Cerro Gordo, Illinois Tornado
March 19, 1892
SWEPT BY STORMS
Many Buildings Demolished by a Gale at
Cerro Gordo, Ill - damage by Hail
Cerro Gordo, Ill., March 25.-- Ten
buildings were completely wrecked by a cyclone
Saturday afternoon and twenty other were more or
less damaged. The cyclone was preceded by
a terrible hailstorm which drove everyone
indoors, and to this may be attributed the fact
that no one was killed or even seriously
injured. It was a few minutes before 9
o'clock when the windstorm swept through the
village from south to north and its path was
marked by a strip of wrecked and ruined
buildings 900 feet in width. The path of
the storm passed west of the business portion,
where most of the population was gathered.
Those who saw the hurricane approach took to
their cellars, the inhabitants of several of the
houses dismantled thus escaping injury.
Among the buildings wrecked were the
residences of J.
Clarkson, William Bowen, B. Hyatt and
Edward Edwards.
They were lifted from the foundations, unroofed
and twisted out of shape. Clarkson's house
was crushed like an eggshell by a huge timber
blown from a lumber yard 200 yards away.
The family was away on a visit and thus escaped.
At Mrs. Griswold's
the kitchen was blown from the main body of the
house and hurled to the top of a tree in the
yard. The barns of
Joseph Auten, A. Manicke, Rob Hudgen, W. H.
Howells, G. Frantz, John Marsh and
B. Wyne were completely demolished.
So completely was the destruction of the last
mentioned that not a board of it can be found.
The homes of ach of those above named were also
badly damaged, as were a large number of other
buildings. The only business building
injured was the
Shellabargers elevator. It did
not receive the full force of the cyclone, but
was unroofed and otherwise damaged. The
total loss is estimated at $40,000, with but
little insurance. No one was seriously
injured.
Lorain County Reporter, Elyria, OH 2 Apr 1892
In looking at the 1900 Census for Piatt
Co., IL, Cerro Gordo, district 128: Mrs.
Griswold could be Emily Griswold, head of
household. B. Wyne could be Benjamin Wyne. B. Hyatt
could be Bruce
D. Hyett.
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