19th Century

— 9-24 Nine known and 15 believed drowned at Sullivans Island. USACE, p.15.
— >23 Fraser, Walter J. Jr. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms… 2006, p. 66.
–15-20 Letter to Philadelphia newspaper, in Rubillo. Hurricane Destruction in [SC], 2006.
— 15 Jordan, Dukes, and Rosengarten. A History of Storms on the South Carolina Coast. P.22.

Narrative Information

Dunn and Miller: “1813 Aug 27-28 S.C. …Extreme [intensity]…Tides very high, many drowned.” (Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised). 1964, p. 311.)

Fraser: “….At the opposite end of the harbor, on Sullivan’s Island, where Fort Moultrie was located, the ocean surged over the sand dunes and covered the island in four to five feet of seawater. Swirling waters swept furniture out of dwellings. Fierce winds knocked over twelve houses that were carried away into the ocean. Four Moultrie was the only place of refuge that was not awash or threatened with inundation. Soldiers hurried to save families in danger of being swept away. But they could not rescue everyone needing assistance. Nineteen people drowned, among them five of six young white women in one house and ‘seven or eight negroes.’ The bodies of some were strewn among the wreckage of homes, furniture, and small boats. They provided ‘an awful remembrance of the horrors the [survivors] had escaped.’ Deaths on Sullivan’s Island and in the city reached at least twenty-three, but this was only a ‘reckoning’ of the minimum number of fatalities from the tropical cyclone at sea and ashore….” (Fraser, Walter J. Jr. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms at Sea and Ashore. 2006, p. 66.)

Jordan: “1813 Aug. 27-28 (3) …Landfall near Charleston, where tide surged beyond 12 feet; Sullivan’s Island virtually submerged; 15 lives lost; damage to property in Charleston estimated at $2 million – buildings, wharves, and ships: [lists over 29 vessels – ships, schooners, barges, sloop, tender, and boats].”

Naval History and Heritage Command:
“Charleston, South Carolina, Hurricanes of August and September 1813.

“Hurricane Damage to the Southeastern Stations

“Over a three-week period in August and September 1813, in the middle of a war against Great Britain, two successive hurricanes rocked the naval stations at Charleston, South Carolina, and St. Marys, Georgia. . Damage these gales caused would hamper naval operations along the southeastern coast well into the new year.

“Captain John H. Dent to Secretary of the Navy Jones

The Honorable William Jones Charleston 28 Augt 18

Sir,

It is with regret, I have to inform you, that the weather for some time past has indicated a gale–which came on yesterday about noon from the N.E. and by 9. P.M. increased to a hurricane, which blew with greater violence until 12, than I have ever recollected, to have experienced; the City and wharves present this morning a melancholy aspect; it is impossible as yet to give any idea of the damage, but it has been greater than that Sustained in 1804, the Nonsuch, Carolina, and Hospital Ship, are the only vessels safe, the latter dismasted, some of the barges in seeking safety in the docks were carried in the streets, with the general Wreck, and are much damaged, the tide rose so high that Ships are now on the wharves–the beautiful new Bridge over Ashley river is entirely destroyed, and washed away. the Prison Ship parted her cable and is now on shore at James Island, a wreck of a vessel on fort reef–not Known whether the people on board were saved….

Rubillo: “The storm of August 1813

“….the ‘dreadful storm’ of August 27 and 28, 1813…was one of the most destructive storms to hit post-Columbian South Carolina to its date. As described by one eyewitness writing after the storm from Charleston to a newspaper in Philadelphia

The very foundations of the houses shook. My bedstead had so much motion, that it was not till morn and with incessant fatigue that I got to sleep. In the morning I made a sortie from my lodgings to survey the ravages the storm had made, and the sight was distressing. The trees which afforded a shelter from the scorching rays of the sun were blown down, and lay in every direction in the streets. Slates, tiles, window shutters, signs &c. were scattered over the pavements in quantities.

When I reached the wharves the sight was distressing beyond expression. Every wharf was tore up and at least, one half destroyed. Some were entirely washed away, the logs and timbers washed up into the streets and against the stores; where shallops, boats, shingles, hogsheads, spars, and every individual article that was in or near the wharves was washed promiscuously one over the other, and crushed to pieces.

Every vessel appeared to be more or less damaged, some were thrown partly in the wharves, some sunk in the river, others at the wharves, some were up in the very streets; one large ship was driven against the market and stove part of it in, the smaller vessels were all either up on top of the wharves, or sunk along side.

The guard ship and prison ship drove ashore in James Island, high and dry. I have not heard yet whether any prisoners escaped. Nearly half a mile of Charleston bridge washed away, and drifted on James Island. For want of boats there is no information from Sullivan’s Island till the afternoon. I learned that 12 dwelling houses have been blown down and washed away, and 15-20 persons drowned. The whole Island was completely inundated four to five feet – the furniture was washed out of many houses. The soldiers from the fort were sent out to afford assistance to some families who were in danger of being washed away. A great many ladies were rescued and taken to the fort, which was the only place of security that was not under water.

Fort Johnson is very much injured; considerable part of it is destroyed. The men’s barracks were washed to sea. Many stands of arms, clothing, provisions &c. were also lost. One of the officers told me last evening that they were up to their breasts in water several hours during the night, saving men, women, and children, who were in the barracks, and it was only at the point of the bayonet that they were forced to seek other shelter, although the barracks were then washing away by the sea. To repair the damages and losses sustained at the Fort will require $150,000.

The damage sustained by this city and shipping in rough calculation estimated at near two million.

(Rubillo, Tom. Hurricane Destruction in South Carolina: Hell and High Water. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2006.)

USACE (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers): “34 [paragraph]. Loss of life.

“Storm Date Associated Deaths
….
27 August 1813 9 known, 15 believed drowned at Sullivans Island.”

(U.S. Army Engineer District, Charleston. Corps of Engineers. Subject: Interim Report on Hurricane Survey, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, and Charleston, South Carolina.)

Sources

Dunn, Gordon E. and Banner I. Miller. Atlantic Hurricanes (Revised Edition). Baton Rouge LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1964, 377 pages.

Fraser, Walter J. Jr. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms at Sea and Ashore. Athens and London: The University of Georgia Press, 2006.

Naval History and Heritage Command, US Department of the Navy. Hurricanes and the War of 1812: Documents on Selected Storms Affecting Naval Operations; cites Dudley, William S., et al. The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, Vol. II, 1813 (Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1992): 399-408.) Accessed 8-17-2022 at: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/h/documents-on-selected-storms-affecting-naval-operations.html

Rubillo, Tom. Hurricane Destruction in South Carolina: Hell and High Water. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2006. Accessed 8-17-2022 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hurricane_Destruction_in_South_Carolina/Rw9_CQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=dreadful+storm+of+1813&pg=PA6-IA9&printsec=frontcover

U.S. Army Engineer District, Charleston. Corps of Engineers. Subject: Interim Report on Hurricane Survey, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, and Charleston, South Carolina. To: Division Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer Division, South Atlantic, Atlanta, Georgia.

— ~93 McNeil. “General Hamilton (Schooner), sunk capsized, 8 Aug 1813.” Mar. His. Great Lakes.*
— ~84 Mansfield. History of the Great Lakes, Vol. 1, 1899, pp. 146 and 152.
— >80 US Dept. Navy. “Casualties: US Navy…Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured…”
— >80 US Dept. Navy, Naval Historical Center. “U.S. Navy Ships Lost in Selected Storm…”
— >80 Spectre. Mariner’s Book of Days 2007. p. 67.
— 53 Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive.

USS Hamilton.
— “many” Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 105.

USS Scourge.
— 40 McNeil. “Scourge (Schooner), sunk, 8 Aug 1813.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes.
— >40 Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 212.

*Mansfield: Our number (Blanchard) based on Mansfield’s note on p. 146 that each vessel had a crew of 50, and on p. 152 that “…a heavy gust struck the Hamilton and Scourge…carrying away the heavy guns through the careening of the vessels, and they both foundered and lost all of their men but 16.”

*McNeil: Our number (Blanchard) based on McNeil’s transcription of a Buffalo Gazette article “Schooners Gen. Hamilton & Scourge Lost on Lake Ontario.” 8-17-1813, in which it is noted that 60 men were on board the Hamilton and 45 on the Scourge when the vessels went down, of whom but “about a dozen of the crews” were rescued. We added 60 and 45, for 105, and subtracted 12, to obtain 93.

Narrative Information

Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News: Fifty-three of the 72 crewmen aboard the Hamilton and Scourge were killed when the ships went down during a squall in August 1813, north of Port Dalhousie. Their gravesite, 90 metres deep, was discovered in 1975 and explored separately by Jacques Cousteau and the National Geographic Society.” (Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. “Report News. Ontario Government Limits Diver Access to Storied Shipwrecks.” Cites Associated Press.)

Michigan Archaeological Society: “In the early hours of August 8, 1813, the schooners Hamilton and Scourge capsized in a sudden squall, sending them 300 feet to the bottom of Lake Ontario.” (Michigan Archaeological Society. Michigan Archaeologist, Vol. 37, 1991, page 28.)

Swayze: “Hamilton or General Hamilton. Armed schooner of 76 t. [tons] and 112 ft., launched in 1809 at Oswego, NY as the merchantman Diana. Lake Ontario: A War of 1812 veteran, this schooner and her fellow warship Scourge (qv) were anchored off the mouth of the Niagara River when they were blasted by a summer storm. The August 8, 1813 blow sent both ships to the bottom. The exact number of lives lost when the Hamilton went down is not known, but it is said that many sailors and marines stationed aboard were lost. The wreckage was rediscovered by sonar in 1975, explored by camera in 1980 and was the subject of an experimental satellite television show in 1990.” (Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 105.)

Swayze: “Scourge. Armed schooner of 45 t. [tons] and 110 ft., launched in 1811, near Niagara as the Royal Navy schooner Lord Nelson. Lake Ontario: This small warship was anchored off the mouth of the Niagara River with her fleet-mate Hamilton (qv), when the two vessels were sunk by a storm. They went down on August 8, 1813, the Scourge with the loss of about 40 lives. She had been captured from the Royal Navy during the War of 1812 and was a subject of a live underwater television exploration in 1990.” (Swayze. Shipwreck! 1992, p. 212.)

