Mary Vanderbilt Memorial Stone

Cemetery in center of Barrett Circle

Mary Venderbilt was one of our most famous mediums who lived and served at Camp Etna. Mary was a billett reader and Isaac Funk, of Funk and Wagnall Dictionary fame, followed her for years documenting her amazing talents. At one point she was invited to tour Russia by the Czar. She called Camp Etna the "Dearest Spot on Earth" and served as President of our board for the last 10 years of her life.

When describing the large uncut stone in a 1932 program …the massive ten-ton granite boulder marks the spot where the ashes of Mary S. Vanderbilt, beloved president and patron spirit of Camp Etna, were interred at her earnestly expressed request. It is an impressive and appropriate reminder of her rugged nature and enduring labors in behalf of Spiritualism.

In 1916 The Banner of Life published the following statement from a prominent Spiritualist speaker, “They come in farmer's carts, in wagons, in anything, the Lord only knows how they do all get there.” It was not uncommon to have well over 5000 people in attendance at Camp Etna when Mary spoke. In the same year The Banner of Life published these words from Mary, who felt Camp Etna was the dearest spot on earth; “Sixteen miles west of Bangor, nestling among the pines in one of Maine's productive valleys, lies Camp Etna, the camp where Harrison D. Barrett received his early physical and mental training as well as his first spiritual lessons; and where, as president of the National Association of Spiritualists, he returned just twenty years ago, with a party of friends...Each year as I journey back to camp I review the years and what they have brought to Etna, and what Etna has contributed to the cause. Etna has the distinct honor of being the only Spiritualist camp where a nominee for governor came for strength and courage, and found the light in a personal message which his election verified. During his term of office as a mark of respect to Spiritualism he gave the camp a “governor's day,” Spiritualism being the only religious cult receiving such an honor. From a small camp of early days when three or four hundred congregated on Sundays to hear our speakers, many thousands now constitute the audiences at our Sunday services. And all over Maine this great truth from Etna has shed its light, unto this Mecca of Spiritualism have come Maine's most gifted sons and daughters. In consequence it became the birth spot of new thought along theological and scientific lines, and the baptismal fount of the knowledge of life's continuity.”

Mary Vanderbilt served at Camp Etna for 17 years, and as its president the last 10 years of her life. After the 1918 season, an especially busy summer, Mary returned home and became ill. During her last address at the 71st anniversary of Modern Spiritualism in Berkeley Hall she remembered appearing there almost 24 years earlier. Her voice declared her devotion to Spiritualism urging all to be true to the cause. She spoke of all of the blessings they had received because of their knowledge of the continuation of life. Her last words to the public were, “I have found Spiritualism a good thing to live by, and I have come pretty close to finding it a good thing to die by.”

If you want to read more about Mary’s life, please go to https://campetna.org/mary-vanderbilt