Daily Republican., 1881-01-14
COLD WINTER
The winter Of I77s. 50 Tho C"ia
Friday offsbruery 2, 1907

Friday ofFsbruary 2, 1907
From the Albany Argus.
The winter Of l779 80 began as the
present one did, and before the sngu'
moderation In the atmosphere. sun'
day, many of the older residents, whose
fathers and mothers had told them
many tales Of that terrible winter
were specializing as TO whether 'se
present one would resemble 1t in
other respects. In l77S-So ths
culd weather set in about lne
middle Of November, and conunuea
until the middle of February. Durins 9
that long period there was not enough
warmth in the suns rays to melt the
snow on the ground, nor to effect IN
the least the letters OF ice that bound
the creeks, ponds and rivers
One snow etorm followed another nm
til fiually the ground was covered mat
1t was difficult 10 go from place 10 place
and the ice upon the rivers at all ooa,
vsuient points was used by men and
teams and animals in place OF roads
The cold winds were SO piercing thai
wild turkeys were found freBsn 10
death in the forests, and domestic fowis
tell frozen from their roosts.
The deer and the buffalo sought shel.
ter from the blast around the cabins oi
the settlers, and all kinds Of wild AMI
mails perished in the forests for want
OF food, which was buried ben cath the
snow. The fierce wolf and panther
which usually skulked about the boun,
dariss Of the settlements only BY nish'
now came near in broad daylight in
search Of the bones and o8al thrown
from the cabins OF the settlers. NJ
|rsin fell, and the pioneers were com
pellei to obtain water for drinking,
cooking, &C., by melting ice and snow
The Northern and Western
rivers were tightly bound by FROST
and even as far south as Nashville tht
Cumberland was frozen over with Ice
thick enough for the said passage 0I
emigrant trains. The Delaware, at
Phi sdslphia, had ice three feet in
thickness, and Chesapeake Bay snd
Long Island Sound were frozen over.
Another similarity between the pres
ant winter and that Of l779-S0 was the
ulld autumn weather that preceded it.
When the GOLD began, in November
l77g, the leaves had hardly fallen
lom the forest trees, and many OF the
trees and shrubs were putting forth
new growth. The same condition o.
.hings was witnessed last fall. The
winters of 1888, 1884, 1855, l7S6, 1872,
1876 and 1899 are all reported as hay
ing bsen very severe.
| 1t ID stated in "Hildrsdth's Pioneer
History" that on the 2Sth Of December
llS7S, tho Delaware and Ohio rivel
we're both frozen over and navigation
was susp nded upon them until the
18Th of the following March.
In 1892, when soldiers were sent TO
the disastrous battle field Of otGeneral St.
Clair, to bury the dead, they encamp-
I'D where Cincinnati now stands, Jan
uary %. The snow was reported IS
two feet deep upon the ground, and the
Ohio was so strongly frozen that the
soldiers rode their Eorses across tron
kentucky on the ice.
The 7th Of February, 1907, was
known for years as Cold Friday, ant
and was the ground work for many q
/, SrandfatherS tale. On the evening @
the 9Th the weather was mild aud rail-
began to fall as night set in. In feV
) hours the rain changed to snow, which
fell to the depth OF six inches afte
which hurricane began to sweep owe
the land. 1t grew colder and colde
as the night progressed, and the mex
morning the trees in the forests Ver
cracking Ike the reports OF guns anC
everything was bound in letters Of ice
There was no thermometer to registe
the cold, but the day comes down il
history and tradition HS Cold Friday