Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Flood
August 5, 1843
The morning of August 5, 1843, at early dawn,
gave indications of a rainy day. The wind was in
the east or northeast, and the clouds were
observed to have an appearance which indicated a
fall of rain. The sun was barely visible at
rising, and a short time afterwards the whole
sky became overclouded. At about 7 o’clock, a.
m., it commenced raining, and continued to rain
moderately, with occasional remissions, but
without any very perfect Intermission until noon
or later. This was a general rain, which
extended much beyond the limits of Delaware
county in every direction. This general rain
scarcely caused an appreciable rise in the
streams; but it had the effect of fully
saturating the surface of the ground with water
to the depth of some inches, and in this way
contributed to increase the flood in some degree
beyond what it would have been, had the
subsequent heavy rain fallen on the parched
earth. No general description of this rain,
which caused the great inundation, will exactly
apply to any two neighborhoods, much less to the
whole extent of the county. In the time of its
commencement and termination—in the quantity of
rain which fell—in the violence and direction of
the wind, there was a remarkable want of
correspondence between different parts of the
county. It may be observed, however, that
comparatively little rain fell along its
southern and southeastern borders.
Cobb’s Creek, on the eastern margin of the
county, and Brandywine on the west, were not
flooded in any extraordinary degree. This
conclusively shows that the greatest violence of
the storm was expended on the district of
country which is drained by Chester, Ridley,
Crum, Darby, and the Gulf creeks, and one or two
tributaries of the Brandywine. This district
will include a part of Chester county, and a
very small part of Montgomery; but including
these, the whole extent of country that was
inundated did not exceed in area the territory
embraced within the county of Delaware. The
extent of territory that was inundated was also
much greater than that which was subjected to
any very extraordinary fall of rain. The amount
of rain which felt on that part of the county
which borders on the river Delaware, and
embraces the mouths and lower parts of the
inundated creeks, was not sufficient to produce
even an ordinary rise in the streams, and to
this circumstance may in part be attributed the
very unprepared state in which the inhabitants
of this district were found for the mighty flood
of waters which was approaching to overwhelm
them. The very rapid rise in the water in the
streams, without apparently any adequate cause,
was also well calculated to increase the alarm
in this district beyond what it would have been,
had the quantity of water that fell there borne
a comparison with that which fell in the upper
parts of the county.
As a general rule, the heavy rain occurred
later as we proceed from the sources of the
streams towards their mouths. The quantity of
rain which fell will decrease as we proceed in
the same direction, particularly from the middle
parts of the county downwards.
In those sections of the county where its
greatest violence was expended the character of
the storm more nearly accorded with that of a
tropical hurricane than with anything which
appertained to this region of country. The
clouds wore an unusually dark and lowering
appearance, of which the whole atmosphere seemed
in some degree to partake, and this
circumstance, no doubt, gave that peculiarly
vivid appearance to the incessant flashes of
lightning, which was observed by every one. The
peals of thunder were loud and almost
continuous. The clouds appeared to approach from
different directions, and to concentrate at a
point not very distant from the zenith of the
beholder. In many places there was but very
little wind, the rain falling in nearly
perpendicular streams; at other places it blew a
stiff breeze, first from the east or northeast,
and suddenly shifting to the southwest, while at
a few points it blew in sudden gusts with great
violence, accompanied with whirlwinds, which
twisted off and prostrated large trees, and
swept everything before it.
So varied was the character of the storm at
different places, that the committee of the
Institute, in order to present a satisfactory
account of it, was obliged to embody the remarks
of the different observers throughout the
county. Brief extracts will be made from these
remarks.
In Concord township the heavy rain commenced at
about a quarter before three o’clock, p.m.
In the wind being E. S. E., but it veered so
rapidly retrogade to the sun’s motion, that the
clouds appeared to verse to a centre over the
western section of Delaware county, from several
points, of the compass at the same time—the rain
falling in torrents resembling a water spout. At
about a quarter before four o’clock the wind had
nearly boxed the compass, and blew a gale from
W. S. W., and about that hour, a tornado or
whirlwind, passed across the southern part of
Concord, about a quarter of a mile in width,
prostrating forest and fruit trees, and
scattering the fences in every direction In the
neighborhood of Concord the rain continued
about, three hours, and the quantity that fell
in that vicinity, as nearly as could be
ascertained, was about sixteen inches. It is not
probable that a greater quantity of rain fell in
any other part of the county.
