Mattoon, Illinois Tornado

May 1917

Mattoon, Ill., May 27.-Thirty-five persons are known to be dead and it is estimated that an equal number are buried in the ruins of Mattoon as a result of a tornado which struck the city about 4 o'clock Saturday afternoon.

200 INJURED.

In addition more than 200 persons were injured by the wind storm, many of them fatally.

CITY IN DARKNESS

Mattoon was in complete darkness Saturday night except for the lights of hundreds of lanterns carried by volunteer rescue workers and not until daylight can the full extent of the damage be known.

PATH OF STORM FOUR BLOCKS WIDE.

Without warning the funnel shaped cloud came swirling its way toward the city and before persons on the streets could seek safety a district on the northern side of the city, two miles long and about four blocks wide had been devasted.

PROPERTY LOSS HALF MILLION.

The property damage, it was estimated tonight, will exceed one half million dollars and hundreds of families are homeless.

BIG FACTORY LOSS

The T W CLARK Manufacturing company, in whose plant one hundred men were at work at the time the tornado came, suffered the heaviest property damage, the loss being estimated at $200,000. That none of the workmen were killed was one of the freaks of the storm.

The Daily Review, Decatur, IL 27 May 1917

TOLL OF DEATH AT MATTOON

THE IDENTIFIED DEAD.
MRS. EMMA HYDE.
THOMAS HYDE.
TEDDY BRIDGES.
MRS. CHARLES TEMPLE.
JOHN PIERCE.
I. C. SPITZ.
OWEN WAGGONER.
MRS. OWEN WAGGONER.
JOSEPH TAYLOR.
CHARLES GULLION.
JAMES TURNER.
HARRISON STOKES.
MRS. NANCY J. COON.
MRS. LEE TAYLOR.
JOHN WILLIAMS.
EDWIN DAUGHERTY.
WALLER MELLON.
MRS. J. DEHOHN.
____ SWANSON, child.
EARL WHITE.
HARRISON FRAZIER.
_____ HICKS, child.
_____ BEAVERS.
MRS. GRUBB.
_____ DAVIDSON.
Two children of MRS. LEE TAYLOR.
TOM HYDE.
JACOB DIGGERS.
MRS. MARY DAVISION.
_____HICKEY, child.
MRS. EMMA _____.
MRS. ORA HERITAGE.
Child of CHARLES HICK.
IRWIN WAGGONER.
MR. _____ BEAVERS.
MRS. _____ GRUBB.
_____ DAVIDSON (boy)
VIRGIL MALCOM.
_____ THOMPSON.

The Daily Review, Decatur, IL 27 May 1917

48 Recovered at Mattoon.

Mattoon, Ill., May 28.-According to the best obtainable figures, in the absence of any official statiscal agency, forty-eight bodies have been recovered, forty-six of which have been identified as a result of Saturday's tornado. Between fifteen and twenty persons are unaccounted for. Three hundred persons are badly, though not fatally hurt. Two hundred more are suffering from slight injuries and approximately twenty are expected to die.

The revised and Amended list of dead as gathered unofficially is as follows:

MRS. E. HYDE, THOMAS HYDE, TEDDY BRIDGES, MRS. C. TEMPLE, JACK PIERCE, I. G. SPITZ, ARLETTA TUDOR, MR. AND MRS. OWEN WAGGONER, OJSEP [SIC] TAYLOR, JAMES TURNER, MRS. N. COONS, MRS. L. TAYLOR, MARGARET TAYLOR, JOHN WILLIAMS EDWIN DAUGHTERY, WALTER MELTON, MRS. DE HOHN, MR. AND MRS. W. REDMAN and son and daughter, JOHN GRUBB, HARRY BEAVER, MRS. C. ANDERSON, two unidentifed women, MRS J. DAVIDSON, MRS BICKERS, MRS. J. GRUBB MRS J. REED, WILLIAM BURKES, EUGENE BURKES, WILLIAM BROWN, T. C. BENSON HARRISON STOKES, F. A. SPAULDING MRS. E MULLINIX, MRS. A. TURNER FREST DAVIDSON LIZZIE HICKEY, MISS LLWELLEN, MISS HERITAGE, ____SWANSON (boy) EARL WHITE, MRS. D. HOLLOWELL

The Iowa City Citizen, Iowa City, IA 28 May 1917

496 HOMES DESTROYED IN MATTOON

Property Loss in City That Suffered Most Estimated at $2,000,000 with 54 Known Dead

MATTOON, Ill., May 27-Stoically taking up the task of recovering the dead, nursing the injured and housing and feeding the homeless, Mattoon and Charleston, swept Saturday evening by a tornado, that took a toll of more than 100 lives in central Illinois and northwestern Indiana, tonight had established systematic methods of relief.

