By Isabel Morse Maresh
June 4, 1992
The recent weather reinforces the old adage, "If you don't like the weather in Maine, wait a minute!" Having two days in the high 90s, followed by frosty mornings, reminds me of the tale of "eighteen hundred and froze to death."
Eaton's Annals of Warren and a 1934 newspaper clipping give firsthand accounts of that year. It was the year 1816 when frost and snow were reported every month of the year. Many of the early settlers were "poor as church mice," and their livelihood depended on the weather, soil, and crops.
The settlers had been plagued during that generation. In 1805, a canker-rash appeared, killing children and a few adults. An insect destroyed nearly all the spruce and hemlock in 1804 and 1805. The cattle developed a disease called "hoof-ail." In October of 1804, the sky was illuminated by an unusual display of the Aurora Borealis. On Feb. 6, 1895, the area felt a slight earthquake.
Then on June 16, 1806, a total eclipse occurred. The day started cloudless. As the day wore on, it became gloomy. The chickens went to roost, and birds sang evening songs. Many people got colds from watching the phenomenon. Dew was seen in the air and stars in the sky. The superstitious German settlers in Waldoboro covered their wells since they believed dew from the eclipse would poison them, as well as the cattle eating the dew-covered grass.
The War of 1812 had been hard on the settlers. Many of the coastal settlers were seaman and their ships had been seized and burned by the enemy. Husbands, sons, and brothers had been killed or were in enemy prisons.
In 1816, spring came early, but the spring showers were so heavy and frequent that the farmers could not plant their crops. They claimed the planting season had been irregular since the eclipse. Crops were essential to their livelihood. The year before, on May 19, it had snowed so hard that those who were plowing in the fields had to stop. The next year, April 1816, a heavy snow fell again and people sleighed for a week. By the end of the month, there was a warm spell. But it became cold again in May, with the rain freezing on the fruit trees, which were beginning to blossom.
The first week in June the ground froze yet again. Wind, hail, and snow a foot deep, with higher drifts, prevailed. Birds died, men put on their "greatcoats" and mittens. The corn and potatoes were destroyed. At the end of the month, apple trees were again blossoming. A cucumber bug was destroyed by the cold and not seen again for 10 years.
The corn, just starting, was again frozen on the 8th and 9th of July. Haying was started in August, but the crop was very light. There were several frosts that month. A heavy frost was reported on Sept. 11.
The corn crop was a failure. A weak crop of wheat and potatoes drove the prices from 40 cents per bushel to 75 cents a bushel the next spring. Though the rains had been heavy in May, no rain fell again until September.
After the sheep were sheared, it was so cold that the fleeces were tied back onto them, according to one report. The settlers built fires around their crops to ward off the cold. The livestock, cattle and sheep, would have perished, had it not been for leftover hay from the previous year. Wild roots and herbs were cooked and eaten. The settlers tried eating porcupines and other animals.
The next spring started slowly, striking fear in the hearts of the settlers. April of 1817 had a few warm days. There was frost in the ground in May, while July and August were wet. This was the beginning of several years of good crops, but some of the settlers were already giving up their claim and moving west to Ohio, Louisiana, and Missouri. Some of them went back to Massachusetts and other more southern states.
So 1816 lived on in the memories of the settlers as "eighteen hundred and froze to death!"
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