A Full Description of the Great Tornado in Chester County, Pa.

by Richard Darlington

Some small properties were now encountered, in the following order, viz: Robert Bradford, stable down, loss about fifty dollars. William Cephas, roof off his house and stable, loss one hundred dollars. Henry Miller, stable destroyed, loss about fifty dollars. Next came Michael M. McGuigan and John Murphy, whose losses were of a similar character, amounting, respectively, to about fifty and one hundred dollars.

We were now at the top of the North Valley Hill, and on looking over the broad expanse of country to the east and to the south, we could distinctly see the track of desolation, as it extended across fields, over dwellings and barns, and through forests. The line of its course was almost direct, and no obstacle seemed to sway it much from its direct track. We traveled slowly down the hill, and then along the road that leads to Parkesburg. The farm and residence of Ezekiel Young gave conclusive evidence that he had not been spared from the terrors of that July day. His land was made fenceless, his barn destroyed, (a good stone structure,) his slaughter house, wagon shed, and three tenement houses were unroofed, three stables were overthrown, his spring house was uncovered, and his carriages, wagons, and farming implements were wrecked. Part of the orchard was destroyed, and on looking over into the meadow, towards the south, a huge tree, about eight feet in diameter, was prostrate. Mr. Young is a good farmer, keeps his buildings in fine repair, and was thoroughly overmatched for once by this monster that traveled over his premises. He was cheerful, but was deeply impressed by the immense mischief it had done him. His buildings were all being repaired. His loss may safely be put down at two thousand dollars.

A remarkable incident occurred on the Strasburg road, near Mr. Young's buildings. A German by the name of Jacob Eisinberger, was leisurely walking along the road; he was almost unconscious of the approach of the storm; on looking around he saw the fence blow away, and immediately found himself in the whirl. He was carried along for about two hundred yards in an unconscious state, and was then left in an adjoining field, his jaw being broken, his shoulder blade fractured, and various minor injuries were experienced. He was taken to the hospital at Lancaster, and remained there for a time under treatment. This was probably the only instance in which the tornado carried a human being along with it. In all other instances personal safety was sought within dwellings, and in most cases with good success.

The track of the storm now extended through the southern part of the borough of Parkesburg; only the extreme south-western portion of the village, however, was destroyed. First came the new residence of Mr. Geo. Paxson, Superintendent of the Penn'a and Delaware R. R. This was a building of rather modest pretensions, long and narrow, and constructed of frame. It had been finished, and his family were preparing to move in on the following day. The dwelling was said to have been erected by contract, the cost to be about fifteen hundred dollars. The cloud on encountering the building, entirely demolished it; a pump stood on the north or kitchen end, solitary and alone, and it was evident that the structure had been near the centre of the storm track. Several dwellings were now encountered towards the east in the following order: First, was Mrs. Fulton's; her house was so badly injured that it will probably have to be built again from the foundation. The loss, which it is said falls partly upon the Parkesburg Building Association, cannot fall much below eight hundred dollars. Next was Charles Hennings's residence; the east end of it was destroyed, with the loss of between one and two hundred dollars. Vincent Rice, who came next in order, and had a house in course of erection, sustained a loss of probably two hundred dollars. This includes, I believe, most, if not all the destruction within the immediate limits of Parkesburg.

We now saw ahead of us, and a little to the south of the main road, the residence of Samuel Jackson. His barn was gone, his house unroofed and otherwise injured; his orchard was overthrown, and all his out-buildings, some of which contained a large amount of grain, were entirely missing; his fences were nowhere to be seen, and there was the usual story of the destruction of farming implements, carriages, etc. The injury done to Mr. Jackson's property was very great indeed. He informed us that he was standing next to the door in one of the front rooms, and the great blast of wind blew the door off its hinges, striking him a blow which fractured several of his ribs, and left him entirely senseless. For several hours he remained in that condition, finding himself, eventually, in one of the neighbor's houses, and under medical treatment. Mr. Jackson's buildings were again in course of erection, though he stated that he hesitated considerably when he came to consider the question, whether or not he should re-erect them. He seemed very much surprised that he should have received such an unfortunate overthrow, while his neighbors, of some of whom he spoke very highly, were passed by entirely. His loss will amount in the aggregate, to about two thousand dollars, which will fall upon himself, as no assistance, up to the time of his repairing, had been rendered him.

