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The Deadly October Gale of 1841

So many Cape Cod fishermen perished in the Great October Gale of 1841 that the peninsula’s young women refused to court men who went to sea.

The storm wrecked at least 190 vessels. Sidney Perley, describing the Great October Gale in Historic Storms of New England, wrote,

The ocean roared as though with an unbridled madness, and its waves ran mountain high, throwing their spray far into the sky, and forming a majestic yet fearful sight.

October Gale

The wind kicked up on Saturday, October 2, and by midnight it blew a gale, with rain in Massachusetts and snow in New Hampshire. The sun rose to a clear sky on Sunday morning, but immediately disappeared behind black clouds. The sky took on a wild look. By 11 a.m., heavy seas were throwing vessels onto rocks and beaches.

The gale reached its fiercest at 2 a.m. Monday, October 4, and continued to blow hard until that afternoon.

The Green Mountains of Vermont and the White Mountains of New Hampshire were covered with snow the next day. A foot and a half of snow fell in Middletown, Conn. The trees, in full leaf, ‘broke the forest and shade trees in an extraordinary manner.’ The oldest residents of the town couldn’t remember seeing any snow so early and so destructive.

A vessel named Maine broke loose of her moorings in Portsmouth, N.H., and wrecked on Scituate Beach, killing the captain, his daughter, five passengers and one crewman.

On the North Shore of Massachusetts, as many as 40 vessels, mostly fishing schooners, were lost in the October gale. Only two of the 16 fishing vessels in Rockport, Mass., survived the storm. The wreck of the Forest, in which the entire crew perished, left 31 children fatherless in Gloucester, Mass.

Cape Cod

The October gale flooded Nantucket streets, demolished its ropewalks and threw its barns into the sea.

Cape Cod suffered the most. The beach from Chatham to the highlands was strewn with the parts of 50 wrecks. In one day after the October gale, 100 bodies were taken up and buried. The Truro Insurance Company failed for a lack of men to take charge of its vessels.

The Town of Dennis lost 26 men, 18 of which had been schoolmates. Eighteen vessels from West Harwich were destroyed.

Wreck of The Garnet

19th century fishing schooner

On Saturday night, October 2, most of the Truro fishing fleet on the Georges Banks left off fishing and made for home. Only two of the nine ships that set out made it.

Capt. Joshua Knowles in the Garnet and Matthias Rich in Water Witch just barely survived the storm.

Knowles left a detailed record of the perilous voyage. The Garnet sailed out of Provincetown Harbor on October 2 and headed out to Georges Bank under full sail. As the wind grew stronger, Knowles took in sail until morning, when only the foresail was set. The wind blew the foresail to ribbons by nightfall, and Knowles set the mainsail. Soon the wind shredded that too, leaving only the jib.

Titanic waves pushed the vessel toward deadly shoals. Joshua Knowles ordered all crew members below deck except for his brother Zack.

Joshua lashed himself to the helm, and the brother tried to bring the Garnet about. But a huge wave struck the vessel, putting her on her beam ends and washing Zack overboard. He managed to hang on to the mainsheet and survived.

The foremast broke, the mainmast came down. As the storm raged, the brothers chopped furiously at the rigging while the crew moved the ballast to the windward side to right the vessel.

They survived. The storm finally abated, and they jury-rigged a mast. They then found some potatoes floating around, which they cooked for their first meal in two days. At dusk, a Liverpool packet called the Roscius picked them up. The ship captain turned out to be from Truro.

Truro’s Worst Tragedy

First Congregational Parish of Truro

The 57 men and boys in the seven other fishing vessels out of Truro were not so lucky. All died at sea, and only a few of their bodies recovered.

All 57 lived within two miles of each other. They were related to nearly everyone in town. Eight were Snows and eight were Paines. And three were boys not yet 13 years old.

During one of his trips to Cape Cod, Henry David Thoreau recalled asking a man in Truro, “Who lives in that house?” The man then replied: “Three widows.”

The town, with a population around 2,000, had 105 widows. Young women became reluctant to marry fishermen.

An obelisk in the Congregational Church yard commemorates the 57 October gale victims:

Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was and the spirit shall
return unto God who gave it.

Man goeth to his long home and the
mourners go about the street.

Image: First Congregational Parish of Truro By Judy Moehle – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35518277.

This story about the Great October Gale was updated in 2022.