In Newtown township the heavy rain commenced
about two o’clock, and terminated about five
o’clock, p. m, the wind, during the rain, being
nearly N. W. There was a heavy blow of wind, but
it was not violent. The quantity of rain that
fell was between eleven and thirteen inches. At
Newtown Square, in forty minutes, immediately
before five o’clock, it was ascertained that
five inches and a half of rain fell. As observed
in the north part of Radnor, the heavy rain
commenced about four o’clock, p. m., and ceased
about six o’clock. At the commencement the wind
blew from the S. or S. W. but changed to the
S.E. about four and a half or five o’clock, from
which direction came the heaviest rain.
At Crozerville the storm appeared to have
concentrated, and spent itself with awful
violence. The morning had been lowering with
occasional showers of rain, the air cool for the
season. After noon the sky was thickly overcast,
and clouds floated slowly in various directions,
the wind as noted by a vane, N. E. After two
o’clock, thunder was heard at a distance, which
soon became louder and more frequent. About
three o’clock, under an unusually dark sky, rain
commenced falling in torrents, accompanied with
vivid lightning and almost continuous peals of
thunder. The lightning was more vivid than ever
had been witnessed by the observer in the
day-time, nor had he ever before heard so much
loud thunder at one time. The rain terminated a
few minutes before six o’clock. Crozerville lies
in a basin surrounded by steep acclivities. In
every direction from these hills, sheets of
water poured down, and mingling with the current
below, presented, together with the rapid
succession of forked lightning, a scene of awful
sublimity.
In the northern part of Middletown the
greatest violence of the storm lasted from three
to five o’clock, p. m., the wind blowing from
every quarter, but not with great violence.
In the northern part of Nether Providence,
the heavy rain commenced between four and five
o’clock, and continued till a quarter past six
o’clock. The wind blew from various directions,
and at five o’clock with great violence from the
W. N. W. In the northwest of Springfield
township the heavy rain commenced between two
and three o’clock and continued till five. There
was a strong current of air or whirlwind that
passed over the high grounds near
Beatty’s
mills, that uprooted and broke off trees. Lower
down, on Crum creek, “there appeared to be two
storms of rain approaching one another, one from
the S. E., the other from the N. W., which
appeared to meet, and it could not be told for
some minutes which would prevail, but eventually
the one from the S.E. carried the sway,” the
rain being greatly increased during the
struggle. At another point in Springfield the
heaviest rain fell between five and six o’clock,
the wind being variable, and blowing at one time
with great violence, prostrating trees and
fences in its course.
In the middle part of Chester township the
heaviest rain was late in the afternoon; there
being no wind it fell in vertical streams. On
the upper border of this township
there was some wind. In the township of Bethel,
not far from the Delaware State liner a
hurricane of great violence occurred between
four and five o’clock in the afternoon. The wind
blew in opposite directions, as was proven by
uprooted trees. Two miles further north the wind
was still more violent, tearing up a large
quantity of heavy timber in a very small space.
A valley of woodland, bounded by high hills, had
nearly all its timber prostrated, not lengthwise
with the valley, but across it, with the tops of
the trees towards the N. E.
In the western part of Upper Darby the rain
was very heavy, but the storm was not so violent
as further N. W. The heavy rain, however, began
about three o’clock, while in the more easterly
parts of the same township but three-fourths of
an inch of rain (accurately measured) fell
during the day. In the neighborhood of Chester
it rained moderately through the day, with one
pretty heavy shower in the evening.
In Birmingham, heavy rains commenced about
noon—the wind east or southeast. The clouds were
dark and heavy, the lightning sharp, and the
thunder very heavy, “accompanied with a rumbling
noise in the air.” The wind was changeable, and
blew with great violence. The rain ceased about
four o’clock.
The most remarkable circumstances connected
with the rise in the waters of the several
streams, was its extreme suddenness. In this
particular, the flood in question has but few
parallels on record; occurring in a temperate
climate, and being the result of rain alone. The
description given by many persons of its
approach in the lower district of the county,
forcibly reminds one of the accounts he has read
of the advance of the tides in the Bay of Fundy,
and other places where they attain a great
height. Some spoke of the water as coming down
in a breast of several feet at a time; others
described it as approaching in waves;’ but all
agree, that at one period of the flood, there
was an almost instantaneous rise in the water of
from five to eight feet. The time at which this
extreme rapidity in the rise of the water
occurred, was (in most places) after the streams
had become so much swollen as to nearly or quite
fill their ordinary channels. The quantity of
water required to produce such a phenomenon, was
therefore immensely greater, as the valleys of
the streams in most places have a transverse
section of several hundred feet. The breaking of
mill-dams, and the yielding of bridges, and
other obstructions, contributed in a degree to
produce such an extraordinary swell, but we must
mainly look for the cause of this sudden rush of
waters to the violence of the rain—if the term
rain will apply to the torrents of water that
fell in the northern and western sections of the
county.
