A cyclone in 1919 was Wood County’s greatest catastrophe

killing 23 people
(This is Part II of the recounting of this event)

On Wednesday morning, April 9th, 1919, the worst disaster to ever strike Wood County hit in the form of a vicious cyclone. (Today, we would term this storm a tornado of major proportions.) Twenty-three persons were killed and 56 were injured. At least 71 homes were completely wrecked and 55 others were damaged. Losses were estimated at a half-million dollars, a great amount of money at the time, and two school houses were destroyed.

A first-hand story on this tragic disaster was carried in the (Wood County) Democrat on April 17th, 1919. Mr. Perno Thomas was publisher of the newspaper at that time. Below is a continuation of the article he wrote telling of the great disaster.
 

The R.J. McMillan farm was hard struck. The main residence was occupied by Wood County Treasurer W.R. Vickery. He, his four children, his aged mother and Mrs. McMillan were all resident of this house. Grandma Vickery has killed instantly. Mr. Vickery’s wife was teaching at Mt. Pisgah and was not at home when the storm struck, as she boarded near her school. A tenant house on the McMillan farm occupied by Rev. Langley was completely wrecked and several members of that family were injured. Another tenant house on the same farm was a total wreck. It was occupied by Mr. Fennell but the occupants escaped serious injury.
 

The home of Marvin Ussery was completely swept away. All the family was in the storm cellar and escaped injury.
 

The magnificent school building at Concord was completely wiped off the map, the lumber split into kindling wood, so to speak. The home of Boss Vaughn was practically a total wreck but no member of the family was seriously injured. The home of G.W. Hibbs, near the school building, escaped with small damage except his barns and outhouses.
 

Walter Pollard’s home was completely wrecked and his family escaped injury by being in the storm cellar. The home of Luther Johnson on Mrs. Lambert’s farm was a complete wreck and, again, the family escaped injury by sheltering in the storm cellar.
 

Carlee Guin’s home was a total wreck but no member of this family was seriously injured. The home of Lee Carlile on the Harbuck old farm was completely wrecked but no one was seriously injured. The home of Mr. Oler was completely wrecked and all of his family sustained injuries, some of them serious.
 

W.O. Windham’s home was a complete wreck but the family escaped injury. Jack Moore’s home was completely wrecked and this family escaped injury by being in the storm cellar.
 

The homes of Dave Harry, John Calloway and Jim Caldwell were partially wrecked and the outbuildings were blown down and no one was seriously injured. The home of Mrs. A.F. Low was also completely wrecked but no family member was seriously injured.
 

In the Oak Grove community, the home of Mr. Northfleet on the Futral farm was almost a complete wreck but no one was hurt. The home of Richard Oxford was completely destroyed all almost all members of the family were injured.
 

Artie Clanton’s home was a total wreck. All the family members sustained some injuries and Mr. Clanton’s are serious. The home of Henry Fulmer was completely wrecked and several family members were injured. The home of Butler Jones was completely wrecked and every family member was injured, some seriously.
 

Richard White’s home was totally wrecked. His wife was killed and other family members were injured. The home of Emmett Awtry was completely wrecked and some of the family members were injured. The home of Roy Awtry on his father’s farm was a complete wreck and some family members were injured.
 

The home of J.F. Little on the Awtry farm was a complete loss. Mr. Little and two of his sons were killed. His wife was injured. A little girl and a two-year-old baby were not hurt. The home of J.H. Moore was a total wreck but the family was in the storm cellar and no one was injured. The homes of Rob Daniels, Andrew Harris, Harrison Ingram, T.H. Winkle and Dr. Roy Harris were partially wrecked but no members of these families sustained injury.
 

The home of Mrs. M.E. Daniels was completely wrecked but no one was seriously injured. The home of A.L. Morrow was a total wreck and his wife’s mother was seriously injured. The home of Gene Wilson on the Morrow farm was a complete wreck but no family members were seriously injured.
 

The home of Mrs. Hattie Lawrence was partially wrecked but no one was seriously injured.
 

In the Stout community, the following information was provided to the newspaper by Walter Bellomy.
 

The storm crossed Sandy Creek going in a due northeast course. The timber in Sandy bottom was mowed down like grain.
 

A vacant house on Jim Taylor’s farm was completely wrecked. The barn and outbuildings had their roofs taken off. Sid Tolbert’s home on the Walter Bellomy farm was a complete wreck but no one was injured. The home of W.M. Peden was a total wreck as was the tenant house occupied by Ben Bundale. No one at either place was seriously injured.
 

The home of Bura Cooper was a total wreck and no one was injured. Sam Jarred’s home was partially wrecked as were the home of R.S. Sanford and J.A. Bellomy but no one was seriously injured.
 

The home of R.A. Gilbreath was totally wrecked with no one injured. The home of Charlie Hood on Dr. Pascal’s farm was a total wreck with no one injured. O.M. Bradshaw’s home was also a total wreck with no one injured. Dr. Pascal’s home was badly wrecked and his store building was completely blown away. No family member was injured.
 