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Stratford Knockings Brought Throngs of Spiritualists to Connecticut

In 1850, the Rev. Eliakim Phelps and his family returned to their home one day –the scene of what was known as the Stratford Knockings – to discover their house draped in black funeral crepe. It hung on the door and over the mirrors, traditionally a sign that someone had recently died.

On one of the beds, they discovered Mrs. Phelps’ nightgown laid out with the arms of her garments folded over the chest, as if worn by a body that was laid to rest in a coffin. While many might have taken this as a threatening sign to move along, for Phelps and his family it was just a fairly routine day in their house.

The Phelps mansion, as everyone at the time knew, was haunted. Two kinds of spirits inhabited it. There were evil ones who broke windows, pricked people with pins and committed other threatening acts like knocking people around. Then there were the helpful spirits who communicated with raps and knocking and brought people lost objects.

Welcome to the age of spiritualism. Spiritualism, within Christian circles, exploded in popularity in 1848 in New York when three young women – the Fox sisters – became celebrities claiming they were communicating with a spirit of a dead person in their home. At that point, the dead began to speak up in a number of places.

Stratford Knockings

On March 10, 1850, the phenomenon moved to Stratford, Conn. Eliakim Phelps, a Congregational minister, told of his shock the first time he discovered his house inhabited by spirits. It happened after church one day, when the family returned home to find the house invaded. Someone or something had thrown around clothes, opened drawers and strewn belongings about.

Suspecting burglary, Phelps took a quick inventory. While the family silver was plain to see, along with money and other valuables, nothing was missing. Puzzled, he assumed that perhaps the burglars had fled upon the family’s return, or had simply lost their nerve.

Illustration from an article about the Stratford knockings in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine

Phelps had owned the mansion for two years. Matthias Nicoll built the house for his daughter Elizah and her husband Captain George Dowdall in 1826. Dowdall made his living in the China trade, and the second floor of the house looked like the upper deck of a sailing vessel. Dowdall died in China several years after he built the house. He never used it as he intended — as a retirement home, as he intended.

Phelps acquired it and used it seasonally, also spending time in Philadelphia with his blended family. Both he and his wife had lost their spouses and both brought children to the marriage. They had a three-year-old together.

Potatoes and Books

In the days ahead, more strange things began occurring. Books, fireplace tools, a potato began appearing in odd locations. Things fell from the shelves and objects disappeared from locked containers. Windows were smashed.

Phelps began consulting others, including ministers and spiritual investigators, to figure out what was going on.

The newspapers, meanwhile, heard of the Stratford Knockings and began publishing accounts of the strange happenings. Since everyone loves a good haunting or curse, curious strangers began stopping by, hoping to glimpse an unusual event or witness the Stratford knockings first hand. The events were well documented in popular books about spiritualism, including Modern Spiritualism: Its Facts and Fanaticisms, Its Consistencies and Contradictions, published in 1855. Phelps spent a good deal of time explaining and defending the stories about the house.

Spiritualism, meanwhile, was exploding in popularity, with both defenders and detractors drawing crowds to debate its merits.

Harry Phelps

In the Phelps home, 11-year-old Harry seemed to receive the most visits by the spirits, and people declared him a medium. Séances were held, and the spirits tapped out answers to questions, explaining at one point that they were smashing windows and disrupting the house purely for the fun of it.

In the fall, the family left for Philadelphia. Phelps sent the rest of the family along ahead of him, curious to find out if the “happenings” would continue. They diminished, but he still observed the odd item falling to the floor. Or else he found it in the wrong place.

When the family returned in 1851, the strange occurrences restarted, with objects going missing. Conversations with ghosts via rapping on the table continued. Friendly spirits would help the family locate lost objects. But evil ones set fire to Phelps’ papers.

All the while, newspapers, ministers, spiritualists and skeptics had a field day arguing over the merits of the Stratford Knockings story. The Phelps family left Stratford in 1852 and sold the house to the publisher of the New York Sun, Moses Beach, in 1859. Beach’s paper, like many other publications, made hay with the Phelps story.

Witchcraft?

Over the years, the hauntings were legendary in town. Some speculated that they had a connection to the death of Goody Bassett, a woman hanged near the house in 1651 for witchcraft.

Most, however, believed Phelps’ bored, much-younger wife and his stepchildren created the story to liven up their sleepy lives in Stratford. Given that events largely started and stopped whenever Harry left or rejoined the household, most of the blame has focused on him. It’s unclear if Phelps had joined the conspiracy or if his family duped him.

The house itself has long since been demolished, and the Stratford Knockings haven’t been reported in many years.

This story about the Stratford Knockings was updated in 2022.

