USA > Illinois > Ogle County > Mount Morris > Mount Morris : past and present, an illustrated history of the village of Mount Morris, Ogle County, Illinois > Part 23
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RESOLVED, That we are largely indebted to our supervisor, J. W. Hitt, Esq., for the faithful, efficient and successful man- ner in which he has conducted these ne- gotiations and guarded the interests of the town, and that a vote of thanks be and is hereby tendered him.
A. NEWCOMER, Moderator. O. H. SWINGLEY, Secretary.
In compliance with the above, bonds to the amount of $50,000 were issued to the railroad company and sold, the Ger- man Insurance Company of Freeport purchasing most of them. According to the above agreement the bonds and in- terest were to be paid in ten years and the matter rested quietly for seven years. Then again in 1882, seven years after the bonds had been issued, plans were again laid by the minority who opposed the payment, to restrain the officials from levying any tax at the ex- piration of the ten years with which to pay the bonds. Accordingly a second injunction was filed in the circuit court in that year by John Harmon, Samuel Domer, Daniel Fager and Reuben S. Marshall. The case came up in the cir- cuit court shortly after and was finally decided against the town. It was then appealed to the supreme court of the state of Illinois and in the year 1888, was finally also settled there, the verdict again going against the town, and the injunction was dissolved, after a con- tinuous term of lawing extending over a period of about six years.
The decision in 1888 by the supreme court dissolving the injunction did not yet bring the town to its last extremity and the payment was further staved off several years by electing town clerks and immediately sending them away, and paying them to stay away. It being necessary to have the signature of the clerk on the paper making the levy, this very effectually preventing the neces- sary levy and the owners of the bonds were still compelled to carry the indebt- edness. Finally, however, as many peo- ple anticipated, the town was compelled
to give up and the injudicious fight was discontinued. N. A. Watts became clerk of the town and not being willing to "skip" as his predecessors had done, the payment of the vast sum of money, then more than doubled by the accumulation of the ten per cent interest, became nc longer avoidable and the levy was made for the first payment,-the sum of $47,- 000,-which was collected by D. B. Keedy, in the spring of 1894. This large payment, more than three times as large as the usual tax, was met with consider- able difficulty by many taxpayers, but with a year's notice to prepare for it, few people were actually crippled financially, and all were glad that the attempt was made after it had been paid. The heavy debt hanging over the town was a great menace to its prosper- ity, and it was certainly a wise measure to no longer delay its obliteration. Not only did the former condition of affairs drive people away who might have set- tled in the township, but the credit of the township was kept worthless. By this one stroke, the payment of the $47,000, Mount Morris was again put upon a solid financial basis and the best of credit restored.
The remaining $50,000 of the debt was disposed of by the issuing of new bonds to be paid off in yearly installments. A special town meeting was held to make this arrangement and the result of this election was 250 votes in favor of issu- ing the bonds and 61 against. It seems, however, that these bonds were not accepted and new arrangements were necessary. A special election was called by posting notices in ten of the most public places in said town, also by notice being published in the Mount Morris Index. The question of the issuing of new bonds, substantially as quoted in the above petition, was voted upon on the 26th day of May, 1894, the date set for the election, and the following result obtained: For issuing the bonds, 248 votes; against issuing the bonds, 43 votes. These bonds were then issued and accepted by the creditors of the town. And thus the matter was finally amicably settled. The payment of the remaining portion of the debt continued each year and the last payment was made in the year 1909.
Chapter 11 TORNADOES
N the history of Mount Morris is recorded the occurrence of three tornadoes, one passing directly over the village on the morning of June 8, 1874, the second devastating a path of destruction across the southeast corner of the township on the evening of May 18, 1898. The third occurred on May 9, 1918, and came dangerously near to the town. Fortunately no lives were lost in any of the three tornadoes, al- though considerable property was destroyed on all three occasions.
