This is an excerpt of an article written by Jon Musgrave and was printed in the
January 28, 1968 issue of The Illinois Intelligencer as part of Illinois' Sesquicentennial Celebration.
The Winter of Deep Snow
blanketed southern Illinois and perhaps the entire state to a depth of three
feet on the level, drifts of four to six feet. Storms with high winds continued
for 60 days; many families were snowbound in their homes and travelers remained
wherever they happened to be when the heavy snow started.
The Winter of the Deep
Snow became a dating point in pioneer legendry. Residence in the Illinois
country before that date was qualification for members in Old Settlers
associations and special designation as a "Snow Bird." One pioneer
wrote: "I have my Snow Bird badge which was given me at the Old Settlers'
meeting at Sugar Grove. I prize it very highly and would not trade it for a
hundred wild turkeys running at large in Oregon."
Among those who qualify
was Abraham Lincoln. He came from Indiana with his family in 1830 and tells of
spending the "celebrated 'deep snow' of Illinois" at a spot 10 miles
southeast of Decatur in Macon County.
One of the most detailed
accounts was written by Dr. Julian M. Sturtevant, who had come from New England
in 1829 to Jacksonville to help in the beginnings of Illinois College, of which
he was afterwards president for 20 years. A cold rain started December 20, 1830
occasionally changing to sleet or snow until the day before Christmas, when
large soft flakes fell to a depth of six inches. This was followed by a furious
gale and a driving snow that piled up to three feet. Then came a rain that
froze as it fell, forming a crust, "Nearly, but not quite, strong enough
to bear a man" and over this a few inches of light snow. John Buckles
described this icy crust in Logan County as "Strong enough to bear the
weight of team and sled."
"The clouds passed
away and the wind came down from the northwest with extraordinary
ferocity," says Sturtevant. "For weeks, certainly for not less that
two weeks, the mercury in the thermometer tube was not, on any one morning,
higher that 12 degrees below zero. The wind was a steady, fierce gale from the
northwest, day and night. The fair was filled with flying snow, which blinded
the eyes and almost stopped the breath of anyone who attempted to face it. No
man could, for any considerable length of time, make his way on foot against
it."
The wind drove snow
through chinks in Sturtevant's log cabin, filling it so that he had to move out
and take refuge in a partly built college building. Dates were impressed on his
mind because of worry of Dr. Edward Beecher, president of the college who had
gone to Vandalia seeking its charter from the legislature, and was expected
back during the Christmas holidays. Beecher was stormbound at the Tillson home
in Hillsboro. There he met Charles Holmes, who had a powerful horse. They improvised
a sleigh, and during a mid-January lull in the storm, plowed through the
40-mile prairie to Jacksonville. It was the only such journey recorded that
winter. Buckles, returning from a hunt with a friend, had a wagonload of game
drawn by oxen. Within two miles of home they had to cut loose the wagon, and
reached safety by clinging to the tails of the oxen.
There is also a story of
"Cold Friday," when a man, his wife, and six children froze to death,
huddled about their half-burned wagon on the Prairie. The story of this
"winter's horror" was widely printed, but names, place and time are
missing. The Illinois Intelligencer of February 26, 1831, reported that
"several travelers have perished nearby," but again no names or
details. However, John Carroll Power's History of the Early Settlers of
Sangamon County records that William Saxton of Lick Creek, near Loami, and
Samuel Legg of Sugar Creek were lost in the snow and later were found frozen to
death.
Many settlers had depended
on going into nearby woods for firewood. Corn and wheat, food for man and
beast, had been left stacked in the fields. At first the tract behind a team of
any number of teams, would fill in a few minutes. Says Sturdevant, "The
only way in which snow paths were made was by going as nearly as we could in
the same place until the snow was finally trodden hard and rounded up like a
turn pike." The sharp hoofs of deer cut through the crust, and they were
easily caught by hunters - and by wolves that could glide across the snow. Herds
of buffalo also floundered in the deep snow and starved. It has been said that
the Winter of the Deep Snow took the last of the buffalo from east of the
Mississippi River.
There are some records to
back up tradition. At Fort Armstrong, Rock Island, four inches of snow was
recorded December 10, and from December 15 to February 25 there was no day
without freezing temperature. Fort Snelling at Minneapolis recorded 28 degree
below zero December 21. William Clark kept records at St. Louis, and Dr. Samuel
P. Heldreth kept records at Marietta, Ohio, from 1804 to 1859 for the United
States Government Survey. All are in agreement that the snow and cold were
widespread over the period of time recalled by the pioneers.
Home Page | E-Mail | Guest Book | What’s New
Family Tree
| In-depth
Bio’s | Documents | Local History
| Photos | Postcards
Truth
& Lore | Research Tips
| Favorite
Links | Bit ‘O Humor | Entry Page
All content © Copyright of Connie Spindel
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~familyhistorypages
Site created March 20th, 2001.