June 7, 1916 Tornado
76 REPORTED DEAD AND MORE THAN 300 INJURED, SOME FATALLY,
AS
REPORTS OF THE STATE POUR IN.
BELATED REPORTS ARE LIKE TO ADD TO FEARFUL TOLL
No Section of Arkansas Appears to Have Escaped the Ravages of the Worst Storm
in the History of the State.
Seventy-six dead, over 300 hurt, many seriously; four missing and a million dollars' property damage is the result of the storm which swept the state from end to end Monday afternoon and night. Every section of the state paid toll to the most severe storm in the history of Arkansas, but the great loss of life occurred in the northwest section.
The death list is expected to grow as reports from isolated communities are received. The
prostration of telegraph and telephone wires in many sections is believed to have prevented many reports from coming in.Heber Springs was the greatest sufferer, with 22 killed and 54 injured. Arkansas county was a heavy sufferer, with eight killed, and the death tolls run high in other towns and counties in the northern half of the state.
Of the total dead 19 are negroes, and of the injured about 20 percent are negroes.
Already the work of relieving the distress of the storm sufferers is underway.
THE CASUALTY LIST
HEBER SPRINGS - Sixteen dead and 54 injured, eight seriously. The dead: J.W. Morgan,60; Anna Crosby, 16; Irene Crosby,14; infant son of Perry Ligon; Bertie Garrison,9; Louis Teames,35; Louis Teams Jr.,8; Marie Teams,6; Mrs. Nora Phillips,65; Elsie Dickson,8; Carrie Barnett, 10; Mrs. Laura Mize,85, of Monticello; Mrs. Cecil Spanhorst,25; Mrs. Mack Phillips,24; Ollie Blackburn,73; Mrs. Mollie Eden,40.
Seriously injured: W.W. Smith,77; Robert Forbus,30; John Harmon, 25; J.F. Crosby,55;
E.A. Barnard, 65; Mrs. W.L. Teamses, 30; Miss Dee Bunyard, 19; Winkler Bunyard, 16. Others injured: Mrs. J.W. Morgan, 50; Mr. and Mrs. Major Bishop, two Bishop children; Nona Blackburn, 12; Lois Holder, 10; Wilson Barnett, 10; J.H. Barnett, 50; Willie Barnett, 8; Lela Crosby, 10; three children of Jim Brownfield; Joe Crosby, 18; Pearl Crosby, 8; Truman Phillips, 14; Perry Ligon, 22; two children of O.C. Dickson; Mrs. Georgia Barnard, 43; Norville and Orville Barnard, 10, twins; Frances Spanhorst, 4; Ben Blackburn, 12; Mrs. J.M. Brawley, 35, and two children, Alfred, 9, Etta, 11; Mrs. John Harmon, 20; Mrs. Etta Buckner, 35, and a son, Everett, 10; W.F. Spanhorst, 50; Lucy Harris, 16; Eugene Harris, 12; Mrs. H.H. Harris; Mildred Harris, 14; Nellie Eden, 11; Lola Eden, 10; Mayme Eden, 8; Alva Eden, 6; Esther Henderson, 10;
Lester Henderson, 1; Ethel Henderson, 11; Gabriel Henderson, 9; Lester Henderson, 6;
J.H. Thompson, 50; Mrs. J.H. Thompson, 35. Many others were slightly injured.
Near Heber Springs - The dead: Albert Reed, 45, farmer near Banner, and three sons,
aged 14, 12, 10; Tom Walders, 30; Ralph Tackett, 38, near Rosebud.
RECTOR - Five persons killed and two injured, probably fatally. The dead are: Ramsey McLeskey and his two children, the little child of Bristow Mann and the 8 year old son of William Simpson. Mr. Simpson and Mrs. Ramsey are probably fatally injured.
FAYETTEVILLE - Four of those injured in Greenland, Washington County, are likely to die in addition to Mrs. C.E. Wilson, yesterday. Those believed to be fatally injured are: C.I. Wilson, Frank Wilson, Thelma Wilson, and William Gabbert.
