Emerson Earl Razor, 14, of 1322 S. 21st. Street, New Castle, Indiana, died on Sunday, March 11, 1917, was killed by a cyclone.
He was born in 1903, in Kentucky, the son of Wilmington Teager Razor and Luvenia Penelope Ward.
The funeral service will be held Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock. The remains will be held over until Monday when interment will take place in South Mound Cemetery, New Castle, Indiana.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Castle Daily Courier
New Castle, Indiana
March 12, 1917
CYCLONE DEATH TOLL REMAINS AT NINETEEN
CITY AWAKENS TO GREAT WORK OF CARING FOR
HOMELESS AND RELIEVING SUFFERING OF INJURED
THE DEAD:
Earl E. Razor, age 14, son of W. T. Razor, 1322 S. 21st.
(from an edited article)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Castle Daily Courier
New Castle, Indiana
March 17, 1917
The funeral of Earl E. Razor, who was killed by the cyclone Sunday, will be held Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock. The remains will be held over until Monday when interment will take place at Southmound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Richmond Item
Richmond, Indiana
March 12, 1917
Morgues and hospitals are filled with twenty-one persons killed and more than 100 injured by the tornado, which tore a wide furrow across Newcastle's richest residence district at 3 o'clock this afternoon. Property damage, it is estimated late tonight, will amount to $1,250,000.
With twenty-one known dead, only the light of day on Monday morning will make a possible definite tabulation of the havoc of the most terrible catastrophe that has visited Newcastle in all of its histories. In the brief 10 minutes visit of the windstorm, 350 homes were wrecked and damaged.
Upon an appeal to Gov. Goodrich, by Mayor Leb Warkins, three companies of state militia, Company C of Crawfordsville, Company G of Muncie, and Battery A of Indianapolis were ordered out and placed on duty guarding the ruins against looters and establishing a strict police cordon around the ruined district in Maplewood.
Three score physicians and nurses were rushed to Newcastle from Indianapolis arriving here about 9 o'clock and relief was speedily organized. Volunteer corps of searchers were organized by the city officials within the first hour after the tornado marked its path through the city from Sixth Street southwest to Twenty-sixth Street.
Bodies were found crushed and in some instances mutilated almost beyond recognition in the mass of wreckage of homes. The path of the storm was three blocks wide in places and fire that broke out in the wreckage at two points added to the horror.
Tangled wires, masses of wreckage, and uprooted trees that filled the streets made it extremely difficult for the firefighting forces to reach the flames. which, however, were handled with exceptional efficiency, and the spread of the flames was speedily checked. The damage from the fire was only nominal being confined to houses already practically demolished by the storm.
Sweeping up from the northwest, preceded by a roaring and driving torrent of rain, the whirlwind caught almost all of the victims within their homes. In only a few instances is there any record that those who escaped were able to do so by warning thunders of the approaching terror?
The tornado center struck the city high, dipping toward the ground in the farmlands just outside the city and rising again passing over a part of the city before it descended again at Sixth Street from where it tore and smashed its way to Eleventh Street with only slight damage and few casualties compared to the greater havoc reached from Eleventh street east.
From Eleventh Street eastward to Fifteenth Street, Maplewood, the pride residence district of the city, the wreck and ruin is at its worst, and from Eleventh Street east for 15 blocks, the death toll and injuries were greatest.
Striking first at Sixth and A Avenue, the storm veered at Fifteenth Street and jumped south to D Avenue taking an eastward course to Millville. Fully 150 homes were leveled to the ground in the territory east of Fifteenth Street.
On South Twentieth Street two houses were jammed together, telescoping the Williams home, where Mrs. Acie Williams and her daughter, Opal, were found pinned beneath the floor of their home. Both were dead and the searchers had cut away a large space of the floor before the bodies were found.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source information from The Henry County Historical Society:
On March 11, 1917, a New Castle tornado claimed the lives of 21 people and destroyed many greenhouses. Rose City's reputation for growing flowers would never be the same. At the time, it was the third-most destructive tornado in Indiana history.
At 3:02 p.m. on Sunday, March 11, 1917, many New Castle lives were changed forever. In just a few terrifying minutes, 22 people were killed, hundreds were injured, 500 homes were damaged or destroyed and many of the city's triumphant greenhouses were leveled in what would be part of $1 million suffered in property damage.