TORNADO OF JUNE 8, 1874
This "twister" passed as nearly through the exact center of the village as would be possible from the fact that the college campus lay immediately in its path, the roof of the large stone dormitory being partly carried away. Concerning this tornado the following newspaper writeup was sent to the Ogle County Grange for publication by some resident of Mount Morris, and appeared in that paper. It gives a good idea of the storm:
"About five o'clock this morning two great black clouds, one from the east and one from the west, were seen approaching. Over the northwest portion of Mount Morris they met and spread devastation far and wide. For about ten minutes there was a terrible roaring of wind and crash- ing of trees and houses. Then followed the calm. Citizens hurried together from all quarters. S. Mumma's stables were completely wrecked. The pieces were scattered in every direction, some even passing through the siding and plastering of the houses of adjoining residents. The horses and a yard full of stock escaped unhurt. The harnesses were carried across the garden and rolled in the mud. One new buggy was torn in pieces and much fruit destroyed. Sidney Redfield's house was staved in and carried clear off its foundation. His wife was severely injured but the baby was dragged unhurt from under a pile of debris. Peter Glasgow's house was completely riddled by flying
fence-boards and other missles; stove broken into bits, barn destroyed, the gar- den deprived of its fence, and many fruit trees blown down. Mr. James Withers lost one entire part of his house. Close by was the residence of Widow Weakle, the windows of which were broken, sash and glass. The raging storm next seized the residence of Elder Walker, now occupied by F. Black, and tore up his trees, demol- ished the barn and out-houses; ripped up the fence and sidewalk, sending one large timber through a window across a bed containing two men, and smashed into the partition on the other side. The occupants were some injured by the flying glass. One rocking-chair took a flying leap into the Seminary yard. Mrs. M. A. McKean lost half the roof of her house. The ad- joining residence of Mrs. E. Crofts re- ceived but little damage, but the fruit trees were laid in all directions. Two large cherry trees standing close to the house were completely twisted off. Thence the storm swept over the Seminary tear- ing off the west half of the roof and scat- tering the debris over the principal street. It injured Seibert some, smashing in half the front of his billiard hall. The east end of D. Rine's agricultural house was lifted and moved around upon the foundation of Sprecher & Clevidence's new storehouse. In the southeast part of town the gable end of the brick residence of Widow Mc- Coy was tumbled in upon nice furniture and fine carpets. The barn and out-build- ings were severely racked. Both gable ends of the brick residence of E. Lott were thrown in upon the nicely-furnished rooms. One hundred apple trees and a barn were destroyed for A. Cunningham. The town residence of A. Q. Allen lost part of its roofing. The barn and fence of George Fouke were blown down. Such was the destruction wrought here in so short a time that no one had time to be- come frightened or be aware of the ex- tent of the danger before it was all over. Then they found this part of the town to have been subjected to a terrible calamity. No lives were lost and none seriously hurt."
TORNADO OF MAY 18, 1898
The tornado of 1874 was a wonderful exhibition of the marvelous power which the winds are able to exercise, but compared with that terrible devas-
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SNAPSHOT OF THE TERRIBLE TORNADO which passed south of Mount Morris on May 18, 1898. Prof. W. L. Eikenberry had the presence of mind to catch this remarkable snapshot.
tating cloud which hewed a path of destruction across Ogle County in 1898, it was a tame affair. All have a vivid remembrance of that 18th day of May. Those who had an opportunity of view- ing the huge, black, revolving cloud and heard its sullen roar as it licked up every available object and whirled it into the terrible vortex above, grind- ing and mincing and scattering to the four winds, will never forget it.
During the afternoon of the day of the storm the appearance and man- euvers of the clouds were remarkable. At times far overhead could be seen light clouds floating lazily in one direc- tion, while much farther beneath were blacker, heavier clouds moving in ex- actly the opposite direction, showing that there were two distinct layers of air. Fitful gusts of wind and short showers of rain and hail were fre- quent during the afternoon, but toward five o'clock the air became still and calm, and remained so for about an hour. The clouds were of inky black- ness, sometimes of slightly different
hues, and presented a most ominous appearance. Not a leaf was astir; the atmosphere became oppressive and breathing difficult. Between five and six o'clock persons out of doors de- tected a dull rumble coming from the southwest which at first was supposed to have been thunder, but the persis- tency of the sound and its gradual in- crease in volume soon attracted atten- tion, and persons in the country and the south and west parts of town were appalled by the appearance and rapid approach of one of those funnel-shaped clouds, the identity of which was not long in doubt in the mind of anyone. The cloud continued to approach in a path apparently headed for Mount Morris, but when within about three miles from town could be seen to shift more to the southward, which was af- terward proved by an examination of its path. This change carried the cloud about a mile south of town and it very soon receded in the distance, disap- pearing from view beyond Rock River.
