Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Hancock County, Volume II, Part 47

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), 1844-1928. 4n; Scofield, Charles J. (Charles Josiah), 1853- 4n
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1174

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"From every part of the county we hear re- ports of damage to bridges and roads by the flood. Many bridges are gone, and others ren- dered impassable without repairs.

"Two bridges on the T. W. & W. railroad, near Hamilton, were washed out, and one or two others rendered extremely unsafe; and trains were delayed 24 hours on that part of the road.

"Considerable damage was done in various parts of the county by lightning. A barn be- longing to Mr. George Wells, about 4 miles southwest of this city, was struck by lightning and consumed with all its contents, consisting of a span of good work horses, about 200 bushels of corn, a lot of oats, hay, several pairs of harness, etc. ,

"The barn of a Mr. Hecker, near Hamilton, was also struck by lightning and burned. Two valuable horses, a lot of grain and hay, and other valuable articles were consumed.

"No damage was done by lightning in this city or vicinity. A poplar tree, near the resi- dence of Mr. A. Cherrill, was struck. The light- ning seemed to have an affinity for telegraph posts, as many of them bear the evidence of its visits."

THE BASCO TORNADO OF 1873

While writers have persisted in calling this great wind storm of July 3, 1873, a "tornado" it has been described in a manner that would tend to have scientific men class it among the cyclones, such as have swept over the western country and over Iowa and Grinnell and Pome- roy in the eighties and nineties. But be this as it may it was such a storm as may well be recorded in the annals of Hancock County. J. M Davidson, publisher of the Carthage Repub- lican, was on the scene and track of the storm and, being a reliable citizen, has always been quoted as authority in his article written a few days after the storm, hence his words will be used in this connection; but before giving his words it may be stated in general that there had been wind and heavy rain all over the mid- dle and southern parts of the county during the day on which the storm occurred, but the tornado proper began about three miles west of Basco, and held an easterly course toward Bentley, where it became less violent. It was, without doubt, accompanied by fire, as parties who were in it remember a sensation of heat, and some say, a smell of sulphur. Those who witnessed it from Basco represent it as sublime and terrible : a smoky, blue-colored cloud, roll- ing forward at great speed, emitting flames at intervals, and carrying destruction in its path. Houses, barns, farm implements, horses, cat- tle, trees, fences and human beings were carried bodily into the air and deposited chiefly outside the tornado's path. The total width of the hur- ricane was only about a quarter of a mile, while the tornado proper was only a few rods wide. It so happened that few residences lay directly in its path, hence the destruction of life and property was not very great.

Now for the account by Mr. Davidson : "Ar- riving at the village of Basco by the morning train, the writer was taken in kindly charge by

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Esquire Crow, a venerable and good citizen of the village, who procured a horse and buggy, and, without unnecessary delay, we were on the road to Booz's place, where the tornado seems to have made its first appearance in the town- ship.

"Mr. Booz's residence was a log-house con- sisting of a story and a half with a frame lean-to kitchen on the north. Between four and five rods to the north of the house was a large, new frame barn. East of the house from eight to ten rods, was a fine growth of young timber, most of the trees being from five to seven inches in diameter. So much for the situation. Mr. Booz was in the house when his oldest son, eighteen years old, came running in and cried out excitedly : 'Father, come out here and see what this is" Mr. Booz ran out and saw, a dense cloud that looked like smoke rolling furi- ously toward the house, and the air was very hot and smelled like sulphur. He ran into the house, shut the doors and got his wife, children and himself into the cellar just in time to hear the whole upper part of the house go off with a crash. The concussion was so great as to tumble over the milk pans in the cellar and shake the cellar walls terribly. He says: 'The whole house was lifted about one foot from the foundation on the west side, but fell back again.' The storm lasted less than five minutes and then he came out of the cellar to witness a scene of destruction that fairly paralyzed him. The upper half of his house was gone; his kitchen and smoke house nowhere to be seen ; nothing left of his fine new stable but a few foundation posts and a pile of manure, and the pretty grove of timber twisted and broken into indescribably fantastic shapes. In the stable were three horses, a threshing machine, a cultivator and other tools and about five tons of hay. A new wagon stood close to the stable. None of these were now to be seen; all were swept away. One of the horses was carried into the timber and fell into the top of a young hickory tree and from thence to the ground where it was found dead next morning. An- other horse was evidently carried over the house into the road, and seemed not to have been badly hurt. The other was carried in an oppo- site direction, and landed in a meadow without injury. The broken remnants of Mr. Booz's wagon, cultivator, and parts of the barn were found scattered through the timber and be- yond. Some remnants are not found yet. The