As if Mother Nature were a surgeon and had a knife in her hand, a tornado cut a deadly and precise path through town. Late historian Herbert Heller wrote that the storm hit the western part of the city and cut a swath varying from a few feet to two blocks wide easterly across New Castle.
The tragedy dominated headlines not only here, but across the state and even in St. Louis, where a newspaper headline there proclaimed "Rose City In Ruins." Many of the greenhouses were in the tornado's path of destruction. "The frail construction of the glass-covered buildings fell easy prey to the wind," one newspaper reported.
Local historian Herbert Heller wrote that because of the storm, the frames of the Heller Brothers Greenhouses which held the glass roofs were sold "and the business never again reached the peak of earlier days."
A Fort Wayne newspaper report captured the terror of the moment.
"The moans of dying and screams of persons less injured who were pinned under the ruins of their homes was heard on every side," it read. "Most of the dead were taken from homes that were completely demolished."
Local newspaper reports were just as grim.
"Men, women, and children are seen on every hand with arms in slings, bandages around heads, and liberal patches on faces," a New Castle paper read. "The two morgues were filled with a never-ending stream of visitors from daylight until late in the evening. It was estimated that 10,000 or more viewed the remains of victims in the disaster. Tear-stained eyes of many visitors indicated that they had friends among the dead, but the majority of the visitors were attracted to the city only from curiosity."
"Rose City" would never quite be the same again, and yet, kindness and charity seemed to bloom in all directions.
The Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce offered sugar, flour, meats, and potatoes to New Castle residents. More than $9,000 in donations poured in from all around the state. Cities from Ohio to Illinois to Texas contributed. The Maxwell Motor Co. in Dayton sent $2,000. Montgomery-Ward in Chicago sent another $1,000.
Compassion overshadowed shock, according to local newspaper reports. Hundreds found themselves homeless but were welcomed with open arms by their more fortunate neighbors.
"Later reports of relief work show that nearly everyone in the city who can accommodate any of the storm sufferers is offering their homes to them," one newspaper report read.
Obviously, there were no bulldozers or cranes available at that time for clearing debris. City officials called on farmers to bring teams of animals in to help.
"It is the belief of the people of New Castle and especially those directly in charge of relief work that scores of farmers will be glad to offer the use of their teams two or three days for this work," a newspaper account read. "A hundred teams can be used and those willing to donate the same should call the relief committee."
Other interesting tornado facts:
-- The Western Union Telegraph Co. sent and received approximately 12,000 messages in the days following the tornado.
-- Several garages were lifted off their foundations and carried several hundred feet away.
-- "An interesting feature of the storm was the fact that no horses were killed but a large number of automobiles were damaged," a local paper reported. "Overturned automobiles that had been torn out of their garages were seen on every hand."
-- The Indiana Rolling Mill, one of New Castle's larger factories at the time, was demolished. C.W. Mouch, president of the company, was in the offices at the time. He joined Mr. and Mrs. Harry Newhouse in a large vault where the books and records were kept. All escaped uninjured.
-- Nearly all houses were destroyed on Lincoln Avenue, South Main Street, South 14th Street, and A Avenue. Damage was also heavy from the 18th to the 25th streets.
.
He was born in 1903, in Kentucky, the son of Wilmington Teager Razor and Luvenia Penelope Ward.
The funeral service will be held Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock. The remains will be held over until Monday when interment will take place in South Mound Cemetery, New Castle, Indiana.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Castle Daily Courier
New Castle, Indiana
March 12, 1917
CYCLONE DEATH TOLL REMAINS AT NINETEEN
CITY AWAKENS TO GREAT WORK OF CARING FOR
HOMELESS AND RELIEVING SUFFERING OF INJURED
THE DEAD:
Earl E. Razor, age 14, son of W. T. Razor, 1322 S. 21st.
(from an edited article)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Castle Daily Courier
New Castle, Indiana
March 17, 1917
The funeral of Earl E. Razor, who was killed by the cyclone Sunday, will be held Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock. The remains will be held over until Monday when interment will take place at Southmound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Richmond Item
Richmond, Indiana
March 12, 1917
Morgues and hospitals are filled with twenty-one persons killed and more than 100 injured by the tornado, which tore a wide furrow across Newcastle's richest residence district at 3 o'clock this afternoon. Property damage, it is estimated late tonight, will amount to $1,250,000.
