Hudson Tuttle was born in 1836 in Berlin Heights, Ohio, a member of an ardently religious family. He became dissatisfied with traditional religion when it didn’t save him from beatings by his father. This led to an interest in other spiritual teachings. Spirit knockings popularized by the Fox Sisters were in the news at the time. Tuttle decided to attend a seance hosted by a Congregational minister. He soon found he was able to enter a trance-like state and produce automatic writing as well as knocking.
During his trance states, Tuttle communicated with spirit guides who relayed their knowledge to him. With only eleven months of elementary education, he would publish a large collection of books on a variety of topics, the contents of which he credited to his spirit guides. Charles Darwin referenced Tuttle’s book, Origin and Antiquity of Physical Man, in Chapter 7 of The Descent of Man.
Emma Rood was born in Braceville, Ohio. As a child, she was inspired by her grandfather’s singing skills, which eventually led to her composing lyric poetry. Her father was a progressive man who followed news stories about the Poughkeepsie Seer and the rappings in Rochester. Even though he promised his wife to continue being a member of the Methodist church, he attended lectures on Spiritualism and séance circles.
Emma experienced discrimination against Spiritualism when she attended Western Reserve Seminary. After one of her instructors said only “low class” people believed in such things, she left. It was her association with Madam Angelique Martin in her hometown that opened her to a world of new thoughts and ideas, including women’s rights. Emma studied French, art, and painting with Madam Martin. At the age of seventeen, she began publishing poetry in the Universe, based in Cleveland.
The death of Emma’s mother led to Emma’s first experience with the spirit world, a disembodied trance-like state that enveloped her for nearly two weeks. It is not surprising that when she received a letter and book (Life in Two Spheres) in 1857 from Hudson Tuttle praising her poetry that the two would end up marrying less than a year later when she was 18 years old.
Emma and Hudson were both prolific writers, lecturers and educators. Hudson’s master work, Arcana of Nature, was published in 1909. It attempted to explain the origins of the cosmos and man by introducing astronomic, anthropological and philosophic concepts. Other works included Scenes in the Spirit World (1855), later published in England under the title Life in Two Spheres, Career of Religious Ideas (1878), Religion of Man and Ethics of Science (1890) and Mediumship and its Laws (1890).
Emma Rood raised their children and wrote poetry and journal articles, as well as collaborating with Hudson on books. Her earliest publications included Blossoms of Our Spring (1864), Gazelle, (1866), and The Lyceum Guide (1870). Her last book was From Soul to Soul (1890). Emma and Hudson co-wrote a book of spiritual folklore, Stories from Beyond the Borderland (1910).
In their co-written book, A Golden Sheaf (1907), they wrote, “There is only one attribute which goes forth always to return, bearing rich reward, and that is love. It is yielding as thinnest air, yet firm as adamant; it is gentle as the breath of the south wind, yet the strongest force in the universe; it looks backward as well as forward; reaches down to draw those below up to its vantage ground; reaches upward in its aspirations. It is like the sun, which constantly pours out its flood of light and energy, giving all without expectancy of return.”
Hudson Tuttle died in 1910, in Berlin Heights, Ohio. Emma followed in 1916. Both were committed Spiritualists who published actively on the subject.
Additional reading
Tuttle, Hudson & Emma Rood Tuttle. A Golden Sheaf (1907) The Tuttle Publishing Company, Chicago, IL
https://www.mysteriousplanchette.com/Manu_Portal/hudsontuttle.html
Thanks, I enjoyed reading about Hudson Tuttle. Thanks for posting this.
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