John Murray Spear: Was he a visionary or a lunatic?

Visionary

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by Dan Hiland

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Among the practitioners of Spiritualism in early 19th century America, few had as much influence (or created as much controversy), as John Murray Spear. Was he a certifiable lunatic? Or merely a visionary man in constant touch with the Infinite? You be the judge.

Born in 1804 to John Murray, founder of the Universalist Church, John spent his early years employed as an apprentice shoemaker.

Later he was appointed as Reverend for the Universalist Church in Barnstable, Massachusetts. For six years Spear spread the gospel of Universal Salvation, the belief that all mankind will be saved since they are created by God- hence destined for salvation.

Like his contemporary, Joseph Smith ("founder" of the Mormon Church), Spear extolled the virtues of temperance, including avoidance of common drinks containing narcotics: "It is a simple abstinence from narcotics. Among these I name tea and coffee. If you would be delivered from nervous headache, and all nervous diseases, abstain from these drinks entirely. If you love them, you must deny yourself, and "take up your cross'" ("Yet Another Unitarian Universalist." http:www.danielharpe r.org).

In the early 1840's, Spear embarked on a crusade against slavery. Not content to merely speak on the subject of abolition at every opportunity, Spear organized one of the first anti-slavery conventions, then became actively involved in sustained efforts to help slaves avoid capture. Serving in the early 1850's as the head of the Underground Railroad's Boston contingent, Spear's efforts were alternately praised and damned by those on both sides of the slavery issue, culminating in his expulsion from the New Bedford area and eventual excommunication from his own church.

Prior to removal from the New Bedford area, John was also deeply involved in criminal reform and related crusades against capital punishment, delivering scores of lectures and thousands of books to those incarcerated.

In the early 1850's, Spear- no stranger to doctrine and theories about the spirit world- developed an interest in Spiritualism. His fervent belief in "spiritual" phenomena not only existing outside the human body and mind, but also exerting a real influence on mortal subjects, became the driving force behind most of his later activities.

The idea that humans could serve as mediums, or unwitting conduits for messages and instruction from the "other side" was evidenced by his displays of "automatic writing" and healings. His ability to enter into trance-like states enabled him to deliver what he considered to be organized talks from his own father, as well as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and other famous individuals.

Events of an increasingly bizarre nature soon caused many of Spear's associates to distance themselves from the former minister, none more outlandish than the construction of the God Machine." Built by Spear and his followers in 1853 (under the inspiration and influence of a spirit world organization called the "Association of Electricizers"), atop High Rock Hill, in Lynn, Massachusetts, the mechanism was supposed to help Spear found and develop a new and perfect society.

Spear's claim that this machine represented a New Messiah in infant form generated shock and outrage amognst the general public, and after a period of time, the machine was considered a failure. In time it was moved to Randolph, where it was one night destroyed by outraged locals.

Eventually a volume of Spear's "writings"- for lack of a better word- was published. Titled "The Educator, being Suggestions, theoretical and practical, designed to promote Man-Culture and Integral Reform, with a view of the Ultimate Establishment of a Divine Social State on Earth," the book appeared in print in 1857.

Around this time, Spear received new communication from the spirit world, this time concerning women's rights- reproductive one's, that is. Claiming that free love was the answer to Society's ills, Spear entered into an illicit affair with Caroline Hinckley, another proponent of women's rights, their union resulting in the birth of a son.

Following divorce proceedings and a subsequent marriage, Spears and his new wife toured England, putting on spiritualist demonstrations for a period of six years. In 1872, Spears received a message from the "Congress of Spirits," telling him his work was at an end. Spear then retired, passing away 15 years later in 1887, in Philadelphia.

To this day, many consider John Murray Spear a visionary, others a lunatic. But regardless of the opinion, it would be reckless to merely dismiss him. For all his foibles, he was, in many respects, a man ahead of his time, and for that we owe him more than a modicum of respect.

(Sources include Wikipedia.com and Answers.com).

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