As "Dr. Jane B. Coates", she was a well-known Washington DC spiritualist and head of the Spiritualist Church of America, also known as the Spiritual Science Church of Christ and the White Cross Church of Christ. She began practicing in Washington in 1921, and soon built up an impressive clientele including many government officials.

Jane was a prominent figure in the famous congressional hearings of 1926, when Harry Houdini spent four days shaming the U.S. Congress for being in thrall to fortune tellers. In advance of the first hearing on February 26, Houdini sent his undercover investigator, Rose Mackenberg, to comb Washington's underbelly for mediums. Armed with this evidence, the celebrity magician rolled into town to deliver a case against the supernatural that he'd made many times. It was part skeptical exposé, part witty entertainment. Word of the bill had spread through the spiritualist community by way of sympathetic lawmakers, and local mediums turned out in force, led by Jane Coates and astrologer Marcia Champney.

The mediums lashed out at Houdini, calling him a liar and traducer, while the magician unrolled reams of tangential evidence, including an actual 50-foot long scroll. During breaks intended to restore order, the antagonists scuffled in the hallways. The theatrics reached a crescendo when Houdini issued his notorious ultimatum, defying all of the mediums present to produce a single verifiable psychic phenomenon.

He waved around an envelope stuffed with $10,000 in cash, declaring, "This is my answer to anything they say. If they can, here is the money." Usually, this challenge produced a telling silence among his audience. However, the mediums of Washington were not so easily cowed.

"That money belongs to me," Madame Marcia declared, saying she foresaw both Warren G. Harding's election and his death. Though it's not clear how Houdini could ever verify a prediction made six years earlier, at that point the testimony had become pure rhetoric on both sides, and the spiritualists broke into wild applause.

Madame Marcia was not awarded the cash. However, in the heat of the moment she made another prophecy, that the great illusionist would be dead by November. Indeed, Houdini perished under mysterious circumstances on October 31, 1926.

[Source: article by Alicia Puglionesi at www.atlasobscura.com]

Daughter of Robert Raphael Boarman and Mary Isabella Wetherall. Married, first, Leonard Roberts Coates.

Children:
1. John Tyson, b. 13 Nov 1890, d. 11 Mar 1891.
2. Leonard Roberts Jr., b. 22 Nov 1891, d. 19 Mar 1892.
3. Mary Roberta, b. 1 Jan 1893, d. 9 Aug 1976; m. first, William Wilton Easterday, 3 Aug 1911; m. second, Steve P. Nemeth, 21 Jun 1923; m. third, John Howard Newlin, 22 Apr 1939.
4. Dorothy Wetherall, b. 10 May 1897, d. 9 Nov 1982; m. Andrew Adgate Lipscomb.
5. Robert Boarman, b. 14 Jun 1898, d. 30 Apr 1954; m. first, Geneva Much; m. second Alice Corwin Jones, 13 Apr 1935; m. third, Ada Margaret Shook, 16 Aug 1951.

Married second, Paul Warren DeLoe, a clerk at the Department of Labor, on 25 Jun 1931. He was 28; she was 59. They met when he called on her to get her advice on spiritual matters. He eventually became a full-time minister in her church.

As "Dr. Jane B. Coates", she was a well-known Washington DC spiritualist and head of the Spiritualist Church of America, also known as the Spiritual Science Church of Christ and the White Cross Church of Christ. She began practicing in Washington in 1921, and soon built up an impressive clientele including many government officials.

Jane was a prominent figure in the famous congressional hearings of 1926, when Harry Houdini spent four days shaming the U.S. Congress for being in thrall to fortune tellers. In advance of the first hearing on February 26, Houdini sent his undercover investigator, Rose Mackenberg, to comb Washington's underbelly for mediums. Armed with this evidence, the celebrity magician rolled into town to deliver a case against the supernatural that he'd made many times. It was part skeptical exposé, part witty entertainment. Word of the bill had spread through the spiritualist community by way of sympathetic lawmakers, and local mediums turned out in force, led by Jane Coates and astrologer Marcia Champney.

The mediums lashed out at Houdini, calling him a liar and traducer, while the magician unrolled reams of tangential evidence, including an actual 50-foot long scroll. During breaks intended to restore order, the antagonists scuffled in the hallways. The theatrics reached a crescendo when Houdini issued his notorious ultimatum, defying all of the mediums present to produce a single verifiable psychic phenomenon.

He waved around an envelope stuffed with $10,000 in cash, declaring, "This is my answer to anything they say. If they can, here is the money." Usually, this challenge produced a telling silence among his audience. However, the mediums of Washington were not so easily cowed.

"That money belongs to me," Madame Marcia declared, saying she foresaw both Warren G. Harding's election and his death. Though it's not clear how Houdini could ever verify a prediction made six years earlier, at that point the testimony had become pure rhetoric on both sides, and the spiritualists broke into wild applause.

Madame Marcia was not awarded the cash. However, in the heat of the moment she made another prophecy, that the great illusionist would be dead by November. Indeed, Houdini perished under mysterious circumstances on October 31, 1926.

[Source: article by Alicia Puglionesi at www.atlasobscura.com]

Daughter of Robert Raphael Boarman and Mary Isabella Wetherall. Married, first, Leonard Roberts Coates.

Children:
1. John Tyson, b. 13 Nov 1890, d. 11 Mar 1891.
2. Leonard Roberts Jr., b. 22 Nov 1891, d. 19 Mar 1892.
3. Mary Roberta, b. 1 Jan 1893, d. 9 Aug 1976; m. first, William Wilton Easterday, 3 Aug 1911; m. second, Steve P. Nemeth, 21 Jun 1923; m. third, John Howard Newlin, 22 Apr 1939.
4. Dorothy Wetherall, b. 10 May 1897, d. 9 Nov 1982; m. Andrew Adgate Lipscomb.
5. Robert Boarman, b. 14 Jun 1898, d. 30 Apr 1954; m. first, Geneva Much; m. second Alice Corwin Jones, 13 Apr 1935; m. third, Ada Margaret Shook, 16 Aug 1951.

Married second, Paul Warren DeLoe, a clerk at the Department of Labor, on 25 Jun 1931. He was 28; she was 59. They met when he called on her to get her advice on spiritual matters. He eventually became a full-time minister in her church.