The sisters who sparked a global movement by cracking their knuckles

Nature · Published 20 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1848, three sisters from New York claimed to hear spirits rapping in their home. Their 'mysterious' noises launched the global Spiritualism movement, attracting celebrities and radical reformers. But was it a supernatural breakthrough or a desperate domestic prank? The truth lies in a century of shifting confessions.

The Fox sisters—Leah, Margaretta, and Catherine—became the faces of Spiritualism after reporting 'rappings' in their home in Hydesville, New York. While the house was reputed to be haunted due to a past murder, investigators as early as 1851 suggested the sounds were produced by the girls cracking their joints. During 1851, a kin member confessed to aiding the pair by physical contact to cue the sounds, namely through joint movements of their ankles, knees, and toes.

Despite the skepticism of physicians and ministers, the sisters achieved massive fame. They held séances for hundreds of people, often for frivolous requests like checking railway stocks. Their movement became intertwined with radical causes like abolition and women's rights, largely due to the support of radical Quaker friends. Even prominent figures like Sojourner Truth and William Lloyd Garrison attended their public séances in 1850, while the publisher Horace Greeley acted as a mentor to help them enter higher social circles.

The sisters' legacy is defined by a cycle of public confession and retraction. In 1888, Margaretta publicly demonstrated how she could produce raps by cracking her toe joints to claim the movement was a hoax. However, by 1889, she retracted this confession, claiming she was coerced into it by enemies of Spiritualism who promised her money she never received. This constant shifting of testimony left the sisters in extreme poverty and destitution, with both Catherine and Margaretta dying in 1892 and 1893, respectively, leaving the true nature of the raps a permanent mystery.

The mystery deepened in 1904 when remains were found in a cellar, rumored to be a hidden grave. However, a physician concluded the bones were random bits, including chicken bones, suggesting a practical joke. Today, the Fox sisters remain a cornerstone of parapsychology, often cited without mention of the fraud allegations that plagued their final years.

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