[Gutenberg 57207] • In a Syrian Saddle

Ada Goodrich Freer (1857-1931) was a medium, clairvoyant, psychical researcher and author. Much of her work was published under the pseudonym Miss X. She joined the Society for Psychical Research in 1888 but after criticism of her work on the Ballechin House case in 1897, and under strong suspicion of fraud, she was disowned by the Society and abandoned psychical research. She worked as a medium in London but after being caught cheating at a seance she emigrated to Jerusalem in December 1901. In 1905 she married Dr Hans Henry Spoer, an American scholar of ancient languages who believed her to be some 17 years younger than her true age. The couple moved to the USA in 1923, eventually settling in New York where Dr Spoer was chaplain to the New York Mission Society. Ada wrote a number of books about her travels in the Middle East and this work, dedicated to her husband, was first published in 1905.