Mumler then left his job as an engraver to pursue spirit photography full-time, taking advantage of the large number of people who had lost relatives in the American Civil War.

Today, Mumler's photographs are recognized as fakes but they circulated widely during the last quarter of the 19th century and were marketed as objects of belief and visual curiosities both within and beyond the spiritualist movement.

Before beginning his career as a spirit photographer, Mumler worked as a jewellery engraver in Boston,[3] practicing amateur photography in his spare time.

[7] He died on May 16, 1884, and his obituary focused on his photographic contributions in general, making only a passing reference to the earlier spirit photography scandal in the last line.

[4] Paranormal researcher Melvyn Willin, in his book Ghosts Caught on Film, claims that the photo was taken around 1869, and that Mumler did not know that his sitter was Lincoln, instead believing her to be a 'Mrs Tundall'.

[4] One photograph, once developed, apparently showed Herrod in a trance surrounded by the spirits of Europe, Africa and America.

[4] Other well-known sitters include Moses A. Dow, editor of The Waverley Magazine, whose photograph apparently showed the spirit of his assistant Mabel Warren, and Fanny Conant, a well-known medium from Boston, apparently photographed with the ghost of her brother Chas.