1858 Tornado

DREADFUL TORNADO

Buildings Twisted and Torn from their Foundations—Fences Blown Down—Heavy Flood—Destruction of Bridges

Washington Investigator, Washington, IL, May 20, 1858.

The severest gale of wind, accompanied with rain and hail, visited our town on last Thursday night, that has even been known to the oldest inhabitants. About half past 6 o’clock the wind began to blow from the north-west, where a dark, heavy cloud had been hanging for some time. It continued to increase in intenseness for near a half hour; accompanied with torrents of rain and volleys of hail. A little past seven o’clock it lulled away, the rain in a measure ceased, but devastation and ruin, wore the visible traces of its angry visit. Notwithstanding the fierce wrath of the storm had found its crisis at about seven o’clock, and visited almost every habitation in our town with a destroyers merciless intent, leaving them more or less scored and bruised, yet the heavy clouds poured down their torrents of rain, the forked lightning hissed its fiery course in vivid awfulness athwart the sky, the winds howled about the dwellings, thrashing tress and shrubbery with destructive violence till between two and three o’clock of Friday morning, when a calm began gradually top reign over our storm scathed village.

We shall not attempt to estimate the damage done to property. As far as we are able to learn no injury has resulted to persons.

We propose to give, in brief, the extent of injury to property as far as we have been able to learn it.

The carpenter’s shop of Harrington & Crane, near the railroad depot, a large building and recently built, was moved from its foundation, (some three feet above the ground,) and tipped cornerwise to the ground; the front end resting on some door and window frames which had been stored beneath the shop to keep them dry. The building was carried some three feet from its original position, diagonally; the blocks on which it rested, forced through the floor, and the frame racked severely. The fences and trees around the dwelling of Rev. W. Andrews [were] broken in a sad manner. The sidewalk in front of the Baptist Church, and along for some distance, torn up, carried across, and piled up on the opposite side of the street. The door of the Prairie State Bank forced open, and the seams opened in the angles of the ceiling show that the roof had been slightly lifted. The brick building of P. Fifer, occupied by R. C. Dement, dry goods merchant, and the shop of W. Carpenter, jeweler, were considerably injured. The large windows in the north side of Mr. Fifer’s building, second story, were burst in breaking glass and sash. Mr. Bogardus’ daguerrean gallery, in the front end of the second story, met a similar fate. The screen torn to pieces, and chairs dashed across the room and piled up against the front windows, the upper casements of which were broken out and scattered over the floor and sidewalks. Mr. Carpenter’s shop, adjoining, suffered the loss of its cornices, the front wall sprung some inches out toward the street; the west window crushed out, and the whole building racked in a sad manner. The store of M. E. Davidson & Co. had the west gable blown in, piling the brick and mortar in wild confusion on the second floor. The spire of the Methodist Church was torn off and landed in the yard below. The carpenter’s shop and lumber office of Jas. Smith was slid some four inches off its brick base, and the top jammed some four feet out of a perpendicular position; the doors and windows made into oblique parallelograms. The gable of Mr. Smith’s machine shop burst out and laid on the sawmill below. The cupoin on the Seminary had its glass broken, some plastering broken and forced off by the water. With this exception, no further injury is known to have occurred to the Seminary. Dr. Eldredge suffered loss by injury to his barn, which was racked and slid from the basement stone eight inches; the basement wall thrown down on two sides, leaving it comparatively a wreck. The front door in the second story of his house gave way, letting the wind and rain have full sweep, which tore a partition door from its hinges with great violence. A small frame house in the east part of town, occupied by Mr. Creismann, was carried about ten feet from its foundation, and set down again, before himself and wife could get out of it. Another frame house in the same neighborhood, unoccupied, was taken up and carried about sixteen feet, and planted spank in the mud. Various other injuries were committed—chimneys blown off all bout town—glass broken in every direction—doors forced open—privies careened—trees and shrubbery torn up by the roots, broken, twisted and scathed in a relentless manner. One of our office windows was torn out and thrashed on the ground below.

