Rochester, Minnesota Tornado
August 21, 1883
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LATER.
Chicago, Aug. 23. -- A gentleman just in
from Rochester, Minn., says the entire north
part of the place from the Chicago and Northern
tracks is a confused mass of debris. Scarcely a
home is left standing and a few that are moved
from their foundation are as if shaken by an
earthquake. People were at work all night
rescuing the injured and recovering the bodies
of the dead. Before midnight 28 corpses had been
recovered most of them horribly mutilated. It
was thought at least twenty bodies remained. The
ruined portion of the city swept by the cyclone
comprised about one third of the extent. The
storm formed about eighteen miles northwest of
Rochester, and gathering violence as it
progressed, destroyed several farm houses in its
course. A funnel cloud was seen approaching the
fated town and in a few moments the slaughter
was accomplished. The scene in the devastated
district and places where the dead lay was
indescribably sad. Mothers were frightened for
their children, while little homeless waifs were
found whom the tempest had orphaned. One child
was the only survivor of a family of seven.
Kasson, Minn., Aug. 23. -- The cyclone
passed about six miles south of this place doing
much damage to persons, buildings and crops.
CHRISTIAN OLESON and
wife were killed, and his oldest daughter had a
leg broken. OLE
ANDERSON, mother and wife, were badly
hurt and can't live. His mother-in-law was
killed, his brick house unroofed, and all other
buildings destroyed. J.
G. VanFRANK'S home was destroyed and
some members of his family badly injured.
KITELSOM'S sheds and machinery were
all blown over and found laid in all directions
over the prairie. The loss will foot up many
thousands of dollars.
Dodge Center, Minn., Aug. 22. -- Crops in
the path of the cyclone two miles south of here
were destroyed and heavy damage done to
buildings. A man named
EIBRECHE and wife, working in a
field, when they saw the storm clung to each
other. When it struck them he was knocked
senseless and she blown to a considerable
distance. She was found this morning in a
horribly mutilated condition, one arm twisted
off and the other nearly so. A number of other
persons were less badly injured.
The Oshkosh Northwestern Wisconsin
1883-08-23
Submitted & transcribed by Stu
Beitler Thank you,
Stu!
At Rochester the day had been hot with a
strong southeast wind, the air was smoky and
oppressive, the heavens were overcast with
clouds of a dull leaden line, and there were,
apparently, three strata, all moving in
different directions. About three or four
o’clock the clouds began to concentrate west of
the city: a slight shower of rain passed over
and for a few moments succeeding the air was
perfectly still. The indications were so
alarming that the farmers, of whom there were
many, hurried out of town. Later, toward seven
o’clock, light fleecy clouds were seen scudding
athwart the sky at lighting speed, the great
dark mass in the west assumed a greenish cast.
The rain came down in sheets, the heavens blazed
with yellow lightning and a terrible and
terrifying roaring was heard. There was a
resistless gale from the west, and dense
darkness, in which the destruction was wrought
almost in a minute. The storm abated and those
who emerged from their homes or places of
shelter found a wrecked city. Many of the
streets were filled with uprooted trees and
Parts of buildings. Houses were unroofed or
blown down, and the contents of homes scattered
and, worst of all, many persons were killed and
more wounded.
The business center of the city, including
the most valuable buildings, sustained little
damage compared to the residence districts, and
especially North Rochester. There was no loss of
life in the business district; probably because
most men had gone home to their evening meal.
George Stocking’s
new brick store building, at the corner of
Broadway and Fourth street, was demolished, and
Wayne Beardsley’s frame store
adjoining it. The tin roof was torn off
Heaney’s
block and Rommel’s
block was unroofed. The west end of
A. D. Vedder’s
agricultural implement warehouse, a brick
structure, was wrecked, and he and his wife, who
had gone into the cellar, were saved by heavy
timbers lodging above them. A frame building
opposite Vedder’s, was badly wrecked. The fronts
were blown out of the business houses of
Bonham & Roth, Leet &
Knowlton, Hebbard & George, J. W. Everstine,
Seikert & Adler, C. Neiusuess and G.
Hargesheimer. The roof and cornice of
Cook’s Hotel
were damaged. A gable of the Merchants’ Hotel
stable was blown in. Part of the front of
Perry’s
livery stable was blown in. The side of
Holtz’s saloon was demolished. A wall
of Livermore’s
foundry was blown out and the roof driven
through the boilershop. Part of the roof of
T. P. Hall’s
carriage factory was blown off.
C. C. Willson
barns were scattered.
John R. Cook’s
barn was unroofed.
George Head’s residence on College
street was unroofed. The roof of
A. Gooding’s residence was damaged.
The spire was blown off the Congregational
church. The dome and part of the roof of the
court house were blown off.
Walter S. Booth’s
residence was unroofed. The
Porter House and
Mr. Schwaub’s
residence were seriously damaged. The roof and
front cupola of the Central School building were
lifted off and the building damaged.
Wayne Beardshey’s
house and barn were damaged. The chimney of the
Baptist church was blown through the roof and
the tower injured. The upper part of the west
side of the Winona House leaned over the roof,
and the roof of the barn was partly torn off.