US Navy: “Schooners USS Hamilton and Scourge capsize in a heavy squall on Lake Ontario. Over 80 drowned. 8 August 1813.”

Sources

Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive. “Report News. Ontario Government Limits Diver Access to Storied Shipwrecks.” Cites Associated Press. Accessed 1-11-2021 at: http://www.boatnerd.com/news/archive/1-06.htm

Mansfield, John Brandts (Ed. and Compiler). History of the Great Lakes (Vol. 1). Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1899. Google digitized. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=iHXhAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

McNeil. “General Hamilton (Schooner), sunk capsized, 8 Aug 1813.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Accessed 1-11-2011 at: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/38355/data?n=3

McNeil, William R. “Scourge (Schooner), sunk, 8 Aug 1813.” Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Accessed 1-11-2011 at: https://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/38356/data?n=1

Michigan Archaeological Society. Michigan Archaeologist, Vol. 37, 1991, page 28.

Spectre, Peter H. Mariner’s Book of Days 2007. Sheridan House, Inc. 2006, 112 pages. Partially digitized by Google; Accessed 1-11-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=ICXhAlBXx7YC&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Swayze, David D. Shipwreck! A Comprehensive Directory of Over 3,700 Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. Boyne City, MI: Harbor House Publications, Inc., 1992.

United States Department of the Navy. Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action. Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center. 2008. Accessed 1-11-2021 at: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/c/casualties-usnavy-marinecorps-personnel-killed-injured-selected-accidents-other-incidents-notdirectly-result-enemy-action.html

United States Department of the Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command. U.S. Navy Ships Lost in Selected Storm/Weather Related Incidents. 7-29-2009. Accessed 1-11-2021 at: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/us-navy-ships-lost-in-selected-storm-weather-related-incidents.html

–4,350-6,400  Blanchard tally for VT using Roberts for low end of range and Gallup for high.

 

Vermont                     (4,350-6,400)

—      >6,400  Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in the State of Vermont… 1815, p. 75.

–5,650  Civilian citizens (average of 25 deaths in 226 towns of 6 sq. miles.)

—   750  Soldiers.

—      >6,000  Thompson. History of Vermont Section VIII. “Diseases of Vermont.” 1842, p. 221.

—        4,350  Roberts. “Lung Fever Epidemic of 1812.” The Vermont Encyclopedia, p. 190.

–1440-1573  Blanchard tally of locality breakouts below.

Breakouts by locality, where noted:

—         10  Arlington, Bennington Co., Jan-June. Gallup. Sketches…Diseases…[VT]. 1815, 72.

—         70  Bennington, Bennington Co.        Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p 73.

—       ~60  Benson. March-mid-May, 1813. Hemenway (ed.). Vermont His. Gaz. 1877, p. 415.

—       >10  Brandon. Was “an epidemic” and “extensively fatal” starting in Dec, for ~4 months.[1]

Mr. & Mrs. Sterns, 1812. Hemenway (ed.). Vermont His. Gaz. 1877, p. 459.[2]

Edward Cheney, Jan 24, 1813, aged 64. Hemenway. VT His. Gaz. 1877, 445.

Ebenezer Wooster and wife, Jan 21 and 24, 1813. VT His. Gaz. 1877, p. 453.

–700-800  Burlington, Chittenden Co., four months. Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases… 1815, 70.

–200-250  Burlington, over the winter. Campbell. “…Pestilence…Burlington’s…1812.” p. 146.

—  60->63  Castleton, 1813.                            Hemenway (ed.). Vermont His. Gaz. 1877, p. 516.[3]

—       ~80  Clarendon, Rutland County.         Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p 73.

—    40-50  Dorset, Bennington County.         Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p 73.

—         >2  Fair Haven. Jemima Brainard, Dec 5, 1812, aged 62. Vermont His. Gaz. 1877, p.726.[4]

—    60-70  Manchester, Bennington County. Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p 73.

—      >10? Middletown (“many” in 2-3 yrs). Hemenway (ed.). Vermont His. Gaz. 1877, p. 830.

Deacon Elisha Clark, 1813.    Hemenway (ed.). Vermont His. Gaz. 1877, p. 824.[5]

—        44  Pomfret Windsor County.              Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p.72.

—   70-80  Pownal, Bennington County.        Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p 73.

—        44  Reading, Windsor Co., Jan-June.   Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p 73.

—   40-50  Rueport, Bennington County.        Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p 73.

—        20  Sandgate, Bennington County.      Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p 73.

—        30  Shaftsbury, Bennington County.   Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p 73.

—          5  Sharon, Windsor County.               Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p.72.

—      ~30  Shrewsbury, Rutland County.       Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p 73.

—          1  Sunderland, Bennington County.   Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p 73.

—      ~54  Woodstock, Windsor County.       Gallup. Sketches of…Diseases in…[VT]. 1815, p 72.

 

Also

 

Massachusetts            (20)

–Jan 6, 1813 to May 7.  Blanchard tally from locality breakouts below.[6]

–6  Charlestown, U.S. Marine Hospital, Feb 21-March 3, 1813. Austin. Marine-Hosp. Ser., 270.[7]

–1  Chelmsford, Middlesex County. Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts to end of 1849.

Sarah Gould.               57 yrs  Feb 11             Vital Records of Chelmsford, p. 398.

–9  Kingston, Plymouth Co., ~Apr 1-15. Vital Records of Kingston, [MA] to the Year 1850.

Betsy Drew                 43 yrs  April 1             Vital Records of Kingston, p. 340.

Nehemiah Drew          70 yrs  March              Vital Records of Kingston, 342.

Lydia Everson             54 yrs  April 15           Vital Records of Kingston, p. 345.

Dr. Jabez Fuller           59 yrs  April 12           Vital Records of Kingston, p. 352.

Joshua Holmes            63 yrs  April 7             Vital Records of Kingston, p. 359.

Zeruah Holmes            64 yrs  April 6             Vital Records of Kingston, p. 361.

Sarah Ring                  44 yrs  April 9             Vital Records of Kingston, p. 373.

Sarah Sever                   2 yrs  April 15           Vital Records of Kingston, p. 380.

Tabitha West               63 yrs  April 6             Vital Records of Kingston, p. 392.

–4  Lancaster, Worcester County. The Birth…and Death Register…of Lancaster, [MA]…, p 357.

Mrs. Eunice Goss        66        Jan 6, 1813

John Sullivan Vincent            March 12

Mr. Isaac Rugg           67        April 1

Mr. David Phelps        50        May 7

 

New York                   ( ?)

–?  Greenbush.           Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in…Vermont. 1815, p. 70.[8]

–?  Plattsburgh.          Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in…Vermont. 1815, p. 70.[9]

–?  Sackets Harbour. Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in…Vermont. 1815, p. 70.[10]

 

Narrative Information

 

Campbell: “At the close of 1812, some of the troops [War of 1812] moved to quarters in Plattsburgh, and the 1,600 left behind in Burlington endured the long winter’s wait. As so often happens when soldiers are crowded together in unsanitary conditions, disease plagued the Northern Army…

“The Champlain District faced a terrible ordeal during the winter of 1812-1813. A deadly epidemic struck, beginning in the camps in Burlington and Plattsburgh and spreading throughout northern Vermont to the middle and finally the southern sections of the state. Peripneumony notha — a violent and highly contagious form of pneumonia — filled the lungs with blood and was accompanied by high fever and chills. Death often came within days or even hours after the onset of the first symptoms. Fatalities peaked in December with 150 deaths in the Burlington camp; by Mann’s calculations a total of 200-250 soldiers, at least one in eight, died over the winter…..” (Campbell. “Propaganda, Pestilence, and Prosperity: Burlington’s Camptown Days During the War of 1812.” Vermont History, Vol. 64, No. 3, Summer 1996, p. 146 of p. 133-146.)

 

Gallup: “The autumn of 1812, and winter of 1813, ushered in the most severe epidemic disease, that has ever afflicted the inhabitants of Vermont, the epidemic Peripneumony, or disease of the lungs. It seemed to have the features of the disease, that had been in the state for about two years, called spotted fever; the chief difference seemed to be, that now the greatest force of local affection fell upon the lungs. What elementary changes should produce an aptitude in the pestilential influence to affect, in a special manner, the lungs, must be left for speculative philosophers to suggest. Thu unity of the hurtful principle is chiefly inferred, from many places being affected with this disease, in some measure, a year or two before, whilst spotted fever more commonly prevailed; from spotted fever’s occurring at the same time with this in many places; and from the common features, and sudden fatality of both diseases….

 

“The disease appeared at the northward before it did in the county of Windsor, perhaps about one month. It appeared amongst the soldiers at Burlington [War of 1812], some weeks before it did amongst the inhabitants of that place. Very near the time it appeared at Burlington [VT] among the soldiers, it appeared also among the soldiers at Plattsburg and Sackett Harbour [NY], and also in the camp at Greenbush, opposite Albany [NY]. No satisfactory account has ever been given the publick (sic) relative to the ravages of this disease at Burlington. I have solicited information from resident physicians there; but have received none. By information from some of the most respectable inhabitants of that place, and also from others residing there at that time, I am warranted in stating, that for some time, it was common for eight or twelve to die in a day. The whole number is said to be not less than seven or eight hundred in four months. Several dead bodies were carried through this place in sleighs, to be interred among their friends. The number of soldiers stationed at this encampment was about twenty-five or twenty-eight hundred.

 

“Perhaps the fatigue and exposure of a camp life to men not accustomed to it, might have a share in rendering the soldiers the first victims of the disease. The depression of mind from a repulse immediately before under general Dearborn, in an attempt to invade Canada, may also be noticed.

 

“The disease was not, however, confined to the camps. As the pestilential state of the atmosphere progressed to a degree of greater violence, the disease appeared among the inhabitants in the most comfortable condition; first in the northern section of the state, and immediately after in the middle, and southern sections. It is said to be about three weeks after it was very severe among the soldiers at Burlington, before the inhabitants were much affected. It, at length, became distressing and very mortal among the citizens of that place; and in about one month from its first appearance, it was pretty general over this and the adjoining states. The pestilential diathesis of the atmosphere, was not at its zenith until the first week in March. In this month, it raged with its greatest severity.

 

“It is said, that many of the soldiers died in four or eight hours after the attack, and a few in two hours. It was fatal also in some places among the citizens, nearly in as short time. The common fatal period was about the fourth or fifth day….

