Transcript

The Schoolhouse Blizzard

From The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 18 min · 3,089 words · 22 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "The Schoolhouse Blizzard", an episode of The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered published January 12, 2026 (18 min, about 3,089 words). It mentions 18 people, works and ideas, including Incogn, Thomas St. Martin, George Allen, Minnie Freeman, Richmond, Indiana Palladium.

What this episode is about

The content explores the severe winter conditions experienced in the early 1880s in the United States, highlighting the particularly harsh winter of January 12, 1888, known as the Schoolhouse Blizzard. It references historical anecdotes and statistics that reflect the impact of this extreme weather, along with a humorous take on 19th-century attitudes towards cold.

Key takeaways

  • The 1880s were so cold, even newspapers resorted to humor about chattering dentures!
  • Profanity skyrocketed in the U.S. as winter chills drove people to warmer language choices.
  • Massive population growth in the Midwest collided with brutal winters, creating legendary survival tales.
  • The 'Little Ice Age' in the 1880s marked a chilling end to cowboy culture in America.
  • Incogn takes the hassle out of privacy—your data shouldn’t be for sale, but it often is!

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 3:00: Incogn, Richmond, Indiana Palladium
  2. – 6:00: Thomas St. Martin, Minnesota Post, Smithsonian, US National Weather Service
  3. – 9:00: Army Signal Corps, Emil Gilberts, Joseph Anderson
  4. – 12:00: George Allen, Dr. Belinda Beck, John Sparks
  5. – 15:00: Minnie Freeman, Louise Royce, Mary Connell
  6. – 17:38: Thomas St. Martin, Department of Agriculture

Notable quotes from "The Schoolhouse Blizzard"

  • Privacy. But the bad news is it would take you years to do it manually. But Incogn can do the messy work for you automatically. Incogn helps you protect your privacy and take…
    about Incogn · at
  • And these vast areas of small towns and farms faced many challenges, including the notorious Midwest winters. The US National Weather Service explains, even if every aspect…
    about US National Weather Service · at
  • But what an end it was, as St. Martin writes, This was a climatological interlude that most emphatically ended not with a whimper, but with a bang. A very loud bang indeed.
    about Thomas St. Martin · at
  • General aspect of the weather was the quickest and most decisive on record. In 1888, the US weather service had not been created yet. Weather prediction and reporting was the…
    about Army Signal Corps · at
  • Home. The Bee reported a story that would be all too familiar to too many families. It is feared that little George Allen, some of a prominent farmer living about a mile west…
    about George Allen · at
  • In many cases, young teachers risked and sometimes lost their lives to protect children. Teacher Mary Connell near Kavor, Nebraska, started a home with two of her pupils, a boy and a girl. The boy.
    about Mary Connell · at
  • In the ground with her arms around the little girl. The watchman reported an extraordinary story of survival. Miss Minnie Freeman, the lady teacher of MNA, Nebraska's Valley…
    about Minnie Freeman · at
  • The indications from Washington were for warm weather and rain. Partly as a result of these failures, the US weather services moved from the Army Signal Service to a Civilian Weather Bureau under the Department of Agriculture in 1890.
    about Department of Agriculture · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Thomas St. Martin — Person · Referenced expert / cited author · 2 mentions · first at
    Cited as an authority on Minnesota climate history and the 1887–1888 winter, providing framing and interpretation of the period’s abnormal cold and the blizzard’s significance.
  • George Allen — Person · Referenced child victim (historical account) · 1 mention · first at
    A central example of the 'schoolhouse blizzard' tragedy: a child who left school and was feared (and later confirmed) to have perished, highlighting the storm’s disproportionate impact on children.
  • Minnie Freeman — Person · Referenced teacher / rescuer (historical account) · 1 mention · first at
    Highlighted for an 'extraordinary story of survival' in which she tied 13 pupils together and led them to shelter, serving as a key heroic narrative within the episode.
  • Mary Connell — Person · Referenced teacher / rescuer (historical account) · 1 mention · first at
    Presented as a teacher who attempted to escort pupils home and saved a child by shielding her, exemplifying the life-and-death decisions teachers faced during the blizzard.
  • Louise Royce — Person · Referenced teacher / survivor (historical account) · 1 mention · first at
    A tragic account of a teacher who tried to move pupils to safety, became disoriented, and lost all three children; she survived with severe frostbite—illustrating the storm’s brutality and moral dilemmas.
    As morning broke, the third child succumbed to the cold. Miss Royce then managed to reach the house. Both her feet were badly frozen and will probably have to be amputated.
  • Laura Clark — Person · Referenced journalist / magazine writer · 1 mention · first at
    Cited for describing the 'big die-up' cattle die-offs and their historical impact on the open-range cowboy era, supporting the episode’s broader consequences of 1880s winters.
    Among the many impacts of the particularly cold winters of the 1880s were mass cattle die-offs called the big dieup that Laura Clark writes in a 2015 edition of Smithsonian…
  • Alyssa Ford — Person · Referenced journalist · 1 mention · first at
    Quoted for specific snowfall totals and conditions in Minnesota in December 1887 and early January 1888, helping establish the lead-up to the Schoolhouse Blizzard.
    18887, the winter of 1887 1888 had started harshly as the Midwest was pounded by ice and snowstorms. Alyssa Ford wrote in a 2013 edition of the Minnesota Post, December dumped mountains of snow, 20.2 in Morehead, 39.5 in at Morris, 33 in at.
  • John Sparks — Person · Referenced fatality (historical account) · 1 mention · first at
    Reported as a prominent farmer and former legislator whose death was confirmed, underscoring that the blizzard killed across social roles, not only the isolated or poor.
    Within 20 yards of the house. The storm didn't discriminate in Omaha. The Post Dispatch writes, The reported freezing of honorable John Sparks is confirmed.
  • Dr. Belinda Beck — Person · Referenced child victim (historical account) · 1 mention · first at
    Named alongside George Allen as another schoolboy confirmed to have died, reinforcing the episode’s focus on children as victims of the storm.
    Started for home and scarcely left the house before the storm broke in all its fury. The Dakota Pioneer Express later confirmed that George and another boy from his school…
  • Joseph Anderson — Person · Referenced missing person (historical account) · 1 mention · first at
    Listed among those missing after going for hay during the blizzard, reinforcing the scale of disappearances and fatalities reported across the region.
    Cattle, and the latter was frozen to death, while the father will lose both arms. Joseph Anderson went to the country for hay and has not been heard from. Peter Hume, a farmer…
  • Emil Gilberts — Person · Referenced fatality (historical account) · 1 mention · first at
    Cited as a blizzard fatality found frozen to death near Hitchcock, Dakota; used as part of the episode’s catalog of reported deaths.
    Rosco, was supposed to have perished in the storm. Reports from Hitchcock, 50 mi south, state that Emil Gilberts, a Swede from Chicago, was found frozen to death a mile east of…

