{"id":61437,"date":"2020-09-11T11:40:11","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T15:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=61437"},"modified":"2023-11-06T16:16:01","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T21:16:01","slug":"like-california-now-new-england-had-a-dark-day-when-the-sky-wasnt-blue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/like-california-now-new-england-had-a-dark-day-when-the-sky-wasnt-blue.html","title":{"rendered":"Like California Now, New England Had a Dark Day: When the Sky Wasn\u2019t Blue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega \u2013 who right now is experiencing California\u2019s Dark Days caused by the raging wildfires \u2013 searches old newspapers to learn about New England\u2019s Dark Day in 1780. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

We live in a difficult time, and California is experiencing a lot right now. Sure, we are amid a worldwide pandemic which means that things aren\u2019t \u201cnormal.\u201d But in California, we\u2019ve also had a record heatwave, and that heat exacerbated by dry conditions equals fires. Although I live approximately 50 miles from the nearest fire, the sky near my house was yellow for several days. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the sky is orange and day looks like night. A family member writes that \u201cwe have to turn the lights on inside and it\u2019s about 15-20 degrees cooler than yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: an all-day red sky over San Francisco\u2019s City Hall due to the raging wildfires on 9 September 2020. Credit: Misti Layne (https:\/\/www.mistilayne.com\/)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This made me wonder if our ancestors ever experienced this sort of thing. The answer, of course, is found in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A similar event happened 140 years ago in New England. California\u2019s current orange sky and feeling of gloom and doom was experienced by New Englanders during the \u201cDark Day\u201d of 1780. While we know what is causing California\u2019s altered sky, New Englanders felt concern over something they didn\u2019t understand \u2013 which led to fear and belief that it was God\u2019s punishment or the end of the world.<\/p>\n

Dark Sky over New England<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 19th<\/sup> of May 1780 was a terrifying day for New Englanders. By about mid-morning the skies had blackened. Eyewitness accounts of that day continued to be published decades later, including this one printed in 1853 in the Barre Patriot<\/em> newspaper. Initially penned a week after the event, on 27 May 1780, this letter by Caleb G. Andrews to General Nathaniel Folsom recalls:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the morning it was rainy, till about 9 o\u2019clock, when the clouds broke away and the sun appeared, but very red\u2026 at half-past ten it was uncommon dark, the clouds appearing of a yellowish hue. At 11, the public school was dismissed, it being so dark, that no person could read or write. It continued to grow dark till twelve, when it was so dark that we could not tell one person from another in a room with three large windows.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Barre Patriot (Barre, Massachusetts), 4 February 1853, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1830, Hon. Wheeler Martin provided his recollection of the 19th of May 1780. He remembered:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere I resided at that time, the darkness at 11 o\u2019clock was so great, that a candle was lighted and placed upon the table; \u2013the fowls went to roost; \u2013the sheep all huddled around in a circle, with their heads inward.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He goes on to write that:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe darkness was so great in the night time, that it was said by one Doctor Blackington\u2026 who had occasion to be out among his sick patients that night, that he could not see his white handkerchief placed before his eyes. The darkness was so thick that it could be felt.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, Massachusetts), 22 December 1830, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Day to Remember<\/strong><\/p>\n

The \u201cdark day\u201d became one that people used to compare similar days, or even used to help give a sense of time. This 1786 mention of a weather event in Worcester is described as either a tornado or a hurricane:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole horizon was soon obscured, and the darkness equaled, if not exceeded, that of the dark day in 1780.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Massachusetts Gazette (Boston, Massachusetts), 1 September 1786, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This obituary for Mrs. Elizabeth Burden, who achieved the advanced age of 103 years, references 1780\u2019s dark day to indicate when she was last a practicing midwife:<\/p>\n

\u201cHer last practice in the obstetricate art was so late as the dark day, May 29 [sic], 1780.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Litchfield Monitor (Litchfield, Connecticut), 4 January 1785, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As you can probably guess, that wasn\u2019t the only dark day in history (nor will it be the last). There were dark days prior to May 1780, as well as after. In fact, in 1780 the Boston Gazette<\/em> published, just 10 days later, an article about a \u201cdark day\u201d in 1762. That day found the sky a \u201cdirty yellow with green colour.\u201d Aside from the color, \u201cthe air was almost suffocating, with a strong sulphurous smell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Gazette (Boston, Massachusetts), 29 May 1780, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was surprised by all the mentions of a \u201cdark day\u201d I found in the old newspapers, like this 1789 Lexington, Kentucky, version. It\u2019s a good reminder that the weather and natural events affected our ancestors, and those events are important. Reading your ancestor\u2019s local newspaper can help you better understand their life, and may also help as you seek to understand their correspondence, journals, or other writings.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Massachusetts Centinel (Boston, Massachusetts), 20 January 1790, page 151<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Fire of 1780<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, what caused New England\u2019s dark day of May 1780? Like we are experiencing in California and the West Coast right now, it\u2019s believed it was caused by forest fires and fog. Caleb Andrews\u2019 letter in the Barre Patriot<\/em> mentions \u201cthe strong smell of smoke.\u201d According to an article by the New England Historical Society:<\/p>\n

\u201cScientific research into old trees in the Algonquin Highlands, Ontario, concluded the Dark Day resulted from a massive wildfire in Canadian forests. Scientists found charcoal and resin \u2013 \u2018fire scars\u2019 \u2014 in the growth rings of the trees.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A forest fire in Canada was something that would not have been apparent to those in New England living through the event in May 1780.*<\/p>\n

Do you have an ancestor who experienced the Dark Day of 1780? What about other dark days? Have you documented it in your family history? Let us know about it in the comments below.<\/p>\n

* \u201cThe New England Dark Day, May 19, 1780,\u201d New England Historical Society (https:\/\/www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com\/new-england-dark-day-may-19-1780\/<\/a>: accessed 9 September 2020).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to learn about New England\u2019s Dark Day in 1780 \u2013 like California\u2019s now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":61481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12235],"tags":[9358,57597],"class_list":["post-61437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-new-englands-dark-day","tag-wildfires"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/photo-0911-2020-featured-graphic-s.f.-dark-day.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61437"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95727,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61437\/revisions\/95727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}