“This is a marvelous book. It reads like a novel or a screenplay but also functions as a prism that opens up into dozens of other important aspects of nineteenth-century American religion: spiritualism, Johnny Appleseed, Swedenborgianism, atheism, social reform, women’s rights, psychometry, and so on. Perhaps most significantly of all, the author’s rare combination of humanistic sympathy, intellectual generosity, and healthy doubt is a model of what this kind of historiography can be.”
Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of Secret Body: Erotic and Esoteric Currents in the History of Religions
“The work of Jonathan Koons, and, indeed, midwestern Spiritualism in general, has often been overlooked, so Enchanted Ground is a welcome contribution to the field. The book has many strengths, not least of which are its evocative descriptions. Hatfield’s skill as a researcher, writer, and story-teller make this book appropriate for both scholarly and general readers."
Nova Religio
“An unbiased, rich story that situates the historic and consequential acts of ‘the Venerable Jonathan Koons’ and the events that took place in southeast Ohio in wider modern spiritualist and reform movement contexts. Hatfield clearly illustrates the comfort, hope, and sense of community Koons’s supporters found in his séances, imaginative stories, and ostensible ability to connect the living with the dead.”
Brianna Treleven, Ohio History
“Sharon Hatfield has made a painstaking examination of Koons’s life and career. A fascinating snapshot of the Spiritualist movement in its infancy.”
Tom Ruffles, Journal of Scientific Exploration
In Enchanted Ground, Sharon Hatfield brings to life the true story of a nineteenth-century farmer-turned-medium, Jonathan Koons, one of thousands of mediums throughout the antebellum United States. In the hills outside Athens, Ohio, Koons built a house where it was said the dead spoke to the living, and where ancient spirits communicated the wisdom of the ages. Curious believers, in homespun and in city attire, traveled from as far as New Orleans to a remote Appalachian cabin whose marvels would rival any of P. T. Barnum’s attractions.
Yet Koons’s story is much more than showmanship and sleight of hand. His enterprise, not written about in full until now, embodied the excitement and optimism of citizens breaking free from societal norms. Reform-minded dreamers were drawn to Koons’s seances as his progressive brand of religion displaced the gloomy Calvinism of previous generations. As heirs to the Second Great Awakening, which stretched from New York State to the far reaches of the Northwest Territory, the curious, the faithful, and Koons himself were part of a larger, uniquely American moment that still marks the cultural landscape today.
Sharon Hatfield is an award-winning journalist and nonfiction writer. Her interest in Appalachian letters and history led to her writing Never Seen the Moon: The Trials of Edith Maxwell and coediting An American Vein: Critical Readings in Appalachian Literature. She lives in Athens, Ohio, with her husband. More info →
Retail price:
$19.95 ·
Save 20% ($15.96)
Retail price:
$28.95 ·
Save 20% ($23.16)
US and Canada only
Availability and price vary according to vendor.
Share 
Permission to reprint
Permission
to photocopy or include in a course pack
via Copyright Clearance
Center
Click or tap on a subject heading to sign up to be notified when new related books come out.
Paperback
978-0-8040-1239-3
Retail price: $19.95,
T.
Release date: June 2022
27 illus.
·
360 pages
·
6 × 9 in.
Rights: World
Hardcover
978-0-8040-1208-9
Retail price: $28.95,
T.
Release date: November 2018
27 illus.
·
360 pages
·
6 × 9 in.
Rights: World
Electronic
978-0-8040-4096-9
Release date: November 2018
27 illus.
·
360 pages
Rights: World
“Hatfield offers a solid biography of one of the most famous and influential spiritualists of the nineteenth century…. Those interested in the hope and optimism spiritualism engendered will enjoy Hatfield’s biographical appreciation of a fascinating figure.”
Journal of Parapsychology
“By an evocative rendition of his story, Hatfield neatly dispels the view that Koons’s ‘spirit room’ was just one more trivial example of the public’s fascination with nineteenth century spiritualism. Instead, her explanation of Koons’s influence in Ohio and the Midwest clearly establishes his significance as one of the most important mediums of the era.”
Nancy Rubin Stuart, author of The Reluctant Spiritualist: The Life of Maggie Fox
“Hatfield demonstrates well (Koons’s) enormous impact on the spiritualist movement, with his popular spirit room becoming a major pilgrimage site in early American spiritualism, serving as a major source of inspiration for later spiritualist practitioners in the 1850s and beyond…. Although this book is of obvious interest to scholars of spiritualism, it should also be of interest also to scholars working in various other subfields of religious studies…. Having done the painstaking work of compiling and organizing the history of Koons and his circle, Hatfield has provided scholars with an important resource….”
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
“(Enchanted Ground) is more than a spiritual biography of one man, it is an history of early Spiritualism in the Midwest…. It would be hard to come away from reading this book without having a deeper understanding of this critical first decade of Spiritualism.”
The National Spiritualist Summit
“Hatfield is a skilled writer and this book is both entertaining and a valuable contribution to the psychical research literature.“
Society for Psychical Research Journal
Asylum on the Hill
History of a Healing Landscape
By Katherine Ziff
·
Foreword by Samuel T. Gladding
·
Afterword by Joseph Shields and Shawna Bolin
Asylum on the Hill is the story of a great American experiment in psychiatry, a revolution in care for those with mental illness, as seen through the example of the Athens Lunatic Asylum. Katherine Ziff’s compelling presentation incorporates rare photos, letters, and records, offering readers a fascinating glimpse into psychiatric history.
American History, Midwest · Architecture · History of Psychiatry · Ohio · American Studies · Ohio and Regional · Athens, Ohio
Shake Terribly the Earth
Stories from an Appalachian Family
By Sarah Beth Childers
In a thoughtful, humorous voice born of Appalachian storytelling, Childers brings to life family tales that affected the entire region to make sense of her personal journey and find the joy and clarity that often emerge after the earth shakes terribly beneath us.
Memoir · Creative Nonfiction · Appalachia · United States · North America · Americas · Literature · Social Science | Regional Studies · Ohio and Regional
Gone Dollywood
Dolly Parton’s Mountain Dream
By Graham Hoppe
Country music superstar Dolly Parton’s Dollywood is a 150-acre fantasyland that hosts three million people a year. What does it tell us about the modern South, and in turn what does that tell us about America as a whole? Hoppe blends tourism, public history, and personal reflection into an unforgettable interrogation of Southern American identity.
Popular Culture · Social Science | Regional Studies · Appalachia · American Studies · Music, History and Criticism
Creating a Perfect World
Religious and Secular Utopias in Nineteenth-Century Ohio
By Catherine M. Rokicky
Powerful currents of religious revival and political and social reform swept nineteenth-century America. Many people expressed their radical religious and social ideals by creating or joining self-contained utopian communities. These utopianists challenged the existing social and economic order with alternative notions about religion, marriage, family, sexuality, property ownership, and wage labor.Between 1787 and 1919, approximately 270 utopian communities existed in the United States.
American History, Midwest · Religion | Religion, Politics & State · Religion | Christianity · 19th century · Ohio · Ohio and Regional
Sign up to be notified when new Ohio and Regional titles come out.
We will only use your email address to notify you of new titles in the subject area(s) you follow. We will never share your information with third parties.
