John T. Staff loved water and, particularly, the Wabash River.
While residing in Terre Haute, Staff started a tomato canning factory at York in Clark County, Illinois, not far downstream from Terre Haute.
When Joseph Richardson accompanied Abraham Markle to the Wabash Valley in 1816, he chose to settle in York. Richardson thought the area on the western bank of the river was more attractive. Markle settled on the eastern bank.
Had the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers chosen to locate the National Road through York in the 1820s, the community may have become a thriving city.
Alas, York was deprived of the national highway as well as a railroad. Chauncey Rose secured a franchise for the Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad in 1847. York was not a beneficiary.
According to reliable reports, Rose was offended by the way he was treated when he located a pork packing warehouse in York.
The failure of the community to secure many commercial enterprises had its advantages. Its river banks were free from unsightly and contaminating objects.
On Friday evening, June 7, 1907, the quiet beauty of the small community was disrupted by a deadly tornado. Homes were leveled as families gathered at their supper tables. Few chimneys were left standing.
The Methodist church was pushed 50 feet from its foundation. Roofs elevated like kites.
Meanwhile, two of the town’s three saloons survived without damage and, following the storm, so did a land office business.
Three people died and at least a dozen were injured.
Henry Rook, who maintained a successful lumber business in York, apparently stepped outside his residence to see what the heavens wrought when violent winds ensnared him and propelled him against a large tree.
The lifeless body of Lucinda Pinkston was found lodged between branches at the top of a tree several hundred feet from her residence.
Horses and cattle were killed and, in some instances, carcasses were washed away in the river.
Staff’s canning factory was seriously damaged. Moreover, many farmers who supplied Staff with tomatoes lost either their homes or their gardens, or both.
Regarded as one of the town’s few benefactors, Staff committed to rebuild his factory to include the most modern equipment. He also agreed to help the farmers recover.
Perhaps the most disheartening sight in York during June 1907 was the uprooting of many splendid native forest trees by the wind.
The 1907 tornado at York preceded by nearly six years the great tornado that devastated Terre Haute on Easter Sunday 1913, killing 17.
The tornado that struck York was not the first disaster to visit the immediate Wabash Valley in 1907, 105 years ago.
As reported in a previous column, on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 8:50 p.m., a baffling explosion involving three trains at Sandford’s Big Four depot in western Vigo County near the Illinois border created a huge crater nine feet deep and killed at least 15 people.
Twisted rails and body parts were dispersed for more than 200 yards from the blast site.
As soon as news of the tragedy reached Terre Haute, rescue crews, physicians, journalists and the families of many of the 65 passengers on Train No. 3 tried to reach the site.
Some hiked to Sandford along the railroad right-of-way. Others procured private handcars. The last train to St. Mary’s Village, departing at 11 p.m., was crammed with anxious relatives required to walk the final four miles through wind and cold.
The Terre Haute Star and the Terre Haute Tribune published “Extra” editions. The Tribune issued three Sunday specials.
Dawn yielded grisly scenes. Detached arms, legs, fingers and several bloody torsos were uncovered or extracted. Nearby houses were in ruins. Search parties — and some crooks — sought jewelry and trinkets from the victims.
According to official reports, it was “the most ghastly tragedy in Indiana railroad annals.”
The cause of the disaster was uncertain. Two freights — Extra No. 6575 eastbound and No. 99 westbound — were parked at the station when a westbound accommodation passenger train running from Indianapolis to Mattoon, Ill., slowed to a stop.
One sealed freight car contained 500 kegs of gunpowder produced by the Equitable Powder Co. of Alton, Ill.
The massive explosion, which seemed to occur when the passenger train and the powder car were side by side, propelled wood and steel into the air. The entire train was blown from the track, demolishing coaches filled with passengers and hurling the locomotive at least 50 feet. Eight freight cars also were totally destroyed.
The screams and cries of those pinned in the blaze pierced the night and the stench of burned flesh soon enveloped the area.
Fires broke out in the wreckage and the flames hindered rescue efforts at the blast site. Light from the fires allowed rescue workers to search for survivors. Families in Sandford worked with rescue teams all night, opening their homes to treat victims.
A coroner’s jury and the Indiana Railroad Commission probed several months for answers to the Sandford explosion.
Both concluded that either nitroglycerine or dynamite, not gunpowder, activated the blast.
“Gunpowder, when it explodes, goes up, not down,” explained Phil H. Penna, secretary of Indiana Bituminous Operators. “The contrary is true regarding dynamite and nitroglycerine. Ordinary power never would have dug a hole in the ground.”
The source of the detonation has never been disclosed.
History
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Deadly tornado devastates York in 1907
- History
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GENEALOGY: Library archives contain tons of information
Inside the archives room of the Vigo County Public Library, row after row of fragile documents, rare out-of-print books, and historic photographs are kept on shelves in a humidity and temperature-controlled room.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Historic efforts to open Center Street from Cherry to Swan
Efforts to open Center Street, from Cherry to Swan, spanned a half century or more.
