"The darkness of the following evening was probably as gross as ever has been observed since the Almighty fiat gave birth to light. . . . If every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable shades, or struck out of existence, the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes was equally invisible with the blackest velvet." --Letter of Samuel Tenney (an eyewitness), dated Dec., 1785, in Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Vol. 1, 1792.

     "The second is that of the moon's turning to blood; this I have not seen, but, from information, I have reason to believe it did take place between 2 o'clock and day break in the morning of the same night after which the sun was darkened, which was said to appear as a clotter of blood; and it is the more probable, as that night, before the moon appeared, was as dark, in proportion, as the day, and of course would give the moon an extraordinary appearance-not suffering her to give her light." --Benjamin Gorton, A View of Spiritual, or Anti-typical Babylon (Troy [N.Y.]: the Author, 1808), p. 73.

     A news item from Providence, R.I., dated May 20, in The Pennsylvania Evening Post (Philadelphia), June 6, 1780, p. 62, reported that for a three day period the moon in certain areas "was of a reddish-copper colour, somewhat resembling her appearance at the time of her being totally eclipsed."