| In March of 1848, Kate and Margaret Fox were just | | | | before. Rosna had been a peddler in the area up until |
| children, about ten or twelve years old. They had | | | | about five years prior to the Fox girls' strange |
| recently moved into an old cottage with their parents | | | | experience. At that point, however, he had simply |
| near Hydesville, New York that had a mysterious | | | | disappeared, and no one could remember seeing him |
| history. Previous tenants had stayed only briefly, | | | | anymore. It wasn't until the young Fox sister's |
| leaving due to strange sounds and occurrences that | | | | fearlessness in attempting spiritual communication that |
| just couldn't be explained. It made them uncomfortable, | | | | people finally were able to get some answers to their |
| they said. When the Fox family moved into the home | | | | questions about Rosna's disappearance. The ghost's |
| in November of 1847, they too began to experience | | | | knocks revealed not only his identity, but also that he |
| the strange happenings that had been reported. But | | | | had been murdered by a previous tenant and buried in |
| the Fox girls didn't scare so easily, and with the help of | | | | the cottage's cellar. His spirit could not rest, and Rosna, |
| their mother, began to consider the possibility that | | | | it seemed, wanted his body discovered and buried |
| these noises were not only coming from "the other | | | | properly. |
| side," but perhaps they could communicate with the | | | | What the poor murdered man got was so much more, |
| mysterious entity as well. They soon devised a code | | | | though. His bones weren't unearthed from the cellar for |
| that they used to ask questions, which the spirit would | | | | another fifty years, but in the meantime, his ghostly |
| answer with a certain number of knocks. "Yes" and | | | | communication with the Fox sisters began a religious |
| "no" questions were fired away, and the family | | | | movement that would continue into the 21st century. |
| discovered that they were certainly not the only one | | | | Though the founding of Spiritualism is usually credited |
| residing in the cottage. | | | | to the Fox sisters, their story cannot be told without |
| The answers to the girls' questions were startling, and | | | | mentioning Rosna's crucial role. He will always be |
| revealed that the knocks were coming from Charles | | | | considered one of history's most notorious spirits. |
| B. Rosna, a man who had disappeared some years | | | | |