the American public. These two groups combined to create the philosophical and phenomenal content of modern American Spiritualism
.
In 1855, seven years after Spiritualism was named, John and Mary Ellen Bussel Westerfield saw their only child, John, Jr., pass to spirit at age 14. In their grief they turned to the comfort of mediumistic contact with their son. This was the catalyzing experience of their conversion to Spiritualism.
The presentation of Spiritualist speakers and workers continued rigorously at Union Hall and home séance circles became part of the routine of daily life. Trance mediums, healers, psychic spirit artists, and trumpet and materialization mediums were developed all over Indiana. Along the White River
in this area, media, as they were called, were soon at work in Muncie, Anderson, Yorktown and Daleville; and to the north in Alexandria and Fairmount. Media were also found in Fishersburg, Noblesville, Westville, extending west to Lebanon, Darlington and Crawfordsville. Many old mystic and investigative societies were converted.
The Quakers were well known to John Westerfield and during the Civil War years some new Friends groups were affiliated with John's stance of anti-slavery. Spiritualist speakers such as Amelia Colby Luther, Cora Richmond, Moses and Mattie Hull, Wallace Hibbits and many others spoke out against slavery. Indiana Quakers of this persuasion became leaders in the very dangerous Underground Railroad for fleeing slaves. In this immediate area a tunnel was dug from a barn basement to come up some distance away under a woodpile. Later in the 1870's a fine old Italianate home was built with the tunnel opening under the front parlor floor. Upstairs, this family sat in a small, specially created room for home séances.
In 1883, Dr. and Mrs. Westerfield and a group of like-minded friends journeyed to a new Spiritualist camp called Frazier's Grove near Vicksburg, Michigan
. This visit inspired them to found an Indiana Association of Spiritualists and to set about seeking a location for a camp. In 1886, John Westerfield called a mass meeting of Indiana Spiritualists and the Indiana Association of Spiritualists was formed. They elected officers for 1887 and have been meeting steadily for 120 years.
In 1890 they held a grove meeting on the banks of the White River and in 1891 opened Camp Chesterfield on the same spot. Carroll and Emily Bronnenberg owned the land at that time and made the camp site possible by selling it to the new Association. They and many members of their family were Spiritualists from the earliest days of the movement, and Carroll and Emily were charter members of the Indiana Association of Spiritualists. They were also the builders of the Italianate home whose front parlor covers the opening of the Underground Railroad tunnel which was connected to the original Bronnenberg farm barn.
, a former medium
in Florida
and at Camp Chesterfield, confessed to defrauding the public in his book The Psychic Mafia "as told to" Allen Spragett, a well known Canadian writer on paranormal topics. The book was also provided with a forward by the writer William V. Rauscher. In the text Spragett and Keene detailed a multitude of common techniques utilized by fraudulent mediums since the 19th century to conjure spirits. Spragett and Keene wrote that beneath the church is a storehouse of personal data about Camp Chesterfield visitors which is collected during church service when parishioners are asked to provide their full name, the names of loved ones they wish to contact, and questions. A medium is blindfolded and claims to read the data through the help of spirit guides. The pieces of paper are not returned to the parishioners; rather, Spragett and Keene wrote, the data is shared freely amongst Camp Chesterfield mediums as well as those networked across the country for use in private hot reading
s.
In March, 2002, The Skeptical Inquirer published a sting operation performed by former magician and prominent skeptical paranormal
investigator, Joe Nickell
. Nickell exposed further fraud on the part of mediums
at Camp Chesterfield.
Chesterfield, Indiana
Chesterfield is a town in the U.S. state of Indiana which lies in Union Township, Madison County. The population was 2,547 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
. Camp Chesterfield offers Spiritualist Church
Spiritualist Church
A Spiritualist church is a church affiliated with the informal Spiritualist movement which began in the United States of America in the 1840s. Spiritualist churches are now found around the world, but are most common in English-speaking countries, while in Latin America, where a form of...
services, seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
, and mediumship
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
, faith healing
Faith healing
Faith healing is healing through spiritual means. The healing of a person is brought about by religious faith through prayer and/or rituals that, according to adherents, stimulate a divine presence and power toward correcting disease and disability. Belief in divine intervention in illness or...
, and spiritual
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
development classes, as well as psychic reading
Psychic reading
A psychic reading is a specific attempt to discern information with clairvoyance and the resulting statements made during such an attempt. The term is commonly associated with paranormal-based consultation given for a fee in such settings as over the phone, in a home, or at psychic fairs...
s for patrons.
History
Starting in 1843, Dr. John Westerfield promoted speakers in mesmerism, phrenology, trance speaking, healing, clairvoyance, and spirit contact at his newly built Union Hall in Anderson, IndianaAnderson, Indiana
Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Madison county. Anderson is the headquarters of the Church of God and home of Anderson University, which is...
