1878 — August 9, Tornado, Wallingford, New Haven County, CT                                 —    34

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 8-17-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—     34  connecticuthistory.org. “The Great Wallingford Tornado – Today in History: August 9.”

–29-34  Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes. 1993, p. 596.

—     34  Ludlum. The American Weather Book, 1882, p. 114.

—     34  Perley. “The Tornado at Wallingford, Conn., in 1878.” Historic Storms of New England. 1891, p.333.

Narrative Information

connecticuthistory.org. “The Great Wallingford Tornado – Today in History: August 9.” –

“On August 9, 1878, a tornado swept from west to east across the northern part of Wallingford. The most destructive tornado to ever have struck the state, it cut a swath of about one-half mile wide and two miles long across what was then called the “Plains.” The storm came over Mount Tom, or Lamentation Mountain, passing across the man-made Community Lake and reportedly creating a water spout 200 feet high.

“The tornado killed 34 people and injured 70, 28 severely, as it ripped up trees and carried houses and barns from their foundations. A fire spread through some of the ruined wooden structures but was quickly extinguished by the rain. The tornado destroyed a total of 40 houses and a number of barns as well as the orchards in its path. The town also suffered the loss of their new brick schoolhouse (the upper two floors were destroyed), the Community windmill and brick factory, and the wooden Catholic Church. The area of Colony and Christian Streets was the hardest hit.

“The storm downed telegraph wires, making communication difficult, but a request for help was sent by the 7:00 train as the rails of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad remained open. The return train brought help from Meriden physicians, and as word spread assistance came from neighboring towns and the city of Hartford.

“Thousands attended the burial of 25 of the victims the following Sunday. The local special police were called in to keep back the crowds, and the papers reported that a minimum of 2,000 carriages were in the procession.”

Grazulis: “CT  Aug 9, 1878  18:15  34k  70 inj  300y  10m  F4  New Haven – What was called ‘the breath of the death Angel’ moved generally to the east from the community lake, 4m W of Wallingford, passing through and destroying the north side of Wallingford. Damage extended to Durham and Killingsworth. About 35 homes were destroyed, and another 14 were severely damaged. ‘Electricity of the most terrific kind filled the air…straight rods of fire came down from the sides of the cloud to the earth.’ Losses totaled $250,000. Up to six people were killed in a single home. Wallingford debris was dropped in Durham at about the same time that homes there were being unroofed. Pieces of tin from the roof of a school were carried 12 miles to Haddam.  Paper debris containing a name was carried 65 miles to Peacedale, Rhode Island….The listed death toll at Wallingford varies from 29-34 in various books and reports.” (Grazulis. Significant Tornadoes, 1993, p. 596.)

Ludlum: “The Wallingford Tornado in August 1878 in central Connecticut was the first to strike a settled community [there]; thirty-four people died in a brief moment or two.”  (Ludlum. The American Weather Book, 1882, p. 114.)

Perley. “The Tornado at Wallingford, Conn., in 1878.” Historic Storms of New England. 1891:

“….On the afternoon of Friday, the ninth, in all sections of the three southern New England states there was great destruction of property by lightning, and several persons were killed by it. Rain fell in great quantities, falling in Boston to the greatest depth ever known, and in several places wind was very disastrous. The tornado that occurred at Wallingford, Conn., was the most terrific and resulted in the greatest destruction of life and property that was ever caused in New England by such means.

