Friday, March 30, 2018

The Deadliest Tornado in US History

It was a balmy March afternoon in Reynolds County, Missouri; one of those days when a farmer keeps his eye on the sky because, well, you never know just what Mother Nature will throw at you. After a satisfying dinner of fried chicken - his favorite -  the farmer walked back to the field considering just how long it would take to finish planting. As he surveyed the land, he had his back to the west so he never noticed the odd spectacle in the distance – a rolling cloud of what looked like fog coming right toward him. It passed in a matter of seconds, taking it with it countless seeds, the fresh turned soil … and the farmer’s life. Thus was the beginning of the Tri-State Tornado – the deadliest tornado in American history – on March 18, 1925.

No warnings had been issued, no sirens had been sounded, and not only because no one knew just how deadly this storm would become. The US Army Signal Corps was in charge of keeping track of the weather, which they did with reasonable accuracy for most situations, except tornadoes. Back in 1887, the term “tornado” was banned from use in weather forecasting. Officials said that since tornadoes were so unpredictable, there was really no way to predict which way they’d go. They decided it best not to mention them at all that way the public wouldn’t become panicked when one was spotted. Radio was in its infancy, and television didn’t exist, so any attempt to warn people would have been left up to local churches and their tolling bells. But even that measure was not put into use.

Survivors of the funnel reported that it appeared on the horizon, looking like a rolling cloud of dust and dirt – the funnel obscured by debris.  The tornado ranged from ¾ to 3 miles wide. Winds averaged between 60 and 70 mph with 300 mph wind shears, blinding rain, hail and strong thunderstorms. A 234-mile path was ravaged out of the Tri-State area by this single continuous tornado as it cut from Missouri through southern Illinois to Pike County Indiana that afternoon. This would be known as the single deadliest, largest, and fastest tornado in US history. It’s record still stands. (In 2013, researchers categorized it as an F5.) 

MISSOURI
Counties hit: Reynolds - Iron – Madison – Bollinger - Cape Girardeau – Perry
The tornado was building speed as it spun across southeastern Missouri that Wednesday afternoon. When it struck Annapolis in Bollinger County, it nearly leveled the town with two schools were heavily damaged. Eleven people were killed in Missouri.

ILLINOIS
Counties hit: Jackson – Williamson – Franklin – Hamilton – White
Murphysboro, Illinois
The deadly tornado crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois around 2:30pm gathering strength and sending out satellite tornadoes along the way. The town of Gorham was destroyed and 34 people were killed. More than 100 square blocks in Murphysboro Illinois were flattened, and another 70 blocks were destroyed by fire after the tornado passed. The death toll hit 234 people including 26 children who were still in school when the building was demolished around them. Murphysboro still has the highest single city death toll, due to a tornado, in US history.
Near the town of Desoto, 69 people died; 33 were students at a school. The town was so grief-stricken, all were buried in one mass grave.
The Town of West Frankfort, Illinois
The town of West Frankfort was known for mining and at that time of day, most of the men were working underground. No one knew anything had happened 500 feet above ground until the electricity went out. When the miners surfaced, they discovered 148 dead, mostly women and children; another 400 sustained injuries.
The tornado then ripped through the town of Parrish taking 22 lives. Illinois was the state hardest hit with a death toll of 619 residents.

INDIANA
Griffin, Indiana
Counties hit: Posey – Gibson – Pike
The twister crossed the Wabash River into southern Indiana where the town of Griffin was demolished. Twenty-six were killed in the tiny burg. The tornado then curved a bit to the north and headed toward Princeton, destroying 85% of the farms along the way. The southern end of Princeton was destroyed while the northern side was untouched. Forty-five people were killed in minutes. The tornado finally began loosing strength and dissipated around 4:30pm about 2 ½ miles south of Petersburg in Pike County. The tornado had taken 76 Hoosier lives.

When the dust had settled on that day, the twister had killed 695 people; 613 in Illinois. More than 2,000 sustained injuries, again the majority in southern Illinois. The tornado was on the ground for 3 ½ hours and destroyed more than 15,000 homes and nine schools – taking the lives of 72 students. The Tri-State Tornado was part of a large tornado outbreak that day that also included the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Kansas. Another 747 people were killed in those storms, making March 18 the deadliest day in tornado history, and 1925 the deadliest year for tornadoes in the US.

Stroll through some of the local cemeteries in these hard-hit towns and you will find lasting tributes and reminders of a March tornado that changed the residents lives forever.
~ Joy










Friday, March 23, 2018

Why Do We Wander Cemeteries?


I’ve done a lot of interviews since my book The Family Tree Cemetery Field Guide came out late last autumn, and the one question everyone asks is, “Why a book on cemeteries?” My answer begins, “Cemeteries are usually viewed with reservation because they deal with the dead.  Some people see them as a necessity to endure; others simply avoid them at all costs.  And still others hardly give them a thought. But then you have the “Tombstone Tourist.” For those of us who proudly answer to this title, the answer is simple – because there’s so much history and beauty to discover!

