Thomas Lynn Bradford
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Thomas Lynn Bradford | |
|---|---|
 Ruth Starkweather Doran and Thomas Lynn Bradford | |
| Born | 1872 or 1873 |
| Died | February 5, 1921 (aged 48) |
| Cause of death | Suicide by household gas |
| Known for | Trying to prove the existence of an afterlife |
Thomas Lynn Bradford (1872 or 1873 – February 5, 1921) of Detroit, Michigan, was a spiritualist who died by suicide in an attempt to ascertain the existence of an afterlife and communicate that information to a living accomplice, Ruth Doran.[1] On February 5, 1921, Bradford sealed his apartment in Detroit, blew out the pilot on his heater, and turned on the gas, which killed him.[2][3]
Some weeks earlier, Bradford had sought a fellow spiritualist in a newspaper advertisement, and Doran responded. The two agreed "that there was but one way to solve the mystery—two minds properly attuned, one of which must shed its earthly mantle".[4] The New York Times ran a follow-up under the headline "Dead Spiritualist Silent".[5]