 

“On account of the want of any regular returns of deaths in the towns in this state, it is impossible to ascertain the number that died of this disease.

 

“From pretty satisfactory accounts from the Rev. Mr. Chapin, minister of the north parish in Woodstock [Windsor Co., VT], the number of deaths in both parishes by this disease the present year, were about fifty-four, in about five months. Whole number of deaths for the year, seventy-four. The town contains about 350 families, and the enumeration in 1810, was 2,672 souls. Five physicians.

 

“By the statement of Dr. Ware, of Pomfret [Windsor Co., VT], it appears that ‘In December last, the lung fever began, and continued until about the middle of May, 1813. Forty-four adults died with it in that time.’ The correctness of Dr. Ware will serve as a specimen for other towns where the neglect of physicians has deprived us of any statement on this disease. He further observes, ‘where the practice of bleeding, puking, and purging was pursued, free expectoration promoted, and kept up, and heating stimulating means carefully avoided, the patients generally recovered.’

 

“Dr. Page, of Sharon, states that abut forty persons had the pulmonic fever in that town, and that five died.

 

“Dr. Littlefield states, that the epidemic began at Arlington about the middle of January, and disappeared about the first of June. ‘It was not so fatal in this, and some of the adjacent towns, as in some other parts of the state. In Arlington, 10 deaths; in Sandgate, 20; in Sunderland, 1. From the best information, and some personal knowledge, I should say, in Manchester, 60 or 70; in Dorset, 40 or 50; in Rueport [Rupert], 40 or 50; in Shaftsbury, 30; in Bennington, 70; in Pownal, 70 or 80,’[11]

 

“‘I have been credibly informed, that in Clarendon about 80 died; in Castleton, 60; in Shrewsbury, about 30. By the statement of Dr. Bowen, of Reading, it appears, that 44 died of this disease from the first of January to the 10^th of June 1813, and 29 of other complaints; of which last number, were fifteen infants; four still-born, and eleven in fits, or unknown complaints. Four hundred cases of the epidemic and forty of the deaths, were after the first of March. The town contains about 1600 inhabitants.’

 

“Our correspondent further remarks, that previous to the first of March, he bled from two to four times, from 12 to 24 oz. each; his success was very great. But after this time he bled but little. In the latter period, the pulse was hardly perceptible; a sense of suffocation, the surface pale and cadaverous, or more commonly, a bloated purple color, similar to a finger with a ligature on it; numbness, &c. From four to ten hours after the attack, the surface of the body would be often covered with spots or blotches like blood blisters; some of the bigness of a pea, others the size of a man’s hand. Total loss of sight, insensibility, and other signs of approaching dissolution are mentioned. Sixteen adults died within six, or thirty hours after the attack, twelve of whom before any medical aid could be procured….” (Gallup. pp. 69-73.)

 

“I very much regret my not being enabled to make a more particular statement. Great difference exists in the number of inhabitants in different towns, and also, the number of deaths by this disease. It must be considered a low estimate to say, that the towns throughout the state averaged 25f deaths. About 226 organized towns of six miles square, make 5,650 deaths. Add to this 750 soldiers, which makes the number of deaths by this disease alone 6,400, in about five months. — Census for 1810, 217,913 inhabitants.” (Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in the State of Vermont… 1815, p. 75.)

 

Hemenway on Benson, VT: “…in the latter part of February, 1813, these [spotted fever cases] were followed by the typhoid pneumonia, or lung fever, which became a prevailing and frightful epidemic. Its principal ravages were in the months of March and April, and there were no new cases after the middle of May following. There were about 60 deaths from this disease in less than 3 months, of whom the larger part were adults. The Rutland Herald (weekly) for May 12, 1813, contains notices of fifteen of these deaths. The same disease prevailed as an epidemic, at the same time, generally throughout the State. (See Thompson’s Vermont, Civil Hist. Part II, p. 220, et seq.)” (Hemenway {ed.}. The Vermont Historical Gazetteer…Vol. III, Orleans and Rutland Counties. 1877, p. 415.)

 

Hemenway on Middletown, VT: “For 2 or 3 years following 1811, it was very sickly here, more so probably than has ever been known here before or since. An epidemic which in that time prevailed in many parts of the State carried to the grave many of the best citizens of the town. Aside from that time there has not at one time, to my knowledge or information, been any unusual amount of sickness.” (Hemenway {ed.}. The Vermont Historical Gazetteer…Vol. III, Orleans and Rutland Counties. 1877, p. 830.)

 

Thompson: “The spotted fever [1811-1812] was followed by the epidemic peripneumony, or lung fever, which proved to be the severest epidemic ever experienced in Vermont. This disease resembled that which immediately preceded it, excepting in having its chief location upon the lungs, and being longer in reaching its crisis. It commenced in this State, among the troops of the United States army, stationed at Burlington, in the autumn of 1812, where it proved very mortal, carrying off from 10 to 12 a day, for several weeks before it began to spread among the inhabitants. But, by the beginning of the year 1813, it had become general throughout the State; and in the course of the winter, it swept off from 20 to 60 of the most respectable and useful inhabitants of almost every town. The whole number of deaths in the State, by this disease during the winter, was estimated at more than 6000, or one death to every 40 inhabitants.”[12] (Thompson. Thompson, Zadock. History of Vermont, Natural, Civil and Statistical. 1842, p. 221.)

 

Sources

 

Austin, Surg. H. W. “Historical Sketch of the United States Marine-Hospital Service, at Boston, Mass.” Pp. 267-276 in: Annual Report of the Supervising Surgeon-General of the Marine-Hospital Service of the United States for the Fiscal Year 1896. Washington: U. S Treasury Department, Government Printing Office, 1896. Google preview accessed 2-18-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=HlM9AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Campbell, Karen Stites. “Propaganda, Pestilence, and Prosperity: Burlington’s Camptown Days During the War of 1812.” Vermont History (The Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society), Vol. 64, No. 3, Summer 1996, pp. 133-146. Accessed 2-18-2018 at: https://vermonthistory.org/journal/misc/Propoganda_pestilence_vol64.pdf

 

Gallup, Joseph A., M.D. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in the State of Vermont; From its First Settlement to the year 1815, with a Consideration of their Causes, Phenomena, and Treatment. Boston: T. B. Wait & Sons, 1815. Accessed 2-7-2018 at: https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/bookviewer?PID=nlm:nlmuid-2555005R-bk

 

Hemenway, Abby Maria (Editor). The Vermont Historical Gazetteer: A Magazine, Embracing A history of Each Town, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Biographical and Military (Vol. III, Orleans and Rutland Counties). Claremont, NH: Claremont Manufacturing Co., 1877. Google preview accessed 2-7-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=vJUbAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Nourse, Henry S. (Editor). The Birth, Marriage and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1850. Clinton, MA: W. J. Coulter, Printer, 1890. Google preview accessed 2-18-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=RBN5AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Roberts, Jason. “Lung Fever Epidemic of 1812.” P. 190 in The Vermont Encyclopedia (John J. Duffy, Samuel B. Hand, Ralph H. Orth, editors). Burlington, VT: University of Vermont Press, 2003. Google preview accessed 2-18-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=uTBCXqOou0YC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=lung%20fever&f=false

 

Thompson, Zadock. History of Vermont, Natural, Civil and Statistical, in Three Parts. Burlington, VT: Chauncey Goodrich, 1842. Google preview accessed 2-3-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=8BUzAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Vital Records of Chelmsford Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849. Salem, MA: The Essex Institute, 1914. Google digital preview accessed 2-18-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=PpElAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Vital Records of Kingston Massachusetts to the Year 1850. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1911. Google preview accessed 1-27-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=8TEgg3nzpIcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

 

 

[1] This is our number. We know of two deaths before it became a “dreadful epidemic” lasting four months during which time it “was extensively fatal.”

[2] “Mr. Stearns and his wife were the first two cases of what was commonly termed the ‘winter fever,’ that dreadful epidemic of 1812-13, which was so extensively fatal, especially to the adult portion of its subjects. They were attacked, however in April, 1812, and with symptoms precisely like those which attended the cases when the first appeared as an epidemic, in Dec. after. They both died — Mr. S. the 7^th, and Mrs. S. the 11^th of April — and within about 3 days of their attack. These were the only cases of the kind that occurred in this town, until the month of December following, when it prevailed and was extensively fatal for about 4 months.”

[3] “The most mortal epidemic was of typhoid pneumonia in 1813, of which 63 died, chiefly adults.” Gallup writes (p. 73) that he had been “credibly informed that in…Castleton, 60 [died]…”

[4] It is noted that she “was the first person in town who died of the epidemic of 1812.” Thus, at least one more.

[5] “Dea. Elisha Clark was one of the first victims of the epidemic which prevailed here in 1813.”

[6] In the records below we only searched for the term “lung fever” and thus note here only those deaths so identified.

[7] Chart: “Deaths in the United States Marine Hospital at Charlestown, Mass., from October 1, 11809, to December 31, 1813.”

[8] “…appeared…also in the camp at Greenbush, opposite Albany.”

[9] “…it appeared…among the soldiers at Platsburg…”

[10] “It appeared…among the soldiers at…Sacketts Harbour…”

[11] All of the towns Dr. Littlefield makes reference to are in Bennington County, Vermont.

[12] Cites: Gallup [Dr. Joseph A. Gallup]. Epidemics of Vermont. [Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in the State of Vermont: From its First Settlement to the Year 1815… Boston: T.B. Wait & Cons, 1815.]

–268-325  Blanchard tally of State and local breakouts below.

 

Massachusetts            (           8)

–6  Granville, Hampden County. Vital Records of Granville, Massachusetts to 1850.

Henrietta Cooley         14 yrs  April 6             Vital Records of Granville. p. 191.

Melissa Cooley           9 yrs    March 31         Vital Records of Granville. p. 192.

Oliver Cooley             5 yrs    April 2             Vital Records of Granville. p. 192.

Rebeckah Cooley        12 yrs  1812                Vital Records of Granville. p. 192.

Richard D. Cooley      11 yrs  April 5             Vital Records of Granville. p. 192.

Elizur Curtiss            ~15 yrs April 9             Vital Records of Granville. p. 193.

–2  Woburn. Baldwin, Charles Candee. The Baldwin Genealogy, From 1500 to 1881. 1881.