With twenty-one known dead, only the light of day on Monday morning will make a possible definite tabulation of the havoc of the most terrible catastrophe that has visited Newcastle in all of its histories. In the brief 10 minutes visit of the windstorm, 350 homes were wrecked and damaged.
Upon an appeal to Gov. Goodrich, by Mayor Leb Warkins, three companies of state militia, Company C of Crawfordsville, Company G of Muncie, and Battery A of Indianapolis were ordered out and placed on duty guarding the ruins against looters and establishing a strict police cordon around the ruined district in Maplewood.
Three score physicians and nurses were rushed to Newcastle from Indianapolis arriving here about 9 o'clock and relief was speedily organized. Volunteer corps of searchers were organized by the city officials within the first hour after the tornado marked its path through the city from Sixth Street southwest to Twenty-sixth Street.
Bodies were found crushed and in some instances mutilated almost beyond recognition in the mass of wreckage of homes. The path of the storm was three blocks wide in places and fire that broke out in the wreckage at two points added to the horror.
Tangled wires, masses of wreckage, and uprooted trees that filled the streets made it extremely difficult for the firefighting forces to reach the flames. which, however, were handled with exceptional efficiency, and the spread of the flames was speedily checked. The damage from the fire was only nominal being confined to houses already practically demolished by the storm.
Sweeping up from the northwest, preceded by a roaring and driving torrent of rain, the whirlwind caught almost all of the victims within their homes. In only a few instances is there any record that those who escaped were able to do so by warning thunders of the approaching terror?
The tornado center struck the city high, dipping toward the ground in the farmlands just outside the city and rising again passing over a part of the city before it descended again at Sixth Street from where it tore and smashed its way to Eleventh Street with only slight damage and few casualties compared to the greater havoc reached from Eleventh street east.
From Eleventh Street eastward to Fifteenth Street, Maplewood, the pride residence district of the city, the wreck and ruin is at its worst, and from Eleventh Street east for 15 blocks, the death toll and injuries were greatest.
Striking first at Sixth and A Avenue, the storm veered at Fifteenth Street and jumped south to D Avenue taking an eastward course to Millville. Fully 150 homes were leveled to the ground in the territory east of Fifteenth Street.
On South Twentieth Street two houses were jammed together, telescoping the Williams home, where Mrs. Acie Williams and her daughter, Opal, were found pinned beneath the floor of their home. Both were dead and the searchers had cut away a large space of the floor before the bodies were found.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source information from The Henry County Historical Society:
On March 11, 1917, a New Castle tornado claimed the lives of 21 people and destroyed many greenhouses. Rose City's reputation for growing flowers would never be the same. At the time, it was the third-most destructive tornado in Indiana history.
At 3:02 p.m. on Sunday, March 11, 1917, many New Castle lives were changed forever. In just a few terrifying minutes, 22 people were killed, hundreds were injured, 500 homes were damaged or destroyed and many of the city's triumphant greenhouses were leveled in what would be part of $1 million suffered in property damage.
As if Mother Nature were a surgeon and had a knife in her hand, a tornado cut a deadly and precise path through town. Late historian Herbert Heller wrote that the storm hit the western part of the city and cut a swath varying from a few feet to two blocks wide easterly across New Castle.
The tragedy dominated headlines not only here, but across the state and even in St. Louis, where a newspaper headline there proclaimed "Rose City In Ruins." Many of the greenhouses were in the tornado's path of destruction. "The frail construction of the glass-covered buildings fell easy prey to the wind," one newspaper reported.
Local historian Herbert Heller wrote that because of the storm, the frames of the Heller Brothers Greenhouses which held the glass roofs were sold "and the business never again reached the peak of earlier days."
A Fort Wayne newspaper report captured the terror of the moment.
"The moans of dying and screams of persons less injured who were pinned under the ruins of their homes was heard on every side," it read. "Most of the dead were taken from homes that were completely demolished."
Local newspaper reports were just as grim.