OZARK - Charles Welcher, farmer, living 12 miles from town died today from injuries
received when his home was wrecked. His mother was slightly injured. It is reported that a white man and his wife were killed near the Welcher home, but it is impossible to confirm the report.
FORREST CITY - Three white persons and a negress were killed and about 40 injured near Haynes, Lee County, six miles south of Forrest City. The dead: Miss Nancy Francis, Mrs. Goodman, and Will Hardin, white, and the wife of Lucas Patteon, negro. Two of the injured are reported in a serious condition.
DALARK - Five are dead, one missing and three injured in Dallas county. The dead: Mr. and Mrs. Will Womack, the two daughters, aged 17 and 20, and their son, Cheatham, aged 20. Two little daughters of the Womack family and a negro were injured. Robert Womack, nephew of Will Womack, missing and believed to be dead.
ARKANSAS CITY - Negro drowned were tornado wrecked dredge boat.
CONWAY - The 2-year old child of Columbus Carland, living northeast of Barney, was killed. The mother of Mrs. Alex L. Nichols was injured, perhaps fatally. James Sanders and Thomas Bean and his son John were injured severely. Many others suffered lesser injuries. Forty reported dead and injured near Cato.
TUCKERMAN - Four were killed and four injured, one seriously. The dead are: George Ross, farmer; Les Gentry, 35, farmer; Mrs. Gentry, 33, and their 2 year old child. The Gentry child
was carried nearly a quarter mile by the wind and died soon after it was found.
STUTTGART - Eight killed and 20 injured, one probably fatally in Arkansas county. The
dead: Mr. and Mrs. Conray, Mrs. John Hanks, Mr. Hank's aged mother, infant of Mr. and Mrs. Hanks, 18-month old baby of Mr. and Mrs. Grant Belton, 7-year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Yeazle, 2- year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H.L. Ives. The injuries of Mrs. John Slifer probably will prove fatal.
JUDSONIA - Clarence Presswood, white, aged 13, and eight negroes killed, five of them the children of David Pool, a negro preacher. The other negroes are Sarah Brewer, ????????, daughter Lula, aged 5; Miss Lizzie Giles, aged 18; and Miss May Harris/Morris???, white, probably fatally injured. It is estimated that about 50 others, mostly negroes, were
injured.
CABOT - John W. Lowery, aged 69, and his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Nina Lowery, were killed. Mrs. Sam Bailey and his, Henry, aged 13, and Mrs. Maggie Barron, seriously injured and may die.
JONESBORO - Six persons were killed and 13 injured within a radius of 15 miles of Jonesboro. Four negroes were killed when a tree fell on a boarding house near Truman, Poinsett county. A message from Deckerville says that two were killed there.
MARION - One negro was killed and about 40 injured in the section about two miles north of Marion.
$200 TO THE RELIEF OF HEBER SPRINGS
This Nearly Exhausts Gazette Fund and More Aid is Needed.
Of the money that was left in the Gazette's flood relief fund, a draft of $200 will go forward to Heber Springs this morning.
Arkansas residents responded generously to the Gazette's appeal for assistance for sufferers in the last flood in the state and all that was subscribed was not needed. The Gazette offered to return to those who wished, a pro rata of their subscriptions. A majority of the donators, however, wished to leave the money in a fund to be used in case of another flood or disaster. It is this amount that now is available for Heber Springs.
Reports of widespread destruction caused by Tuesday's tornadoes indicates that the need for relief will be great. The people of Arkansas have always responded generously to every call of distress and there is no reason be believe that they will falter on this occasion.
Those who wish to contribute for the relief of the sufferers in various parts of the state are asked to send their contributions to Fred W. Allsopp, business manager for the Gazette.
Assistance will be sent whereever it is shown to be needed by responsible men of the community
asking assistance.
5 KILLED AND 2 INJURED
Gravel Hill, Near Rector, Is Swept by Tornado
Rector, June 6- Five persons were killed instantly, two were probably fatally injured and others received minor injuries and great property damage was done by a tornado which struck Gravel Hill neighborhood, eight miles north of Rector, yesterday afternoon.
