Hart’s Ghosts – Book Two
Mitzy Mayes Was Dead
Available in ebook, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover editions.
When Troy Hart inherits both a deadly brain tumor and a haunted house, nothing will ever be the same. As supernatural forces gather, and his psychic abilities fade, the stakes have never been higher for a man who’s determined to reclaim his destiny.
In a small town where secrets lurk behind crumbling walls, and a signet ring pulses with healing power, he stands on the brink of a dangerous transformation that will either kill him or save him.
It’s a battle fueled by stubborn defiance as Troy tries to uncover the truth about his family’s dark legacy before it destroys him. Caught between ghostly whispers and a curse that refuses to let go, is his fate written in the stars—or in the memories of those he’s lost?
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun blend of history and mystery – Amazon Customer
I thoroughly enjoyed this read. The author dips into Colorado history and combines it flawlessly with the present using unique and beautiful description, snappy dialogue, and well-developed characters. The blend of paranormal with natural events is nicely balanced and intriguing. It is fast paced, fun, and overall very entertaining.
The Truth Behind The Fiction
Francis Schlatter – The Healer
Much of the history from this era is sketchy and accounts vary widely. Any errors in the historical facts are mine and unintentional. Unfortunately, I don’t have Troy Hart’s ability to explore the past through the memories of those who lived it.
Francis Schlatter was born in Alsace, France, on April 29, 1856. In 1884 he emigrated to the United States, where he worked as a cobbler in various cities. In 1892 he arrived in Denver, Colorado, where he had a vision in which “The Father” commanded him to sell his business, give the money to the poor, and devote himself to healing.
He then began a two year, 3,000 mile pilgrimage around the American West on foot, preaching the love of The Father and peace among men. He crossed eastern Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma. But Hot Springs, Arkansas he was jailed for vagrancy where he continued to preach while imprisoned.
He escaped in 1894 and headed west. He walked across Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and into southern California. Here he began his healing in the San Jacinto Valley. After two months, he crossed the Mohave Desert on foot, living on flour and water. In July 1895, he emerged from the desert a Christlike healer, with his long hair, a full beard, and clear blue eyes. His copper rod, three feet long and weighing thirty-nine pounds, become a symbol of the healer. He said he used the rod as an exercise bar and to maintain his healing abilities. While treating hundreds in Albuquerque’s Old Town, he became known as The New Mexico Messiah.
When he returned to Denver, tens of thousands came from all over the country for healing. Schlatter healed a variety of ailments and diseases, and once reputedly identified a murderer. He turned no one away, working to the point of exhaustion. He treated up to five thousand people a day by standing with outstretched hands to touch them as they shuffled past his platform behind a wooden fence at a house in North Denver.
Schlatter refused any payment or compensation for his services and he taught no new doctrine. He claimed only to obey The Father. He took no credit for the cures, claiming that faith was the reason for healing, and that even his touch was unnecessary. For those who could not travel to him, he would often bless a piece of material or a handkerchief with healing virtues.
On November 13, 1895, Schlatter disappeared, leaving behind a note stating that his mission was ended. Then in 1897, Ada Morley from Datil, New Mexico, published The Life of the Harp in the Hand of the Harper telling of Schlatter’s three-month stay on her ranch in after his disappearance from Denver. Titled by Schlatter, the book detailed a first-person account of his two-year pilgrimage, which he equated to Christ’s forty days in the wilderness. He told Morley he must go into Mexico and await a coming Armageddon foretold in the Book of Daniel. The Father, he said, would bring Schlatter back as the Messiah of the New Jerusalem.
He promised Morley he would return at that time, but later that year prospectors from El Paso a his remains in the mountains near Casas Grandes, in Chihuahua, along with Schlatter’s clothing, books, copper rod, and other possessions.
Some claim the prospectors buried the skeleton in an unmarked grave where they found it. Others claim Schlatter was buried in the cemetery in Old Casas Grandes and still others say he was buried in Terrazas cemetery near the Mormon colony of Colonia Juárez, but no written accounts describe the removal of the remains from the canyon in which they were found and buried by the prospectors. An official investigative party disinterred the skeleton in December 1897 and likely reburied it. At that time, Ada Morley reported that it was not Francis Schlatter, saying he had two missing upper teeth, but the skull had a full set.
Several men claimed to be Francis Schlatter over the next quarter century. There was speculation about a healer who died in St. Louis in 1922, based on the discovery of a an autobiography in the Library of Congress titled Modern Miracles of Healing: A True Account of the Life, Works and Wanderings of Francis Schlatter, the Healer, attributed to “Francis Schlatter, The Alsacian, which was published in 1903.
In 1906 Edgar Lee Hewett, an archaeologist who had met Schlatter and observed his healing sessions, was conducting research near Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico, when his guide pointed out the unmarked grave of a dead man. From the description, Hewett surmised it was Francis Schlatter, and asked about the man’s possessions. The guide led him to the home of the jefe of Casas Grandes, where Hewett saw Schlatter’s Bible, saddle, and copper rod.
Years later, in 1922, Hewett returned to Mexico to examine the copper rod again. Now the director of the Museum of New Mexico, he showed interest in the rod and later acquired it. Today it’s in the New Mexico History Museum in the Palace of the Governors.
The Edward L. Fox House in North Denver where Schlatter healed thousands was designated a Denver Landmark in 1995.
We may never know if The Healer died in the mountains of Mexico, or staged his own death in order to return to the United States and quietly continue healing in the south eastern part of the country. We can’t visit Schlatter’s grave but we can see his copper rod and the Fox House. And that’s okay, because at some point or another Francis Schlatter died. Snuffed it. Took a dirt nap. He moved on to the next chapter, as we all must do when it’s our time…
but not today. Today we laugh, hold our dear ones close, and love them with all our hearts. To hell with everything else.
As I drive long stretches of dirt roads, I marvel at Francis Schlatter walking thousands of miles. A pilgrimage he made, reportedly barefoot, more than once.
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Violence, sexual content, profanity