Although this storm passed over only
TORNADOES
A Tree "Slightly Twisted by the Store
Another View of the Terrible Cloud.
A Tree Shattered by the Storm.
M.yor New. omel & T.robert
Lath Driven Through Pine Boards. Corn-erib on the Farmi of Benj Fridley.
A Chicken Rendered Featherless
Ruins of the Lawrence House.
SNAPSHOTS taken by Prof. W. L. EIKENBERRY showing some of the pranks played by the terrible tornado which crossed Ogle County, May 18, 1898.
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DESTRUCTION WROUGHT on the D. E. Price farm, south of Mount Morris, occu- pied by Carlton Wolf, by the tornado of May 18, 1898.
a small corner of Mount Morris Town- ship, it will probably not be out of place to trace its terrible work through a part of Buffalo, Pine Creek and Rock- vale Townships, considering the fact that it came so near the village, and traversed a territory so familiar to Mount Morris people.
After leaving the vicinity of Polo the cloud encountered the G. E. Fahrney premises, about three miles west of Stratford, and demolished the resi- dence, barn, and all the outbuildings, his farm machinery being destroyed and considerable stock killed and in- jured. The family escaped death in the cellar. The barn of the farm of Mr. Fahrney's mother, a little farther east, was in the track of the tornado, and was demolished. One mile east of Mr. Fahrney's premises the lawn trees at the residence of George Garnhart were uprooted, but the house and barn escaped with but slight damage. At this place a wing of the cloud swung to the southward and swept a path through about one-half mile north of Stratford, demolishing the barn on the Charles Hayes farm. The main body of the cloud crossed the farm of William Coffman, one mile northwest of Strat- ford and almost completely obliterated the fine residence and farm buildings, which covered nearly an acre of ground. The next day the place pre- sented a desolate appearance, and was viewed by hundreds of people. Men were gathering up wounded pigs, calves, etc., in the barnyard, and eighty rods northeast of the house five horses
were being buried that had been car- ried away with the barn. The inmates of the house had a narrow escape. They all went to the cellar except the hired man who had gone upstairs for his pocketbook, which was in his Sunday pants. While he was on the second floor the building was carried away and he was dashed to the ground with the falling timbers, receiving only a few scratches. He crawled out of the wreck and spied his pants hanging on a tree near by with the money safe. The fam- ily had taken refuge in the northwest corner of the cellar, where nothing in- jured them. A pitchfork and set of harness were dropped just in front of them but no heavy timbers fell near them. Had they taken refuge in any other part of the cellar the result might have been otherwise, as it was filled with the collapsed walls, and no one could have escaped.
From the Coffman farm the whirling monster passed north of George Clevi- dence's residence, and sweeping through his pasture field, killed a number of cattle and horses. It next encountered the tenant property of Charles Wel- ler, which was occupied by Samuel Lawrence. The house was carried but a short distance from the foundation and demolished. Here the safe part of the cellar was the southeast corner, where the family had fortunately taken shelter. The remainder of the cellar was filled with timbers, stones and bricks; and a pig sty, which had occu- pied a position about fifty feet to the southeast, was picked up and dropped
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in upon the mass of rubbish. The corner sought by the family came also near proving a death trap, a large cookstove having landed upon the wall just over their heads. Had it been moved but a few feet farther they would have been crushed.
The next residence was that of Joseph Artz. A large barn, 24x64 feet was swept away, very little of it being left to mark the spot. The roof was taken off of the west side of the house and several corn cribs damaged. A new granary which stood about twenty rods west of the residence was demolished, and a new buggy and considerable farm machinery destroyed. Mr. Artz had a fine lawn, set with immense shade trees in which he had taken much pride. After the passage of the storm these large trees were found either uprooted or broken off and the beauty of the place sadly ruined. The roadway was completely blocked by the trunks of some of the trees carried from this yard.