The dead are: Ransey McLeakey and two of his children; the little child of Bristow Mann, and the eight-year old son of William Simpson.
Mr. Simpson and Mrs. Ransey McLeakey are probably fatally injured.
Several dwellings were demolished and crops and orchards were heavily damaged.
STORM SWEEPS RANDOLPH
Farmhouses, Barns, and Fences Swept Away - No Deaths
Pocahontas, June 6 - A terrific rain and windstorm struck Randolph county last night about 8 o'clock. Many farmhouses, barns, and fences were swept away. Hardly a building was left standing in the Shiloh Church neighborhood. Telephone communication has been cut off. No deaths have been reported, but several persons were slightly injured.
FOUR OTHERS MAY DIE
One Dead and Eight Injured in Storm at Greenland.
Fayetteville, June 6- Reports from Greenland, Washington County, are that four were probably fatally injured and four received minor injuries in the tornado near there yesterday, which caused the instant death of Mrs. C.E. Wilson.
The fatally injured are C.L. Wilson, Frank Wilson, Thelma Wilson, and William Gabbert, who were in a house which was demolished.
The others injured are Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Watson, John Lewis, and a man named Cordry, who lived on the C.W. Riggs farm.
CATO REPORTED HIT HARD
Forty Either Killed or Injured, is report in Conway.
Conway, June 6 - Forty persons either killed or injured were reported to be victims of a tornado that struck Cato, in the extreme southeast corner of Faulkner County, Monday afternoon. Telephone communication from this city was cut off and no detail of the report could be verified.
Efforts to verify the Cato report from Little Rock last night failed. The town is isolated.
WHITE BOY AND EIGHT NEGROES ARE VICTIMS IN STRAWBERRY METROPOLIS.
By a Staff Correspondent.
Judsonia, June 6 - Twisting its zigzag course in an almost direct line from southwest to
northeast, the tornado which swept this section late Monday took its toll in human lives -
nine here and two at Cabot.
Homes were picked up by the funnel cloud of wind and scattered as chaff.
The property loss at Cabot is conservatively placed at $40,000, while here and on north toward Bald Knob the losses will total more than $50,000.
Nine Dead at Judsonia
Eight negroes lost their lives in the railroad addition of East Judsonia and one white boy was killed about a mile and a half northeast of there. He was Clarence Presswood, 13 years old. The lad was crushed to death in the debris of his father's home.
Of the eight negroes killed at Judsonia, five were children of Dave Pool, a preacher and farmer. The other four members of the Pool family were taken to Little Rock Tuesday afternoon on Iron Mountain Train No. 223 and were placed in St. Vincent's infirmary.
Those of the Pool family dead are Eskew, 19; Dale, 11; Bud, 9; Pearlie, 5; and Doyle, 3 years old. Those taken to Little Rock are Davie Pool, the father; the mother, who is not expected to live; Leona, 18; and Cologne, 12 years old.
The body of Doyle Pool, the infant was not located until Tuesday morning, when it was
discover by a searching party, lodged in a tree, about a quarter-mile from the wrecked home.
JUDSONIA NEGRO DISTRICT WRECKED
The negro section of Judsonia, consisting of about a dozen shacks just east of Iron Mountain railway tracks and opposite the depot, was wiped out. The storm struck the home of Mrs. Giles, a white woman, and then veering slightly to the north, swept away the negro homes, crossing the railroad tracks and on toward Bald Knob.
Nothing was left unmoved in the path of the tornado, which was about 50 feet wide. The negro shanties were wrecked and the debris scattered over several acres of ground. Bed clothing clung in the tops of trees which escaped, while fences served to drift up piles of timbers, household effects and numerous sundry other articles.
TWO DEAD NEAR CABOT
Five miles south of Cabot, where the tornado met dozens of homes in its path. John W.
Lowery, 60 years old, a farmer, whose wife resides at 421 East Seventeenth Street in Little Rock, and conducts a small grocery store, was killed when his home was wrecked
and blown away.
