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This story of her life is copied from here:
http://ehbritten.blogspot.com/2012/12/dee-fr-and-sis-looking-for-charlotte.html
book
2 throught Elizabeth Dresser.
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Looking for Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser, left up, (1845 - 1930)
and Fred Rafferty
Hartmann in his 1927 Who's Who In Occultism, New Thought, Psychism and Spiritualism says this: DRESSER,
Miss Charlotte E. Automatic writing. "Spirit World and Spirit Life,"
and "Life Here and Hereafter" (with Fred Rafferty). Address: 117 East
10th St., Santa Ana, Calif. And, in the introduction to Spirit World and Spirit Life
(1922), Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser (who's just C.E.D. to
Fred Rafferty's F.R. in the book),
writes: Seventeen
years ago, when quite alone, after the 'passing' of father, mother,
sister, and brothers, I formed a friendship, that grew into a
companionship so fine that the world became for me a happier place and
life a brighter thing. We were a trio: 'Dee,' 'F. R.,' and 'Sis'; for so
we changed our names to familiar and intimate expression.Twelve
years passed, with no break in the happy association, and then suddenly
and with little warning Dee passed out of this earthly life. To me,
remained the hope of renewing the companionship in a world where parting
is unknown. To. F. R. a black wall, beyond which, nothing! For, long
before, his mind had accepted the reasoning of materialistic philosophy,
and, arguing from that standpoint, death ended all; and life, going out
like a spent candle, could in nowise be re-lighted.
The
book was published in 1922, implying a beginning of the trio's
friendship circa 1905, the death of 'Dee' circa 1917, and the beginning
of their Spiritualist experience: via table, and then ouija, shortly
thereafter.
We get a little more help from the life of
Fred Rafferty, which is clear as crystal.
Born in Illinois in May of
1863, he is married to Carrie B. Richards in 1885, and the couple are
living in Santa Ana, California from 1896 onward. Rafferty list his
occupation as "florist", but is categorized as "general agriculture,"
which leads me to believe he's a flower-farmer, not a flower-arranger.
Newspaper reports about Fred -- and there are some -- tend to confirm
this, and -- from 1908 to 1913, a "Miss C. E. Dresser" is traveling with
"Mr. and Mrs. Fred Rafferty" and is captured in the social column of
the Riverside Independent Enterprise and the San Diego Union.
And that's how I found her:
She
appears in the Southern California papers regularly until 1914,
although her music school doesn't seem to last much past 1903. She's
involved in local musical groups, and she sells off a lot of property --
perhaps her inheritance, given that she's without family.
In
the 1910 and 1920 census, she's living next door to Fred Rafferty: he
at 117 East 10th Street, she at 115. In the 1910 census, Carrie is
living with Fred; in the 1920 census, Fred is a widower.
Dig,
dig, dig. I have artifacts aplenty, but still no coherent life. But
just as a marker -- a note due -- here are Dee, F.R. and Sis, as they
prepared to travel to Hong Kong, China and Java in 1915.
Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser
In the 1930 US census, Fred Rafferty is living alone at 117 10th Street, and the Matz family has moved in to 115. Spirit World and Spirit Life and Life Here and Hereafter, the two texts she and Fred produced together in 1922 and 1927, were Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser's swansong.
The trajectory of the life of Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser, in brief:
- Father:
Francis Dresser (1809-1847), apparently prosperous wool merchant and
tanner in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Died suddenly, of unknown causes,
shortly after Charlotte's birth.
- Mother: Clarissa Amelia Dowes
(1812-1902?). Marries Francis Dresser in December of 1832. Is head of
household for her family until her death, circa 1902.
- Siblins: Charles F. Dresser (1833-1837)
- Sibling:
Martin Luther Dresser (1835-1887), successful merchant, with Edwin
Erastus, in Stockbridge area. Widely covered in newspapers of the time.
Three children (Samuel S., Martin L., and Martha J)
- Sibling: Amelia H. Dresser (1837-1861), marries Dr. Edwin Sexton in 1860, and dies the following year.
- Sibling:
Charles F. Dresser (1840-1864), dies in New Hampshire, recuperating
from wounds sustained during an unidentified Civil War battle
- Sibling:
Edwin Erastus Dresser (1842-1870), successful merchant, with Martin
Luther Dresser, in Stockbridge area. Dies from long-term effects of an
amputation resulting from a wound at the Battle of Petersburg
Charlotte
Elizabeth Dresser lives with her mother, Clarissa Amelia (who is of
independent means for those of the period), in the Stockbridge area,
through the 1900 census, which lists she and her mother as the entire
household. She is featured from time to time in the Stockbridge area
newspapers, participating in musical events, engaged in charitable work,
and lecturing on topics related to music, both church and secular.
In
1904, Charlotte is living in Los Angeles, and soon thereafter moves
south to Santa Ana, where she advertises her services as a music teacher
in local papers. Shortly thereafter she meets and becomes intimate with
Fred and Carrie Rafferty, and begins traveling with them in California.
The Raffertys and Charlotte do not appear in local papers after 1914 or
so, suggesting Fred and Charlotte both retired. Charlotte clearly has
independent means; she is buying and selling property on a regular
basis, and she is traveling en menage with the Raffertys: in 1911,
through the Mediterranean; in 1914 to England; and in 1916 to Hong Kong,
Java and China. After Carrie Rafferty's death c. 1917, she and Fred
Rafferty investigate Spiritualism, and their work together is reproduced
in part in the two spirit texts mentioned here. In 1927, Charlotte and
Fred travel to Sweden: Fred is 65, and Charlotte is 81. Some time
shortly thereafter, Charlotte dies: in the 1930 census, Fred is living
alone at his usual address, and he has new neighbors next door. Fred is
not listed in the 1940 US census.
from http://ehbritten.blogspot.com/
see also:
http://spirit-communications.net/index.php/mediums-and-mediumship/charlotte-elizabeth-dresser/
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