Total Solar Eclipses in 19th Century North America by Zina Abbott

Eclipses in its various forms from partial to angular to total are fairly rare occurrences, but have happened more often than we may realize. Many total eclipses took place all over the world from the North Pole to Antarctica, across all continents, and a great number of which would not have been observed unless people were on the right ship in the right section of isolated ocean. Here are a few that could have been seen by those in the North American continent during the 1800’s.

February 21, 1803 - The eclipse was visible in the Pacific Ocean and Central America. It appeared in its totality in Mexico.

June 16, 1806 - Totality was visible in a diagonal path across the United States and ended in North Africa.

It has been called Tecumseh's Eclipse after the Shawnee chief Tecumseh realized that the only hope for the various tribes in east and central North American was to join together. He was assisted by his brother, Temskwatawa, considered by his people to be a "prophet," who called for a rejection of the white ways and a return to traditional values. Tenskwatawa was ready for Tecumseh and had learned from explorers that a total Solar Eclipse was to occur. Using this knowledge, Tecumseh ordered the Great Spirit to release the sun.

José Joaquín de Ferrer, a Spanish astronomer, was part of the first solar eclipse expeditions. He journeyed to Cuba in 1803 to observe the total eclipse that year, and came to Kinderhook, New York in 1806 to observe the eclipse observed the both the 1803 and 1806 eclipses.from Kinderhook, New York. He was a Spanish Basque astronomer who he coined the word corona for the bright ring observable during a total eclipse. Ferrer also states, that during the total eclipse of 1806, the irregularities of the moon's surface were plainly discernible.

July 28, 1851 - This eclipse was visible in western and far northern Canada until it crossed Greenland and was seen in northern Europe. 

1851 First photograph of total solar eclipse- Royal Prussian Obseratory, Konigsberg

Prior to the eclipse of July 28, 1851, no properly exposed photograph of the solar corona had yet been produced. The Royal Prussian Observatory at Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia) commissioned one of the city's most skilled daguerreotypists, Johann Julius Friedrich Berkowski, to record a still image of the event. The observers attached a small six-centimeter refracting telescope to a 15.8 centimeter Fraunhofer heliometer, and Berkowski made an eighty-four second exposure shortly after the beginning of totality.

(Aug 29, 1867 - José J. Vergara and Luis Grosch observed the eclipse from a small hill close to Santiago)

August 7, 1869 - It path of totality was visible from eastern Russia, Alaska, across Canada, and the northeastern United States. A partial eclipse occurred across all of North America.

In 1869, astronomer and explorer George Davidson made a scientific trip to the Chilkat Valley of Alaska. He told the Chilkat Indians that he was especially anxious to observe a total eclipse of the sun that was predicted to occur the following day, August 7. This prediction was considered to have saved Davidson's expedition from an attack.

July 29, 1878 - This eclipse was visible at sunrise at a path across northeastern Asia and passed across Alaska, western Canada, and the United States from Montana through Texas. It then tracked across most of Cuba and southwestern Hispaniola before ending.

January 1, 1889 – This eclipse was visible across western United States, and central Canada. Partiality was visible across the northern Pacific ocean including Hawaii, and all of the United States.

As for today, August 21st, I am spending the next few minutes viewing the total eclipse. It will be only about 75% where I live, but still a memorable event to celebrate my birthday.

Today is the last day the Prairie Rose Publications Eclipse Day Party featuring many books at reduced prices. For more details, click HERE.
 

We're all going to die!

A solar eclipse will darken the skies over the United States Monday (Aug. 21), giving most of us our first chance to see a full solar eclipse.

The "Great American Eclipse" will begin off the coast of Oregon and race across the country for 90 minutes before exiting off the coast of Charleston, S.C.

Scientifically speaking, a total solar eclipse happens about twice a year, but this is the first time in almost 100 years that the continental United States will have a prime view of the event. And while an estimated 100 million people are expected to get out the popcorn and pinhole projectors, our medieval counterparts took a dim view of the natural phenomena (pun intended).

When the eclipse began, they would have been surprised, frightened, and curious.

In the 12th century, John of Worcester, a medieval chronicler, wrote: "In 1133 a darkness appeared in the sky throughout England. In some places it was only a little dark, but in others candles were needed. ... The sun looked liked a new moon, thought its shape constantly changed. Some said that this was an eclipse of the sun. If so, then the sun was at the Head of the Dragon and the moon at its Tail, or vice versa. ... King Henry left England for Normandy never to return alive."

Henry I died two years later on Dec. 1, 1135, reputedly from food poisoning from a surfeit of lampreys (eels).

Within a few years, England was embroiled in civil war.

And within the decade, there was another eclipse. In 1140, William of Malmesbury wrote: "There was an eclipse throughout England, and the darkness was so great that people at first thought the world was ending. Afterwards, they realized it was an eclipse, went out, and could see the stars in the sky. It was thought and said by many, not untruly, that the king would soon lose his power."

The king in question was Stephen of Blois, King of England after stealing the throne from Matilda, Henry I's daughter and appointed heir. And while he technically sat on the throne until 1154, you could make a good case that he lost his power long before he died. He was not, as we medievalists say, a good king.

We are no longer surprised by eclipses, and we've known this one was coming for a long time.

Where I live, I'll see 90 percent of the sun eaten by the dragon. If you get a chance, tell us how much of the eclipse you'll see and how you plan to watch it. If you're not sure how much you'll be able to see, go here to find out.

Keena Kincaid writes historical romances in which passion, magic and treachery collide to create unforgettable stories. Her books are available from Prairie Rose Publications and Amazon. For more information on her stories, visit her Amazon page, her website, or Facebook.