most of a heavy iron cultivator was found in Sanderson's meadow, 100 rods east. It is stated that Mr. William Damron, who was some half mile north of the tornado, saw Mr. Booz's stable lifted into the air 200 feet, that it whirled around rapidly and finally fell to pieces and was blown off into the timber. Seventy-five apple trees were torn out by their roots and carried across fields; posts five feet long on which the barn sat were pulled out of the ground in which they had been set nearly four feet. Two cows and calves were carried fully 100 yards into an adjoining meadow, all more or less injured.

"We have been more particular in describ- ing the destruction at Booz's place because it will answer for a faithful description in gen- eral, if not in detail, of the remarkable effects of the tornado throughout its entire path.

"East of Booz's, about a quarter, or a little more, was a hewn-log house belonging to Mr. W. C. Baldwin and occupied by Howland Steffy and wife as renters. This house, and the barn adjoining it, were blown to pieces, the logs car- ried hundreds of feet into an adjoining meadow. The floor only of the house was left. They said there had been a stable near by, but we don't believe it !

"When the tornado approached, Mr. Steffy undertook to secure the door, but in an instant he was hurled fifty feet toward the road, the house taking another direction. After the storm passed he searched for his wife and found her lying composedly behind a locust stump in San- derson's meadow with the logs of their house piled all around her ! Mr. and Mrs. Steffy were both severely hurt, but able to pick their way through fallen timbers and accumulated rub- bish to Mr. Booz's place, and afterward to some neighbor's who had better accommodations ! Sanderson's meadow, immediately east of Stef- fy's, was thickly strewn with debris, timber, parts of wagons, household goods, dead pigs and chickens, wearing apparel, etc. The next place struck by the tornado was that of John Sanderson, north of east from Steffy's half a mile or more. Here the destruction was as com- plete as if the premises had been mined with gunpowder. Not one stick of timber in either house or stable was left in its original position ; even the rocks at the corners were thrown out of their places, and there was not enough tim- ber of any kind left within a hundred yards- of either house or barn-to build a smoke-

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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY

house! The house and barn seem to have been carried up into the air, broken to pieces and scattered about by the whirlwind, while the contents of the dwelling, including Mrs. Sander- son and her two smaller children, were blown in a direct line south from 500 to 1,000 feet. Broken bedsteads, tables, chairs, cooking stoves and other furniture, together with remnants of clothing, etc., were blown in fragments in a straight line south through the meadow just as if the house had been carried up into the air, and when the floor fell out an under current had driven the family and contents in the direction we have named. The fence south of the house, which was not wholly blown down, was, on the day of our visit, festooned with remnants of wearing apparel, bed clothing, etc. Concerning Mr. Sanderson's whereabouts or escape, there seems to be some confusion. That gentleman told us that when the storm came on him he was in the yard west of the house. His oldest child, a little girl eight years old, was with him. They fell down, or were blown down, on the ground. When the storm passed over, himself and little girl went round and round the fallen rubbish calling for mother and the little chil- dren, but getting no response, he said he thought his wife and children had been blown away off, and so he went over to Mr. John Elder's three- quarters of a mile distant, to get assistance. We learn, however, that Mrs. Elder firmly believes that Mr. Sanderson and child were blown over half that distance by the storm, as he could not have reached her house so quickly otherwise after the destruction of his house, which she witnessed. Dr. Hill, Mr. Tanner and others, of Basco, who were watching the tornado, saw Sanderson's house and barn rise in the air and go to pieces. The first named gentlemen at once mounted their horses and rode at full speed towards the scene of destruction. Others fol- lowed quickly. Search for the family was im- mediately instituted, and within five minutes, Dr. Hill found Mrs. Sanderson about seventy steps south of the house, lying with her young- est child in her arms. Every particle of her clothing except a remnant of an undergarment was stripped from the poor woman, and that was wrapped tightly across her shoulders and under her arms. Dr. Hill threw his coat over her until remnants of bed-clothing could be picked up to wrap around her. The woman was conscious, and begged to have her head raised, which was done. The little child in her arms

