George H. Felt: Difference between revisions

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== Personal life and career ==
== Personal life and career ==


Born on [[September 21]], 1831 in Boston, Massachusetts, he married Mary Anne Frain in New York, on [[September 23]], 1854. During his participation in the Civil War he invented a flare for military communication operations and a detonator.<ref>[http://www.civilwarsignals.org/brown/signalmen/464/georgehfelt.pdf George Henry Felt] at Signal Corps Association website</ref> He died on [[December 9]], 1906.
Born on [[September 21]], 1831 in Boston, Massachusetts as the son of Willard Felt and Elizabeth Lemon Glover Felt. He married Mary Anne Frain in New York, on September 23, 1854. The family had four sons and four daughters.
 
During the Civil War volunteered for the Union Army in July, 1861 and was mustered in as a First Lieutenant.<ref>George H Felt in the U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865.</ref><ref>1861 New York, Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900.</ref> His unit was the 5th Regiment of Duryea Zouaves, who had a colorful uniform with a red fez and baggy red pantaloons.<ref>[http://www.fifthnewyork.com/history.html "Zouave History" in FifthNewYork.com website.</ref><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_New_York_Volunteer_Infantry "5th New York Volunteer Infantry"] in Wikipedia.</ref> He was on General Grant's staff as signal officer.He invented a flare for military communication operations and a detonator.<ref>[http://www.civilwarsignals.org/brown/signalmen/464/georgehfelt.pdf George Henry Felt] at Signal Corps Association website.</ref>  
 
He died on [[December 9]], 1906 in Milford, Pennsylvania and was buried there.<ref>George Henry Felt in the Pennsylvania, Veterans Burial Cards, 1777-2012.</ref>


== Theosophical involvement ==
== Theosophical involvement ==

Revision as of 12:40, 15 May 2020

George H. Felt

George Henry Felt was a mechanical engineer, architect, and Egyptologist, and one of the Founders of the Theosophical Society.

Personal life and career

Born on September 21, 1831 in Boston, Massachusetts as the son of Willard Felt and Elizabeth Lemon Glover Felt. He married Mary Anne Frain in New York, on September 23, 1854. The family had four sons and four daughters.

During the Civil War volunteered for the Union Army in July, 1861 and was mustered in as a First Lieutenant.[1][2] His unit was the 5th Regiment of Duryea Zouaves, who had a colorful uniform with a red fez and baggy red pantaloons.[3][4] He was on General Grant's staff as signal officer.He invented a flare for military communication operations and a detonator.[5]

He died on December 9, 1906 in Milford, Pennsylvania and was buried there.[6]

Theosophical involvement

Mr. Felt claimed to have discovered how Egyptian priests invoked and commanded the spirits of the elements. He declared he was able to demonstrate this and render them visible. On September 7, 1875, he gave a lecture at Mme. Blavatsky's rooms on the subject "The Lost Canon of Proportion of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans." About 17 people were present. During the discussion that followed a suggestion was made that a Society be formed to pursue and promote such occult research.

The next day there was another meeting at H.P.B.'s place, The Lamasery, in which Mr. Felt lectured again. During this meeting the idea of a Society was more definitely developed, sixteen people handing in their names for that purpose. A committee of three was appointed to draft a Constitution and Bylaws.

A third lecture was given by him on September 13 at the same place, and during this meeting the name of the Theosophical Society was agreed upon.

Mr. Felt was elected as Vice-President of the Society, but failed to keep his promise. In Col. Olcott's words, "he never showed us so much as the wag of the tail of a vanishing elemental".[7]

According to historian Josephine Ransom, "Felt drifted out of The Society. He was in England in 1877 and proposed the formation of a Society for occult research, with himself as President. Nothing came of this proposal".[8]

Boris de Zirkoff wrote:

J. W. Bouton intended publishing a large volume outlingin Felt's discoveries, but this venture apparently did not eventuate, and only a most elaborate prospectus of this forthcoming work survives.[9]

Additional resources

Articles

Notes

  1. George H Felt in the U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865.
  2. 1861 New York, Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900.
  3. [http://www.fifthnewyork.com/history.html "Zouave History" in FifthNewYork.com website.
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_New_York_Volunteer_Infantry "5th New York Volunteer Infantry"] in Wikipedia.
  5. George Henry Felt at Signal Corps Association website.
  6. George Henry Felt in the Pennsylvania, Veterans Burial Cards, 1777-2012.
  7. The First Leaf of T.S. History by Henry S. Olcott
  8. Josephine Ransom, A Short History of The Theosophical Society (Adyar, Madras, India: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1938), 111.
  9. Boris de Zirkoff, "Felt, George H." H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings Volume I (Wheaton, Illinois: Theosophical Press, 1966), 463.