Rochester's Mystic Tea Room

In 1930 some of the local Rochester Spiritualist Churches met at Plymouth Spiritualist Church to discuss the issue of Spiritualists who were reading tea leaves in local tea rooms. 

The conclusion reached was that activities such as tea leaf reading were acceptable only for private entertainment, and that no Spiritualist associated with the area Spiritualist Churches was to publicly read tea leaves for others as a representative of Spiritualism. 

This mandate is still in effect today for members of both the General Assembly of Spiritualists, as well as the National Spiritualist Association of Churches. 

The current bylaws of the National Spiritualist Association of Churches state, "NSAC members are prohibited from using fortune telling cards, crystals, crystal balls, Ouija board, tea leaves, palmistry, or other means that may be named by the NSAC Board while acting in their capacities as NSAC members as these practices do not prove the continuity of life." 

The current manual of the General Assembly of Spiritualists states, "A fortune teller is one who automatically predicts events for personal gain and without regard to spiritual upliftment. Tea-cup readers, card readers, crystal gazers, and elemental psychists are often in this class. The true psychic resorts to none of these these agencies for describing psychic events, either past or present, or in the future. Mediumship is a sacred and exalted gift of the spirit." 

In the same year as this convention there was a business operating in Rochester named the Mystic Tea Room. A common name for a tea-room in that decade, the Mystic Tea Room was a small cozy tea house that offered refreshments, light meals, and a tea leaf reading with the purchase of a pot of tea. 

The Mystic Tea Room hosted the first annual meeting of the Golden Rule Spiritualist Church, and also rented their space to the Spiritual Church of the Soul in 1933 for regular Sunday Services. 

Although this still an issue among Spiritualist Churches, most Spiritualists themselves are completely content to accept such practices as tea-leaf reading as a legitimate and evidential form of psychic message work. As Cicely Kent, the great master of tea-leaf reading, wrote, "Some are inclined to jeer at the fortune in the teacup, but if the language of symbolism is rightly understood, the medium through which it is seen matters little."

Dr. Helen Graham

The Rev. Dr. Helen Graham was born in England where she was trained as a Spiritualist Minister; she moved to the United States in the 1930s. In 1940 she moved to Rochester, New York, where she served in various local Churches, as well as in Lily Dale. 

In 1952 Plymouth Spiritualist Church reached out to Dr. Graham to lead their small congregation. With hardly enough active members to afford to keep the great building going, the state was able to acquire the property and planned to demolish the church to make space for the construction of the Inner Loop and County Jail. 

In an interview with the Democrat and Chronicle from 1953 Lewis M. Caves, then President of Plymouth Spiritualist Church, lamented that the dwindling membership was due to a series of Pastors "who didn't set too well" with the congregation. After a year of temporarily meeting in hotels and houses, in 1955 the Plymouth congregation found a new home for a new era. The property was not far from the original location, and was located on Flint St; it had previously belonged to the First Church of the Nazarene. 

With Plymouth settled in their new location, Dr. Graham stepped down as Pastor to open the Rochester Spiritualist Center located in the Powers Hotel. She lead her congregation for four years until her death in 1959.

Violet Seils: Rochester's Youngest Spiritualist Minister

In 1930 Violet Seils was hailed as a child prodigy of Spiritualist Mediumship. She was highly capable of Mental Mediumship, specifically Clairvoyance and Clairaudience, and more unusually a Physical Medium capable of producing Direct Voice phenomena. 

According to stories of her family and those familiar with her when Violet was only two years old her sister and others would hear small voices speaking around her. By age four she was able to see clairvoyantly and would play with children no one else could see, and by age ten she was producing evidential mediumship of spirits who had passed on. 

Violet was described as an average young girl, who enjoyed school and playing with her friends. She attended a Rochester public school and also a Sunday School, she stated that she wanted to be a Minister when she grew up.

In the summer of 1930 Violet served as a guest Medium at Central Spiritualist Church. The church was completely filled with individuals hoping to receive a message from her.  Rev. Alexander of Central Spiritualist commented that "it is somewhat interesting that this should have developed in Rochester" making a comparison to Violet and the young Fox Sisters. 

During the service he named Violet as an Associate Pastor of the Church, making her wish to be a Minister come true. Violet served as a guest Medium in other Rochester Spiritualist churches such as Plymouth Spiritualist Church and Divine Inspiration. 

Golden Rule Spiritualist Church

Golden Rule Spiritualist Church was founded by Rev. Marie Hall. Born in Canada, Rev. Hall moved to Rochester in 1905 where she served as a nurse in Genesee Hospital for a number of years. 

In 1932 Rev. Hall founded Golden Rule Spiritualist Church, first located on Union Street, and then moving to 21 Marshal Street due to a growing congregation. 

Shortly after the founding of her Church, Rev. Hall organized the Golden Rule Spiritualist Association, which trained conducted classes for Mediums and Ministers, and granted charters to Churches. The Association had Churches in New York, Florida, Georgia, California. With several National Conventions meeting yearly in Rochester.

Rev. James Buchanan: The Church of Spiritual Love

The Spiritualist Church of Spiritual Love, often simply shortened to the Church of Spiritual Love was opened in 1968 by Rev. James A. Buchanan. The Church was located in the center of the South Wedge neighborhood on South Ave. 

