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The largest and most destructive of the three Codell tornadoes hit on May 20, 1918. The 1918 tornado is estimated to have been a F4[21] (Fujita scale, winds from 207-260 mph) that spanned four counties traveling from WaKeeney, KS to Portis, KS; a distance of approximately 60 miles over a 6 hour period. Codell took a direct and devastating hit at about 10:00 PM on a Monday evening.
Thousands of head of livestock and dozens of structures were lost in the storm. Houses were obliterated with occupants inside. As word of the storm spread, carloads of people converged on the area throughout the night and following day to help friends, neighbors and complete strangers. Eight people are confirmed to have died in the 1918 tornado; five were children. Multiple other children endured traumatic experiences, including being pulled from protective arms by the storm. Their stories are detailed below.
Deceased Victims of the 1918 Tornado
Deceased Victims of the 1918 Tornado
Adams, Ethel (1894-1918) - Rooks County
Adams, Lawrence (1915-1918) - Rooks County
Geist, Agnes (1915-1918) - Ellis County
Geist, Alexander (1865-1918) - Ellis County
Geist, Catherina (1846-1918) - Ellis County
Geist, Paul (1917-1918) - Ellis County
Geist, Regina (1913-1918) - Ellis County
Jones, Lloyd (1918-1918) - Rooks County
Trego County
Trego County
The tornado was first spotted on the Clarence Repshire farm 13 miles south of WaKeeney at about 6:00 PM. The storm then leveled the John Lohman place.
The Alex Reece family saw the storm coming and escaped via automobile. The Reece farm was swept clean. Over 200 head of sheep perished.
As Bertrum Stanton and his wife were attempting to drive away from the storm, they were blown from their auto. Mrs. Stanton was then injured by flying debris.
Near Ogallah, a large pavilion belonging to the Central Kansas Holiness Association was destroyed.
The Wilhelm Dietz family’s 2-story brick home, barn and 60 head of livestock were destroyed. Nine year old Leah Dietz lost sight in one eye when hit with broken glass from a window.
Numerous farms were damaged in Trego County and hundreds of head of livestock were killed. No fatalities occurred in Trego County.[3,12,23]
Ellis County
Ellis County
The tornado moved into Ellis County destroying more farm structures and livestock. The Wasinger family used a hole dug for a granary as shelter while the tornado destroyed every building and all of the livestock on their place.
Remnants of the stone portion of George Balls' house.
Tornado approaching Deane Ranch.
At the Alexander Geist farm in the Saline Valley, Alexander and his wife, Catherina, were killed. Not a piece of lumber was left from any of their buildings. A half mile north, three of their grandchildren Regina (4), Agnes (3) and Paul (11 months) were also killed. Paul was blown from his uncle’s arms, his body recovered one-eighth of a mile away.
The Geist farm was located on Buckeye Road, 6-1/2 miles west of Plainville-Hays Road (U.S. 183). The Geist children’s father, Adam Geist, died later the same year of unknown cause.
A school warrant from the house of James McIntosh was found by L. P. Simpson in Smith County. The McIntosh house had been split in half by the storm. The warrant was sucked into the cyclone and traveled over 70 miles before being deposited where Simpson retrieved the paper...and returned it to McIntosh.[22]
George Balls' house was carried over 400 yards with the family of five in it. The remnants of the house came to rest in a nearby wheat field with the family still inside. 3-month-old Fred Balls had been pulled from his mother's arms while the house was being carried through the air. Back on the ground, George found Fred, although he thought the baby was dead. George covered Fred with his own body to protect him from the rain, hail and wind. As the storm intensity diminished, George passed Fred back to his mother, Clara. She was relieved when the baby moved; he was alive. Clara documented her memories in A Night of Terror.
The storm then followed the path of the 1917 tornado along the Saline River. The Cochran ranch and the P. J. Deane ranch were leveled.
