Came across this and thought it was worth sharing. Never know what a year can bring, and these folks did not know the cause or solution.
Note that hardy character of the people then, which also prayed much:
In 1816 there were no railroads. There were freight-carrying wagons but limited roads. Bulk cargo could be transported economically only by water. This meant that inland towns & farms were very much on their own as nothing could be imported.
Isolated as they were, accustomed to the privation caused by subsistence farming, 90% of the population of New England was essentially self-sufficient. Without public utilities or access to markets, most people were probably quite capable of surviving for a season on shortened rations. They knew how to improvise. Each family was an economic unit, though neighbors depended on one another for many things and trading goods & services was common.
One of the farmer’s biggest problems came in the spring of 1817, when there was no seed for new crops and no money with which to buy it. The May 18 th 1817 edition of Portland’s “Eastern Argus”, records a town meeting authorizing “…the Overseers of the Poor to furnish seed of various descriptions to those individuals who are unable to procure the same from his own resources – the advances to be paid for either in labor on the highway, or in kind at the harvesting of crops. We sincerely hope that this example may be generally followed in other towns.”
Tight-fisted, ornery & independent, the Yankees gained a reputation as jack-of-all-trades. Their independence was largely a matter of necessity & it would stand them in good stead when they were faced with the scanty harvest of 1816.
I’m guessing those near the coast probably ate a lot of fish, mussels and whatever else they could get from the ocean, ponds and lakes.