Nathum Henry,           11 yrs  March 15         Baldwin Genealogy to 1881, p. 637.

Thomas Jefferson Henry, 5 yrs, March 16.    Baldwin Genealogy to 1881, p. 637

 

New Hampshire         (>133-147)

–133-147  Blanchard tally from locality breakouts below (especially Feb 28-Apr 18).

Breakout of Spotted Fever deaths by locality, where noted.

–53  Acworth, Cheshire County, Feb 28-May 13. Farmer/Moore. NH Gazetteer. 1823, p. 65.[1]

—  3  Amherst, Hillsborough County. Secomb. History of the Town of Amherst, NH. 1880.

Nathum Baldwin        ~12 yrs.           Secomb 1883, p. 491.

Thomas J. Baldwin     ~16 yrs.           Secomb 1883, p. 492.

Sally Noyes, Jr. about 3 yrs.               Secomb 1883, p. 709.

–40  Antrim, Hillsborough Co., Feb-March. Cochrane. History of…Antrim, [NH]. 1880, p. 92.[2]

Nahum Baldwin        ~12 yrs.             Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 349.

Samuel Butler                         19 yrs.             Cochrane. History of…Antrim…. 1880, p. 396.

Susan Butler. (Notes she was young; does not note date.) Cochrane. Antrim. 1880, 395.

Joanna Cochran           7 yrs., April.    Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 426.

Mary W. Cochran       10 yrs., Apr 2. Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 428.

Peggy Duncan.                                    Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 471.

John Dunlap, within a few days of older brother Jonathan. Cochrane 1880, p. 479.

Jonathan Dunlap.                                Cochrane. History of…Antrim, [NH]. 1880, p. 479.

Curtis Fairbanks          ~14 yrs.           Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 487.

James M. Flint            ~  5 yrs.           Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 497.

Caroline Hall               ~  3 yrs.           Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 524.

Mrs. Rebecca Hayward          March. Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 530.

3 children of Josiah & Rebecca Hayward. Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p.530.

Betsey Hopkins           15 yrs.             Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 546.

Mrs. Mary McNiel     Feb 22. (“lived but a few hours”). Cochrane. Antrim History, p.605.

Robert Nesmith           ~9, Feb 9, (1^st death). Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 617.

Daniel Nichols, deacon and selectman. Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 92.

Mrs. Daniel Paige, Feb (2^nd death).    Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 92.

Mrs. David Paige        March.             Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 632.

John Smith                  ~10 yrs.           Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 681.

Sarah W. Wallace, wife of James.      Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 520.[3]

Child of Sarah & James A. Wallace.  Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 520.

Mr. Jesse Wilson        42 yrs., Mar 21. Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 770.

Jesse Wilson Jr.          ~9 yrs.             Cochrane. History of…Antrim. 1880, p. 771.

—  ?  Concord, Rockingham County. Farmer/Moore. A Gazetteer of…[NH]. 1823, p. 107.[4]

—>4  Hillsboro, Hillsborough County. 9 days in March. Wife and 3 children of Josiah Hayward.[5]

—  1  Lyman, Grafton County. Farmer/Moore. A Gazetteer of the State of [NH]. 1823, p. 180.[6]

–13  Lyndeborough, Hillsborough Co., 13 days in Feb. Farmer/Moore. NH Gazetteer. 1823, 181.[7]

Daughter of Edward Bullard, 10 yrs.  Donovan/Woodward. History of Lyndeborough, 633

Mr. David Butterfield, ~37 yrs.          Donovan/Woodward. History of Lyndeborough, 682

Deborah Clark, 18 yrs, Feb 19.           Donovan/Woodward. History of Lyndeborough, 700

Hannah Clark, 19 yrs, Feb 19.            Donovan/Woodward. History of Lyndeborough, 700

Son of Mr. Haggett.                            Donovan/Woodward. History of Lyndeborough, 633

Mrs. Hannah Killam, Feb 19.             Donovan/Woodward. History of Lyndeborough, 633

Olive Manning, 6 yrs. Feb 12.            Donovan/Woodward. History of Lyndeborough, 804

Sarah Manning, 4 yrs, Feb 12.            Donovan/Woodward. History of Lyndeborough, 804

Mr. Jacob Manning.                            Donovan/Woodward. History of Lyndeborough, 633

Proprietor of Parker Tavern.               Donovan/Woodward. History of Lyndeborough, 423

—  2  New Boston. Cochrane and Wood. History of Francestown, New Hampshire. 1895, p. 804.

Betsey Loring, age not noted.            Cochrane & Wood. History of Francestown, p. 804.

Thomas Loring, 10 yrs.                       Cochrane & Wood. History of Francestown, p. 804.

—  1  Wilmot, Merrimack Co. Maria Tenney, May 10, 6 yrs. Tenney The Tenney Family., 131.

–16->30  Windham, Rockingham County. Blanchard range from Cochrane and Farmer below.

–>30  Cochrane and Wood. History of Francestown, N.H. to 1891. 1895, p. 167.[8]

—  16  Windham, March 30-April 18. Farmer/Moore. NH Gazetteer. 1823, 265.[9]

 

Vermont                     (127-170)

–6,000  Winter of 1812-1813.  Hayes. History of…Town of Rockingham, Vermont. 1907, 409.[10]

—     70  Bennington, Bennington Co. Hayes. History of the Town of Rockingham, Vermont. 409.

—       4  Plymouth, Windsor County. Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in…VT. 1815, p. 69.

–44-52  Pomfret, Windsor County. Blanchard range using Gallup (~52) and Hayes (44).

–~52  Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases…VT. P. 69, citing Ware.[11]

—  44  Hayes. History of the Town of Rockingham, Vermont. 1907, 409.

—  9-44  Reading, Windsor County. Blanchard range using Gallup (9) and Hayes (44).

—  9  Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in…VT. 1815, p. 69.

–44  Hayes. History of the Town of Rockingham, Vermont. 1907, 409.

—       ?  Rockingham, spring. Hayes. History of the Town of Rockingham, Vermont. 409.[12]

—   ~30  Shrewsbury, Rutland County. Hayes. History of the Town of Rockingham, 409.

—       ?  Woodstock, Windsor County. Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases…VT. 1815, p.69.[13]

 

Narrative Information

 

New Hampshire

 

Cochrane and Wood: “This year (1812) was memorable in this vicinity on account of the ravages of the Spotted Fever, so called. In Windham, whence many Francestown settlers came, the deaths from this cause in the month of April were more than one each day. In Antrim this disease broke out Feb 7, 1812, and spread rapidly, there being two hundred cases and forty deaths in two months. The sufferer usually died in less than twelve hours from the time of being taken….

 

“But in Francestown it was reported that there was not a case of this fever ever known; and why this town, lying midway between Antrim [40 deaths, Feb-March 1812] and New Boston [40 deaths, 1814], should be except while their losses were so heavy, was a question agitated n many minds, and one to which no satisfactory answer was ever given. And this question was made conspicuous by the fact that there were fatal cases of this fever in New Boston very near to the line of this town!

 

Cochrane on Antrim, NH: “In the winter of 1811-12, the spotted fever broke out in Antrim, — the most fatal scourge that ever swept over the town….In the midst of this long and terrible winter [1811-12] came the spotted fever. The first case occurred Feb. 7, 1812, the first subject being a child of Samuel Weeks… This child recovered. On the following day, Robert Nesmith, child of Dea. Jonathan, was taken, and lived but a few hours. This first victim died Feb 9, 1812. Then cases followed rapidly in all parts of the town. Dea. Nesmith’s child died on Sunday, and was buried the following day. The next death was that of Mrs. Daniel Paige, sick only a little over half a day. Persons would be taken with a violent headache, or, as in the case of Mrs. Abraham McNiel, with a pain in the little finger, or in some other strange way, and, in severe cases, the victim usually died in less than twelve hours. There were two hundred cases and forty deaths, in two months. Everybody wore mourning till the deaths became so numerous it was impossible to provide mourning apparel. It was hard to find well persons enough to take care of the sick. At many times there were two or three funerals per day, and on one day there were four funerals and four processions up the hard, snowy road to the cemetery on the hill. Sometimes they threw a little snow and dirt over the coffin, and then left the grave unfilled till spring. All ages were taken, from sixty years down to the infant of days. Daniel Nichols, Esq., surveyor, deacon, and nine years selectman, fell a victim. None were attacked by it who were over sixty years of age. The ‘Cabinet’ at Amherst printed reports from Antrim mournful indeed, week after week….For ten weeks all work was suspended except what was absolutely necessary, and people gave their attention to the care of the sick and the burial of the dead. As this was a new disease, physicians did not know how to manage it, and most of them adopted the roasting process. Thes they carried to such an extreme that many were actually roasted to death. Families held themselves ready to apply the roasting or sweating process, at a moment’s warning, night or day. With hot bricks, hot stones, hot blocks of wood, hot rooms, hot drinks, and piles of clothes, the poor creature, burning with fever, was roasted out of the world. But, after many deaths, experience and the ‘sober second thought’ brought about a more merciful and successful treatment. Houses were kept lighted all night, and for more than a month there was one body, or more, awaiting burial all the time. But, as the spring advanced, the disease took a milder form, and entirely ceased about the middle of April. In other towns this scourge was felt. In Acworth there were fifty-three deaths, and many fatal cases occurred far and near. In some towns the disease returned in milder form when cold weather came again, but not here; and it is not known that there has been a case among us since that lamentable winter.” (Cochrane, Rev. W. R. History of the Town of Antrim, New Hampshire…to June 27, 1877. 1880, pp. 91-93.)

 

Donovan and Woodward or Lyndeborough: “The spotted fever, which had proved fatal in many of the New England towns, prevailed in Lyndeborough in 1812, with its accustomed virulence. It is stated that thirteen persons died as victims of it in as many days. A copy of the New Hampshire Patriot, on Concord, February 25, 1812, contains the following notice:

 

Died. In Lyndeborough, of the Spotted Fever, a daughter of Mr. Edward Bullard, aged 10 — two children of Mr. Asa Manning — a son of Mr.____ Haggett — Mr. David Butterfield — Mr. Jacob Manning — two daughters of Capt. Clark — a son of Mr. Jacob Wellman.

