The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1858-06-10
From the Chicago Press.
The Ellison Calamity.


Appalling Details of the Disaster Killed
and Wonnded-Statement Of Eye Witness.
Ellison is village in township Of that ma me
lying due south Of the line of the Chicago
Burlington and Quincy Railroad, the nearest
station OF which. Young America. is five miles
distant ~ Monmouth, the county scat Of War
rem comtv. is twelve miles TO the north east.
and Galeshurg, Knox county, is twenty-five
miles nearly north east. and the Mississippi
river is about sixteen mi'cs west.
Ellison Creek traver=os the township north
of west, and becomes tributary to the Mssis-
sipni. us.
The villa 20 was farming community and
seventy in number ranged on single straight
street, run east and west. being the county road
TO the Mississippi and Burlington. The road
crossed the creek half mile from the village.
Between the village and the stream was a
belt of timber consisting of large trees.
The surface is level r'airie then to Mon
mouth, dead level, and on clear day the
Ellison timber can he seen from Monmouth
In this belt of timber the first traces Of the
s1esoating tornado arrear. Sunday was
showery throughout the lay. As the afternoon
waned, the sky to the southwest had a most
threatening appearance. A heavy bank Of
clouds of inky blackness seemed To rest upon
the surfac" Of the prairie. In III. language Of
John McWilliams, :sthev seemed to sweep tho
very prairie" Mr.. McWil!iams noted tn, ap-
nroach Of the storm from his farmhouse
about mile north of tle street
He saw two threatinglv black clouds meet
about mile west of the village. with the
widest commotion, and move on towards the
village.
The track Of the tempest must tell thn rest.
The tornado struck the village about half past
five O'Clock and during its continuance no rain
fell. The houses were frame structnres-
There was large tavern stand and three
stores, those Of Samuel Johnson. Joseph
Knowles and another. The appearance Of
the dwellings and structures after the passage
of the wirlwind is described by one eye witness
s'as if enc should tear to pieces and scatter "a
lumber yard" OF roofs and walls, and the
various structures there was seen in many in
stances scarcely a trace, as If a giants hand
had reduced and torn them TO shreds and spIn-
tiers. They lay scattered over the fields
shattered door, and beyond an rndistingnlsha-
BILE mass Of timbprs ,nd boards floor beams.
ceiling and rafters. Even the bodies of some
of the sufferers Were torn TO pieces.
Fragments of the bodies were scattered in
all directions.
An iron safe weighing ninrl hundred ponds
was taken from Johnston's store and carried
thirty feet.
Horses. cattle and hogs wern taken M hv
the wind. carried in the air and dashed to tn.
earth. killed by the fall.
One cow was carried several rods. and kill
from anything that could have inflicted wound
or injury mon her.
| A heavy cuf stone doorstep. the dimensions
of which arc given TO us ms being some seven
feet long by three in width. and several inches
in thickness, was torn from IFS site and carried
| more than its length. or ahont twelve feet.
! The first trace Of this violence Is noticeable
in the Ellison timber.
The trees do not seem "a have been pros'ra-
| ted. They were only SO when relea Sea from
the grasp Of The angry Storm King. They
were pulled up by the roots. twisted. turned
about. s'mply, and in places noticed Nv orr in
| fnrmanant. it seemed as if ther- had been torn
. mp by groups. as a child would wantonlv twist
| the tops of adjacent weeds and tear them from
the ground. Trees foot in diameter were
TINS made the sport Of the tornado. and were
dashed crushed and broken to the ground.
The track of the whirlwind seems not tn
have been very wide, nor was its course
! long one. s..... - ....
Among the dead are Mr.. John Hand, his
son, about ten years of age, and ba be. the
latter of whom is supposed 10 have been
drowned.
A family named McWlliams suffered ter
ribIy. Mary Ann McWllliams. twenty-five.
her sister, Harriet, about sixteen, and her
brother Thomas about fourteen are among the
dead, and the poor old mother, eighty years
of age-the only remaining member Of the
family, except some older children who were
at distance, were very badly injured.
w. f. Thompson. his wife and child. Mrs.
| Brazleton and her two children, son and
daughter, Martin Wentworth, Levlna Lacey,
Hiram Johnson and child, and two other per.
sons names unknown, embrace all the names
| of the dead which we have obtained.
! About fifty persons were seriously and more
slightly injured. Samuel Johnson, has one
| leg aid three ribs broken
| Ms. Ormand, both arms broken. Mrs,
! Sherwood cut and bruised badIv-a splinter
driven through her thigh. Miss Finlay. Mrs.
Thompson, and Patrick Shaw, stranger, were
all badly injured.
The fortitude exhibited by the sufferers is
described as most remarkable. No groans or
complaints were heard. even from those whor,
death was staring in the face, and although
forty or fifty broken limbs were required to
be set in the course of Monday, all bore the
trial with singular patience, and without CIV
ing expression 20 the pain they must have
felt.
Knowing that the people Of Ellison had lost
everything the citizens Of Monmouth on Tues
day morning started several teams laden with