A tree standing on the edge of Farm Creek, in the neighborhood of the depot, some two feet in diameter, was twisted off about ten feet from the ground, and the upper portion hurled some distance along the bank.

The bridges on the north and south of town have been swept away by the flood; leaving no ingress for teams in either direction.

A horse was found dead in the creek just below the flouring mill; supposed to have been blown into the water and drowned.

The brick school house, about three miles south of town, was unroofed, and portions of it thrown a distance of fifty yards into a field.

We are informed by Esquire Higgins, of Deer Creek, that the fences in that region are nearly all blown down, and the schoolhouse entirely unroofed.

All the barns north of town have been more or less injured by the storm—some unroofed, others having the doors and gables smashed in.

A new house in the neighborhood of Mr. A. Cupp, was entirely destroyed.

Barns and stables in the vicinity of town unroofed, blown down and otherwise damaged. The destruction of property seems to have been general in every direction from town. The farmers, as far as head from, have suffered great inconvenience in the demolition of fences.—Strings of fences for miles in length have been laid level with the ground, leaving not a panel standing. How far the storm extended we cannot at present conjecture, but from the length of time it continued with us, there is every reason to believe that it has swept over a vast region.

Among the losses which will be the most severely felt is the destruction of apple-trees, and other fruits. It looks deplorable to see the labor and patience of years crumble to ruin in a few moments, and no effort prove effectual in staying the destructive march of the sweeping tornado.

We have every reason to believe that other towns, cities, and farming districts have, like ourselves, been smitten with the upheaved vengeance of the elements, and those more exposed must have suffered proportionably.

THE STORM AT CRUGER.—We learn from the passengers who came in on the seven o’clock train Thursday night, that the hotel was unroofed, and most of the houses in town, if not entirely ruined, were more or less injured. The train, just it reached the eastern part of town, fell a prey to the wind, and the express and passenger cars wee blown off the track, and turned top down in the ditch below, where the water was nearly two feet deep. Messrs. D. Kyes, Esq., A. H. Danforth, of the Prairie State Bank, W. Thompson, of the Thompson House, and his son, of this place, were among the passengers in the cars at the time of the disaster. Mr. Thompson was stunned, and slightly injured on the head; Mr. Danforth had his leg bruised just below the knee, but thought not seriously. The rest escaped unhurt. No ladies were aboard. The engine and tender passed here on its way to Peoria, with a few of the passengers.

We understand that the new church at Cruger outrode the storm in safety.

…The tornado does not appear to have been so severe at Metamora as it has been this side of there.

It is reported that at eight miles south of town the storm has been equally as destructive as here.

The storm appears to have extended over a territory of more than 25 miles in width, but where it commenced or where it ended in its devastating journey, we have no means of stating at our present writing. The dismay and suffering, loss of life and property, and the considerable lamentation, marks the progress of this sweeping tornado, as one that has scarcely if ever been equaled in Illinois. Accounts are consistently reaching us from points previously unheard from.

We learn from railroad men that the storm was unabated at Gilman, on the Eastern Extension railroad, where the depot was destroyed, and two other buildings riddled. This is the most eastern point from which any accounts have been received.

A rumor reached here the truth of which we are unable to substantiate, to the effect that a house containing a family of several persons, situated on the prairie, about two miles north of the head of Walnut Grove, was missed from its accustomed locality, when some persons went in search of it. They visited the spot where it had once stood and found nothing but the fallen chimney. They followed in the direction the storm had taken, but no trace of the lost house or its occupants could be discovered. Several miles in extent were traversed and not the least trace or mark upon the ground had been left by the fugitive dwelling. We presume the search will be continued until the lost are found, or the mysterious disappearance accounted for in some other way.

Six of the railroad bridges between this place and Peoria, have been swept away by the flood….