His son's wife, Mrs. Nina Lowery, who was also in the home, was killed. Funeral services
and burial for Mrs. Lowery will be at Cabot. Mr. Lowery's body was taken to Little Rock for burial.
The list of injured, containing now about 100 names reported from here and Cabot, continues to grow as the rural districts are heard from.
22 KILLED AND 100 INJURED AT HEBER SPRINGS
EIGHT OF THOSE HURT IN TORNADO LIKELY TO DIE
WEST END IS SWEPT
TWENTY HOMES ON A HILLSIDE ARE REDUCED TO KINDLING
PROPERTY LOSS IS SLIGHT
By Staff Correspondent
Heber Springs, June 6 - The largest funeral ever held in Cleburne County, the courthouse
filled with injured, some of them dying, and a hillside in the west end of Heber Springs
covered with the debris of 20 homes were evidences today of the tornado which swept
across the county yesterday afternoon.
The Dead:
J.W. Morgan, 60, gin operator
Anna Crosby, 16, daughter of John Crosby
Irene Crosby, 14, daughter of John Crosby
Infant Son of Perry Ligon
Bertie Garrison, 8
Louis Teames, 35 farmer
Louis Teamse Jr., 8
Maries Teames, 6
Mrs. Noah Phillips, 65
Elsie Dickson, 8, daughter of O.C. Dickson, poultry dealer
Carrie Barnett, 19
Mrs. Laura Mize, 65
Mrs. Cecil Spanhorst, 25
Mrs. Mack Phillips, 24
Ollie Blackburn, 73, retired farmer
Mrs. Mollie Eden, 40, died on operating table at courthouse.
Near Heber Springs.
Albert Reed, 45, farmer, near Banner, 15 miles northeast of Heber Springs and three sons.
Tom Walders, 30, farmer
Ralph Tackett, 38, farmer, near Rosebud, 14 miles south of Heber Springs.
Seriously Injured
W.W. Smith, 77, head crushed, probably will die.
Robert Forbus, 30, school teacher, skull crushed, may die.
John Harman, 25, laborer, spine injured and internal injuries, may die.
J.F. Crosby, 55, insurance agent, leg and arm injured and internal injuries.
E.A. Barnard, 65, mechanic, injured.
Mrs. W.L. Teames, 30, injured internally, may die.
Miss Dee Bunyard, 19, head and face cut, hip broken.
Winkler Bunyard, 16, head bruised.
Others Injured
Mrs. J.W. Morgan, 50 injured about the head, neck, and face.
Mr. and Mrs. Major Bishop, bruised.
Two Bishop children, bruised.
Nona Blackburn, 12, bruised.
Lois Holder, 10, left eye out and left wrist broken.
Wilson Barnett, 10, bruised.
J.H. Barnett, 30, merchant, left arm injured and bruised.
Willie Barnett, 8, bruised.
Three children of Jim Brownfield, bruised and cut.
Joe Crosby, 18, left leg injured.
Pearl Crosby, 8, bruised.
Truman Phillips, 14, slightly injured.
Perry Ligon, 25, painter, head and eyes injured.
Mrs. Perry Ligon, 22, head and face badly bruised.
Two children of O.C. Dickson, slightly injured.
Mrs. George Barnard, 45, right side and arm badly bruised.
Norville and Orville Barnard, 10, twins, slightly injured.
Frances Spanhorst, 4, slightly injured.
Ben Blackburn, 12, head injured.
Mrs. J.M. Brawley, 35?, bruised.
Alfred, 9; Edtta Brawley, 11, bruised.
Mrs. John Harmon, 20, head and face cut and bruised.
Mrs. Etta Buckner, 35, and son, Everett, 10, bruised.
W.T. Spanhorst, 50, head cut and otherwise bruised.
Lucy Harris, 16, internal injuries and head bruised.
Mrs. H.H. Harris, head injured.
Mildred Harris, head cut.
Nellie Eden and ???? Eden, 19, Mayme Eden, 8, ???? Eden, 6, all injured and cut.
Both of
Alv?? Eden's legs broke.
