- Cape Girardeau christens its namesake (3/19/24)
- The humanist philosophy of Lester Mondale (3/12/24)1
- Cape Osteopathic Hospital opens its doors (3/5/24)
- 8 killed and a million dollars damage done in 1924 tornado (2/27/24)1
- Jackson's militant priest, county recorder at odds over marriage licenses (2/20/24)
- Streaking fad comes to Cape (2/13/24)2
- Recalling the start of MEW (2/6/24)
D.A.R. stone also marks Lorimier's Red House
Erected by the Missouri Daughters of the American Revolution, this boulder marks the site of Louis Lorimier's home near the corner of South Spanish and William streets. (Fred Lynch ~ Southeast Missourian)
Recently in this space, we discussed efforts by the Missouri Daughters of the American Revolution in 1916-17 to mark the route of El Camino Real, the King's Highway.
Cape Girardeau earned itself a marker, as the road made its way right up to the doorstep of the city's founder, Louis Lorimier. The marker at the corner of Spanish and William streets was dedicated in 1917 and bears an inscription on one side about the historic King's trail, and on the other about Lorimier's home, the Red House.
Exactly where the Spanish commandant's residence stood is a matter of debate, but it's generally believed to have been located east of Old St. Vincent's Church. A reproduction of the home now stands across the street from the church. It was faithfully constructed by volunteers in 2003 who based its design on descriptions of the house given by Sarah Bollinger Daugherty, a daughter of George Frederick Bollinger, who visited there as a child.
Missourian articles indicate that construction of the Red House began in 1799. It stood until 1850, when a tornado tore through the small river town. Here's an article published by the Missourian on Nov. 24, 1940, describing the tornado and the damage it did.
TORNADO STRUCK CAPE 90 YEARS AGO; WORST IN CITY'S HISTORY
Devastation Wrought by Wind Nov. 27, 1850 recalled; Some of Freaks of Storm Told.
It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Nov. 27, 1850 -- 90 years ago today. The day was sultry, a sort of heavy, moist, unseasonable summer heat which, in itself, portended something out of the ordinary. The wind had been roaring for an hour or more, dark clouds raced across the sky and the then village of Cape Girardeau waited for torrents of rain it expected to descend at any moment.
The steamer Saranack, on its way to St. Louis from New Orleans, has just tied up at the wharf. Mrs. William Surrell, wife of Captain Surrell, a cabinet maker, was rocking her baby on her lap at their home on the northeast corner of Themis and Main streets. Benjamin Miles was teaching his pupils in a little brick schoolhouse located where Lorimier School (Cape Girardeau City Hall) now stands.
The Tornado Strikes.
Then it came, a wind which lashed out with hurricane fury, flattening trees and houses, demolishing everything in its path. Cape Girardeau had been struck by a tornado.
The Saranack, caught in the whiplash of the wind, had its chimneys and most of the cabin swept away. The bell, a huge thing, carried from the docking place, the foot of Themis Street, to what is now Broadway.
Mrs. Surrell felt the house rock, then it came crashing down upon her and the baby. When the wreckage was removed, she was found bending over, held in this position by a heavy timber, shielding the child. She was slightly hurt, the baby uninjured.
Mr. Miles, hearing the roar of the wind, started for the door with the pupils, believing they might have a chance to reach their homes. As he opened it the roof was lifted from the building and deposited it directly in front of the building. In another moment all might have been killed.
From Historical Account.
All of these events and numerous others about Cape Girardeau's worst catastrophe are taken from an account prepared by Miss Winifred Johnson, history instructor in the Teachers College, and published back in July 1914, in the Educational Outlook, a publication issued for a few years by the college. Miss Johnson secured the information by talking to survivors and from many other sources.
The greatest damage appeared to have been in the section around St. Vincent's College. This is vividly described by one of the priests of the college, who, in part, said:
"The roof of St. Vincent's College was carried away, and not a particle of it was ever found. The walls of the southwest corner were thrown (down) to the second story, the gable ends carried away and all the chimneys thrown down. The brick bake house was in ruins, the large new two-story frame house used as a tailor shop, shoemaker shop, trunk and clothes room was razed to the ground and two men who were in the garret of this house were blown more than 50 yards; one was not hurt, the other had his leg broken.
Narrow Escape.
"There were four (religious) Brothers caught under the floor of the second story, but happily he trunks and some large boxes saved them from being crushed to death.. Not one in the college was injured in the least. Old Henry, a servant of the college was found dead in the garden, being struck by the beam in the fall of the brick quarters for the (Blacks)... Two only of the collegians who were outside the college were hurt. These were severely bruised and covered with wounds from being carried and rolled by the wind along with ruins of fences and houses...