Companies & orgs

Media & podcasts

  • Richmond, Indiana Palladium — Media · 1 mention · first at
  • Smithsonian — Media · 1 mention · first at
    Particularly cold winters of the 1880s were mass cattle die-offs called the big dieup that Laura Clark writes in a 2015 edition of Smithsonian magazine signaled the beginning…
  • Minnesota Post — Media · 1 mention · first at
    18887, the winter of 1887 1888 had started harshly as the Midwest was pounded by ice and snowstorms. Alyssa Ford wrote in a 2013 edition of the Minnesota Post, December dumped mountains of snow, 20.2 in Morehead, 39.5 in at Morris, 33 in at.

Full transcript with timestamps

This episode of the history guy is brought to you by Incogn. Take your personal data off the market. A headline in a 2018 edition of the Richmond, Indiana Palladium item by reporter Steve Martin answers an interesting question of weather history. How cold were the winters in the early 1880s? Durned cold. Martin illustrates the point by quoting some newspaper stories from the period. For example, there is government statistics now to show that the increase in profanity in the United States is due to the cold weather. And it's so cold in Boston, Indiana that Grandpa Stanley's teeth are chattering in their glass on the nightstand. These stories actually might say more about the sense of humor in the 19th century than they do the weather. But the fact is, for a significant portion of the United States, there was a series of particularly dreadful winters in the 1880s. So much so that it's sometimes

called the little ice age of the 1880s. And the worst winter of that age might well have been its last because on January 12th, 1888, disaster struck the American Midwest. You know, I get these fishing emails and texts all the time. It's crazy. And it's even worse if they have your personal information because then they can make those emails and texts and phone calls all that much more convincing. and your personal information gets out all the time. Seems like every week you hear about a major company having a data breach. And sometimes somehow your data is lost, even if you never did business with that company. Thousands of data brokers are collecting and treading your personal data without you knowing anything about it. And that puts you at risk. Now, you have the right to request data brokers to delete what information they have about you and protect your privacy. But the bad news is is it would