. Members of "scientific investigation societies" were welcomed to these public meetings. In 1848, many of these same societies became Spiritualists when Andrew Jackson Davis
Andrew Jackson Davis
Andrew Jackson Davis , American Spiritualist, was born at Blooming Grove, New York.- Early years :He had little education, though probably much more than he and his friends pretended. In 1843 he heard lectures in Poughkeepsie on animal magnetism, as the phenomena of hypnotism was then termed, and...
in his New Harmonial Philosophy dictated while in the trance state, and the rappings of the Fox sisters brought the immediacy of psychic phenomena to the American public. These two groups combined to create the philosophical and phenomenal content of modern American Spiritualism
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
.
In 1855, seven years after Spiritualism was named, John and Mary Ellen Bussel Westerfield saw their only child, John, Jr., pass to spirit at age 14. In their grief they turned to the comfort of mediumistic contact with their son. This was the catalyzing experience of their conversion to Spiritualism.
The presentation of Spiritualist speakers and workers continued rigorously at Union Hall and home séance circles became part of the routine of daily life. Trance mediums, healers, psychic spirit artists, and trumpet and materialization mediums were developed all over Indiana. Along the White River
White River (Indiana)
The White River is a two-forked river that flows through central and southern Indiana and is the main tributary to the Wabash River. Via the west fork, considered to be the main stem of the river by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, the White River is long.-West Fork:The West Fork, long, is...
in this area, media, as they were called, were soon at work in Muncie, Anderson, Yorktown and Daleville; and to the north in Alexandria and Fairmount. Media were also found in Fishersburg, Noblesville, Westville, extending west to Lebanon, Darlington and Crawfordsville. Many old mystic and investigative societies were converted.
The Quakers were well known to John Westerfield and during the Civil War years some new Friends groups were affiliated with John's stance of anti-slavery. Spiritualist speakers such as Amelia Colby Luther, Cora Richmond, Moses and Mattie Hull, Wallace Hibbits and many others spoke out against slavery. Indiana Quakers of this persuasion became leaders in the very dangerous Underground Railroad for fleeing slaves. In this immediate area a tunnel was dug from a barn basement to come up some distance away under a woodpile. Later in the 1870's a fine old Italianate home was built with the tunnel opening under the front parlor floor. Upstairs, this family sat in a small, specially created room for home séances.
In 1883, Dr. and Mrs. Westerfield and a group of like-minded friends journeyed to a new Spiritualist camp called Frazier's Grove near Vicksburg, Michigan
Vicksburg, Michigan
Vicksburg is a village in Kalamazoo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,320 at the 2000 census.The village is located mostly within Schoolcraft Township on the east side, though a portion is also within Brady Township.-History:...
. This visit inspired them to found an Indiana Association of Spiritualists and to set about seeking a location for a camp. In 1886, John Westerfield called a mass meeting of Indiana Spiritualists and the Indiana Association of Spiritualists was formed. They elected officers for 1887 and have been meeting steadily for 120 years.
In 1890 they held a grove meeting on the banks of the White River and in 1891 opened Camp Chesterfield on the same spot. Carroll and Emily Bronnenberg owned the land at that time and made the camp site possible by selling it to the new Association. They and many members of their family were Spiritualists from the earliest days of the movement, and Carroll and Emily were charter members of the Indiana Association of Spiritualists. They were also the builders of the Italianate home whose front parlor covers the opening of the Underground Railroad tunnel which was connected to the original Bronnenberg farm barn.
Criticism
In 1976, M. Lamar KeeneM. Lamar Keene
Morris Lamar Keene, born about 1938, is a former spirit medium in Tampa, Florida and at Camp Chesterfield, Indiana, where he was known as the "Prince of the Spiritualists"...
, a former medium
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and at Camp Chesterfield, confessed to defrauding the public in his book The Psychic Mafia "as told to" Allen Spragett, a well known Canadian writer on paranormal topics. The book was also provided with a forward by the writer William V. Rauscher. In the text Spragett and Keene detailed a multitude of common techniques utilized by fraudulent mediums since the 19th century to conjure spirits. Spragett and Keene wrote that beneath the church is a storehouse of personal data about Camp Chesterfield visitors which is collected during church service when parishioners are asked to provide their full name, the names of loved ones they wish to contact, and questions. A medium is blindfolded and claims to read the data through the help of spirit guides. The pieces of paper are not returned to the parishioners; rather, Spragett and Keene wrote, the data is shared freely amongst Camp Chesterfield mediums as well as those networked across the country for use in private hot reading
Hot reading
Hot reading is the use of foreknowledge when giving a psychic reading in stage magic performances, or in other contexts. The reader can gain information about the person receiving the reading through a variety of means, such as background research or overhearing a conversation...
s.
In March, 2002, The Skeptical Inquirer published a sting operation performed by former magician and prominent skeptical paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
investigator, Joe Nickell
Joe Nickell
Joe Nickell is a prominent skeptical investigator of the paranormal. He also works as an historical document consultant and has helped expose such famous forgeries as the purported diary of Jack the Ripper. In 2002 he was one of a number of experts asked by scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr...
. Nickell exposed further fraud on the part of mediums
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
at Camp Chesterfield.