"Men, women, and children are seen on every hand with arms in slings, bandages around heads, and liberal patches on faces," a New Castle paper read. "The two morgues were filled with a never-ending stream of visitors from daylight until late in the evening. It was estimated that 10,000 or more viewed the remains of victims in the disaster. Tear-stained eyes of many visitors indicated that they had friends among the dead, but the majority of the visitors were attracted to the city only from curiosity."
"Rose City" would never quite be the same again, and yet, kindness and charity seemed to bloom in all directions.
The Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce offered sugar, flour, meats, and potatoes to New Castle residents. More than $9,000 in donations poured in from all around the state. Cities from Ohio to Illinois to Texas contributed. The Maxwell Motor Co. in Dayton sent $2,000. Montgomery-Ward in Chicago sent another $1,000.
Compassion overshadowed shock, according to local newspaper reports. Hundreds found themselves homeless but were welcomed with open arms by their more fortunate neighbors.
"Later reports of relief work show that nearly everyone in the city who can accommodate any of the storm sufferers is offering their homes to them," one newspaper report read.
Obviously, there were no bulldozers or cranes available at that time for clearing debris. City officials called on farmers to bring teams of animals in to help.
"It is the belief of the people of New Castle and especially those directly in charge of relief work that scores of farmers will be glad to offer the use of their teams two or three days for this work," a newspaper account read. "A hundred teams can be used and those willing to donate the same should call the relief committee."
Other interesting tornado facts:
-- The Western Union Telegraph Co. sent and received approximately 12,000 messages in the days following the tornado.
-- Several garages were lifted off their foundations and carried several hundred feet away.
-- "An interesting feature of the storm was the fact that no horses were killed but a large number of automobiles were damaged," a local paper reported. "Overturned automobiles that had been torn out of their garages were seen on every hand."
-- The Indiana Rolling Mill, one of New Castle's larger factories at the time, was demolished. C.W. Mouch, president of the company, was in the offices at the time. He joined Mr. and Mrs. Harry Newhouse in a large vault where the books and records were kept. All escaped uninjured.
-- Nearly all houses were destroyed on Lincoln Avenue, South Main Street, South 14th Street, and A Avenue. Damage was also heavy from the 18th to the 25th streets.
.
Emerson Earl Razor, 14, of 1322 S. 21st. Street, New Castle, Indiana, died on Sunday, March 11, 1917, was killed by a cyclone.
He was born in 1903, in Kentucky, the son of Wilmington Teager Razor and Luvenia Penelope Ward.
The funeral service will be held Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock. The remains will be held over until Monday when interment will take place in South Mound Cemetery, New Castle, Indiana.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Castle Daily Courier
New Castle, Indiana
March 12, 1917
CYCLONE DEATH TOLL REMAINS AT NINETEEN
CITY AWAKENS TO GREAT WORK OF CARING FOR
HOMELESS AND RELIEVING SUFFERING OF INJURED
THE DEAD:
Earl E. Razor, age 14, son of W. T. Razor, 1322 S. 21st.
(from an edited article)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Castle Daily Courier
New Castle, Indiana
March 17, 1917
The funeral of Earl E. Razor, who was killed by the cyclone Sunday, will be held Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock. The remains will be held over until Monday when interment will take place at Southmound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Richmond Item
Richmond, Indiana
March 12, 1917
Morgues and hospitals are filled with twenty-one persons killed and more than 100 injured by the tornado, which tore a wide furrow across Newcastle's richest residence district at 3 o'clock this afternoon. Property damage, it is estimated late tonight, will amount to $1,250,000.
With twenty-one known dead, only the light of day on Monday morning will make a possible definite tabulation of the havoc of the most terrible catastrophe that has visited Newcastle in all of its histories. In the brief 10 minutes visit of the windstorm, 350 homes were wrecked and damaged.
Upon an appeal to Gov. Goodrich, by Mayor Leb Warkins, three companies of state militia, Company C of Crawfordsville, Company G of Muncie, and Battery A of Indianapolis were ordered out and placed on duty guarding the ruins against looters and establishing a strict police cordon around the ruined district in Maplewood.
Three score physicians and nurses were rushed to Newcastle from Indianapolis arriving here about 9 o'clock and relief was speedily organized. Volunteer corps of searchers were organized by the city officials within the first hour after the tornado marked its path through the city from Sixth Street southwest to Twenty-sixth Street.
