Devastated Was the Village of Darwin By a Real Cyclone Which Occurred
Last Friday Evening, August 19
 
24 August 1904, Clark County (IL) Herald
 
A cyclone swept through the village of Darwin, ten miles southeast of
Marshall, last Friday evening about 7 o'clock, leaving desolation and
ruin in its wake.
 
A small, coal-black cloud the shape of a pear, was seen coming across
the prairie from the southwest.  Those who saw it say it was twisting
and turning around at a rapid rate, but not traveling much faster
than other clouds.
 
It lowered as it neared the village, and first struck a string of
fence and shrubbery, laying them low.
 
Two barns were next, one on each side of the street, and both were
torn to pieces while a small house that stood between them was not
touched.

 
The Methodist church was then struck and torn flat, pieces of it
flying in all directions.
 
Will Coons' residence, his barn and another house on the same block
went next, followed by a house upon the opposite side of the block. 
The storm swept onward, across the schoolhouse yard, tearing up giant
trees by the roots and twisting them into a shapeless mass.
 
The house of David Groves occupied by Wilburn Renshaw and family had
a large brick house occupied by Anthony Fuller and family were the
next to go down, then the roof and east end of a large frame house to
the north, after which the cloud raised slightly, crossed the river
and was lost to sight.
 
It is almost useless to attempt to describe the complete destruction
caused by the cyclone.  Houses, barns, adn other buildings were
utterly demolished, part of the timbers and material not having been
located yet.
 
The two barns first struck were small and the loss was not great.
 
The church building was a substantial frame structure, 28 x 48.  It
was dedicated in 1888 by Rev. J. Jay Dugan who was a minister of this
city at that time.  The ruins as viewed by the writer on Sunday
presented a sorry aspect.  The sides and floor of the building are
lying flat in the street.  Broken chairs, pieces of organ and other
fixtures are scattered in all directions.  Even the large sandstones
used in the foundation were torn from the earth and rolled in all
directions.  A large section of the building was found on the bluff,
a mile north of the village, and some of the iron roof way beyond
across the river.  Two heavy timbers connected by inch and a half
iron bars were carried 100 yards due east and twisted as though by a
monster hand.  There was no insurance on the building and it will
probably never be rebuilt.  The loss was fully $1500.  The members of
the church and Sunday School have made arrangements to hold their
services in the old Masonic building.
 
The house of Wm. Coons across the street east from the church was a
two-story building.  The roof was carried away entirely.  A buggy was
standing in front of this house and it was scattered in all
directions.  When the Coons barn was struck there was a horse in it
but the building was lifted high and the horse escaped without a
scratch.  The other dwelling house on the lot has disappeared
entirely.  Mr. Coons' loss is about $700 with no insurance.  On the
same block of ground was a house and new barn belonging to Henry
Baesch and occupied by Wm. Morris.  The barn was demolished and part
of the house was blown away.  The house was picked up and turned
around till it faced another direction from which it was built, then
dropped to the ground again.  A new buggy that was at this place was
not scratched about the top, but every spoke out of the two front
wheels are gone.  Another buggy was torn to small pieces.

 
There were several large trees in the school yard and they were
twisted to pieces.  The school building does not appear to be much
damaged in looks, but inside can be seen that the brick flue is out
of position and the building is somewhat twisted.
 
Anthony Fuller and wife, who occupied a two story brick building
owned by Otho Tibbs of this city, had a narrow escape from death. 
They did not know of the approach of the storm until Mrs. Fuller saw
the church go down.  Mr. Fuller was standing in a dorway between two
rooms and he quickly drew his wife into the doorway with him and none
too soon either for at the same instant the house collapsed.  The
heavy timbers from which the door frame was made no doubt saved their
lives for it stood the strain and protected them when the upper
floors and roof came tumbling in.  They were both slightly bruised
and scratched and were lucky indeed to escape with their lives.  They
were soon assisted out of the wreckage by the neighbors.  Some
curious things happened here.  Three trees stood by the house.  One
of them was blown about 150 feet to the north, one out in to the
stret and one across the street west.  A wagon which was standing in
front of the house was turned upside down and set back in the same
place from which it was taken.  A lot of potatoes was growing in the
garden just north of the house and they were all on top of the ground
after the storm was over.  The vines were jerked from the ground
bringing the potatoes with them and they dropped off.  Mr. Fuller's
loss was almost total as nothing but their beding was saved.  Every
piece of furniture in the house was broken to pieces.
 
