Every November the earth’s orbit passes through a belt of meteoroids associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle. This results in meteor showers that appear to originate in the constellation Leo, hence the showers are referred to as the Leonids.
Meteoroid particles burn up quickly in the earth’s atmosphere. Traveling in excess of 150,000 miles per hour, they streak across the sky in a blaze of glory. Commonly, and mistakenly, called “shooting stars,” they are actually tiny particles. Most are smaller than a grain of sand and weigh in at less than a tenth of an ounce, but they shine briefly as bright as planets.
The Leonid showers typically produce only about 15 meteors an hour for most viewers. However, fantastic meteor showers are seen at intervals of approximately 33 years. This coincides with the period of comet Tempel-Tuttle, which circles the sun once every 33 years. When the earth passes through the comet’s fresh path, the numbers rise dramatically. From 1999 to 2001, the showers produced an average of 3,000 meteors an hour.
One of the most spectacular meteor displays occurred on the night of November 12–13, 1833. At the peak, about 2 a.m. on the 13th, it is estimated that the rate was over 100,000 meteors an hour.
This happened at a time when the science of meteors was not understood. People thought they really were falling stars. When they appeared in such profusion in 1833, many feared it was a sign from heaven that the end was near.
And what has this to do with WinCity readers? you might ask. Surprisingly, there are two accounts of the 1833 event from Clark County natives.
The first was reported by Elder Samuel Rogers (1789−1877), who was raised in the Stoner Creek neighborhood. He witnessed the shower while living in Ohio. On the morning of November 13, the family rose early to prepare for a move farther West. Rogers described the event in his autobiography:
“We were all aroused from our slumbers, making preparation for an early start. Someone, on looking out of the window, observed that it was almost broad daylight. ‘That cannot be,’ another answered, ‘For it is scarcely three o’clock.’ ‘Come to the door, father, the world is surely coming to an end.’ Another exclaimed, ‘See! The whole heavens are on fire! All the stars are falling!’
“These cries brought us all into the open yard to gaze upon the grandest and most beautiful scene my eyes have ever beheld. It did appear as if every star had left its moorings, and was drifting rapidly in a westerly direction, leaving behind a track of light which remained visible for several seconds.
“It must be remembered that in the Western States at that day there was not much knowledge among the masses upon the subject of meteorology. So it will not appear strange that there was widespread alarm at this ‘star-shooting,’ so called. Some really thought that the Judgment Day was at hand, and they fell on their knees in penitence, confessing all the sins of their past lives and calling upon God to have mercy.”
The second account was penned by Judge James Flanagan (1820−1906), one of Winchester’s first historians. The following is abbreviated from his newspaper article:
“It was the grandest meteoric display of which there is any record, either in ancient or modern history, and none but those who saw it can have any conception of its magnificent proportions. It was a most awe-inspiring sight, and many thought it to be the speedy forerunner of the end of all terrestrial things.
“The phenomenon occurred after midnight on the 13th day of November 1833, the same year of the visitation of the Asiatic cholera in Kentucky. The whole heavens appeared as if illumined by countless thousands of sky rockets, and all presented such a grand, sublime meteoric display as had never before, or has ever since, been witnessed.
“Though a mere lad at the time I remember distinctly now the subsequent prayer meetings that were almost constantly going on in the churches of the town and county. By many the phenomenon was regarded as supernatural, portentous of something awful to happen, a forerunner of the Millennium. During the great religious wave which followed, an incident occurred at the old log church in Goode’s precinct, known as the Log Lick church, of which the writer has a distinct recollection. The little church was crowded day and night with an eager and earnest people, singing and praying and asking pardon for their many sins.
“Now there were a few in the precinct who, looking at the matter from a different standpoint, took no part in the religious mania, among them Thomas F. Donaldson and M. Fritz, who were noted as practical jokers. One night the congregation had gathered at the little church and were listening with fear and trembling to the awful warning that the end was near at hand. Donaldson and Fritz, having procured a long tin bugle and a ladder, climbed to the top of the church, and just as the preacher was exhorting his hearers to be ready, as Gabriel’s trumpet might sound at any moment, Donaldson blew a blast ‘both loud and shrill’ on the bugle, and Fritz proclaimed from the housetop in stentorian tones that he was the Angel Gabriel sent to proclaim the end of the world and summon all nations to arise and come to judgement.
Never miss a thing with our FREE weekly newsletter.
“Hearing all this, the audience inside fell in a promiscuous heap on the floor, some begging for a little more time, and others begging for immediate mercy and pardon. They remained in the church until broad daylight, and when they finally mustered courage to venture out, the two ‘Gabriels’ were nowhere to be seen, and the old world was standing just as it always had stood.”
We’ll have to wait until about 2033 to witness the next grand Leonid display.
Thanks to John Maruskin who discovered the Judge Flanagan article in the local history room at the library. That place is full of surprises.
