USA > Maine > Waldo County > Belfast > History of the city of Belfast in the state of Maine v.I, 1770-1875 > Part 76
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Flounders come in the spring, and go before summer. They are caught from the east bridge in great quantities. They seem to require no legislation to protect them, being quite as numerous as fifty years ago.
The halibut seldom ventures far from the ocean. But in June, 1824, one weighing two hundred and seventy-seven pounds was taken in our bay with a small hook. Before facilities of trans- portation existed, they were sold here for one cent per pound.
Mackerel, and especially the smaller species called "tinkers," visit the harbor every summer, and are taken in weirs, in seines, and by hook and line. In August, 1868, they were more abun- dant and of larger size than ever before known. Some persons caught two or three barrels of No. 1's in a single day.
The horse-mackerel occasionally strays into the harbor, in pur- suit of the last-named fish. One was taken in 1843, which weighed six hundred and fifty pounds ; and another, taken in 1850, weighed eight hundred pounds. During the summer of 1858, a specimen ten and a half feet long, and six and a half feet in circumference, was harpooned in the harbor, and drew a boat some distance before being killed. In 1864, John C. Condon did a successful business in taking this immense fish.
Porgies, or menhaden, usually make their appearance during the latter part of the summer, swimming in close, compact masses. The whole harbor seems sometimes alive with them. They are taken for the oil, about fifteen barrels of fish making a
1 Crosby's Annals.
2 Com. of George B. Ferguson in " Journal."
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
barrel of oil. In 1867, John C. Condon had a large establishment for manufacturing the oil, at the foot of Condon Street. The residue, after expressing the oil, makes a valuable fertilizer, called chum. Mr. Condon still continues the business, on a reduced scale.
Salmon were plenty here until the obstruction of dams, and perhaps the annoyances of steamboats, caused them to seek differ- ent quarters. They furnished the early settlers with an important element of subsistence, being smoked and also salted for winter's nse. On the day that Robert Miller raised his house, Samuel Houston and his son Thomas took in their weir, on the east side of the harbor, twenty-nine salmon, which they sold for three cents per pound.1 They were plenty at six cents per pound, in 1805. The "Journal " of May 16, 1833, remarks that "salmon has been as high as fifteen to seventeen cents per pound : it will soon be down to ten cents." Until within twenty years, weirs for salmon used to be erected opposite the principal wharves.
Seal used to resort to our bay, and are now occasionally seen. John C. Condon killed one near his wharf, in 1863, four feet long, weighing one hundred pounds. In 1868, Hartford Shute found a seal in his weir, near Moose Point. It yielded six gallons of oil.
The only shark ever taken in the harbor was caught Oct. 7, 1863. It measured eight and a half feet long, and weighed eight hundred pounds. About the same time, a whale appeared in the bay, and unavailing efforts were made to capture him.
The smelt makes its appearance about the 1st of October, but is not caught in any amount, except by sportsmen, until the river is frozen at City Point. After the ice is strong enough to hold a man, the "smelters" begin to gather. There are often seen seventy-five to one hundred fishing at once. The average daily catch per man is ten to fifteen pounds, though they often catch fifty pounds in a day. These fish are sold to the inhabitants in small quantities ; but the greater part of them are shipped to Boston, where they meet with a ready sale. Many a poor man, who is out of employment in the winter, can earn a living by catching smelts.2
Tomcods and cunners are usually plenty in the harbor, during their season.
The sturgeon, in migrating from the ocean to fresh water, oc- casionally remembers the Passagassawakeag. One seven feet long 1 Locke's Note-Book. 2 George B. Ferguson.
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BEASTS, BIRDS, AND FISHES.
was taken in 1833, and exposed whole in the market. While the railroad bridge at City Point was being constructed, in 1869, the workmen discovered a large sturgeon moving about, apparently making an inspection. Before a harpoon could be procured, he had gone. This fish was formerly much esteemed for food, and about 1719 twenty vessels were engaged on the Kennebec in taking it for shipment to England.1
Brook trout formerly abounded in Wilson's stream, in the Wes- cott brook, and in the river above Cochran's Mills. Their homes and haunts are now only known to the professed disciple of Izaak Walton.
It is related that, in the early days of the plantation, clams were very abundant, and during a severe winter they saved the inhabi- tants from perishing, until relief arrived from neighboring towns. This incident originated the following burlesque stanza, which used to be much repeated many years ago : -
" Camden for beauty, Northport for pride, Had it not been for clams, Belfast would have died."
