Clara Robertson

Clara Robertson Zent (1857 – 1883) was a 19th century clairvoyant and medium. Robertson came to public attention in 1871 when the account of the schoolgirl in Memphis, Tennessee who had seen a ghost became sensationalized in local and national papers. The school, hurt in part by the scandal, closed in 1871. Robertson went on to become a performing clairvoyant and medium in local theaters. She appeared on stage, and offered séances and mediumship services until she died, aged 25,

In the fall of 1870, she started at the Brinkley Female College, a new private girls’ school in Memphis opened in 1868 Robertson came to public attention while a student at Brinkley Female College when she reported seeing a ghost in February 1871. Other girls also reported seeing the ghost. declared Clara Robertson to be a “full-fledged writing medium and clairvoyant,” and that “she sees other spirits…with eyes closed while she is in a state of trance.” led to her local and national notoriety as a spiritualist for a number of years.

Clara also offered séances

Personal life and death In 1876, Robertson met and married widower John Zent, a man of modest means and 33 years her senior. In 1877, the couple had a son, David. Her husband sold lumber and worked various odd jobs and the couple and their son shared a tenement in the Market Street Slums in Pinch District, Memphis.No

Clara died in 1883 of consumption, She was 25