Editor's note: This column is part of a series dedicated to Little Compton's 350th anniversary celebration this year. For more, see the organizing committee's website.

Most of us have heard of some of the devastating storms suffered by our area in the past – such as the 1938 hurricane, and hurricanes of 1944, 1954, 1957, and of course, Hurricane Bob in 1991. In future columns I will be talking about these storms and the terrible legacy they left, but in this column, I will be talking about a few storms of which I was unaware, until recently.

This is an extract from the diary of Daniel Howland of Tiverton:

“December 1741 – On the first days of January there fell six or seven snows, one upon another without a thaw between. Bristol Ferry was so frozen that said winter that people passed upon the ice from December 23 to January 10. On January 30, Father came away from Boston and got home on February 5th, there being thirteen in the company most of the way.  And traveling every day.  The bad traveling was caused by a great snow which fell the 28th and 29th of January, which, with the rest of the snow that was then remaining on the ground was counted five feet deep upon a level. Our well, that’s three or four and twenty feet deep, was frozen to a solid body of ice for three weeks, so that we got no water in that time.

June 2, 1742, the ice thawed in John Howland’s well. June the 6th there was snow. Brought to a town meeting held at the townhouse in Portsmouth half a hat-crown full of snow from Job Lawton’s farm. June the 10th at the wedding of Joseph Freeborn, we the guests drank punch made of snow. The likes were never known in these parts before.

The 1917 storm

The storm at Seaconnet Point was the worst in years. The high winds caused one of the highest surfs seen. Chimneys, trees, and outbuildings were blown down and much fruit blown from the trees. Thousands of dollars of fishing gear belonging to Frank Grinnell, Charles Gray, and John Wilcox were lost. The lobstermen also reported the loss of hundreds of dollars’ worth of lobster pots.

On Saturday afternoon the town was visited by the most severe hailstorm recalled by the older residents. So large were the hailstones which fell, and so long did the downpour continue that much of the fruit and garden crops were damaged beyond recovery. Windows were broken in numerous houses, and roads were so covered in ice that many horses either ran away or fell. Also, several homes and trees were struck by lightning, bricks and shingles torn off. At the home of Robert Taylor on Washington Road the lightning entered the home at an open window and followed a circuit consisting of a wet umbrella, a curtain rod, and an iron tub, sweeping a plaster figure and many framed photos off a wall, smashing them into bits. In another home the lightning not only knocked down the chimney but melted the lead flashing! It was reported that nearly every house in the area was “chimneyless.”

The storm forced the closing of schools and prevented several of the auto stages from making their daily route to Tiverton Four Corners. Several telephone lines were put out of commission, and brooks and ponds overflowed, and roads washed out in many places.

The engine of Captain Reid’s sloop Mary Lou, with freight from Providence for Seaconnet Point, became disabled in high seas off Old Bull and the boat began to drift on the ledge. She would have been thrown on the rocks in a short time if her plight had not been seen by Captains Thomas Morrissey and Charles Christian who went to her assistance in the Cygnet and towed her to the Seaconnet wharf.

When William Manchester, the lighthouse keeper at Seaconnet Light, came ashore he gave a graphic account of his experience on the light during the storm. He said it was the first time he ever felt his life in actual danger while on the light during the previous eight years.

One of the heavy shutters that protect the windows at the top story was partly broken. Mr. Manchester made all preparations to climb up the light to the ladder and remain there, as he would surely have been drowned if the other shutter had given way. He said the lighthouse rocked like a cradle. An immense plank on the second floor was torn away, and close by the masonry, one of the largest rocks gave way.

Both wharves at West Island and the one on Lloyd’s beach were washed away. The caretaker on the island claimed that damage to the wharves, buildings, and grounds was so great that the owner would not be able to open the upcoming season. The surf dashed clear over the west side of the island, which is a sheer rock rising 100 or more feet above the ocean. Very seldom had the waves been known to dash over the almost perpendicular rock. The steamer Island from Providence was obliged to put into Almy’s wharf at Tiverton Four Corners, intending to enter the breakwater the following day, but, instead, returned to Providence.

Many auto parties motored to the beaches to witness the magnificent surf during the storm, and hundreds viewed the spectacle on Lloyd’s beach at Seaconnet Point. The surf was the highest in fifty years. According to the oldest fishermen at the point, this was a record-breaking storm. (Note: The fact that people motored to see the storm has not changed in all these years. Most of us are still fascinated by the devastation of a storm, whether snow, hurricane, high winds, or massive amounts of rain, all vehicles on the road will be headed to South Shore Beach, the Town Landing, Warren’s Point or Sakonnet Point, the scarier the better!)