 

“Our town records state that ‘Mrs. Hannah Killam and Deborah Clark, both daughters of Capt. William and Sarah Clark, died February 19, 1812;’ thus harmonizing with the above notice.” (Donovan/Woodward. History of the Town of Lyndeborough, [NH], 1735-1905. 1906, p. 633.)

 

Vermont

 

Gallup on VT: “1812, The spotted fever[14] prevailed the winter of this year in Pomfret more than it did in 1811. It was very severe in many cases. By report of Dr. Ware, 52 persons died of it this, and the preceding year.[15] Some of these cases proved fatal before medical assistance could be procured.

 

“More severe cases occurred in the south parish in Woodstock in some neighborhoods, this winter, than the winter before; but the whole number of cases in the town, was not perhaps one to seven, that occurred the year before. In Reading, 60 cases, nine fatal; mostly in thirty hours after the attack. In Plymouth, 30 cases, and four deaths.” (Gallup. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in the State of Vermont…to the year 1815…, 1815, pp. 68-69.)

 

Hayes on VT: “Spotted Fever. During the spring of the years 1812 and 1813 Rockingham, as well as other near-by sections of New England, witnessed the rise and spread of what was then considered a singular disease, called ‘spotted fever,’ but afterwards it took the name of ‘malignant fever.’ The disease is supposed to be the same as that now known as cerebro-spinal meningitis and was not thought to be contagious. The number of cases in the town of Rockingham cannot be ascertained.

 

“During the time the epidemic raged there were seventy deaths in Bennington; Pomfret and Reading each forty-four, and Shrewsbury about thirty.

 

“In Vermont the number of deaths during the winter of 1812-13 reached six thousand, or about one death in every forty inhabitants.[16]

 

“In the month of March, 1813, seven persons died of the disease in as many days in the town of Walpole.

 

“Among the papers of Capt. Charles Church, a prominent resident of this vicinity, was found the following receipt, which it is understood was one of the most efficacious used at that time. Certainly if the patients survived the medicine, they surely ought to have survived the disease.

 

Cure for the spotted fever. To 1 quart of Lime add 1 Gallon of Water. To 1 Quart of tar add two Quarts of Water. Let these stand in separate vessels until they froth, skim the froth, pour them together. To this mixture add 8 ox. Salt Peter, 4 ox. Opium, take a glass when going to bed and repeat the same in 4 or 5 hours.

 

“The following account of this epidemic in the neighboring town of Alstead, N. H., was published in an historical sermon delivered in Alstead in 1826 by Rev. Seth S. Arnold, A. M.:

 

In 1812 and 1814, the spotted fever made its appearance in the place, and spread terror and anxiety among the inhabitants. Its ravages were alarming and filled every heart with dismay. The disease was uncommon, and the subjects of it were suddenly attacked, greatly distressed and soon called from time to eternity. At first the physicians were unacquainted with it and generally had but little time to make any application. Some families were almost entirely cut off. Mr. Gary was bereft of his wife and all his children, four or five in number, in a very short time. Sylvester Partridge had four children carried from his house to the grave in one day. About ninety deaths were occasioned by this disease in the two years above mentioned. And the same epidemic extended into the neighboring towns.

 

In 1813, a malignant fever also prevailed, which swept off sixteen persons, besides those that died with other complaints.”

 

(Hayes. History of the Town of Rockingham, Vermont. 1907, pp. 409-410.)

 

Sources

 

Archaicmedicalterms.com. Accessed 2-16-2018 at: http://www.archaicmedicalterms.com/English/EnglishM.htm

 

Baldwin, Charles Candee. The Baldwin Genealogy, From 1500 to 1881. Cleveland, OH: The Leader Printing Company, 1881. Google preview accessed 2-17-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=LYoJAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Cochrane, Rev. Warren Robert, and George K. Wood. History of Francestown, N.H., from its earliest settlement, April, 1758, to January 1, 1891, with a brief Genealogical Record of all the Francestown. Nashua, NH: James H. Barker, Printer, 1895. Google preview accessed 2-17-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=llGDthBQqTMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Cochrane, Rev. W. R. History of the Town of Antrim, New Hampshire, from its earliest settlement, to June 27, 1877. Manchester, NH: Mirror Steam Printing Press, 1880. Google preview accessed 2-16-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=yAPPmgRzUj4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Cutter, William Richard (Ed.). Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts (Vol. 4). NY: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1908. Google digital preview accessed 2-16-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=nn1yyHiYJFYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Donovan, Rev. Dennis. and Jacob A Woodward. The History of the Town of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, 1735-1905. Tufts College Press, H. W. Whittemore & Co., 1906. Google preview accessed 2-17-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7n9n5W-Uf2MC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Farmer, John, and Jacob B. Moore. A Gazetteer of the State of New-Hampshire. Concord: Jacob B. Moore, 1823. Google preview accessed 2-15-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=45Y-AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Gallup, Joseph A., M.D. Sketches of Epidemic Diseases in the State of Vermont; From its First Settlement to the year 1815, with a Consideration of their Causes, Phenomena, and Treatment. Boston: T. B. Wait & Sons, 1815. Accessed 2-7-2018 at: https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/bookviewer?PID=nlm:nlmuid-2555005R-bk

 

Hayes, Lyman Simpson. History of the Town of Rockingham, Vermont…1753-1907. Bellows Falls, VT: Published by the Town, 1907. Google preview accessed 2-16-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=ULmlDG8KLjYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Secomb, Daniel F. History of the Town of Amherst, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire… 1728-1882. Concord, NH: Evans, Sleeper & Woodbury, 1883. Google preview accessed 2-17-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=RWY2u4sZDxcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Tenney, M. J. The Tenney Family or the Descendants of Thomas Tenney of Rowley, Massachusetts, 1638-1904 (Revised). Concord, NH: The Rumford Press, 1904. Google preview accessed 2-17-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=0y9WAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Thompson, Zadock. History of Vermont, Natural, Civil and Statistical, in Three Parts. Burlington, VT: Chauncey Goodrich, 1842. Google preview accessed 2-3-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=8BUzAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Vital Records of Granville, Massachusetts to the year 1850. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1914. Google digital preview accessed 2-17-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=MyIlAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[1] “The spotted fever appeared in this town Feb. 28, 1812, and from that time to May 13, there occurred 53 deaths, of which 53 were by the fever. Population in 1820, 1479.” Cochrane and Wood (History of Francetown, p. 167), also note 53 deaths.

[2] Cochrane, writing with George K. Wood, in the History of Francetown, N.H. notes, “forty deaths in two months.”

[3] “She did up her washing, finishing it at three p.m., and was perfectly well, but suddenly sickened and was laid out in death before the next morning.”

[4] Notes the spotted fever first made its appearance in Concord in 1812 and then again in 1813, 1816 and 1817 and “a number fell its victims.”

[5] William R. Cutter (Ed.). Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs (Vol. 4). P. 1859. Josiah Hayward was born in Braintree, MA, thus his mention in this book.

[6] “The spotted fever in 1812, attacked 70 persons, of whom only one died. Pop. 1270.”

[7] “In the winter of 1812, the spotted fever prevailed here, of which 13 persons died within about as many days. The number of deaths for the last 10 years has been 160. Pop. 1200.” We changed “winter” to February in that Donovan and Woodward’s boon on the History of Lyndeborough, also notes 13 deaths “in as many days,” but specifically notes two of the deaths were on Feb 19. Thus if all were within 13 days, all would have had to be in February.

[8] Our number based on “In Windham…deaths from this cause in the month of April were more than one each day.”

[9] “The spotted fever appeared at Windham in 1812. From March 30, to April 18, there died 16 — 3 adults, and 13 children. 13 died in 8 days. Pop. 889.”

[10] Highlighted in yellow to denote that we do not use this number in our tally. No sources cited; written almost 100 years later. Does not approach numbers we have collected for 1812 and 1813 in all of New England. We speculate this came from an 1842 book by Thompson on the History of Vermont, wherein he notes 9p. 221 of Section VIII) that about 6,000 died in Vermont during an 1812-13 epidemic of Peripneumony/lung fever (most likely influenza/pneumonia).

[11] Hayes (History of the Town of Rockingham, Vermont. 1907, p. 409), notes forty-four.

[12] Writes that Rockingham “witnessed the rise and spread” of “spotted fever” but could not ascertain the effect.

[13] “…more severe cases occurred in the south parish…in some neighbourhoods this winter…” Does not note deaths.

[14] “Cerebro-spinal fever or epidemic cerebro-spinal meningitis, popularly called spotted fever, is an infectious disease occurring sporadically or in epidemics…” (Archaicmedicalterms.com.)

[15] In his narrative for the year 1811, Gallup does not note any deaths in Pomfret. We are including all 52 here.

[16] It should be noted concerning 6,000 deaths in Vermont during the winter of 1812-13, that this was written almost 100 years later, without source attribution.

–~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. 23^rd, 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.)

—       ~1,000  Hunter, Frances. “William Clark and the New Madrid Earthquakes.” 11-19-2009.

—  500-1,000  Stewart and Knox. The Earthquake America Forgot. 1995, p. 209.

—          >379  Blanchard tally of specific, more or less, accounts noted by Stewart and Knox.

–Dozens-100s  Clay. Still Casting Shadows.  2006, p. 166.

—         <100  Hendricks. “New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-1812,” Encyclopedia of AK History.

 

Arkansas                    ( >20)

— >10  Big Prairie area.[1]

—     1  Newport area, White River, Dec 16, 1811. Man drowned when water rose; swept away.[2]

— >10  Little Prairie area.[3]

Kentucky                   ( >10)

— >10  Blanchard guestimate.[4]

—     1  About 80 miles east of New Madrid, Jan 23. Christ Girl. Stewart and Knox, pp. 207-209.

—   >5  Stewart and Knox write that “many” families besides the Christ family lost members.[5]

Missouri                     ( >139)

—     1  Kennett area, Jan 23. Boy looking for cattle never returned (quicksand or sand boil?).[6]

—   10  New Madrid, Dec 16, 1811. Stewart and Knox, pp. 207-209.

—     1  New Madrid, after Dec 16. Exposure; elderly person. Stewart and Knox, pp. 207-209.

—   >3  New Madrid, Feb 7. MS Riv. “giant wave” rushed overland at St. John’s Bayou mouth.[7]

—    24  New Madrid area, Island #94, Feb 7. Stewart and Knox write 2 dozen pirates drowned.

