MARIS (Mrs. John or MARSI ?) - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

Hedrick, Ind (by WP Clark, Staff Correspondent) April 18 – Death, devastation and sorrow, today hold sway in what on Monday was the peaceful little village of Hedrick.  Almost without warning a cyclone that practically swept away the village struck here at  4 o’clock Monday afternoon and almost in the twinkling of an eye, exacted a toll of four human lives and property damage of thousands of dollars. The storm had not spent its fury when it left Hedrick but passed on across Warren County sweeping human lives and homes in its path.  At pleasant View of “Soul Sweeper’s corner” two and a half miles from here, four more lives were lost and all buildings destroyed. Still further on in the vicinity of Judyville, two more lives paid the toll exacted by the wind’s wrath.  The path of the storm was an 8th of a miles wide through Hedrick.  Home ties are broken, homes gone and the savings of a lifetime swept away as the result of the terrific cyclone that passed through the county.  In some homes it was the mother who was taken, while others are mourning the loss of the father and still others the loss of the children. All caught in the grasp of the terrible hurricane and dashed to their death.  Several of the injured are in a serious condition and may die so the death toll may run still higher before the whole story is told.

Hardly a building stands in Hedrick today that was not damaged in some way by the storm. Those that were not crushed and carried away were moved from their foundations, doors and windows blown in, roofs swept away or damaged in some other manner. The homes that were left standing were thrown open to the injured and dead and last night they housed the homeless.

A pathetic story is told of the death of William Grady and his 12-year-old daughter.  Each feared for the safety of the other. William Grady was employed at the Seeger & Betts Elevator and when he saw the storm coming he and Frank Clark started to run to their homes. They were on the Illinois Central railroad track.  Grady wanted to warn his wife and loved ones to take refuge in the cellar. Both men were swept from their feet and knocked to the ground. They were side by side. A big billboard was blown down and it struck Grady on the head, killing him. Clark was not injured. When Grace Grady who had just reached home from the little village school that no longer exists saw the storm her first thought was of her father, “I’m going to run and tell papa,” was her last remark. She dashed from the house. Mrs. Grady ran out to call to her daughter to come back but the wind swept her back into the house. At the instant she saw her daughter lifted in the fury of the storm and carried away. The lifeless body of the little girl was found an hour later by searchers in a field near the elevator.  

Goldie Smith, 17-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Smith was caught in the grasp of the storm while trying to reach her home. She was in the yard when the storm struck and was picked up and carried a distance of 50 yards into a field where her body was found.  Life was not extinct and she was taken to the home of her uncle at Sloan where her suffering ended at 2 o’clock this morning.

Passing to the southeast, the storm exacted its next toll of human life at the home of Anthony Gritton.  Paul, aged 6 years and Ruth E, aged 3 months were killed. The children with their mother and two other brothers, Ivan and Harland and a sister Helen were all in the house. Baby Ruth was asleep in her mother’s lap and little Paul was playing in the room.  The children were carried from the house as was Mrs. Gritton. Baby Ruth was found wedged in a hedge fence and Paul was found dear near the hedge a 100 yards away. The clothes were blown from his tiny body and parts of the underwear were buried in his flesh together with mud and small rocks. The babe was still wrapped in the little blanket but was lifeless when found by the family of Arnett Byers. The other three children were found in a field. Mrs. Gritton was also blown to the fields and all of her clothes blown away.  Mrs. Gritton and George Hurst, a farm hand were near the barn and were caught in the storm.  Mr. Gritton’s foot was broken and he was hurt internally. Hurst suffered a fractured shoulder.  They were all taken to the Lake View hospital at Danville, Ill.  

Passing from the Gritton farm, the storm struck the home on the north side of Mr. and Mrs. Phillip High.  Mrs. High was blown into the yard and killed and Joseph a 9-year-old son was fatally hurt. He died, according to report at the home of his grandfather, Charles Wakley in West Lebanon this afternoon.  The other High children, Henry Lee 11; Howard 7; Margaret 5 and Ralph 2 were only slightly hurt.

Other houses were destroyed in the same neighborhood, also two churches but no more lives were lost until the storm reached the vicinity of Judyville. Here Florence Kuntz aged 14 years and Mrs. John Marsie were killed. They had taken refuge in the cellar of the tenant house on the Ulrich Hunter farm. The Kuntz girl was drawn out by the storm and her lifeless body was found in a tree.  Her sister, Nellie Kuntz was perhaps fatally hurt. The home of Ulrich Hunger was also razed by no one was hurt.  At the Charles Dick farm in the same neighborhood many head of cattle and horses were killed when a large barn was destroyed. At Soul Sweeper’s Corner, Mr. and Mrs. James Downey occupied old school house No 1 as a home. The building was swept away and their 16 month old child had a miraculous escape from death. The child was blown into a garden 100’ away and every stitch of clothing torn from its body. It was not injured. The father and mother are perhaps fatally hurt.

Five people were injured when the home of Frank and George Ford near the corner was destroyed. They were Frank and George Ford, Mrs. Kate Ford of Witchitan, Kan; Mrs. Frank Reed of Wichita, Kan and Mrs. Nettie Backerd, housekeeper. Mrs. Ford was hurt by falling timbers and Mrs. Reed sustained an injury to her back. The Ford home, a two-story structure was completely destroyed. A blue grass pasture is just east of the house and the timbers and splinters form the building were dropped endways into the ground so think that it resembles a corn stalk field.

Besides the buildings already mentioned two churches at the corner were carried away and not enough kindling I left to start a good bonfire. They were the Christian Church and Church of God. The houses of worship stood on ether side of the road.  Just west of the Christian Church a short distance was the home of the High family.  Nothing is left of the building, but the piano, unscathed stands upright in the spot where the house was.

The home of Alva Heck, a new two-story structure was carried from its foundation and crushed in a field 50’ away.  It was one of the more modern homes in the vicinity being equipped with electric lights and other modern conveniences.

Mrs. Etta Hurley at Hedrick had a thrilled experience. She was standing near her 13 year old daughter who was unharmed. The clothes of Mrs. Hurley with the exception of her corset were entirely blown off. The house was wrecked but the piano stood in the center of the debris unharmed. So fierce was the wind that feathers were blown from the chickens.

Mrs. Mary Cleary and her dau-in-law, Mrs. Lawrence Strickland and a son were seated near a hard coal stove in the Strickland home. The building was twisted and wrecked the debris fell on the occupants. None however was seriously hurt. The stove held up the wreckage and the women and man crawled out after the storm had passed.  Joseph Cleary, the postmaster started for the front of his store when the storm struck but saw objects passing by.  He then started for the rear door but fell beside a counter. Just at this time the store crashed and the wreckage fell all about him but he was not seriously hurt.  He soon extricated himself and assisted in caring for the dead and injured.

Edward Steffani a farmer residing near Hoopeston had a thrilling experience.  He with his wife Jennie Steffani, his son, Robert, Mrs. Ellen Patterson mother of Mrs. Steffanie and Cecil Ridlen were returning home in an automobile from an Easter visit to Covington. They saw the storm coming and endeavored to reach Hedrick.  Mr. Steffani got out of the machine to see if a garage was near to run the car into and the storm struck.  He grabbed a tree and saved himself. The wind picked up the automobile spilled its occupants out and crashed to pieces in a field a hundred yards away. All were slightly hurt and were taken to the home of Glen Crane, just north of the town.