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Use the code the history for your exclusive offer of 60% off. By the 1880s, the American Midwest had seen decades of rapidly expanding population driven by growing transportation networks and the availability of federal land, notably including the Homestead Act in 1862, as well as increased immigration following the Civil War. The population of the city of Minneapolis, for example, increased from 13,000 in 1870 to 165,000 in 1890. The population of Anglo-Americans in the Dakota territory, now the states of North and South Dakota, grew from just 4,837 in 1860 to 539,583 in 1890. While urban populations were growing, much of the immigration was rural as immigrants were attracted to the fertile soil of the Great Plains.

Urban centers grew, but were essentially islands in a vast territory which was still an estimated 80% rural in 1890. And these vast areas of small towns and farms faced many challenges, including the notorious Midwest winters. The US National Weather Service explains, even if every aspect that a pioneer could control had gone favorably, each season brought potential game-ending hardships. Winter meant bitter cold and brutal snowstorms. Blizzards were particularly feared. The Midwest is characterized by what meteorologists call a humid continental climate. This is a matter of location as these states are situated on a battleground between clashing warm humid air from the Gulf of Mexico and cold dry air from Canada and generally lack oceanic temperature moderation. This leads to significant seasonal temperature swings, hot, humid summers, cold, snowy winters, and abundant precipitation. And these trends were

particularly pronounced in the 1880s. Among the many impacts of the particularly cold winters of the 1880s were mass cattle die-offs called the big dieup that Laura Clark writes in a 2015 edition of Smithsonian magazine signaled the beginning of the end to the days of roving cowboys and the untamed western wilderness. The end of this frozen period came late in the decade with the winter of 1887 1888. Thomas St. Martin explains in a 2009 paper written on behalf of the Minnesota Climatology Working Group that the last months of 1887 and the first months of 1888 are unique because they are marked by the end of an unbroken six-year reign of abnormally cold, miserable, and ruinous winter weather.

But what an end it was, as St. Martin writes, "This was a climatological interlude that most emphatically ended not with a whimper, but with a bang. A very loud bang indeed." Following another brutal winter in 1886, 18887, the winter of 1887 1888 had started harshly as the Midwest was pounded by ice and snowstorms. Alyssa Ford wrote in a 2013 edition of the Minnesota Post, "December dumped mountains of snow, 20.2 2 in in Morehead, 39.5 in at Morris, 33 in at Mano. Then on January 5th, 1888, a massive sleet storm coated the snowy dress with treacherous ice, putting scores of restless farmers and school children under house arrest, but for the most essential chores, but there was a reprieve. The morning of January 12th, the New Orleans Times Democrat reported on conditions in St.

Paul, Minnesota on January 12th, 1888. The wind was from the south, warm and balmy, and before the sun was high in the sky, a decided thaw had set in. Farmers took advantage of the beautiful weather to go to town to draw wood, hay, etc. About noon, a cloud was seen lying along the northwest horizon, lying close to the ground, but stretching from west to north in a dark semicircle. Little attention was paid to it. But in an hour, the cloud had swept over the country. The sun was obscured. The snow was falling fast and a gale was sweeping from the northwest with terrible fury.

The change in the weather was incredibly abrupt. The Omaha Evening B reported that the change in the temperature and general aspect of the weather was the quickest and most decisive on record. In 1888, the US weather service had not been created yet. Weather prediction and reporting was the purview of the Army Signal Corps. A B reporter called at the signal service this morning and in a brief chat with observer Chappelle learned some very queer things in connection with last night's terrific blizzard and meteorological matters generally. At 4:00 in the afternoon, there was a freshening breeze from the southeast which increased within a few moments to a velocity of 4 m an hour. At 4:18, there was one of the most remarkable changes on record. The wind shifting from the southeast to the northwest in the twinkling of an eye and whirling and howling along at a speed of 36 m an hour. The snow drifted badly,

and the air was filled with flower-like particles which rendered locomotion by either man or beast almost impossible. The storm didn't just strike fast, but with fury. The Times Democrat writes, "On the prairie, an object 40t distant could not be seen. A man's voice could not be heard six feet distant." The Bee reported that the storm reached its acme of fury at 7:00 and the wind having increased in velocity to 44 miles an hour went shrieking and screaming through the streets like winds from the Hyperorean regions. The temperature too, the bee continued, kept going down until it threatened to drop out of the bottom of the tube. Railroads were blocked, telegraph lines broken as people struggled in the storm. Only later did the stories start to come in. The St.

