Merna, IL Tornado, Jun 1902 - Death List to Reach 12

DEATH LIST WILL REACH TWELVE
Storm in Central Illinois Did a Million Dollars Damage.

Bloomington, Ill., June 11 - Stretching across a pathway one hundred miles in width and devastating territory fully two hundred miles long, extending from Livingston county on the north and Macoupin county on the south and leaving its mark clear across central Illinois, a tornado last night inflicted property loss which will aggregate a million dollars and cost a dozen lives. The brunt of the storm fell upon McLean and adjoining counties. Lightning was incessant for two hours, but was marked by absence of thunder claps. The wind reached a velocity of 100 miles an hour and in its track was left destruction and death. The visitation was the worst ever recorded in the history of central Illinois. Almost complete idleness of telegraph and telephone lines for twelve hours made it impossible to secure the full details of the disaster.

It is now known that while the fatalities in McLean county were but three in number, scores of persons were seriously injured and hundreds of narrow escapes from death are reported.

Not a village or city in McLean county escaped and from every district comes the same report of destroyed buildings, injury to growing crops, razed fruit and shade trees.

The aggregate loss in McLean county, not including three lives at Merna or thousands upon thousands of shade and fruit trees that were levelled[sic], will be between $300,000 and $400,000 by rough estimate.
Claims for tornado insurance up to this evening among local agents have reached $50,000 and it is believed that this sum will be doubled.
This amount only represents the loss outside of Bloomington in the McLean county farming districts. The heaviest loss in proportion to population fell upon Merna, a village ten miles east of Bloomington, where the town hall, which was being used by a party of 250 for a dance, was destroyed, three of the women dancers being instantly killed by falling timbers.

They were:
MRS. EDWARD MARTIN, aged 36, wife of a well-to-do farmer, residing six miles east of Leroy, this county.
MISS LENA GAHAGAN, sister of MRS. MARTIN, residing east of Leroy, aged 23.
MISS ANNA KELLY, residing with her widowed mother two miles north of Merna.

When the storm struck the building, its swaying alarmed the party of merrymakers. All made a rush for the exists[sic] and a fierce struggle ensued.

Three women were left behind and were killed instantly by falling timbers. Two sisters were found locked in each other's arms.
MISS KELLY was being pulled through an open window by CLEMENT SPENCER, and in another moment she would have been saved. SPENCER was hurt internally and may die.

Others seriously hurt are THOMAS GAHAGAN, cousin of the two sisters killed, and JOHN KELLY, brother of MISS KELLY, one of the victims.
Fully fifty others were painfully injured, and all were taken to residences and farm houses. Many surgeons from Bloomington were summoned to dress the wounds and were kept busy during the entire day.

At Merna, in addition to the town hall, the Kinsella implement house was levelled[sic] and many other structures destroyed.

The new Methodist church at Twin Grove was completely demolished by a huge tree, involving a loss of $10,000.

Wesleyan university lost its roof and cupola: aggregate loss, about $25,000.

Continued on page 2