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Rules for Living From an Old Massachusetts Farmer

Jared David Busby was a 78-year-old Massachusetts farmer who had the solution to ending the Great Depression: Work.

So he told his granddaughter, along with other practical suggestions, such as ‘keep a pickle barrel’ and ‘go to bed before midnight.’

New England farmhouse, a familiar sight to the old Massachusetts farmer.

Charlotte Busby interviewed her grandfather on Feb. 24, 1939, for the Federal Writers Project. He was 78 years old, born in the Berkshires. He had lived in Warren, Mass., for more than 40 years.

They sat in his kitchen as he made tea. She told him to dunk his doughnut if he wanted to.

“Catch me dunking, or using a bowl instead of a cup, if you can,” he said. “I dare you to catch me. I’ve got on my company manners.”

The Old Massachusetts Farmer

Charlotte Busby described her grandfather as a notable figure in the business and political life of the town. Many called him ‘Jerry.’ The old Massachusetts farmer was likable, witty, a philosopher with little formal education, but a vigorous mentality, she wrote.

“Though very dear, he seems to know what is going on, is much interested in public questions and is well read. He spends considerable time at his small radio, despite its poor quality and static. Jerry subscribes to four newspapers and reads magazines also.”

His whimsical expression reminded her of Mark Twain.

“He lives alone and enjoys himself,” she wrote. “His health is usually good, his eyes are bright, his white hair thick and flowing. Though Jerry’s shoulders are stooped, his arms show strong muscles and his shapely hands apply themselves to many tasks.”

Hard Work

The old Massachusetts farmer told his granddaughter work, hard work, was the solution to the Depression:

“Everyone should work, in the first place, and work hard,” he said.

He complained about too much play, too much gambling and speculation. “The panic was caused by the people depending on the country,” he said. “It should be vice versa. The country should depend upon the people.”

And then the old Massachusetts farmer got very specific about what to plant, what to keep in the cellar, what to give children and when to go to bed.

Jerry thought every family should try to own their own home and a little land. Farmers should plant a garden and raise enough vegetables to last through the winter.

“A wife should can everything possible,” he said. “There should be a salt pork barrel and a pickle barrel. If possible, have two cows, and hens enough to have one’s own eggs. Feed the hens some grain and, mostly, table scraps.”

A Good, Fat Pig

“Always raise a good, fat pig to be killed at Christmas time,” the old Massachusetts farmer said. “A good heifer calf can be raised cheaply, with some work. The bull calves can be fattened, and eaten when cold weather sets in.”

He further advised planting apple, pear and peach trees.

Have a strawberry and raspberry patch, and if possible, an asparagus bed. Be sure to get a good job and keep it. If machinery replaces men, men must walk barefooted looking for something else.

You know I think I’m a socialist.

“Be on time and work early and late,” he said. “This money will pay taxes, insurance and repairs, buy regular food not otherwise provided for, and clothes. Don’t make use of installment plans in buying anything. Have the cellar full of fruit and vegetables, such as potatoes, cabbage, turnips, carrots, parsnips. Have plenty of stews; buy a few pounds of good meat and cook up a quantity of vegetables.

“Buy or cut fuel for the winter in the summer and have it ready before it is needed. Dress children simply and warmly and have them in the care of a doctor and dentist, at regular periods.”

For the Young Massachusetts Farmer

Girls, he said, should learn to cook and sew. Boys should learn to cut wood, take care of a garden, milk a cow and hunt and fish.

“Give the boy a boat and a dog and a gun, if he acts sensible,” he said. “Teach him to use carpenter’s tools. Give a girl a sewing machine.”

Jerry believed girls need a college education as much as boys so both could become wage earners.

“Have parties at home. Don’t buy an automobile unless it is necessary, or you can afford the luxury of owning one. Rise early and go to bed before midnight. The best sleep is before midnight.”

With thanks to the Library of Congress WPA Life Histories from Massachusetts. This story about the old Massachusetts farmer was updated in 2022.

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Cracking the History of the Uncommon Common Cracker

Every so often when you’re looking through a book of old New England recipes, you’ll find one that calls for the common cracker. Well, there are plenty of common crackers around. Saltines come to mind.

But the common crackers these recipes call for are actually a specific type of common cracker. And these days, they’re anything but common.

vermont-common-cracker

If you dropped back in time, say 30 years, you’d know exactly what the recipe needs. Well into the 1970s, the common cracker was ubiquitous throughout New England.

