There are times when we wish our dreams could come true. We all have thoughts and fantasies, some quite practical while others not so. Our ancestors were very much like we are today, but they did live in a different world, a time that required serious thought. The dreamers certainly did dream way back then, but many simply didn’t believe in those dreams.
It was early in the winter of 1909 that New Englanders found themselves in the grips of an epidemic. Not the type of unwelcome epidemic that visits with chills and a fever, this epidemic was so very exciting that it simply could not be contained and it did spread like wildfire. Eventually the epidemic that started early in that winter of 1909 reached our ancestors right here in Concord, New Hampshire. When it arrived, it was welcome while providing some wonderful entertainment it also allowed our beloved dreamers to dream.
This rare epidemic, never again to sweep across New England, was simply known as Aeroplane Fever and it infected every man, woman and child in our little town. This unusual occurrence can be traced back to December 12th, 1909 when prominent Worcester businessman Wallace Tillinghast told a Boston Herald reporter that he had invented the very first long-range flying machine. It was described as being heavier than the air it soared through and found to be quite reliable. He claimed further that his flying machine was constructed three months prior with help from two mechanics now sworn to secrecy. This early flying machine was of the monoplane type and very airworthy indeed. He further told the newspaper reporter that he had already flown above the clouds in his flying machine and related the facts down to the very last detail.
Wallace Tillinghast claimed to have just flown his secret flying machine from Worcester to New York City, where he did circle the Statue of Liberty. He then flew back and passed over the city of Boston in route to his departure point in Worcester. His daring flight went very well, but he encountered some mechanical problems that required repairs while soaring through the New England winter sky. He said he shut down his engines for forty-six minutes while his flying machine glided, then starting the engines and resuming his maiden voyage. His first flight from Worcester to New York City and back via Boston allowed him to fly three hundred miles.
When Wallace Tillinghast finished his story, the reporter was quite stunned. Like every good reporter that I have ever known, he reported the facts, and quite quickly. The next day the Boston Herald featured a very intriguing headline “Tells of Flight 300 Miles in the Air.”
As the New Englanders finished their morning coffee and read the Boston Herald that cold December morning something had changed. The dreamers started dreaming again and thoughts of soaring through the cold New England night sky visited the innermost thoughts of most people down on Main Street in Concord, New Hampshire.
People walked the cobbled streets of their villages the remaining bitter cold days of December in 1909. They started venturing out into the dark evenings and gazed towards the sky, especially on the nights when clouds did not decorate the sky. Wallace Tillinghast continued to speak to reporters that winter of 1909 and 1910. He said he made hundreds of additional flights, all of them under cover of darkness. His nighttime flights continued and people started to fantasize again about a machine that could fly great distances like a bird across the sky. There were the practical Yankees that simply dismissed this news about a flying machine. But there were many, many people that did believe the ongoing saga of the night flyer, Wallace Tillinghast.
Wallace Tillinghast became a sensation during our ancestor’s time, celebrity of sorts. He was born on Sept. 5, 1872 and he died on Nov. 25, 1930. He was a trained engineer and certainly known for his reported events during the cold winter of 1909 and 1910.
Perhaps Wallace Tillinghast was a fan of the Wright Brothers. Wilbur and Orville Wright successfully flew for a brief period on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Perhaps he was very inspired by that first flight in 1903, but his reported adventures far outweighed that day in Kitty Hawk. Mr. Tillinghast claimed to have perfected the art of flying.
As the winter of 1909 and 1910 turned to spring, our Concord predecessors enjoyed the warmth of the sun while dealing with the slight ache that remained in their necks. They spent those cold winter nights here in Concord, looking skyward in search of Wallace Tillinghast and his flying machine. The years continued and the people in our little community became occupied with other matters. They no long gazed skyward towards the stars.
The dreamers continued to dream.