The Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635

As Hurricane Henri becomes the latest hurricane to seriously threaten the New England coast, we will look back at the first-recorded major hurricane to affect that region. The storm decimated entire forests.

In August of 1635, the Great Colonial Hurricane blasted into New England, a storm that came with furious winds and ship-sinking waves. Out of the storm came a famous New England legend, the story of Thatcher's Island near Cape Ann Massachusetts. Anthony Thatcher, his wife and four children had boarded a small, coastal boat for the usually routine trip from Ipswich to Marblehead (Massachusetts). Strong southwesterly winds slowed the boat, but as the hurricane approached at night, the wind suddenly increased out of the northeast. Caught in the merciless wind and bobbing in giant waves, the ship was thrown against the rocks of a small island. The first to reach safety was Anthony Thatcher. After some time ashore, he saw what looked a body entangled in the wreckage of the ship. As he drew closer, he saw that it was his wife, struggling to free herself from the wreckage. Soon, she successfully climbed the beach. There they sat, the wreckage heaving in the storm tossed seas with mountainous waves from the screaming hurricane stopped only by this rocky speck of an island. As the hours passed, the weather brightened, but their moods darkened, as they searched in vain for any sign of their shipmates, or their four beloved children. The searched, they waited, but all came to naught. A day and a half later, a small ship spotted Anthony and his wife. The tiny piece of land was named Thatcher's Island in memory of the tragic loss from the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635.