“Rain began to fall at about six o’clock, and in a few minutes it increased to a deluge. Heavy black clouds gathered over the village, making it dark as night, and lightning illumined the gloomy masses, while thunder continually rolled and crashed along the clouds. When the shower was at its worst, without a moment’s warning, a fearful tornado swept across the northern part of the town, from west to east, accompanied by hail. The wind swept before it the rain and every movable thing that lay in its track, heavy and light articles being alike carried away and destroyed.  Wooden houses were unroofed or blown off their foundations, some only a few feet, others an eighth of a mile. Its track, which was less than half a mile wide and about two miles in length, lay over what is known as the ‘sand plains,’ about a quarter of a mile north of the railroad station, and near the line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad. For a slight distance on either side of it some damage was done, especially to chimneys, but it was not to be compared to that which occurred within the track. The wind came and went almost in an instant, but in that time many strong, healthy persons had been swept into eternity, and desolation had come upon the town. Such a frightful scene had never before been witnessed by the inhabitants. Immediately after the destruction took place, fire burst out among the ruins in many places, being occasioned by burning lamps and stoves, and for a time it seemed that a terrible conflagration would add to the horror of the scene; but the rain which continued for about an hour fortunately extinguished the flames. At eight o’clock, the sky was clear and the moon shore brightly and serenely over the scene.

“The tremendous force of the wind and the awful desolation it caused can perhaps be conceived when the reader learns that thirth0four persons lost their lives, twenty-eight more were severely injured, and that one hundred and sixty buildings were wholly ruined, which with the other property destroyed amounted to two millions of dollars in value. Among the buildings wholly demolished were forty dwelling houses and fifty barns. The latter were in some instances, raised clear of the hay contained in them, which were left standing. Trees and fences were torn away, and hurled through the air as though nothing but straws. The damage to property and the loss of life were caused by the force of the wind alone, many persons being killed by the falling houses.

“The town was in a state of uproar and consternation, and the greatest excitement prevailed. Immediate assistance was needed from other places, but there were no means of communication. The telegraph poles and wires were blown down, the cars would probably be late, and the distance to Meriden, the nearest town, was six miles. Little John Hoey, only twelve years old thinking that the trains would be delayed, rode on horseback to Meriden for help. At seven o’clock the steam cars arrived, and by them a message was sent to Meriden. On the express that left that place at half-past seven came seven physicians and other assistance, and systematic work was immediately begun. The dead bodies were searched out and brought together, twelve being laid on the children’s desks in the Plains school-house. The town hall was transformed into a hospital, and those who were seriously wounded were conveyed thither, being placed in charge of the physicians and professional nurses. There were wounded persons of both sexes, young and old, some with broken arms, legs and backs and fractured skulls, and others suffering from concussion of the brain and internal injuries. The scene throughout the place will never be forgotten by those that witnessed it. A guard of one hundred and sixty men was immediately placed over the desolated district.

“Twenty-five of the dead were buried in the town cemetery on Sunday, the eleventh, an immense throng of ten thousand persons being present at the sad services, which were conducted by Rev. Mr. Leo of Winstead, assisted by Rev. Messrs. Slocum and O’Connell of New Have and Mallon of Wallingford. There were two thousand carriages in the procession that followed the remains to the cemetery.

“The disaster was not only sad and distressing on account of the loss of life and personal injuries, but in the great loss of property, buildings, furniture and goods, which belonged principally to the workingmen, entailed upon the community many privations that had to be met. In several of the towns and cities around, public meetings were held to raise funds to assist the sufferers from this terrible catastrophe. The Catholic diocese immediately responded to the wants of the people, all those that died being of that faith, except Mr. Littlewood, and assistance came as freely and in as large amounts from Protestants.

