Storm From Another Century

By Mary Carter Eagle Times Correspondent
We have endured a weather event that has wreaked devastation and still threatens with more. Here is a look back at a storm that occurred here in the Twin States, 167 years ago.

Otis Waite, author of the History of Claremont, was serving as sole editor and publisher of the National Eagle in the summer of 1856. In his Thursday, Aug. 7 edition, Waite noted that the weather had been unseasonably warm for the prior three weeks with “the mercury standing above ninety.” Waite went on to say that the beginning of an Aug. 5 rainfall felt like “the windows of heaven had been thrown open wide.” This rain, which farmers saw as “a promise of seed and harvest,” soon turned ungodly.

The Sugar River rose to an unprecedented height, flooding meadows and tearing up crops. Village elders claimed that never before had they seen the waters run so high. Fences floated downstream and bridges snapped off their foundations. Roads surrounding the village were washed away. Most of the residents of Claremont were affected because the river was vital to their industries and their homelife.

A three-story carpentry shop owned by J.G. Briggs was lifted from its foundation and left in shambles. As the wind and rain raged on, it took bits and pieces of Mr. Briggs’ building with it. Suffering the most damage would be the Monadnock Mills. Mechanical sheds were swept away so thoroughly that not a plank or a shingle remained. The millyard bridge tumbled into the flow along with 500 cords of firewood. A main boiler room was so battered that the mill was forced to shut down for several days. It was estimated that Monadnock Mills suffered as much as $12,000 in damages. In today’s dollars, that would be $440,000.

Further downstream, the Sunapee Mill, the Home Mill and the Claremont Manufacturing Company held in place, but were flooded. A suspension bridge owned by the Claremont Manufacturing Company crumbled into the river. There had been a fatal accident here only weeks before. During the fourth of July celebration, a marching band followed a procession of area fire engines across the river. The strain was too much and the bridge gave way. William Griffin, a young fifer from North Hartland Vt., perished in the collapse.

In his next edition, Otis Waite reported what had happened in nearby villages. Unity’s dam at McClure’s Mill broke free and Gray’s Carding Machine was destroyed. Unity’s sawmill lost all its long logs. In Langdon, a sizable millstone vanished. Most of Alstead’s roads were rutted and ruined. Walpole lost a total of fifteen bridges.

In Vermont, tracks on the Valley Railroad were undermined. The engine “Westminster” broke through a weakened trestle and plummeted into the river. Roadways became rushing streams, and people were warned not to carriage their horses through them. The two-day rainfall was noted as being 11.8 inches, exceeding any storm on record.

But then, as we see now in our Eagle Times coverage of the recent flood, people face adversity and loss by helping others. Those who have food to share do it willingly. Those who can mend machinery, buildings or fields look to their neighbors’ needs before their own. Compassion is what keeps communities strong and our Twin State regions show no lack of this spirited gift. To assist the flood-stricken in Vermont, visit the Vermont Community Foundation at: vermontcf.org or the Disaster Resources Page at the Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce at YourPlaceInVermont.com.