–>100  New Madrid “second waterfall,” Feb 7-10.  Stewart and Knox, p. 208.[8]

Tennessee                   ( >10)

— >10  Reelfoot Lake area. Native Americans.[9]

Mississippi River       (~200)

— ~100  Feb 7-10, Vincent Nolte convoy.  Stewart and Knox, p. 108.[10]

— ~100  Feb 7-19, other boats than those of Vincent Nolte convoy. Stewart and Know, p. 108.[11]

 

Narrative Information

 

Clay: “The power unleashed during the most severe quake, on February 7th, 1812, was so massive that the 2,300 mile long mighty Mississippi changed course, diverted water (one consequence of which was the forming of Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee), created temporary waterfalls that claimed several boats – which capsized when they plunged over the falls –, opened up fissures below the River which generated large whirlpools that sucked boats into its depths, killed dozens or possibly hundreds of people (even though the region was sparsely settled)…”  (Clay.  Still Casting Shadows.  2006, p. 166.)

 

Stewart and Knox: “How Many Died”

 

“Ten people were reported dead at New Madrid on December 16.  On the same date a man drowned in Arkansas when the Write River, near present-day Newport, suddenly rose during the tremors and swept him away.  The squeezing action of seismic waves on underground aquifers can cause sudden large discharges of groundwater into streams causing earthquake-induced flash flooding.  A boy in the St. Francis River bottoms near present-day Kennett, Missouri, was also counted as dead from the quakes.  He was looking for lost cattle on January 23 and never returned.  He was probably drowned in a sunk land, washed away by a seismic flash flood, or caught in the quicksand of a sand boil.  At least one elderly person is known to have died of exposure when the populace of New Madrid evacuated and camped in tents and lean-tos at the start of the series, which was during the coldest months of winter. No doubt there were many others.  A number of people died at New Madrid during the dark hours of February 7th when the waters of the Mississippi rushed over the land in a giant wave at the mouth of St. John’s Bayou, but no one knows how many.  Also killed were a couple of dozen pirates on Island # 94.

 

“The Crist family living in Kentucky, approximately 80 miles due east of New Madrid, lost one daughter on January 23, but they were not alone.  Many of their neighbors had been injured and had also lost loved ones….

 

“According to some accounts less than twenty deaths were documented on land but this is extremely misleading.  No systematic effort was ever made to compile all the reports and obtain a true account.  Since communications were so poor and many families and communities lived in isolation, most deaths on land, like those on the river, probably were unrecorded.  Reasonable estimates would be at least a hundred deaths on land, if not double or triple that figure.  These casualties would have been from a variety of earthquake phenomena, including landslides, earthquake flooding, caving river banks, crevasses, and collapsing cabins.

 

“According to the traditions of the Indians, there were more redskins killed than white men.  This would make sense, for the Native Americans outnumbered the settlers at least two to one throughout the zone of the greatest disturbances.  Since they often camped on the river’s edge, they would have been particularly vulnerable to the threat of earthquake-induced flooding and failing banks that pushed many of their camps into deadly waters.  There were probably many Indian villages that were sunk and flooded like Little Prairie…

 

“For example, in the formation of Reelfoot Lake, Indians say that a village was drowned and everyone killed.  We should probably take them at their word on this instead of considering such a report as ‘legend.’  It is also highly probable that one or more Indian villages were drowned in the formation of Big Lake.  And when the town of Big Prairie disappeared in Arkansas, Indians along the river there also reported the submergence of one or more Indian villages with complete loss of life.

 

“In totaling deaths from the New Madrid earthquakes, those of the Native Americans have never been really considered.  One reason for this was that there was no mechanism by which red man’s losses were tallied into white man’s records.  Hence, these data were just not available.

 

“One thing is certain.  Hundreds of Native Americans died who were never counted. Many were lost in their camps and villages, and many were lost from their canoes, as testified by the large numbers of empty ones seen drifting downstream during the five months of the siege.

 

“The River of Death

 

“As or the Mississippi River, untold hundred lost their lives.  A crude accounting could be made for some. For example, at least a hundred lives were probably lost over the second waterfall at New Madrid between February 7 and 10, as witnessed by those on shore.  There were also the nineteen lost boats of the Vincent Nolte convoy, which could account for another 100 lives lost.  And Nolte’s boats weren’t the only ones to disappear below New Madrid that day.  These, plus scattered records of other boats lost, might add up to another 100-200.  No one knows how many died over the first waterfall ten miles above New Madrid and while Mathias Speed and his crew survived the violence of the river’s retrograde motion, no one knows how many others did not.  Most deaths on the river could never be accounted for.  Only the battered debris of their broken, empty vessels were available to tell the tale.

 

“Surviving passengers, and those fortunate enough to preserve their lives while witnessing events from the shores, reported seeing numerous enormous river bank cave-ins.  Sometimes a mile or more of land would collapse at once.  Boats tied up to slumping banks were buried, swamped and sunk, often with everyone still aboard.  These massive cave-ins also caused huge waves that rapidly swept across the channel, bashing the other side and bouncing back.  Many boats caught in the middle were capsized by this process. [208]

 

“During the five months of the earthquakes, from December to May, boatmen became so afraid of being sunk and killed by a failing bank that many preferred to drift in the middle of the river at night rather than take a chance by tying up on the edge.  Stories of sinking islands deterred many from tying up there, as well.  Some reported seeing chasms opening up in the river where turbid waters rushed in – sucking boats and their occupants into the abyss, never to be seen again.  At other times the waters would suddenly rise or suddenly fall several feet.  The river was a very dangerous place to be….

 

“In total, then by our manner of reckoning, deaths of all races from the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 would definitely be in excess of 500.  That would be the low estimate.  It would not be unreasonable to postulate that the number of deaths was greater than 1,000.  Most would not have been residents of the area, but travelers passing through on the river.  Any way you figure it, 500 to 1,000 is a significant percent of the sparse population of the region in that time, which numbered no more than 15,000 – including every white settler, black slave, and redskin.

 

“Many previous publications have remarked on the low number of fatalities attributable to the New Madrid earthquakes.  Some sources have placed the number of deaths on land at less than a dozen and have not added to this any estimate of deaths on the river.  As for Native Americans, it does not appear that anyone has included these mortalities, which were considerable.  By attempting to account for everyone, as we have done here, an entirely different picture emerges….”   (Stewart and Knox. The Earthquake America Forgot. 1995,  p. 207-209.)

 

USGS: “In the winter of 1811-12, the central Mississippi Valley was struck by three of the most powerful earthquakes in U.S. history. Even today, this region has more earthquakes than any other part of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Government agencies, universities, and private organizations are working to increase awareness of the earthquake threat and to reduce loss of life and property in future shocks.

 

“The 400 terrified residents in the town of New Madrid (Missouri) were abruptly awakened by violent shaking and a tremendous roar. It was December 16, 1811, and a powerful earthquake had just struck. This was the first of three magnitude-8 earthquakes and thousands of aftershocks to rock the region that winter.

 

“Survivors reported that the earthquakes caused cracks to open in the earth’s surface, the ground to roll in visible waves, and large areas of land to sink or rise. The crew of the New Orleans (the first steamboat on the Mississippi, which was on her maiden voyage) reported mooring to an island only to awake in the morning and find that the island had disappeared below the waters of the Mississippi River. Damage was reported as far away as Charleston, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C….”  (USGS.  “The Mississippi Valley – “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.’)

 

Sources

 

Clay, Shannon, B.  “The Father of Waters Runs Backwards,” pp. 164-168 in Still Casting Shadows: A Shared Mosaic of U.S. History.  Lincoln, NE:  iUniverse, 2006.  Accessed at:  http://books.google.com/books?id=hBY_tIqFBysC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

 

Hendricks. Nancy. “New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-1812,” The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Nov 18, 2009 update. Accessed at:  http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2218

 

Hunter, Frances. “William Clark and the New Madrid Earthquakes.” Frances Hunter’s American Heroes Blog, 11-19-2009. Accessed 11-23-2016 at: https://franceshunter.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/william-clark-and-the-new-madrid-earthquakes/

 

Stewart, David, and Ray Knox. The Earthquake America Forgot: 2,000 Temblors in Five Months… Marble Hill, MO: Gutenberg-Richter Publications, 1995. Partially digitized by Google at:  http://books.google.com/books?id=v-bfoPtOnW4C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

 

Additional Reading

 

New Madrid, Missouri. “Earthquakes of 1811-1812.” Accessed 11-23-2016 at:  http://www.new-madrid.mo.us/Index.aspx?NID=102

 

1812. S. Geological Survey. History Earthquakes. “Mew Madrid 1811-1812 Earthquakes.” 10-31-2012 modification. Accessed 11-23-2016 at: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1811-1812.php

 

[1] Stewart and Knox write “…when the town of Big Prairie disappeared in Arkansas, Indians along the river there also reported the submergence of one or more Indian villages with complete loss of life.”

[2] Stewart and Knox, pp. 207-209.)

[3] Stewart/Knox write “There were probably many Indian villages that were sunk and flooded like Little Prairie…” (For the purpose of our tally we convert  into >10, though Stewart and Knox speculate that hundreds died.

[4] If many families in western KY lost a family member, as Stewart and Knox write, it appears to us that if one considers this as well as unrecorded White and Native American deaths, then it  seems there were at least ten deaths.

[5] For the purpose of a tally, we convert “many” into >5.

[6] Stewart and Knox, pp. 207-209.)

[7] Stewart and Knox (pp. 207-209) write “A number of people died at New Madrid during the dark hours of February 7^th when the waters of the Mississippi rushed over the land in a giant wave at the mouth of St. John’s Bayou, but no one know how many.” (For the purpose of a tally, we convert “a number of people” into >3.)

[8] “…at least a hundred lives were probably lost over the second waterfall at New Madrid between February 7 and 10, as witnessed by those on shore.”

[9] Stewart/Knox write :…in the formation of Reelfoot Lake, Indians say that a village was drowned and everyone killed.  We should probably take them at their word on this instead of considering such a report as ‘legend.’)

[10] “There were…nineteen lost boats of the Vincent Nolte convoy, which could account for another 100 lives lost.”

[11] “Nolte’s boats weren’t the only ones to disappear below New Madrid that day. These, plus scattered records of other boats lost, might add up to another 100-200.”