Louis Post Dispatch reported that in Mitchell, Dakota, a farmer named Allan, 5 miles north, was caught in the storm with his son while getting hay for the cattle, and the latter was frozen to death, while the father will lose both arms. Joseph Anderson went to the country for hay and has not been heard from. Peter Hume, a farmer living near Rosco, was supposed to have perished in the storm. Reports from Hitchcock, 50 mi south, state that Emil Gilberts, a Swede from Chicago, was found frozen to death a mile east of town. Virgil, Frank, and William Ner and Joe Wilson were lost in the blizzard. The bodies of the Nearisons were found, but no trace of Wilson. A man was lost at North Vile, name unknown. In the town of Yankton, the paper reported, "The number of fatalities are awful to contemplate.

Jacob Short, farmer, dead. One Coleman dead. Joseph Cotcher and two companions dead. Annie Shouefelt and sister, aged 13 and 16 years, dead. They were lost while going home from a neighbor's house. Two men who started home from Wakanda were frozen to death. Names unknown. The nature of the blinding blizzard was illustrated by the death of a farmand named Emil Grassman of Peru, Nebraska, whose frozen body was found within 20 yards of the house. The storm didn't discriminate in Omaha. The Post Dispatch writes, "The reported freezing of honorable John Sparks is confirmed.

His body was found a/4 mile east of his home, 8 miles west of Beatatric today. He was a prominent farmer, a member of the legislature in 1879, age 60, and leaves a large family. The conditions were so bad that even people in town became lost and died. The bee reported yesterday morning at 3:00 a telephone dispatch reached the central police station from citizens that a man was lying dead in the snow at the corner of 23rd and Levvenworth Streets. Sergeants Most and Pilaski were immediately dispatched to the scene with a patrol wagon and the man was found as announced. He was frozen almost solid and looked as if his suffering before getting under the influence of the cold had been immense.

Similar lists came from towns across the Midwest, but there was a particular horror. Many of the victims were children who had been at school and caught in the storm trying to make it home. The Bee reported a story that would be all too familiar to too many families. It is feared that little George Allen, some of a prominent farmer living about a mile west of the city limits on the military road, perished in the storm. Mr. Allen was a well-known milkman and a member of the firm McDonald in Allen. He is nearly beside himself with grief, and from his rambling talk, only the following facts could be learned. Young Allen started for school yesterday morning at about 8:00. The school is nearly one mile from the Allen residence. Since that time, the father has not seen his son. When the storm came on yesterday and the boy didn't return home, Mr. Allan, in company with a hired man, started out to

go to the school to see that the lad got safely home. When they reached their destination, they found the house closed. A careful search was made of the homeward robe, but no trace of the boy could be found. Mr. Ellen then secured the assistance of neighbors, and with lanterns, they searched the neighborhood throughout the night. The blinding storm hampered them greatly in their search, but every drift of snow was examined, and still no trace of the lad. It is learned that the school closed yesterday at 3:00. Shortly after, this young Allen started for home and scarcely left the house before the storm broke in all its fury. The Dakota Pioneer Express later confirmed that George and another boy from his school, Maxwell Beck, had both perished. Across the swath hit by the blizzard in Nebraska and Missouri, the Dakotas, Minnesota to Indiana, schools were in session when the blizzard struck. Teachers in one room

schoolhouses were faced with difficult decisions. The school often had no food and an insufficient stock of wood for heating. Do they stay or send the children home? The Bee reported that at Garrison, Nebraska, three children of John Deninger, who attempted to go home from school during the storm yesterday and lost their way and remained out all night, were found this morning. One was frozen to death. The other two may recover. The Post Dispatch reported that in Pierce, Nebraska, three children who started from school for home distance of 20 rods today were frozen to death. The Hartford, Connecticut Current reported that in Hiron, Dakota, unthinking teachers today dismissed young school children, some of whom had to go four or five blocks across the open land. Five or six children got lost. Whistles blew, bells rang, and people turned out and took long ropes and walked 15 or 20 breast back and forth over the ground.