Sunday's sunrise showed that Mattoon had lost fifty-four known dead, with a score of persons missing and 500 injured, some of whom may die, in the devastation of 140 blocks of homes occupied by workingmen in the north part of the city. The wind razed 496 homes and partly destroyed 146 more; rendering 2,000 persons homeless. These are sheltered by friends, in public buildings and in a tented refuge in Peterson Park.

Twenty Still Missing.

Charleston, lying ten miles east of Mattoon, with 5,000 population, suffered a larger loss in proportion to its size than Mattoon, the known dead totalling thirty-eight, with twenty or more missing....

The twisting wind chose its victims in spots, and reports from the rural regions indicate that small loss of life occurred outside Mattoon and Charleston and only at widely separated places.

Sweeping through Modesto, south of Mattoon, where much damage was done, the storm rushed northeast, dropping down on the north part of this city. Leaving unscathed the business section and barely touching the industrial plants, the whirlwind lifted its tentacles until it reached Charleston.

There the tornado again gripped the earth and tore away substantial buildings, crushing out the lives of two score more human beings amid the falling houses, the hurtling of timbers and the snapping of trees.

The storm fitfully wore itself out in the northwestern corner of Indiana, causing more havoc here and there as it hopped along an erratic course to its disappearing point.

Militia Guards Debris.

Fire, which so often adds its calamitous touch to that of tornadoes, broke out in Mattoon, but, as calm succeeded the windstorm, was soon put out without any serious damage. But the darkness of the cloudy whirlwind was succeeded after a brief intermission of bright sunshine, by the blackness of night, until relieved in the stricken quarter of Mattoon by artificial light, because the lighting system was damaged.

For hours there was a confused rushing about of the survivors in the stricken area, seeking relatives and friends. Efforts to send for help were thwarted by the collapse of wires, but finally a messenger was dispatched to Champaign by automobile, so that a relief train arrived before midnight. Later an uncertain wire to Springfield was made workable and militia was sent to aid in guarding property and helping the homeless.

Before dawn order had been established. A temporary operating room was set up in a hotel. Beds for the injured were placed in the Public Library, the Odd Fellows Home and in various churches and schoolhouses.

Thousands of bandages, prepared by the United States Hospital Aid Society for war use were distributed to the hospitals. Hotels prepared and distributed free barrels of coffee, and restaurants served meals gratis to the homeless to strengthen them in the search for lost ones.

Modest Homes Wrecked.

The storm swept a path four blocks wide and thirty-five blocks long in North Mattoon, causing an estimated loss of $2,000,000.

Levelling nearly all the modest homes of those living in the wind-swept zone, the tornado rushed through Dodge Grove Cemetery, turned over hundreds of tombstones and demolished the public stone mausoleum.

Vast damage also was done in an area near the swept zone and twice as large as the 140 blocks laid waste in this area, however, houses were merely snipped of chimneys, denuded of porches or twisted awry on foundations, and few persons suffered death or injury.

A few small factories standing in the storm's path also were damaged or demolished, but the better residential quarter and all the main business part of Mattoon escaped damage, except from flying planks and broken furniture, hurled by the wind in some instances for miles. It was this verliable shower of timbers and household effects that aroused the unscathed portion of the city to the distress of their less fortunate fellow townsmen.

A typical scene was at the wrecked home of THOMAS PATRICK. The mother sat on a stool and carried a baby while the father and other children collected bits of broken furniture and bedraggled clothing from the debris of their home.

One woman and her two children escaped narrowly. They were blown through a window of their crumbling home and deposited unhurt at the entrance of a cellar, in which MRS. GEORGE KEMPER and a few neighbors had taken refuge. The woman and the children were taken into the cellar to safety by HARRY BEAVERS, who later left the shelter to look for his wife and children, only to be killed by a flying plank.

A patriotic freak of the storm was the carrying of a flag pole from the home of G. M. Metcalf four blocks to the space swept clear of the home of Raymond Coon, where the staff was planted in the soft earth with the Stars and Stripes still flying.

Sightseers Discouraged.

Many sightseers came to Mattoon during the day, but all except those needed to help the wounded and homeless were advised to depart in order to conserve the food supply and lessen the confusion. W. G. SAWIN was named food director and meal cards were issued to the unhoused residents of Mattoon. This soon drove visitors to outgoing trains.

At Charleston, conditions were about the same as in Mattoon. Destruction was complete in the area struck by the storm and relief work was vigorously and promptly pursued.

Westervelt and other towns hit by the tornado experienced similar sufferings and displayed the same fortitude. Farmers at many places sustained losses to buildings and fences and in some cases lost members of their families.

The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, IN 28 May 1917

List of Known Dead in Storms.

