The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-03-20
Lewis Conee's Family of Eleven All
Dead, Except n Young Daughter,
and She Is Dying.
HOUSE WAS BUILT OF LOGS
AND MOST OF THE OCCUPANTS WE'RE
CRUSHED IN THE RUINS.
Many Other People Mangled by the
in Georgia on Sunday.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala, March 10. - Addi-
tional details of last nights tornado near
Edwardsville were received here late to-
night. The following is a list Of the dead
and wounded, so far as known:
Dead-Lewis Coffee, aged fifty-five, tax as
SCISSOR of Cleburne county, and the following
members of his family: Mrs. Coffee, aged
forty-six; Leila, twenty-five; James, twen-
ty; Lula, eighteen; Jacob. thirteen; Dew
eroe, eight; Dolie, ten; Grover. six; John
four; and an unknown woman, near Helm.
Wounded - Bessie Coffee, aged twelve,
daughter of Lewis Coffee. will die; Mrs.
Runnells, aged seventy-five, will die; Myr
line Stansell, aged five, will probably die:
Mrs. ]. II. Cason, Tom Runnells, Wood
Stansell, Andrew Steipan, all seriously hurt;
Mary Steipan, Lizzie Runnells, j. H. Cason,
Georgia Stansell, Gainesville Stansell, Tosh
Stansell, Coleman Stansell, all baby bruised.
Several other persons were more or less
seriously injured, but their names are not
known.
The path of the storm was about 200 yards
wide, and il traversed the country for twelve
miles, beginning in the northern part of
Cleburne county, near Iron City, and NOV
ing southwark. Those who saw il say that
there was immense funnel-shaped cloud.
and that Ii bounded along like a rubber ball,
rising at itervals and leaping for several
hundred yards without doing any damage.
Then, when ii descended, it would pick up
houses and crush them TO pieces, uproot
trees or twist them off level with the ground
and sweep all before it.
Lewis Coffee's residence, a strong. double
log house, situated on a little hill, was in
the path of the storm. 1t was swept away
and the timbers scattered for a mile. Ten
OF its eleven occupants We're instantly killed.
Except for the body of the baby, which
found under the ruins of the chimney,
the corpseS of the victims were carried half
mile and nine of them were found heaped
together. Every body had been stripped OF
its clothing. One was twisted around a
stump and two others were headless Be-
side the body Of the father lay Bessie Cof-
fee, the only member OF the family not in
stantly killed. She was unconscious and her
arms were around her dead fathers neck.
She is unable to talk and will die. In the
same neighborhood the residences Of j. w.
Wilder, j. II. Cason, Andrew Steipan and
Ben Stansell were wrecked and all their oc-
cupants injured. Near Heflin a white wom-
an, whose name cannot be learned, was
killed, and five persons in the same family
hurt.
1t is estimated that about fifty buildings
were destroyed, between twenty and twenty
five persons were injured and over a score
of farms devastated. The storm lost its
force just south of Heflin, near which place
a dozen buildings were wrecked. The path
of the cyclone presents a terrible scene of
havoc. Timbers Of wrecked houses are scat
tered in every direction. Some were carried
high into the air and others were driven deep
into the ground or through trees Many
head OF cattle were killed. One dead cow
was found with a shingle driven through
her back. But for the fact that the coun-
try over which the storm passed is sparsely
settled the loss of life would have been
much greater. There were many marvellous
escapes. j. II. Cason and his wife were
blown through a window as their house was
falling, and after the storm found them
selves in field a hundred yards away, both
badly hurt. The funeral of the Coffee fam
lily occurred this afternoon and was largely
attended. Ten bodies, some of them man
gled beyond recognition. were buried in one
grave.