For centuries, our ancestors have gone to cemeteries to pay their respects. But since their lives dealt with death regularly, there was nothing eerie about walking through the graveyard. We, however, are far removed from death, and its after effects. The ancient Chinese believed that when a family member died, they became godly beings who retained their individual identities. These ancestors could then offer family members a connection to Tian, or heaven. The thought that your ancestors are watching out for you, like guardian angels, is a comforting thought.
Then during the Nineteenth Century garden cemeteries were developing around the country. These cemeteries were treated like parks – the perfect place to take a stroll or enjoy a quiet carriage ride through the “City of the Dead.” These graveyards were well landscaped with towering trees, beautiful lakes and winding roads where visitors could stroll while admiring ornate sculpture, massive mausoleums and intricate stones - an outdoor art museum available for all to enjoy.
Then somewhere during the 20th century, we Americans became wary of the graveyard thanks to horror movies and urban legends. Because of medical advances, we don’t interact with the dead the way our ancestors did, and this distancing creates fears we're uncomfortable dealing with. There is even a name for those who fear cemeteries - coimetrophobia. Sorry to say but you have more to fear from the living than the dead in a cemetery. I’ve had a few uncomfortable situations in cemeteries that had nothing to do with ghosts or ghouls, and plenty to do with the living. This is why I always remind those heading out to do research, or just enjoy an afternoon, always be aware of your surroundings and the people in your vicinity.

In other countries, going to the cemetery is commonplace. When I was in Edinburgh Scotland last summer, I ventured to Greyfriar’s Kirkyard close to the downtown area in search of the Greyfriar Bobby statue. I was pleasantly surprised when I walked through the gates and saw people enjoying the cemetery like a park. Some used table ledger stones as tables for an  impromptu visit, others sat among the mausoleums chatting on cell phones, and some picnicked, and painted. And there was no disrespect intended by anyone. It was actually a wonderful example of how other countries are more comfortable concerning the circle of life and death than we tend to be. Perhaps we would find ourselves more in touch with life, and death if we shook off that fear and took time to walk and admire what cemeteries have to offer.

For Tombstone Tourists, part of the acceptance of cemeteries may come from the way we were raised. I remember going with my grandmother on Decoration Day (the forerunner of Memorial Day) and tending family graves. Grandma would brush the stones clear of leaves and grass, and then plant some flowers or place live stems near the graves. While I was too young to help with the decorating, I always enjoyed looking at the stones, reading the names, and figuring out how old someone had been when he or she died.

Most of us will visit a cemetery to acknowledge the memory of someone buried there, and to honor them. Visiting also offers us a sense of closeness by being at the spot where that person’s earthly remains are interred. I have experienced this when visiting the graves of my ancestors. To realize that this is where my great-great grandparents are buried makes for a meaningful moment that so many genealogists relate to.


Regardless of why you go to the cemetery, next time stop and really experience the moment. Listen to the birdsong, smell the fresh cut grass, feel the breeze brush past your cheek, and look for those fascinating symbols and epitaphs on the stones; those reminders that our stories do go on …
~ Joy

Friday, March 9, 2018

100 Years Ago – The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919

 
The autumn of 1918 brought with it the prospect that The Great War would end in a few of months. Soldiers and citizens were beginning to feel uplifted again, and plans were underway for post-war celebrations. The annoyance of catching a cold was nothing in the scheme of things. But what no one realized was that this was not an ordinary cold; this was an influenza virus that would leave between 20 to 40 million people dead around the world within the next year! That's more than all who died during World War One. 

One-fifth of the world’s population would come down with what was being called the "Spanish Flu." (The name was the result of the more than 8 million who died from it in Spain.) But it was believed that the virus began in China in the autumn of 1917, and spread slowly around the world during the spring and summer of 1918. How did the flu virus get to Europe from China? Recently a Canadian historian discovered that 96,000 Chinese laborers were sent to Europe in the fall of 1917 to assist with work behind the Western Front.

And the virus spread easily. Any one who had caught the flu was a carrier releasing the virus into the air whenever the infected person talked, coughed, or sneezed.  Medical personnel realized that this flu killed quickly. There were numerous reports of people going to work in the morning, becoming sick, and being dead by nightfall. One medical expert said that the type of pneumonia that set in was the most dangerous he had ever seen with patients suffocating on the bloody foam that lined their airways.
 
More than half a billion people were infected around the world with the most deaths occurred during October and November 1918. And there were no known medicines to stop its spread. (The first flu vaccine came about in the 1940s.) This virus would become the most devastating epidemic ever recorded in world history, to date.

In the US, more than 675,000 Americans died of the flu – 28% of the population. This virus was different from past viruses. Instead of taking its toll mainly on children and the elderly, it attacked those between the ages of 20 and 40; that was the unexpected demographic  dying in large numbers. Native Americans were also extremely hard hit. And many who survived The Great War came home only to succumb to the influenza virus.


In fact, adding the number of soldiers returning home from foreign lands, and the number of parties and celebrations planned for Armistice Day in the US, and the virus continued to spread quickly through the end of 1918. To make things more difficult, those returning home from the war came with battle wounds, chemical weapon burns, and what we now know as PTSD. Hospital and doctors were already short-staffed and overworked when the affects of the flu began to be felt.

In an attempt to limit exposure, cities and town began closing stores, theatres, churches and  schools. Funerals could last no longer than 15 minutes, and train travel was frowned upon. Anyone venturing outside was required to wear a gauze mask over their nose and mouth. Shaking hands was forbidden, and libraries stopped lending books. By the spring of 1919, bodies were piling up in communities around the world because there were not enough gravediggers to bury the dead. (Those who handled the remains had an increased chance of dying from the flu, therefore it was not a job many volunteered for.)

By the summer of 1919, the Flu Pandemic was coming to an end. Years later, researchers would discover that what fueled this severe outbreak was a combination of things: abysmal sanitation and hygiene conditions, poor nourishment, and overcrowding in military camps and hospitals, and in cities and towns, once the disease spread.

Today, flu vaccines and super antibiotics help reduce the possibility of another severe flu outbreak worldwide. But there is always a chance that a virus will rapidly mutate and medical science could be caught short of having the necessary treatment at hand. In fact, experts say it's only a matter of time before another flu pandemic occurs.

~ Joy