William Miller

Apocalyptic Abolitionism & The End of Slavery

May 7, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In March 1844, Melissa Botsford of Meriden, Connecticut, defiantly left her local Methodist church because it supported slavery and other “sins” that permeated America.

Botsford was among one hundred thousand other abolitionists who abandoned their evangelical churches throughout the decade. These protesters came out with a stern apocalyptic warning: God would soon judge America ― and its churches ― for the sins of slavery and race prejudice. [Read more…] about Apocalyptic Abolitionism & The End of Slavery

“Locusts of the East”: The Yankee Invasion of New York

March 9, 2024 by Guest Contributor 3 Comments

New York by 1820 was becoming a “colony from New England” to use the phrase of President Timothy Dwight of Yale. The “Puritan Pope,” as he was some times called, estimated that 60 to 67 percent of the people of New York had originated in the “land of steady habits.”

The few thousand Puritans who had established a new Zion around Boston in the 1630s were a remarkably energetic, prolific, and self-assertive people. The thin soils on the hilly lands, the harsh winters, and the stern theology of John Calvin created a distinct community spirit and shaped a unique character. [Read more…] about “Locusts of the East”: The Yankee Invasion of New York

“Strange things about Mrs. Simeon Hays,” The Woman That Lived Without Eating

December 27, 2022 by John Warren 2 Comments

Night and day for three full weeks six well-dressed men would take shifts standing watch over Betsey Hays in her bed. They planned to stay with her two at a time in her one room cabin and make careful scientific notes. For Betsey, who spent most of her time tormented by uncontrollable bodily contortions and seizures, it was something she was used to.

Over the past two years, thousands of people had come to Chestertown in Northern Warren County to stand over her as she suffered. [Read more…] about “Strange things about Mrs. Simeon Hays,” The Woman That Lived Without Eating

The End Is Near: William Miller’s Apocalypse

December 9, 2018 by Jack Kelly 3 Comments

Although speculation about the end of the world has become a growth industry in recent decades, the first modern prediction of the Apocalypse was issued in Upstate New York during the 1830s by a mild-mannered farmer named William Miller.

Born in 1782, Miller grew up on a farm in the tiny hamlet of Low Hampton on the Vermont border east of Lake George. His mother’s family were devout Baptists, but young Bill followed his more skeptical father and became a Deist. While not rejecting religion, Deists discounted the notion that God interfered in earthly affairs. [Read more…] about The End Is Near: William Miller’s Apocalypse

William Miller

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