MATTOON, ILL.
MRS. EMMA HYDE.
THOMAS HYDE.
TEDDY BRIDGES.
MRS. CHARLES TEMPLE.
JACK PIERCE.
I. G. SPITZ.
ARLETTA TUDOR.
MR. AND MRS. OWEN WAGGONER.
JOSEPH TAYLOR
JAMES TURNER.
MRS. NANCY COONS.
MRS. LEE TAYLOR.
MARGARET TAYLOR, child.
LORRAIN TAYLOR, child.
JOHN WILLIAMS.
EDWIN DAUGHERTY.
WALTER MELTON.
MRS. DEHONE.
MRS. DORA HOLLOWELL.
MR. AND MRS. RILEY REDMAN, SON AND DAUGHTER.
JOB GRUB.
HARRY BEAVERS.
MRS. CLAUDE ANDERSON.
MRS. JOSEPH DAVIDSON.
MRS. BICKERS.
MRS. H. GRUBB.
F. A. SPAULDING.
MRS. ETA MULLINI.
MRS. ALBERTA TURNER.
FREST DAVIDSON.
LIZZIE HICKEY.
MISS LEWELLEN.
MISS HERITAGE.
MASTER SWANSON.
EARL WHITE.
CHARLES HARRIS.
RAMONA NELMS.
MRS. C. JACKSON.
CHARLES FICKES, child.

FIVE NEGROES.

MRS. CELIA BEAVERS.
MRS. GRACE HUDDLESON.
MRS. SUSAN TRAVERS.
MRS. JOHN REED.
MRS. BELLE SWEENEY.
AGA LORAINE PELPHS.

The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, IN 28 May 1917

Storm Freaks.

Mattoon, Ill.-A flag pole was carried from the home of G. M. METCALF to the front yard of RAYMOND COON, four blocks distant, where the staff was planted upright in the soft earth with the stars and stripes still flying.

Fort Wayne News, Fort Wayne, IN 29 May 1917

BODY BROUGHT TO INDIANA

LAFAYETTE, IND., May 27.-The remains of MRS. LEWIS DEHAHN, formerly of this city, who was killed in the tornado at Mattoon, Ill., Saturday evening, arrived here tonight and were taken to the home of her parents, MR. and MRS. MARK CRIDER. The funeral will be held at St. Lawrence Catholic Church Tuesday morning.

The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, IN 28 May 1917

BABY WILL LIVE

Word came from Mattoon Wednesday that the infant which was born while the tornado was raging in that city last Saturday will live. The baby was first thought by its parents to be dead and was sent to an undertaking establishment. Later the undertaker was astounded when the baby began kicking up its heels and showing much life.

The Daily Review, Decatur, Illinois 30 May 1917

FOUND NEPHEW INJURED

MR. AND MRS. LEE WARREN, 520 East Olive street, were in Mattoon Tuesday looking for EARL WHITE, a nephew of MRS. WARREN, who was reported killed. They found MR. WHITE alive, but badly injured by flying timbers. MR. WHITE was at work in the district caught in the storm and hurt, but his home was not touched.

The Daily Review, Decatur, Illinois 30 May 1917

DECATUR FIREMEN CALLED TO MATTOON

Will Help Search for Bodies in Ruins.

PLATT IS IN CHARGE

Decaur [sic] Men Will Help in Any Way Possible.

Decatur is helping Mattoon in another way. Wednesday morning MAYOR SWAN called upon CHIEF C. W. DEVORE of the fire department, asking if the latter could send some firemen to help. It seems there are still a number of bodies buried in the ruins that were not reported at first. Every available man in Mattoon is working at some sort of relief work and more are needed to relieve the men who have been working hours and hours without sleep.

IN ALL SERVICES

The local men may be used to relieve Mattoon firemen or to police the streets to help search for bodies. They go willing to do anything they can do to be of service and will probably remain there for some days. Seven in all made the trip and will be under the direction of CAPTAIN PLATT from No. 2 house.

The six others besides CAPTAIN PLATT were BILL BOWEN, DICK CARSON, SAMUEL MORTHLAND, JR., EARL SHENEY, FRED SMITH and BOB LUNSFORD. LUNSFORD, however, will probably not be gone over a day. He went down Wednesday to attend the funeral of his aunt, MRS. MULLINIX, who is one of the storm victims.

REBUILDING PLANS

Wednesday's issue of the Mattoon Commercial-Star says:

"Plans for rebuilding in charge of R. A. GABBERT and W. N. MCKAMY are being worked out as rapidly as possible, and already tangible arrangements have been made insuring an early beginning of actual work. Northing has been done in the way of clearing the area of wreckage and to this task the committee will give first attention, working in conjunction with those in charge of sanitation as the removal of the debris at the earliest possible moment is essential to both departments. In the meantime temporary homes have been obtained for all victims of the tornado.

The Daily Review, Decatur, Illinois 30 May 1917

Articles transcribed by Linda Houston. Thanks, Linda!

Search for more information on the Mattoon Tornado and other disasters in the  Historic Newspapers Collection.  The number of newspapers on line has recently doubled - search over 1000 different newspapers. Use this Free trial to search for your ancestors.

Search for ancestors in Mattoon, IL among billions of names at ancestry.com. Use this Free trial to search for your ancestors.

The History of Coles County, Illinois - containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c.  Use this Free trial to search for your ancestors.