Fifty Years a Medium – Chapter 7, 9/16 by Estelle Roberts

I always remember with pleasure an occasion when Mr. Ewart Dudley, whom I knew well from his regular visits for healing, brought his sister to my house for a séance. It was a particularly satisfying meeting because, unknown to me, my two sitters had prepared for it carefully and intelligently and the results were gratifyingly convincing.

The sitting began unremarkably enough. One or two relatives came with short spirit messages and were at once recognized by the brother and sister. Then I said: “Ah, here comes someone rather special; she gives her name as Mary. She is very beautiful and is most excited at coming through to you. She says she is your mother.”

“Please take this and see if it helps you,” said the brother. He thrust a large sealed envelope into my hands. As my fingers closed on it, I could feel it contained some folded textile. The mother talked almost without pause, naming another of her sons, and her husband who was with her in the spirit world. Then I added: “She says that this envelope contains some of her needlework. There is a text on it worked in red cotton.”

“What are the words of the text?”
I felt the mother gently take my hand and trace the letters with one finger on the arm of my chair:
“COME UNTO ME ALL YE THAT LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST.
MARY BAKER”

“There is a date on it,” said Mr. Dudley. “Can you tell us what it is?”
Again my finger traced the letters on the chair-arm, as I repeated aloud! “JUNE, 1869”
Then, still without pause, came the words:

“Also in the envelope are two lace fronts which I used to wear with my low-necked blouses. One is square and the other triangular in shape. There is also a narrow strip of handworked lace which was done by my mother, your grandmother.”