Bodies were found crushed and in some instances mutilated almost beyond recognition in the mass of wreckage of homes. The path of the storm was three blocks wide in places and fire that broke out in the wreckage at two points added to the horror.
Tangled wires, masses of wreckage, and uprooted trees that filled the streets made it extremely difficult for the firefighting forces to reach the flames. which, however, were handled with exceptional efficiency, and the spread of the flames was speedily checked. The damage from the fire was only nominal being confined to houses already practically demolished by the storm.
Sweeping up from the northwest, preceded by a roaring and driving torrent of rain, the whirlwind caught almost all of the victims within their homes. In only a few instances is there any record that those who escaped were able to do so by warning thunders of the approaching terror?
The tornado center struck the city high, dipping toward the ground in the farmlands just outside the city and rising again passing over a part of the city before it descended again at Sixth Street from where it tore and smashed its way to Eleventh Street with only slight damage and few casualties compared to the greater havoc reached from Eleventh street east.
From Eleventh Street eastward to Fifteenth Street, Maplewood, the pride residence district of the city, the wreck and ruin is at its worst, and from Eleventh Street east for 15 blocks, the death toll and injuries were greatest.
Striking first at Sixth and A Avenue, the storm veered at Fifteenth Street and jumped south to D Avenue taking an eastward course to Millville. Fully 150 homes were leveled to the ground in the territory east of Fifteenth Street.
On South Twentieth Street two houses were jammed together, telescoping the Williams home, where Mrs. Acie Williams and her daughter, Opal, were found pinned beneath the floor of their home. Both were dead and the searchers had cut away a large space of the floor before the bodies were found.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source information from The Henry County Historical Society:
On March 11, 1917, a New Castle tornado claimed the lives of 21 people and destroyed many greenhouses. Rose City's reputation for growing flowers would never be the same. At the time, it was the third-most destructive tornado in Indiana history.
At 3:02 p.m. on Sunday, March 11, 1917, many New Castle lives were changed forever. In just a few terrifying minutes, 22 people were killed, hundreds were injured, 500 homes were damaged or destroyed and many of the city's triumphant greenhouses were leveled in what would be part of $1 million suffered in property damage.
As if Mother Nature were a surgeon and had a knife in her hand, a tornado cut a deadly and precise path through town. Late historian Herbert Heller wrote that the storm hit the western part of the city and cut a swath varying from a few feet to two blocks wide easterly across New Castle.
The tragedy dominated headlines not only here, but across the state and even in St. Louis, where a newspaper headline there proclaimed "Rose City In Ruins." Many of the greenhouses were in the tornado's path of destruction. "The frail construction of the glass-covered buildings fell easy prey to the wind," one newspaper reported.
Local historian Herbert Heller wrote that because of the storm, the frames of the Heller Brothers Greenhouses which held the glass roofs were sold "and the business never again reached the peak of earlier days."
A Fort Wayne newspaper report captured the terror of the moment.
"The moans of dying and screams of persons less injured who were pinned under the ruins of their homes was heard on every side," it read. "Most of the dead were taken from homes that were completely demolished."
Local newspaper reports were just as grim.
"Men, women, and children are seen on every hand with arms in slings, bandages around heads, and liberal patches on faces," a New Castle paper read. "The two morgues were filled with a never-ending stream of visitors from daylight until late in the evening. It was estimated that 10,000 or more viewed the remains of victims in the disaster. Tear-stained eyes of many visitors indicated that they had friends among the dead, but the majority of the visitors were attracted to the city only from curiosity."
"Rose City" would never quite be the same again, and yet, kindness and charity seemed to bloom in all directions.
The Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce offered sugar, flour, meats, and potatoes to New Castle residents. More than $9,000 in donations poured in from all around the state. Cities from Ohio to Illinois to Texas contributed. The Maxwell Motor Co. in Dayton sent $2,000. Montgomery-Ward in Chicago sent another $1,000.
Compassion overshadowed shock, according to local newspaper reports. Hundreds found themselves homeless but were welcomed with open arms by their more fortunate neighbors.
"Later reports of relief work show that nearly everyone in the city who can accommodate any of the storm sufferers is offering their homes to them," one newspaper report read.