But the history of Camden says that the original reading sub- stituted Belfast for Northport, and was derived from the following anecdote. A grist-mill at Camden used to be resorted to by the early settlers from Belfast. On his return from it with a bag of meal, Robert Miller landed at Northport, where he found the only family then residing there sick and destitute, having subsisted for a number of days upon clams. He relieved them from starvation with his meal. The verse has been altered to suit incidents in the history of other places, among them Warren, Union, and Lincoln- ville, being given as a toast at a 4th of July celebration in the latter town, about 1826.2 Wherever the incident may be located, " Bel- fast clams" have always been abundant and delicious. The supply is immense, and, unlike the lobsters, they cannot be lessened by large discounts from their banks. It has been estimated that fifty acres of flats between the lower bridge and City Point are an- nually dug over for clams. They form a valuable means of sub- sistence for a class of our people, and an important article of exportation. They are found at all seasons.
1 History of Maine, II. 91.
2 Locke's History of Camden, 31.
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
.
Oysters have been repeatedly planted on our shores, but the cold temperature of the water is not favorable to their growth.
Lobsters are taken from April to October near the shores of the river and bay, as far up as City Point. At the latter place, a few years since, one that weighed twenty-two pounds was caught.
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833
METEOROLOGICAL AND PHENOMENAL.
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CHAPTER LII.
METEOROLOGICAL, AND PHENOMENAL.
Thermometrical Records. - Extreme Cold. - Snow-storms. - Penobscot Bay frozen over. - Cold Friday of 1857. - Drouth. - Heated Terms. - Storms. - Freshets. - Bridges swept away. - Great September Gale. - United States Signal Service .. Lightning. - Earthquakes. - Aerolites. - Aurora Borealis. - Land Slides.
TT is not so warm or so cold, either, in Belfast," says White's History, " as report makes it in towns on the Kennebec River, nearly in the same latitude. Ten degrees of Fahrenheit below zero are seldom known, and eighty-six above is the very ex- treme of summer heat." The experience of the past half-century does not warrant such an assertion at the present day. No con- tinuous meteorological observations here have been maintained. Colonel Hiram Chase kept a record in 1847-48, which appeared each week in the " Journal; " and the state of the temperature has since been noted at different times by George E. Brackett, Lucius H. Murch, and others.
The winter of 1780 was particularly severe. Travellers passed on foot across Penobscot Bay over the ice.
1786-87. Intense cold. Ice was formed in the bay so thick that, when the water rose, large rocks were lifted from their beds.1
1793, Oct. 31. There was a level depth of eight inches of snow.
1798. Snow fell November 16, and continued at an average depth of four feet until April 9. Yet the spring was early.
1810, Jan. 19. Cold Friday. Thermometer twelve degrees below. Violent storm, and change of temperature of forty-six degrees in fifteen hours.
1816. For the first time during a period of thirty-five years, the bay was frozen over. The year was long remembered through- out Europe and America as the "year without a summer." 2 In this latitude, the spring was unusually cold and backward. In
1 Locke's Note-Book. 2 Crosby's Annals.
53
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
.
May, ice made an inch thick ; on the 11th of June, a quarter of an inch thick ; and on July 5th, of the thickness of window-glass.1 August proved still more cheerless : corn was so frozen that it was cut for fodder, and almost all field and garden vegetation perished. There were frost and ice during every month of the year. Fears of a famine prevailed ; and the discouraging aspect for future agriculture induced many substantial men from this vicinity to be carried by the "Ohio fever," as it was termed, to the rich lands of the West, where kinder skies reigned.
1818, Feb. 16. The bay was frozen to Castine, and people crossed on the ice, which remained until March 23.2
1821, Feb. 1. "No thermometer in town," remarks the "Gazette," "graduated sufficiently low to mark the ultimate de- pression of the mercury. Last week, we realized the 'frightful climate of Russia.' The Penobscot Bay was completely frozen over, and still exhibits an immense and perfect plain of dazzling whiteness. This reminds the old inhabitants of some of the hard winters of the Revolution."
1821, Oct. 19. Snow-storm, which continued during the whole day. The snow fell from four to five inches on a level.
1823, June 9. Heavy frost : ice formed the thickness of win- dow-glass. Sept. 29, a considerable fall of snow; in some of the back towns, to the depth of five inches.
1826, Feb. 1. Thermometer twenty-four degrees below zero at eight o'clock A.M.
1829, Feb. 21. Roads more obstructed by drifts than for years before.
1830, June 7. A heavy frost.
1832, April 28. Snow-storm, which continued thirty-six hours.
1833, March 14. Four feet of snow in the woods. Nearly all the harbors east of Cape Cod closed by ice.