Cobb’s creek, on the eastern margin of the
county, was not swollen much beyond an ordinary
flood, although 5.82 inches of rain fell during
the day at Haverford College, within the
drainage of that stream.
Darby creek, in a narrow valley above
Heys' factory
attained a height of 17 feet the greatest height
of Crum creek was about 20 feet, and that of
Ridley creek 21 feet. At
Dutton’s mill, Chester creek rose
to the height of 33 feet 6 inches.
To notice all the interesting details that are
given in the report on the flood, from which the
foregoing extracts have been taken, would occupy
too much space in this volume. The subject will
be concluded by presenting a summary of the
damages sustained by the freshet within the
limits of the county, both public and private,
together with a brief notice of the casualties
that resulted in the loss of life, and the
narrow escapes from imminent peril.
Thirty-two of the county bridges were either
wholly destroyed or seriously injured. The
following estimate of the damage sustained by
the bridges on the several streams, was
carefully made by competent persons:—On Darby
Creek, $3,370; on Ithan Creek, $475; on Crum
Creek, $6,875; on Ridley Creek, $5,400; on
Chester Creek, $8,600; total, $24,700.
Many of the townships also sustained heavy
losses in the destruction of small bridges and
culverts. The damage to private property will be
given in the aggregate, only specifying the
amount on each creek—On Darby Creek and
tributaries, $20,000; on Crum Creek and
tributaries, $24,000; on Ridley Creek and
tributaries, $39,000; on Chester Creek and its
branches, $104,000; on tributaries of the
Brandywine, $2,600; amount of private loss,
$190,375.
It is also estimated that the Philadelphia,
Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company
sustained damage to the amount of $4,500.
Nineteen human beings lost their lives by
drowning. To persons who cannot bring their
minds to realize the almost instantaneous rise
in the water, this number may appear large, but
it is really almost miraculous, that under the
circumstances, so small a number should have
perished. Hair-breadth escapes, and rescues from
perilous situations, were numerous. Had the
inundation occurred at midnight, when most
persons arc wrapped in slumber, the destruction
of human life would have been dreadful indeed.
Such a calamity can only be contemplated with
feelings of horror.
Seven lives were lost on Darby creek. When the
stone bridge at Darby yielded to ‘the torrent,
two young men—Russell
K. Flounders and
Josiah Bunting, Jr., were standing
upon it. Both perished. At the cotton factory of
D. & C. Kelly, on the Delaware county
turnpike, five lives were lost.
Michael Nolan
and his family, consisting of his wife, five
children and a young woman named
Susan Dowlan, occupied a small frame
tenement immediately below the western wall of
the bridge. Before any immediate danger from the
rise of water was apprehended,
Michael and his
eldest son had left the house with the view of
making arrangements for the removal of the
family. There was no water about the house when
the father and son started, yet upon their
attempt to return, after an absence of five
minutes, it was not in the power of any one to
reach the dwelling, much less to render the
inmates any assistance. The wing-walls of the
bridge soon gave way, and shortly after this the
house was swept from Its foundations, became a
complete wreck, and all the inmates perished,
except Susan Dowlan,
who accidentally caught the branches of a tree,
and at length obtained a foothold on a
projecting knot, where she supported herself
till the water had sufficiently abated to allow
her to be rescued. At
Garrett’s Factory three families,
numbering sixteen individuals, were, for a long
time, placed in the utmost jeopardy. Their
retreat from land was wholly cut off by the
sudden rise in the water—the houses they
occupied were completely wrecked and large
portions of them carried away, and they had
nothing left to afford them the least security
but the tottering remains of the ruins of their
dwellings, which, fortunately, withstood the
torrent.
No lives were lost on Crum creek.
On Ridley creek, five individuals perished, a
father and his four children.
George Hargraves,
his wife, four children and a brother, named
William,
occupied a central dwelling in a long stone
building at Samuel
Bancroft’s factory, in Nether
Providence. The family delayed making their
escape till it was too late, but retreated into
the second story. The flood soon rushed through
the building and carried away the two middle
dwellings, and with it
George Hargraves, his four older
children and brother
William; his wife, with the youngest
child in her arms, being in a corner of the room
where the flooring was not entirely carried
away. William
was carried down the current half a mile,
where he fortunately found a place of safety in
the branches of a standing tree. Shortly after,
George, with
his children, floated by him on a bed, and, as
he passed, cried out, “hold on to it, William.”
