A decent, hard-working reformer walks into the 1850s, discovers spiritualism, and decides electricity can save the world. That’s not a metaphor. We’re telling the true story of John Murray Spear, a Universalist minister and outspoken abolitionist who believed people and systems could be redeemed, then took that same hope and aimed it at building a literal mechanical messiah.
We talk through why spiritualism was so contagious in mid-19th century America: the Fox sisters, seances as social events, automatic writing, and the idea that invisible forces might be “science” when electricity itself still feels magical. We also get into why the movement created a rare platform for women, since mediumship let them lead gatherings and speak with authority in a culture that regularly denied them power.
Then it gets truly wild. Spear claims a spirit collective called the Association of Electrizers, featuring famous dead minds like Benjamin Franklin, telepathically sends him blueprints for a device called the New Motive Power. His followers build it from batteries, copper wires, and metal parts, perform rituals to charge it with life force, and stage a full labor-and-delivery reenactment with a chosen “New Mary” to help “birth” the machine into the world. The reaction outside the group is swift and brutal, and the ending raises a question that still matters today: when new technology arrives, how easily can hope turn into belief, and belief into something dangerous?
Listen now, then subscribe, share the episode with a fellow history nerds, and leave us a rating and review. What modern “miracle tech” do you think people are treating like a religion right now?
This website contains affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and purchase a product, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps support the running of this website and allows me to continue providing valuable content. Please note that I only recommend products and services that I believe in and have personally used or researched.
