1840 — May 7, Tornado, Natchez, and on the MS river (e. g. Hinds); LA Plantations — >318

— >318 Blanchard tally based upon State and River totals below.*

–500-1000 Milwaukee Sentinel, WI. “Terrible Hurricane!” 5-26-1840, p. 2.
–300 – 700 Detroit Advertiser, in “Awful Tornado,” Western Statesman (MI), 5-28-1840.
— ~700 Hazard. Hazard’s U. S. Commercial and Statistical Register, Vol. 2, 1840, 376.
— 586 Newspaper Archive. “Major Tornadoes in American History.”
— 481 Natchez Free Trader, May 8, 1840; cited in Natchez (Mississippi) Times, 5-7-1957.
— 400 Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, 142.
— 368 Howland, Steamboat Disasters and Railroad Accident in the U.S. 1840, 407.
— 318 Hyde, James. The Natchez, Mississippi tornado of 1840, U.S. Tornadoes, 5-7-2017.
— 48 Natchez
–269 On the river.
— 1 Vidalia
— 317 Adams Sentinel, Gettysburg, PA. “Natchez.” June 8, 1840, p. 4.
— 317 Flexner and Flexner. A Pessimist’s Guide to History. 2008, p. 121.
— 317 Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, pp. 518, 559.
— 317 Greely. (Chief Signal Officer, United States Army). American Weather. 1888, 232.
— 317 Heidorn. The Weather Doctor Almanac 2005. “Great 1840 Natchez Tornado.”
— 317 Howland, Steamboat Disasters and Railroad Accidents in the U.S. 1840, 407.
— >317 Levine. F5: Devastation…the Most Violent Tornado Outbreak… 2007, 67.
— 317 Ludlum. The American Weather Book. 1982, pp. 92, 107.
— 317 Mogil. Extreme Weather. 2007, p. 115.
— 317 Nash. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 748.
— 317 Nelson. “The Great Natchez Tornado of 1840…” Concordia Sentinel, 11 Sep 2008.
— 317 Nunn. “Tornadoes…Special Reference To Those…in TN,” Nov 25, 1921.
— 317 NWS WFO, Paducah KY. NOAA/NWS 1925 Tri-State Tornado. “Gen Info.”
— 317 Storm Pre. Cen. The 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes. Norman, OK: SPC, NOAA.
— 317 The New-Yorker. “Events of 1840,” Jan 2, 1841, p. 249.
— 317 Watkins. “Heaven’s Heavy Artillery: Cyclones, Tornadoes…” 1905, 719.
— 317 Wikipedia. “Great Natchez Tornado.” March 25, 2011 modification.
— 317 Woods and Woods. Tornadoes. “The Great Natchez Tornado.” 2007, p. 10.
— >300 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 220
— 300 Detroit Daily Advertiser. Cited by Western Statesman, Marshall, MI. 5-28-1840, 2.
— >300 Freeman and Messenger, Lodi, NY. “The Tornado at Natchez.” June 4, 1840, p. 3.

*Our tally uses the number 48 for Natchez (there were reports of 50), and one for Vidalia, LA. We use Howland’s and other sources (Hyde, for example) for the estimate of 269 deaths on the river. See Nelson, Part 2 for reasons why 317-318 fatalities is very probably an undercount. This number does not include what was described as many, even hundreds, killed (probably slaves), on the other side of the river in Louisiana. Additionally, it is quite possible that some of the river fatalities went down the river, and were not included in the estimates at the time.

Louisiana (Hundreds)
— Hundreds. Rowland. Encyclopedia of Mississippi History (Vol. 2.). 1907, p. 323.
–1 Vidalia. Huron Reflector, Norwalk, OH. “Dreadful Visitation of Providence.” 5-26-1840, 2

Mississippi ( 317)
Natchez
— ~50 Burials on 8th. Huron Reflector, Norwalk OH. “Dreadful…” 5-26-1840, 2.
— 1 Parker’s Southern Exchange. Huron Reflector, Norwalk OH. “Dreadful…” 5-26-1840, 2
— >1 Planters’ Hotel. Huron Reflector, Norwalk OH. “Dreadful Visitation…” 5-26-1840, 2.
— 9 Railroad Depot. Western Statesman, MI. “Awful Tornado,” 28 May 1840.
— 11 Steamboat Hotel. Huron Reflector, Norwalk OH. “Dreadful Visitation…” 5-26-1840, 2.