The Cochran ranch located on the Saline River just west of Plainville-Hays Road had also been badly damaged by the 1917 tornado. The Deane ranch was also located on the Saline River adjoining the Cochran ranch on the eastern border. U.S. 183 passes through the Deane ranch and up "Deane Hill" south of the Saline River bridge.
The Deane District School was partially wrecked by the storm. A new school was opened in 1919.[1,5,9,11]
Rooks County
Rooks County
The tornado exited the Saline Valley southwest of Codell and took a direct path towards the small community. A little before 10:00 PM the tornado hit Codell. Numerous homes and outbuildings were destroyed. The school along with its furniture were obliterated. The hotel was wrecked along with a lumberyard and a general store. Offices for the newspaper, telephone company and doctor were destroyed. Two churches, Methodist with adjoining parsonage and Pentecostal, were demolished. The Codell school and the Pentecostal church were rebuilt in 1919.
Codell school following the 1918 tornado.
Codell Methodist Church following the 1918 tornado.
North of Codell at the Walter Adams' place, the walls of their stone house collapsed and fell in on the family. Ethel Adams and her 3-year-old son Lawrence died. Husband/father Walter Adams was badly injured, but survived.
Walter and Ethel Adams had previously lost three other children. Ethel and the children are buried in Shiloh Cemetery near Codell.[19] Walter Adams left Kansas eventually settling in Colorado.
Northeast of Codell 6-week-old Lloyd Jones, son of Frank and Iva Jones, was killed and three of his siblings (Nola, Norma and Urcel) were so badly injured that they were transported to the hospital in Hays. Lloyd was blown from his home, his lifeless body found in a nearby alfalfa field guarded by the family dog.
Frank and a daughter were in Concordia when the storm hit. The Jones family had previously been hit by the 1916 tornado when they occupied the Dametz farm.[7]
The Presbyterian Church that stood at Shiloh Cemetery was destroyed by the 1918 tornado. Gravestones from Shiloh Cemetery were pulled from the ground and scattered through surrounding fields.
At the Dametz farm, Hilda Newlin, baby daughter of Russell and Clara May Newlin, was blown away from her parents by the storm. The badly injured parents made their way to a neighbor’s home seeking help. In the dark of night and heavy rain, neighbors scoured through the wreckage that hours earlier was a house, eventually finding Hilda uninjured.
Hilda Newlin and Lloyd Jones were first cousins, the grandchildren of Frank Dametz. The Dametz farm where the Newlins lived (1/2 mile east of Shiloh Cemetery) had been previously hit by the 1916 tornado when it was occupied by the Frank Jones family.[6] Hilda (Newlin) Perkins would die tragically in an auto/train accident east of Codell in 1937 at age 20.[19]
Corning Township's district 38 school was destroyed. The school was rebuilt in the fall of 1918.
George and Celesta Glendening lived on the Andreson place north of Shiloh cemetery. Their home was ripped apart in the storm. The floor of the house was moved 100 yards from the foundation with the family still on it. 19-month-old Max Glendening was sucked out of his mother’s arms by the wind. In a flash of lightening, Max was seen sitting nearby. George who had the couple's other son tucked into his overalls, quickly retrieved Max. Max would later tell schoolmates tales of flying around in the sky during the storm.[2,9,11,20, 24]
The Andreson place where the Glendening family lived was also hit by the 1916 tornado. Celesta Glendening, Max Glendening's mother, and Walter Adams who lost his family were siblings. Celesta documented her memories in a short booklet entitled Cyclone Day 1918.
Osborne County
Osborne County
The tornado continued to the northeast damaging farms from Natoma to Portis between 10 PM and 12 AM.
People were awakened by the storm, but many didn't have time to get to their caves. Several families were trapped in the wreckage of their homes.
The German Lutheran Schoolhouse near Natoma was blown from its foundation with 40 to 50 occupants for a Red Cross meeting inside. No one was injured. A witness stated that the school was lifted six feet from the ground.
Daniel Stull, a fairly large man, was blown from his home landing in a nearby field while his house was destroyed. He was unhurt, but several of his children who remained in the house suffered injuries.
