The major source on the tornado is a news account from the Grenada Chronicle that was published the day after the tornado and widely reprinted. "Dreadful Tornado at Granada, Miss.—between 20 and 30 lives lost." (The Guard, Holly Springs, Miss., May 15, 1846)

The Grenada, Mississippi tornado of May 7, 1846 killed 21 people, injured 60, and destroyed 60 or 70 buildings in the southern half of Grenada, Yalobusha County, Mississippi in the United States.[1][2][3] Another account had it that 112 buildings were destroyed.[4] Property damage was estimated at $65,000[5] to US$80,000 (equivalent to $2,605,630 in 2022).[4] According to the New Orleans Picayune, "On the outside of a letter to a friend, is written the words, 'Grenada is in ruins, and many of her inhabitants are destroyed; names cannot be given, or numbers set down."[6]

Both schools in the town were in session at the time the hurricane struck, and both were destroyed.[1] The teacher of the girls' school was killed, her body was found across the river in a tree.[1] The force of the tornado "shattered" the logs of the cabin that housed the girls' school.[1] The teacher of the boys' school survived but was seriously injured.[1] The newly built Baptist church was leveled.[5][1]

According to a scrapbooked clipping of a news article entitled "The Great Hurricane," written by Aaron Davis, the tornado approached the town from the west.[1] The same tornado later continued northward into Maury County, Tennessee, where there were no casualties but three farms were damaged.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Stokes, Rebecca Martin (1929). History of Grenada (1830–1880) (Master's thesis). Oxford, Miss.: University of Mississippi. 1972. pp. 88–90
  2. ↑ "Killer Tornado Grenada, MS 1846". The Evening Post. 1846-05-23. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  3. ↑ "1846 Tornado Grenada, Mississippi. Attention to the last paragraph. - Tom Malmay". Boon's Lick Times. 1846-06-20. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  4. 1 2 "The Voice of God : or an account of the unparalleled fires, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes commencing with 1845 : also, some account of pestilence, famine, ..." HathiTrust. pp. 37–38. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
  5. 1 2 "The Baptist 30 May 1846, page 9". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
  6. ↑ Smith, Robert (1846). The Friend. The Friend. p. 291.
  7. ↑ Dwight, Theodore (1846). American Penny Magazine, and Family Newspaper. T. Dwight. p. 298.
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