The Year Without a Summer

Although today is the first day of spring, the long-range forecast for my area includes highs in the 30's and another possible winter storm on the horizon. With the winter lingering on, I thought it would be appropriate to share an article that my friend and former Raymond resident, Sherri Lanter Cook, sent to me a few months ago. The article below, published in The State Journal Register in 1915, includes a letter to the editor that was first published in The Blue Mound Leader an unspecified number of years prior to that. Apparently in 1915, Central Illinois was experiencing unseasonably cool weather, which prompted the article.

Although the details are sketchy and the author of the letter is not even identified, a quick Internet search reveals that something strange did occur in 1816. While I have not conducted any formal research on "the year without a summer" based on some of the information online, it seems that the strange weather event is thought to have been caused by the eruption of Mt. Tambora in Indonesia in April of 1815. Apparently it created food shortages in the United State and Europe, and some historians link the event to an accelerated expansion of the United States as people moved West, searching for better farming conditions. It is interesting to note that Mary Shelley wrote her classic novel, Frankenstein, during this time period.

I have always been fascinated by stories from "back in the day" about events that caused folks to believe that the end of the world was near. If any readers have information about "the year without a summer" or stories about other events that were thought to signal the end of the world, please share them.