A Full Description of the Great Tornado in Chester County, Pa.Darlington, Richard
History
A Full Description of the Great Tornado in Chester County, Pa.
Darlington, Richard
Chester County (Pa.) -- History; Tornadoes -- Pennsylvania -- Chester County
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.
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