Apparition of the Virgin

From: The Cincinnati Daily Gazette
Date: March 10, 1882

Apparition of the Virgin

The Wonderful Spectacle Said to Have Been Seen in Troy.

From the New York Sun.
Troy, March 5. - In an alley in the rear of First street, below Adams street, this City, is a one story wood building, in which Thomas Jones, a man possessed of more than average intelligence, and two aged females reside.  The house is an unpretentious one, but for a few days it has possessed wonderful attraction for persons of a superstitious turn of mind.
It is alleged that at about 5 o'clock every afternoon a picture of the Virgin Mary, with a child in her arms, appears on one of the whitewashed walls.  The apparition is at first almost invisible, but gradually grows plainer until it becomes distinctly visible.  When the report was first circulated, many persons scoffed at it, but their indifference did not deter others from visiting the house.  These curious people assert that they also saw the wondrous vision, and they expressed the belief that there was something supernatural about it.  Intense excitement followed, and since Friday Mr. Jones' residence has been besieged by hundreds of persons, many of whom have thus far been unable to gratify their curiosity.
The correspondent of the Sun called at the house this evening, and after a little delay was ushered into a scantily furnished sitting room.  On making the object of the visit known, Mr. Jones was at first inclined to be reticent, but the correspondent suggesting that there could be no reasonable ground for believing the story of the apparition, Mr. Jones jumped to his feet, exclaiming, "But I know better sir.  I have seen it with my own eyes several times."  Then, pointing to the west wall of the room, Mr. Jones asserted that for many days a well executed picture of the Virgin Mary, with a babe in her arms, and with a cross and the letters "I.H.S." a little to the right appeared in figures of fire.  Mr. Jones could give no reason for the apparition, and seemed to be alarmed at its frequent appearance.  While admitting that he was a strict believer in the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, he denied that he was at all superstitious, and declared that when his attention was first called to the apparition by his relatives, he tried to laugh away their fears.  Taking a lighted lamp, the correspondent critically examined the whitewashed wall, and while he could see noting resembling a picture of the Virgin, a rude outline of the cross and the letters "I.H.S." were visible.  As the reporter returned the light to the table the women in the room suddenly fell on their knees.  In turning his attention to them his eye fell on the wall.  The spot he had been examining seemed to be a blaze of light.  He could discern no picture of the Virgin Mary, but the cross was very plain.  The apparition lasted a few moments only.  It is possible that it is the work of mischievous neighbors, but a careful search about the premises revealed noting to warrant such a belief.
The crowd about Mr. Jones' place this afternoon was so large that it was necessary to station a policeman there.  A thorough investigation of the alleged apparition is to be made by persons who manifest considerable interest in it.  The majority of Trojans attribute the phenomenon to phosphorous in the whitewashed walls.  Many Roman Catholics of the lower class have organized into bands of relic hunters, and by their frequent visits to the house, Mr. Jones' domicile is suffering, the visitors insisting on carving pieces from the woodwork and other material of which the house is built.