Maritime (~156-269)
— 269 On river. Howland, Steamboat Disasters and Railroad Accident in the U.S. 1840, 407.
— 200 “Hundreds of negroes.” Hazard’s US Commercial…Statistical Register, V2, 1840, 376
— ~200 Flatboat men. Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA. “Tornado at Natchez,” 5-26-1840
— ~100 “Flatboat men.”

— 51 Steamboat Hinds. Berman, Bruce. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, 172.
— 51 “ Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 680.
— 51 “ Nelson. “The Great Natchez Tornado of 1840–Part 2,” Sep 11, 2008.
— 5 Steamboat Prairie. Milwaukee Sentinel, WI. “Terrible Hurricane!” May 26, 1840, p. 2.

Narrative Information

Beemer: “The following is from a letter written after the 140 Natchez tornado. It was penned by a resident of Natchez to a friend who was out of town when the tornado struck. It was reproduced in the Natchez (Mississippi) Times on 7 May 1957. In part it said: ‘An extra of the Natchez Free Trader published the day after the catastrophe listed the dead at 481… Many persons were seen blown off the bluff into the river of whom there has not been received any intelligence. It is assumed for the time being that they are dead’.” (Beemer, Rod. The Deadliest Woman in the West: Mother Nature. 2006, pp. 113-114.)

Grazulis: “A massive tornado touched down at least 20 miles southwest of Natchez, Mississippi, and moved to the northeast. It hit the Mississippi River about 7 miles southwest of the city and moved upriver, “stripping the forest from both shores.” This long track over water contributed to the high death toll. The central and northern part of Natchez was ripped apart by the mile-wide funnel as “the air was black with whirling eddies of walls, roofs, chimneys, and huge timbers from distant ruins … all shot through the air as if thrown from a mighty catapult.” The most reliable death total listed 48 on land at Natchez and 269 on the river, most of those in the sinking of flatboats and steamers. It was noted at the time that the death toll on the river was probably high because of the “large number of transients and itinerant boatmen on the river that day.” A piece of a steamboat window was carried 30 miles. At least one person died at Vidalia, Louisiana, on the opposite shore of the river. Reports that “hundreds” of people were killed on plantations in Louisiana were never confirmed, but it is quite possible that there were many more deaths in areas away from Natchez. This was the pre-Civil War era of slavery, and slave deaths were not always counted. $1,260,000.” (Grazulis. “Descriptions of the Top Ten US Killer Tornadoes #2: The Natchez Tornado.” 2001.)

Hazard: “One of the most awful and destructive hurricanes took place here on the 7th, that ever occurred in the United States. Natchez under the hill, is entirely swept away, and the loveliest part of the South, on the Bluff above, is wreck and ruin! And beneath the ruins, still lay the bodies of many strangers and natives, crushed to death. Besides which the number of lives lost by the sinking of flat boats is thought to be at least 200, and no estimate can be made of the amount of money, produce and goods, swallowed up by the river…Accounts have already been received from 20 miles distant, and the rage of the tempest was terrible! Hundreds of negroes were killed; dwellings swept away like chaff before the whirlwind, forests uprooted, and crops entirely destroyed.

“The breadth of the tornado was about two miles…The steamboat St. Lawrence was sunk to the bottom of the river, and all on board perished. The steamboat Hinds was capsized and sunk, and all on board lost except four. The steamboat Prairie was almost totally destroyed at the wharf, and all on board perished, except the Captain and Clerk. The ferry boat plying between Natchez and the opposite shore, was capsized and sunk, and every person on board lost. The probability is, that the number of persons who have lost their lives on the land and water is very great, and the property destroyed is immense….It is estimated that about 700 were killed and drowned in Natchez and its immediate vicinity, and that t least five millions of property was destroyed.” (Hazard. Hazard’s United States Commercial and Statistical Register, Vol. 2, 1840, 376.)

Howland: “The total number killed and wounded, as far as ascertained, up to May 13, is as follows: killed in the city, 48; on the river, 269, making a total of 317. Wounded, in the city, 74: on board the boats, 85, total 159. The steamboat Hinds has since been discovered, at Baton Rouge, having 51 dead bodies on board, — forty-eight of whom were males, two females, and one child.” (Howland. Steamboat Disasters and Railroad Accidents in the United States. 1840, 407.)

Lloyd: “On the 7th day of May, 1840, the city of Natchez, Miss., was visited by a tornado, which occasioned an immense destruction of property and great loss of life. Several steamboats were destroyed at the wharves of Natchez, and many persons who had embarked in them as passengers were drowned. A large number of flat boats, likewise, were wrecked by the tremendous gale, and a number of boatmen, sup¬posed to be two hundred or more, in the aggregate, perished. A tax had recently been laid on flat-boats at Vicksburg, on which account many of them had dropped down to Natchez, so that there was an un¬usually large number of these boats collected at the last-named city at the time of the tornado.

