It
was late morning, a little after 10 a.m., on Friday, May 19, 1780 when a
mysterious and unsettling darkness enveloped most of New England and southwest Canada.
Residents,
mostly farmers, paused in bewilderment as their day became night; not just a
passing dark cloud, but full-fledged darkness. And with it, a change in the
air, which turned acrid with the taste and smell of sooty ash. The mysterious
circumstance persisted for the rest of the day and all the following night –
over 20 consecutive hours.
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| The bizarre black day of May 19, 1780.Above - before the mysterious darkness. Below: Noon day darkness. |
In
his 1916 book “Windham in the Past”, historian Samuel T. Dole described the occurrence
this way: “The people (of Windham) were compelled to light candles at noon-day,
and a physician whose duties obliged him to be out that night stated that it
was so dark he could not see his white handkerchief two feet from his face,
although it was the time of the full moon.
People watched and waited all night
in mortal terror, but the next morning the sun rose on a clear and cloudless
sky, thus dispelling the darkness of the preceding day and night, and also the
gloomy forebodings that had oppressed their minds.”
Newspapers
and personal diary accounts of the phenomenon stated, “…that fowls went to
their roosts and the whip-poor-wills sung their usual serenade…” It was noted
that animals shuffled about nervously; cows returned to their barn stalls,
woodchucks whistled, and frogs peeped as if night had just fallen. Wrote one witness,
“It was the appearance of midnight at noon-day.”
Many
claimed the air, a reddish-hue, tasted and smelled like sooty black ash, a
malt-house or a coal kiln; and observed black scum covering the surfaces of
streams and ponds. At one point during the day a light rain indicated the
presence of a cloud cover above the low curtain of blackness. All that was familiar,
and routine was suddenly unravelling.
The
young nation was immersed in a bloody rebellion; it had just emerged from a
bitter, cold winter; now with the sudden and mysterious darkness, a subtle
panic ensued.
To
the south, General George Washington was encamped with the continental army in
New Jersey. He noted in his journal, “…a dark (day) and at the same time a
bright and reddish kind of light…”
Religious
groups of the time attributed the mid-day darkness to a variety of causes from
stormy weather to the supernatural. Some feared the apocalypse was at their
doorstep, an event that represented a harbinger of the ‘last day.’ It was said
that many wrung their hands and waited for the sound of trumpets announcing
Judgment Day. The Shakers used the occasion to lure the reform-minded over to
their newly formed religion. Seventh-day Adventists regarded the darkness as a
fulfillment of the prophecy. One historian observed that the northeast was a
deeply Protestant society and that people would instinctively look for biblical
precedents.
Despite
the lack of scientific information in the 18th century, some attributed
the phenomenon to natural causes, citing “clouds with highly charged smoke from
fires in the back country.” They weren’t wrong, but it would take more than 200
years to prove them right.
Modern
day researchers found no evidence of volcanic activity during the time of the
dark day. A solar eclipse, which at totality would last only a few minutes, was
ruled out. For many decades, a meteor strike was at least considered a possibility.
In
the early 2000s, forestry researchers discovered fire scars on the growth rings
of trees just north of New England in Canada. Evidence suggested massive wildfires
dating to the time of the dark day. A drought, known to have occurred at about
the same time, would have increased the likelihood of fire. And prevailing westerly
winds from the area would have carried soot-laden weather over New England.
By
2007, it was the consensus of forestry officials, meteorologists and other
scientists and historians that New England’s Great Dark Day was the result of a
combination of dense forest fire smoke, a thick coastal fog and storm clouds
all combining at the same moment in time. Mystery explained, at last.
Dole,
the Windham historian, credited poet John Greenleaf Whittier with the most
“vivid picture of the occurrence.” In 1866, Whittier wrote:
‘Twas on a May-day of the far old
year
Seventeen hundred eighty, that there
fell
Over the bloom and sweet life of the
Spring,
Over the fresh earth and the heaven
of noon,
A horror of great darkness, like the
night…
The low-hung sky
Was fringed with a dull glow, like
that which climbs
The crater’s sides from the red hell
below.
…bats on leathern wings
Flitted abroad; the sounds of labor
died;
Men prayed, and women wept; all ears
grew sharp
To hear the doom-blast of the
trumpet…
Whittier
was also the author of another well-known poem related to Windham history. In “Funeral
Tree of the Sokokis”, the famous 19th century poet vividly recounted
the final battle between Chief Polin’s Presumpscot band of Wabanakis and the English
settlers led by Stephen Manchester. It’s a matter of historical record for
another time.
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