They buried their dead in wake of 1917 tornado

It came anonymously in yesterday's mail from someone who, perhaps, knows that I have a deep interest in state and local history. I received an envelope with my name on it containing a one-page "Cyclone Edition" of The Charleston Courier of May 29, 1917. The simple publication was a report to the devastated citizens of the community about the deadly tornado that struck Coles County three days earlier.

Our area has been struggling with storms in recent days. A few trees are down, streams may be at their banks and farmers may not be able to go back in the fields for awhile. But the tornado of May 26, 1917, was the worst ever in our area.

According to "‘Round the Square," the Charleston history book by Nancy Easter Shick and Bonnie Clark, on May 26, 1917, an extremely powerful and deadly tornado struck Mattoon and then headed east to Charleston. Before the day was over, more than 100 people in the two communities were dead, hundreds more were injured while property damage exceeded $2.5 million.

It seemed like a typical spring day when storm clouds gathered northwest of Charleston by mid-afternoon. Light rain turned to huge drops and then to hailstones averaging 3 inches in diameter.

"With these came the thunderous roar, which in a second became deafening, and the tornado struck. It was over in fifteen minutes, but living victims say it seemed like hours, and the district beginning at the Coles County fairgrounds and extending east in a wedge-like shape between Monroe and Vine streets, was laid in death, destruction, waste and debris, and many women and children were missing ...," reported the Charleston Courier.

The tornado cut a swath 2 ½ miles wide, killing 35 in Charleston and injuring 100. About 400 homes and businesses were destroyed.

Relief efforts began as soon as the storm ended. The American Red Cross, which had just opened an office in town in preparation for World War I assistance, helped supervise the tornado assistance.

The Courier's "Cyclone Edition" is interesting for a number of reasons but I was struck by the assistance offered by neighboring towns to try to get the cities back on their feet.

The Paris Chamber of Commerce met to raise funds for the relief of tornado sufferers in Charleston and Mattoon. "The supplies will be sent to Charleston alone, and the funds will be divided between Charleston and Mattoon," the Courier reported. "At 1:25 this afternoon the soliciting committee had raised a fund of $1400."

People in Monticello contributed $1250. The Courier reported that Arcola's citizens "came to the relief of Charleston's grief stricken people when Newton Cox, James Davidson, William Smith and Quirk arrived in Charleston and left a cash purse of $2603.41 with I.H. Johnston, cashier of the Second National Bank. These gentlemen left an equal sum with the Relief Committee of Mattoon." (Note: Arcola was a very prosperous farming community, per-capita one of the region's wealthiest, at that time).

Epidemiologist Dr. Godfrey was in charge of sanitary work in the damaged areas, "and with a force of men and the Boy Scouts have been at work all day collecting dead animals. All dead animals should be piled in heaps and burned and all open wells kept covered."

"Working rules suspended," one headline noted:

"The Labor organizations of the two cities met Monday evening (and) laid aside all rules and regulations governing their work that they might be of the greatest aid in the hour of need.

"By the decision reached Monday night the eight-hour day is eliminated for a term of 90 days and a member can work as he wants without violating the rules. Overtime is also eliminated," the Cyclone Edition reported. "This is one of the greatest donations that has been made to the tornado sufferers and the organized men should always be remembered for their generosity and eagerness to assist the storm-stricken cities."

The one-page newspaper also reported on the funerals of 12 residents, including Mr. and Mrs. Wm. R. Sweeney, who died together; J.W. Johnston, a schoolteacher; Mildred Owings, who was 10; and Mrs. William Lang and daughter Mildred.

May 26 had a deadly history. The Cyclone Edition noted that a tornado struck St. Louis on May 26, 1896, killing 200 people and causing $10 million in damage.

"It was remarkable that no hysteria followed the greatest catastrophe which has fell to the lots of Charleston and Mattoon in all their history and one that will never be forgotten by those who passed through the terrifying ordeal.

"Already steps are being taken to reconstruct the shattered homes and businesses," the newspaper reported. It noted "The local Amish and Mennonite communitites have been exceedingly generous, and we would hope that local residents would note this fact and lay to rest any lingering doubts they may have about those two groups. Not only are they our neighbors, but they have proven themselves by their efforts and generosity to be most desirable ones."

It was a tragedy that has thankfully never been repeated in our area, but you can't help but be impressed by the spirit of all involved. The people buried their dead while rebuilding their cities at the same time.

One of the reasons I like living here is that I'm sure that we still have that same spirit, but let's hope that we aren't called on to demonstrate it under similar conditions. Let's hope other May 26ths pass uneventfully.

:)

I grew up on a farm in this area, and the tornado took out the north wall of the church my husband and I got married in the year before (almost a year to the day!) I knew many of the people who were injured and most of the ones who had property damaged by that storm. As a kid, I helped clean up damage from a tornado in this same town, and it was bad enough--but nowhere near the level of damage as this last one.

The night it happened, within about fifteen minutes, they had deputies stationed outside of town to keep people from going in to try and help. One of my neighbors was trying to get into town, his Mother in law was elderly and lived alone there. He almost got arrested because he refused to leave when told to. While he argued with the deputy at the roadblock, he could hear the screams of people trapped inside the rubble.

We were lucky, nobody was injured attempting to help--there were huge numbers of live power lines down along with gas leaks. The total number of deaths was ONE--and that was a lady out on the interstate, not a local person.

Clean up took a long time, and many of the people there STILL get horribly upset and scared with any bad storms, but I was amazed at the number of people who came to help with the clean up. Literally, there were lines of carloads of volunteers there for the time it took to clean up the mess.

The spirit of small towns is not gone, and it resides in many people you'd not expect it to. Some of those volunteers came down from Chicago... I bless those people to this day.

Peace to you, and I DO hope we never have need of that kind of fraternity again.

Added on edit: Some photos of Ogden after the tornado--

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/arch/cases/960419/dmg/home.rxml