ANN O’DELIA DISS DEBAR
THE coming and going of Ann O’Delia Diss Debar are mysteries for there is no record of her birth and no trace of her death, but the “in between time” furnished material enough for an entire book rather than a single chapter, and gave her sufficient opportunity to have it said of her that she was “one of the most extraordinary fake mediums and mystery swindlers the world has ever known.” Some even have classed her among the ten most prominent and dangerous female criminals of the world, and her repertoire is claimed to have run the full gamut from petty confidence games to elaborately contrived schemes aimed at the magnates of Wall Street. According to report she did not hesitate to victimize the innocent and the mentally unsound and left behind her a trail of sorrow, depleted pocket-books, and impaired morals that has seldom been equaled. Like many master criminals she escaped punishment for a time but in the end fell into the toils of the law and served time both here and in England. The marvellous tact with which she devoted her great powers to the purposes of self aggrandizement and profit is without parallel, and for cunning knavery, Cagliostro, by comparison, seems to have been an amateur. It is alleged that her crimes ranged from the smallest to the largest with morals as low as one can imagine in a human being while, worst of all, she flaunted this viciousness openly, making no effort whatever to cloak her degeneracy.
Nevertheless her name stands among the half score or more in the front ranks of the history of Spiritualism and with Daniel Dunglas Home shares the palm for the successful manipulation of big schemes. It was not unusual for her to make deals that ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and though the two were early in the mediumistic field, I believe that to this day they have had no peer in this respect. Possibly all other mediums combined could not have aggregated the amount of money obtained by these two.
Whether Home outbids Diss Debar for preëminence as to gain it is hard to say but it is certain that he “could not hold a candle” to her versatility. Both appear to have had the advantage of being scholastic, and well versed in historic lore and the classics, which gave them great prestige with cultured people, opening the doors to the social life of the “upper-ten,” and bringing within their reach people of wealth as well as scholars and scientists, all of whom were apparently perfectly willing to be deceived, and to unwittingly aid in making the careers of these two adventurers “howling successes” up to the time of their undoing in the courts.
Unlike Home, who never in all the vicissitudes of his career denied his personality, Diss Debar as frequently as she changed her base of operations seems to have changed her name and her ancestry. Once in the heyday of her career she gave a series of interviews claiming to be the daughter of King Louis I of Bavaria and Lola Montez, a Spanish-Irish dancer who had a spectacular and adventurous career which covered Europe in its course, reached to the Russian Court and later America. It is supposed that Diss Debar was the daughter of a political refugee by the name of Salomen who settled in Kentucky and that she was born in 1849 although there is no documentary proof of it. According to the story she was named Editha and as she grew up became known as a wayward child bent on doing what she should not and perfectly callous to all restraining influence of parental affection. “At times her waywardness took such extraordinary turns that her parents thought she was not entirely sane and sought the advice of a doctor, who said she was really a sort of victim to an unholy passion, but that she would grow out of her failing as she grew older,” a prophecy which never came true.
When Editha Salomen became of age she left home and for several years her father lost all track of her. Later, to his great astonishment, he discovered her settled in Baltimore, moving among the best of society, and posing as a member of European aristocracy. As the “Countess Landsfeldt and Baroness Rosenthal” of the peerage of Bavaria she availed herself of all the privileges which members of nobility enjoyed in the Republic, was courted by American youth and found American women “only too delighted to be led by a Countess.”
Where the Kentucky girl with her peculiar temperament and characteristics could possibly have secured the education and knowledge which she displayed through all her exploits I am at a loss to understand. She must have inherited a liberal share of shrewdness, together with a fancy for reading ancient history, and at an early age realized that although not handsome she possessed some charm of personality which attracted attention and which enabled her to pose successfully as a member of the nobility.
It is said that in this rôle Editha had no difficulty in raising funds. It was easy to encourage a prosperous young man into a love trap and make him believe she would soon marry him. “Then one day she would find that she had to pay a large sum of money to meet a necessary obligation, that her careless bankers in Bavaria had failed to remit a few hundred thousand dollars, on account of which she most reluctantly accepted temporary relief from the rich suitor. She took as much as she dared and thereafter cut him.” In this way she managed to cheat the youth of Baltimore out of about a quarter of a million dollars. She gave herself up to luxury and extravagance; took freely to smoking cigarettes impregnated with opium and was soon landed in Bellevue Hospital suffering from “acute nervous exhaustion.”