One of the most peculiar sights along this route was the manner in which the buildings upon the farm of William Ambrose were handled. The residence was built of brick and stood on the brow of a hill about ten rods back from the road. The entire wall on the south side of this brick structure was drawn out, leaving the floors and rooms on that side exposed. All of the furniture was carried from one of the rooms on
the second floor while another retained only the bedstead and springs, ready to receive again the bedding if it ever should be found. The large bank barn was entirely carried away except the lower floor and wall and machinery which was dropped on the south side and badly damaged. Leaving this scene of destruction the cloud passed near the farm of Charles D. Weller, one wing demolishing sheds, tearing doors from the barn and scattering his farm machinery over the surrounding coun- try. A hay loader in one of the sheds was literally torn to pieces. Mr. Weller was the only man in that section who had his loss covered by tornado insur- ance.
The tornado crossed Pine Creek about five rods north of the Pine Creek bridge and entered the timber owned by William Watts and Oliver Coffman, doing serious damage. Trees were felled into the road from either side, com- pletely blocking it, and a large amount of cord-wood ranked in the east part of the timber, south of the road, was scattered over the fields for half a mile to the eastward, as were also the rails from the fences along the road. Amos Baker and family fled to the fields upon the approach of the cloud and escaped its fury, as did also their house, al- though numerous trees were broken down. Across the road in the field a roll of fence wire weighing four hun-
RUINS OF THE BARN on the Fridley farm, south of Mount Morris, by the tornado of May 18, 1898.
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dred pounds was picked up and carried half a mile and then dropped in the outer course of the storm. A wing moved out south of the main body and did considerable damage on the Samuel Price farm. The Salem church escaped, although several rods of fence immedi- ately north of the structure were de- molished.
The tornado now appeared to gather new energy and swept across the open field north of the residence on the farm owned by Elder D. E. Price, unroofing the north part of the house and com- pletely demolishing the barn. A large pine tree in the yard had part of its top mowed off as if cut to order. The barn was 34 by 56 feet with a granary 26 by 34 feet. Nearly 1000 bushels of oats and about 900 bushels of corn were stored in the barn and granary, but the greater part was saved, as the floors were not moved. The farm was occu- pied by Carlton Wolfe, who was a heavy loser in the storm. His binder, plows, corn planter, and other machin- ery were broken beyond repair and a number of cattle, horses and hogs were badly injured. One horse was carried fifty rods and afterward found with a piece of timber firmly imbedded in its back.
The residence of Benj. Fridley, about one and one-half miles south of Mount Morris, was the next place directly in the path of the tornado and there it was that the terrified residents of the village first closely inspected the awful work of the storm. The house, barn and every out-building were so com- pletely swept away that nothing was left to indicate the former abode of the family save the cellar walls, an old battered fence and the mud-plastered stumps of several trees which had stood in the yard. So complete was the ruin that the mind could scarcely be forced to believe the truth, presented before one's very eyes. Excepting a few splin- tered boards and planks scattered near the foundation and in the field to the eastward, hardly a vestage of the house and its furnishings could be found. It would seem that the great bulk of the material used in the construction of the buildings could have been found, at least within a radius of a mile, but such
was not the case; it was evidently car- ried into the vortex of the mighty whirlwind, churned into a million atoms and strewn along the path of destruction for many miles. At this place occurred the first injury to hu- man life along the path described. Mr. Fridley, his daughters, Mattie and Bes- sie, and sons, John and Benj., decended to the cellar at the approach of the cloud, but John, the eldest son, left the cellar to investigate and was caught by the storm on the south side of the house. He seized hold of a tree, and in some miraculous manner succeeded in clinging to it until the fearful disturb- ance had passed, nothwithstanding the fact that the tree was broken off not far above his head and the bark skinned off of the stump nearly to the ground. He was exceedingly fortunate that he escaped with his life and as it was, he had one leg broken, and sus- tained numerous severe bruises caused by being struck by flying missiles. The others of the family who remained in the cellar were only slightly injured by flying debris, Mr. Fridley being bruised the most. Here there were many curi- ous sights, such as chickens with every feather blown off running about as if to escape the kettle, and animals with pieces of boards driven into them. The path of the storm both west and east of the Fridley place presented a most re- markable aspect, because of the thor- oughness with which all fences and vegetation were swept away and the clear definition of its limits, shown by the thick slimy mud with which every- thing remaining was covered.
