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Enchanted ground : the spirit room of Jonathan Koons / Sharon Hatfield

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Athens, Ohio : Swallow Press, an imprint of Ohio University Press, [2018]Description: xvi, 342 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits, plates; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780804012089 (hardcover)
  • 0804012083 (hardcover)
Subject(s): Genre/Form: DDC classification:
  • 133.9092 B 23
Contents:
The Frenchman's visit -- "The place of my nativity" -- Putting down roots -- "A striking specimen of beauty" -- At the spirits' command -- A buried man's instructions -- The trumpet medium -- Communication from angels -- Allies and kin -- Mountain tea -- Sustaining "Brother Koons" -- The mesmeric potion -- Not one single copper -- Koons, king, and company -- "An artful and designing rogue" -- Galileo in eclipse -- An arc of golden roses -- "Their humbug art" -- The psychometrist -- Little Egypt -- "The venerable Johnathan Koons"
Summary: "In Enchanted Ground, Sharon Hatfield brings to life the true story of a nineteenth-century farmer-turned-medium, Jonathan Koons, one of thousands of mediums throughout the antebellum United States. In the hills outside Athens, Ohio, Koons built a house where it was said the dead spoke to the living, and where ancient spirits communicated the wisdom of the ages. Curious believers, in homespun and in city attire, traveled from as far as New Orleans to a remote Appalachian cabin whose marvels would rival any of P. T. Barnum's attractions. Yet Koons's story is much more than showmanship and sleight of hand. His enterprise, not written about in full until now, embodied the excitement and optimism of citizens breaking free from societal norms. Reform-minded dreamers were drawn to Koons's seances as his progressive brand of religion displaced the gloomy Calvinism of previous generations. As heirs to the Second Great Awakening, which stretched from New York State to the far reaches of the Northwest Territory, the curious, the faithful, and Koons himself were part of a larger, uniquely American moment that still marks the cultural landscape today"-- publisher.
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Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Print Nelsonville Biography B Koo (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 40000000007609
Print The Plains Biography B Koo (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 40000000007611
Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references (pages [299]-336) and index

The Frenchman's visit -- "The place of my nativity" -- Putting down roots -- "A striking specimen of beauty" -- At the spirits' command -- A buried man's instructions -- The trumpet medium -- Communication from angels -- Allies and kin -- Mountain tea -- Sustaining "Brother Koons" -- The mesmeric potion -- Not one single copper -- Koons, king, and company -- "An artful and designing rogue" -- Galileo in eclipse -- An arc of golden roses -- "Their humbug art" -- The psychometrist -- Little Egypt -- "The venerable Johnathan Koons"

"In Enchanted Ground, Sharon Hatfield brings to life the true story of a nineteenth-century farmer-turned-medium, Jonathan Koons, one of thousands of mediums throughout the antebellum United States. In the hills outside Athens, Ohio, Koons built a house where it was said the dead spoke to the living, and where ancient spirits communicated the wisdom of the ages. Curious believers, in homespun and in city attire, traveled from as far as New Orleans to a remote Appalachian cabin whose marvels would rival any of P. T. Barnum's attractions. Yet Koons's story is much more than showmanship and sleight of hand. His enterprise, not written about in full until now, embodied the excitement and optimism of citizens breaking free from societal norms. Reform-minded dreamers were drawn to Koons's seances as his progressive brand of religion displaced the gloomy Calvinism of previous generations. As heirs to the Second Great Awakening, which stretched from New York State to the far reaches of the Northwest Territory, the curious, the faithful, and Koons himself were part of a larger, uniquely American moment that still marks the cultural landscape today"-- publisher.