How interesting...I have heard stories of the blizzard of 1888 my whole life...Known in Nebraska as the "The School Childrens Blizzard" because many children were Caught at school...or on their way home....In Nebraska it happened on Jan, 12 1888. According to a Nebraska History It was a warm balmy day...by mid afternoon the wind changed to the north and began to be at hurricane force and began to snow..large flakes at first and then hard pellets of snow and the air was so full of snow know one could see.... And from a life story by my great Aunt... I was teaching in the old sod school house in the year 1888, when the country was swept by the most terrific blizzard that the west ever exerienced...at the first recess I saw across the north west sky a black, low-hanging cloud and soon an icy blast came...with the help of two of the older boys we filled a corner of the school with coal...the story goes on to tell of their rescue later. The school was in Gosper County Nebraska. It was obviously a really enormous storm and we had strange weather back in those days also.... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ken Everard" <everardk@comcast.net> To: <NJ-GSNJ-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 9:08 AM Subject: [GSNJ] NJ Blizzard 1888 > Genealogy is directly connected to history for a great number of reasons including occupations, wars, and even blizzards that our ancestors had to experience. One such event was the great blizzard that hit much of the northeastern portion of the United States and some of Canada. > > Here are some highlights of the blizzard: > > * It hit the area on Monday night 12, 1888, and caught most people and businesses off guard. > > * Accompanying the storm was rain rapidly dropping temperatures that sunk to below zero. Snow fell fast and caught most people by surprise, especially in NJ because everyone thought it would hit farther north. By Tuesday morning people could not reach their jobs or stores. Visibility was awful. Men's beards and whiskers froze with ice and snow on them. > > * Trains were unable to go far before realizing the tracks were too covered for progress far so the people on those trains were locked in with limited food. Families share what they had brought with them. > > * The winds blew at 35-50 miles per hour. People could not get to their jumps in cities because the walks and roads were not cleared. Most people were inadequately dressed to withstand the temperatures. NJ was not hit quite as hard as NY City and upstate New York. > > The source of this information is HISTORY MAGAZINE, Mary 2006. > > Did any of your ancestors pass down through the generations to you any of their experiences during the winter of 1888? > > Ken > > > ==== NJ-GSNJ Mailing List ==== > Visit our Collections Guide: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~njgsnj/collectionguide.html > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx > >

I like your story, which seems to match the storm on the east coast. Usually storms don't cross the entire country but in this case there might have been a major exception. My Aunt was also a teacher in small one room school houses after she finished training to become a teacher where children came from scattered distances. No school buses back then. She had to get to the school at least half an hour early to get the wood stove going to warm the room. People just can't compare those "good ole days" to what we have today. History allows us to think about our ancestors so lets keep looking back in time while plowing forward today. Ken > How interesting...I have heard stories of the blizzard of 1888 my whole > life...Known in Nebraska as the "The School Childrens Blizzard" because > many children were Caught at school...or on their way home....In Nebraska > it happened on Jan, 12 1888. > According to a Nebraska History > It was a warm balmy day...by mid afternoon the wind changed to the north > and began to be at hurricane force and began to snow..large flakes at > first and then hard pellets of snow and the air was so full of snow know > one could see.... > And from a life story by my great Aunt... > I was teaching in the old sod school house in the year 1888, when the > country was swept by the most terrific blizzard that the west ever > exerienced...at the first recess I saw across the north west sky a black, > low-hanging cloud and soon an icy blast came...with the help of two of the > older boys we filled a corner of the school with coal...the story goes on > to tell of their rescue later. The school was in Gosper County Nebraska. > > It was obviously a really enormous storm and we had strange weather back > in those days also.... > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ken Everard" <everardk@comcast.net> > To: <NJ-GSNJ-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 9:08 AM > Subject: [GSNJ] NJ Blizzard 1888 > > > > Genealogy is directly connected to history for a great number of > reasons including occupations, wars, and even blizzards that our ancestors > had to experience. One such event was the great blizzard that hit much of > the northeastern portion of the United States and some of Canada. > > > > Here are some highlights of the blizzard: > > > > * It hit the area on Monday night 12, 1888, and caught most people > and businesses off guard. > > > > * Accompanying the storm was rain rapidly dropping temperatures that > sunk to below zero. Snow fell fast and caught most people by surprise, > especially in NJ because everyone thought it would hit farther north. By > Tuesday morning people could not reach their jobs or stores. Visibility > was awful. Men's beards and whiskers froze with ice and snow on them. > > > > * Trains were unable to go far before realizing the tracks were too > covered for progress far so the people on those trains were locked in with > limited food. Families share what they had brought with them. > > > > * The winds blew at 35-50 miles per hour. People could not get to > their jumps in cities because the walks and roads were not cleared. Most > people were inadequately dressed to withstand the temperatures. NJ was > not hit quite as hard as NY City and upstate New York. > > > > The source of this information is HISTORY MAGAZINE, Mary 2006. > > > > Did any of your ancestors pass down through the generations to you any > of their experiences during the winter of 1888? > > > > Ken > > > > > > ==== NJ-GSNJ Mailing List ==== > > Visit our Collections Guide: > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~njgsnj/collectionguide.html > > > > ============================== > > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx > > > > > > > > ==== NJ-GSNJ Mailing List ==== > New Jersey Legislative Alerts: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~njgsnj/legislation.html > > ============================== > New! Family Tree Maker 2005. Build your tree and search for your ancestors > at the same time. Share your tree with family and friends. Learn more: > http://landing.ancestry.com/familytreemaker/2005/tour.aspx?sourceid=14599&targetid=5429 > >

Quoting Ken Everard <everardk@comcast.net>: ((clip)) History allows us to think about our ancestors so lets keep looking back in time while plowing forward today. ===== Well stated! -- Dolores in Delaware ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.