THE DARK DAY OF 1780 by D. T. Taylor

Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · May 26, 1853

THE DARK DAY OF 1780.

By D. T. Taylor

"THERE shall be signs in the sun and in the moon." Luke. xxi, 25. "The sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine." Isa. xiii, 10. "The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light." Matt. xxiv, 29.

"A something strikingly awful shall forewarn that the world will come to an end, and that the last day is even at the door."—Martin Luther.

"The moon shines with a borrowed light, and therefore if the sun from whom she borrows her light is turned into darkness she must fail of course and become bankrupt."—Matthew Henry.

The following description of the extraordinary dark day was given by Dr. Adams, on the 27th of May, 1780, eight days after it occurred. He writes:

"We had a very extraordinary phenomenon the 19th day of this month. In the morning it was rainy till about 9 o'clock, when the clouds broke away and the sun appeared, but very red. After nine the clouds grew very thick, with the wind from south-west in breezes: at half past ten it was uncommonly dark, the clouds appearing of a yellow hue. At eleven, the public school was dismissed, it being so dark that no person could read or write. It continued to grow darker till twelve, when it was so dark we could not tell one person from another in a room with three large windows in it. In short, it was midnight darkness at noon-day. The fowls went to roost, and there was a strong smell of smoke. It had been very dry for a long time, the wind having been at the east for four or five days, which drove the smoke back to the westward, and when the wind shifted, it brought it all down in a body, which together with the dense clouds, caused the darkness, which lasted till three o'clock P. M., before it again began to grow light.—Thousands of people who could not account for it from natural causes, were greatly terrified, and indeed it cast a universal gloom on the earth. The frogs and night hawks began their notes. At four o'clock the wind shifted to the north-east, which brought the clouds back, and at sunset it was again very dark.—At nine it was a darkness to be felt by more senses than one, as there was a strong smell of soot. Almost every one who happened to be out in the evening, got lost in going home. The darkness was as uncommon in the night, as it was in the day, as the moon had failed the day before."

From Robert Sears' Guide to Knowledge, published in New York, 1844, we extract the following:

"On the 19th of May 1780, an uncommon darkness took place all over New England, and extended to Canada. It continued about fourteen hours, or from ten o'clock in the morning till midnight. The darkness was so great, that people were unable to read common print, or tell the time of the day by their watches, or to dine, or transact their ordinary business without the light of candles. They became dull and gloomy, and some were excessively frightened.—The fowls went to roost. Objects could not be distinguished but at a very little distance, and everything bore the appearance of gloom and night. Similar days have occasionally been known, though inferior in their degree or extent of their darkness. The causes of these phenomena are unknown. They certainly were not the result of eclipses. Many have supposed them to be produced by layers of vapor, some ascending and others descending, so as to intercept the rays of the sun in their passage to the earth. The Winter before the great day above mentioned was the severest Winter ever known in New England. Snow lay about four feet deep the whole time from the middle of November to the middle of April."

I have conversed with two individuals, men of veracity, one a native of Scotland, the other of England, who both testify to the occurrence of this darkness throughout their native countries. All the phenomenon described as attending that memorable day in New England was also witnessed in Great Britain, producing also the same effect and being regarded as a sign of the coming judgment-day. In Scotland it is remembered and referred to as the "Black Saturday."

In 1848, in Thompsonville, Ct., I had an interview with an aged colored man who related that he saw and remembered well that dark day. He was 22 years of age at the time—was then connected with the army and stationed with others at West Point, N. Y. About three weeks previous to the darkness a female in singular attire, and with the demeanor of a prophetess, entered the town announcing coming judgments, and proclaimed everywhere that "the 19th day of May in that year would be the greatest day ever known in North America." The place was filled with officers and soldiers who listened to her warnings, and being very irreligious in their habits, were measurably impressed with a fear of some approaching catastrophe. Avowing that whatever befell the place should also be shared by their mysterious informant, the woman was arrested and placed in custody. Time passed on—the 19th day came and with it the alarming darkness. In the fear which took hold of all, the woman was released. She immediately disappeared from West Point, and was never seen or heard of in the place afterwards, and as none knew her she could not be traced. Such was the tale of our aged Christian friend, who since we saw him has gone from among the living. *

I communicate the above to the Herald, thinking it may interest its readers who are looking for the coming of our Lord.—Advent Herald of April 9th.