Advance Notice: Jean Wilcox Hibben at Watertown and the storm of March 1888

Those within striking distance of Watertown, New York, should consider attending a talk by genealogist Jean Wilcox Hibben on Thursday 19 April.

Jean is on the board of the Genealogical Speakers Guild, and West Representative of the International Society of Family History Writers & Editors, on the APG board and was lead researcher for the first season of Genealogy Roadshow.

She is also half of the duo of Genealogy Journeys; a semi-monthly podcast on social history. The other half is Gena Philibert-Ortega who I met in Edmonton a year ago.

One of the recent Genealogy Journeys episodes that attracted me was about the Blizzard of 1888, northward from Chesapeake Bay from 11-13 March 1888. You get to hear the first part for free, the remainder is by subscription.

I wondered whether the storm hit Canada. Yes. Ottawa recorded 22.9 cm of snow. Train travel, the measure of weather disruption at the time, was halted. Montreal received 39.9 cm. Toronto escaped with 3.8 cm and Quebec City on the northern edge 5.6 cm.
Newspapers reported 300 fatalities along the US Atlantic coast with snowfall of 2 feet (61 cm) in New York City. It was mainly a rain event in Nova Scotia.