Boardinghouse Guests: The Psychics
In his autobiographical outline, written in advance of his first book, Thomas Wolfe recalled “The clairvoyant and his wife on Spruce Street (Mr. Edwards).” He was impressed that Mrs. Von Ruck came to see him, wife of the famous lung specialist Dr. Karl Von Ruck. Advertisements in the Asheville Citizen Times placed February through May 1914 reveal Prof. Edwards, ordained spiritual medium, psychic and palmist, offered special readings for 50 cents in a private parlor at Julia Wolfe’s Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse. One of the ads reads:
“Different from all others, far in advance of the ordinary reader you meet; stands in a class distinctly alone. This highly-cultured gentleman, who is world famous for his many remarkable predictions that have come to pass, positively guarantees to tell of friends or enemies and the object of your visit. Never once a question asked. He tells you whom and when you will marry (if ever) settles lover’s quarrels, reunites the separated and gives never-failing help and advice in business, lawsuits, investments and all affairs of interest. He proves his powers to help you through real demonstrations and convincing facts in your presence, not mere promises alone, and succeeds even in the most difficult cases, where weak and half-developed mediums have completely failed. Satisfaction guaranteed. Hours 9 to 8, daily and Sunday.”
Julia Wolfe was known to have an interest in spiritualism. In November 1913, another psychic worked from her house. Stanley Ayers, clairvoyant and palmist, offered one and two dollar readings. One can easily imagine communicating with spirits in the dimly lit parlor of the old house. Thomas Wolfe wrote that Eugene Gant “heard the ghostly ticking of his life; his powerful clairvoyance, the wild Scotch gift of Eliza….” Efforts to learn about the life of Stanley Ayers and Prof. Edwards were futile. It apparently was not their real name, and there may have been many others using aliases and traveling the country reading fortunes. Arrested in Cincinnati in April 1907 was a man using the name Prof. H. Lingard who claimed to be from Lincoln, Nebraska. He was carrying cards announcing him to be Prof. Obid Wilson, the world’s greatest clairvoyant and psychic palmist. He was arrested on suspicion of being a noted spiritualistic swindler wanted by police all over the country. Other cards found in his possession showed he was known under various names in other cities. Among those used; Prof. H. W. Weston, Prof. Edwards, Prof. Julian Hunter, Prof. H. W. West, and Prof. H. A. Folet. The report added that he carried a certificate from the State Spiritualists Association of Nebraska, endorsing him as an honest and capable medium. He received a suspended fine and was ordered to pay costs of $50 on the promise to leave town.
Arrested in Chillicothe, Missouri in 1902, Prof. Edwards alias Prof. Baldwin was accused of stealing $800 from an individual in Lexington, Kentucky. He met the description, but his hair had recently been died blonde. He claimed his home to be Lafayette, Indiana but it could not be verified. In 1898 in Buffalo, a Prof. Baldwin and Mrs. Worthington, presumed to be his wife, swindled some 300 people for an estimated $30,000. In 1906 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a Prof. Ross Edwards induced a woman to withdraw $4000 from her bank. He left town hastily with his wife and a little niece. In 1906, the clairvoyant Prof. Lingard was in trouble with debt in Lincoln, Nebraska. A clairvoyant or clairvoyants, used the various aliases noted above and appeared in cities all over the country including New Orleans, Washington, Boston, San Bernardino, Indianapolis, Louisville, Muncie, and more, between 1896 and 1917. Their identities are as mysterious as the nature of their performances and appearance at the Old Kentucky Home.
