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1883 Copiah Signal

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05/30/14 was the last day I modified this page.

   A friend went to the Archives in Jackson recently and brought back some interesting reading.  One of the things she copied was this article from The Copiah Signal newspaper, in Hazlehurst, MS, dated April 27, 1883.  I found reference to several MS counties: Copiah, Jefferson, Claiborne, Holmes; Monroe and Oktibbeha (if I'm remembering my towns/counties correctly).  I've transcribed it just as it appears, including name spellings (you'll notice some names are spelled differently, even in the same sentence).  This lists many names.

   Warning - very graphic descriptions of injuries.

  Last Sunday morning a wind storm struck the towns of Beauregard and Wesson and continued with slightly abated fury until afternoon.  About three o'clock a dull heavy roar seemed to fill the air, with but an instant's warning, all was midnight darkness.  In three seconds it had passed and left rain and desolation.  Those who saw the cyclone say it seemed like a dense volume of smoke.

  In Beauregard, Dr. Lampkins' residence was razed to the ground; he was not injured but his wife and little son were painfully wounded, the latter dangerously so.  In the house at the time were John S. Terrell,  D. Jones,  his wife and two sons, all dead.  Mr. George Holloway was fatally wounded.  Ham Moody and his wife were out walking and ran to a box car, the car was thrown a hundred yards.  Mr. Moody was dangerously wounded.  Seven Negroes were in the car - three were killed.  Mr. J. W. Ross and wife were painfully injured and their little baby is so badly crushed it cannot live.  Miss Eula Benton was found dead.  Miss Georgiana B. Mitchell, of New York, had her brains crushed.  Caleb Ellis, colored, had his skull split open.  Mrs. H. F. Carter was seriously wounded and her baby was blown from her arms.

  We copy below a correct list of the dead.  At the house of W. C. Loving,  J. A. Williams and William Sanford dead.  At the house of Elam T. Robertson,  Miss Eula Benton, dead.  At the house of J. L. Crawford, dead, William Parker, Louis Parker, child, and Julia Schrett, child.

  There were twenty-four houses down in Wesson, occupied by the Mississippi Mills operatives.  Many of the houses contained as many as fourteen or fifteen people.  Below is a list of the dead. Miss Sallie Ford, Mrs. Wilkerson and son, William Blackburn's child, Ram Benion, Nathan Loftin's child, four nephews of J. T. Gibson, Mrs. Duncan's child, Mrs. Cancey and child - total killed 13.  Anna Clauding, nurse of S. Lowenberg, died tonight.  Mr. Blackburn's face so mangled that it was unrecognizable, his little child was killed outright.  Mrs. Beard is suffering from concussion of the brain.  She is expected to die.  Joe Williams is insensible and is not likely to recover.  Four of Mr. Turner Gibson's nephews were killed on the spot. Mrs. Finch has been unconscious since her injuries, she will hardly live 48 hours.  Mrs. Allen has a six inch incised wound across the abdomen and another on the scalp equally large.  She is now in a precarious condition.

  At Georgetown on Pearl River, most of the people were assembled in the Methodist Church.  Three colored people were killed and ten injured.  John Crawford, wife, daughter, son, grandchild and one servant were killed instantly and so crushed and mangled as to be scarcely recognizable.  Mrs. Ryan's children were also killed, as also were those of Mr. John Beasley.   Mrs. Fowles' three sons and one daughter were instantly killed and Mrs. Fowles was carried by the wind 150 yards and thrown into a tree and died from her injuries. 

On the opposite side of the river, James Bass and family of ten were seriously injured, only one killed.

  At Tillman Station, Mr. Beggett was killed.  At Caledonia, Mr. Jack Stephenson was instantly killed.  At Red Lick there were several lives lost.

  At Starkville, two Negroes were killed.  Twelve persons were killed at Aberdeen.

  At Beauregard, the body of Mrs. Carter's child, eight months old, was found 500 steps from the house.  Miss Walker, who has been blind for years, has the scalp torn over her entire cranium.  Mrs. Keating, a lady 75 years old, is frightfully wounded, her husband was killed.

  A correct list of the killed.   Misses Mary Mickle, sister of Capt. White's wife; Georgiana Mitchel,  M. Benton, daughter of the tax collector of Claiborne County; Annie Clossing, of New Orleans; Ermira Terrell;  her sister not before reported;  Mrs. Luther Jones;  Mrs. Huber, who leaves four orphan children; Mrs. Westerfield, Capt. Wies' wife,  James A. Williams;  John S. Terrell; William Sanford; William Parker; R. Keating;  Rev. Theophilus Green, Baptist minister;  Dr. Luther Jones;  Lewis Parker; Milton Story; George White; Earhest Bahr; Dr. Jones' two children;  H. F. Carter's child;  the child of Mrs. Shrett; the child of John W. Bass, and the following named colored people - Jerry Smith, Joseph Hunt, Caleb Ellis;  Melissa Burtis' child and J. Easterling's child.

  A large party took shelter in Mr. John N. Crawford's house on the Hazlehurst and Rockport Road and all were killed, as follows:  John N. Crawford and wife, Celia A. Crawford, Jennie Crawford, Mrs. Julia Read and baby, Mr. Frank Moore and wife, Willie Read.  Mr. Reed and baby and Mrs. Moore and baby are mortally wounded and will die.  Mr. Hennington will die.

  At Mr. Nash's, little Mary Beasley, daughter of John Beasley, was killed, skull being crushed.

Content Copyright Rob Crawford,, County Coordinator    All rights reserved.

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