1835, Feb. 8. Bay frozen to the outermost islands. Sleighs passed and repassed across the bay until March. J. Y. McClin- tock was the first to venture by this mode of conveyance to Isles- boro', after which many others followed his example. "The longest continuance of severe cold, perhaps, ever known in the State by white inhabitants. Hay was exceedingly scarce, prices from fifteen to twenty dollars per ton. Many cattle perished. Peo- ple in general were obliged to use corn, grain, oats, potatoes, and
1 Journal, June 13, 1830.
2 Almanac entry made by Miss Jennet Lymburner.
835
METEOROLOGICAL AND PHENOMENAL.
every vegetable substance in their possession, that cattle would eat, to preserve them alive. On the sea-board, the quantity of snow was not large, but in the back country it was said to be six feet deep in April, and in some places four or five feet deep the last of May, or even in the first part of June. The spring follow- ing, backward, cold, and wet."1 Dec. 24, weather excessively cold. While the ports of Boston and Portland were much ob- structed by ice, Belfast harbor remained entirely open and unfrozen.2
1837, Jan. 1. Snow-storm commenced, and lasted a whole week, with the exception of two days. Mails obstructed for four days. The drifts were seven feet deep.
1839, April 18. Fast day. Heavy fall of snow; streets not broken out during the day, and services at the churches suspended.
1840, April 27. Rain, hail, and snow. June 1, frost.
1842, Dec. 13. Thermometer ten degrees below ..
1843, April 6. Fast day. Snow fell to the depth of a foot. From Nov. 24 to this date, there were forty falls of snow, the aggregate depth of which was about thirteen feet.
1843, Jan. 4. Coldest day for three years, thermometer eigh- teen degrees below.
1844, Jan. 27. Thermometer twenty-four degrees below. Bay frozen to Owl's Head. In Boston harbor, a canal seven miles long was cut through the ice to enable the British steamer to go to sea. The ice remained here until March 27. Ice-boats were first intro- duced this winter on the bay.
1845, April 26. Snow-storm.
1848, Dec. 27. Eighteen inches of snow fell between sunset and the next morning.
1849, Feb. 16. Thermometer twenty-two degrees below. Whole bay and river frozen, and so remained for ten days. On the 20th, fifteen persons arrived here from Castine, in an ice-boat.
1850, April 13. Snow-storm, which continued during a por- tion of two days. Snow fell to a depth of ten inches.
1853, Feb. 13. The most severe storm of the season. It is said that no storm had occurred on any previous 13th of February, for one hundred and two years.2
1 Town records of Prospect, in the legible chirography of Joseph P. Martin, the venerable Revolutionary soldier, who was town clerk for about forty years.
2 Communication of Rev. Stephen Thurston, in "Journal," Feb. 13, 1850, which says this curious fact is authenticated by the direct personal tradition of three indi- viduals.
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
1852, Jan. 17. Thermometer twenty-two degrees below.
1854, Jan. 1. Severe snow-storin. Roads obstructed. But one mail west of Augusta for over a week. May 7, ice made one-half inch thick.
1855, Feb. 8. Thermometer twenty-five degrees below.
1856, Feb. 17. Snow so deep that arches were cut in the drifts across Main Street, through which men passed.
1857, Jan. 18 to 25. This week, for intensity of cold and almost unceasing storm, is known as "the cold term of 1857," and un- doubtedly the most remarkable of this century. The thermome- ter here on the 24th indicated thirty-four degrees below. In Bangor and other places, mercury congealed. The 18th, being cloudy, with the thermometer at eighteen degrees below, was regarded as the coldest day since the "cold Friday " of 1810. All the harbors as far south as the Potomac were sealed up. Person's crossed to Castine on the ice.
1859, Feb. 14. Thermometer thirty degrees below zero.
1861, Feb. 8. One of the coldest days ever known. Thermome- ter thirty-two degrees below at six A.M., and nineteen degrees he- low at five r.M., which was its highest point during the day. Mean temperature of the day twenty-six degrees below. On the evening of the 7th, the thermometer indicated twenty-four degrees above; a change of fifty-six degrees in twelve hours.
1868, May 9. A few miles in the interior, snow fell six inches deep.
1870, May 2. Ice formed to the thickness of half an inch. DROUTH AND. WARM WEATHER.
" Nothing equal to the present drouth," says the "Hancock Gazette " of Sept. 17, 1823; " has occurred since the Penobscot was first settled. Vegetation is seared as with a hot iron, rivers have become rivulets, and small streams have vanished. Cattle are driven miles for water, which it is in many places difficult to procure for domestic purposes. The woods all around us are on fire, and the village is literally enveloped in smoke." Several weeks elapsed before a relief was afforded by the much desired rain.
