Abraham Lincoln consulted mediums and attended séances to help formulate his policies while

President of the United States

In the 1860’s Lincoln was not the only head of state to sought out advice from mediums. It is well known that Queen Victoria of Great Britain consulted her gardener John Brown to communicate with her deceased husband, Prince Albert. She consulted other mediums as well. Empress Eugénie, the wife of the French Emperor Napoleon III consulted Madame Blavatsky and Daniel Dunglas Home. Tsar Alexander II, Emperor of All the Russias consulted Daniel Dunglas Home. Queen Sophia of the Wife of King William III of the Netherlands also consulted Daniel Dunglas Home.

Nor were the Lincolns the only American presidential family to consult mediums. Jane Pierce the wife of our 14th President, Franklin Pierce, consulted mediums after the death of her son, in a train accident in 1853. [See first footnote.] 

In 1891 Nettie Colburn Maynard published her memoir entitled: Was Abraham Lincoln a Spiritualist?, or, Curious Revelations from the Life of a Trance Medium. She provides a detailed account of her experience of giving trance sittings for both President and Mrs. Lincoln. 

In 1856, at the age of 15, Nettie and a friend began to sit to develop their mediumship. They sat daily for a year. It was much easier for people in the 1850’s to sit to develop their mediumship, since distractions such as video games, television, movies, radio did not exist.

On December 24, 1856 Nettie age 15 held her first public demonstration of trance mediumship in Pequanock, CT. Although Spiritualism an unpopular topic, the hall was filled with curious people who wanted to hear the lecture. Nettie went into a trance for one and a half hours. The information coming through here was very detailed, and it was evident it was much more sophisticated than a 15 year-old girl would know. Nettie did trance lectures for the next three years throughout New England and Albany, New York.

Nettie’s father and brothers had enlisted in the Union Army, to fight in the Civil War. Spirit predicted to Nettie that both would all return home safely from the war. One day Nettie received two letters on the same day. The first was an invitation to lecture in Baltimore, in December 1862. The second informed Nettie that her brother was sick in a military hospital in Alexandria, VA. He needed to obtain a furlough so he could return home to receive proper medical attention.

Mr. Cranston Laurie came to visit Mr. Foster. Mr. Laurie’s wife Margret, and his daughter Belle Miller were both medium. Mr. Laurie invited Nettie to come to his house in Georgetown to attend a séance.

Suddenly, Nettie found herself riding in an very elegant carriage to 3226 N Street] in Georgetown, where Mr. Laurie lived. Nettie walked into the house. The very first person to greet her was none other that Mrs. Mary Lincoln, the first lady of the United States! Then Nettie was introduced to Then introduced to: Rev. John Pierpont, an abolitionist and Unitarian clergyman. He was also a clerk at Treasury Department. Next Nettie met Isaac Newton, the commissioner of Agriculture, who knew all the creditable spirit mediums in Washington D. C.

Mr Daniel Somes was also in attendance. He was a former member in the House of Representatives from Biddeford, Maine. He became a good friend of President Lincoln when they were both representatives in the House. Mr. Somes was new to Spiritualism, and was eager to experience a séance.

Shortly afterwards, the séance began and Nettie went into trance. For an hour Spirit spoke of matters of state to Mrs. Lincoln, as well as giving her some personal messages from her son Willie. Willie had become ill, and suddenly died ten months before this séance.

Mrs. Lincoln was very excited by the messages she received. She tells Nettie that she must remain in Washington. Nettie responded that she didn’t have funds to remain in the city much longer. Immediately, Mrs. Lincoln asked Mr. Newton to give Nettie a job at the Agriculture Department. Nettie accepted the job. Mrs. Lincoln also assured Nettie that she would receive the furlough for her brother.

A few days latter [Dec. 1862], Mrs. Laurie received an invitation to visit the White House from Mrs. Lincoln. Both Nettie & Belle were also invited. When they arrived in the Red Parlor, Mrs. Lincoln received them.

Mrs. Belle Miller sat down and began playing the piano. She immediately slipped into a trance. Amazingly, the piano began to rise and fall to the beat of the music. As this was happening, President Lincoln entered the room and for a few moments he watched the piano levitating.

Mrs. Lincoln took Nettie and formally introduced her to the President. “Dropping his hand upon my head, he said, “So this is our ‘little Nettie’ is it, that we have heard so much about?””

Lincoln had revealed his plans to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in July 1862. The Cabinet was bitterly divided over it , in fact they argued about it so much that they barely spoke to each other, thus Lincoln’s cabinet became totally dysfunctional.

This is how Nettie described what happed after she regained consciousness:

J. B. Conklin was a medium and lived in New York City. One day he received a letter through automatic writing from Edward Baker, a very close friend of President Lincoln. About two months earlier, Baker had been killed in the Civil War Battle of Ball's Bluff. The letter was written in mirror writing, meaning you had to hold the letter up to a mirror to read it. [Click to read the original letter.] The communication began with an urgent plea to take this letter to President Lincoln.

Mr. Conklin felt compelled to travel to Washington. He sought the help of Colonel Simon Kase, a friend of the President, to take the letter to the President. Kase consented to cooperate and took the letter to President Lincoln. After reading the transcription of the original letter, President Lincoln arranged to meet with Mr. Conklin.

Susan B. Martinez writes in her book: The Psychic Life of Abraham Lincoln.

“Conklin visited the presidential mansion on four succeeding Sundays and… Mr. Conklin has himself alleged that the Spirits no only urged the subject of the Emancipation Proclamation, but that they in the name of the Independence Fathers, spelled out, letter by letter the preliminary draft of the famous document.” [See second footnote.]

In early February 1863 Nettie received a note from Mrs. Lincoln to come to Georgetown for a séance. Nettie’s Spirit control told her President Lincoln would be in attendance.  Mr. Laurie doubted that the president would come.

As people were arriving for the séance, suddenly President Lincoln arrived. “Mr Laurie promptly exclaimed, “Welcome, Mr. Lincoln, to my humble roof; you were expected.”

President Lincoln was surprised and admitted he had no plans to attend the séance. However, when his cabinet meeting had finished, he found Mrs. Lincoln ready to leave for the Georgetown séance, and he decided to accompany her.

President Lincoln followed this advice and visited the troops at the front.

Both President Lincoln and Colonel Simon Kase were both present. President Lincoln suggested that some of the men in attendance climb up on the piano to weigh it down, to see if the levitation would stop. President Lincoln sat down on the piano, with his legs dangling off the side. Colonel Kase joined him as well as another man in attendance. The piano continued rising up and down. President Lincoln would later refer to the levitation as proof of an “invisible power.”

During the winter of 1863-1864 Nettie invited to White House, along with Mr. & Mrs. Somes. Nettie went into trance and Spirit spoke to President Lincoln. Many freed slaves were now homeless. They were without food, or any way of making a living. Spirit advised President Lincoln to create a committee “to control and regulate all the affairs connected with the freemen.” 

President Lincoln once again invited Nettie to visit the White House. This séance was for President and Mrs. Lincoln, and two other military officers, who were familiar with séances. Nettie was entranced for an hour. When she awoke she found herself holding a pencil in her hand, in front of a map of the southern states. Apparently the military officer sought Spirits’ advice on planning some war strategy.