Most people who follow Spiritualism are familiar with the Fox sisters who communicated with a spirit in their Hydesville, NY home. The sisters, Margaret and Katie Fox, aged 9 and 11, lived in a cottage about 30 miles from Rochester. The family experienced rapping from within the house and the sisters were able to communicate with a man who said he had been murdered and was buried in the cellar.
Many may not know the connection between the girls and Rochester, NY. Once their story broke, it produced so much excitement in their rural community that the girls were moved for their safety to the home of an older sister, Anna Leah Fish, in Rochester. Leah, as she was known, encouraged her sisters to continue their communications with the spirit world, hosting séances in her home.
Charles Hammond, pastor of the Universalist Society of Rochester, had experiences with them that converted him and his family to Spiritualism. Amy and Isaac Post, Quakers who were involved with the equal rights movements, introduced the girls to their friends. Amy became the Fox sister’s mentor during the early part of their careers, giving them advice, encouragement, and protection. She and Isaac attended their original weekly circle along with R. D. Jones, John E. Robinson and George Willets.
City directories show that Leah lived in two different third ward homes during this period prior to the family’s move to New York City. In 1849, she is listed as a Music Teacher living at 31 Troup Street. By 1851, Mrs. Anna L. Fish was now a “mysterious knocker” who lived at 59 South Sophia Street, today known as Plymouth Avenue.
On 14 November 1849, a public meeting was held in Corinthian Hall in Rochester and the sisters were tested the next day and determined not to be frauds. Rev. A. H. Jervis had his own home circle with his family and other mediums and supported the Fox family against slanderous statements. The circle met for many years.
In 1867, there was a Progressive Spiritualists Church meeting at Schlitzers Hall. The following year, a National Convention of Spiritualists meeting was held in Rochester. The Rochester Daily Union and Advertiser, August 26, 1868 covered the convention that lasted for four days. “There is quite a large attendance upon this convention now sitting at Corinthian Hall. Sixteen States have representatives here, and there is considerable talent in the gathering, and a few men and women of note in spiritual circles.”
No church was listed in the Rochester city directories from 1867 until 1896 when the First Spiritualist Church at 55 Comfort Street was founded, president Arthur K. Sisson, secretary Mrs. George Bailey, and treasurer W. E. Post. In 1989, the New York state convention of Spiritualists was held at Fitzburg Hall, hosted by Rev. G. W. Kates and Rev. Mrs. Zalda B. Kates.
In 1854, after the Foxes had moved away, the Plymouth Congregational Church was built across the street from their last address. By 1904, financial troubles overwhelmed the Congregational Church. The pastor left and congregation disbanded. It became the Rochester Meggiddo Mission until the New York Home Missionary Society sold the building to the First Spiritualist Church of Rochester in 1906.
B. F. Austin was the pastor at the time the church was bought. He gave sermons on topics such as, “Wit and Humor,” “How I know the Dead Return,” and “The Kind of Religion Needed.” The church became the site of New York state’s annual Spiritualists convention. In the 8 Jun 1907 issue of the Democrat and Chronicle, the paper wrote, “The church was crowded, those in attendance including beside the delegates and visitors to the convention and members of the Spiritualist Church in Rochester, many who came out of curiosity intent simply on seeing what would be done in spiritualistic seances or demonstration.”
The church attracted speakers from across the United States and even Canada, hosting D. D. Rees of Montreal in 1910. During June of 1911, they put on the fifteenth annual convention of the New York state association. One of the mediums, Miss Flo Cotrell of Hamburg, known as a rapping medium, gave a demonstration. President H. W. Richardson presided at the morning session and Mrs. Lewis Kurtz of Rochester was a prominent worker at the lyceum.
By 1912, the church had over 200 members enrolled to celebrate the 6th anniversary of their owning the building. Pastor Dr. B. F. Austin soon moved to Los Angeles to minister to The People’s Church, but that did not deter the parishioners. They welcomed inspirational speakers under the leadership of Rev D. A. Herrick and in 1913 hosted the meeting Board of Trustees of the New York State Association of Spiritualists. They also developed a Children’s Progressive Lyceum. In December of 1913, the First Spiritualist Church legally changed its name to Plymouth Spiritualist Church.
Over the next decade, the church hosted the General Assembly of Spiritualists of New York State conventions and in 1917 welcomed Mrs. Margaret H. Fulton, president of the Colored Spiritualists Society, at a time when segregation was the norm. Mrs. Ada Ambler and Rev. W. J. Elwood were pastors during the 1920s.
The first hint that a memorial monument would be erected came out of Paris on September 11, 1925. The Democrat and Chronicle wrote, “The Internationalist Congress today accepted the plan of Mrs. M. D. Cadwallader, of Chicago, to erect a monument at Rochester, N. Y. to the Fox Sisters, founders of spiritualism…. Mrs. Cadwallader reported that $2,500 and a site worth $20,000 already had been contributed for this purpose….” The proposed site was on the Troup Street side of the Plymouth Spiritual Church and the “congress plans to raise a memorial fund of about $25,000.” In June of 1926, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle contributed $5,000 to the project. Plans for an obelisk were designed by attorney William H. Burr. The final monument was twenty-five feet high and dedicated on December 4, 1927.
The church hosted the 1930 general assembly meeting which included members of three Rochester churches. Although the church was busy featuring guest mediums and holding symposiums over the next decade, there were many pastors, including: Justine Titus, Raymond Burns, and Robert J. MacDonald.
Justin E. Titus returned in 1947 after traveling the states as a lecturer and author and acting as pastor of World Temple of Light in Hollywood and vice president of Camp Etna in Maine. In 1948 the church celebrated the 100th anniversary of Spiritualism, but the turnover in pastors continued. Rev Titus was followed by Rev. F. B. Mantle and Rev. Helen Graham.
On Jul 12, 1953, the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester ran the following headline: “Famed Plymouth Church to Be Razed for Loop.” Plymouth Spiritualist Church stood in the path of the eastbound lane of the proposed 490 Expressway. In the article they wrote, “During its 50 years, Plymouth church harbored heretics, liberals and radicals—many of them courageous thinkers who needled desultory citizens into action against social ills.” They continued, “Today the membership of the church has dwindled, the result, according to President Lewis M. Caves, of a series of pastors ‘who didn’t set too well.’ Now the historic building is doomed to fall before the wrecker’s cranes. The group and its new pastor, the Rev. Mrs. Helen Graham, are thinking about finding a new church, a saddening chore.”
Two years after the church was razed, a moving company placed rollers under the 14-ton monument and carefully moved it fifty feet south to get it away from the construction. In the 1960s and 70s the church purchased and remained at 889 Plymouth Ave, with pastors including: Rev. Margaret Wamsley, Rev. Eleanor Gutzmer, and Rev. Harry Bender.
With only 30-40 church members remaining, in 1980 they sold their building and made their new home in the basement of law offices at 55 Troupe Street. Over the next two decades, they were located on Carter Street and led by pastors, Rev. Ronald Skowronski and Rev. Anne Lazerson.
In 2003, they moved to their current building on Vick Park A (in between Park Ave and East Ave). Under the leadership of Robin Higgins, their membership increased from 20-60 in three years. Today they are continuing to grow in their new home.
Photo was taken c. 1950 From the Collection of the Rochester Public Library Local History Division.