1828. The winter was the mildest ever known. At no time did the sleighing last over two weeks in succession.
1829, May 25. The thermometer, in the open air, and in the shade, stood at ninety-five degrees above. Several oxen died from heat.
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METEOROLOGICAL AND PHENOMENAL.
1830, July 16. The thermometer indicated ninety-two degrees in the shade, and on the 18th ninety-six.
1848. The ground continued free from snow, and the swamps and ponds open until nearly Christmas.
1870, July 24. Sunday. The hottest day ever known, the thermometer reaching one hundred degrees above in the shade.
STORMS AND FRESHETS.
1815, Sept. 22. Severe storm, which was remembered as " the great September gale," until a subsequent one of more severity occurred.
1824, Feb 11. Very heavy rain and severe gale. Little River bridge was carried away, and every bridge on the stage road be- tween here and Augusta shared the same fate.
1825, July 17. Gale, accompanied by hail, rain, and lightning. Two tall pine-trees, the one above and the other below the east bridge, which for many years had been regarded as important landmarks for seamen entering the harbor, were prostrated.
1827, April 24. A storm swept away the bridge near Captain Samuel Brown's, and seriously damaged his mill. An old saw- mill at Poor's settlement was also destroyed.
1831, April 5. The most violent storm for years occurred. The bridges at the Head of the Tide, and on the roads leading to Camden, Bangor, Bucksport, and Augusta, were carried off. For several days the mails were transported on horseback.
1831, Oct. 21. Tide rose about eight feet above its usual height, and near two feet higher than ever before known.
1832, May 20-22. Heavy north-west gale. Many bridges, mills, and dams carried away ; among them the bridge over Little River, near the Eastman grist-mill ; the bridge with stone abutments at the Head of the Tide, together with a saw-mill and several dams upon the same river.
1833, Oct. 12. South-east gale, " driving the tide higher than since the great storm of 1815." Several of the lower wharves- were almost entirely swept away, and not one escaped injury. Large quantities of lumber and wood were lost. When the tide ebbed, several acres of the shores on both sides of the river were covered with a mass of lumber of all kinds and the debris of wharves. The monument on Steele's Ledge being swept off, the upper part, with its spindle, came sailing up the harbor and grounded.
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838
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
1839, Jan. 26. The heaviest gale within the memory of the old- est inhabitants. Several vessels in the harbor were damaged.
1850, May 24, 25. Freshet. Market Street washed out and rendered impassable. Bridge at Robbins' mill on Little River carried away. Four bridges on the western branch of Belfast River, and two buildings at Gardiner's tannery, above the Head of the Tide, destroyed.
1855, Dec. 9. Storm of great severity. Several vessels in the harbor were driven ashore.
1859, March 16. Two bridges on the Wescott stream, built last year, swept away. Bridges at Head of the Tide.
1861, Nov. 2 and 3. Storm and high tide, greater than for twenty-five years. Little River bridge and the Condon Wharf were nearly demolished. A schooner lying near the latter was driven so far on shore as to render a second launching necessary. The store of S. S. Lewis, on his wharf, at the foot of Main Street, was only accessible by boats, and the lower part of the city was sub- merged. The losses exceeded $6,000.
1864, Nov. 5. Severe gale. Vessels went ashore. The old monument, which had withstood the elements for thirty-one years, at last succumbed.
1866, Oct. 29. Heavy gale. Fishing establishment of John C. Condon, below the Allyn lot, was swept away; and the east bridge was badly damaged.
1869, Sept. 8. The most destructive and terrific gale which ever occurred in this vicinity, and which will be known for many years as " the great September gale." It commenced early in the evening, and terminated at midnight, the rain falling in torrents and the wind blowing a hurricane. The injury done to shade- trees and to all kinds of fruit-trees was great, apple orchards being almost entirely stripped of their fruit. Fences and chim- neys were blown down, awnings destroyed, and buildings wrecked. A small house in the upper part of the city was unroofed, and a child sleeping in the chamber was carried some rods, and left uninjured. The damage to the shipping in the harbor was great. Eleven schooners broke from their moorings or from the wharves, and beached on the opposite shore. Two of them were totally lost. The storm extended throughout the Eastern States, and the loss in Maine alone exceeded half a million of dollars.
1869, Oct. 4. A great tidal wave swept unexpectedly into the harbor, in the evening, about two hours after the usual ebb. The
839
METEOROLOGICAL AND PHENOMENAL.
damage here was slight. At Bangor, the wave was from seven to ten feet in height, tearing vessels from their mooring, and break- ing up booms.