Obviously, there were no bulldozers or cranes available at that time for clearing debris. City officials called on farmers to bring teams of animals in to help.
"It is the belief of the people of New Castle and especially those directly in charge of relief work that scores of farmers will be glad to offer the use of their teams two or three days for this work," a newspaper account read. "A hundred teams can be used and those willing to donate the same should call the relief committee."
Other interesting tornado facts:
-- The Western Union Telegraph Co. sent and received approximately 12,000 messages in the days following the tornado.
-- Several garages were lifted off their foundations and carried several hundred feet away.
-- "An interesting feature of the storm was the fact that no horses were killed but a large number of automobiles were damaged," a local paper reported. "Overturned automobiles that had been torn out of their garages were seen on every hand."
-- The Indiana Rolling Mill, one of New Castle's larger factories at the time, was demolished. C.W. Mouch, president of the company, was in the offices at the time. He joined Mr. and Mrs. Harry Newhouse in a large vault where the books and records were kept. All escaped uninjured.
-- Nearly all houses were destroyed on Lincoln Avenue, South Main Street, South 14th Street, and A Avenue. Damage was also heavy from the 18th to the 25th streets.
.
He was born in 1903, in Kentucky, the son of Wilmington Teager Razor and Luvenia Penelope Ward.
The funeral service will be held Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock. The remains will be held over until Monday when interment will take place in South Mound Cemetery, New Castle, Indiana.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Castle Daily Courier
New Castle, Indiana
March 12, 1917
CYCLONE DEATH TOLL REMAINS AT NINETEEN
CITY AWAKENS TO GREAT WORK OF CARING FOR
HOMELESS AND RELIEVING SUFFERING OF INJURED
THE DEAD:
Earl E. Razor, age 14, son of W. T. Razor, 1322 S. 21st.
(from an edited article)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Castle Daily Courier
New Castle, Indiana
March 17, 1917
The funeral of Earl E. Razor, who was killed by the cyclone Sunday, will be held Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock. The remains will be held over until Monday when interment will take place at Southmound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Richmond Item
Richmond, Indiana
March 12, 1917
Morgues and hospitals are filled with twenty-one persons killed and more than 100 injured by the tornado, which tore a wide furrow across Newcastle's richest residence district at 3 o'clock this afternoon. Property damage, it is estimated late tonight, will amount to $1,250,000.
With twenty-one known dead, only the light of day on Monday morning will make a possible definite tabulation of the havoc of the most terrible catastrophe that has visited Newcastle in all of its histories. In the brief 10 minutes visit of the windstorm, 350 homes were wrecked and damaged.
Upon an appeal to Gov. Goodrich, by Mayor Leb Warkins, three companies of state militia, Company C of Crawfordsville, Company G of Muncie, and Battery A of Indianapolis were ordered out and placed on duty guarding the ruins against looters and establishing a strict police cordon around the ruined district in Maplewood.
Three score physicians and nurses were rushed to Newcastle from Indianapolis arriving here about 9 o'clock and relief was speedily organized. Volunteer corps of searchers were organized by the city officials within the first hour after the tornado marked its path through the city from Sixth Street southwest to Twenty-sixth Street.
Bodies were found crushed and in some instances mutilated almost beyond recognition in the mass of wreckage of homes. The path of the storm was three blocks wide in places and fire that broke out in the wreckage at two points added to the horror.
Tangled wires, masses of wreckage, and uprooted trees that filled the streets made it extremely difficult for the firefighting forces to reach the flames. which, however, were handled with exceptional efficiency, and the spread of the flames was speedily checked. The damage from the fire was only nominal being confined to houses already practically demolished by the storm.
Sweeping up from the northwest, preceded by a roaring and driving torrent of rain, the whirlwind caught almost all of the victims within their homes. In only a few instances is there any record that those who escaped were able to do so by warning thunders of the approaching terror?
The tornado center struck the city high, dipping toward the ground in the farmlands just outside the city and rising again passing over a part of the city before it descended again at Sixth Street from where it tore and smashed its way to Eleventh Street with only slight damage and few casualties compared to the greater havoc reached from Eleventh street east.
From Eleventh Street eastward to Fifteenth Street, Maplewood, the pride residence district of the city, the wreck and ruin is at its worst, and from Eleventh Street east for 15 blocks, the death toll and injuries were greatest.
