Extortion attempt on Lincoln's widow failed; court convicted him only as a stage magician
Before trial began, the court declared: this case wasn't about proving whether spiritualism is real, only whether Colchester unlicensed his magic tricks to evade taxes—a strategy that would later unsettle the entire spiritualist community.
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The argument · tap a timestamp to hear it
Everything about Colchester was unverified self-promotion
Colchester's entire biography came only from his own claims: he said he was a duke's illegitimate son, could read sealed letters, summon ghosts, and let spirits write on his body in blood. He even blamed his alcoholism on spiritual authorization. The Detroit Free Press later revealed his real name was likely Sealby or Sealbic—an English con artist whom even the spiritualist community publicly disowned.
The Smithsonian's investigator caught the method but couldn't prove it
Mary Todd Lincoln, grieving the death of her 11-year-old son Willie, fell obsessed with séances. Lincoln, skeptical of spiritualism but wanting to understand how the tricks worked, attended Colchester's performances with her. He asked Joseph Henry from the Smithsonian Institution to investigate. Henry confirmed that the knocking sounds came from Colchester's body, but Colchester refused to undress for inspection, leaving Henry without proof. Years later, by chance on a train, Henry learned that spiritualists used a telegraph-like device strapped to the bicep—muscle tension produced the tapping sounds—and that Colchester had bought exactly this model.
He tried blackmailing the First Lady for a military rail pass
Colchester wanted to bypass wartime restrictions on civilian rail travel. He demanded an army-issued travel permit and threatened to publicize private information about Mary Todd Lincoln. General Sherman had tightened permit issuance to protect military logistics, making this request an attempt to circumvent the entire wartime travel system. Mary Todd sought help from journalist Noah Brooks, a family friend—setting up the exposure that followed.
Brooks exposed him for one dollar—then cornered him at the White House
Brooks paid $1 to attend one of Colchester's paid séances. In the darkness, he released his neighbor's hand, reached toward the sound of the drum, and grabbed a hand holding a bell. When the lights came up, he was bleeding from his forehead—and had caught Colchester himself. Days later, when Colchester approached Mary Todd Lincoln with his blackmail demand, Brooks lured him back to the White House, revealed his forehead wound, and told him bluntly: you know I know the truth; leave Washington or face jail.
Booth attended his séances—possibly seeking confirmation of his future plans
John Wilkes Booth knew Colchester for the same reason Mary Todd Lincoln did: grief. After his sister-in-law Molly died, Booth attended séances trying to contact her. In the weeks before Booth's assassination, the two were frequently seen together at the National Hotel. Historian Terry Alford speculates Booth may have been seeking some kind of hint or confirmation from this spiritualist who claimed to see the future. Colchester did later warn Lincoln that misfortune was coming—but there is no evidence that Booth ever revealed the assassination plot itself to Colchester.
The court refused to judge whether spiritualism is real—convicted him only of tax fraud
In August 1865, Colchester was charged with tax evasion for refusing to license himself as a ‘juggler’. The court declared from the start: this trial is not about the truth or falsity of spiritualism, only whether Colchester conducted unlicensed séances for profit. A stage magician and former assistant, James Rogers, testified that he'd seen Colchester create knocking sounds by kicking table legs, and that Colchester privately admitted it was all ‘fooling people’. Rogers said Colchester held 8 to 10 séances daily at $1 to $2 each. On August 23, the jury returned a guilty verdict: Colchester was a ‘juggler’.
His former managers exposed every trick; he died obscurely within a year
After the trial, investigation into his methods continued. In 1866, his former manager McCord published a detailed letter exposing the complete operation: Colchester would write a question with a #2 pencil in the corner of a slip of paper, peek at it while his client was busy writing a new question, switch the papers, then use a wet finger to smudge the pencil impression until it bled like ‘spirit blood writing’. Another former manager, Marbit, publicly revealed his drinking, fraud, and unpaid debts. By May 1867, Colchester was dead in Keokuk, Iowa. His death—announced in a single line in the newspaper—was the last trace of a man who had once sat in the White House and dominated national headlines.
In their own words · checked verbatim
the real name of Colchester is Sealby or Sealbic. He is an English imposter, and the spiritualists declare that that he is a fraudulent trickster and not one of their number.
narration: Detroit Free Press2:03
A seamstress employed in the White House had induced Mrs. Lincoln to listen to the artful tales of a so-called spiritual medium who masqueraded under the name of Colchester and who pretended to be the illegitimate son of an English duke.
Noah Brooks11:11
Loosening my hands from my neighbors who were unbelievers, I rose and, grasping in the direction of the drumbeat, grabbed a very solid and fleshy hand in which was a handbell that was being thumped on a drumhead.
Noah Brooks13:11
you know that I know. You are a swindler and a humbug. Get out of the city at once. If you are in Washington tomorrow afternoon at this time, you will be in the old Capitol prison.
Noah Brooks16:18
it is quite as important to profess spiritualist that he should be exposed as it is to the public whom he is deluding and to the government which he is defrauding.
prosecutor23:26
bears his arm, rubs it slightly with dampened fingers, causing the blood to rush into the pencil indentations, producing the wonderful blood-red writing under the cuticle. Anybody can do this with little practice.
D.A. McCord30:32
Figures
| Willie Lincoln's age at death | 11 (died of typhoid, 1862) | 5:03 |
| Noah Brooks' séance admission fee | $1 | 12:11 |
| Colchester's daily séance volume and per-séance fee | 8–10 séances daily, $1–2 per séance | 24:28 |
| Conviction fine for ‘jugglery’ | $40 plus court costs of $473 | 25:28 |
| Colchester's date and place of death | May 1867, Keokuk, Iowa | 32:34 |
Glossary
- Jugglery
- 19th-century U.S. legal classification for unlicensed sleight-of-hand fraud; courts prosecuted the trick, not the false spiritualism.
- Billet
- A sealed note containing a question from a séance participant; spiritualists would swap it for a blank during the séance to secretly peek.
- Prestidigitator
- A stage magician hired to testify in court that a spiritualist's effects were sleight-of-hand tricks, not genuine supernatural phenomena.
How to listen
History enthusiasts interested in 19th-century American spiritualist scams, Lincoln family history, or how law dismantled supernatural fraud.
Skip the opening host remarks and rebroadcast explanation.