1770 — Oct 20, storm, maritime losses off coasts of MA, NH and possibly RI — ~100
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 7-22-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–100 Colonial Sense. “New England Weather. The Storm of October 20, 1770.” Cites Perley.
–100 Perley, Sidney. Historic Storms of New England. Salem, MA: Salem Press, 1891, p. 91.
— 2 Captain Benjamin Parson and crewman; schooner off Thatcher’s Isl., MA
— 1 Skipper of schooner driven onto rocks eastern point of Duck Island, MA
— 1 Body of fisherman washed onto beach between Nantasket and Hingham, MA.
–40-50 Plymouth, MA. Sixty-one vessels driven to shore.
— 11 Fishing schooners from Rye lost in or off the bay at Portsmouth, NH.
Narrative Information
Perley: “One of the most violent and destructive storms of wind and rain that ever occurred on the New England coast prevailed on Saturday, October 20, 1770. It began Friday night and continued most of the following day, the wind blowing from the north-northeast.
“At noon the tide rose to an extraordinary height, being greater than any that had occurred since the famous tide of 1723, and within a foot as high as that. The tide floated off vast quantities of salt hay from the marshes of Lynn and towns south of Boston, also lumber, wood, and many other things from wharves, and by wetting spoiled valuable stores of salt and sugar. The wind blew down stores, barns and sheds, unroofed houses, and tore up fences and trees. Along the coast it caused a large number of vessels to be wrecked and many lives to be lost. The principal damage was of course done along those shores that lay most exposed to the sweep of the wind. The coasts of Maine and Connecticut were so sheltered that but little if any injury was done in those parts.
“Off the Isles of Shoals, fourteen schooners were engaged in fishing when the storm came on. One of these, a small vessel, belonging to the Shoals, Richard Randall, skipper, with four men on board, was anchored as soon as the gale was upon them, but the wind blew and the waves beat so furiously that the only way of escape that seemed open to them was to lessen as much as possible the surface upon which the wind could exert its force. The mainmast was thereupon cut away, but before this could be done the anchor had been lost, and the vessel was driven through the merciless sea until the wind abated and the storm was past. They were soon afterward overtaken by a sloop from Maine which towed them into the harbor of Salem, Mass. Two of the schooners off the Shoals were driven ashore at Cape Ann, and the men saved. Another, belonging to Kittery, Benjamin Parsons, skipper, was staved to pieces on the rocks near Thatcher’s island, and the captain and one of the men were drowned. Still another was driven on the eastern point of Duck island, and dashed to pieces. The skipper was drowned, but the rest of the men got ashore in safety, though their legs, arms and other parts of their bodies were very much bruised. Several vessels were riding at anchor in the Shoals road, and they were sunk at their moorings. Three or four other small schooners were lost off the Shoals in the same storm.
“In the bay at Portsmouth, N. H., two schooners from Rye were out fishing, and were seen about sunset Friday night, but were never again heard from. On one of the vessels were six men, John Sanders and his son John, John Yeaton, William Thomas and two others and two boys; and on the other were Samuel Sanders, Joshua Foss, Samuel Sanders, jr., and two boys. Six of the men left wives and a number of children. How many wives were made widows and children orphans by this storm is not known, but the number must have been large. In the joy and glow of youth and the strength of manhood, the men sailed out from the town, and the widows and the fatherless day after day eagerly watched the offing hoping against hope to witness the approach of the vessels on which their loved ones had gone out; but all in vain….
“A new ship, Captain Dunlap, master, left Newburyport as the storm came on, and was driven on Plum island. While pursuing its wayward course it struck a sloop belonging to Newbury, and stove it to pieces.
“At Salem, Mass., the wind prostrated fences, tore up trees, and injured bridges. On the south shore of North river, for a distance of mile or more, firewood, timber, all sorts of lumber, as boards, shingles and plank, also staves, barrels, hogsheads, canoes, boats, and other articles belonging to many different persons were so promiscuously thrown together that the owners could not ascertain which of them were each one’s particular property. About fifty cords of wood and fifteen or sixteen hundred bushels of sand for scrubbing floors were carried off from Mr. Barr’s wharf at the North bridge. At the south side of the town, where most of the business was then done, the confusion and destruction were much greater, vast quantities of lumber of various kinds and many boats being violently driven to the opposite shore. All the wharves were overflowed, and salt, sugar, and other perishable articles in the storehouses, of which there was a great amount, were destroyed by the water. The bridges over Forest river, one being on the same site as the present bridge, at the lead mills, and the other farther up the stream, were so much damaged that they were impassable. A large bridge at Danversport was also totally mined. At Salem much damage was done to the vessels in the harbor and at the wharves. A schooner of large size broke away from her mooring, and dashed up against North bridge, being kept off the top of it with difficulty. The bridge was considerably injured. Another schooner, which was fastened at a wharf farther down the stream, also broke her cables and drove over a small sandy beach up on the grassy upland. Still another schooner of nearly eighty tons burden, that had lately arrived from the West Indies, broke away from the wharf and was driven in a similar manner up on the land to so great a height that it lay with its keel considerably above the usual high-water mark. In the southern section of the harbor were anchored a ship, a snow,1 a brig, and nine other vessels. They were driven from their anchorage, and forced up Forest river toward Captain Gardner’s mills, which then occupied the site of the lead mills. Several of these vessels were laden, and ready to sail for the Straits and the West Indies. The brig, which was commanded by Captain Warren, and a schooner by Captain Wather were much damaged. Another schooner, commanded by Captain Motley, was driven so far on the land that it seemed impossible for the waves and wind to have performed the feat. The schooner of Capt. Samuel Webb was forced from its wharf across the harbor, and some distance up on the land of the opposite shore. With great difficulty the other vessels were prevented from leaving the wharves. Only one ship in the harbor out-rode the storm successfully, and that was the Antelope, which was commanded by Captain Putnam.
