Monadnock Moment No. 095

Era 3: Revolution and the New Nation - 1763 to 1820

The Dark Day

May 19th marks the anniversary of a day on which the sun disappeared and many of our ancestors felt that Judgement Day was at hand. On Friday, May 19, 1780 the sun was obscured by a strange darkness ranging from New Jersey and New York across Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire, and into Maine.

In mid morning of that day Cheshire County residents noticed a large dark cloud to the west. The cloud soon covered the whole sky. It was so dark at noon that the cows came in from the fields and birds went to roost. Elias Hemenway of Marlborough had to stop plowing his fields at noon because there was not enough light for him to work by. Local residents ate their midday meal by candlelight.

Local diarists Abner Sanger of Keene and Miriam Newton of Marlborough both recorded the event in their diaries. Mrs. Newton mentioned using candles at midday, but both writers seemed to take the dark day in stride. Many did not take it so lightly, however. Superstitious people across New England feared the worst and took the darkness as a terrifying sign from heaven. It was later determined that the fearful darkness was probably caused by the smoke of huge forest fires in western New England and New York. Despite the logical explanations, the Dark Day of May 1780 was remembered and discussed with awe by a generation of New Englanders.