Knoxville Whig and chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1875-1882, 1875-03-03
THE Irr,mEr IN SEWER COUNTY
Loss Estimated ~ 82OO.OOO-N story
of Fearful Destruction.
SEVIERVILLE, ma. q.

SEVIERvILLE, Feb. y, 1875.
To the Editors Of the Clroai,le:
1t would take hook, In which o
record every thing of interest that has
tTanspired in our COUNT The past week.
Pigeon river uas been about three feet
higher than it was in 1867. There Was
twenty feet Of tide wate,, and it spread
three-fourth= Of mile on each side,
upon an average, from Sevierville to
IRRee mt2l,q4ii lh q lhe river. II SWEET
corn cribs, and dwelling houses.
/ On the west fork OF the river four or
| five mills were washed away. y. w.
! Emert lost his saw and grist-mill.
| The bridge at Pigeon Forge was taken,
! Trotters' mills badly damaged ana
their stables, corn and forage nearly
all lost. Thomas ShaTp's fine Touring
mill, together with his saw-mill, barn
aud all his forage and corn, also about
five hundred bushels Of wheat, wa.
carried away. His house and furni-
tuTe was badly damaged. His loss will
amount to several thousand dollars.
John Carnes lost his kitchen. j. Z.
Catlett lost his stables and large
amount of forage, and several hundred
bushels OF corn. His farm is badly
damaged. Nj. a. Umbarger lost his
saW-mill.
Sevierville is the picture Of distress.
The water in the town was from to
Id feet deep in places, and scarcely
any place less than feet. The water
was on the floor Of every house in
town from J. to As inches deep. The
people took shelter in second stories
aud garrets. AT ,he hour of from l.
TO ! O'clock, in the midst of flashing
| lightning aud torrents Of rain, fdui-
lies moved out from lneir homes IN
boats and on plauhs. The river con-
tinued TO IIse rapidly until 3 o'clock
next morning.
Thu excitement in town was in
tense. The screams If women and
children were iuiermiugled with peals
of thunder aud the roar ut maduel-
ing waves. II Is considered as rIuvI-
dental thar no lives were lost. The
town wa surrounded Toy The waters 80
that no assistance cuull ur rendered
from outside.
Mr.. A. T. Blair two mi ca below
town, lost his saw mill, stables, forage,
corn, black snith-siup amt good lUr-
ton Of his house hold furniture
Large quantities of corn aud wheat
have been damaged iu cribs and gran
aries.
J. 5. Ford had aUou, 80 or 40 stacks
of hay ruined. The damages To farms
can not be estimated.
While the water was rising sOTapid!y
in Sevieryille, the prisoners In jail were
very much alarmed. They were in
the upper stony, ANA The Mater rose
above the doors in the lower story, so
that all means Of egrtss were stopped.
The river wa- still rapidly rising, and
they could NOT tell how sCou the water
would reach them, and they coula 1T
get out.
The loss IN tn. county f. e-timatel
at from 500, 900 To 5000 900. 1t is i'm
possible 70 make a correct estimate
now.
The wuter ~a- "a ,uche- deru in
Cas- store, auuuJ the same 800 MAJ
phys aud Eume., < ~jailurds g. and
about = feet deep lu Wynn & 'lrul,I-,
They al! sustained considerable loss.
>EVIEE.
Ia addition to what i. given iu the
above letter, we learn that tlr bridges
over BOyd's and Gass' ek.. between
here and SevieTviile. are gone. The
mail reached here from ~r,I.G.lll- as
a circuitous route Through .Dr l.agr-
OF SEWER and Knox
Mr.. Murphy, one ma. above the
mouth of Pigeon river, .u-s 5000 UB.u-
els Of corn, which had been -heiled
and sacked ready for shipment, also
valuable horse.
David Reagan, al he head Of he
West Fork of Pigeon, lo.t his saw and
grist mills.
In Richardson's Cove, Wilson Nc.
rCon+irrod ON Figb,, Pc