Charles H Foster

Charles Henry Foster (1838–1888) was an American spiritualist medium known for his performances in séances, including "skin writing," where names of spirits allegedly appeared on his body, and pellet reading, a method involving selecting pellets containing names of deceased individuals. In 1863, *The Spiritual Magazine* reported evidence suggesting Foster had faked these phenomena, claiming the skin writing matched his own handwriting and the pellet reading could be fraudulent.

Foster gained attention during his tour of Australia in 1874, where he influenced businessman Hugh Browne to adopt spiritualism by supposedly communicating with Browne's deceased father. His biographer, George C. Bartlett, praised him as a genuine medium, but psychical researcher Hereward Carrington dismissed his feats as likely trickery.

Foster was exposed by John W. Truesdell in 1872, who observed Foster using matches to allegedly substitute pellets during séances. Magician R.D. Chater also claimed to have detected Foster's tricks, including substituting secret pellets between his fingers.

Overall, Foster's career was marked by claims of genuine spiritual abilities and allegations of fraud, with evidence suggesting he may have used deception in his performances.