Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Indiana) 1864-1865, 1865-06-29
Communicated. .
communicated.
OF EARLY TIMES
IN RANDOLPH COUNTY.

Az the annual meeting of the Old
Settlers Association, of Randolph
county. held on the 10th of June,
1865, Jeremiah Smith laid before the
Association No. of his recolIee-
tions OF the early settlement OF the
county, which was ordered by the
Association to be recorded among
its Historical "reminiscences. The
following is an interesting extract
from it:
TIE FALLEN TIMBER.
will close this paper with de-
scription of the hurricane, and "the
fallen timber" made by it, near my
fathers residence
According TO tie best of my rec
objection, that hurricane occurred in
the year 1924. l believe that was
the year. | know that it occurred
on the second Sunday of July, of
the year that it did occur in; for that
was the regular day of the monthly
church meeting of the Salem Baptist
Church, of which my father and
mother were members, at which
meeting my brother David and /
were that day. and We were coming
home from the meeting in the even
ing when we were stopped 10y the
coming up Of the storm. Hence it
occurred about , o clock on Sunday
evening, the llth day of July, 1924,
now nearly forty one years ago.
There was an unoccupied cabin
that stood on the west side of the
Jacksonsburgh road Cup which we
were coming, but short distance
north of the county line between
Randolph and Wayne counAes.
About the time we got to the county
line, we saw cloud coming rapidly
from the west, and concluded to stop
in the cabin till the rain was over.
We lighted from our colts, hitched
them, stripped them, and got into
the cabin just as the rain began TO
fall The roar Of the cloud rapidly
increased In loudness, and darkness
came on so rapidly that in five min
utes after we got into the cabin, it
was as dark as a starlight night is,
and by that timer sound was audi
ble except a deep, dead, tremendous
roar, which lasted twenty or thirty
mnutes-I think about twenty min
utes. After hearing the first patter-
ing of rain just as we got into the
cabin, | heard no rain fall, nor no
thunder, nor no trees fall; | heard
nothing but a continual roar, deep,
dead. and loud. 1t went off about
as suddenly as it came on. After
we had been in tie cabin about
half an hour, it lighted up and the
roar left US, and We looked out and
saw that there had been a heavy
rain, and that a considerable number
of trees, both dead and green, had
been blown down around us, though
we had heard none fall.
Wewent out and rugged mp our
colts, they being two two-year old
fillies that we had raised, and started
on TO our home, which was two miles
further north. We found some tim
ber and trees in the road, but no
serious obstruction to our passing
with our colts, till we got a mile
north, to where the old man Freder-
icll Zimmerman then lived, and
where his son-in law, John Retz, now
lives. About that time the sun came
out in the west, q half hour high, and
the old man Zimmerman and his
sons, John and Henry, were out
with their axes to cut oil the trees
and put MP the fences and save his
crops. The string of fence running
north from his house, forty or fifty
rods long, was mostly blown down.
and some few trees (for there were
not many along there) were blown
down across the road and fence-the
road running along the west side oil
the fence. They said it had been q
terrible storm, and John said, ''you
can cit home; all te timpber's plown
town across te rote." We said we
would try; that our colts were raised
in the woods and could 90 any
where-mv brother David saying
"they could 90 through brush where
wild eat couldn' t'-and we started
on nol;hward. The further we wen'
the thicker and worse it got. "A lit
tie over quarter of mile north o
the old man Zimmerman house, th'
cleared or partially cleared lane
ceased, and from that to the creek
crossing near my fathers house
more than a half mile in distance
there had been, before the hurricane
no clearing, and it had been dens
heavy forest of beech and other tim
Der. With some difficulty, but no
very much, we got TO where tha
forest commenced, little south o
the east and west division line Q
section 8, I. 1s, r. 13. At tha
point we entered the mass of crushe
and broken timber, and worked ou
way along, keeping in or as near til
place where the road had been q
; we could keep, till we got near t'
and little north of where ELIZA
Arnold afterwards built his hous'
and where his widow Rhoda Arnol
:, now lives. BY that time it was ge
ting dark, and the timber and brus
getting thicker and thicker, on ii
GROUND. as we had then got to whel
il was all crushed and blown dow
nnh nlrther nrorress with our col