“Many wonderful incidents were related of fearful deaths and narrow escapes. Over the lake at the Wallingford community two clouds appeared to come together, and reaching down to the water drew it up in an immense spout seemingly two hundred feet high. A man was out on the lake in a boat, and when he saw the fearful commotion he jumped into the water, and swam ashore; but had scarcely done so when he saw his boat carried into the air and lodged on a hill. Four persons belonging to the family of John Munson were buried in the cellar when the house was blown down, and it was a good while before they could be dug out of the ruins. Two of them were slightly injured  and the other two escaped. Michael Kelly, who was driving in a buggy, was blown in his team some thirty feet over a precipice, and both himself and horse escaped with slight injury. A boy named Matthew Mooney was struck by the wind as he was standing on the railroad track, and was blown fifty feet, being almost beheaded. A woman was lifted a hundred feet into the air, carried along seven hundred feet, and then dropped to the earth, her remains being found horribly mangles. A Mrs. Huxley had her child in her arms when she was picked up, both being dead and almost scalped. Prederic Littlewood was found dad by the sie of the road, where he was killed by flying timbers. He was one of the many men that were on their way home from the shops where they worked, having finished their labors for the day. In the Catholic cemetery, the largest monuments were torn up and trees were uprooted. The wooden church of the Catholics, and the new brick High-school building were both crushed to a mass of ruins. The this scene of disaster and desolation there was a constant stream of visitors for several days after the catastrophe.”

(pp. 332-335.)

Newspaper

Aug 16, Huntingdon Journal, PA: “At 5 o’clock last Friday evening the employees of the Wallingford factories and shops stopped work and started for their homes in groups, as usual.  They saw, hanging like a pall on Mount Lamentation, to the west of Morlilon [unclear] and the northwest of Wallingford, a cloud of inky blackness and threatening appearance.  Over to the eastward was another dark cloud, and both seemed to be approaching Wallingford very slowly.  Zigzag lightning played among the dark folds of these clouds, and the scene was strange enough to attract the attention of a class little given to detecting anything grand or unusual in the manner in which storms come.  The wind seemed to be blowing from the southeast, and it was thought that neither cloud would burst over the village.  Still they came nearer, and as they approached they assumed the form of upright columns of dense material, both moving toward a point in the heavens directly over the Wallingford plains.  About an hour after these slowly moving columns were first observed, the groups of people watching them saw their speed increase and the flashes of lightning become more intense in their brightness.  They also saw a cloud column of snowy whiteness moving between the black converging clouds, and apparently whirling down the ill-fated town with lightning velocity from over the summits of the blue hills to the northward.  There was a death-like stillness in the air, and every living thing seemed to scent the impending calamity.  A few drops of rain came pattering down.

“Meanwhile the snow white column of cloud, flanked by columns of awful blackness, swept down upon the place with terrible swiftness.  Men started to run for their houses to warn their wives and children, but they had hardly started before the storm, with its full fury, was upon them and they were paralyzed  with terror.  The storm seemed to descend just upon the little lake that lies to the northward of the depot.  In an instant the lake became a seething whirlpool.  Those who were watching it say that they could see its yellow bottom where the waters had been whirled into the air in a white foam.  Drawn up by the whirl-wind, the waters overflowed with a grand sweep the land to the eastward of the lake.  When once it had burst the storm seemed to change its direction.  It had been moving southwest, but now it swept around to the eastward and passed up over the hill just north of the centre of the village.  It had assumed the form of a revolving column of white sand from the Wallingford plains, branches of trees and pieces of board, and whatever could be drawn within the influence of the whirlwind.  Whirling with awful velocity and moving along the earth with terrific force this irresistible mass came in contact with a dwelling and flattened it.  There was no struggle with the objects that were in its pathway; they were crushed as though the whirl-wind had presented an unyielding front of solid material.  Black with the ruins of shattered buildings the whirlwind went sweeping up Colony street, uprooting trees and demolishing houses.  The buildings were leveled to the ground as though a mountain rock had fallen upon them.  The Catholic church was a flat heap of boards and splintered timbers.  From this point the course of the whirlwind was up and over the hill toward the centre of the town, but a little to the northward.  Here and there, seemingly right in the track of the cyclone, occasional buildings were left uninjured and almost untouched, while within a few feet of them the terrible force of the elements had been displayed in the twisting of the trunk of some great elms.  The storm reached the height of its fury while sweeping over the said plains, but much damage was done in its course up the hillside and beyond.  The time between the bursting of the storm over the lake and its disappearance to the eastward of the hill was much less than the reader has occupied in reading these lines.

