Jackson County IL Archives News.....'THUNDERBOLT' KILLS AGING G. WHITELAW - 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, 7:03 pm

The Murphysboro Daily Republican-Era. Murphysboro, IL March 27, 1925

 
March 27, ,  

 
      Granville WHITELAW, colored, 60 years old, came through the tornado March
18, and one week and a day after the storm found himself living in a refugee
tent with others of his race, on North 17th Street.  At 7 p.m. a terrific
lighting and rain storm broke over the devastated city.  When it passed,
WHITELAW was found a corpse, a victim of lightning.

      WHITELAW had lived here for years.  The "tunderbolt" that laid the old man
low, caused superstitions to rise again through the encampment of colored storm
refugees here, few of whom slept for hours after WHITELAW's death was reported.

      The storm, accompanied by hail, struck terror into the hearts of nearly
all of those, regardless of their color, who survived the tornado.  The storm
also had a visible effect on the conscious injured remaining in local hospitals.

      Rain damage to unprotected property last night will run high into the
thousands.


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/thunderb132nnw.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/

File size: 2.0 Kb