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New England Weather

1785 Great Freshet • of October

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1782 Hurricane

1786 Tornado

A CONSIDERABLE amount of rain fell in the month of September, 1785, and from time to time during October it continued to fall in usual quantities until Thursday, the twentieth. The rain descended through that day, and in the evening the wind shifted from west-northwest to the opposite direction, blowing hard through the night. The wind continued to blow from the east-southeast for two days, and during this time the rain steadily fell in extraordinary quantities. The storm cleared up at about ten o'clock on Saturday night, nine inches of water having fallen during the three days. It fell principally in southeastern New Hampshire and the adjoining country, and was the heaviest fall of rain on record that has occurred in New England in so short a space of time. It caused a great freshet in the region that it covered and proved exceedingly distressful to the inhabitants.

The Merrimac river rose higher at Haverhill, Mass., than it had for very many years, and the Cocheco river, in New Hampshire, continued to rise until Sunday, when it attained its highest mark, being fifteen feet above its usual height. No other freshet in that river has been known to equal this. There were carried away seven mills and several hundred thousand feet of lumber, besides plank and timber from the landing. A valuable store belonging to Major Tibbets, with more than one thousand bushels of salt contained therein, was wholly destroyed; and another, the property of a Mr. Horne, was removed from its foundations and almost ruined. Two bridges over the river at Dover were also washed away. On the Salmon Falls branch of the Piscataqua river, the water continued to rise until the afternoon of Sunday, at which time the banks were overflowed and the houses of 'Squire Lord and a Mr. Marshall were filled with water to the depth of four or five feet. Every bridge on the river was carried away, and a saw-mill in Great Falls came floating down the stream. The freshet raised the river the whole distance to the sea, carrying off at Portsmouth several vessels that were upon the stocks, and in a greater or less state of completion, besides stores, mills, bridges, and great quantities of lumber.

Eastward of Portsmouth, many of the bridges were floated off, and on that account the post from Portland (which was then a part of Falmouth}, was prevented from making his trip for several days, all travel through that region being greatly impeded until temporary bridges could be thrown across the numerous streams. All the bridges on the Presumpscut river were also carried away.

At Berwick, Me., the freshet was most disastrous, almost every mill and bridge being wholly destroyed, and the inhabitants left without bridges, mills or logs. At this town, the river began to rise rapidly on Saturday, and in the evening the water rushed down the stream like a torrent, deep and wide. By ten o'clock Quamphegon landing was overflowed, and the timber was adrift, the water being two or three feet deep in the houses. The fulling- and grist-mills belonging to Major-general Sullivan were carried off from Parker's falls, and saw- and grist-mills and mill logs continually came over the falls at Berwick. These were the Quamphegon grist-mill, and also those of Andrew Horn, a Mr. Downes, Parson Hassey, and Captain Allen, Hoggen's new saw- and grist-mill, Wentworth's new saw-mill, and 'Squire Rolling's double saw-mill. Only two grist-mills were left on that river, and most of the mills for sawing lumber were either carried away or rendered useless. The lowest estimate of the loss in the town of Berwick alone was twenty thousand dollars. With their logs gone, and their mills destroyed, the people found it very slow work to build anew the bridges that they must have across the streams.

This freshet brought calamity upon the town of Kennebunk in Maine, The river Mousam overflowed, sweeping away the saw-mill, grist-mill, lower iron-works, the bridge, and nearly every other structure on the stream. The iron-works were rebuilt, and the business prosecuted at the place for many years. The Kennebunk river was also greatly swollen, and at length became so flooded that it swept away the saw-mill there. The growth of the village was greatly checked by the damage caused by this freshet. Property was also destroyed at Wells. The losses of the people of that neighborhood were so great it was very difficult for them to pay the taxes next assessed upon them by the state, and application was made to the legislature for an abatement. Their petition was granted, ninety pounds being deducted from the tax of Wells, Kennebunk, and four adjoining towns.

The Saco river probably rose higher than the other streams in that region, as it receives the waters of the minor rivers and brooks of a wide extent of country on either side of it along its whole length from the Notch in the White mountains to the sea, a distance of a hundred and sixty miles. Through the mountain region the river flows rapidly over a rough and rocky bed, and with a very variable course, now running east, now south and at places in other directions of the compass. These changes in its course have caused the formation of broad areas of level river land at several points along the course of the river. One of the largest and certainly the best known of these tracts of intervale is that at North Conway, N. H., which is from fifty to two hundred and twenty rods in width, and fertile, producing abundant crops of corn and rye. The river here is from eight to twelve rods wide, and only from two to seven feet deep. This beautiful spot, nestled under the mountains, was early settled, and at the time of this freshet was populated by thriving farmers, who were enjoying the brilliant colors of the autumn foliage on the mountain sides, and the sweet perfume of wild flowers that came down on the gentle breezes of Indian summer, when the rain storm began on the twentieth of October, 1785, causing the river to rise until it overflowed the intervale, the channel of the stream being indistinguishable in the broad lake which was formed. Farms were entirely submerged, barns floated away, and grain, hay and other crops destroyed. The freshet produced greater damage at this place than in any other portion of New England. The river had never been known to rise so high before, and it was estimated that about three hundr and twenty-seven acres of mowing and ploughed land were totally spoiled. Two barns were carried away with all the grain and hay in them, and seven dwelling houses and four barns were so much damaged that they had to be rebuilt. The greater portion of the hay that had been cut that season was lost, and a large quantity of flax which was spread in the intervale, and the greater part of the corn in the fields were carried away. A large number of domestic animals were drowned, — ten oxen, twelve cows, eighty sheep, two horses, twenty swine, and probably others. One and a half tons of potash were also destroyed. Almost every rod of fence in the town was carried away, and every bridge, great and small, two of which had cost the town about one hundred pounds, was floated off. The loss of cattle and the larger part of the season's produce, upon which the inhabitants depended solely for support, was very distressing, and the people became considerably disheartened. Newspapers of that time suggested that outside assistance should be given to the sufferers, and their distresses became so great that they at length petitioned the Assembly for relief.

One of the effects of this storm was the washing into the sea of a part of the venerated Cole's hill burying-ground at Plymouth, Mass., and with it the bones of many of the pilgrim fathers.

An incident of the storm occurred on Friday night, when the wind blew a gale from the southeast, driving before it upon the sands of Plum Island a Dutch ship from Amsterdam, bound to New York. The storm had been so severe that the captain had lost his calculations and supposed that he was four hundred miles from land when the vessel struck. The lives of the men who composed the crew were all saved, but the ship and cargo were lost.

Source: Historic Storms of New England by Sidney Perley, 1891

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