1856, Jan. 9 When I left the Atheneum at 9, I was startled at the height of the wind and the blinding clouds of snow which went past me. . . It stormed all night. I heard the gates blow to, the bricks fall from chimneys, and at length something went from the observatory which I hoped was only a chair. It was a night too noisy for sleep and the morning bro’t no relief in that respect.
It turned out it was not a chair but the door to the observatory on the roof of the Pacific Bank where the Mitchells were living (from 1826-1861). In the morning, William Mitchell would find not only the door blown open but everything inside covered in snow. While Maria feared for the loss of her notes, she found them buried under a snowdrift that she shoveled away to gain access to their little observatory. She was delighted in the fact that her notes were fine – perhaps just cleaned from a wash in the snow!
JNLF
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