added its pitiful wail to the heart-rending scene. Mrs. Sanderson was found to be terribly bruised and mangled on every part of her body except on her bosom and arms, which were protected by the little child. The child was covered with blood, and yet, singularly enough, seems not to have been noticeably hurt. Mrs. Sanderson's right leg was crushed to a jelly between the knee and ankle. There was a deep gash near the small of her back, and one of her hips was liter- ally impaled with splinters. Two rods distant her second little girl was found dead, with a ter- rible gash across her forehead. Not far off was found the little boy, aged three years, with both legs broken, one of them twice. The woman and children were conveyed carefully to the Basco house and medical assistance summoned. Two or three days later Mrs. Sanderson was deliv- ered of a still-born infant that had evidently been crushed to death in the mother's terrible ordeal with the storm.

"About one-quarter of a mile, or a little less, south and five or six rods east of Sanderson's was the two-story frame dwelling owned by Doty & Donaldson, and occupied by Robert Donaldson and wife. On the approach of the tornado Mr. Donaldson ran out into the orchard south of the house, calling to his wife to follow him. Mrs. D. preferred, however, to take the risks in the house, and tried to close the door. In an instant the house was swept away, carry- ing her with it. She was shortly afterwards found some rods to the northeast of the house in the midst of a wreck of broken joist, timber, boards, and pulverized household furniture. That she was not killed was a miracle. Her only serious injury was a partially fractured ankle.

"It will be remembered that the Sanderson house, some fifty rods or more to the north of Donaldson's, was blown almost directly south, while the Donaldson house was blown to the northeast-a remarkable evidence of the erratic pranks of the wind. Nevertheless, a large and high pile of stove-wood close to Donaldson's house was apparently not in the least disturbed, although the orchard still south of it was badly torn up. North of the house a small barn and a threshing machine were torn all to pieces and the remnants scattered all over the field.

"North of Donaldson's some distance, the tor- nado tore through a thick hedge fence, taking it out by the roots for several rods. The adja- cent portions of the hedge were withered and

Munsell Publishing La

millie m. Eckles

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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY

killed as if by a flame of fire passing rapidly through it. Further on, Mr. John Elder's barn received a gentle hint that it was not in the right place; and moving it a few feet and turn- ing it around, the tornado passed on to the Huff farm.

"Here was an excellent two-story frame house, and a good barn. Mr. Huff was absent. Mrs. Huff, her three children, and two nieces were in or about the house. Mrs. Huff says her oldest son, a lad of fourteen, first observed the coming storm and its threatening character, and ad- vised his mother and the children to get into the cellar, which all did at once except Mrs. Huff, who proceeded quickly to fasten the doors and windows. This done, she ran partly up a stairway on the west side of the house where there was a window. She saw the tornado strike the stable which was two or three rods distant, and lift it whirling in the air. She then ran into the cellar, and in an instant the kitchen and whole upper part of the house was blown away. The family escaped without in- jury. The wreck at this place was complete.

"Rohrer's house and barn were next assailed. The house, a brick structure, lost one of its gables and was badly wrecked. The barn was demolished. Thence taking a northerly course the tornado struck Judge Skinner's barn, a large structure, which it carried off the foundation and completely demolished, killing two horses and a cow, and destroying a wagon and a num- ber of agricultural implements.

"John Huff's house and barn, on the town- ship line, were next attacked and blown to pieces. Mrs. Huff escaped with a painful hurt. A description of the devastation at other points will answer for the scene here. Nothing hardly was left but kindling wood, and that scattered up and down the road and through the adjacent fields.

"The tornado next made its appearance a short distance north and east of Bentley, greatly damaging the respective premises of Dr. James and Mr. L. Simmons, the particulars of which were given in our last issue.

