Revision to "Nelson Barbour"

This fragment of revision to Nelson Barbour: The Millennium's Forgotten Prophet is posted for your comments and observations:

            As with his childhood, there is little record of Barbour’s adventures in Australia. He left the United States through an east coast port. New York City is most probable. And we can date this to 1851 or 1852 based on a newspaper advertisement for his services as a physician. He told the Rochester Union and Advertiser that he preached in all of the Australian colonies. This implies that he traveled somewhat regularly. There are three ship’s records for a Mr. Barber of the correct age traveling as a mining supplies merchant between the various colonies. Lacking a first name or initials, we cannot firmly attach these to Nelson Barbour. A Mr. Barber appears in Australian newspaper files in the two years before he left for England. This Mr. Barber was being sued by several for defalcation. New York property records show property transfers to a N. H. Barbour in the eighteen months before he left for England. There are, however, at least two other N. H. Barbours living in New York State in that period. So while we could imagine a very dim and dirty story with Nelson Barbour at its center, without a firm identification in the records we would craft fiction and not history.

            In the first edition of this work, I suggested how and where he became an electro-physician. The craft, eventually viewed as medical quackery, has since been revived in a more narrow way as part of current medical practice. Originally I suggested [quote paragraph]. Since that was written I discovered several advertisements for Barbour’s services. These suggest that his studies were primarily in Europe. Barbour made wild claims throughout his lifetime and was not averse to making misleading, sometimes false claims. [continue]