Dougherty County GaArchives Photo .....St. Nicholas Hotel Tornado of 1940 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: K. P. January 11, 2004 Source: Family Photos Photo can be seen at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/dougherty/photos/stnicholas.jpg Image file size: 79 Kb This photo showing the St. Nicholas Hotel after the tornado of 1940 was taken by George Francis Evans (b. 9 April 1877 in Savannah, Chatham Co., GA) (D. 2 Jul 1950, Floyd Co., GA - where the family moved to help recover his health) (buried St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Jacksonville, Duval Co., FL) He was grocery distributor, traveled a great deal, and was in Albany on business at the time of the tornado. His wife Stella Masters Evans (b. 25 Oct 1881 in Savannah, Chatham Co., GA)(d. 1 Mar 1965 at her home in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Co., FL)(buried St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Jacksonville, Duval Co., FL) resided in Jacksonville, FL, with their children that were still at home. Their daughter Mary was my great aunt (b. January 14, 1907 in North Augusta, Aiken Co., SC)(d. August 04, 1988 in her home in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Co., FL)(buried along side her parents and siblings in St. Mary's - now known as Evergreen Cemetery - Jacksonville, Duval Co., FL.) Mary was a professional model and also quite often a traveler, but was at that time visiting her mom while her dad was in Albany at the time of the tornado. Although my great grandpa survived the tornado event, he developed a lung ailment after his exposure to the elements and the conditions after being ejected from his bed by the violent winds. Although the family nursed him in climate they thought would be more conducive to recovery, he suffered, lingered and finally succumbed to the illness he developed in the aftermath of that storm. The tornado of 10 Feb 1940 took his life as surely as if he'd been crushed by the rubble in the dawn. The blue ink is the writing of George Evans, and the part in black that says "daddy was in this tornado" was written by his daughter Mary.