One day, just as she was nearly cured, she sprang out of bed, stabbed an attendant and attempted to kill her doctor, and several persons were seriously wounded before she was secured. As a result she was sent to the asylum for the insane on Ward’s Island, where she was detained for a year, during which time she showed no traces of insanity and it was concluded that her attempt at murder was premeditated; but as she had been committed as insane with no evidence to controvert it the law was powerless and she was released.
Her next venture was in the field of hypnotism, where she was an adept, but now known as Mrs. Messant and a widow, for though a young doctor, either through fear or fondness, had married her soon after her discharge from Ward’s Island, he had survived the marriage less than a year. As “one can always find fools if one really looks for them” she had no difficulty in surrounding herself with dupes but as the widow of an obscure doctor was not persona grata in the circles of high society where the highest paying fools are to be found she set to work to find an entrée. Her search was not for long. Soon she discovered a certain General Diss Debar; a man without money or “mind of his own” but he filled her need, easily yielded to her cajoleries and presently Editha Salomen, Countess Landsfeldt, Baroness Rosenthal, Messant became Ann O’Delia Diss Debar. As the wife of a general, society smiled on her again and she lived in comfort. The rich courted “hypnotism and general humbug and the wily woman was equal to the requirement.” As time went on, however, she began to squander the money that flowed into her coffers. A couple of children were born to her. People began to tire of hypnotism, her income waned, and it became necessary for her to set her wits to work and cast her net for a fresh victim.
This proved to be Luther R. Marsh, a brilliant and wealthy lawyer of New York City. Mr. Marsh was an ideal subject for the hypnotizer’s attention. Though a learned lawyer he was not free from superstition and his wife had died but a short time before he was discovered by Diss Debar. At an early opportunity she “received” messages from his spirit wife which the distinguished member of the bar accepted as genuine so gratefully and without question that the woman saw at once that she had opened up a new field with more and greater possibilities than she had ever worked before; she realized that she had gifts which fitted her to be a first class Spiritualistic medium. Nor was her judgment in error. The credulous lawyer proved an exceedingly easy mark. Very quickly she won his full confidence and it was not long before he invited her to share his hospitality at 166 Madison Avenue. There was no delay in her acceptance. With the owners’ full consent the home was transformed into a Spiritualistic Temple in which Ann O’Delia Diss Debar was the high priestess. Soon it was evident that there were spirits in profusion and the new medium was able to produce any type of phenomena desired, even to spirit painting. The venture was a profound success and a flourishing business was developed with an upper-ten clientele in which Mr. Marsh became the chief and real victim.
Not only was Mr. Marsh mourning his wife but he had also lost a little daughter but a short time before and so when “Eva’s” supposed spirit suggested to him that he make over his property at 166 Madison Avenue to Diss Debar the father was ready for the sacrifice.57 The deeds were drawn and the transfer made but the medium was prevented from enjoying her booty by legal proceedings which vigilant relatives of Marsh instituted based on his mental condition.
Both Ann O’Delia Diss Debar and her husband, General Diss Debar, were arrested and held on bail for trial.58 As not infrequently happens in such cases the litigation was long drawn out and much astonishing evidence produced.59 When placed on the witness stand her first testimony demonstrated her character. A man by the name of Salomen had testified that he was her brother. She denied that he was and declared that he was a vile wretch who had come to her to borrow money. She admitted to an inspector afterwards that the man was her brother but that he would not dare go on the stand against her for she knew something about him that would blast him forever and would not hesitate for a second to tell it if she needed to.
Another indication of her character is furnished by the story that in choosing between two lawyers to represent her in court she not only inquired into their legal ability, but desired to know about their age and looks as well, finally deciding upon the younger and better looking.
She testified that all the trouble had been caused by Mr. Marsh giving her his house and in answer to a question as to why she did not get money from him instead of real estate she replied that she had tried to but that he was very mean with his cash. The last time she had gone to him for money he had refused it, offering her instead a deed of his property in Newport. This she had refused fearing it would get her into more trouble.