Two children were found, but at last accounts, the others were still missing. The paper reported that two children of Joseph Hitchensson of Gary, Nebraska were lost going home from school. 25 men at once started out to search for them, and the mother could not be kept from going along. The poor woman was with the party who found them. They were lying close together, and the boy had his sister's hands between his own. The losses of so many children gave the blizzard its terrible name, the schoolhouse blizzard. It wasn't just the children. The Post Dispatch wrote that teacher at Pierce, Nebraska, Miss Rover, was badly frozen. She cannot live. In Delmare, Dakota, teacher Cora Curtis was frozen to death coming from school. In Skyler, Nebraska, the children of Michael Klein were saved by remaining at school, but their father is reported frozen in an effort to reach the schoolhouse to take his children home.

In many cases, young teachers risked and sometimes lost their lives to protect children. Teacher Mary Connell near Kavor, Nebraska, started a home with two of her pupils, a boy and a girl. The boy left them and perished. Miss Connell put her dress folds about the little girl and made her walk at night, sheltering her charge with her body. They were found the next morning alive but horribly frozen. The Montilier, Vermont watchman reported the story of teacher Louise Royce from Plain View, Nebraska. She had but three pupils on the day of the storm. She kept them in the school until they ran out of heating wood and she decided to try to bring the children to her boarding house about 20 rods distant, roughly 80 yards, but lost her way. all lay down in the snow, and Miss Royce wrapped up the children as best she could. Early in the night, one child died, and later a second one, and just as morning broke, the third child

succumbed to the cold. Miss Royce then managed to reach the house. Both her feet were badly frozen and will probably have to be amputated. Miss Jacobson of Staleof, Nebraska, started home with a little girl. The two perished together when found Miss Jacobson was crouched in a little hollow in the ground with her arms around the little girl. The watchman reported an extraordinary story of survival. Miss Minnie Freeman, the lady teacher of MNA, Nebraska's Valley District School, had 13 pupils under her charge whose ages range from 6 to 15 years. When the blizzard struck the schoolhouse, the building was unroofed, and the little ones were exposed to the elements. Miss Freeman, with rare presence of mind, gathered the pupils together, and securing a coil of strong twine, she tied them all together by the arms, three a breast. Selecting her way carefully, she led her little charges with a word of encouragement through the

deep drifts and the blinding blizzard to a farmhouse 3/4 of a mile distant where they were all taken in. A great deal of criticism fell on the Army Signal Service. The Post Dispatch noted that none of the recent violent meteorological changes were predicted or even hinted at by the indications from Washington. Thursday night, when the temperature went down 36° in 5 hours, the indications from Washington were for warm weather and rain. Partly as a result of these failures, the US weather services moved from the Army Signal Service to a Civilian Weather Bureau under the Department of Agriculture in 1890.

The total estimated death toll of the schoolhouse blizzard of 1888 is 235, making it one of the deadliest winter storms in US history. But oddly, not the deadliest winter storm that year. Another storm would strike the US Northeast in March called the Great White Blizzard. That storm is estimated to have killed 400 people, many of those on ships at sea. Thomas St. Martin notes, in fact, that the blizzard of January 12th, 1888 was actually no worse than other blizzards that had occurred in previous decades. It was simply more deadly because so many more people had moved into the area. It was more densely populated than it had been in those previous decades.

Still, the blizzard of January 12th, 1888 is particularly notable because of the way that it disproportionately affected children. A fact that was so striking that it was reported as far away as Australia. And the victims of that blizzard deserve to be remembered. I hope you enjoyed watching this episode of The History Guy. And if you did, please feel free to like and subscribe and share the history guy with your friends. And if you also believe that history deserves to be remembered, then you can support the history guy as a member on YouTube, a supporter on our community at locals, or as a patron on Patreon. You can also check out our great merchandise shop or book a special message from the history guy on Cameo.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "The Schoolhouse Blizzard"?

The History Guy (Host), Steve Martin (Guest), Laura Clark (Guest), Thomas St. Martin (Guest), Alyssa Ford (Guest).

What is "The Schoolhouse Blizzard" about?

The content explores the severe winter conditions experienced in the early 1880s in the United States, highlighting the particularly harsh winter of January 12, 1888, known as the Schoolhouse Blizzard. It references historical anecdotes and statistics that reflect the impact of this extreme weather, along with a humorous take on 19th-century attitudes towards cold.

What is mentioned in this The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered episode?

18 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Incogn, Thomas St. Martin, George Allen, Minnie Freeman, Richmond, Indiana Palladium, US National Weather Service. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "The Schoolhouse Blizzard"?

The episode runs 18 min; the transcript is about 3,089 words in 22 timestamped sections.

More from The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.