1811 — Dec 23-24, Winter Storm/Blizzard, maritime losses, northern Long Island, NY– ~20
–~20 North shore of Long Island (mariners from foundered or grounded vessels). Prime.
—>1 Sloop Rosette, Smithtown Bay, off Smithtown, Long Island. Chapman, p. 600.[1]
—>3 Vessel and crew of Capt. Conkling (including Capt. Conkling). [We assume >3.]
Narrative Information
Hedges: “The evening of December 23d, 1811, was wild, hazy, and with some fog…. Somewhere about one or two o’clock that night commenced a sudden, terrific north east snow storm. In Thomson’s History of Long Island, Vol. I, p. 276, it is stated: ‘An immense amount of property was destroyed and many lives lost. It is supposed that more than sixty vessels were cast ashore upon the north side of Long Island; most of which were destroyed or so greatly injured as to be of little value. Whole crews were lost; the mercury fell to eight degrees before the storm abated. The snow continued to fall, the wind increased almost to a tornado and swept over the plains with desperate intensity. It raged for twenty-four hours….Many vessels were driven upon Lloyd’s Neck, Eaton’s Neck and Gardiner’s Island. Thirty-six bilged and stranded vessels were counted in one day. The day previous had been remarkably pleasant, and the transition from warm to cold was so great that in many instances human beings perished, on land as well as on water. Sheep expired in great numbers, domestic fowl were frozen to death and…cattle were overcome by the severity of the cold. Almost every vessel from Hurlgate to Montauk was driven on the shore.’
“Capt. Conkling and his vessel and crew were lost in Long Island Sound at this time. He was a resident of Amagansett. Hence old people called this the ‘Conkling Storm,’ and sometimes the ‘Christmas Storm.’….” (Hedges. A History of the Town of East-Hampton, N.Y. 1897, pp. 153-154.)
Ludlum: “The Day-Before-Christmas Storm of 1811 along the shores of Long Island Sound possessed all the elements which would now qualify for the designation of ‘Eastern blizzard’ — near-zero temperatures, gale force winds, and thick, driving snow….
Prime: “The remarkable snow-storm of Dec. 23rd, 1811, was the most destructive of both life and property of any that is known to have occurred on the northern shore. The preceding day was remarkably warm and fair. The change took place suddenly in the night, the mercury falling almost to zero. A snow-storm commenced, accompanied with a tremendous wind, which lasted without intermission for 24 hours. Between 50 and 60 vessels foundered in the Sound, or were driven on the northern shore of the island in that terrible night. In some cases, the entire crews perished, while in others, those who survived, were objects of greater commiseration than the dead, being horribly frozen. The writer can speak with entire confidence on this subject, as he was an eyewitness to some of the ravages of that awful tempest. About 20 perished within 10 miles of his residence, 4 of whom, from one vessel, he assisted in burying, on Christmas day; and in administering to the necessities of 3 wretched survivors of the same crew. The bodies taken up from the shore were completely covered with ice of an inch in thickness, through which the features of the face appeared in all the ghastliness of death. That storm will never be forgotten by the last surviver [sic.] of that generation….” (Prime. A History of Long Island. 1845, pp. 39-40.)
Sources
Chapman Publishing Co. Portrait and Biographical Record of Suffolk County, (Long Island) New York. New York and Chicago: Chapman Publishing Co, 1897. Google digitized. Accessed 10-27-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=t_5HAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Hedges, Henry P. A History of the Town of East-Hampton, N.Y., Including an Address Delivered at the Celebration of the Bi-Centennial Anniversary of its Settlement in 1849. Sag-Harbor: J. H. Hunt, Printer, 1897. Google digitized. Accessed 10-27-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=woQ-AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Ludlum, David M. Early American Winters 1604-1820. Boston: American Meteorological Society, 1966.
Prime, Nathaniel S. A History of Long Island, From its Firs Settlement by Europeans, to the Year 1845…in Two Parts. New York: Robert Carter, 1845. Google digitized. Accessed 10-27-2017 at:
https://books.google.com/books?id=e_IH2lYdHecC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[1] We do not know how many people died when the Rosette was lost on Dec 24. Our source tells the story of one person on board that day, a merchant and farmer by the name of Samuel Hutchinson. (Chapman Publishing Co. Portrait and Biographical Record of Suffolk County, (Long Island) New York. 1897, p. 600.)