A newspaper article described Rev. James as "a hefty, handsome man looking more like a defensive lineman than a spirit medium." I was also informed by an individual who knew him that he had a very good sense of humor and was openly gay. Another article stated He had been a natural medium since childhood and was well known through out the United States. 

Rev. James was ordained in Lily Dale, NY as a Spiritualist Minister and was the director of the Mediums Association of Lily Dale. The church was an independent Spiritualist Church and was described as "unaffiliated with other area Spiritualist Groups." The Church's motto was "the Spiritualist Church with a Spiritual Message." 

Most weekly Sunday services were held later in the afternoon at 3pm and occasionally as late as 7pm. They held regular Messages Circles, Healing Services, and Mediums' Day services. The Church often had guest speakers from other local Churches, as well as speakers from England, the Netherlands, and Canada. 

Rev. James was also a member of the Cassadaga Spiritualist Association, regularly visiting Florida to serve at Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp as well as various Spiritualist Churches in Tampa, Orlando, Miami, and other cities with Spiritualist communities. He eventually moved to Florida on a permanent basis in the 1970s. 

In November 1995 Rev. James was found in his apartment by concerned neighbors who hadn't seen him for several days, investigators would not give information about how he was killed but only that his body showed obvious signs of trauma and that his car was missing. According to neighbors he had a history of bringing men to his home and this is most likely what lead to his death. 

He was described as a good and sincere man, with a natural talent for mediumship, and quite a character when giving Messages. He was 65 years old.

The Spiritualist Obelisk

The plans for a potential monument to Spiritualism in Rochester, New York had been discussed for a number of years by several different Spiritualist leaders. It seems though that it wasn't until Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of Sherlock Holmes and devout Spiritualist, popularized the idea that momentum was put behind the project.

When Doyle (who was notoriously bad at American geography) visited Rochester, New York he was somewhat surprised to find out that Hydesville (where the advent of Spiritualism began) was actually a fair distance away from the city of Rochester. Doyle felt that given Rochester was so central a location for Spiritualists, that a monument should be placed in the city. He proposed that a small spot of land near the site of Plymouth Spiritualist Church (as it was located in the 1920s) would have made a nice spot for a memorial marker to Spiritualism. 

In an article from 1926 in the Democrat and Chronicle, "Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle novelist and playwright, has given the first $5,000* for this monument. Both he and his fellow countryman, Sir Oliver Lodge, express their approval of the memorial being in this city. The National and State Association of Spiritualism have also endorsed the selection of Rochester." William H. Burr, the President of the General Assembly of Spiritualists, served as the chairman for the Executive Committee for the monument in Rochester.

At the unveiling of the monument in 1927 several prominent Spiritualist leaders from the United States, Canada, and England visited. Although Doyle could not attend, most likely due to health issues, a letter from him was read by Rev. Walter Foss then Pastor of Plymouth, and future leader of Central Spiritualist Church. 

In his letter Doyle praised the dedication of American Spiritualists saying, "I send my hearty congratulations to the Spiritualists of America for having raised a monument in memory of what posterity will recognize as the greatest event that ever occurred upon American soil."

1954 when the original site of Plymouth Spiritualist Church was demolished to make room for the Inner Loop, the Obelisk was moved to the south east corner of the Inner Loop at Plymouth and Troup Street where it currently remains today. 

The plaque on the monument reads: Erected December 4, 1927 By the Spiritualists of the World In Commemoration of the Advent of Modern Spiritualism At Hydesville, NY March 31, 1848 And in tribute to Mediumship, the Rock upon Which Demonstrable Spiritualism Forever Stands. THERE IS NO DEATH, THERE ARE NO DEAD.

*sources are unclear of whether or not Doyle donated 5,000 or 500 dollars. Both of which would have been an enormous amount of money at the time. 

Church of the Healing Shrine

For three decades the Spiritualist Church of the Healing Shrine was one of the most active and well attended Spiritualist Churches in Rochester. The Church was founded and lead by Rev. Alice M. Paige. 

I unfortunately couldn't find too many personal details about Rev. Alice, but what I did find was fascinating and makes a picture of a woman dedicated to serving the community of Rochester. Newspaper archives show Mrs. Alice Paige serving in various Rochester Churches affiliated with the General Assembly of Spiritualists in 1940, and about a year later was ordained with the General Assembly of Spiritualists as a Reverend.

Rev. Alice chartered her Church as the Spiritualist Church of the Healing Shrine with the General Assembly of Spiritualists. Originally meeting in her home, the Church of the Healing Shrine moved into the location of what was previously known as The Spiritualist Church of True Brotherhood, or the Mother Harrs Church. This was the original location of Divine Inspiration which had been acquired by the General Assembly. 

The Church of the Healing Shrine operated out of this location until about 1949 where services were held in the Milner Hotel. Eventually the Church came to mainly hold services in Rev. Alice's home on Kenwood Ave. 

The Church was incredibly active, with Sunday and Wednesday Night Services, Bible Study, regular Seances, and Monday evening Classes on Spiritualism. The Church had guest speakers and mediums from many other Spiritualist Churches around the country, as well as Canada and England. 

The last recorded service in the Newspaper archives was in September 1965. Rev. Alice passed away in 1976 at 87 years old, her body was laid to rest in Mt. Hope Cemetery.