"At Basco numbers of citizens saw the ap- proach of the tornado from the northwest. From its peculiar appearance most of them sup- posed it was a large fire. That notion was quickly dispelled as it approached nearer, and when the barn and dwelling of Mr. Sanderson were seen to rise and whirl high up in air. The same spectators saw in a moment afterwards the

Donaldson house disappear as if by magic. The whirlwind looked like a dense cloud of purplish- gray smoke, and seemed to be filled with in- numerable objects whirling and tossing in every direction. Flames of fire were observed by many to shoot through the rolling mass of cloud ; and those who were momentarily within the influence of the rush of wind, declare that the air was as hot as a furnace. Some aver that the air was strongly impregnated with the odor of burning brimstone; others that it smelled like scorched rags, and, as tending to confirm the impression of extraordinary heat, there were found pieces of shingles and boards that were scorched as if from sudden exposure to powerful heat. The hedge fence referred to elsewhere in this article, seems to have been literally roasted adjacent to the gap torn out by the storm."

Carthage Republican, July, 1873.

A NOTABLE FOURTH-A SAD FINALE

"The ninety-seventh anniversary of American independence was a never-to-be-forgotten event in Carthage and Hancock county. Two events have never been equalled before or since,-the celebration at Carthage and the tornado that swept the south part of the county.

"Artois Hamilton had conceived and carried out a mock battle between revolutionary soldiers and a British fort. The American heroes were some 300 boys dressed m military hats and wooden guns provided by Mr. Hamilton. The fort was garrisoned by twenty-five or thirty young men uniformed as British soldiers under command of Capt. Alex Sholl. The Americans were under command of Gen. C. A. Gilchrist, assisted by Capt's. James Sample, T. C. Miller, Miles H. Day, D. L. Cutler, G. W. Batchelder, W. R. Hamilton, J. S. Spangler, Jas. Lynch. The attacking party was led by the famous E. Jones fife and drum corps. The capture of the fort was a brilliant success. After the battle the soldiers were marched down to Mr. Hamilton's hotel, where a photograph was taken of them and they were dismissed.

Mr. Hamilton, worn out with the excitement of the day, went home about five o'clock and took a copious drink of ice water. In a brief hour the spirit of the old patriot had winged its flight to greater realms of peace and liberty.

That evening a tornado swept this county

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from end to end. The college was damaged con- siderably and the west wing of the school build- ing demolished. Shade trees and small out buildings were overturned generally. A hay warehouse at the depot was blown down and a hundred chimneys destroyed. At West Point the residence of Henry Garner was blown to pieces and his wife and child and wife's sister were instantly killed. At Bowen, Augusta, Plymouth, Stillwell and other points the dam- ages were very great.

On the evening of the third, a tornado swept through Bear Creek and Harmony townships. It passed just north of Basco and Bentley. Near Basco it carried off the top of the residence of Mr. Booz, the family just having time to get in the cellar. His new stable with farm imple- ments, including a new wagon, were swept out of existence. Remnants were found in the tim- ber quite a distance away. Mr. Wm. Damron, who was near by, saw the barn lifted 200 feet in the air and whirled until it came to pieces and blown away. The residence of Howland Steffy was blown to pieces and himself and wife scattered with the debris,-fortunately neither hurt. The house of John Sanderson was utterly destroyed and Mrs. Sanderson and two children blown 1,000 feet with the debris. One child was dead and Mrs. Sanderson terribly mutilated. Mrs. Robert Donaldson was badly bruised by the destruction of their home. At the Elder and Huff farms great damage was done. Rohrer's, Skinner's and John Huff's places received con- siderable damage. In Harmony township at Dr. James' and L. Simmon's places the storm did great damage."

From The Carthage Republican of Dec. 18, 1878

"A Fine Snow

The Heaviest Since 1871, and very Like the Good Old Times, You Know-It Interferes with Railroad Business and Travel for a Day or Two-Incidents of the Blockade.

"The last great snow storm worthy of the name that has visited this part of the country, prior to the present liberal visitation, occurred on Jan. 14-15, 1871. The Republican's graphic report of that affair gave seventeen inches of snow on a level as the average depth of snow, with tremendous drifts in lanes and railroad cuts resulting from the fierce wind that pre- vailed. At that time railroad trains were de- layed from one to three days, and many public

highways were impassable for teams for a week or more. Temporary roads were made through fields in many instances.

The heaviest snow storm that has occurred since that period, commenced about three o'clock last Friday morning, continuing all of that day and most of the following night. As the wind was not very strong during its continuance the drifting was comparatively light save in exposed places where drifts were formed to the depth of three or four feet. The average depth of the snow fall, however, did not exceed fifteen inches.

