I’ve found myself with a lot more time to research paranormal cases. Taking a page from Robert Frost, I decided to dive into cases that would be the roads less traveled. I started by looking into possession cases for inspiration.
The topic of possession has always been of keen interest to me, especially since I’ve studied demonology extensively and may (or may not) have witnessed a few demonic possession cases in my lifetime. But demons are not the only entities to possess a human. According to several cases over the years, ghosts can also possess a person as well. How? No matter how you look at it, possession can be one of the most complicated types of cases you’ll encounter in the paranormal field and should never be taken lightly. In possession cases, we must consider many complex variables to consider, making these situations difficult and complicated.
One case in particular has piqued my interest for over a decade, but I have never had time to explore it fully until recently. Thanks, quarantine. I’m surprised that this case isn’t talked about more..The case, known as the Watseka Wonder, took place in the late 19th century. What is truly fascinating about this case is that it was well-documented by the press. Some even call this the first case of spirit possession in America.
Mary Roff
I can’t properly tell this story without first talking about Mary Roff. She was born October 8th, 1846, in Warren County, Indiana. Her family moved around between Indiana, Illinois, and even Texas. At just six months old, she had what was described as a “fit” that lasted for several hours. It seems this consisted of nausea, dilated pupils, rigid limbs, falling into a deep and catatonic sleep, and even seizures. Then she lay still for several days and her family lost hope for her recovery. The reports I’ve read have some differences in opinion. It appears Mary seemed to recover in about two or three weeks. But then she would fall into these fits all over again. These fits happened often while Mary was growing up and greatly affected her quality of life.
In 1859, the Roff Family eventually settled into South Middleport, Illinois, which would eventually become a part of the town of Watseka, where they settled down and built the first house in the area.
Sadly, as Mary got older, her fits got worse. They actually escalated. By the time she was ten years old, she was having fits sometimes even four or five times in just a few days. In between the fits, things were pretty much normal, and Mary would sometimes sing her favorite song, “We are Coming Sister Mary.”
According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, the Roffs built the house that is currently standing today in 1860.
When Mary was 15 years old, her depression grew worse as her fits increased.
In 1864, Mary started bleeding herself for relief from what she described as a “lump of pain” in her head. Her doctors prescribed leeches to help relieve the pain. Mary even kept these leeches as pets.
More Turmoil Affects Mary
Then, on July 16th, 1864, around 9am, Mary took a knife and went to the backyard and cut her arm so deeply that she lost a bunch of blooded and fainted. She was unconscious until about 2pm. When she woke up, she was described as a raving maniac, and it took five men to hold her down to keep her from hurting herself. Keep in mind she had lost a ton of blood and barely weighed 100 pounds. Then, she became calm and slept for about 15 hours. She had blindfolds over her eyes to protect them from any unconscious scratching. But remarkably, Mary was still able to see, maybe even better than before….but not in a natural way.
After this, apparently she was back to normal, as if nothing happened. But she couldn’t recognize anyone around her. Also, she was described as losing all sense of sight, feeling, or hearing “in the natural way.” What was even more incredible is that she could read blindfolded. She was able to read the “blood” entry in the encyclopedia while blindfolded. Also, she was able to read letters blindfolded.
At this point, Mary’s reputation was becoming well-known. Even a local newspaper editor from the Danville Times brought a sealed letter over to the Roff home. Mary flipped the letter around, while blindfolded, and was able to tell who sent the letter. When the editor opened the envelope, Mary was correct. Her father and the local pastor even tried to trick Mary while she was reading her letters blindfolded and slipped in a few of his own letters. Mary was able to tell which ones weren’t hers.
A Public Spectacle
The entire town of Watseka had known about Mary’s condition, and it seemed like the most prominent citizens thoroughly investigated her. The fits continued, even though Mary seemed to improve at times.
She started hearing voices telling her to do things; she would go into trances where she would speak with different voices. Apparently, spirits were taking over her body. Mary would be stiff as a board except for her face, leaving her free to talk. She was able to read encyclopedias while blindfolded. She was under the care of a team of doctors, who recommended a water cure for eighteen months at the state asylum in Peoria, Illinois. Unsurprisingly, the water cure didn’t help.
Sadly, Mary’s life would be cut off prematurely. She died in 1865 at the age of nineteen. The Chicago Tribune article says she died in the house her family built in 1860…the account of Dr. Stevens seems to have her dying in the asylum so that one is interesting to decipher. Troy Taylor, the author of “The Possessed: The True Story of the Watseka Wonder”, she died in the asylum. His book is worth checking out!
Lurrancy Vennum
Eleven years later, in 1876, twelve-year old Mary Lurrancy Vennum, better known as Rancy, told her parents that there were spirits in her room calling out to her. “Rancy, Rancy” they would say, and these spirits would also touch her face.
In 1877, thirteen-year-old Rancy also started suffering from cataleptic fits, and then she too would go into trances where she would start describing spirits and angels. She even described her deceased siblings, who passed when Rancy was just a toddler. In 1878, Rancy started having these fits up to 12 times per day. Her body would twist and convulse so badly that her feet would touch her head.