"The Methodist meeting-house was opposite the college on the corner of Spanish and Morgan Oak streets, and was swept from the face of the earth, scarcely a vestige left. Our fine stone (St. Vincent's Catholic) church had the roof and steeple carried away and not a vestige ever found...
"The collegians and priests passed the night in the college yard. The night was cold and rainy."
Hit in Illinois.
Miss Johnson, in her article, said that the storm probably originated in the swamp region some distance southwest of Cape Girardeau and moved northeastward, crossing the river here and causing some destruction in Illinois before its force was spent.
Much timber was destroyed in that state. Miss Johnson relates that Dr. J.C. Maple, who came to Cape Girardeau in 1857, rode to Jonesboro, Illinois, in 1858 to hear Lincoln and Douglas in one of their historic debates. He told that at various places along the route the path of the tornado could be easily traced by uprooted trees and other scenes of destruction.
In Cape Girardeau, Miss Johnson said the storm was most devastating from South Lorimier Street eastward to the river and northeast some distance beyond Broadway, then known as Harmony and later as Jackson Street.
Abe Abernathy, a (Black man) who was 13 years old at the time of the storm, recalled to Miss Johnson that the Blacks of the community were accustomed to go to the swamps to see the trees which had been blown down. For 25 miles, he said, and in a strip a half-mile wide, the swath was apparent.
Property Undamaged.
Undamaged in the storm were the Baptist Church then on Lorimier Street north of Independence; the Common Pleas Courthouse, then only a few years old; the home of John Stokes on the northwest corner of Broadway and the Ellis home which stood where the Eat Shop is now located across the street from The Missourian and which was used by the Rev. D.E.Y. Rice for his Washington Female Academy.
The home of Mrs. Eleanor M. Juden, widow of Col. George W. Juden, was destroyed, only a son, Charles G. Juden, being injured. He died in 1907. At the corner of Spanish and Good Hope streets the roof of the house belonging to Francis J. Ziegler, whose daughter was Mrs. Emily Fougen, was torn off.
Mrs. Emily Henderson Dean lived at the corner of Spanish and William streets. Mrs. Ellen Wright, her sister-in-law, related that the house was badly wrecked, but no one was injured. On North Lorimier Street in what was later the C.T. Lewis house, was a brick house which had its walls cracked in several places.
Damage on Main.
On Main Street the building now occupied by the Johnston Dry Cleaners was then a store and hotel occupied by William and Thomas Johnson and was known as the Johnson House. The roof was lifted and moved somewhat, but not carried away.
For those who complain of the lack of duck shooting these days, it might be said that at McClure, Illinois, was a pond know as Brushy Pond. As the storm came the ducks rose in great numbers and were blown against trees with such force that they were killed. It is told that their bodies thickly covered the ground for some distance and that the air was tainted by them for considerable time as it was impossible to collect and destroy all the bodies.
A notation in the "Day Book" of St. Vincent's College gave more details of the damage done by the tornado. This book was part of the DeAndreis/Rosati Memorial Archives formerly housed at St. Mary's of the Barrens in Perryville, Missouri, but now at DePaul University in Chicago.
"On the 27th Nov. 1850 at 3 o'clock p.m. a most violent and destructive hurricane (traveled) over the town of Cape Girardeau, from the southwest to the northeast, and carried every thing before it. Trees, fences, houses were swept away. The roof of St. Vincent's College was carried away, and the walls of the two upper stories (of the college) were thrown down. The brick bake house and the new, two-story frame house used as a clothes room and the workshop for the tailor and the shoemakers was completely destroyed, being razed to the very ground. The meat house, the two-story brick houses for the Negroes, stables and corn house (were) all ruined. All the fences around the College grounds and the garden (were) entirely destroyed. The stone (first St. Vincent's) Church and the three houses near the church (one of these being the Red House, then occupied by builder Joseph Lansmon and his family) (were) all left in ruins and all this done in less than three minutes. We have not a roof left to shelter the students or the professors -- all are nearby except the smaller boys, who were sent to a friend's house -- spent the night in the open air.
"Our college being reduced to that extremity, it was resolved by the president and faculty to disband the students and send them to their respective homes..."
The archives also contained a letter from the college superior to the Vincentian community in Paris, France. In it, he repeats much of the same information that was contained in the "Day Book" entry. The missive also mentions the tornado's one known fatality: An elderly Black man, likely a slave, who was killed in the storm. In other documents, he was referred to only as "Old Henry."
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