There are several
cemeteries in Wood and surrounding counties that have graves marked with the
same date of death – April 9, 1919. That
was the day one of the worst tornadoes of mass destruction tore across much of northern
Texas including Wood County.
It was just after
midnight on a Wednesday when the tornado developed what is now known as an F4
that traveled a long track nearly a mile wide making its way through the Red
River counties, and Henderson, Van Zandt, Wood and Camp counties. Oddly, the
tornado seemed to avoid the larger towns and focused its fury on the smaller
farming communities causing horrific damage and loss of life.
 |
| EF 4 Tornado |
Relief trains were
immediately sent out, each bearing teams of doctors, nurses, and emergency help
from Fort Worth, Dallas, Greenville and many other points along the way.
The Dallas Morning News reported, “Cyclopean
Fury of Death Storm . . . tornado moves
through Henderson, Van Zandt, Wood, Camp and Red River counties, killing 42 people
and injuring 150.”
By the evening of
Thursday, April 10, verified dispatches from the districts in northern Texas
and southern Oklahoma swept by tornadoes showed that at least 86 persons were
killed and more than 200 were seriously injured. In the tornado’s aftermath, upwards
of 1,000 persons were left homeless including many children some of them
orphans of the storm. Dallas Mayor Frank Wozencraft released his statement in a
telegram saying, “Dallas sincerely sympathizes with the storm stricken areas
and stands ready to cooperate in every possible way to relieve the situation.
The Woodmen of the World have kindly offered the use of a large number of
tents, and other relief will be supplied if needed.”
A few days after the
catastrophe, Mr. Jim Venable of Big Spring received a letter from his brother
in Bonham who witnessed the storm’s aftermath. The letter was dated April 9,
1919.
“Dear Brother & Family, I will answer your
kind letter received yesterday. We had a big cyclone that struck Bonham last
night. It swept things clean where it went. It tore Leonard and Ector all to
pieces. Killed 14 persons dead and wounded many. Several died today from wounds
and several more expected to die. There isn’t a house left from Mulberry to the
river. It just swept things clean. Jim, I witnessed the saddest sight this
evening I ever did before in my life. I hope I’ll never have to witness it
again. I saw them bring 9 dead persons men women and children in a truck to the
undertakers office. Their heads were beat all to pieces. Some with both arms
and both legs broke. One man in the bunch a piece of a 2 by 4 struck him in the
neck and went half way through it.”
No one is alive
today that can relate a first-hand account, but stories have been handed down
describing the horror of this catastrophic tornado. Many local folks recall hearing
stories told about how trees had planks of wood lodged clean through them with
sheet metal wrapped around fences and trees like cloth. One injured cow was
noted as still walking about with a plank of wood in protruding from its side. Another
man remembers his father talking about how the wind had blown straw and hay
into the bark of the trees.
So many lives
were forever changed that April 9, 1919. In Wood County alone, you will find
the following:
Nannie A Jones Vickery –
Concord Cemetery, Quitman
Iris Lucile Autry White –
Ebenezer Cemetery, Oak Grove
Mary Ann Calloway Turner –
Ebenezer Cemetery, Oak Grove
Nova Reba Minick – Syrna
Cemetery, Winnsboro
You can remember these
and a few others who lost their lives that fateful day by visiting the East
Texas Tornado April 9, 1919 Virtual Cemetery created by David Brasfield at this
link https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=vcsr&GSvcid=692214
Delene Allen
Wood Chips
November 2017
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