“The steamboat Hinds was blown out into the stream and sunk, and all the passengers and crew, except four men, were lost. It is not known how many passengers were on this boat. The captain was sup¬posed to have been saved, as he was seen on shore a short time before the gale commenced, but as nothing was heard of him afterwards, it is conjectured that he must have returned to the boat, and shared the fate of his crew and passengers. The wreck of the Hinds was after¬wards found at Baton Rouge, with fifty-one dead bodies on board, forty-eight of whom were males, and three females; among the latter was one little girl about three years old.

“Of one hundred and twenty flat-boats, which lay at the landing, all were lost except four, and very few of the men employed on board were saved. [Lists the names of 43 fatalities.]

“Besides these, about two hundred flat boatmen, (names unknown,) were ascertained to have been lost. The total loss of life is estimated at four hundred. For its violence and destructive effects, this tornado was without precedent in the recollection of the oldest inhabitant of that region. The water in the river was agitated to that degree that the best swimmers could not sustain themselves on the surface. The waves rose to the height of ten or fifteen feet. Many houses in the vicinity of Natchez were blown down, and many buildings in the city were unroofed; the roofs, in some instances, being carried half-way across the river. People found it impossible to stand on the shore. One man was blown from the top of the hill, (sixty feet high,) and fell into the river forty yards from the bank. Heavy beams of timber and other ponderous objects were blown about like straws. Great was the consternation of the inhabitants of Natchez and its neighborhood, and owing to this cause, perhaps, many persons were drowned for want of prompt assistance. When the first alarm had somewhat subsided, the citizens hastened to the river, rescued some who were still living from the water, and recovered hundreds of dead bodies before they were swept away by the rapid current.” (Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, pp. 140-142.)

Ludlum: “The greatest tornado disaster in early America occurred at Natchez, Mississippi, on May 7, 1840, when 317 were killed, mainly on river barges tied up at wharves, by a single tornado.” (Ludlum 1982, 107) “The storm struck a devastating blow at Natchez Landing, where from fifty to sixty flatboats were tied up. Only six survived the wind and storm wave, which rose to the height of six to eight feet. An estimated one hundred boatmen were drowned. The steamboats Hinds, Prairie, and St. Lawrence were destroyed and sunk at the Landing, and the Vidalia ferry was caught in mid-stream. Many died in these vessels.” (Ludlum 1982, p. 109.)

Nelson: The Natchez Free-Trader reported that there had been a “continuous roaring of thunder to the southward, at which point hung masses of black clouds, some of them stationary, and others whirling along with undercurrents, but all driving a little east of north. And there was evidently much lighting, the continual roar of growling thunder, although noticed and spoken of by many, created no particular alarm.” “The first traces of the tornado,” said the newspaper, were seen 10 miles below Natchez, coming out of Concordia Parish where it swept across Natchez Island, crossing at a point below the plantations of Peter M. Lapice, who owned both Arnolia and Whitehall.

”Along the way, said the New Orleans Bee, the storm sucked trees out of the ground, stripped others of limbs and branches, ripped out fences on many plantations and leveled cabins, plantation homes and crops.

”Fifteen miles below Natchez, the steamer Maid of Orleans, which departed town a short time earlier, had just made the bend above Ellis Cliffs when the twister cruised by just to the north. So severe was the storm, a traveler onboard said “we landed and lay all night near the cliffs.”

”According Floyd’s Steamboat Directory, the passenger said the “storm seemed to have struck the foot of Natchez Island first, which was then covered with a heavy growth of young cotton wood, from three to six inches in diameter. They were cut off 8 or 10 feet from the ground as clean and as evenly as could have been done with an ax, and at a little distance resembled a big field of corn, with the fodder just cut, much more than a young forest of cottonwood prostrated…The uniformity of which the whole island was swept was the principal novelty.”….

“By this time, the monster tornado was two miles wide, slamming Vidalia and Natchez at the exact moment. When it hit, reported the Natchez Free-Trader, the Mississippi “swelled instantly” by a “height of six or eight feet.”….

The Free-Trader said that the “dinner bells in large hotels had rung and most citizens were sitting at their tables.” But soon, said the newspaper, “the air was black with whirling eddies of walls, roofs, chimneys and huge timbers from distant ruins…all shot through the air as if thrown from a mighty catapult.” The paper said the tornado destroyed everything in its path with the “explosive force of gunpowder.”…

”People in the hotel began to panic as they rushed for the front door. Almost immediately, the passageway became jammed and, said Flint, “kicking, fighting, and cursing ensued.” Some were “trampled under foot,” while others, like the Flints, were thrown “over their heads” to a position “where we were destined to be saved. It was between the bar room and the reading room.”….

