Chester County, PA Tornado, Jul 1877 - part 7

Other incidents might be given of the effects of the storm on this property. But it is unnecessary. The damage was immense. The loss in real and personal property, and every kind of damage inflicted upon the Ercildoun Seminary property, cannot fall much below ten thousand dollars.

Let us now consider the injury done to the remaining part of the village. Cyrus Coates resides immediately to the north of the school buildings. He owns a small farm, and a very fine orchard is located on the southern side of it. The northern part of the storm track passed over a portion of his property. His barn was demolished. A good wagon house was carried away, and all his carriages and wagons went with it. The greater part of his farming utensils were either missing or destroyed. Two-thirds of his orchard, including about fifty trees, were overthrown. The fences in the track were carried away, and a large quantity of old grain that had been stored in his barn, was missing. Mr. Coates estimates his loss at over two thousand dollars. A house and barn, and a small lot of land immediately to the east of the Seminary, are owned by Elizabeth Meredith, an aged woman, who resides there most of the time in company with her granddaughter—a little girl of eight years. With some difficulty this young girl induced her aged grand-parent to descend from her room to the lower floor, as the storm was approaching. She accomplished her purpose and the lives of both of them were thus saved. The house was a stone and frame one, one-half being built of each. The storm-cloud passed almost directly over this dwelling and completely dismantled it. The slate roof was carried off, and the upper story went with it—the eastern part of the frame structure being blown forward into the adjoining road. The barn was completely blown away, and the fences shared the same fate. Her loss, including house, barn and fences, cannot fall below eight hundred dollars.

A row of houses, owned and occupied by several families of colored people next encountered the fury of the storm. Lewis Miller, who resides at the southern extremity, sustained a loss of about one hundred dollars. James Richardson, who is next in order, had his house badly damaged, and was himself struck by missiles, and disabled for several weeks. His property was damaged to the extent of about two hundred dollars. A double building belonging to James and William Long, shared a similar fate. It was unroofed and nearly torn to pieces. Their loss will be near three hundred dollars. The last building, at the north end of the row, belongs to Wm. Harvey, a blacksmith. It encountered the full force of the northern track of the storm, and was unroofed, and fearfully injured. The shed adjoining was nowhere to be found. His whole loss was about four hundred dollars. The Fallowfield Meeting House property was now reached. A beautiful grove of trees in the western part was nearly destroyed, the trees lying in every direction. Some of the oaks were very large, but were completely twisted off by the furious blast. The sheds for the protection of horses were all overthrown, and the upper part of the grave-yard wall was blown away, roof and all. The damage sustained by this property was not less than three hundred dollars. George Walton, who owns a farm to the south of the Meeting House, sustained some loss in the destruction of a portion of his oats crop, and of his fences. He estimates the damage inflicted upon him at near three hundred dollars. Another property located on the south side of the road, passing through the place from east to west, was that of Priscilla Walton. Her buildings were untouched, but nearly every tree of a thriving young apple orchard on the premises, was destroyed beyond reparation. Her fences in the track of the storm were overthrown, and her loss cannot fall short of three hundred dollars. On leaving the village the tempest of wind made a complete wreck of all the buildings on the property of Jacob Carter, a colored man residing thereon. He was absent from home at the time of the storm, and on returning found that his new house, erected of gravel and cement, was nowhere to be seen. He loses by the storm about seven hundred dollars. We now leave the village of Ercildoun, the damage to which I have enumerated with considerable care. We are also reaching a point at which the storm-cloud arose to a higher elevation, and passed above the farms and buildings, extending from Susan Pierce’s property to a point near Broad Run, one mile west of Marshallton. Mrs. Pierce was also a loser by the tornado. The east gable end of her barn, and also part of one side, though built of stone, fell to the ground when the cloud struck it. Her loss, including fences and growing crops, amounts to about two hundred dollars.

We now find that the storm-cloud passes to a higher elevation, or disappears, and for eight miles no buildings are touched. It descended in a modified form near Broad Run, and overturned and destroyed the barn of Richard Bailey, and leveled his fruit trees, inflicting a damage of about twelve hundred dollars. Only one more property was encountered. The buildings of Jos. Marshall to the north of the Strasburg road, were struck. His barn was destroyed and a portion of his house was demolished. He sustained a loss of near eighteen hundred dollars.

The end of the track of desolation is now reached. The storm is at an end. The cloud has disappeared, and the story is nearly finished. The loss of property sustained by the persons living along the route of the storm-cloud is put in tabular form at the end of this work. It amounts to over thirty-five thousand dollars.

A full description of the great tornado in Chester County, Pa, 1877

Continued in part 8, below