— 34 Blanchard estimated death toll.*

— 40 US Dept. Navy. “Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured…”
— 40 US Dept. Navy, Naval Historical Cen. “US Navy Ships Lost in Selected Storm/Weather”
–~35 Savannah Republican and Evening Ledger, GA. “Port of Savannah.” 10-24-1811, p. 7.
— 35 Wikipedia. 1810s Atlantic hurricane seasons. 10-27-2022 edit.)
— 34 Fraser. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms at Sea and Ashore. 2006, pp. 62-63.

*Blanchard note: The most detailed account is Fraser, relying on local reporting. His death toll of 34 is very close to the Savannah Republican report of “about” 35, based on noting “about 25” crewmen onboard. If there were in fact 24 crewmen, then Fraser and the Savannah Republican would be in alignment. We find Wikipedia frequently unreliable, but their death toll of 35 is consonant with what we believe the actual death toll of 34 to be, based on there being a survivor. Though normally reliable, the US Naval Historical Center is clearly not reliable in this instance. In one of their listings they have this loss taking place far north in the Chesapeake Bay, which is clearly inaccurate. In that there is a St. Mary’s City, MD, which is on the S. Marys River, which empties into the Potomac River just above where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay, we speculate that whomever made this entry, saw “St. Marys” and assumed it was a reference to St. Marys City in MD. The other Navy report is correct as to place and date, but lists 40 fatalities. We can only speculate that a gunboat of this size usually carried a complement of 40, and that this explains the death toll of 40.

Narrative Information

Fraser: “As British ships persisted in harassing American vessels and impressing seamen along the coast or on the high seas, American hostility increased. The lowcountry’s privileged classes felt threatened, and local governments at Savannah, Beaufort, Charleston, and Georgetown authorized the construction of fortifications and the drilling of militia, and they asked Congress for gunboats to protect the coasts. It was one of these U.S. gunboats that was caught in a storm off Cumberland Island [GA barrier island] in early October 1811.

“U.S. gunboat No. 2 sailed from Charleston for St. Marys [GA] on September 29 under the command of Lieutenant John J. Lippincott. The vessel, staffed by four midshipmen and twenty-nine crewmembers, carried one civilian passenger, Mrs. R. Smith, who was to join her service-connected husband. [35 in all] The schooner-rigged gunboat reached Cumberland Island on Friday morning, October 4. Unable to enlist a pilot to navigate the tricky local waters, Lippincott ‘stood off’ the island in view of a ‘high sea’ and watched the weather turning ‘very bad.’ By morning the wind was from the northeast and ‘increasing to a heavy gale.’ likely near hurricane force. With part of the crew below deck, Lippincott ordered all hatches secured and trysail rigged. He then headed the gunboat east into the wind in an attempt to stabilize the vessel in the turbulent sea, but with the wind and seas still rising, the vessel was unable to maintain headway, and Lippincott ordered the trysail reefed. The vessel wallowed helplessly. Within minutes a ‘heavy sea broke on board’ and knocked it over. To right the gunboat, Lippincott ordered the mast cut away. Terrified and afraid of drowning, the crew below ‘forced open the hatches’ secured earlier and the ‘Gun-Boat instantly filled [with water] and went down,’ taking with it those who opened the hatches. Those aboard who were lucky enough to be pitched into the heaving sea ‘tried to save themselves from instant death’ by clinging to the great sweeps or oars, spars, or rigging. But after ‘struggling a while with the waves,’ they too ‘shared the fate of those who went down with the vessel.’

“Crewmember John Tier, who had managed to grab and hold to a large oar, soon found himself alone in a rolling sea. He clung to the oar for twenty-nine hours until rescued by Captain Gould of the schooner Dolly out of Rhode Island. Tier was the sole survivor of thirty-five aboard gunboat No. 2. The sinking ranks as one of the greatest sea disasters off Georgia’s coast.”

USN, Naval History and Heritage Command: “Gun Boat #2 sank in gale off St. Mary’s Georgia. 40 died. 5 Oct. 1811.” (USN, Naval History and Heritage Command. “U.S. Navy Ships Lost in Selected Storm/Weather Related Incidents.” 6-3-2005.)

USN, Naval History and Heritage Command: “Gun Boat #2 sank in gale in Chesapeake Bay [sic]. 40 lost. 5 October 1811.” (USN, Naval History and Heritage Command. “Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action.” 1-19-2006.)

Wikipedia: “[Hurricane] III. On October 4 a major hurricane hit near St. Augustine, Florida. Many homes were destroyed, and 35 people drowned in the sinking of a U.S. gunboat.” No source cited. (Wikipedia. 1810s Atlantic hurricane seasons. 10-27-2022 edit.)

Newspaper

Oct 14, Savannah Republican: “Charleston, October 14.

“Arrived, schooner Kitty-Ann, Richardson, St. Mary’s, 1 day. A very severe gale was experienced at St. Mary’s on the 4th and 5th inst. – Two or three houses were blown down, and several ships in the river drove on shore; among them, ship Mary, Forbes, of New York, not expected to be got off; ship Superior, Coffin, of Bath, expected to be got off; and ship Baltic [? unclear], Adams, of Portsmouth, got off without damage. – An American brig from West Indies, put into St. Mary’s on Thursday last, having lost part of her sails and spars in the gale.” (Savannah Republican and Evening Banner, GA. “Port of Savannah.” 10-19-1811, p. 9.)

Oct 24, Savannah Republican: “Charleston, October 22

“Loss of Gun-Boat No. 2. – The United States’ gun-boat No. 2 (schooner rigged) under the command of Mr. Lippincott, of the navy, sailed from this port on the 28th ult. [September] bound to St. Mary’s. On Friday morning, 4th inst. they made Cumberland island, but being unable to procure a pilot, they, at night, stood off, weather very bad and a high sea – on Saturday morning, the wind increasing to a heavy gale from N.N.E. the vessel was hove to under a trysail, with her head to the eastward; about 11 A.M. the gale increasing took in the tri-sail, and in about five minutes after a heavy sea broke on board which hove the boat on her beam ends – they immediately attempted to cut away the mast, but that part of the crew which was below, in their alarm, forced open the hatches, which had been secured early in the gale, and the Gun-Boat instantly filled and went down. Several of the crew attempted to save themselves from instant death by clinging to the floating sweeps, spars, &c. but one only of the number escaped to tell the mournful tale; all the rest, after struggling awhile with the waves, shared the fate of those who went down with the vessel.

“The man saved is named John Tier, and what is very remarkable, he was one of the men saved from the wreck of Gun-Boat No. 157, lost on Charleston bar on the 17th May last. This man was picked up the next day, after having been 29 hours upon an oar, by Capt. Gould, of the schr. Dolly, or Rhode Island, and landed at Amelia island. – the names of the persons lost are: [We break paragraph into separate lines.]

John J. Lippincott, acting master, a native of Pennsylvania;
James W. Gunning, midshipman, of Wilmington, N.C.;
John Todd, do. [ditto]; of this city;
Francis Taylor, do. do.;
Samuel Liber, do. do.’
Samuel Robertson, boatswain;
Wm. Wright, gunner;
Thomas King, purser’s steward;
Samuel Cameron, carpenter;
Mrs. R. Smith, a native of Liverpool, going on to her husband, who is a carpenter in the United States service;
And about 25 seamen.”

(Savannah Republican and Evening Ledger, GA. “Port of Savannah.” 10-24-1811, p. 7.)

Sources

Fraser, Walter J. Jr. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms at Sea and Ashore. Athens and London: University of Georgia Press, 2006. Google preview accessed 8-16-2017: https://books.google.com/books?id=4iDbukwvWL0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Lowcountry+Hurricanes&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj60M2Tgd3VAhXH54MKHfaeC_QQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=Lowcountry%20Hurricanes&f=false

Naval History and Heritage Command. “Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action.” 1-19-2006. Accessed 3-10-2017 at: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/c/casualties-usnavy-marinecorps-personnel-killed-injured-selected-accidents-other-incidents-notdirectly-result-enemy-action.html

Savannah Republican and Evening Banner, GA. “Port of Savannah.” 10-19-1811, p. 9. Accessed 12-7-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/savannah-republican-and-savannah-evening-ledger-oct-19-1811-p-9/

Savannah Republican and Evening Ledger, GA. “Port of Savannah.” 10-24-1811, p. 7. Accessed 12-7-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/savannah-republican-and-savannah-evening-ledger-oct-24-1811-p-7/

United States Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command. U.S. Navy Ships Lost in Selected Storm/Weather Related Incidents (website). 6-3-2005. Accessed 3-10-2017 at: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/us-navy-ships-lost-in-selected-storm-weather-related-incidents.html

Wikipedia. 1810s Atlantic hurricane seasons. 10-27-2022 edit. Accessed 12-7-2022 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1810s_Atlantic_hurricane_seasons#1811_Atlantic_hurricane_season

— 252  Blanchard compilation of numbers for Baltimore and New York City.

Maryland       (135)

— 135  Baltimore, Oct-Apr 1812. Cordell. The Medical Annals of Maryland. 1903,  p. 678.

—   95  Baltimore, Oct-Jan 1812. Quinan. Medical Annals of Baltimore… 1884, p. 25.[1]

—   40  Baltimore, Feb-Apr 1812. Quinan. Medical Annals of Baltimore… 1884, p. 26.

Massachusetts (  2)

–2  Boston. Medical and Surgical Journal (Boston). “Small-pox and Revaccination.” 2-10-1881.

New York       (117)[2]

—  117  NYC. American Medical Association. Transactions of the AMA (Vol. I). 1848, p. 105.[3]

Pennsylvania  (   1)

— 1  Southwark section, Philly, June 27. Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser. 6-28-1811.[4]

 

Narrative Information

Quinan: “1811….95 died from smallpox in October, November, December and January, 1812.”

