[D9211ADR], Letter from Alfred Ord Tate to Ashley P Vaughan, September 13th, 1892
https://edisondigital.rutgers.edu/document/D9211ADR
Transcription
Sept. 13, 1892. Mr. Ashley P. Vaughan, No. 522 Harwood Street, Dallas, Texas. Dear sir:- Your letter of 27th ultimo addressed to Mr. Edison is received. In reply I beg to inform you that Mr. Edison is not a spiritualist. On the contrary he believes, in common with most people, that spiritualism is a fraud, and in his opinion its devotees should be confined in crank warehouses. As for the statement which you say Mr. Hatfield Pettibone (whoever he may be) claims Mr. Edison made to him, I assume it is hardly necessary to inform you that there is not a word of truth in it and that Mr. Edison never told him anything of the kind. No sensible person will suffer himself to be imposed upon by such an assertion as the one in question, which is nothing more or less than pure, unadulterated bosh, and quite sufficient to prove Mr. P. a fake of the works kind. He is evidently of a mendacious turn. Yours truly, Private Secretary