Warner, New Hampshire Tornado

September 9, 1821

THE TORNADO.

The winged messenger of death, which bore down through Warner on that fatal September day of 1821, was a tornado, and so let it hereafter be forever known.
The day and hour when this visitation occurred, in Warner, was Sunday, September 9, 1821, about five o’clock in the afternoon. The 8th and 9th were warm days: the latter was sultry. About five o’clock a black cloud was observed to rise rapidly in the northwest, and to bear south-easterly, illumined in its course by incessant flashes of lightning. There was a most terrifying commotion in the cloud itself which gave warning of fearful desolation. A high wind prevailed as far back as Lake Champlain, but the tornado acquired no destructive force till it passed over Grantham mountains. In Croydon the house of Deacon Cooper was shattered, and his barn, with its contents, was entirely swept away. No other buildings were directly in its narrow path, till it nearly reached Sunapee lake. Here, it came in contact with the farm and buildings of John Harvey Huntoon, of Wendell, now Sunapee. There were eight persons in the house. They had beheld the frightful appearance of the cloud; had seen the air before it filled with birds, and broken limbs of trees, and rubbish of all kinds; but there had not been much time for reflection or for seeking safety. The tornado, after a moment’s warning, was upon them, and the house and the two barns were instantly prostrated to the ground. A broadside of the house fell upon Mr. Huntoon and his wife, who were standing in the kitchen. The next moment it was blown off and dashed to pieces. Mrs. Huntoon was swept at least ten rods from the house. A child eleven months old was sleeping on a bed in the west room: the dress it wore was soon after found in the lake, a hundred and fifty rods from the house. The child could not be found. The Wednesday following, its mangled body was picked up on the shore of the lake, whither it had floated on the waves. The bedstead on which the child was sleeping was found in the woods, eighty rods from the house, northerly, and clear out of the general track of the cyclone. The other seven persons of the household were injured, but none of them died. Every tree on a forty-acre lot of woodland was levelled to the ground. A bureau was blown across the lake. A horse was dashed against the rocks and killed.

The tornado passed across Sunapee lake, drawing up into its bosom vast quantities of water. New London suffered a loss of property estimated at $9,000. Eight or ten barns, five or six houses, and many outbuildings were entirely or partially destroyed in that town. From New London the tornado passed across the northerly part of Sutton, cutting a swath through the forests which is visible to this day, but coming in contact with no buildings. It then bore up the northwest side of Kearsarge mountain, apparently in two columns. In pitching down over the mountain into the Gore, the two columns merged into one, and came with crushing force. The thunders rolled fearfully, the forked lightning flashed on the dark background, and the flood was driven with the gale. 1n this valley, between the two spurs of the mountain, stood seven dwelling-houses. The tornado first struck the barn of William Harwood, and demolished that; passing onward, its outer limits came in contact with the houses of M. F. Goodwin, James Ferrin, and Abner Watkins. All of these houses were damaged:  Ferrin’s barn was destroyed, and Watkins’s unroofed. Next in the line of march stood Daniel Savory’s house. Hearing a frightful rumbling in the heavens, Mr. Samuel Savory, aged 72, the father of the proprietor (who was away), hastened up stairs to close the windows. The women started to his assistance, when the house whirled and instantly rose above their heads, while what was left behind,—timbers, bricks, etc.,—almost literally buried six of the family in the ruins. The body of the aged Samuel Savory was found at a distance of six rods from the house, where he had been dashed against a stone and instantly killed. His wife was severely injured. Mrs. Daniel Savory was fearfully bruised on the head, arms, and breast, and an infant which she held in her arms was killed. The house of Robert Savory stood very near this place, and that, also, was utterly demolished. Mrs. Savory and the children (six in number) were buried together under the bricks and rubbish. Some of them were severely injured, but none killed. Not only the houses, but the barns and outbuildings at the two Savory places, were utterly cleaned out. Not one stone was left upon another. Trees, fences, shingles, the legs, wings, and heads of fowls, filled the air. Crops were swept off clean; stones partly buried in the earth were overturned; trees of every description were denuded of their branches, or twisted off at the trunk, or torn up by the roots. There were twenty-four hives of bees at the Robert Savory place,—perhaps the property of both families these were swept out of sight in an instant. The ground was sweetened with honey for half a mile, but no hive and no sign of a bee has since been seen. The Savorys and Abner Watkins had caught a noble old bear on the mountain, and had chained him to a sill of Robert Savory’s barn, intending to exhibit him at the muster, which occurred the 10th day of September, back of George Savory’s present house. Though the barn was entirely destroyed to its foundation, the sill to which the bear was chained being a cross-sill, and bedded into the ground, remained in its place, and the bear was unhurt. But he was not exhibited the next day on the muster-field.

John Palmer, who lived up to the eastward of the Savorys a third of a mile, saw the terrible cloud, in shape like an inverted tunnel. He saw the air filled with leaves, limbs, quilts, clothing, crockery, and almost every conceivable thing. He heard the ominous rumbling, and sprang to enter the house with the purpose of fleeing, with his wife, to the cellar. He got the door but partly open, when the house gave way, burying Mrs. Palmer under the rubbish, and inflicting serious injuries. In this valley between the hills, everything in the direct course of the tornado was rooted out. Bridges made of logs were scattered in every direction, timbers being thrown to the right and left, and even to the rear, as well as to the front.

The tornado passed on over the next spur of the mountain, two and a half miles, and then bore down on the houses of Peter Flanders in Warner, and of Dea. Joseph True, just in the edge of Salisbury. [Peter Flanders was the father of True and Oliver Flanders, the latter of whom occupies the old homestead.] Dea. True was a father-in-law of a Mr. Jones. Jones and his wife were on a visit at True’s. Being at the door they were apprised of the danger, and they called out lustily to the family to seek refuge as best they could. The buildings were whirled aloft, and torn into fragments, falling around the family like missiles of death; but no one at the house was killed outright. The buildings of Mr. Flanders, also, were scattered like chaff, the violence of the gale being unabated. Anna Richardson, an elderly woman living with Flanders, and a child of the latter, were crushed to death. Several others were grievously wounded, one of whom (a child of Mr. True’s) died a short time afterwards.

From here the remarkable cyclone passed over Bagley’s pond, drawing up vast sheets of water from its surface, and, after destroying the house of Mr. Morrell, at the Boscawen line, it lifted itself into the heavens and vanished.

The history of Warner, New Hampshire : for one hundred and forty-four years, from 1735 to 1879 by Walter Harriman, Concord, N.H.: 1879, pages 320-326

The history of Warner, New Hampshire - for one hundred and forty-four years, from 1735 to 1879 Read it online at ancestry.com.  Use this Free trial to search for your ancestors.

Search for more information on the Warner 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 Warner, NH among billions of names at ancestry.com. Use this Free trial to search for your ancestors.