Scarcely had George given this admonition to his
brother when he and his four children were swept
from their position on the bed and engulfed
beneath the turbulent waters of the flood, not
to rise again. After
Jane, the wife of
George Hargraves,
had sustained herself on a mere niche of
projecting flooring, with her child in her arms,
during five hours, she was rescued.
Thomas Wardell Brown,
his wife and child, occupied the other
demolished dwelling, but were saved by taking a
position on a portion of flooring corresponding
to that on which Jane
Hargraves stood, but of much less
dimensions. This was the only portion of their
dwelling not carried away.
A short distance above
Sherman’s upper factory, a double
frame house, occupied by
William Tooms and
James Rigly
and their families, was floated down the stream
and lodged against the wheel-house of the
factory, in a position opposite to window of the
picker-house. Rigly,
after placing his wife and child in
the second story of the picker-house, discovered
that Tooms,
(who was sick) his wife and two children were In
the garret of their dwelling, the roof of which
was partly under water. He immediately broke a
hole in the roof and rescued the inmates, one by
one, and placed them in the picker-house. In
half a minute after he returned the last time,
their late dwelling was whirled over the
wheel-house, dashed to pieces and carried down
the stream.
Edward Lewis, Esq.,
and his son Edward,
were placed in a situation of great
peril. They were in the third story of the
grist-mill when the building began to yield to
the flood—their paper and saw-mill having
previously been swept away, and a current of
great depth and velocity was passing between the
mill and their dwelling, across which was their
only chance of retreat. A considerable part of
the walls of the mill gave way, and the roof and
timbers fell in confusion around them, but
fortunately enough of the building remained firm
till they were rescued by means of a rope.
On Chester creek seven human beings were
deprived of their lives by the flood, and many
others were placed in situations of great
jeopardy.
Mary Jackson,
a colored woman, while assisting her husband to
save floating wood, near Flower’s mill, was
overtaken by the flood and drowned. Near the
same place Mr. William
G. Flower was subjected to imminent
peril. Mr. F. was on the meadow when the flood
came down in a wave (represented by spectators
as being from three to four feet high), and
swept him away. He was carried from his path
into an old mill-race, where he succeeded in
reaching a grape vine, and by means of that, a
tree. But the tree was soon uprooted and borne
away. After a short period of extreme peril,
4uring which he was several times overwhelmed
with trees, timber, &c., carried along with
frightful velocity, he succeeded in catching the
branches of another tree, when, almost
exhausted, he reached a place of safety.
No lives were lost at Chester, though numbers
were placed in extreme danger by remaining in a
dwelling adjoining the eastern abutment of the
bridge—the western’ abutment and the bridge
having been carried away, and a fearful current
passing between the eastern abutment and the
town. Mr. Jonathan
Dutton was placed in a situation of
great jeopardy. While endeavoring to secure some
property in his mill from being damaged by the
flood, he was surprised by the sudden rise in
the water to an alarming height. He retreated
from story to story till he reached the tipper
one. His situation soon became more awfully
perilous, for the mill began to yield to the
force of the torrent. His position becoming
desperate, he leaped from a window of the mill
and with great exertion reached the shore.
John Rhoads,
a resident of Pennsgrove, (now Glen Riddle) with
his daughters Hannah
and Jane,
and a granddaughter, were carried away in their
dwelling and drowned
Mary Jane McGuigan, with her only
child at her breast, in another dwelling at the
place, perished in the same manner.
The new stone cotton factory at Knowlton, 76
by 36 feet, well stored with machinery, was
carried away, but fortunately none of the
operatives were in the building. There are many
other interesting facts and circumstances
connected with this unprecedented and disastrous
flood, described in the report of the committee
of the Institute, but our allotted space will
not permit us to notice them.
The county commissioners stood aghast at the
almost universal damage or destruction of the
county bridges, and scarcely knew where to
commence the work of rebuilding and repairs. The
legislature was applied to for an exemption of
the county from State tax for one year, which
application was ungenerously refused. Loans were
resorted to; and it became a matter of
astonishment in what a short time both public
and private damage was repaired, and almost
everything restored to its former, or even to a
better condition. The recuperative energies of
no community were ever more severely taxed, end
it was only by this test that the people of our
county became fully acquainted with the vast
extent of their own resources.
A history of Delaware County,
Pennsylvania, and its people, 1914, pages
266-272
 Search
for more information on the Delaware County
Flood
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
Delaware County, PA among billions of names at ancestry.com. Use this
Free trial to search for your ancestors.
History
of Delaware County, Pennsylvania - from the
discovery of the territory included within its
limits to the present time Use this
Free trial to search for your ancestors.
|
