Observations placeholder
Lincoln, Abraham - The Levitating piano
Identifier
004660
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Ruth Montgomery – A Gift of Prophecy
In early February of that year Mrs. Lincoln sent word that she would like to bring some friends to the Lauries' for another séance [with Nellie] . The President had not expected to go along but at the last moment did so. Among others present were Colonel Simon P. Kase of Philadelphia, ex-Congressman Somes, and a major who accompanied the President.
At the beginning of the trance, while Mrs. Belle Miller played the piano, a "spirit force" allegedly lifted it off the floor. Lincoln, Somes, Kase, and the major seated themselves simultaneously on the piano to try to hold it down, but it continued to "rise and fall in time to the music."
When one of the men remarked that no one would believe them about the piano, Lincoln wittily observed:
"You should bring such a person here, and when the piano seems to rise, have him slip his foot under the leg and be convinced by the weight of evidence resting upon his understanding”