Washington County, Iowa Tornado

May 22, 1873

Germantown was jumped by the storm and the next hear of it was six miles to the northwest in Washington.  Of what happened there a correspondent who passed over the track of the destroyed writes:

The first farm visited was that of John C. Cunningham, which is about seven miles northeast of Washington.  Neither the barn or house was visible.  They had been torn to pieces and only a few fragments remained, nearly all the timber having been blown away.  Pieces of boards were sticking out of the fields, some of them imbedded into the ground two feet and so tightly that they could not be pulled out.  Dead stock was visible everywhere, horses, cows, pigs and chickens having been hustled about so lively as to be deprived of the breath of life.... Three hundred head of stock were killed outright.  The buildings destroyed were worth about $4,000.  In the dwelling when the tornado aggravated were Mrs. McCoy, daughter of Mr. Cunningham and Mrs. Carringer and the children of the former.  They went into the cellar for shelter, but remained there only a short time, being lifted up and carried some distance, and thrown to the ground.  Mrs. McCoy had her head out and was badly bruised.  Mrs. Carringer was injured instantly but not seriously hurt.  The children were uninjured.  They were found lying in a heap beside the cellar walls.

East of Cunningham's near the Highland township line, is the farm of Mr. Davidson.  His house and barn was destroyed and he himself killed.  Mr. Houssel who was with him at the time, was fatally injured, and died on Friday morning.  All of the latter's clothing was torn off his body, and his friends in Washington had to supply garments to bury him in.

North of Cunningham's is the farm of John Babcock.  His residence, barns, out houses and granaries were demolished.  His large barn was one of the finest in the county, having recently been erected at a cost of $3,000 [?].  It was full of grain, and more was deposited in the cellar of his house.   He had $300 in a bureau drawer.  All the furniture is missing and hence the money cannot be recovered.  His loss will amount to about $7,000.  Fortunately, his family were at his brother's house, which was out of the range of the storm.  Mr. Babcock himself and Jacob Sooch [?] saw the cyclone coming, and ran into the house and took up what they imagined to be a place of security in the cellar.  The house was lifted off the foundations, and had not a piece of timber fallen on them they would have escaped.  The board struck Sooch on the head, inflicting a serious wound.  Mr. Babcock escaped uninjured.  The roof of the barn was blown nearly a quart of a mile....

...Mrs. Cancer, who also took refuge n the cellar was the only one badly hurt.  she lift up her hand as the house was leaving and a board sticking one of her fingers, broke it. Some timbers fell on Cancer and Gibson, and they were slightly bruised....

About forty rods distant from the Cancer farm stood the Beedleford Schoolhouse.

It was an old frame building, made of square timbers.  Nothing remains on the site, but a quarter of a mile down the road were found what evidently had been portions of it.  School was in session when the cyclone made its appearance, about twenty scholars being in attendance. A rumbling frightened them, and they gathered around the teacher, Miss Smith, thinking she could protect them. The building shared the same fate as the others which came within the grasp of the tornado, and teacher and scholars cannot imagine how they got into the roadway.  The wind demolished the windows first and rushing into the building lifted it up as it were made of paper and knocked it about like shuttlecock.  A daughter of Henry Rathmel, aged 11 years, was in the doorway, and seeing the black cloud coming, started to run out.  No one knew what had become of her until they found her mangled body half an hour afterward in the mud, a quarter of a mile down the road.  She must have been raised by the wind and carried along.  She had very little clothing when found, and her remains were covered with mud.  Miss Smith, and six of the scholars, whose names could not be learned, were injured, three or four of them dangerously.

One very singular thing is that the mud was blown so hard into the faces of many of the children that it cannot be washed off.  Some of their faces look as if they had been tatooed with India kink or powder.  Miss Smith says the first thing she realized was that she was standing in the road, surrounded by the boys and girls.  She does not know how they got there, being unconscious of having made an ascent into the air.

Near the schoolhouse, across the road stood the dwelling of Henry Walters.  It was reduced to atoms, and Mrs. Walters was instantly killed.  When found, she had one of a pair of twins in her arms.  The little fellow was bruised and cut, and died the following morning.  The other one escaped, though no one can tell how.  This infant lives, being unable to tell his story.  Three of her other children were in the schoolhouse and received serious injuries.  Two of them are not expected to live. 

About a quarter of a mile from the schoolhouse is the farm of Alexander Gibson.  None of the buildings are standing.  his house was the finest in that part of the country.  He is from Vermont, and everything about his place was the best.  All his orchards are valueless.  His farming implements are gone and his stock dead.  He was not at home when the storm destroyed his property, being at Cancer's house as stated above.  His son, age 14, and a hired man, named Baker, attempted to get into the house, but were overtaken in the orchard.  The latter had an arm and a leg broken by being thrown down violently, and the boy was rendered unconscious and still remains so.  His head is cut in several places, but his recovery is hoped for.  Miss Gardner, Mrs. Gibson and three children were in the house, and were precipitated into the cellar, the building flying away like a bird.  The first named was badly injured, but the others only slightly.  Sixty fat steers were carried off by the wind, some of them weighting 1,400 pounds, and landed into a slough twenty rods off.  They were covered with mud and looked as if they had been rolled over and over for a long distance...

Other farms visited.  Subsequently the farms of Thomas Walters, about a mile west of Gibson's, William Caldwell, southwest from the last; George Gilcrist, a little to the west; Mr. Laughlin's, William Canser's, Calvin Craven's and several others were visited, at all of which traces of the storm could been seen.  At Walter's house, Mrs. Walters, grandmother of the owner, had a board driven into her thigh, and she cannot recover.

At William Caldwell's his child had two ribs broken by flying debris.  All the buildings on these two farms are swept away.  The dwelling of Mr. Gilcrist was destroyed, but the inmates escaped.  At Laughlin's, a helper named Baker, was hurt badly in the back.  He was driving along the road, and observed the cloud coming, jumped from his wagon and took shelter alongside of a hedge fence.  The wind struck both him and the team will full force and carried the man, mules and wagon into the adjacent fields.  Baker says he went through the air like lightning for about a quarter of a mile.  Mr. Craven's barns were destroyed, and Mr. Scranton's sheds blown down.

In Washington county

KILLED

A child of Mr. Baker

A child of Mr. [illegible]

Mrs. [illegible]

A child of Mr. Horace

Mrs. Henry Walters and three children

Mrs. Davidson

Landau Houssel

A daughter of Henry Rathmel

WOUNDED

Mr. Carringer

Mrs. McCoy

Jacob Zeck

Mrs. Canser and three children, who will probably die

William Gibson, aged 12

John Gibson, aged 11

Rolla Gibson, aged 7, children of Alexander Gibson

Rebecca Gardner

William Bebee [?]

Mrs. Gibson

A [illegible] of J. K. Gardner's

Mrs. Walters, mother of Henry Walters

A child of William Caldwell

Four children whose names are unknown

A farm hand named Baker

The Daily Gazette, Davenport, IA 27 May 1873

The wife of Henry Waters was killed.  A Miss Gardner and son of Abe Gibson lie at the point of death.  Jacob Seek was seriously hurt.  Mr. Baker was badly hurt in the back....

Six more persons have died since the despatch of this morning, making eight in all.  The names of the victims not before reported are Loden Housel, Mr. Davison, Mr. Baker, a daughter of Jacob Seek, and two children of Henry Waters, and there are many others who are very low and their lives despaired of.

The Coshocton Democrat, Coshocton, OH 27 May 1873

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