President Abraham Lincoln received a letter from the spirit of Colonel Edward D. Baker through the gift of Automatic Writing
J. B. Conklin was the Medium
Edward Baker was a long-time close friend of President Abraham Lincoln. On October 21, 1861, Baker was killed in the Civil War Battle of Ball’s Bluff.
On December 28, 1861, medium J. B. Conklin, who resided in New York City, conducted a seance and entered into a trance state. Then, through the gift of automatic writing, Edward Baker wrote a 5-page letter to his friend, Abraham Lincoln.
Mr. Conklin traveled to the White House in Washington D. C., to give a different letter to President Lincoln. This happened shortly before President Lincoln met the medium Nettie Colburn Maynard for the first time.
The letter was written in reverse writing, meaning you needed a mirror to read the letter. I have taken the liberty of flipping the images of the letter, making it much easier to read.
Original Page
Mirror Image
Transcription
The enclosed communication was given through the medium J. B. Conklin, 599 Broadway, New York. This p.m. with a request that it be forwarded to his Excellency A. Lincoln.
My friend,
Will you please have this conveyed to his Excellency The President.
My esteemed, and best earthy friend. You will no doubt be surprised to receive this from me, but, I like millions of other disembodied spirits feel the deepest desire to convey expressions of gratitude and
hope to earthy friends. I am not dead. I still live a conscious individual with hope, aspiration and interest for the union still alive. I experienced a happy reality, a glorious change by the process termed “death.”
I would communicate with you personally, if not now, after the close of your official term. I will be with you in Spirit, and with many others, impress and strengthen you. Man lives on earth to
live elsewhere and that elsewhere is ever present. Heaven and Hell are conditions not localities.
E. Baker
The Library of Congress houses the original letter among the Abraham Lincoln Papers.