The End of the World, 1899

Unidentified barber shop in Manitowoc, undated.

It all started at a barber shop at the corner of Eighth and Franklin streets in Manitowoc. In between the snips of his scissors, barber John Hoyer spread the news about the upcoming doomsday; October 13th, 1899.

As townsman Fred Rouelle expressed, some folks were saying “we are all about to be blown to smithereens-right off the Earth.”

However, another man, an astronomy professor, Rudolph Falf, believed the true date was November 13th, 1899. He professed that “we all go up in smoke on November 13th, when the comet Temple hits the Earth.”

Around Manitowoc County, many citizens were hesitant about believing either of the predictions. Despite not necessarily believing the notions, a feeling of uneasiness spread around the county.

Some changed the pace of their life with the looming date nearing. One customer at a local barber shop said “that being the case, I guess I won’t bother to get my head sheared.” While another man from Mishicot named John Bodewin, said that “I sold my farm to Mr Audek. No sense of taking a chance.” This feeling of uneasiness and worry was impacting day-to-day life.

While on the other hand, some residents of Manitowoc County chose to not believe the predictions. Lawrence Wallan and Frank Havlinek of Francis Creek, showed little concern when they took off on a hunting trip just prior to October of 1899.

With the impending uneasiness in the county, Reverend AJ Sebastian addressed citizens about the notions. He suggested that it was perhaps only an old wives tale.

In addition, local reporters investigated the validity of the predictions, especially that of the astronomy professor. The editor of the Manitowoc Times Press reached out to Professor Sherburne W. Burnham of Chicago for his thoughts. Burnham described how he disregarded the possibility entirely of a comet or anything else disrupting the Earth’s course.

This eased many Manitowoc citizens, however when October 13th and November 13th, 1899 came around, people anxiously scanned the skies. Several individuals were fully anticipating to be “blasted to smithereens.”

After the days passed, life seemingly went back to normal. Even for those that started spreading the idea of a doomsday, like the professor and barber, they went on with their business as normal.

Since the fall of 1899, there have been countless other potential doomsdays like December 1999 and December 2012. Each one comes about for a unique reason and with uneasiness and worry, those days come and go. Yet, there are surely more to come in the world’s future.