It wasn’t long until Rancy apparently was starting to get possessed by spirits as well. Her family was considering committing her to an asylum when they got a visit from one of the local townsfolk.
It was Asa Roff, Mary’s father.
Since Mary’s death, Asa and Ann became spiritualists, and if you haven’t caught on yet, they saw something very familiar with Rancy’s situation. The Roffs pleaded with the Vennums and insisted that they not send Rancy to an asylum. Instead, Asa brought in Dr. E. Winchester Stevens. The Vennums were devout Methodists, so you could imagine how difficult this decision was for them.
When Dr. Stevens arrived, Rancy was described as sitting like an old hag, and she had her elbows on her knees with her hands under her chin, hunched back and asking weird questions to the doctor. She was also calling her father, “Old Black Dick” and her mother, “Old Granny.”
When Dr. Stevens asked for her name, she described herself as 63-year old Katrina Hogue from Germany. There was also another spirit of a young man named Willie that also took possession of her body.
A Different Kind of Spirit
Rancy apparently came back and expressed regrets that these evil spirits were taking control of her body. It seemed like a helpless situation. It was at this time that Dr. Stevens advised Rancy to perhaps let a more positive spirit take control of her body. He told her to look around and see if there was a happier and purer spirit around. Then, Rancy said that a young woman named Mary Roff stepped forward and that the angels wanted her to come.
It was then that Mr. Roff said, “That’s my daughter. Mary Roff is my girl and she has been in heaven for twelve years. Let her come, we will be glad to have her come.”
So, Mary took possession of Rancy’s body for 100 days.
It wasn’t long before Rancy, possessed by Mary, went to live with the Roffs in their home during this time. Rancy seemed to know a lot of details about Mary’s life that she wouldn’t have been privy to. For example, she knew the nickname of Mary’s sister Minerva, which was Nervie. She also knew the married name of one of her friends…for her first husband, meaning the one she was married to when Mary was alive.
The Little Details
Mary/Rancy even asked for her famous box of letters. She would often ask her father who used to say, “Confound it” and laugh to her heart’s content, knowing it was Asa who would say it. Mary immediately recognized neighbors and close family friends of the Roffs and knew their nicknames. Asa had Ann put a velvet headdress in plain view in the house to see if Mary recognized it. She did. She even said, “Oh this is my head-dress I wore when my hair was short!” Mary even remembered when the Roffs lived in Texas and remembered specific details of that trip.
Mary also told her parents that her brother would get extremely sick, and that if he didn’t receive medical attention, he was to surely die. At the time, her brother was pretty healthy and showed no signs of getting sick. But sure enough, her brother did fall ill, but he was able to get medical attention in adequate time.
During this time, apparently Rancy was in heaven, healing from her health ailments. From the records I read, it seemed that Rancy started to pop in and out closer to the end of her possession.
Mary wouldn’t eat with the Roffs, but instead would go into a type of trance state and other spirits would take control of Rancy’s body. One of them was even the grandmother of one of the Roff’s home servants. There was even talk of another spirit taking control of Rancy’s body for a few weeks on a trip out of state. That was out of the question.
Mary was also really affectionate with Asa and Ann. When they asked her why, she said that she wanted to hug them while she still had arms to hold them with and lips to kiss them with.
Back to Normal
Finally, on May 21st, 1878, after tearful and emotional goodbyes, Mary returned to heaven and Rancy went back to her body and went home. Rancy eventually got married, moved to Kansas and had 11 children. According to Dr. Stevens, Mary would take control of Rancy’s body during childbirth as well. She would often visit with the Roffs when she was visiting her family in Illinois. Rancy passed away in Los Angeles in 1952.
Dr. E. Winchester Stevens published his account in a book published in 1887 called, “The Watseka Wonder.”
Rarely do we get happy endings in cases like these. The tragedy of Mary Roff was truly a sad ending to a horrific life of health issues. It seemed that not only did Mary get a second chance at living through Rancy’s body, but her family got redemption and a second chance to be with their daughter once more. Of course, this could have been an elaborate hoax that involved a LOT of people.
Even famous psychologist and SPR member, William James, extensively investigated the Watseka Wonder after Lurrancy moved to Kansas and wasn’t able to debunk it. Richard Hodgson also investigated the case and said, “I have no doubt that the incidents occurred substantially as described in the narrative by Dr. Stevens…”
But if there was any shred of truth to it, then we might have one of the strongest cases for the existence of life after death.
Resources
William James’ copy of “The Watseka Wonder”: https://ia800206.us.archive.org/33/items/watsekawonderan00stevgoog/watsekawonderan00stevgoog.pdf
1928 copy of “The Watseka Wonder”: https://libsysdigi.library.uiuc.edu/OCA/Books2009-06/watsekawonder00stev/watsekawonder00stev.pdf
Chicago Tribune article about the Roff House: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-10-31-9910310328-story.html
Dark Histories Podcast: https://www.darkhistories.com/lurancy-vennum-and-the-watseka-wonder/
The Possessed: The True Story of the Watseka Wonder: https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/watseka