Little is known about direct voice medium Sophia Williams. She was originally from Chicago. In her book, You Are Psychic (1946), she wrote: “I began as a sceptic. I desired to either disprove psychic claims or to develop the faculties which produce this natural phenomenon. I watched and analyzed every step of the way over a period of years. Thus, I arrived at certain concrete conclusions concerning what takes place in the mental and physical spheres during psychic manifestations.”
Hannibal Hamlin Garland was born on a farm near West Salem, Wisconsin in 1860. He lived on various Midwestern farms, finally settling in Boston in 1884 to pursue a career in writing. He was a well-known American novelist, poet, psychical researcher, essayist, and short story writer. In 1891, he published Main-Traveled Roads, a collection of short stories inspired by his days on the farm. His books included The Trail of the Gold Seekers (1899), his autobiography, A Son of the Middle Border (1917), and A Daughter of the Middle Border which won the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
Garland moved to Hollywood, California in 1929, where he devoted his time to investigating psychic phenomena. His association with Sophia Williams began in 1937. He received a letter from Dr. Nora Rager of Chicago suggesting he meet the “remarkable psychic” who produced independent voices in well-lighted rooms.
During their first sitting, Garland was impressed when Williams connected with his old friend, Henry Fuller, and brother-in-law, Lorado, spoke through her with the aid of a trumpet. Garland tested Williams by creating a transmitting box, so that the medium was two rooms away from Garland and couldn’t see what he was pointing to when questions were asked. He was so impressed with her abilities that he asked her to help him with another project.
Two years earlier, Garland had been contacted by Gregory Parent. Gregory and his wife Violet had been instructed by spirits to locate 1,500 buried crosses and artifacts that were from the missionary period in California. Violet had died, and Gregory thought Garland might be interested in finding other crosses that were reported to exist. Using Williams ability to contact the spirit world, they were guided to sixteen additional artifacts located in ten widely separated areas. In his final book, The Mystery of the Buried Crosses (1939), he described the search for the artifacts and defended psychic phenomena.
Garland died at age 79, at his home in Hollywood in 1940. The Hamlin Garland House in West Salem is a historical site today.
Additional reading:
Garland, Hamlin (1939). The Mystery of the Buried Crosses, E. P. Dutton and Company, NY.
Williams, Sophia (1946) You Are Psychic. Press of Murray & Gee, Hollywood
http://www.iapsop.com/ssoc/1946__williams___you_are_psychic.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlin_Garland
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/buried-crosses http://whitecrowbooks.com/michaeltymn/entry/the_mystery_of_the_buried_crosses/