There was a time when our ancestors sought all means of entertainment available to pass the days of summer. Long before technology arrived, there were childhood activities that were practiced routinely during the summer months: swimming, hunting, fishing and games of ball and marbles.
My great grandfather was born in Concord to two immigrants from Ireland in the year 1856. He attended elementary school at the Bell Schoolhouse located just across the street from the North Church on the corner of Church and North State Streets, the current location of the Governor Rollins Mansion and St. Peter’s Rectory. My great grandfather would spend his youth exploring around Concord and looking forward to the events that would arrive in town, such as the traveling circus, Concord State Fair or other entertaining visitors.
It was during his teen years that a visitor visited to much fanfare. It wasn’t a famous person or a war hero. In fact, it was a person that was not well-known to the people of Concord at all. In September 1870, this stranger arrived from Massachusetts in a stagecoach with the intention of visiting some of his relatives residing in Concord. Though he arrived unknown, he certainly left Concord very well known and revered. His name was John William Fletcher and he was a clairvoyant.
Fletcher was born and raised in Massachusetts. His mother was a woman known to have a gift sometimes called the second-sight. Her son enjoyed a good childhood and was very soon discovered to also possess the same gift as his mother. Young John was a good student and considered smart by his teachers, completing papers on time and with remarkable accuracy.
His only issue during his early school years related to the content of his school reports. He would be assigned a topic by his teachers for a report, the next morning he would arrive in class with a solid report relating to a topic that was not assigned by his teachers. It was not long before he confided in his teachers and explained that he dreamed quite often and heard voices from people that were not seen. The unseen people spoke to him about wonderful adventures from many years before, providing very vivid detailed stories. John would simply listen to these voices and write everything down and return to school with his report. The reports were received quite well for they certainly contained factual information, in fact, information that was documented by the teachers. You see, his reports were not fiction but quite the contrary, factual information that a young boy in the 19th century should not be aware of.
It was during a regular school day in the 1860s that the thought came to him about a fire eight miles away in a factory. The factory was owned by his father and he was genuinely concerned about the safety of his father and the factory workers. The teacher dispatched a messenger to the boy’s father at the factory, the messenger was met upon his arrival at the factory by a wall of flames as the building was consumed. The incident was recalled time and again, but there simply was no explanation for the growing list of strange school reports, predictions and oddities surrounding the young life of John William Fletcher.
As the years progressed and John grew into a respected young man, he was a very well-known medium, people would contact him offering money for his services. He was reserved and in most cases declined offers for his clairvoyant ways. As he grew, he also found he possessed another very unique ability, the power to heal some afflictions. He enjoyed this because he cared for people and was always glad to help them.
It was on a September day in the early 1870s that John William Fletcher stepped off the stagecoach on Main Street in Concord. He proceeded to walk to the residence of his relatives in town to spend some time enjoying the refreshing country air and warm summer days.
Upon his arrival, he rested and again felt the urge from his well-known spirit guides to apply for a hall on Main Street in Concord to provide a lecture on his mediumship. The next morning, he walked into town and found the owner of a large hall where he requested the use of the facility to lecture and help the people of Concord. The owner of the Concord hall knew about John William Fletcher and considered it an honor to have him speak, offering the use of his hall later in the week absolutely free of charge. Some advertising was placed in the local newspapers, flyers were posted about town and a little boy named Martin Spain gathered with his friends in great anticipation at the hall to hear about this strange man referred to as a medium.
As the early citizens of Concord enjoyed their dinner over great anticipation of the evening’s scheduled event, many started the walk to the hall on Main Street. So many that the hall was filling quickly, my young great grandfather worked his way into the hall along with his friends to observe this modern-day marvel. Every seat was filled and the crowd spilled into the street outside the hall. Standing room only, the doors were closed and John William Fletcher entered the stage.
The press of the day reported a very successful event, the young trance-speaking lecturer spoke well and provided some remarkable stories from the past. Not only did he provide his stories, he called on residents of the community to come up on the stage and he practiced his healing techniques on them. When the medium that visited Concord left a few days later he was already booked in surrounding communities and conducting personal readings for people. It has been said that later in his career as a medium he was conducting up to 60 readings per day with his popularity only growing.
For a young boy named Martin, the experience was both remarkable and remembered. My great grandfather related his story to his own son, who in turn told me about the day the great John William Fletcher took the stage in Concord so many years before.