Within a Charleston-made desk, which is among the antiques in the collection of the Kaminski House Museum, lies an over two-hundred-year-old mystery. A hidden note was discovered attached to the back of a drawer of the desk. Written in ink are these words: “January 11th Domini 1800 – the Great Snow fell from five to 14 Inches Deep.” The message is followed by a name that could be “A Biddle” but is more likely “A Bradley.”
The mahogany desk, believed to have been first constructed between 1770 and 1790, is a fine example of Charleston cabinetwork. It was likely acquired by Julia Kaminski or her mother-in-law Rose Kaminski during their lifetimes. According to antiques expert Jim Pratt, who examined the desk some years back, the piece was originally a desk and bookcase, better known today as a secretary, a popular item with early Charlestonians. At some point the bookcase was removed, as was the top board, leaving a slope-front desk, which was repaired at some point with red-washed cypress as a secondary wood.
In 1800, approximately sixty-two cabinet- makers were working in Charleston, as were an unrecorded number of enslaved craftsmen and free black craftsmen. As Charleston cabinetmakers rarely labeled their work, it is impossible to ascertain the author of the note. Further, it is unclear whether the signature was that of the author, or the name of the owner of the desk at that time. According to Andy Slotin at George C. Birlant & Co. (Antiques) in Charleston, the message was likely glued to the back of the drawer with mucilage, and the edges of the note obviously nibbled by silverfish over time. The note remains in relatively good shape to have been written and attached to the drawer as long ago as the year 1800.
Yet the fascinating thing is that, indeed, between January 9 -11 of 1800, the heaviest known snowstorm in the Southeast occurred. Charleston was blanketed in ten inches of snow, and Savannah eighteen inches. It was the heaviest snowfall of record for the immediate Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States.
In his journal, Charlestonian Henry Ravenel recorded: “1800: January 10th. The greatest Snow Storm I ever saw. It began to snow in the morning about 1 or 2 o'clock, and snow'd until 12 o'clock, when it began to fall very thick with Sleet, and continued until sometime in the Night. The Snow was from 6 to 7 inches on the Ground.” [1]
According to David Ramsay “…snow storms fell in January of 1800, and were then thrice repeated in twenty-three days, amounting in all to more than ten inches.” [2]
Off Charleston, then a flourishing port, “Vessels, instead of running to Charleston to avoid a snow storm, stood of for a few hours until they reached the tepid waters of the Gulf Stream, in the genial warmth of which the crew recovered their frosted energies, and as soon as the gale abated, they were ready for another attempt to make their haven.” [3]
We may never know who left the message in the desk during the snowstorm of 1800. However it does add another layer of intrigue to what was considered a valuable antique in its own right.
[1] Henry Edmund Ravenel, Ravenel Records: A History and Genealogy of the Huguenot Family of Ravenel, (Berkeley County, S.C.: Franklin Co)., 1898:228.
[2] Ramsay “Views of South Carolina,” Vol. 11:52.
[3] Extracts from The Maury Abstract Logs, 1796-1861: Climatological Records of the Weather Bureau by and Forest and Stream 72: 31, 1909.
By Jennie Holton Fant