1869, Nov. 20. South-east storm, which damaged some of the exposed vessels and wharves in the outer portion of the harbor. A schooner at McGilvery's ship-yard was driven ashore, and badly injured. At the height of the gale, the spray flew as high as her mast-heads. The Condon Wharf was entirely washed away, and McGilvery's and the lower steamboat wharf suffered severely.
1870, Jan. 2. A severe gale, following the rain and snow of the day, blew fiercely until midnight, rolling a heavy sea into the harbor, and damaging the shipping. The heavy fall of rain caused a sudden rise in the streams, and at the Head of the Tide the Shuman saw-mill was swept away.
1872. According to the observations of the Coast Survey in the harbor this season, the highest tide was seventeen feet, seven inches; the lowest, three feet and six inches ; the mean being nine feet, seven inches.
1873, Sept. 18. Daily records of the weather, compiled by the United States Signal Service, first received by mail from Bangor, and displayed in a case on the outer wall of the post-office.
LIGHTNING.
1819, Aug. 12. At six o'clock P.M., a tempest, accompanied by lightning, commenced, and continued until midnight. In the neighboring towns, great damage was done. The Castine packet was struck, and her mast destroyed.1
1820, July 9. The honse now occupied by Captain W. O. Alden was injured by lightning, which struck one of the chim- neys, and set fire to the upper story. The people of the village were alarmed, and the fire speedily extinguished.
1823, June 5. A barn owned by Robert Miller, near the corner of High and Miller Streets, below where the Methodist Church now stands, was struck, and one of the corner posts shivered. Hailstones three inches in circumference fell.
1853, Feb. 14. A severe snow-storm was accompanied by the phenomenon of sharp lightning.
1856, June 30. The barn of John Tuft, on Belmont Avenue, was struck : it was much damaged, and a cow was killed.
1856, Oct. 6. At eight o'clock in the evening, Phoenix Row 1 Eastern Argus.
840
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
was struck ; and the stores of Oakes Angier and of Charles D., Field, Nos. 1 and 11, were somewhat injured. Over one hundred people were in the block at the time.
1857, July 20. In the evening, the house of George W. Reed, on the east side of the river, now occupied by Ambrose Strout, and known as the old parsonage, was struck, and Albert, the son of Mr. Reed, aged thirteen years, instantly killed. The fluid passed down the east chimney into a chamber, and thence directly across the upper hall to a back stairway, where the lad was stand- ing. His body was blackened from head to foot on the left side, and the skin broken the whole distance. There were in the house eight persons, some of whom were affected by the shock. The house was much shattered, and also set on fire between the floors.
1858, Oct. 1. The house of Joseph Carter was injured by lightning.
1858, Oct. 31. Houses of David H. Libby, at the corner of High and Peirce Streets, and of Captain James H. McCrillis, on the east side of the river, were considerably shattered.
1866, Ang. 9. Two men were knocked senseless by lightning, but recovered.
1866, July 24. The lightning demolished the mowing-ma- chine of J. H. Townsend, who was mowing at the time in a field about a mile from the court-house. Neither he nor the horses sus- tained any injury.
1868, Aug. 7. While entering the harbor at about six o'clock P.M., the steamship " William Tibbetts," from Boston, was struck by lightning, which tore in pieces the foremast and foresail, thence passing into the pilot-house, which was partially demolished. Cap- tain Ingraham and several others were prostrated by the stroke. Eugene Ingraham, the pilot, received injuries from the breakage of a carboy of sulphuric acid, on deck, which proved fatal. The electric fluid passed along the wheel-ropes to the rudder, in its course knocking a man overboard, who was soon rescued. The hull of the steamer escaped damage.
1873, Jan. 24. The unusual occurrence of lightning during a snow-storm was witnessed during the evening, the flashes lighting up the heavens for an hour.
EARTHQUAKES.
Although these phenomena are supposed to be confined to trop- ical climates, they have left no portion of the earth's surface un-
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METEOROLOGICAL AND PHENOMENAL.
visited. The first disturbance of the kind in this vicinity is mentioned by the " Hancock Gazette," under date of May 10, 1821, as follows : " On the morning of Saturday, at about 7} o'clock, there was a shock of an earthquake, which lasted about twenty seconds, and shook buildings, furniture, &c., very percep- tibly. Seven miles north of this, the earth trembled, and the noise appeared like distant thunder."
1823, June 10. A slight shock of an earthquake was felt about noon.
1829, Ang. 27. At ten o'clock P. M., a violent shock of an earthquake took place. " An occurrence of this kind," says the "Journal," " is so unusual here, it caused some slight alarm at first, although no damage was done except a severe rattling of windows."
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