The Winter Without End

Winter's Over! Charles Wilder and his daughter Dorothea in an end-of-the-season scene in North Belgrade in 1908.

"In May, buds and fruit were frozen; ice formed half an inch thick and corn was killed. Cornfields were again and again replanted until deemed too late. In June, almost every green thing was killed, and fruit was nearly all destroyed. Snow fell to the depth of 10 inches in Vermont, seven in Maine, three in the interior of New York, and also in Massachusetts. There were but a few warm days, and very little rain fell. The wind blew steadily from the north, cold and fierce."

The recent winter of 2002-03 was a season cold and long, but by no means the worst. According to chronicles in "Turning Back," stories of the Mt. Vernon-Vienna Area by Beverly Wight Smith, "in 1816 there was frost every month of the year. On July 5, ice was formed as thick as common window glass in New England, New York, and some parts of Pennsylvania. August, too, was a cheerless month. Ice was formed half an inch in thickness. Corn was so frozen that a large part of it was cut down and dried for fodder.

"Europe suffered during that strange year, too. On August 30 snow fell at Barnet 40 miles from London. Papers received from England stated 'that it would be remembered by the present generation that the year 1816 was a year in which there was no summer.'"

During this period, "one section of Vienna became known as 'Egypt,' and today that part of town is still referred to by that name and the nearby pond is called Egypt Pond. In 1816 quite a lot of crops in that part of town were saved from the prevailing frosts, so that was where people came for seed corn and wheat the next year. . . ."

As for Belgrade: "The people of Belgrade suffered great hardships...Not even in the days of the first settlers, 25 years before, when hunting and fishing as well as tilling the soil , were depended upon to furnish food, and when what few store supplies the settlers had were brought upon their backs many miles through the woods from Hallowell and Gardiner, was there more suffering or privation among the inhabitants. Paul Yeaton planted several acres of corn, and he was regarded as a very fortunate man indeed when he harvested 12 bushels because that was as much as the total of the combined efforts of everyone else in town.

"When the spring of 1817 finally rolled around, prices were exceedingly high. The price of hay was $20 a ton and higher; wheat 15 shillings a bushel; potatoes 4 shillings, and corn $2. Hundreds of residents migrated to Ohio and Pennsylvania, and others went to Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. It is believed that about 15,000 of Maine's scanty population went West that spring and it was said that some settlers sold their farms for as little as $10, and some places were abandoned outright.

"In the vicinity of Belgrade Lakes in May of 1817, there was a two-day vendue (from the French vendre, 'to sell'), as auctions were then called. About 19 or 20 families had decided to migrate to Ohio, so they agreed to hold a union auction at a meeting house which they had been in the process of building, and although not completed the frame was up and boarded. Two men were sent out on horseback to ride far and wide, announcing it as the 'great vendue.'

"A big crowd came. Some were accommodated at the settlement, and as many as 50 camped about the meetinghouse, the interior of which was filled with various kinds of household goods, of the different families, in separate lots. Early the following morning, cattle, colts, sheep, and geese were driven there and confined in hastily built yards where people could look them over. Dogs, cats, and other pets were offered as gifts to anyone who would take them.

"Several old people who either did not want to leave Maine, or were believed too infirm to bear the journey were 'bid off' to resident pioneers who would engage for a money consideration (one family received $100) to take good care of them and see them through life."

They're staying put proved wise since warmer winters returned. There has never been another such season as 1816, although in 1907, 1945, and 1967 there were heavy snowstorms in May.

The most likely cause of the 1816 year round freeze was the volcanic eruption of 13,000-foot Mt. Tamboro, on the Island of Sumbawa near Bali, East Indies. One of the greatest eruptions in history, it took 56,000 lives and blew dust into the stratosphere in quantities that dimmed the sun's effectiveness the whole cold year.

Author/historian/playright Beverly Wight Smith's delightful one-act plays will be presented by the Mt. Vernon-Vienna Historical Society on July 24, 25 and 26. This season's original scripts will be: "Aunt Bridget Baker, The Matchmaker," and "Dinah's Diamond Ring."