1932 – Jan 14, Tornado, Lex and Eaton (Rice family), Gibson  County, TN                 —     10

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 1-17-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–10  AP. “10 of Family Killed as ‘Twister’ Strikes.” The Kingsport Times, TN. 1-15-1932, p. 1.

–10  Grazulis.  Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, pp. 318 and 842.

Narrative Information

Grazulis: “TN  Jan 14, 1932  17:30  10k [killed] 28inj  100y  8m  F4  Gibson [County] – Ten people were killed as one home was swept away jus east of Eaton. The tornado moved NE destroying nine ‘substantial homes.’ Ten of the 13 members of one family were killed. $75,000.”

Newspaper

Jan 15, AP: “Trenton, Tenn., Jan. 15. (AP) – Ten members of a family were killed and three others injured yesterday by a tornado that apparently confined its fury to two or three houses in the Lex and Eaton farming communities. Residents said the twisting funnel of black cloud dipped into Eaton and out again and dropped once more into Lex before disappearing toward the Northeast.

“The dead:  [We list the following names in separate lines.]

Percy W. Rice, 52;

Mrs. Percy W. Rice, 38;  [Effie Dean (Porter) Rice.][1]

Opal Rice, 18;

Hazel Rice, 13;

Horace C. Rice, 9;

Edith M. Rice, 11;

James Rice, 3;

Percy W. Rice, Jr., 5;

Wilbur Rice, four months and

Elsie Mae McDaniel, 3, grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. Rice.

“Little hope was held for the recovery of Mary Ann Rice, 15, an eleventh member of the family which lived near Lex. She, Lucile Rice and Mrs. Ila Rice were in a hospital at Dyersburg. Lucile Rice also was seriously injured. Eight members of the family were killed almost instantly when the tornado shattered their home. The father and James R. Rice died several hours later….

“Mr. Rice told nurses that he saw the black cloud sweeping toward his house and that when he ran inside with a warning, members of the family jammed themselves against the doors to hold them against the wind. ‘It hit suddenly,’ he said, ‘and the next thing I remember I was trying to pull myself from beneath a beam. H heard my wife groaning.’

“The barn of Joe Norvell, just across the road from the Rice home, was demolished.” (Associated Press. “10 of Family Killed as ‘Twister’ Strikes. Tornado Lashes Communities of Eaton, Lex, Tenn.” The Kingsport Times, TN. 1-15-1932, p. 1.)

Sources

Associated Press. “10 of Family Killed as ‘Twister’ Strikes. Tornado Lashes Communities of Eaton, Lex, Tenn.” The Kingsport Times, TN. 1-15-1932, p. 1. Accessed 1-18-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/kingsport-times-jan-15-1932-p-1/

FamilySearch. “Effie Dean Porter. 1894-14 January 1932.” Accessed 1-18-2025 at: https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LW29-RB3/effie-dean-porter-1894-1932

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

[1] FamilySearch. “Effie Dean Porter. 1894-14 January 1932.”