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left to grow up on his own. He taught himself how to read and write, copying letters from printed posters and billboards. 9 At eight years of age he was christened in the Roman Catholic church with the name of Beverly. It must have been a hard life for a parentless child in 1830's New England. In 1837, at the age of twelve, Randolph shipped aboard the brig "Phoebe" in New Bedford as a cabin boy. 10 This was the beginning of a life at sea that lasted for eight years—a period that Randolph would remember as miserable and painful. But the life of a sailor is an education in many things, and when PBR finally came ashore, he was a wiser and stronger man for his experience. During his time at sea, he was bullied and no doubt teased about his mixed blood. His health often suffered, yet he was not beyond playing a prank or two himself on his shipmates, such as substituting a laxative for a prized bottle of rum or spilling hot grease on his tormentors." At sea, he heard many tales of the supernatural during the long watches and his interest in things occult was firmly established. Sea duty took him all over the world and Randolph learned bits of many languages, even becoming fluent in French. It was a brutal, but international education. Finally, at twenty, PBR injured himself in a wood chopping 12 accident and found himself unable to work aboard ship. He came ashore once and for all and, as many sailors have done, wandered aimlessly for several years, seeking his true path. The year that Randolph came ashore, 1848, was the time of the famous Hydesville rappings, which gave birth to the nineteenth century phenomena of Spiritualism. In Hydesville, New York, three sisters named Fox claimed to be in communication with the spirits of the dead. It was widely publicized and soon the possibility of communication with the dead became one of the most widely discussed topics of the day. Randolph, like many of his contemporaries, was fascinated with the subject and studied it intensely. He also studied the doctrines of a Viennese doctor, Franz Anton Mesmer. This was the study of animal magnetism, or mesmerism, which involved making magnetic passes with the hands around the patient's body and the use of a large bath tub containing bottles filled with magnetized water and iron filings, from which protruded iron bars which patients would hold to receive a magnetic charge. Mesmer's theories of magnetism and polarity deeply influenced Randolph, who would later expound his own theories of fluid condensers and volts. After four years of wandering, we find PBR working as a barber in either New York City or a rural New England village, as the case may be. 13 He began speaking before small groups of people on the subject of spiritualism and most likely acted as a medium. However, he eventually condemned mediumistic practices and consequently alienated many of his followers. Or, as he put it, "ten thousand daggers were leveled at his heart, ten thousand tongues defamed him." 14 This was a great turning point in his life for at this