Person:Richard Mercier (1)

Richard was a son of Luke and Barbara (Jacks) Mercier.

Received: November 1775, From his father's estate Dwelling plantation Hopsons Choice and as much of Sally's Chance to make 200 acres.

Richard and Cassandra had been married just over a year when on May 19, 1780 an unexplained darkness fell over New England. For days, the sun had taken on an unusual reddish hue within a dirty yellow sky. At mid-morning May 19th, a blanket of darkness descended across New England. Birds sang their evening songs, then went silent. As darkness intensified, cows were said to have walked back to their barns, thinking it was evening.

Noon was nearly as dark as night, making outdoor travel difficult. New Haven's Connecticut Journal reported the darkness was as deep as when candles were lit in the evening.

Samuel Williams of Bradford, Connecticut, commented, "In some places, the darkness was so great, that persons could not see to read common print in the open air.... The extent of this darkness was very remarkable."

Many feared divine wrath. Yale president Timothy Dwight wrote, "It was the general opinion that the day of judgment was at hand." Church attendance immediately picked up.

It was not an eclipse and if it were a volcanic ash cloud, the source has never been found. (Coincidentally, two hundred years minus one day after the Dark Day, Mt. St. Helens erupted, causing a similar darkness to blanket some parts of the Pacific Northwest.) Some scientists believe that the cause was a great cloud of smoke from massive forest fires west of New England, but this is still theory.

John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a poem about the day focusing on the actions of the Connecticut legislature which was in session when the darkness fell. Other accounts exist in old journals and letters.

1. ↑ Maryland Genealogical Society. Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin. (Quarterly magazine)
   Vol. 14, No. 3, August 1973, Talbot County Maryland 1800 Census, Page 34.