The old Fridley place, along the rail- road, occupied by Jacob Bonar next was visited by the funnel-shaped cloud, and although the house was unharmed the huge bank barn was left in a heap of ruins. Mrs. Bonar, and her brother, David Hedrick, were milking in the barn at the time, but both escaped without serious injury. Mr. Bonar lost much valuable farm machinery. At this place there were further evidences of the terrible force of the storm. Pine sticks, some of them not more than a quarter of an inch thick, were driven through inch boards in the gable of the corn crib, and the steel wind-mill tower
TORNADOES
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THE FINE COUNTRY HOME of Benjamin Fridley, south of Mount Morris, was completely demolished and carried away by the tornado of May 18, 1898. Nothing was left but the foundation as shown above. Members of the family who took refuge in the cellar were only slightly injured, but John E. Fridley who clung
to a tree in front of the house, suffered a broken leg and other injuries. The large crowd of people shown in this picture gathered shortly after the storm and many can be recognized as Mount Morris citizens.
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THIS HEAVY TIMBER east of Mount Morris, belonging to Maj. Chas. Newcomer, was com- pletely demolished by the tornado of May 18, 1898. Those shown in the picture are, from left to right: William Samsel, Bruce Samsel, Oliver Beard, Chas. Newcomer, Floyd Knodle (standing at rear), Samuel Knodle, Buchanan Canode, Mrs. Cora Knodle, Ella Winders, Vera Canode (perched in tree), and Mrs. Buchanan Canode.
MOUNT MORRIS: PAST AND PRESENT
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TORNADOES
twisted to the ground as though it were but a stock of grain.
On John Fridley's farm the barn was unroofed and the sides partly demol- ished. The shingles were blown off a part of the house roof, but otherwise the house escaped unharmed. From this point the storm widened to nearly a mile, one wing reaching as far east as Andrew Fridley's place, overturn- ing out-buildings and mangling the orchard trees. At David Fridley's farm, the summer kitchen was carried away, a part of the barn unroofed and the windmill thrown over. As a result of the cloud's visit to the premises of Andrew Gigous, the house had almost to be rebuilt and many demolished out- buildings replaced. A cornplanter left standing in the field was missing after the storm and not a trace of it was ever found.
The farm owned by the Thomas brothers on the Mount Morris-Oregon road was next devastated, but the dam- age was slight. The main body of the cloud passed to the northward through the timber on the old Phelps farm, owned by Major Chas. Newcomer, and again at this place the spectators of the day following had occasion to open their mouths and eyes in wonder. Every tree was badly mutilated, the most of
them, both large and small, being either broken off, twisted down or uprooted. Past the timber the small Martin home was obliterated, and that of J. Ware- ham handled almost as roughly. Farther on, a number of buildings on the farm of Harvey Griswold were destroyed and the cloud then passed on to Rock River. In passing over the high bluff on the west side, the dancing pavilion erected on the crest by a Chi- cago club, was rolled down the slope and deposited in the road beneath. Persons living near say that vast vol- umes of water were drawn up into the cloud as it passed over the river, and undoubtedly the stream was very much disturbed.
After crossing the river suffice it to say that the tornado continued on its destructive course to Stillman Valley where much damage was done and a number of lives lost.
After the cloud had passed by Mount Morris to the eastward, the citizens of Mount Morris, realizing from the ap- pearance and terrible roar of the storm that much mischief must have been done, hastened without delay to the nearest part of the path which was at the former location of the Fridley resi- dence. During the remainder of the evening and far into the night and
RESULT OF TORNADO of May 9, 1918, at the farm home of John D. Miller, just out- side the southern corporate limits of Mount Morris. Two barns were completely de- stroyed on the same farm.
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RUINS ON THE HARVEY GRISWOLD farm, northeast of Mount Morris, as a re- sult of the tornado of May 9, 1918.
during several succeeding days hun- dreds of people visited the scene, and many followed along the entire path. It was certainly a most remarkable exhibition of what the elements are capable of, and the people of Mount Morris were fortunate that the tornado changed its course, otherwise the loss of life and destruction of property would have been terrific.
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