The Charles Williams' house and buildings were reduced to kindling. The family of twelve were inside the home when the floor lifted from the ground. The family ended up piled in the yard, fifty feet from where the house once stood. Several children were injured, but the injuries were not life threatening. The family car was located a quarter of a mile away after the storm. Williams stated, "It took everything off the farm except the mortgage." Williams documented his memories in the booklet The Storm of 1918.
As William Gregory and his wife were attempting to get to the cave their house was destroyed. Mr. Gregory suffered two broken legs, one a compound fracture. Being an elderly man he was crippled for the rest of his life.
The storm passed to the west of Portis before dissipating around midnight. Its path of terror and destruction complete. Over $200,000 of damage was reported in Osborne County. There were no fatalities in Osborne County. (Charles Henry Stull was included in some early articles as a fatality due to the storm. Although his farm was hit by the storm on May 20, Stull had died two days earlier on May 18.)[4,7,8,10,11,14,16,18]
Stories from Survivors of the 1918 Tornado
Stories from Survivors of the 1918 Tornado
A Night of Terror by Clara Balls
Cyclone Day 1918 by Celesta Glendening
The Storm of 1918 by C. E. Williams
Bibliography
Bibliography
[1] (1905). STANDARD ATLAS OF ELLIS COUNTY, KANSAS. Chicago, IL: Geo. A. Ogle & Co.
[2] (1905). STANDARD ATLAS OF ROOKS COUNTY, KANSAS. Chicago, IL: Geo. A. Ogle & Co.
[3] (1906). STANDARD ATLAS OF TREGO COUNTY, KANSAS. Chicago, IL: Geo. A. Ogle & Co.
[4] (1917). STANDARD ATLAS OF OSBORNE COUNTY, KANSAS. Chicago, IL: Geo. A. Ogle & Co.
[5] (1922). STANDARD ATLAS OF ELLIS COUNTY, KANSAS. Chicago, IL: Geo. A. Ogle & Co.
[6] "Paradise Items." Plainville Times 01 March 1917: 5
[7] "CODELL HIT BY TWISTER." Natoma Independent 23 May 1918: 1,7
[8] "CYCLONE IN OSBORNE AND ROOKS COUNTIES." Osborne County News 23 May 1918: 1
[9] "TORNADO KILLS EIGHT PEOPLE." The Hays Free Press 23 May 1918: 1
[10] "TORNADO SWEEPS OSBORNE COUNTY." THE ALTON EMPIRE 23 May 1918: 1,4
[11] "Tornado Traverses Trego, Ellis, Rooks and Osborne Counties." Plainville Times 23 May 1918: 1,5
[12] "TREGO COUNTY VISITED BY TORNADO." WESTERN KANSAS WORLD 23 May 1918: 1
[13] Berry, W. A. "Codell Account of Tornado." Plainville Times 30 May 1918: 5
[14] "CYCLONES TAKE A BIG TOLL." Osborne County News 30 May 1918: 6
[15] "Obituary." Plainville Times 30 May 1918: 1
[16] "PIONEER SPIRIT STILL EXISTS." Natoma Independent 30 May 1918: 1
[17] "C. G. COCHRAN DIES AT HAYS OF APOPLEXY." Plainville Times 03 June 1926: 1
[18] Williams, Charles Edward. "THE STORM OF 1918." Osborne County News 09 August 1934: 8
[19] "Mrs Victor Perkins Killed In Collision." Plainville Times 22 July 1937: 1
[20] Glendening, Celesta Adams. "CYCLONE DAY 1918." 1976
[21] Heidorn, Keith C. "THREE STRIKES ON CODELL." The Weather Doctor, 2006. Web. 2 August 2015.
[22] "A Storm Freak." The Hays Free Press 30 May 1918: 1
[23] "TORNADO VICTIM IN SALINA." The Salina Evening Journal 21 May 1918: 1
Copyright Paul R. Albert 2017. All Rights Reserved.
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