Those familiar with country music legend Merle Haggard may recall an early 1980s hit called, "I’ll Think I’ll just Stay Here and Drink."

This was somewhat of a real-life song for adults in 1816 when they lived in Oneonta, or Milfordville, as it was known at the time. It could have applied to just about any community in the young United States. That’s because there wasn’t much else to do. One couldn’t get outdoors much that year, because it was a year without summer.

Imagine a July and August with ice and snow! In the early 21st century, there is a lot of concern about global warming. Back in the early 19th century, one might have guessed there was the oncoming of a new ice age, based on 1816.

There were two taverns at each end of the hamlet at the time. The Walling tavern was on the site of today’s United Presbyterian or "Red Door" church. The McDonald tavern stood at the corner of River and Main streets, where a Stewart’s Shop is found today. Both were crowded on summer afternoons in 1816.

Normally there would have been haying to do, but since there was no hay growing that year, farmers had extra time on their hands. The First Presbyterian Church, originally a wooden building under construction at the time on Main Street, was an idle job site. No one wanted to climb up on the icy scaffolds, with a wind blowing snow or hail into his face.

The year started out pretty normal, with some frosts in January and February. March came in like a lion and left like a lamb. April started out seasonable, but as the days grew longer, temperatures kept dropping.

The cold continued through May and June, with a frost nearly every day. Growing things began to die. On June 10, a foot of snow blanketed Oneonta.

By July, any crops that had survived that far had given up the struggle. A snowstorm on July 4 canceled the Independence Day celebration. A storm on July 14 caused the work stoppage on the new Presbyterian Church. Merchants and farmers, normally very busy at this time of year, began their visits to the taverns.

Weather like that provided no summer fun for the kids. Shoes that had normally been put away for the summer were either brought back out or never put away, because weather like this was not bare feet-friendly. There was no swimming, because there was an inch of ice on the local swimmin’ holes.

There was no improvement in August. Most any green thing across the U.S. and Europe had been killed by frosts. Thankfully the previous growing season had been bountiful, and there was plenty of game in the forests and fish in local streams, otherwise millions would have likely perished.[an error occurred while processing this directive]