 

Sources

Adams Sentinel and General Advertiser. “Wretched Condition of a Family.” 6-28-1811, col. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/pennsylvania/gettysburg/gettysburg-adams-centinel/1811/06-28/page-3?tag=small+pox&rtserp=tags/small-pox?pci=7&ndt=bd&pd=1&pm=1&py=1811&pe=30&pem=1&pey=1812

American Medical Association. Transactions of the American Medical Association (Vol. I). Philadelphia: T.K. and P.G. Collins, 1848, p. 105. Google digitized. Accessed 12-4-2012 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=4-pXAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Cordell, Eugene Fauntleroy, M.D. The Medical Annals of Maryland 1799-1899. Baltimore: Press of Williams & Wilkins Co. for the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of the State of Maryland, 1903. Google digitized. Accessed 1-15-2015 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=Wx8SAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Medical and Surgical Journal (Boston). “Small-pox and Revaccination.” Vol. CIV, No. 6, 2-10-1881, p. 137. Google digitized. Accessed 1-15-2015 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=fNA9AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Quinan, John R., M.D. Medical Annals of Baltimore From 1608-1880, Including Events, Men and Literature, to Which is Added A Subject Index and Record of Public Services. Baltimore: Press of Isaac Friedenwald, 1884. Google digitized. Accessed 1-14-2015 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=xNcRAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

 

[1] Notes at page 26 that in addition, “26 died from smallpox in February, 11 in March, 3 in April.”

[2] There were 21 smallpox deaths in NYC in 1812, but the time-frame is not indicated, so we do not use. (George Gregory, M.D. Lectures on the Eruptive Fevers; as now in the course of delivery at St. Thomas’s Hospital, in London (1^st American Edition with Notes and an Appendix, by H. D. Bulkley, M.D.) NY: S. S. & Wood, Publishers, 1851. (At page 335.)

[3] “Table of the annual numbers of deaths from Scarlet Fever, Measles, and Small-Pox in the city of New York, from the beginning of 1805 to the end of 1847;” page 105 in: American Medical Association.  Transactions of the American Medical Association (Vol. I). Philadelphia: T.K. and P.G. Collins, 1848.

[4] Notes that a Constable found at the Kelly home three Kelly children on the floor with smallpox, one of whom had just died, the mother on the floor intoxicated, and the father having “deserted them.” Cites Philadelphia Sentinel.

–>20 Fraser, Walter J. Jr. Lowcountry Hurricanes. 2006, p.60.
–~20 Rubillo. Hurricane Destruction in South Carolina: Hell and High Water. 2006, p. 56.
— 11 Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, pp. 518, 554.
— 11 Grazulis. The Tornado Project. “Worst Tornadoes by State.”
–>11 Blanchard*

*Blanchard note: Though Rubillo notes about twenty deaths and provides information on more than eleven deaths pulled from morning and evening editions of the Charleston Times, there appears to be double counting, in that the second edition notes deaths of slightly differently spelled names that were reported in the first edition. It appears that these names refer to people noted in the first edition, though with slightly differently spelled names. The only detail which does not appear to have been reported in the morning edition is the death of a child who later died from injuries. Our own attempt to compile a listing of deaths, found below, comes to fourteen. However, given the ambiguity associated with the deaths of several unidentified slaves, we are not confident that this listing of fourteen is accurate. Grazulis is in our experience a reliable source, and our only modification to his reporting of eleven deaths is to note that at least eleven people died, perhaps more, but we do not have the documentation to back that up.

Narrative Information

Fraser: “….Sixty to one hundred yards wide, it [the tornado] cut a swath of destruction and death across the city, from Bay Street on the southeast to Boundary Street on the northwest. The tornado roared across Church Street, into Meeting Street, across Tradd Street, tup King to Broad Street. It crossed Queen Street and then sped up Mazyck Street, leveling some houses and sending roof tiles and slate spinning through the air like missiles. It was over in minutes. Leaving the city, the tornado whirled down Boundary Street into the countryside, knocking over trees and fences. Some people, buried when houses collapsed on them, died instantly – a young woman, a French-born physician, a German-born grocer, three mulatto children, and two mulatto men. Others died later from their injuries. The tornado claimed over twenty lives.

Grazulis: “SC Sep 10, 1811 12:30 11k…Charleston…A hurricane-spawned tornado moved to the NW across the center of Charleston. About 60 homes were destroyed or badly damaged, including some large mansions. Eleven people were killed.” (Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes, 1993, p. 554.)

Rubillo: After transcribing the text of The Charleston Times of September 11 which was later repeated in the Savannah Republican noted below, Rubillo goes on to state that the evening edition which we have not located provided additional detail. He writes: “On King Street a double tenement, known by the name of Old Gaul, had the front blown out. Two unidentified mulatto girls and a similarly unnamed white boy were killed there.” He then notes that the same edition reported the death of “a child who had been injured during the storm…”

Newspaper

Sep 17, Savannah Republican: “Charleston, September 11.

“Dreadful Calamity. – It is again our painful duty to detail the awful effects of a dreadful visitation upon our ill-fated city. A Tornado having passed through it, carrying death and desolation in its progress.

“On Sunday evening last [Sep 8], the wind, which had been for some days light and variable, shifted to the north-east, and blowing very fresh through the night, it continued in the same quarter all day on Monday and Monday night; on Tuesday morning it blew with increased violence, and during the shole time from Sunday evening, there was an almost uninterrupted fall of rain. About ten o’clock in the forenoon of Tuesday, the wind shifted to the south-east and at half past twelve o’clock, a tornado, unprecedented here I its extent and effects, crossed a section of our city. It first took effect at Fort Mechanic, situated on the south-east point of the city, and passing from thence in a north-west direction to the pond on the north side of Cannon’s bridge; how far it has extended its ravages into the country we have not yet learnt. In its progress in overturned and completely destroyed a great number of houses and out-buildings, unroofed others, and prostrated trees, fences, and almost every thing coming in contact with it. It is computed, from a hasty view of the scene of devastation, that the loss to the city will fall little, if any, short of that experienced by the calamitous fire in October last. But, in addition to this great loss of property, we have, on this occasion, to lament the loss of several valuable lives.

“The tornado appears to have been about one hundred yards in width – after it had prostrated to flag-staff on Fort Mechanic, unroofed the house within the enclosure of that fort, thrown down the blacksmith’s shop contiguous to it, and unroofed all the houses immediately adjoining the fort, it crossed over to Lynch’s Lane, where it unroofed several houses; from thence to proceeded across Church street, continued to Meeting-street, where several houses were unroofed, particularly the large new brick house of Nathaniel Russell, esq. whose loss in furniture, &c. cannot amount to less than twenty thousand dollars; from Meeting-street it crossed to Tradd-street, where a large three story wooden house on the south side, about half way between Meeting and King-streets, was blown over which crushed two adjoining houses in its fall; and most of the houses on both sides of the street to the corner of King-street were unroofed; or much shattered. It passed up King-street, nearly to Broad-street, unroofing and shattering several houses in its progress, until it reached Broad-street; here, the houses of Dr. Alexander Baron, situated at the corner of Orange-street, and the venerable mansion of the late Dr. Chanler, on the opposite corner, were very roughly handled; the later being old and weak was completely wrenched to pieces; on the opposite side of Broad-street, the premises lately purchased by the St. Andrew’s Society, and occupied by Mr. Henry Ieglesby; the mansion of the late general Macpherson, and some other buildings, were either unroofed or much damaged; passing through Vaux-Hall Garden, it crossed over Queen-street, near to the corner of Friend-street, and shattering several houses in its progress, it went on to the corner of Magazine and Mazyck-streets; two or three small houses fronting on the former of these streets were blown down; and in the progress of the tornado up Mazyck-street several houses were unroofed or otherwise much damaged. One or two houses were prostrated on Beaufain-street. After leaving Beaufain-street, the houses being less compactly situated, the marks of its ravages are not so distinctly to be traced, thou it appears to have lost nothing of its violence. The mansion-house of the honorable Judge Desaussuré was violently assailed, and suffered very considerably; one of the chimneys was thrown down; and a part of the family, who were at the time in an upper room of the house, were precipitated with the falling bricks through two floors into the kitchen. Providentially no lives were lost, except that of a negro girl. Several other houses in the out-skirts of the city were either unroofed or much injured; and we also understand that much injury has been sustained in the village of Islington, but we were unable last evening to obtain any further particulars.

“The most painful part of our duty still remains – it is to record the deaths which have been occasioned by this dreadful disaster – they are, so far as has come to our knowledge, as follows:

“Miss Margaret Cozzens, aged 21 years, killed in a house adjoining Fort-Mechanic.

“Doctor Canten, a native of France…killed by the falling of his house in Beaufain street.

“Mr. Peterson, a native of Germany, Grocer, at the corner of Magazine and Mazyck-streets.

“A free Mulatto Man, in Church-street continued.

“A French Mulatto Girl in King-street.

“Two Mulatto children, either killed or drowned by the falling of a small wooden house which was blown into the Mill Pond at Cannon’s Bridge.

“A Negro Man, belonging to Mr. Dener, Mazyck-street.

“We have also heard of two or three other Negros killed, bud did not learn to whom they belonged….”

Summary of Specified Fatalities

1. Doctor Canten, a native of France, killed by the falling of his house in Beaufain street.
2. Miss Margaret Cozzens, aged 21 years, killed in a house adjoining Fort-Mechanic.
3. Mr. Dener of Mazyck Street; slave of.
4. Mr. Peterson, a native of Germany, grocer, at the corner of Magazine and Mazyck-streets.
5. Church Street. A free mulatto man.
6. Judge Desaussuré’s house; a black girl.
7. King Street, Old Gaul double tenement; mulatto girl.
8. King Street, Old Gaul double tenement; 2nd mulatto girl.
9. King Street, Old Gaul double tenement; unnamed white boy.
10. Mill Pond at Cannon’s Bridge; child from small house blown into the pond
11. Mill Pond. 2nd child from same small house blown into Mill Pond at Cannon’s Bridge.
12. Unidentified slave.
13. Unidentified slave.
14. Unidentified location. Child died from injuries after the publication of the morning ed.

Sources

Fraser, Walter J. Jr. Lowcountry Hurricanes: Three Centuries of Storms at Sea and Ashore. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2006.

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993, 1,326 pages.

Grazulis, Thomas P. The Tornado Project. “Worst Tornadoes by State.” Accessed 12-7-2022 at: http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/worstts.htm

Rubillo, Tom. Hurricane Destruction in South Carolina: Hell and High Water. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2006.

Savannah Republican, GA. “Tornado In Charleston.” 9-17-1811, p. 7. Accessed 12-7-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/savannah-republican-and-savannah-evening-ledger-sep-17-1811-p-7/