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LOOKING BACK: 2002 — Valley drenched in wettest spring in 107 years
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star. -
HISTORICAL TREASURE: Some history wreathed in hair
From the unfortunate occurrence of Prince Albert’s death in 1861 came the social mores of proper mourning practices and accoutrements witnessed and endorsed by the admirers of Queen Victoria in her reign-long state of grieving.
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LOOKING BACK: 1987: League of Women Voters reorganizes
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Here comes the bride
The newest major exhibit at the Historical Museum, which opens Tuesday, showcases wedding gowns worn by Vigo County residents.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Downtown changes featured in early 1927
During March and April of 1927 – about 85 years ago – the owners of interests in four major downtown Terre Haute theaters were negotiating to transfer their interests to representatives of Paramount Studios.
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GENEALOGY: Genealogy isn’t for the easily embarrassed
The saying goes, if you’re easily embarrassed or afraid of what you’ll find, don’t start doing genealogy.
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BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSONS: The long, lost, last — the 27th —Amendment
Our very last constitutional amendment — the 27th Amendment — was ratified this week (May 7) in 1992 when Michigan became the 38th state to approve it.
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BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSONS: The Haymarket Square Massacre
One unhappy byproduct of the Industrial Age was the growing discontent of its industrial workers, who constantly agitated for better pay and more humane working conditions.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Stands packed as Wiley takes county track title
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and the Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Death of Terre Haute jeweler gains national headlines
Terre Haute sought national publicity in 1910 through “Boosterism,” lauding the city’s significant advancements during the decade ending Dec. 31, 1909.
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GENEALOGY: Cemetery Committee to conduct restoration workshop
The Wabash Valley Genealogy Society’s Cemetery Committee will conduct an all-day cemetery restoration workshop on Saturday at the Smith Cemetery near Youngstown, Honey Creek Township, Vigo County, Ind.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Harmonious history
In 1923, a group of singers calling themselves the Harmony Four entertained regularly over the radio and at civic and various club events.
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BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSONS: Cleveland observes Lincoln’s funeral
The death of America’s greatest president, Abraham Lincoln, resulted in an outpouring of national mourning, the apex of which came in late April of 1865 when a specially outfitted train carried his body on a thirteen-day, 1,700-mile, eleven-city funeral procession from Washington, D.C., to his home and final resting place in Springfield, Ill.
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GENEALOGY: Many people can trace ancestry to Titanic
This month marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, which occurred on April 14-15, 1912.
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LOOKING BACK: 1987: ISU bowling team at nationals again
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Sullivan County mine explosion kills 8 in 1878
Shortly after 4 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 21, 1878, an enormous explosion rocked the Handford Brothers mine about one-half mile north of the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad depot in Sullivan County.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: A common feature, but memorable
As an absolute architecture nerd, I tend to look at buildings noticing the odd ball things such as door hinges and door locks in addition to admiring the overall building.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSONS: MLK’s letter written from a jail cell in Birmingham
This week (April 16) in 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. sat in a jail cell in Birmingham, Ala., having been arrested for violating a trumped-up court order that prohibited him and his followers from conducting various protest activities, most of which you can read about in the First Amendment.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Swope celebrates 20th anniversary
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: 1955 Babe Ruth League championship team to be feted
Currently in his 25th year as a college baseball coach, Rick Heller is in the midst of his third winning season at Indiana State and has embraced the university and the community.
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GENEALOGY: Long-awaited 1940 census is now available for the public
The long-awaited release of the 1940 census took place on April 2.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Memories baked from scratch
On my Historical Treasure hunt, I was drawn to a pasteboard barrel 28 inches high and 18.5 inches across with the words “Calumet Baking Powder Bakes Best, Received Highest Award” on one side and “Calumet Baking Powder Always Pleases, Try It” on the other.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: Thomas Jefferson's flights of fancy
Thomas Jefferson, born this week (April 13) in 1743, is — deservedly so — in the pantheon of American heroes.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: J.K. Emmet’s first appearance at the Terre Haute Opera House
The first season of the magnificent Terre Haute Opera House, which featured many of the world’s premier celebrities, was a resounding success.
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GENEALOGY: Black Death had a monumental effect on world
One event in the past had a monumental effect on our ancestors, indeed determining who they would be. This was the advent and spread of bubonic plague, the Black Death. The plague originated in China in 1333. It was caused by a bacterium in fleas, which were carried by rats. The plague spread out of China via trading routes with the West (the Silk Road) and especially on ships, which carried flea-infested rats and provided a closed environment for people to infect each other.
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LOOKING BACK: 1987: 'Banana king' opens Farmer's Market
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Hunting for sugary Easter treats
Among the many varieties of the Easter egg, none is more charming than the panoramic Sugar Egg. Three were recently given to the Vigo County Historical Museum by Judy Lowe and are shown in an Easter-themed display case in the entry hall.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSONS: 1820s: The power of the postmaster general
John McLean, who died this week (April 4) in 1861, was — by his early 40s — one of the most important people in America. In fact, he oversaw what was, in the 1820s, the federal government’s largest, most extensive and arguably most important responsibility.
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GENEALOGY: Library archives contain tons of information
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