The track of the storm-cloud now extended along the southern side of Buck Run Valley, mounting the hill as it approached Stottsville, and cutting a road through the forest trees south of the buildings on the property of Mr. Thomas Hoffman. It then came down squarely into the valley, which turns abruptly to the right south of Stottsville, and struck the track of the Pomeroy and Delaware City Rail Road, removing the rails for a considerable distance; the substantial bridge that crosses Buck Run, near the same point, was then demolished, the water in the bed of the stream being raised up en masse by the whirl. The loss to the Rail Road Company is probably six hundred dollars. The storm, on its northern border, had caught the barn, orchard, etc., of a property owned by Dr. Murphy, of Parkesburg; it ran through a portion of his farm and did damage to the amount of six or seven hundred dollars.

The next property that felt the fury of the hurricane as it proceeded in its course towards Ercildoun, is owned and managed by William Hamill, and is within the limits of East Fallowfield township. Here the storm-cloud widened to about three hundred yards, extending across the valley, running east and west through his farm, reaching his barn, and on its northern border, unroofing it and destroying the gable ends, inflicting a damage to the extent of three hundred dollars on the barn, and on the property itself of about twice that amount.

We now approach the locality known as Newlin's Mills. These were not quite reached by the southern border of the storm track, but the timber tract of E. Phipps, a quarter of a mile north, was absolutely destroyed, and as the cloud poured into the valley that divides the properties of Mr. Phipps and Thos. Shields, a destruction of timber occurred that absolutely beggars description. Forest trees by the thousand were overthrown, many of which were broken off about half-way down the trunk, and others were uprooted; others again were twisted and interwoven in every conceivable shape. This mighty mass of material lies there to-day untouched, and thousands of people have visited the spot, amazed at the immense power which wind exerts when under the influence of rotary and progressive motion. Such a sight was never before seen in this latitude. In the valley that divides these tracts of timber, was a humble frame dwelling two stories high, occupied by a family of colored people named Hopkins. They heard the roaring of the storm as it approached from the west; the mother of the family, Mary Hopkins, rushed up stairs to close the windows, and as her hand was upon the sash, the house was overturned and the joists of the upper floor fell upon her, and she was found dead, having been crushed to death between the joists of the upper story and the rafters. The children below, or rather above her, as was the case at this time, were uninjured. This was the only person whose life was taken by the tornado, though a great number of narrow escapes was made. The loss sustained by Messrs. Phipps and Shields would amount to about twelve hundred dollars each. The entire amount of timber destroyed on these two properties, and also on the property of Joseph Brinton, south east of them, is about thirty acres.

From some cause not fully explainable, the cloud of wind, after striking this forest tract, changed its course about eight deg. to the north, proceeding in a line south 83 deg. east, or nearly due east. This change brought the storm directly into the southern half of the village of Ercildoun, one mile distant. Before reaching that point, however, the property of Joseph Brinton had to be traveled over. His loss was heavy. His barn, carriage-house, and the north porch of his dwelling were destroyed; the house, from some cause, was not much injured. This was rather a strange circumstance, as the large trees on both sides of it were overthrown, and also the fences. There appeared to be two storm tracks at this point, but it was probably the same cloud that had divided for a few moments from some local cause. The hurricane also went through the orchard and wheat field on this property, destroying the trees, the whole of the wheat crop, and the fences in every direction. Mr. Brinton estimated his loss at twenty-five hundred dollars, and his estimate was not an extravagant one.