I think it might be of interest to you to read about the year 1816- the year without a summer. It occurred due to the eruption of Mt Tambora in Indonesia but no one in Europe or the East cost of the USA knew what happened. It was a winter, crops failed, birds froze, people changed occupations, moved south and west. My ggg grandfather, a ship master in NYC worked those years in the West Indies for a group of merchants. I have always wondered if he was also looking for food to bring back. People ate Makeral. In NYC birds fell from the sky dead and you could drive a horse and slay on the frozen canals. As far south as Virginia, Thomas Jefferson had to borrow money for lost crops. All crops failed. It might have affected what your ancestor was doing. You can read about it on Wikipedia, and after that, I read a very good book of research on the entire subject. Really amazing. Thousands of people died in Europe and many here. People starved. It was really frozen in New England and it caused lots of change. Sue