Publications
The President's Medium: John Conklin, Abraham Lincoln, and the Emancipation Proclamation
By John Benedict Buescher
January 1, 2019
Tags Occasional Publications
278 Pages, Richard W. Couper Press, 2019 ISBN: 978-1-937370-26-8 ($25)
The President's Medium collects and carefully examines the available material on the colorful but nearly forgotten life of spiritualist medium John Benjamin Conklin and concludes that he most likely conducted private seances at the White House for a receptive Abraham Lincoln during the time the president was weighing the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. It also examines Conklin's association with communitarians and health reformers Thomas L. and Mary S. Gove Nichols, as well as his connections within the theatrical community of New York City during the 1850s.
Dr. John B. Buescher is the author of books and articles on the history of 19th-century American Spiritualism. He is a co-director of the International Association for the Preservation of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals (IAPSOP).
