During the 1850s rural Athens County, Ohio was briefly a center for some spiritualist activities. The spiritualism movement had begun to sweep across America during the late 1840's and Jonathan Koons became something of a rock star on the scene as he demonstrated his psychic powers for hundreds and possibly thousands of people who made the difficult journey to his farm in southeast Ohio to spend time in his spirit room.
In her book "Enchanted Ground - the Spirit Room of Jonathan Koons" Sharon Hatfield has written a captivating history of this period. We meet Koons and his family of mediums along with some of the other notable spiritualist practitioners of the period.
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, Wright Memorial Public Library, and Microsun Lamps.