On the evening of Tuesday, 12 November 1833, a historic meteor shower rained down upon the Earth. The falling stars were such that many people thought this to be Judgment Day. The Leonid meteor 1 event sparked a book in 1934 by Carl Carmer entitled “Stars Fell on Alabama”2, which in turn sparked a Jazz hit 3 in the same year.
So, I wondered… Where were my ancestors on this date?
I focused my research on just direct ancestors living in Alabama in 1833. I found an excellent report in my RootsMagic 4 genealogy software program called the “Who Was There List”, which saved me hours and hours of research. I had fourteen individuals in three family lines — Paternal Grandfather (red), Paternal Grandmother (blue), and Maternal Grandmother (green).
The list:
| NAME | AGE | RELATIONSHIP | RESIDENCE |
| Rev. Kedar Hawthorne | 36 | 3XGG | Butler County |
| Martha (Baggett) Hawthorne | 34 | 3XGG | Butler County |
| Clinton Ford | 26 | 3XGG | Mobile City |
| Marcelite (Laurendine) Ford | 19 | 3XGG | Mobile City |
| Mary Theresa (Mitchell) Laurendine | 48 | 4XGG | Mobile City |
| Rev. Paul Hampton Nabors | 22 | 3XGG | Shelby County |
| Mary Hannah Harless | 20 | 3XGG | Shelby County |
| Henry Harless, Jr. | 56 | 4XGG | Shelby County |
| Margaret (Basore) Harless | 44 | 4XGG | Shelby County |
| Abraham Nabors | 43 | 4XGG | Shelby County |
| Nancy Crockett (Crawford) Nabors | 41 | 4XGG | Shelby County |
| John C. Hicks | 28 | 3XGG | Montgomery County |
| Mary Ann Elizabeth (Loper) Hicks | 22 | 3XGG | Montgomery County |
| Hannah (Bergsteiner) Hicks | 52 | 4XGG | Montgomery County |
Below is an 1833 map of Alabama 5 with arrows pointing to the areas where my ancestors lived. I colorized the arrows to correspond to the names above. Permission granted to me to publish this map by Birmingham Public Library.
Photo Credit: A famous depiction of the 1833 meteor storm, produced in 1889 for the Seventh-day Adventist book Bible Readings for the Home Circle. 6
Did they all see this meteor shower? We will never know…
