DAVENPORT, Ira E. (1839 - 1911). Ira Davenport Elementary School Certificate. Buffalo: Jewett, Thomas & Co. Printers, 1850. Decorative elementary school certificate issued by Buffalo New York Public School No. 7 to Ira E. Davenport for being "perfect, at this school, in attendance, deportment, and recitations for forty days...." Single 4to sheet, with a date of presentation inked on the bottom most line as April 25th 1850.

Two years before this certificate was issued, the Fox Sisters of Hydesville, New York, unwittingly started the modern spiritualism movement. A few years later, Ira Davenport and his younger brother William would fan the flames of the movement with their incredible manifestations and seances, which rocketed them to worldwide fame on stages across the globe.

Edges ragged, chipped, and stained.