Wilburn Renshaw and family, who occupied the house owned by David
Groves of this city, had a harrowing experience.  The evening being
clouded and damp, they decided to retire early and had just gone to
bed when the cyclone struck their home.  Mrs. Renshaw was struck by a
timber of some kind and stunned.  Their little girl was thrown from
her bed to the floor and the father was thrown so that he stook upon
his hands and knees just over her and at that instant a heavy timber
fell upon him.  If he had not fallen across her the timber would no
doubt have killed the little girl.  Their little boy grabbed the baby
into his arms as he fell and here too was a miraculous escape, for as
the litle fellow went to the floor, a sofa upended from one direction
and a bed from another, their ends coming together in the shape of a
A with the children lying in the hollow beneath.  It looked much like
the hand of Providence was protecting those little ones.  Not only
was the house crushed flat but the barn was carried over and fell on
top of the wreckage.  Mrs. Renshaw was taken out unconscious and
carried to a nearby house where by prompt medical attention she was
revived.  She was bruised considerably and had some cuts on her
head.  About the only property saved from the Renshaw home was the
bedding.  The parents both stated to the writer that their greatest
concern at the time the house fell was for the welfare of their
children.  The children were scarcely scratched.

 
Just north of this stands a two-story frame house belonging to Mrs.
John Reynolds of Terre Haute.  It is occupied by Chas. Broner.  The
rood was of iron, put on over a shingl roof.  The iron roof was
ripped off but the shingles were hardly damaged.  Then the cyclone
goes around the house and jerks the east side out as clearly as
though cut by a saw.  Bruner was out in the yard and he hung onto a
grapevine.  Some kind of a flying timber struck him in the head but
he was not seriously hurt.  The barn and summer kitchen at this place
were also razed.
 
A flying brick went through the upper window of Jas. Paddock's home
breaking a chair.  His house was out of the cyclone's path.
 
A barn owned by Robt. Riley and used by Chas. Berner as a feed mill
was blown away but the machinery remained unharmed.  On wagon here
was carried a hundred yards before alighting.
 
A barn belonging to Ollie Myles was the next and last building to
go.  It was torn all to pieces and lay flat on the ground, but a team
of mules which was in it was unharmed.
 
A scantling was hurled eastward and punctured the roof of the old
Masonic hall.
 
Hundreds of chickens were killed and a number of dead birds were
found.
 
Corn and all other kinds of vegetation fell toward the west while the
tornado was traveling northeastward.
 
A more desolate looking place than Darwin after the storm would be
hard to imagine.  Trees, timbers, pieces of furniture, tools and
implements were strewn over the ground in great profusion.
 
The people are of course sorry to lose their property but all seemed
to think they were lucky to escape without serious injury.
 
Many queer things were seen.  At Wm. Coon's a banta hen was setting
on some eggs in a nest made on the ground.  The wreckage of the
church fell all around her and boards were covering the ground, but
on Sunday morning Mrs. Coons went out and began clearing away some of
the boards and found the little hen on her nest without even an egg
broken.
 
The only hosue damaged on which there was any windstorm insurance was
a large brick owned by Chas. Figg of this city.  It was only damaged
to the extent of about $50.  A brick stable at this place took
advantage of time and caved in about four hours before the cyclone. 
 
It is doubtful if many buildings will be erected to take the place of
those destroyed as there will be no insurance money to help pay for
them and most of the buildings were occupied by renters.
 
Darwin had a severe storm several years ago, but it was nothing
compared to this one.
 

Submitted by;
Cindy McCachern