Across the river, Concordia Judge James Keeton lay dead in the ruins….” (Nelson. “The Great Natchez Tornado of 1840 – Part 1,” Concordia Sentinel, Sep 4, 2008.)

Nelson: “Just before the monster tornado hit Natchez shortly after 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 7, 1840, the captain of the steamboat Hinds was seen walking along the river bank under¬-the-hill.
No one saw him board his docked vessel before the storm hit, but both he and the boat vanished.

”The “upper works” and the deck of another steamer, the Prairie, which was partially loaded with lead, were destroyed by the tornado and this boat sank. Four women were seen on board just before the twister hit, but they and the other passengers, the total number unknown, were presumed drowned.

”The steamboat Lawrence was severely damaged but didn’t sink while the Mississippian, a wharf-boat which served as a hotel and grocery, did. The Vidalia steam-powered ferry loaded with passengers and horses was crossing the river when the twister cruised into town from downriver. All on board, human and animal, perished.

”Many of the men aboard the estimated 60 flatboats on the Mississippi drowned, too, as the swirling winds push the river level up seven feet and tossed the vessels about like a cork at the end of a fishing line.

”Two weeks later, a tattered, half-submerged ghost ship was seen floating down the river at Baton Rouge. It was the Hinds. Found onboard were the bodies of 51 passengers and crew members, all men, with the exception of three women and a three-year-old girl. Four survivors had previously been found safely on shore in Natchez….

‘Newspapers put the death toll at 317 and 109 injured, the only tornado where the dead outnumbered the injured. But there’s no doubt that the death toll was much, much higher.
According to the Natchez Courier, most of the fatalities were on the river, an estimated 269, including 200 flat boatmen, most of whom drowned. There were 47 deaths in upper Natchez and one in Vidalia. But the statistics compiled back then took into no account the deaths of slaves on the plantations. Why? Because slaves were considered property, not human beings. The name of only one slave — Moses — is mentioned but apparently not included in the death toll. He was pulled from beneath Parker’s Southern Exchange and remembered as “a most valuable servant.”

The Courier reported that 74 persons were injured in Natchez and 35 aboard boats on the landing and river were hurt. Again, no official count of the number of blacks injured was made.” (Nelson. “The Great Natchez Tornado of 1840 – Part 2,” Concordia Sentinel, Sep 11, 2008.)

Rowland: “Natchez Tornado of 1840. Henry Tooley made an elaborate report of this disaster, including observations of the barometer and thermometer during the storm. The day, May 7, opened densely cloudy and very warm, increasing in heat until noon. At 12:45 the roar of the approaching storm could be heard in the southwest, with a gale blowing toward it, from the northeast. The thunder and lightning was incessant. An hour later inky clouds were sweeping up both sides of the river, the city was soon enveloped in darkness, terrific thunder shook the earth, the wind whirled to the southeast, and at 2 o’clock the tornado swept through the city, followed by a calm. There was about five minutes while the storm was felt close at hand, a few seconds in which it accomplished its work. “Every building in the city was more or less injured, many utterly demolished, and very many unroofed, with their walls more or less broken or thrown down: every tree and fence prostrated, and the streets filled with scattered fragments of every kind and nearly impassable.” The famous district, “Natchez under the Hill,” was swept with “the besom of destruction, overthrowing, crashing and demolishing almost every house, shop and building, and at one fell swoop reduced that part of the city into undistinguished ruin. Three steamers break from their moorings; their upper works are blown as feathers; two of them capsize and sink and nearly all their crews and passengers perish. More than sixty flatboats laden with up-country produce break from their fastenings and with their crews disappear.”

“The casualties were given as follows: killed in the city, 48; perished on the river, 269; wounded in the city, 74, on the river, 35. A woman was rescued from the wreck of the Steamboat hotel, alive but mangled, with her two dead children in her arms. The most widespread damage was done in Louisiana, in the earlier path of the tornado, and hundreds were reported killed. The courthouse at Vidalia was wrecked, burying Judge Kerton in the ruins. Natchez was visited by a delegation from New Orleans bringing a corps of surgeons and several thousand dollars of money for the relief of the suffering. Mr. Tooley, who was one of the most accurate meteorologists of his age, noted those facts regarding the storm that sustain the modern scientific explanation. Many houses, where the rooms were closed, were exploded by the surrounding vacuum created by the funnel of the tornado; the juices of leaves, and herbs and grass were extracted so that they withered.” (Rowland. Encyclopedia of Mississippi History (Vol. 2.). 1907, p. 323.)

