Jackson County IL Archives News.....STORM BREAKS UP FUNERAL AT BAPTIST CHURCH - The Tri-State Tornado March 27, 1925 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Mary Riseling riseling@insightbb.com July 16, 2006, 2:49 pm The Murphysboro Daily Republican-Era. Murphysboro, IL March 27, 1925 The funeral of Mrs. R. B. HILLER, of Thebes, wife of Dr. HILLER, was in progress at the First Baptist church March 18, and Rev. H. T. ABBOTT was quoting a scriptural passage, "in the valley and the shadow" when the storm came. The rites were being conducted in the basement of the new church. With thunderous noises accompanied by what seemed the whining drone of a great dynamo, the upper structure of the church literally fell about the ears of some 200 mourners and friends of the deceased there foregathered. The crowd rushed out. Many went to the nearby Logan school, Dr. HILLER among them, and aided in the rescue of injured children there and the carrying out of the dead. Mrs. HILLER's body was taken to the Presbyterian church for a short time and thence to the home of Mrs. Fannie GRAFF, where it remained over night. The body was buried the next morning. Miraculously the HILLER funeral crowd escaped. None were injured with the exception of Anthony PATE, whose arm was bruised by a failing brick, and F. C. THIEME, the undertaker, who was slightly hurt when he and Mrs. THIEME ran out of their auto parked near the church. Additional Comments: Widely considered the most devastating and powerful tornado in American history, the Great Tri-State Tornado ripped through Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on March 18, 1925. In its 219-mile-long wake it left four completely destroyed towns, six severely damaged ones, 15,000 destroyed homes, and 2,000 injured. Most significantly, 695 people were killed, a record for a single tornado. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/jackson/newspapers/stormbre128nnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 2.3 Kb