The home of J.T. Potter was badly wrecked. His uncle John was at home alone and escaped injury. A tenant house on the Potter farm occupied by Minor Ragsdale was partially wrecked and another, occupied by Wood Tolbert, was completely wrecked. An old lady, whose name we did not learn, was injured quite seriously.
 

The church and school building near the Potter home sustained some damage. The homes of P.E. Salmon, B.R. Mitchell and Mrs. Sallie Robertson were partially wrecked but no one was seriously hurt. The R.E. Noles home was a total wreck and Mrs. Noles was seriously injured.
 

The home of B.B. Raley was completely wrecked and no one was seriously injured. The home of Mr. Bush was a total wreck. Mr. Bush had both legs broken. Mrs. Bush was uninjured.
 

In the Vernon community, data was given to the newspaper by Mr. Tinney and Mr. Bellomy.
 

The home of J.J. Dixson with four in the family was completely wrecked and no one was injured. The home of J.B. Stevens was completely wrecked. There were seven family members. Five were seriously injured and two others had slight injuries.
 

C.C. Richardson’s home was completely wrecked. There were eight people in the family with one serious injury. The R.A. Lawton home was also a complete wreck. There were seven in the family. A baby was seriously injured and its mother sustained a broken arm.
 

The home of Jim Winn was also completely wrecked with two people in the family, neither one being hurt.
 

The George Ross home was totally wrecked. The three in the family were all hurt. Mr. Ross was injured seriously. His wife and daughter were not injured as seriously. Homes and outbuildings of the following residents were partially wrecked: Walter Stevens, W.G. Highnote, W.W. Garner, J.J. Mills, Mrs. Pritchett, Lawrence Kelly and Bob Covington. No one was seriously hurt.
 

In the Westbrook community, data was secured from J.C. Huff.
 

The two tenant houses on the J.A. Winchester farm were both completely wrecked. One was occupied by K. Minick with four in the family. An 18-month-old baby was killed, and a five-year-old boy had his leg broken in three places. Mr. and Mrs. Minick were both seriously injured. The other house was occupied by J/M/ Johnson. There were several in this family but no one was seriously injured.
 

The home of O.E. Tinney on the Burns farm was a total wreck. Mr. Tinney was seriously injured. The homes of Z.J. Bailey, Mrs. F.W. Russell and J.W. Isbell, the latter on the Nabors farm, were all partially wrecked but no one was injured.
 

When we reached the Westbrook community, it was getting late and we did not have time to make a trip through the Musgrove and Spring Hill communities. We secured the following information as to results in the two communities from Shaw D. Ray, post master at Winnsboro who is also acting secretary of the Winnsboro Chamber of Commerce, through which channel relief has been given the sufferers. The homes of T.J. Farmer, a tenant house on the Hallman farm, Gordon Turner and John Griggs were partially wrecked. Mr. Turner was the only person seriously injured.
 

In the Spring Hill community, Jess Swanner’s home was a total wreck and Mrs. Swanner was seriously injured. Arthur Attaway’s home was also a total wreck and Mrs. Attaway was injured. E.B. Tillery’s home was a total wreck and two children were killed.
 

C.N. Massey’s home was also a total wreck but no one was seriously injured. The home of Henry Burgin was a complete wreck and no one was seriously injured.
 

The home of Adolphus Alston was totally wrecked. Mr. Alston, his wife and his mother were all killed. Their 14-year-old daughter was at the home of her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Hallman, a few miles away, and escaped injury.
 

The home of L.G. Calhoun was totally wrecked. Mrs. Calhoun was killed and Mr. Calhoun is thought to be fatally injured. He was still alive at last report. Their two girls were injured but not seriously.
 

The home occupied by H.F. Shearer on Mrs. Cone’s farm was a total wreck but no one was injured. The home of Mart Morgan was a total wreck, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan were injured and their baby was killed. The home of George Coston was completely wrecked but no one was injured.
The homes of Chess Teel, C.B. Barrett, Jeff Dorsey, Clynt Wright, Calvin Watson, J.H. Johnson, Mrs. Jim Hooks, N. Matheson, Cleo Alston and T.C. Carter were all partially wrecked but there were no injuries.
 

The foregoing sums up the situation as best we have been able to get it. We are sure there are mistakes in the summary but it is the best we can do. The situation is so confusing that it has been practically impossible to get details in full with the means at hand.
 

Some few have given us an estimate of the total damage done in their respective school districts. Mr. Huff estimates the damage in Westbrook at $15,000. Walter Bellomy, Belker Paschal and A.D. Harris, the valuation committee of the Stout school district, put the damage in that district at $32,000. The Concord Community suffered a loss of practically $20,000 besides losing their new school building.
 

Ed. Note: This concludes the first-hand account that appeared on April 17th, 1919. The damages may sound small in today’s dollars, but in the currency of the era, they were very great. It is also interesting to note that, among those who had a storm cellar and used it, there were no casualties even though, in many cases, their homes were completely gone.