Woods and Woods: “One of the worst tornadoes in history hit the Mississippi town of Natchez on May 7, 1840. History books say that it killed 317 people. However, the real number of deaths may have been much higher. At that time, people in the southern United States owned slaves. Officials didn’t bother to count slaves who died on plantations (large farms) because slaves were considered property. We may never know how many slaves died in the Great Natchez Tornado.” (Woods and Woods. Tornadoes. “The Great Natchez Tornado.” 2007, p. 10.)

Newspapers (Chronological)

May 7: “Natchez, Thursday, 5 P.M., May 7, 1840.
“To the Editors of the Daily Picayune:

“By the steamboat Meteor I hasten to acquaint you with one of the most horrid and destructive hurricanes that ever happened in the United States. While nearly the whole of our city were engaged in dining at the hour of two this afternoon, vivid flashed the lightning, loud roared the thunder, and black grew the sky. In a few minutes the tempest came, and for about forty minutes
we were in that perilous state which speaks only of destruction and death. First toppled down the chimneys, then went the roofs of houses, and a moment after house after house fell into ruins. In the hurry of this letter I cannot begin to particularize the death and damage around me. ‘Natchez under the hill’ is entirely swept away, and the loveliest part of the South on the bluff above, is wreck and ruin; and those yet living will find difficulty upon difficulty in getting shelter for the night. My heart sickens at the scenes before me. As I walked to the boat from which I write, the dead and wounded met me every twenty steps. Natchez is ruined, ruined, ruined.” (Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA. “Tornado at Natchez,” 5-26-1840, p. 2.)

“In addition to the above we have gathered the following particulars. The steamboat St. Lawrence went down. It is said she was lifted many feet out of the water, and instantly dashed to the bottom of the river with every soul on board. The enormous body of water now rolling in the Mississippi and swelling to the very topmost limits of its banks, was lashed into foaming billows, and flatboats were torn in pieces and their scattered planks flew about like feathers in the wind….

“The steamboat Prairie is now lying at our wharf, torn to pieces – ‘blown up’ by the winds worse than ever a boat was blown up by steam. The hull and machinery is all that is left of her. Her cabin was carried away, floor and all. The wheel-houses were unroofed, and what remains of the boat is rent and shattered in an awful manner….

“The greatest loss of life was among the flatboats, which were swamped and destroyed before the unfortunate men could reach the shore. One paper states that upwards of 200 were lost. A boy is said to have been taken up in the air and lodged in a tree half a mile from his father’s house.” (Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA. “Tornado at Natchez,” 5-26-1840, p. 2.)

May 8: “From the Natchez Free Trader – Extra. Friday Eve. [May 8], 6 o’clock.

“About 1 o’clock on Thursday, the 7th inst., the attention of the citizens of Natchez was attracted by an unusual and continuous roaring of thunder to the southward, at which point hung masses of black clouds, some of them stationary and others whirling along with under currents, but all driving a little east of north. As there was evidently much lightning, the continual roar of growling thunder, although noticed and spoken of by many, created no particular alarm.

“The dinner bells in the large hotels had rung, a little before 2o’clock and most of our citizens were sitting at their tables, when, suddenly, the atmosphere was darkened, so as to require the lighting of candles; and, in a few moments afterwards, the rain was precipitated in tremendous cataracts rather than in drops. In another moment the tornado, in all its wrath, was upon us. The strongest buildings shook as if tossed with an earthquake; the air was black with whirling eddies of house walls, roofs, chimneys, huge timbers torn from distant ruins, all shot through the air as if thrown from a mighty catapult. The atmosphere soon became lighter, and then such an awful scene of ruin as perhaps never before met the eye of man, became manifest. The greater part of the ruin was effected in the short space of from three to five minutes, altho’ the heavy sweeping tornado lasted nearly half an hour. For about five minutes it was more like the explosive force of gunpowder than anything else it could have been compared to. Hundreds of rooms were burst open as sudden as if barrels of gunpowder had been ignited in each.

