LittletonHit by Tornado
The Rushville Times,October 31, 1856
One of the most serious casualtiesit has ever been our painful duty to record, occurred at Littleton, a pleasantvillage, situated in our county, about nine miles a little west and northof this place, on Friday evening last. A little before five o’clock p.m.,a very black cloud was seen in a south west direction from the town. Ina few moments, the tornado was upon them. Except the tearing up of foresttrees, and the scattering of fences, it seems to have done no materialinjury, until it reached the village, upon which it spent its wild fury,and then passed off in a north easterly direction, injuring, so far aswe have heard, no houses in its course. It left Littleton a confused massof ruins–probably, we cannot describe the destruction better, from ourpresent information, than by enumerating to some extent the loss sustained.The town was built upon the east and west side of the road leading fromRushville to Macomb, running north. On the east side were two churches,a tavern stand, and several shops, barns and private residences. In, scarcelymore than a moment, all, except the tavern, which partly escaped were amass of ruins, some razed to the ground, and some having but a portionof the walls standing. Roofs, timbers, furniture, men, women and children,were picked up by the tornado, and in an intermingled mass, cast just whereit pleased. One father in one moment stood in his dwelling; the next, hewas cast many feet outside; on looking up, two children were lying, wherethey had been thrown by the storm, near by his side; his babe was a shortdistance from him, beneath a stove; his wife, and her mother still furtherfrom him, covered with timbers and rubbish, and badly bruised, and wounded.A wagon and pair of horses had been hitched in from of his house; theywere thrown over, or through the fence, the horses lighting on a featherbed, thrown from the house, and were kicking it to pieces, withina few inches of his wife, who was so fastened by the rubbish etc., thatshe could not extricate herself. Mrs. Hill was much bruised, and her mother,Mrs. Knowles, a most estimable lady from this place, then visiting herdaughter, badly, and it is feared dangerously hurt. We give this as a specimenof the wild operations of the storm. Upon the west side of the street,the havoc was nearly as great. Two dwelling houses, Mr. Dewitt and Mr.Bruner and the store of James Dewitt & Co., were not destroyed, butwere much injured, all the rest are in ruins. Two posts, or beams, as weare told, from some other building, were driven through the frame of Mr.Dewitt’s house. T. Crawford’s store room and dwelling, were completelydemolished, and his father, an old and well known citizen of our county,Mr. Wm. Crawford, was severely injured, it is feared, fatally; his physicianssupposing that his bowels have been ruptured. His goods are mostly saved,in a damaged condition, except the queens and glassware, and such otherbreakable stock, which, of course were ground to atoms.
Dr. Davis’ office, dwellingand barn were entirely destroyed, together with his medicines, furniture,clothing, &c. Probably, the storm came as near destroying all he possessed,as in any other case. Two ministers resided in the town, Rev. L. Shellyof the Methodist Episcopal, Rev. Stewart of the Baptist church. Their churcheswere laid level with the prairie, and their dwellings met with no betterfate; of course their furniture, books &c., were badly injured.
Before going to press, weshall try to procure a complete list of the sufferers, together with thecharacter, and amount of the loss sustained.
The most wonderful part ofthe whole is, that, with such havoc, in such a dreadful hurricane, whenall must have been so wild with excitement, and confusion, that so fewwere hurt, and that none were instantaneously killed.
Early in the evening, a messengerreached Rushville, for medical aid. Immediately a corps of our physicianshastened to the spot. Those badly injured, had been placed in the few remaininghouses, and every possible assistance was rendered them.
In the midst of our gratitude,for our preservation, let us remember the sufferers. All have lost moreor less; some have suffered most seriously; some indeed have lost theirall. Some, a week ago were well to do, with happy homes and cheerful prospectsbefore them, are now, not only homeless, but have lost their instrumentsof labor, and have wounded families to attend. We are proud of the sympathy,the active, and tangible sympathy, Rushville has exhibited. All our citizensseem eager to help with money, clothing, building materials and labor.But all may help. Any one wishing to afford relief in this dire hour ofsuffering, can forward their donations to James Dewitt at Littleton, orto George W. Metz, chairman of the Relief committee, Rushville. Come friends”Lend to him, who loveth the cheerful giver.”
Estimate of Loss
We have taken especial painsto obtain as accurate information as possible of the sufferers in the stormat Littleton and the amount of their loss. We append the following list,prepared by a citizen of that place, which we suppose is as nearly correctas can be made:
Jacob Louis – $500.00
Baptist Church (frame) -$600.00
Methodist E. Church (brick)- $1500.00
William Snyder, house -$500.00
E. Abbott & J. C. Edmonston,residing in W. Snyder’s house – $100.00
Rev. Stewart, house, furniture,buggy, clothing – $800.00
Dr. Davis, clothing, officefurniture, &.c – $1500.00
J. O. Smith, 2 houses -$700.00
P. B. Cordell, furniture,clothing, &c. – $150.00
Alex Simpson, furniture,clothing, &c. – $50.00
R. Nichols, hotel, stable,one horse, &c. – $200.00
E. M. Wilson, house, shop,&c. – $800.00
Rev. L. Shelly, library,furniture, &c. – $250.00
Dewitt & Co., damageto store – $150.00
Jas. Dewitt, damage to house- $50.00
Talbert Crawford, house,stock and 2 warehouses – $1500.00
Crawford & Cordell,stock, goods, &c. – $1500.00
Wm. Hill, house, shop &wagons – $1100.00
Mrs. Dale’s house &c.- $600.00
Kennada Odell, house – $600.00
A total of $14,500.00
Considerable property, consistingof wagons, buggies, &c., belonging to citizens of the surrounding country,at the shops for repairs, was damaged to the amount, probably, of from300 to 500 dollars. Other smaller losses, are known to the amount of $100.00.Total of $15,100.00Copyright 1999, 2000 RobinL. W. Petersen; all rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercialuse of the information contained in these pages is strictly prohibitedwithout prior permission. If copied, this copyright must appear with theinformation.