The Great Soul Trial

Ayn Rand  said,

“The truth is not for all men, but only for those who seek it.”

Welcome to The Soul Podcast. I’m Stacey Wheeler.

Today I want to tell you a story about finding the truth.

Along the Superstition Mountains in Arizona, east of Phoenix is the little mining town of Miami. One December day in 1949, an old prospector named James Kidd left his small cottage there. He was never seen again. Kidd was 70 and he’d been prospecting for more than 40 years. Before his disappearance, he was one of millions of people, living an un-noteworthy life. Simply going about his day, doing his job and moving through the world unnoticed. He wondered -like us all- about the great questions of life. Just a simple man. And though he probably couldn’t have known, a legacy was about to be borne. All because of a simple, handwritten note. 

It was a handful of days after Christmas. Kidd had only a few friends and no family, but someone noticed he was missing. His home was searched, and his possessions catalogued. There was nothing of particular value in his cottage. And no signs of foul play, but James could not be found. The case was cold. Had he been murdered in the Superstition Mountains looking for gold, or maybe he fell into one of his own mine shafts?  No one knew. The Superstition Mountains are vast desolate place. A person could go missing and never be found. Years passed and no one heard from James. 

Six years later, in 1954 police closed the case. James Kidd was declared dead. It seemed he was destined to be one more forgotten person in the great history of the West. But then something surprising happened. While cataloging dormant bank accounts in Douglass, Arizona later that year, a bank employee discovered a safe deposit box which belonged to James Kidd. She turned over the contents of the box to the Estate Tax Commissioner of Arizona. Inside was cash and stocks valued at more than $200,000. That’s the equivalent of more than $2 million today. And there within his papers was a hand-written will. It said,

"this is my first and only will and is dated the second of January 1946. I have no heirs and have not married in my life and after all my funeral expenses have been paid and $100 given to some preacher of the gospel to say fare well at my grave sell all my property which is all in cash and stocks with E F Hutton Co Phoenix some in safety deposit box, and have this balance money go into research or some scientific proof of a soul of the human body which leaves at death I think in time there can be a photograph of soul leaving the human at death.”

It was signed James Kidd.

The letter was judged to be valid by Justice Robert Myers. His ruling started a years-long battle to determine who would get the money. Before it was done 134 individuals, organizations, and institutions filed a claim on Kidd's estate. Years later John G. Fuller wrote a detailed account of the case in his book, The Great Soul Trial. (I’ll share a link in the show notes) 

The case drug on for years and before it was settled, it involved an endless number of lawyers, many highly regarded universities, several reputable scientific institutions, a state board of regents, a swarm of journalists, and a large trail of camp-followers and mystics. It became a bit of a circus. Money can do that. But the judge wanted to make sure the intentions of the simple man, James Kidd were honored. Ultimately The Great Soul Trial was held to determine who got the money. In 1971 the fortune was finally awarded to an organization dedicated to psychical research. Twenty-two years had passed since Kidd’s death. 

The American Society for Psychical Research (or ASPR) who received the funds is still operating and is currently one of the oldest psychical research organizations in the United States. It was founded in 1885 by a group of scholars which included William James, who is a leading thinker of the late 19th century. He is one of the most influential philosophers of the United States and is known as the "Father of American psychology." 

The ASPR has headquarters in New York City. They maintain a website (I’ll share a link). 

Today their work continues into some of the greatest psychical questions.  

William James wrote, 

"The greatest use of a life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.”

In 1946 James Kidd left his house and his worldly home for the final time. Those who knew him said he was a simple, frugal man. He wasn’t known to be especially spiritual. Today there’s only one black and white photograph of him that remains. He worked and saved and spent his life savings on something that would outlast it. He hoped money could help answer the big question. And his actions left a note in the encyclopedia of human history. James Kidd is gone but the big question is not. 

Even now we wonder, “What is the Soul?” Maybe we’ve always wondered. Don’t we all -at times- ponder the great question, like a prospector by the candlelight glow in the cottage of ourselves? What is the meaning to this life? What is consciousness? If we disappear from this Earth... do we disappear forever? 

More than 70 years have passed since James Kidd disappeared. And still we’re left with the great questions. And how beautiful that is. Imagine if we knew the answer to the great questions. If we knew for sure without a doubt that we live again after death. If we knew there was a great adventure awaiting on the other side… wouldn’t that change the way we see this journey?  

The mystery of what happens after we die makes us embrace this existence. It makes us treasure it in ways we can only treasure something we believe is finite. It’s the rare believer who has chased away all fear of death. How many do you know who are free of the fear of death? It’s a fear that makes this life more precious to us. 

Life is like gold dust we clutch in our fist. And each day a bit more slips through our fingers. Until one day our palms are empty. The uncertainty of death makes each moment the most precious of gifts.  

Seventy years ago, a man went prospecting, knowing that the most precious gift had already been found.