“As far as glass or the naked eye can reach, the first traces of the tornado are to be seen from the Natchez bluff down the river about ten miles, bearing considerably west of south. Sweeping across the Natchez Island it crossed the point below the plantation of David Barland, Esq., opposite the plantations of P. M. Lapice, Esq., in the Parish of Concordia. It then struck the Natchez bluff about a mile and a half below the city, near the mansion called the ‘Briers,’ which it but slightly injured, but swept the mansion late of Charles B. Greene, Esq. called the ‘Bellevue,’ and the ancient forest in which it was embosomed into a mass of ruins.

“It then struck the city through its whole width of one mile and included the entire river and the village of Vidalia on the Louisiana shore—making the path of the tornado more than two miles in width. At the Natchez landing on the river, the ruin of dwellings, stores, steamboats, and flat boats, was almost entire from the Vidalia ferry to the Mississippi Cotton Press. A few torn fragments of dwellings still remain, but they can scarcely be called shelters.

“In the upper city, or Natchez on the hill, scarcely a house escaped damage or utter ruin. The Presbyterian and Methodist churches have their towers thrown down, their roofs broken and walls shattered. The Episcopal church is much injured in its roof. Parker’s great Southern Exchange is level with the dust.—Great damage has been done to the City Hotel and the Mansion House, both being unroofed, and the upper stories broken in. The house of Sheriff Izod has not a timber standing, and hundreds of other dwellings are nearly in the same situation.—The Court-House at Vidalia, parish of Concordia, is utterly torn down, also the dwelling house of Dr. M’ Whorther, and of Messrs. Dunlap and Stacey, Esqrs. The parish jail is partly torn down.

“But now the worst remains to be told. Parish Judge Keeton of Concordia was instantly killed while at dinner at the house of Mr. Stacey. He was a noble and esteemed man. No other person was killed in Vidalia, although some other persons were hurt. At the Natchez landing, out of fifty or sixty flat boats only six are now afloat. Those best acquainted suppose as many as one hundred flat boat men were drowned in the river, which swelled instantly to the height of six or eight feet.

“The steamboats Hinds, Prairie, and the St. Lawrence, were destroyed and sunk at the Landing, and the Vidalia ferry boat on the river—more or less persons being lost in the two first named boats.

“From the ruins of the Steamboat Hotel, Mr. Alexander, the landlord, his lady and barkeeper were dug out alive, as also Timothy Flint, the historian and geographer, and his son from Natchitoches, La., besides Dr. Taliafero and many others. Mrs. Alexander is considered dangerously injured. Two of her children were killed in her arms. As many as nine dead bodies have been dug from the Steamboat Hotel.

“The number of burials which have taken place to-day is about fifty, and many are still in a dangerous and dying condition.

“As soon as possible we shall publish a list of the names of the killed, wounded, and those missing whose bodies have not been found.

“Meanwhile we beg the indulgence of our kind friends and patrons for few days, in which time we shall be able to get our office in some order. The Free Trader office building has been crushed in and much shattered. We are all in confusion, and surrounded by the destitute, the houseless, the wounded and the dying. – Our beautiful city is shattered as if it had been stormed y all the cannon of Austerlitz. Our delightful China trees are all torn up. We are peeled and desolate….

The Tornado at Natchez.

“Dreadful as were the first accounts from the city of ruins, it seems they were not over-drawn if indeed they came up to the reality. The great number of flat boatmen lost, will carry mourning into many families in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. A committee has been appointed to ascertain as far as possible the number of flat boats lost, and the names and residences of the owners.

“The calamity which has befallen Natchez, has excited deep sympathy in her sister cities of the South.—Committees have been appointed at Vicksburgh, Rodney, Grand Gulf, New-Orleans, and other places, for the purpose of giving aid to the sufferers. A public meeting for a similar purpose has been called at Cincinnati. We add the following particulars to the sad details already
published, copied from the Natchez Free Trader of the 11th inst.—Cleve. Herald.

Natchez, Sabbath Evening, the 10th May.

“What we wrote on Friday, the day after the calamity, has since proved far too low a computation—and far too faint a sketch of the ruin which has befallen our noble-spirited yet devoted city.

“The estimate we have given of a little more than a million and a quarter of dollars for the damages done to the buildings merely, may be nearly correct for the compact part of the city: but to cover the loss of merchandize, provisions, goods of various kinds, and furniture destroyed, there should, in the opinion of some of our practical and clear-headed men, be at least four millions more added—making the entire loss of property in the city of Natchez more than FIVE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

“The Natchez theatre is a pile of shapeless ruins beyond recovery. —The entire square, surrounded by the walls, and partly covered by the pile of the Railroad Depot, late one of the largest and noblest edifices of the kind in any city in the Union, is covered with the wreck of tower, walls and roofs. From this immense mass of rubbish several wounded persons and dead bodies have been dug, and the work of removing the huge pile of brick and limber has been just commenced.

