Carroll County, IL Tornado, May 1886

May 12, 1886—A tornado struck at 6:00 P.M. preceded by heavy rainfall. It came from west of north and all afternoon it had been oppressive. The first building struck was J. H. Busby’s dry goods store, tearing off the roof, then Mrs. Miller’s building, embedding timbers from Busby’s roof and breaking windows at the corner of Market and Carroll. It made a hole in Smith’s saloon, the residence of George Winter breaking a hole in the roof, and another piece struck the front of Mr. Nelson’s store, breaking the window. The bank block occupied by the First National Bank, the Postoffice, Lichty and Stakemiller, grocers, Leo Phillips meat market met the same fate as Busby’s store. The tin roof was carried to the courthouse square.

The sheds at Hall’s brick yard were blown down, also the sheds at his residence in West Carroll. The wind then took a more southerly course to the fairgrounds damaging buildings. Fences, windmills, barns and dwelling houses blew down including Will Mackay’s new house and Robert Moore’s barn and outbuildings. The only life lost was William Hixon of Lanark, about 10 miles southeast. He ran into a barn to escape and got into it just in time for it to be torn to pieces.

Carroll County : a goodly heritage, Mt. Morris, IL.: Kable Print. Co., 1968, Page 298 Read it online at ancestry.com.  Use this Free trial to search the book for your ancestors.
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