J. O. Barrett

Joseph Osgood Barrett was born April 13, 1823 in Canaan, Maine. He had training in batany and forestry but he also was interested in mesmerism and inducing a trance. He experienced visions, and as a result he trained for the ministry. He served as a minister in the Universalist Church, but he also continued to practice spiritualism and was a medium for spirits. The Illinois Convention of Universalists dropped him from fellowship in 1869. He moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin around 1860. He published a newspaper in Eau Claire during the Civil War. He was not able to serve as a soldier in the war due to deafness, but he was appointed chaplain of the 8th Wisconsin regiment. He also wrote books including a book about "Old Abe" the war eagle of the 8th Wisconsin Regiment, and a biography of J. M. Peebles. He also edited a couple hymnals of Spiritualist hymns. He moved to Minnesota in 1881 and was secretary of the Minnesota State Forestry Association. He died February 8, 1898 in Browns Valley, Minnesota.

Dianne Shapiro (from Find a Grave website, accessed October 30, 2017, and The Other Side of Salvation: Spiritualism and the Ninteenth-Century Religious Experience by John B. Buescher (Skinner House Books, Boston, 2004))