“From the immense ruins of Parker’s Southern Exchange, Messrs. Farish and Bemis were dug alive after a confinement of an hour or two, and the dead body of Moses a most valuable servant; it is possible there may be one or two more bodies in those ruins.

“The Planters’ Hotel, formerly called ‘Our House,’ situated on the brow of the bluff, was blown down the precipice. Many men were known to have been in the house at the time; and it has become painfully evident to the senses that the rapid decomposition of flesh is going on under the timbers of that house.

“Eleven dead bodies have been taken from the ruins of the Steamboat Hotel, which have all been removed by the gangs of slaves of Colonel Surget, Mr. Crossgrove, and others, generously sent in by those wealthy planters.

“Of the number and names of the dead we cannot now speak with certainty. This subject is committed by a public meeting to a committee of three gentlemen, who will report as soon as any certainty can be arrived at. The Natchez Guards and the Order of Odd Fellows have both followed their dead ‘to that bourne whence no traveler returns’.” (Huron Reflector, Norwalk, OH. “Dreadful Visitation of Providence.” May 26, 1840, p. 2.)

May 9, 1840, from New Orleans Bulletin: “By the Steamer Vicksburg…which arrived here last night, we have the following particulars of a tornado which took place in Natchez on Thursday last: …about 2 o’clock P.M., a dark cloud made its appearance in the southwest, preceded by a continued roaring of the winds. As it came on swiftly…it was met by another which was wafted from directly the opposite point of the compass…At the moment of the concussion large masses of seeming white spray were precipitated to the earth, followed by…a roaring of the wind… Houses were dismantled of their roofs, and then almost immediately leveled with the earth. The air was filled with bricks and large pieces of timber – and even heavy ox carts were uplifted and thrown hundreds of yards from their original positions.

“About 60 flat boats lying in port were drifted from shore and sunk. The ferry boat plying between Natchez and the opposite shore, capsized and sunk, and everyone on board is supposed to have perished. The steamboat Hinds was capsized & sunk. The steamboat Prairie had her cabin entirely taken off & crew nearly all lost.

“The two Hotels in the city, one partly and the other entirely blown to the ground, and almost every house more or less injured. It is impossible to tell how many of the citizens were killed, as the streets were filled with large pieces of timber, rendering them impassable, and the work of extracting the bodies from the fallen houses was not completed…It was very difficult to effect a landing, as every house under the hill, save five or six, was blown down, and the river filled with floating fragments of houses and flat boats.

“The Tornado, on leaving Natchez, followed the course of the river about eight miles down. The Court-house in Vidalia was leveled to the ground, and the Parish Judge killed.” (Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg). . “Awful Calamity! Natchez Destroyed by a Tornado,” May 25, 1840, p.1)

From the Natchez Courier, May 9, 1840: “Our devoted city is in ruins. Yesterday at one o’clock …a storm burst upon our city and raged for half an hour with most destructive and dreadful power. We look around and see Natchez…in ruins, and hundreds of our citizens without a shelter or a pillow…. The destruction of flat boats is immense; at least sixty were tossed for a moment on a raging river, and then sunk, drowning most of their crews! The best informed…estimate the number of lives lost by the sinking of flat boats at two hundred!….

“There is no telling how wide-spread has been the ruin. Reports have come in from plantations twenty miles distant in Louisiana, and the rage of the tempest was terrible. Hundreds…killed, dwellings swept like chaff from their foundations, the forest uprooted, and the crops beaten down and destroyed. Never, never, never was there such desolation and ruin.

“We cannot even attempt a description of the mangled condition of Natchez. – Hundreds of houses…now choke up our streets with mingled materials, in a state of utter destruction. We can do nothing today but bury the dead and bind up the wounds of those yet struggling for life….”
(Adams Sentinel, Gettysburg. “Awful Calamity! Natchez Destroyed by a Tornado,” 5-25-1840, 1)

May 26: “….From passengers on the Chester, we learn some further particulars. The Chester passed the wreck of the Prairie, 150 miles below Natchez, lying-to, in tow of the Meteor. Capt. Freleigh was spoken, from whom it was ascertained that about 5 persons only were lost from his boat. The cabin, furniture and chimneys were swept away, but the hull was not much damaged, and as our informant understood Capt. Freleigh, the cargo was all safe.

“The estimate of the number of lives lost, by intelligent men from Natchez, is from 500 to 1000; but it was impossible to ascertain the number with anything like certainty, until the rubbish was cleared away, which will require several weeks. It has been ascertained that there were 104 flat boats at the landing, only seven of which were saved.

