Hollis, Mary J. (Mrs. Hollis-Billing)(1837-?)

American direct voice and materialization medium of the nineteenth century, controlled by spirit guides "James Nolan" and "Skiwaukee" (a Native American). In 1874 and 1880 she visited England, where she demonstrated slate writing, the script frequently said to be produced by a materialized hand in full view. Hollis was born April 24, 1837, in Jeffersonville, Indiana, into a wealthy family. She was an exemplary member of the Episcopal Church until she began to see and talk with spirits.

During the years 1871 to 1873 N. B. Wolfe of Chicago made exhaustive investigations into her phenomena. The account is included in his Startling Facts in Modern Spiritualism (1873). According to Wolfe, Hollis's direct voice mediumship was well developed. As many as 30 or 40 spirits were said to have come in a single sitting. They spoke only in the dark, but they could sing along with the sitters. Sometimes the sitters were given the Freemasonry challenge. Objects frequently moved. Sometimes the medium was levitated to the ceiling and left a pencil mark there. One of her manifesting spirits was fond of making dolls and rosettes from the material provided for this purpose, and the sewing was done accurately in the dark.

Hollis produced materialized forms from a cabinet without going into trance. Phantom hands quickly appeared. As a test the medium's right hand was blackened with cork. The spirit hand was clean. The faces were often flat, and the sitters looked at them through opera glasses. On one occasion six heads materialized simultaneously. Famous people were claimed to have manifested at the Hollis séances, including Napoleon and Empress Josephine, who wore a jeweled crown and strings of pearls.