Striking first at Sixth and A Avenue, the storm veered at Fifteenth Street and jumped south to D Avenue taking an eastward course to Millville. Fully 150 homes were leveled to the ground in the territory east of Fifteenth Street.
On South Twentieth Street two houses were jammed together, telescoping the Williams home, where Mrs. Acie Williams and her daughter, Opal, were found pinned beneath the floor of their home. Both were dead and the searchers had cut away a large space of the floor before the bodies were found.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source information from The Henry County Historical Society:
On March 11, 1917, a New Castle tornado claimed the lives of 21 people and destroyed many greenhouses. Rose City's reputation for growing flowers would never be the same. At the time, it was the third-most destructive tornado in Indiana history.
At 3:02 p.m. on Sunday, March 11, 1917, many New Castle lives were changed forever. In just a few terrifying minutes, 22 people were killed, hundreds were injured, 500 homes were damaged or destroyed and many of the city's triumphant greenhouses were leveled in what would be part of $1 million suffered in property damage.
As if Mother Nature were a surgeon and had a knife in her hand, a tornado cut a deadly and precise path through town. Late historian Herbert Heller wrote that the storm hit the western part of the city and cut a swath varying from a few feet to two blocks wide easterly across New Castle.
The tragedy dominated headlines not only here, but across the state and even in St. Louis, where a newspaper headline there proclaimed "Rose City In Ruins." Many of the greenhouses were in the tornado's path of destruction. "The frail construction of the glass-covered buildings fell easy prey to the wind," one newspaper reported.
Local historian Herbert Heller wrote that because of the storm, the frames of the Heller Brothers Greenhouses which held the glass roofs were sold "and the business never again reached the peak of earlier days."
A Fort Wayne newspaper report captured the terror of the moment.
"The moans of dying and screams of persons less injured who were pinned under the ruins of their homes was heard on every side," it read. "Most of the dead were taken from homes that were completely demolished."
Local newspaper reports were just as grim.
"Men, women, and children are seen on every hand with arms in slings, bandages around heads, and liberal patches on faces," a New Castle paper read. "The two morgues were filled with a never-ending stream of visitors from daylight until late in the evening. It was estimated that 10,000 or more viewed the remains of victims in the disaster. Tear-stained eyes of many visitors indicated that they had friends among the dead, but the majority of the visitors were attracted to the city only from curiosity."
"Rose City" would never quite be the same again, and yet, kindness and charity seemed to bloom in all directions.
The Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce offered sugar, flour, meats, and potatoes to New Castle residents. More than $9,000 in donations poured in from all around the state. Cities from Ohio to Illinois to Texas contributed. The Maxwell Motor Co. in Dayton sent $2,000. Montgomery-Ward in Chicago sent another $1,000.
Compassion overshadowed shock, according to local newspaper reports. Hundreds found themselves homeless but were welcomed with open arms by their more fortunate neighbors.
"Later reports of relief work show that nearly everyone in the city who can accommodate any of the storm sufferers is offering their homes to them," one newspaper report read.
Obviously, there were no bulldozers or cranes available at that time for clearing debris. City officials called on farmers to bring teams of animals in to help.
"It is the belief of the people of New Castle and especially those directly in charge of relief work that scores of farmers will be glad to offer the use of their teams two or three days for this work," a newspaper account read. "A hundred teams can be used and those willing to donate the same should call the relief committee."
Other interesting tornado facts:
-- The Western Union Telegraph Co. sent and received approximately 12,000 messages in the days following the tornado.
-- Several garages were lifted off their foundations and carried several hundred feet away.
-- "An interesting feature of the storm was the fact that no horses were killed but a large number of automobiles were damaged," a local paper reported. "Overturned automobiles that had been torn out of their garages were seen on every hand."
-- The Indiana Rolling Mill, one of New Castle's larger factories at the time, was demolished. C.W. Mouch, president of the company, was in the offices at the time. He joined Mr. and Mrs. Harry Newhouse in a large vault where the books and records were kept. All escaped uninjured.
-- Nearly all houses were destroyed on Lincoln Avenue, South Main Street, South 14th Street, and A Avenue. Damage was also heavy from the 18th to the 25th streets.
.
Inscription
14y
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
