RETIREE RECALLS 1943 FLOOD WHEN LEVEE BREAKS DROWNED MCCLURE

MCCLURE, Ill. - Should the Mississippi River levee at McClure fail, a retired McClure businessman knows what can happen. He survived two levee breaks that flooded McClure during World War II.

Frank J. Marchildon, 85, retired several years ago after closing his general merchandise and grocery store on Main Street (Grapevine Trail Road) in McClure. Marchildon was living here in May 1943, when the Big Muddy levee north of Wolf Lake first broke, sending floodwaters southward to McClure.

Three days later the Mississippi River levee along Highway 3 in McClure blew, with a much more devastating impact on the north Alexander County community.

Marchildon said that in May 1943, McClure was an industrious town. There was no East Cape Girardeau then.

"McClure had pretty well recovered from the Depression because the war had put just about everybody back to work or in the Army," he said. "It had rained all winter, just as it had this past winter, except that in 1943 it was 2- to 3-inch downpours. We suffered all winter and spring that year with wet farmlands and muddy roads. Our levees then were not as good as they are now, and when the gauge at Cape reached 40 feet, we began to worry."

Because of the high-water level on the river and concern about the stability of the waterlogged and weakened levees, most residents of McClure already had moved out of town by May 22.

"However, my brother Clem and I decided we would stay with the business. Our motto that was printed on our stationary it had been handed down from 1859 from our grandfather showed two owls with the words `We never sleep.' At the time, we didn't know how true those words would become for the next 30 days," said Marchildon.

"There were five of us who bunked upstairs above the store: Clem; myself; Webb Newton, principal of the McClure Grade School; Henry Nance and John Glaub.

Marchildon said the Big Muddy levee broke first on the night of May 22, 1943. That flooded everything south of the Big Muddy to Gale.

"When the Big Muddy levee broke, the people of McClure had about 36 hours to either move to higher ground or to move our possessions to higher places in our homes or places of business," he said. "The water reached McClure early the following morning. My brother and I spent the day moving all of the merchandise to higher levels in the store. The experts had told us to expect 3 feet of water in the store. We actually got 4 feet. It was really disheartening to see the floodwater lapping over merchandise that had been moved up only 3 feet."

Marchildon said he watched the water continue to rise during the day. "I had a home located on Route 3 that we bought for $1,800. We were told to raise the windows to relieve the water pressure and pile our stuff up 3 feet. We did, but the river got high enough to flow over the kitchen window sills and float our dishes away that we had put on the kitchen table for safety. I guess they floated down to New Orleans; we never saw them again.

"The next day a very official-looking Army captain came by in an amphibious Jeep and told us the water was going to rise another 4 feet and that we would have to get out. I won't tell you what I told the captain, but we didn't leave. He was right, though; the water did come up another 4 feet."

Marchildon said the water had come up slowly with very little current because the break had occurred far to the north of McClure. But an even greater disaster was to occur.

"On the night of May 25, 1943, the Mississippi River levee opposite McClure broke at about where Bill Simmons' tavern (the former Why Not Club) now stands," he said. "When the levee broke, it sent a terrific current of water through town. Everything in the north part of McClure, where my house was located, either washed away or washed off their foundations, except the Villa Hotel and four houses, including mine, which were built on the highest ground in town."

Marchildon said he stood on the top of the general store and watched as the strong current of water coming through the breached levee swept away the homes of his neighbors.

"Ma Phillips' tavern (later the former Flying Saucer) was washed away. The second story of her building, with all of her furniture inside, came to rest against my house. One home came to rest in the grade-school yard. Several other houses were washed into the old creek bed of Clear Creek that ran through town. In the main part of McClure there wasn't a place that wasn't severely damaged."

Because most everyone had already evacuated the town before the levees broke, Marchildon said, to the best of his knowledge, no one was killed. But there were some close calls.

"John Glaub was out in a jon boat in the north part of town when the river levee broke. The current swamped his boat and dumped him in the water. John managed to grab onto a young sapling that was drooping in and out of the strong current of water. He was finally rescued by another boat. It's a wonder he didn't drown," said Marchildon.

Looters were a problem for those who remained behind. "It was fortunate that we stayed behind with our property, as many undesirables from Cape and other places started boating into our community. We had no law enforcement, but the sight of a 12-gauge shotgun seemed to deter any excitement on their part," said Marchildon.

After the initial shock of the levee break and flooding wore off, Marchildon said life became a little monotonous and very primitive.

"We had no power. All we had to cook on was a little two-burner kerosene stove. We had no city water, of course. We had a 10-gallon milk can of drinking water. I didn't shave for 10 days, and taking a bath was out of the question.

"We kept the store open for our customers who lived over in the hills along the Grapevine Trail. They would boat over to McClure, tie up at the store, and walk up the stairs to the second floor to give us their order. Webb Newton and I would go downstairs and fill the order. It was fun waiting on customers up to our chests in water," said Marchildon.

"What made it even more interesting was that we had a counter full of washing powder turn over and another counter with 150 Sunday papers, along with a 100-gallon tank of kerosene. Altogether it made a real mess. Talk about a chemical reaction; I had a water mark on my chest until that fall."

Marchildon also recalled crawling out of a boat and onto the roof of a shed behind his home at the same time a photographer took his picture. "I believe it was a Missourian photographer. The picture was published in several U.S. papers and in the Stars and Stripes overseas. I heard from several friends who saw it," he said.

McClure survived. In order to prevent additional damage to the weakened levee, another cut was made in the levee near Gale shortly after the break at McClure to equalize the pressure inside and outside of the levee.

"The water didn't go down until July, but many people moved back and started cleaning up so they could get on with their lives again," he recalled. "They had a lot of help from the Red Cross, who helped them financially. As the only business place that was open at the time, we received more than our share of those Red Cross dollars," Marchildon said.

Life did go on after the water went down. Marchildon repaired his house and moved back in on the first day of September. "That same day I also received my 1A draft card. I got the greetings from the president notice on Christmas Eve 1943, which, of course, made for a very Merry Christmas," he said.

McClure was flooded again the following year, but by that time Marchildon was in the Army. "My wife and daughter had moved to Thebes by this time, so we just locked up the house at McClure and never came back. After I got out of the service I bought out my brother and took over the store and lived upstairs.

"We've had several high waters on the Mississippi since then, but we've taken them all in stride. The farmers are losing their crops this year, but they also take things as they come and still manage to make it."

As for Marchildon, he admits, "I don't think I could survive another flood at my age; after all, we never slept during the flood of 1943."

Marchildon is now a long way from the flooding Mississippi River and McClure. After visiting with his daughter last week, Marchildon flew out of St. Louis for a trip to Alaska.