The spire of the Methodist church was blown
down, the roof crushed and a wall damaged and
the roof of the parsonage damaged. The cupola of
the convent was damaged and a part of the roof
torn off and the upper story of the Catholic
parsonage as demolished. The residence of
Mr. Emerick
was damaged and Mr.
Cammack's barn unrooted.
Irving Fox's gunshop was racked.
M. B. Rowley’s
blacksmith shop was partly gone. The center and
roof of the building on the northwest corner of
Sixth and Broadway were crushed. The skylight
roof and cornice of
Crowell’s photograph gallery were
damaged. Dr. J. M.
Williams' residence was slightly
damaged. A. H. Gaskill's
barn was destroyed. The roof of the creamery was
torn off and the upper part of the north end
crushed the cooper shop and shed's were
demolished. The residence of
J. L. Howie was badly damaged. The
spire of the German Lutheran church was blown
off. Moses Hurd’s
barn was leveled. The west wing of
DeWitt Smith’s residence was torn
off. Rev. Roth’s
barn was blown down.
Mr. Brace’s house was blown down. The
roof of Mrs. Haney’s
house was blown off. The roof of
Mrs. Murphy
house was damaged. The barn of
Mr. Kelly and that of
Mr. Heffron were wrecked. The roof of
P. M. Tolbert’s
barn was blown off. The roof of the Broadway
House was torn off and the building damaged. The
roof of Whiting’s
elevator was damaged.
N. F. Gilman’s
factory was demolished. The Rochester Harvester
Works were ruined. S.
H. Whitten’s warehouse was destroyed.
The roof of the Chicago & Northwestern depot
was torn off and the west end damaged. The
warehouse was unroofed and the roundhouse
demolished. Van Dusen
& Co.’s elevator was unroofed. The horse power
room of T. A. Whiting’s
elevator was torn down. The railroad bridge was
blown into the river and the Broadway bridge was
destroyed. The west end of
Cole’s mill, a strong stone
building, was blown in, the roof blown off, the
corner of a wall torn out, the machinery damaged
and the cooper shops destroyed. Eight cars were
overturned and two carloads of flour were in the
race. The roof of H. T.
Horton’s house was damaged and the
tipper part of his barn blown off.
O. P. Whitcomb’s
kitchen was blown off and his barn destroyed.
Mathias Williams’
saloon was damaged.
It was in North Rochester, a section of the
city inhabited largely by working men, many
owning their small homes, that the destruction
of property was most complete, and there only
that lives were destroyed. Houses were actually
swept away, and in several cases their occupants
killed and the ground strewn with fragments of
property and with the carcasses of animals.
The Third Ward School house was wrecked. The
Scandinavian Hotel was damaged. The side and
roof of A. Zierath’s
house were damaged. The roof of
Peter Lind’s
house was torn off. The roof of
Chauncey Vroman’s
house was damaged and his warehouse torn down.
S. H. Whitten’s dwelling, occupied by
Mr. Manley,
was ruined. The residence of
Mr. Burse
was destroyed. S.
Vroman’s dwelling was leveled.
Mr. Rhoeder’s
house was ruined. The dwellings of
Charles Carter, Daniel
Raugh, Dr. Chapman and
G. W. Pugh
were in ruins. The residence of
Robert Smith
was destroyed.
H. R. Flagg’s
dwelling was ruined. The houses of
Messrs. Wooley, Luther,
Ryan and
Clough were destroyed. The houses of
Mr. McCutcheon
and Pederson
were partially ruined. The residence of
Frank H. Allen
was destroyed.
Mrs. Proctor’s house was moved from
the foundation and badly racked.
Mrs. Armstrong’s
house was damaged. The dwellings of
Tal. Williams, Lewis
Price, William Pugh, Paul Jorden, Mrs. Howe
and Peter Larson
were ruined. A house owned by
Asahel Smith and occupied by
Mrs. Humphries and the house of
S. H. Sargeant
were destroyed. The dwellings of
James Gardner and
W. A. Wylie were ruined. The roof of
S.W. Eaton’s
house was blown off.
Mrs. Shanahan’s dwelling was
unroofed. The houses of
William Parker, George Hanson and L.
J. Slade and the house and barn of
John Proud were
demolished. Mr.
McCormick’s house was damaged.
L. H. Humason’s
house was ruined. A house belonging to
Horace Cook
was badly damaged. Mr.
Granger’s house, occupied by
Herman Blank, was wrecked.
Mrs. Warfield’s
house was unroofed. The houses of
Mr. Gasky and
Mr. Hagan were destroyed. A house of
Louie Miller
was wrecked. Houses owned by
Messrs. Tondro, Kahily,
Vaughn, Manley, Roeder. Martin and Conklin
were annihilated. Mr.
Lehman’s house, occupied by
Mr. Fromis, was ruined.
Frank Reed’s house was destroyed.
Mr. Turk’s
residence was destroyed. The house and barn of
John Vedder
were blown down. The dwellings of
Mr. Hagadorn
and of J. B.
Wagoner were destroyed. The houses of
Mr. Weinreibe, Mr.
Gordy and
Mr. Swanie were ruined.
continued
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