“In the harbor of Marblehead, twenty-one brigs, schooners and sloops were cast ashore, but none of them were very much injured.
“Boston, most of the wharves were overflowed, much lumber was floated away, and quantities of sugar, salt, and other stores were destroyed. The water came up King street (now State street), as far as the head-tavern of Admiral Vernon, into Dock square, about the drawbridge, and into the streets nearest the seaside at the northern and southern portions of the town, so far that it ran not only into the cellars, but into the shops and rooms of dwelling houses, compelling several families to retire into their chambers. Some of the stores on the wharves were almost filled with water. Fifteen or sixteen vessels were cast ashore on the several islands in the harbor, but few of them were materially injured. A schooner, with no one on board, was driven on Deer island, it being supposed that it had drifted from Lynn or Marblehead. The men-of war and other shipping in the harbor received little or no damage, A day or two after the storm was over, a chest was found floating in the bay. It was brought on shore, and found to contain a number of papers, among them being private accounts with Hezekiah Blanchard of Boston in 1759, and copies of several orders from Secretary Addington to a committee of the General Court bearing dates 1706, 1707 and 1708, for printing some bills of credit for the Province. The chest was carried to Cape Cod. Where it came from, and to whom it had belonged, was a mystery.
“A ship from Glasgow, but last from Newbury, commanded by Captain Dun, was lying at anchor in Nantasket road when the storm began. The cable that held it parted and it was driven upon the flats in Braintree bay, but the masts being cut away it was prevented from driving farther ashore.
“All the small vessels at Hingham were carried on shore, and one or two of about forty-five tons burden were floated upon a wharf, which common high tides never covered.
“Between Nantasket and Hingham a small fishing boat was sunk. The pump which it carried, a mast that had been cut away, and a boat or canoe came ashore, the other mast that the craft carried, holding to the rigging of the boat. The body of a fisherman washed ashore on the beach, but it was not identified. He was of large size, about six feet in height, wearing thick boots and an under and outer jacket. In his trousers’ pocket was found a fish-hook, and a small knife with two letters cut in the handle.
“At Nantasket, Captain Higgins, commanding a sloop bound to Connecticut, was obliged to cut away his mast and bowsprit; and the captain of another sloop was forced to do the same. A ship bound to Africa, commanded by Captain Bennet, was the only vessel at Nantasket that successfully rode out the gale….
“At Plymouth, Mass., many of the stores were blown down, and considerable other damage was done by the wind. Sixty-one vessels were driven ashore there, and from forty to fifty lives were lost. One of the vessels was bound from Rhode Island lo Boston, commanded by Captain Ellis. Another was a new schooner of about twenty or thirty tons burden, built wholly of black birch, castaway at Monument Point, and the vessel, with the men and everything on board was lost, bodies of two of the men being found on the sand near the wreck, probably having washed ashore. In a pocket of the jacket on one of them was found a small leather pocket-book, which contained some papers, very much torn, — one being a bill of sale of the schooner Defiance from Lemuel Lattimore to Damon Lattimore of Mount Desert, and another a letter, dated at Mount Desert October 8, 1770, signed by Lemuel Lattimore and Lucretia Lattitmore, and directed to their mother at New London, whose christian name (that being the only one discovered) was Ruth.
“At the back side of Eastham, on Cape Cod, a vessel, commanded by Captain Scott, and bound from Turk’s island to Boston, being laden with salt, was driven ashore. A Rhode Island sloop, which was homeward bound from a whaling trip, was wrecked at nearly the same place. Another sloop, belonging to Plymouth, was driven ashore at Race point. The people that were on these vessels were all saved. A whaling schooner, which belonged in Wareham, was beaten to pieces on a sand bar at the entrance to the harbor of Chatham, the crew and oil being saved.
“At Tarpaulin cove, on Martha’s Vineyard, a brig belonging in Providence, R. I, and a schooner in Newport, both returning from whaling, were also cast away.
“As far inland as Providence, R. I., the storm did some damage to the small vessels, and history relates the wreck at Fisher’s island of a sloop commanded by Captain Vredenburg, that had come up from Newport, the greater part of the cargo being lost.
“At Newport, R. I., the spindle on the tower of Trinity church was broken off a little below the upper ball, but was prevented from falling by the lightning rods on the building. Though the town was not much exposed to the storm, two or three stores and stables were blown down, and several vessels were driven ashore, some of them receiving considerable injury, but none were lost.
“This storm was more disastrous to the commerce on our coast than any other had been up to this date. Many valuable cargoes went to the bottom of the sea, more than a hundred vessels were wrecked, and a hundred lives lost.”
Sources
Colonial Sense. “New England Weather. The Storm of October 20, 1770.” Cites Perley. Accessed 7-22-2024 at: http://www.colonialsense.com/Society-Lifestyle/Signs_of_the_Times/New_England_Weather/The_Storm_of_October_20,_1770.php
Perley, Sidney. Historic Storms of New England. Salem, MA: The Salem Press, 1891. Google Preview accessed 7-22-2024 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=twkAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false