Brooklyn's Favorite Palmist

A lady called Mrs. Hicks was "Brooklyn's favorite palmist" according to an 1898 classified ad - and indeed, she had something for everyone. She was a "life reader," reunited loved ones, removed "evil influences," and gave advice of all kinds. In the third week of November 1898, she had a special going in which you could get your future husband's photograph free with a reading.*

The psychic Mrs. Hicks was also a Dermatologist who helped "Ladies Reduce Your Weight, Busts Etc. 5 Lbs Weekly, without medicine" - advocating modern weight-loss hypnosis decades ahead of her time.

She was also an "astro-palmist," an astrologer, and a student of then-famous magician Alexander Herrmann (pictured below), who lived in nearby Whitestone, Queens in the late 19th century (he had just died in 1896). She belonged to the Order of the Magi (see Note below). She predicted election results (she probably meant the 1896 Presidential election - William McKinley won). And she had read 5,000 palms at the 1898 Omaha World's Fair (which she calls the "Omaha Exposition."The Temple of Palmistry at that Fair is shown, above right.

One Eagle ad refers to "Mrs. Hicks Edgar, the celebrated clairvoyant and trance medium of the West," which seems to indicate that she was not originally from New York. She may have been a New Yorker who went out West for awhile, though.

One possible Mrs. Hicks is Catherine (Skidmore) Hicks, who in the late 1890s lived very close to Mrs. Hicks' known address in 1897-98. Catherine Hicks lived at 267 Schermerhorn in 1897, very near Mrs. Hicks Edgar's 1897 address, 359 State St. There was, as you might imagine, a certain tendency for the Brooklyn palmists to move around rather frequently, though in the same general neighborhood.

If I ever find any more clues about the life and identity of Mrs. Hicks, I will let you know. This is exactly the sort of hidden history that I am inspired by - and am sure that somewhere, somehow, more information must exist. It's just a matter of figuring out where it might be...

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*This made me think of my third great aunt, Lydia (Newell) Hicks, who was a photographer in Brooklyn through the 1870s, whom I have been unable to trace after the mid-1870s. She was an independent, flamboyant woman and I certainly can imagine her reinventing herself as a clairvoyant. But there is no evidence that they were the same person.

Note: The Order of the Magi was an "astrological religion" founded in Chicago in 1889 by Olney H. Richmond, a homeopathic pharmacist (and champion checkers player) who was greatly interested in the occult and in reading the standard (as opposed to Tarot) deck of cards for divination purposes. He wrote several books about divination and Spiritualism. Also see Charles Clifton, Her Hidden Children (2006 ), p. 128, which refers to the Richmond's Order of the Magi as a "magical order." I may write a separate post about Richmond at some point, so have not gone into detail here.

SOURCES

Advertisements for Mrs. Hicks in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

March 21, 1897, p. 28 [Mrs Hicks Edgar, trance medium of the West, address 359 State St]
November 7, 1897, p. 17 [predicted election results - image above]
November 28, 1897, p. 23 [pupil of Herrmann - image above]
May 1, 1898, p. 25 [Mrs. Hicks, Dermatologist]
October 23, 1898 p. 28 [back from Omaha - image above]
November 20, 1898, p. 28 [free photographs]

Lain's Brooklyn City Directory for 1897 has been digitized at the Brooklyn Genealogy Information Page, and the page with the Hicks listings is here. Catherine, at 267 Schermerhorn, is the closest to Mrs. Hicks' known address of this time at 27 Willoughby. There is also a Sherley Hicks at 375 Jay (at Willoughby) whom I have not been able to trace (and might be male or female, as the name was used for both men and women).

The wonderful picture of Alexander Herrmann is from Live Auctioneers (it sold for $24,000!)
The photo of the Temple of Palmistry is from the Omaha Public Library.