During the early part of the trial Diss Debar conceived the idea of consulting the spirit world in regard to her own course of action and soon after, on “the advice of Cicero and his colleagues in council of ten” she returned the deeds of the Madison Avenue property to Mr. Marsh.
One of the surprises of the trial was the calling by the prosecuting attorney of a professional illusionist, mesmerist, and conjuror, Carl Hertz, as a witness to prove by duplication that the tricks practiced on the unsuspecting Marsh by Diss Debar were simply applications of the ordinary laws of physics. This he succeeded in doing to the satisfaction of the court.
While Hertz was exhibiting “spirit message” reading on the stand Diss Debar did everything in her power to embarrass him but without success as he met every condition she suggested including some under which Diss Debar herself would have failed to “manifest.” Mrs. Hertz had been her husband’s assistant in reading the billets. Diss Debar proposed through her lawyer that she be allowed to take her place. Hertz readily consented. The Judge examined a fresh piece of paper and Hertz passed it to Diss Debar who deliberately tore it in two pieces and handing one of them back said to Hertz:
“I always mark mine; now let me see you do the trick with one of these pieces.”
Hertz availed himself of the regular mediumistic subterfuge “unfavorable conditions” explaining that it was only a trick and being exhibited as such. To this Diss Debar retorted:
“I rest my honor upon its all being done by Spiritual power when I do it.”
At this the court ordered her from the stand refusing to allow discussion along such lines. Later in the trial Hertz was recalled to the stand by Diss Debar’s counsel and asked if he could produce the trick with Mr. Marsh as an assistant. He replied that he “could and would.” From a newspaper account60 we learn that excitement in the courtroom ran high while he proceeded with the trick. Diss Debar told Marsh to “mark the tablet.”
The conditions were not favorable to the performance of a sleight-of-hand trick. Mr. Marsh and Mr. Hertz were less than two feet apart and people crowded around so close that the magician scarcely had room to move, and yet he succeeded completely in deceiving Mr. Marsh. When Hertz handed the tablet to Mr. Marsh he calmly said:
“If you wish to tear a corner off the tablet so as to identify it, I have no objections.”
Mr. Marsh tore the corner off the tablet, nevertheless he was completely tricked, and he so admitted to the court.
Nothing could show more clearly the methods used by mediums than the following account, written by Hertz himself, of the means which he used in the demonstration described above. The letter was in response to one of mine in which I asked him to let me know the method he used as I thought it should be put in this record.
8 Hyde Park Mansions,
London, N. W.
July 16, 1923.
Dear Houdini:
I am in receipt of yours, with reference to the manner in which I manipulated the paper to fool Mme. Diss Debar. I worked it as follows: When she was in the witness box, I showed the jury and Mrs. Diss Debar a half sheet of plain white note paper with nothing on it. I then told her to examine it and fold it four times (I had a duplicate piece with a communication written on it palmed in my hand), when she handed it back to me, I quickly made the changes, and giving her the piece with the writing on it I told her to hold it against my forehead. She then stopped me and said: “one moment please, whenever I do this trick, I let them mark the paper,” and suiting the action to the word, she took the paper, and without opening it again, she tore a corner off the blank piece, but, as it was already changed it made no difference.
You will see, I took a big chance, but it came off. I had an idea she would do this, so I actually changed the papers before I should have done so in the ordinary way, and she was flabbergasted when she opened the paper and found a communication written upon it, and on the same piece of paper which she had marked.
The writing pad trick which I did in the witness box with Luther R. Marsh, I did as follows:—
The trick, if you remember, was to show a pad of about a hundred sheets of paper unwritten upon, and to wrap the pad up in a newspaper, and to allow Marsh to hold one end while she held the other. Then the sound of writing was heard as if some one was writing on the paper, and when the newspaper was opened every sheet in the pad was written upon.
I had two pads alike, one I had concealed under my waist-coat, and the other I gave to Marsh to examine; as I proceeded to wrap the pad up, under cover of the newspaper, I changed them, quickly drawing the pad from my waist-coat and leaving the other one in its place.
I then proceeded to wrap the pad up when Diss Debar shouted from her seat in the Court Room ‘Don’t let him fool you, mark it!’ but as it was already changed, it did not matter so I let them tear a corner off.
