Milford, PA Tornado Ravages Towns, June 1872

THE STORM.

DETAILS OF THE RAVAGES OF WEDNESDAY'S TORNADO.

BUILDINGS UNROOFED AND BLOWN DOWN FROM THE DELAWARE TO MAINE -- DESTRUCTION OF STOCK, TREES, FENCES, AND CROPS -- SEVERAL PERSONS INJURED AND ONE KILLED BY LIGHTNING.

From Our Own Correspondent.
Milford, Pike County, Penn.
Thursday, June 13, 1872.
About 6 o'clock last night a terrible tornado passed over this village, leaving great destruction in its wake. About 5 o'clock, what was supposed to be a thunder-storm was seen coming up in the south-west, but just before it broke forth the sky became overcast with clouds of peculiar shade, and amid the most terrific thunder and lightning the hurricane came upon the village. Rain and hail fell in such volume that objects could not be seen twenty-five feet away. In the midst of this bliding storm, and the roar of the wind, the crash of falling trees, roofs of buildings, fences, and other things which were unable to withstand the force of the storm, told of the work of destruction that was going on. The tornado lasted for about ten minutes, and when it had passed over, a scene of destruction was presented in all parts of the village. Large trees were stretched across the streets, fences were gone, buildings unfoofed, and debris of all kinds piled in every nook and corner. The fine Mansard residence of MR. A. D. BROWN, on Broad street, was almost completely ruined, the roof had been lifted bodily from it, and carried 400 feet into a vacant lot and dashed to pieces. The building itself was shattered from top to bottom.
MR. and MRS. JOHN ROSENCRANSE were returning home in a carriage, and had just reached the door when the storm came down. Their horse became frightened and unmanageable. MRS. ROSENCRANSE was thrown beneath its feet, and narrowly escaped being trampled to death. She escaped with a broken arm and other injuries. A tree carried on the wind came down with a crash along side of the carriage, just missing MR. ROSENCRANSE, and increasing the terror of the horse, which broke loose and ran wildly away, and disappeared in the storm. Huge trees were twisted off and carried some distance. Valuable fruit trees were leveled to the ground, E. B. ELDRED, Esq., losing twenty-five in one orchard. Not a yard of garden escaped damage.
When the storm commenced, the doors, of ARMSTRONG'S drug store were open, and before they could be closed the wind and water rushed in, and counters, bottles, boxes and other articles were blown down and broken. On the farms of WM. BRODHEAD and SIMEON CUDDEBACK, just out of the village, fences and trees were thrown down and fields destroyed. Trees two feet in diameter were torn up by the roots and carried as far as thirty feet in the air. A barn belonging to GEORGE OLMSTEAD, and one to GEORGE QUINN, near the village, were unroofed. One on the farm of S. V. DRAKE was blown down, causing a loss of $500.
There is a freshet in the Delaware River, and at the time of the storm the stream was thick with rafts. Several that were tied along the shores were broken from their fastenings, and were carried down the river. Raftmen were obliged to lie flat on their rafts, and secure themselves to prevent being blown into the water.
The storm proceeded in a north-easterly direction, and crossed the river into Sussex County, New Jersey, where buildings were blown down, and still greater damage done to vegetation, as the fall of hail was much heavier. A barn and other out buildings on the farm of DANIEL NEARPASS were blown down, and in two fine orchards, of two acres in extent each, not a tree is left standing. At SANFORD NEARPASS', the most damage was done by hail, although a large amount of fence was prostrated. A maple tree, three feet in diameter, was torn up by the roots, leaving an excavation as large as a cellar. At DANIEL HOUSE'S, every tree in a long row of large maples was twisted down like a reed.
The storm must have done great damage before reaching Milford, but no particulars have as yet been received. The damage done in the small extent of territory described will amount to thousands of dollars.

The New York Times New York 1872-06-14
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!