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Turley, Pawhuska, Childsville, OK Tornado Damage, May 1942

Posted January 27th, 2009 by Stu Beitler

21 DEAD, MISSING AFTER TORNADOES.

By The Associated Press.
Tornadoes lashed viciously at portions of three states late yesterday, leaving 21 persons dead or missing, many others injured, scores of homes demolished or damaged and much other property damage.
Northeastern Oklahoma suffered heaviest, but eastern Kansas and central Illinois also felt the terrifying effects of the capricious twisters.
A mother saw her baby literally torn from her arms and two others of her five children carried away by a flood-swollen stream after a tornado picked up her tiny, four-room house in northern Tulsa county and carried it 300 feet through the air before dropping it into the water.
"I held onto the baby as long as I could," MRS. OTHUL SPENCE sobbed as she was taken to nearby Turley, Okla., for treatment of injuries. After her rescue by EUGENE COLEMAN, 14-year-old boy scout who poled a raft out into the stream.
Disappearing with the baby, OTHUL, JR., were LUCILLE, 8, and FRANCILE, 6. Tulsa firemen were dragging the creek in an effort to locate the missing children.
Rescued with MRS. SPENCE were two older daughters, MORETA, 15, and MARY, 13.
At Pawhuska, Okla., another tornado swept a 12-block area of a residential addition at the southeastern edge of the town of 5,500 population, leaving three known dead and 50 to 75 injured.
Ten persons were killed and more than two-score injured at Childsville, near Okemah, Okla.
Other Oklahoma deaths were reported from near Bartlesville and Fisher.
Three persons died in Kansas, all residents of rural districts.
The Illinois storm cut across three counties, injuring at least 11 persons and causing property damage estimated at more than $200,000.
Hardest hit was Franklin, where at least 50 homes were damaged and a locomotive and five cars of a freight train were toppled from a siding.

The Big Spring Daily Herald Texas 1942-05-03

Names of Other Casualties
Near Pawhuska:
TOMMY DICKINSON, 14 years old.
RAY WAGMAGO, 15 years old.
JACKEY CARTER, 9 years old.
An Unidentified Woman.
Near Dewey:
GEORGE NICKOLS, 38 year old farmer.
Near Fisher:
MRS. ANNA WEESE, 67 years old.
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!

1942 oklahoma tornado

On March 27th, 2009 Anonymous (not verified) says:

I am so very grateful that you posted the article about mrs. othol spence. I am helping my neice from a previous marriage to find her mothers side of the family. Nellie faye Spence (Mrs. Othol Spence ) is her grandmother. We were trying to find out about another daughter that she had,but did not know her name. That article was the only place that the name Mary has come up. Thank you so very much!

article

On March 28th, 2009 Stu Beitler says:

you are very very welcome .. responses like yours are very rewarding to me ..
sincerely
Stu

__________________

Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!

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