I then let him hold one end, while I held the other, and amidst a great silence the sound of writing was heard, as if a pen was rapidly going over the paper, and I then told him to open the newspaper and look at the pad, when he found every sheet written upon.
I then showed the Court how I produced the sound of writing, by having the nail of my forefinger split, and simply scratching the newspaper underneath while I held it.
Kind regards to self and wife from both of us.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) CARL HERTZ
Regardless of Carl Hertz’s testimony and demonstration Mr. Marsh’s belief in the genuineness of Spiritualistic phenomena was unshaken and remained so until the time of his death. Not only the extent of this belief and his mental condition, but his confidence in Diss Debar as well, are revealed in the following excerpt from the New York Times’s account of the trial.
“A short communication from St. Paul was read by Mr. Howe (the Prosecuting Attorney) to the Court, and Mr. Marsh read a very long one from St. Peter. It required fifteen minutes and a half to read this communication, and Mr. Marsh said it had come in the tablet written in two minutes. Judge Cross and Luther Colby were in his study when it came. He knew that the tablet was blank before he and Mme. Diss Debar held it together in their hands.
“Mr. Howe asked Mr. Marsh if he really believed the communication was from St. Peter, the apostle, and Mr. Marsh replied that he knew it was.
“‘Then you still believe in it!’ exclaimed Mr. Howe.
“‘I do,’ was the firm reply, and the Spiritualistic element applauded vigorously. Mme. Diss Debar and Mr. Marsh both seemed pleased with this demonstration which the Court, however, stopped summarily.”
Twelve ballots were taken by the jury before an agreement was reached due to the fact that one juror, evidently in sympathy with the accused, obstinately held out for acquittal. His reasons were as little logical as most Spiritualistic arguments and had no connection with the evidence. In fact the other jurors said that when they tried to talk evidence to him “he wouldn’t have it, but hung to one line of thought, namely, that he believed Mrs. Diss Debar to be the daughter of Lola Montez and that a woman born out of wedlock was just as much entitled to consideration as one who was born in wedlock, and as Mrs. Ann O’Delia Diss Debar claimed all the honors of illegitimacy, he was on her side for keeps.”
Finally after a long wrangle and with the prospect of being locked in a jury room over Sunday, an arrangement was reached whereby a verdict of guilty was to be brought in but with a recommendation for clemency. This was done and Diss Debar and her husband were sent to Blackwell’s Island for six months.61
When she was released she disappeared from America only to reappear after a little in London, England, where under the names of Laura and Theodore Jackson she and her husband soon found themselves in trouble for starting an exceptionally immoral cult62 which they called a “Theocratic Unity.”63 She was sentenced in December, 1901, to seven years of penal servitude in Aylesbury Prison. Even here her persuasive powers found a use for it is said that she gained favor because of the marvellous influence which she had over the refractory element which the officers in charge had difficulty in keeping in subjection. At any rate she was released after serving five years, “having obtained the maximum reduction of sentence for good behavior.”64
Out in the world again she ventured into vaudeville and afterwards burlesque but in these rôles she was a complete failure. Later she came back to America and was next heard of in Chicago as Vera Ava. She succeeded in marrying a wealthy man there but before long was in more difficulties in connection with the pursuit of spookery and sentenced to the Joliet Penitentiary for two years.65 Once more she appeared—in New Orleans as the Baroness Rosenthal—then in 1909 this creature, who for more than a quarter of a century had been swaying men of prominence and women of society, dropped out of sight and for the last fifteen years nothing has been known about her.66
In mothering this immoral woman, Spiritualism is guilty of the grossest misconduct and proves conclusively that she does not protect her own from the wiles and immorality of mediums even though they are found guilty of base criminality by the courts. Were I permitted to go into detail I could tell tales of Diss Debar that would shock even the worst roué of the Montmartre. Suffice to say that her crimes were not so much crimes of gain as they were insults to the decency and morality of the community.
Ann O’Delia Diss Debar’s reputation67 was such that she will go down in history as one of the great criminals. She was no credit to Spiritualism; she was no credit to any people, she was no credit to any country—she was one of these moral misfits which every once in awhile seem to find their way into the world. Better far had she died at birth than to have lived and spread the evil she did.