The advent of this snow storm was not unex- pected, as certain atmospheric phenomena pre- saging it were noticed by the weather-wise pre- vious to its coming. For several evenings a large circle was observed around the moon, the temperature was peculiarly mild, hardly reach- ing the required 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and a falling barometer, combined with the sage asser- tions of the 'Oldest Inhabitant,' all unerringly 'the coming of the snow storm told.' Whether or not the intelligent reader will consider the above signs and manifestations as having much weight, it is not our purpose here to enquire. It will suffice to know that the storm came, and a big one it proved to be.

The first intimation of trouble that was re- ceived was that no mail had come Friday morn- ing from Keokuk. The passenger train on the C. B. & Q. which was due here from Burlington about nine o'clock, managed to get in about noon and remained here until the next evening. Meanwhile two engines with a snow plow came through and cleared the branch. For a day or two the freight train on the Wabash was aban- doned, but the passenger train with the aid of an extra engine, managed to make her regular trips except one, and then coming in several hours behind time.

Meanwhile, business was flattened and hardly any persons were moving save a few heroic knights of the shovel. The snow had by this time accumulated in large drifts on the business houses all over town, and some fears were ex- pressed as to the safety of sundry flatroofs. These fears were heightened when, not long after the storm had commenced, the entire wooden portion of Mason's livery stable suc- cumbed to the weight and went down with a thundering crash. The horses in the stable had a narrow escape. This calamity sent a good many out on their roofs cleaning off the snow in a hurry. To illustrate the great weight of snow,

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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY

it was found that on one of the wagon scales in town there were over 500 pounds of snow some hours before the storm subsided.

As soon as possible all the sidewalks and crossings were cleaned off in most parts of the city, and comfortable locomotion was not long delayed. In due time sleighs appeared on the streets in considerable numbers, and business was generally resumed.

The snow storm seems to have been general and quite severe throughout the northwest and the movements of trains have been greatly in- terfered with."

From The Carthage Republican of June 14, 1905.

STORM BREAKS THE RECORD

A Damage of $250,000 by an Unprecedented Storm and Cloud-burst Over Hancock County

Friday night a storm of rain swept over the section of country from Des Moines, Iowa, to forty miles east of the Mississippi River, taking in the north part of Hancock County, which amounted to a cloud-burst. At Burlington nearly seven inches of water fell; at Carthage five and one-half; at Nauvoo sixteen inches is reported. The effect was terrific. At Carthage the streets were flooded and two and a half feet of water was over the paved street a block and a half west of the square several hours after the heavy rain. Every bridge on Long and Rock creeks went out or the approaches were so badly dam- aged as to render them impassable. 'On Crooked Creek the township line bridge, Brown's and Martin's went out. Carthage was shut off for two days from the north and East, and the rail- road north of Ferris was washed off the dump, and the steel wagon bridge on the Ferris road was washed against the railroad bridge, throw- ing it out of line. All trains abandoned Sat- urday and Sunday.

At Keokuk the river rose eight feet in a few hours and a wall of water said to be four feet high swept over the levee north of Alexander, breaking the levee in two places and inundating the town and country. The river was ten miles wide at Warsaw. The track of the K. Line north of Keokuk was washed out and with land slides all traffic was abandoned for four days. No trains in and out of Keokuk for several days save the Wabash from here. The T., P. & W.

is tied up with several bridges washed out in this county.

On Crooked Creek the water was several feet higher than ever before known. When the fine new bridge at Brown's was built last winter it was contended by some that it was built un- necessarily high above high water mark. It was fully 30 feet above low water mark. This flood came up to near the floor and a stack of hay came along and carried the bridge off. Even the iron caissons are gone. Tremendous damage to bridges and culverts seems to have been caused by large trees and other drift striking the bridge and backing up the water until the bridge gave way. The loss in bridges in Han- cock County is estimated at $50,000; other dam- age at $200,000.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Hancock County, Volume II, Part 47

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), 1844-1928. 4n; Scofield, Charles J. (Charles Josiah), 1853- 4n Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1174

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), 1844-1928. 4n; Scofield, Charles J. (Charles Josiah), 1853- 4n
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1174