“When the terror stricken people partly recovered their senses a scene of awful desolation met their eyes, and the shrieks and groans of their dying neighbors greeted their ears.  Some of the demolished houses had caught fire, and had it not been for the drenching rain which immediately followed, the ruins would in some cases have been burned, and the horrors of the disaster multiplied by the roasting of persons lying helpless from wounds.  Then the people began to look after their dead and dying.  The doors of the brick school house on Colony street were thrown open, and it was made a dead house.  In one house just north of the church, lived the Mooney family, six in number.  Five of them were taken from the ruins dead.

“The family of M. J. Holdie, who eight months ago came to Wallingford from New York as silver refiner in the R. Wallace manufacturing company were all killed save himself.  He had gone to his home, and while his wife was preparing supper, sat with his youngest child on his knee, tossing it up and down and singing to it, his little daughter singing with him and playing with the baby.  He heard the rain drops patter against the window panes and went to close the windows up stairs, kissing his baby boy and handing it to his wife.  As he was lowering a window the tornado struck the house, and in an instant made a complete wreck of it.  He caught hold of a ladder in the room and was carried with it some 200 feet into an adjoining lot, where he landed on his feet unhurt, save from slight bruises on his person, caused by flying shingles and timbers.  He hurried back to his house and there found his wife lying dead and scalped, with the infant clasped to her breast, also dead, something having struck the little one on the left temple which probably killed it instantly.  An oval place was cut in the head at the temple as clean as though done with an instrument.  His little daughter lay moaning in the ruins, wind when he reached her he found the little one badly cut and bruised, the right arms broken in three places, and her shoulder blade broken.  Her jaw was also broken and her tongue badly cut, so that she could not utter the ‘Papa,’ which she vainly tried to do.  She lived until, at about midnight, death kindly came to her relief, and it was all the relief she could have.  Then the strong man gave way and wept like a boy on finding himself deprived of all in the world that he held dear.

“When the sun rose it shone upon a scene of complete desolation.  The track of the whirlwind was about four hundred yards wide, and it extended from the lake to the great hills, some four miles.  The streets devastated by the tornado were Colony, Main, Elm and High streets, and Wallace row, sometimes called Christian street.  Nearly all the houses on the plains were mortgaged to Meriden [spelling unclear] banks which will consequently be heavy losers, as insurance policies do not cover any loses by wind.  The number of buildings destroyed or badly shattered is about fifty-five.  The aggregate damage to property is estimated at from $200,000 to $250,000.  The Catholic cemetery was devastated by the winds, and a number of monuments were ruined…One of the largest trees on Colony street had its tough branches stripped of twigs, and the bare limbs pointed as though they would signify the direction in which the furious storm had gone….A curious sight to-day is a cow without any horns, they having been knocked from the animal by some missile hurled by the wind…. The number of the dead is 27.

“Wallingford, Conn., August 11.—Impressive funeral services were held here to-day for those who lost their lives by the terrible tornado on Friday.  Fully ten thousand people were in attendance.  Altogether twenty-seven bodies have been interred.  Seventeen persons, three of whom will scarcely live through the night, still remain at the hospital.  Promises of assistance are coming in from all sides.” (Huntingdon Journal, PA. “The Storm King. Wallingford, Conn., Almost Destroyed,” Aug 16, 1878, p. 2.)

Sources

connecticuthistory.org. “The Great Wallingford Tornado – Today in History: August 9.” 8-9-2021. Accessed 8-17-2024 at: https://connecticuthistory.org/the-great-wallingford-tornado/

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993, 1,326 pages.

Huntingdon Journal, PA. “The Storm King. Wallingford, Conn., Almost Destroyed,” 8-16-1878, p. 2. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=102945163

Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.

Perley, Sidney. Historic Storms of New England. Salem, MA: The Salem Press Publishing and Printing Co., 1891. Google digital preview accessed 10-26-2017 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2kAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

And 8-16-2024 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=twkAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true