Forgotten Disasters: New England’s Dark Day
Source: University Of Missouri
Not a disaster so much as a very strange day for a lot of people, May 19th, 1780 was overcast with such a thick smoke that people had to travel by candlelight at noon. In Boston, the darkness lasted nearly fourteen hours, not letting up until midnight.
For several days leading up to that bleak day in May, citizens had noted that the sun and moon both took on red hues and that wells and rivers assumed collections of soot. However, due to the ongoing war and widespread scientific illiteracy, explanations for the darkness were emotionally motivated at best.
Source: Answers
It doesn’t take too much imagination to see why several states across the region interpreted the darkness as a religious omen. Quite a few New England states were founded by religious fundamentalists, and outside of serving as the opening stage of the American Revolution, New England is best known for the Salem witch trials. Said Abraham Davenport of the Connecticut legislature: “I am against adjournment.The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not.
If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought.” Shedding religious fervor for scientific fact, arboreal research suggests that particularly heavy forest fires in Ontario were blown toward the ocean, covering much of the St. Lawrence River and reaching as far south as New Jersey.
