Geneseo, Illinois Tornado
May 1860
Oakly
The destruction by the wind at this place was
great. The store of T.
F. Davenport, Esq., was entirely
stove to pieces, and his large and valuable
stock of goods, was found Monday morning, laying
around promiscuously, over an area of one
hundred acres. The steam mill was destroyed,
besides several valuable houses.
Spring Creek
At Spring Creek, the house of
Mr. Hoyt of New York, of which
Harry Jones is
agent, occupied by Mr.
Razor, was taken up by the wind,
leaving a “large and interesting family” sitting
upon the ground, and after turning sommersaults
for some twenty rods, it hit a ‘ridge,’ and,
therefore, could not, by its most intimate
acquaintances, be distinguished from a pile of
rubbish. Narrow chance for
Razor’s family,
but a miss is as good as a mile.
Railroad Bridge.
The long covered Railroad Bridge of the C. & R.
I. Railroad, over Rock River, was blown down and
is a perfect wreck. This will be a serious
inconvenience to the company, besides being a
severe loss. It will, doubtless, be speedily
rebuilt.
The amount of damage done in this town, we
cannot, at this time, estimate; but it is very
large, and falls heavily upon some of the
sufferers. We nearly forgot to mention that
several of our citizens received “calls” from
the wind, which left its cards in the shape of
chimneyless houses, broken windows, shattered
cornices, &c., among whom, were
Mr. A. Soule, Geo.
Perry, Dr. Morse, Dr. Wells, Mr. Reed, Mr.
McArthur, Mr. Mannington, John Wilshire, Perry &
Spaulding, and numerous others, whose
names we cannot now call to mind. They would do
well to heed so emphatic a warning.
Chicago Press and Tribune, Chicago, Il 25
May 1860
Transcribed by Audrey. Thank you,
Audrey!
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