But to get the full picture, you’d need to step back in time a bit further, to the days when fresh bread was not easy to buy and before science took over the business of baking. With preservatives and cellophane and cardboard packaging, today you can commonly eat crackers made anywhere in the world.

But in the early 1800s, that wasn’t the case. Baking science hadn’t evolved so, and the common cracker solved a problem for hungry families needing a staple that would keep for months.

Inventor of the Common Cracker

If you want to figure out who invented the first common cracker, you probably won’t have any luck. They went by many names and many bakers produced them, with small variations in size. The Boston Cracker in Massachusetts, the Portland Cracker in Maine, the Montpelier Cracker in Vermont, and so forth.

American crackers, themselves, first came into existence in Newburyport, Mass. — or so the story goes– in the bakery of Theodore Pearson. There he created pilot biscuits.

Sailors, soldiers, explorers and travelers have carried some variation of cracker with them for centuries, as far back as you can imagine. The Newburyport version of this was called hard tack (among other things).

Hard Tack

Hard tack consists of an unleavened water and flour baked to within an inch of its life. It will last virtually forever. Hard tack produced for the War of 1812 was stored and then brought out for use in the Civil War, for example, none the worse for wear. Soldiers and sailors preferred it only slightly to starvation.

But hard tack soon gave rise (forgive the pun) to more elegant crackers for domestic use. The addition of yeast, a rising period of 24 hours (and more) and a long period of kneading, followed by baking and drying, resulted in a puffy white cracker with a hard thick outer shell. Voila! The common cracker.

Preserved hardtack from U.S. Civil War, Wentworth Museum, Pensacola.

The ingenious yankees had dozens of uses for them. Many involved mashing. They commonly used them as thickeners for soup and chowder or mashed and eaten with milk. Later, they split them, buttered them, toasted them and gave them all sorts of toppings. And when potatoes began to take over the chowder, the crackers shifted to the side for crumbling in just before eating.

The folks at The Food Timeline suggest Artemus Kennedy, a baker in what is now Arlington, Mass., originated the common cracker. Kennedy, their research suggests, began baking the crackers at his bakery founded in 1805. He rode around the nearby country on horseback selling them. But no one knows where he got the idea for them.

Early Bakers

Another early baker who dabbled with the cracker was Josiah Bent, founder of the G.H. Bent company in Milton, Mass., in 1801. The company earned a reputation for making water crackers, which Bent prized for their ability to travel well on sea voyages. Bent’s water crackers are smaller than the common cracker, but he made other products as well. Bent definitely made a lot of hard tack for the government, as did Pearce, and the company revived that recipe for Civil War reenactors a century after the war itself ended.

The G.H Bent factory in Milton, Mass.

Perhaps the best known of the common cracker makers was Charles Cross of Montpelier, Vt., and his tireless horse. Charles and his brother Thomas, originally from New Hampshire, founded Cross Bakers in 1828. The business continuously operated for 151 years, evolving into C.H. Cross & Sons before going bankrupt in 1979. Then the firm and its Cross Crackers moved to Claremont, N.H.

In the early days, Cross used a horse-powered treadmill to run the machinery for his bakery. His horse alternated jobs, one day powering the treadmill, the next hauling crackers for delivery. Over time, Cross grew to have a crew of salesmen traveling throughout New England selling his crackers to stores.

But in his earliest days, Cross packed up the crackers and displayed them in barrels. And this is probably how we most associate with common crackers: stored in a barrel that served as a centerpiece of the country store where they were sold. Visitors to the store would be invited to pull up a seat, crack open a cracker and put a piece of cheese on it. In this setting, men resolved the issues of the day, shared news and settled arguments.

Then the barrels disappeared. And as the humorist John Gould wrote, “everything has been on the skids since the common cracker declined.”

Julia Child

The common cracker had a new lease on life given to it by Julia Child, who gave them her stamp of approval for use with chowder. She became rather famously obsessed with cracking the recipe, which she eventually did.

Should you need a common cracker today, there are two companies still selling them: the aforementioned G.H. Bent, known as the Bent Cookie Factory, which has continuously operated since 1801; and Vermont Common Foods, which wholesales them and has a nice collection of recipes for how to cook with them. The company acquired the Cross cracker equipment, which it uses to make them today.

You can order the Vermont Common Cracker from the Vermont Country Store. Click here. This story was updated in 2021.

Images: GH. Bent Co. By Jameslwoodward – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7907262. Hard tack By Infrogmation of New Orleans – Photo by Infrogmation, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4615956

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