“At the principal hotel, the boarders to the number of 60 or 80 were at dinner, and only 7 or 8 have been seen since! At the Steamboat Hotel under the hill, about 60 were at dinner – only 6 have been found alive.” (Milwaukee Sentinel, WI. “Terrible Hurricane!” [Natchez Tornado].. May 26, 1840, p. 2.)

May 28: “From the Detroit Daily Advertiser… By the attention of Mr. Abbott, of New York, who has just arrived here from Natchez in the Steamboat Wm French, via Louisville, we have received the particulars of one the most destructive tornadoes that has ever been witnessed on this continent…

It began at Natchez on Thursday the 7th inst., at 2 P. M. and passed over the city, apparently from a southeast direction, and destroyed about two-thirds of the buildings in the city; and every building under the hill, except Mr. Cotton’s grocery, (a small building which was partially injured) — the beautiful grove of trees around the Court House is wholly prostrated, and the Court House itself partially destroyed — all the banks except the Commercial — every hotel, except the Mansion House, which was blown down. The Planters and Parker’s Hotels were completely obliterated, and nothing left but a pile of bricks. The fine grove of trees, and the handsome buildings adjoining the Planters Hotel, were all destroyed. The long row of Chinese trees that lined the hill, and made so beautiful appearance from the river, were all destroyed; also the Light House, erected by the United States Government some twenty years since; the Cotton Press, Both Steam Saw Mills; the steeple of the Second Presbyterian Church, and a part of the building itself was also destroyed. The Rail Road Depot was Blown down, and nine dead bodies had been taken from the ruins.

“On the river, in front of the city, the effects of the tornado were equally awful. The steamboat Hinds was blown into the river and sunk, all the crew and passengers except four men were lost. The number of passengers on board was not known. The Captain was said to be on shore at the time, but had not been seen. The steamboat Prairie had just arrived from St. Louis, with lead; her upper works were swept off down to her deck, and all the crew and passengers were presumed to be lost. The number of passengers was unknown, but four ladies, at least were seen on board just before the disaster. The steamboat H. Lawrence, and a sloop were somewhat sheltered at the Cotton Press, and were severely damaged, but not lost. The Steam Ferry boat was sunk; and out of one hundred and twenty flat boats that lay at the landing, all were lost but four with most of their crews. The wharf boat Mississippian, used as a hotel, grocery, &c., was lost.– A tax had been recently laid at Vicksburg on all flat boats, so that many had dropped down to Natchez…

The destruction of property is immense, and no estimate can yet be formed of its amount, and we regret to add that the number of lives lost is also very great. The Wm. French passed Natchez only twelve hours after, and at that time the citizens were entirely engaged in taking out the dead bodies from the ruins. Seven ladies had already been taken from the ruins of the Steamboat Hotel. The loss on board the Flat Boats must have been awful, as it is reasonable to presume that at least two persons were on each boat, which would make the number lost in this manner upwards of two hundred. The estimate on the spot, by the citizens of Natchez, varied from three to seven hundred.

“The tornado crossed the river to Concordia, (La.) and destroyed the Court House, Jail, and other buildings, and most of the trees. It then seemed to change its course, and passed up the Louisiana
bank of the river, destroying most of the trees in its course; its effects on trees were visible as far up as Vicksburg.

“The tornado lasted but a few minutes at Natchez; to use the words of those who saw it, “it. passed over the city like a flash of lightning;” during the forenoon it had been uncommonly windy. At points higher up on the river, it was accompanied by a heavy fall of rain.” (Western Statesman, MI. “Awful Tornado,” 28 May 1840; citing the Detroit Daily Advertiser.)

June 8: “We learn from the New Orleans Bee, that the steamboat Hinds, which was wrecked during the tornado at Natchez, has been picked up at Baton Rouge, having fifty-one dead bodies on board – forty-eight of whom were males, two females, and one child.

“The number of killed in Natchez by the tornado is ascertained to be 48; on the river 269 – in all 317; wounded in the city 74, on the river 35 – in all 109.” (Adams Sentinel, Gettysburg, PA. “Natchez.” June 8, 1840, p. 4.)

June 27: “The Natchez Courier gives the following report of the number of killed and wounded at that place by the tornado.

Killed in Natchez… 48
Killed on the river… 200
317
Wounded in the City… 74
Wounded on the Boats…36
110

(Milwaukee Advertiser, WI. “Killed and Wounded in Natchez.” June 27, 1840, p. 3.)

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