Enlarge

Mary Hayes-Chynoweth, ca. 1905

Portrait of Mary Hayes Chynoweth in an elaborate dress. View the original source document: WHI 45757

b. New York, New York, 1825
d. 1905

Mary Hayes Chynoweth was a psychic healer and spiritual teacher. She moved with her parents Abraham and Miriam Folsom to Waterloo, Wisconsin in 1850 and worked as a school teacher.

Spiritualism

In 1853, she experienced a powerful vision, after which she was observed to speak in tongues, heal the sick through laying on of hands and perform other paranormal actions. She became a successful healer and teacher. Her admirers included some of Wisconsin's leading political and intellectual figures. In 1854, she married Anson B. Hayes, a Waterloo farmer. After his death, Chynoweth married Madison attorney — and patient — Thomas Chynoweth, who died shortly after.

Gogebic Range

In 1883, she claimed that spiritual guidance had led her to discover the sites of the Ashland and Germania iron mines in the Gogebic Range. They became the source of her family's fortune and the origin of the town of Hurley, which Hayes helped establish. In 1887, she moved with her family and followers to a colony named Edenvale, in San Jose, California. She erected a 41,000 square foot mansion there. She continued to treat the sick free of charge for nearly two decades, until her death at the age of 80.

Learn More

Mary Hayes Chynoweth

See more images, essays, newspapers and records about Mary Hayes Chynoweth.

Dictionary of Wisconsin History

Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.

Clay, Louisa Johnson. The Spirit Dominant: A Life of Mary Hayes Chynoweth (San Jose, 1914)