The Clothes-Cutting Poltergeist of Wooster

In 1871, the Hoffman family in Wooster, Ohio were attacked by a mysterious entity they called “IT,” which, in addition to the usual poltergeist tricks of knockings and throwing items, cut up the family’s clothing, sometimes while still on the wearer.  What was the explanation? Hostile spirits? Spiritualist mediums run amok? Or the physical manifestation of family dysfunction?