Fourth of July celebration 1816. It was plain to see that there would be no apple or pear
crop that year, since the beginning fruits were frozen solid.
Belfast Historical Society and Museum illustration

Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death

The Year Without a Summer

by Tom Seymour

We’ve all heard wild and sometimes unbelievable tales from our elders of extreme cold, times when deep snow and record cold temperatures made the coldest weather of today seem balmy by comparison. But imagine, if you will, a whole year of unprecedented cold, a year so snowy and frosty that people in Maine left their homes in droves, heading for better conditions in the “Ohio Country.”

As opposed to some of the old tales, the “Year of No Summer” really happened. In the year 1816, North America and Europe were nearing the tail-end of the “Little Ice Age,” a time of below-normal temperatures that began hundreds of years earlier and only ended in the mid-19th century. So given that agriculture was made difficult by somewhat cool temperatures in general, the eruption of Mount Tambora on April 5, 1815 in what is today Indonesia, only added to the misery. This wasn’t a one-time eruption, either. The eruption continued until July 15 of that year. It took another year for its effects to be felt in other parts of the world.

Ash from the volcano entered the stratosphere and eventually expanded around the globe, filtering sunlight and holding temperatures down, even in summer. As an offshoot to this, painters of the day regaled the public with paintings of exquisitely-colored sunsets. At the time, neither painters nor patrons realized what was causing these memorable sunsets.

Hopeful Beginning

The year 1816 began with Maine and New England enjoying an unusually warm new year. January was warm enough to go outdoors clothed only in fall gear. February, too, was comfortable, with no very cold weather. March came in like a lamb and went out like a lamb. And April began with comfortable, warm weather that had farmers smiling. It looked as if they might even be able to get their crops in early this time.

But people’s expectations and hopes were confounded as April continued. By month’s end, cold had returned, and in a big way. Snow and ice, rather than birds and flowers, were what defined the month of May. Nascent leaves were frozen on trees, spring flowers were killed by freezing temperatures and most all emerging plant life died from being frozen. And ice formed and stayed on ponds, lakes and slow-moving streams.

June was so cold that no one living at that time could recall the equal of it. Maine was blanketed with seven inches of fresh snow. It was plain to see that there would be no apple or pear crop that year, since the beginning fruits were frozen solid. And farmers learned that it was a mistake to shear their sheep, since after shearing, the animals died from the cold.

Fresh, spring vegetables were not to be, nor were most wild edibles. It is reported, however, that stinging nettles survived the cold and some people were able to benefit from eating fresh, vitamin-packed nettles. But generally, everything succumbed to frost and cold. By midsummer, food scarcity had become a widespread problem. There were no governmental safety nets in 1816. People had to depend upon themselves, their friends and their neighbors.

One such neighbor, Reuben Whitten, of Ashland, New Hampshire, managed to grow a crop of wheat by planting on a south-facing plot of land. The resulting crop, Whitten shared with his neighbors, thus keeping them from total starvation. Upon Whitten’s death in 1847, the people he saved during the cold times of 1816 bought and paid for his headstone and also erected a monument that read: “A pioneer of this town. Cold season of 1816 raised 40 bushels of wheat on this land whitch kept his family and neighbours from starveation.” (Ed. Note – the misspellings are the original wording, not mistakes on my part)

In addition to wheat and rye, some were able to scrounge up a small crop of potatoes. This represented the net vegetable portion of people’s diets. Not everyone, though, was even able to acquire what little was available. Also, those who didn’t own livestock to slaughter were relegated to hunting wild animals and such things as raccoons, pigeons and porcupines were fair game.

As late as August, farmers planted crops of corn in hopes that
warm conditions would linger through fall. But that wasn’t to be.
Belfast Historical Society and Museum illustration

Side Effects

The cold summer produced predictable side effects. Those who had any sort of food for humans or fodder for animals hoarded it. Prices for food soared and many who had no food and little money were truly between a rock and a hard place. As an example of price gouging because of the scarcity of food items, oats, which sold for 12 cents in 1815, went for 92 cents in 1816.

A less predictable consequence of the big freeze was felt in elections. Starving people begged members of congress for help, some kind of assistance. But the government turned a deaf ear on pleas for help. While the politicians quickly forgot the situation, the public didn’t and when Election Day rolled around, the uncaring politicians were voted out of office en masse. Nearly 70 percent of representatives were booted out because of their cavalier attitude toward their constituents during the cold times. Daniel Webster was one politician who was voted out of office because of his lack of care or leadership during the “summer that never was.”

As bad as the cold was, fluctuating temperatures played a heartbreaking game of cat-and-mouse with Mainers and New Englanders. Because although temperatures fell to unprecedented lows each month through spring, summer and fall, they also soared to uncommon highs. And with these brief, teasing rises in temperature, so too rose the spirits of the disaffected.

Every time temperatures rose, people began to hope that their crops may still be saved, that by planting now, something could be salvaged of the season’s harvest. But as quickly as temperatures rose, they fell even more precipitously.

As late as August, farmers planted crops of corn in hopes that warm conditions would linger through fall. But that wasn’t to be. Indian corn, which was a staple in people’s diets of the day, never matured and in the end, was cut up for animal fodder.

Along with widespread cold, the effects of which were noted as far south as Virginia, when frost hit on August 20 and 21, was a widespread drought. For many, it didn’t seem that things could get much worse. Accordingly, families packed up, lock, stock and barrel and struck out for the Ohio frontier. This wasn’t just a wagon here and there, but rather a mass exodus. The helpless farmers caught, what at the time was called, “Ohio Fever.”

Beginning in spring and lasting throughout the frigid summer, something known at the time as “dry fog” blanketed Maine and New England. Sunlight filtering through the fog acquired a reddish hue and even more notable, the “fog” made naked-eye viewing of sunspots possible. Modern science has termed the fog a “stratospheric sulfate aerosol veil.”

Speaking of sunspots, with the cold year of 1816 came a period of decreased sunspot activity. Times of few sunspots (solar storms) coincide with times of cool climate. This, coupled with the massive volcano eruption, was enough to put New England and much of Europe over the edge.

Future Cold

It seems fair to ask if anything like this could happen again. The answer is quite disturbing. Yes, another “year without a summer” could certainly occur again. The same particulate matter, and other material that we blame for global warming could, with the help of another volcanic eruption, cause another cold period.

On the positive side, the following year, 1817, saw the beginning of official weather watching. Josiah Meigs, commissioner general of the U.S. Land Office, instructed 20 different land offices to begin recording temperature, precipitation and wind speed three times daily.

As with everything else, Mainers are always able to inject a bit of dry humor to the worst of situations. A popular rhyme concerning the year 1816 went this way:

Months that should be summer’s prime

Sleet and snow and frost and rime

Air so cold you see your breath

Eighteen hundred and froze to death