Esther Henderson, 10, hand crushed
Russell Henderson, 1 year, leg broken
Ethel Henderson, 11, Gabriel, 8; Le???, slightly injured.
J.H. Thompson, 50, laborer, left side of head bruised and cut.
THE STORM IN ILLINOIS
ONE DEAD AT MCCLURE - NINE INJURED AT FAYVILLE
Cairo, Ill., June 6 - A tornado struck McClure, Ill., last night killing Pansy Edmondson,
10 years old. Many farm houses were wrecked.
Nine persons were hurt also, one possibly fatally, by a tornado at Fayville, Ill. today.
All wires from here are down.
TOLL OF TORNADO IS AT LEAST 107
BELATED REPORTS INCREASE NUMBER OF CASUALTIES IN FIVE STATES
ARKANSAS HEADS THE LIST
HUNDREDS ARE INJURED AND PROPERTY DAMAGE LARGELY
EXCEEDS FIRST ESTIMATES
Kansas City, Mo., June 6.- Death lists in the storm-swept section of Arkansas, Missouri,
Mississippi, and Illinois grew hourly tonight as belated reports were received from
communities which suffered in a series of tornadoes Monday night and early today. Late
tonight the deaths of 119 persons had been reported, several other persons were unaccounted
for and believed dead and several hundred had been injured, of whom some will die.
Accurate estimates of property damage were not available.
Incomplete tabulations show the following deaths:
Arkansas - Seventy-six
Missouri - Thirty, possibly more.
Mississippi - Fifteen
Illinois - One.
Tennessee - Four, with a score missing in the overturning of the Mississippi river
packet Eleonore.
In Missouri the Poplar Bluff section was well nigh devastated. McClure reported the
single death of Illinois.
15 DEAD IN MISSISSIPPI
JACKSON IS CENTER OF STORM, 12 BEING KILLED THERE.
Jackson, Miss., June 6 - Fifteen persons killed, more than 75 injured, two probably
fatally, and property damage estimated at about $500,000 was the toll of the tornado
which whirled through central Mississippi early today.
Twelve of those killed lost their lives when the storm swept a path 100 yards wide
through the southwestern part of the residence section of Jackson, demolished or
damaging more than230 dwelling houses. Two of the dead here were white persons,
Mrs. Annie Jelks, an aged woman and Walter Demott, a youth.
Three white persons, Mrs. F.H. Russell, her child, and Thomas Miller, her uncle,
were killed when their home near Vicksburg was wrecked. The others killed and the
majority of those injured were negroes.
Several small towns in Warren, Jasper, and Holmes counties reported property damage.
30 KILLED IN MISSOURI
WORST OF TORNADO WAS IN SOUTHERN PART OF STATE
Poplar Bluff, Mo., June 6 - Thirty or more persons were killed and at least 75 injured
in a storm that swept this section today. The damage to crops and buildings is estimated at
hundreds of thousands of dollars. The dead at Stoddard: Mr. and Mrs. William Simpson,
S.M. Gaines, Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Vaughn, Dr. Connor, and Mrs. Edward Fields.
The dead at Stoddard: Mr. and Mrs. William Simpson, S.M. Gaines, Mr. and Mrs. J.W.
Vaughn, Dr. connor, Mrs. Edward Fields.
The dead at Morehouse: Mrs. Jessie Nelson, Mrs. Whitaker, Mr. and Mrs. W.E.
Price and child.
The dead at Bernie: Bud Bond.
The storm first passed through Oxley, where several barns and light buildings were torn
from their foundations. At Stoddard, however, the storm had gained in intensity and in
addition
to those killed three persons were injured so seriously they are expected to die.
Two men injured at Sikeston probably will die. They were struck by flying timbers torn
from a structure of the Iron Mountain railroad.
Bud Bond of Bernie was killed by lightning while asleep. His wife was uninjured.
Owing to crippled wire service the names of many reported dead in the rural districts
cannot be obtained. The storm was general and it is feared later reports will
show still heavier loss of life.
Posted with the approval of: Arkansas Ties
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