Account of a Hurricane at Shelbyville, Tenn. 255 



of the night, but the storm did not reach its utmost fury till mid- 

 night. The lightning was unusually brilliant, the flashes were so 

 continuous as to enable us to see objects with perfect distinctness, 

 and even to read without the light of a candle. This unusual brill- 

 iancy of the lightning was remarked in many distant parts of the 

 State. The lightning was not accompanied with very loud thunder, 

 nor did it appear to have struck or injured any object in the neigh- 

 borhood of the village. 



The town of Shelbyville is situated on a hill which fills up, so to 

 speak, a long gorge between two chains of highlands, which lie on 

 each side of Duck River ; this hill is at the eastern extremity of the 

 valley. This circumstance contributes very much to the pleasant^ 

 ness of the site for a town, commanding a fine view, and catching 

 every breeze of summer ; but it likewise exposes it to the fui-y of 

 every gale that sweeps up the river. The court-house occupies the 

 brow of the hill. Around the court-house is a small square or com- 

 mon, and on the four sides of this square are built the principal stores 

 and shops, the bank, and the taverns. It was on this part of the 

 town, that the hurricane exerted its greatest violence. Few families 

 resided in this portion of the village ; and it was mercifully ordered 

 that the catastrophe should occur at an hour when the inhabitants had 

 retired from the business part of the town. The wind had blown 

 with great fury and violence without doing any injury for three hours, 

 when suddenly the houses began to crack, and in fifteen seconds the 

 besom of destruction swept ov^er the devoted village, and left it a mass 

 of ruins. Those who were within the range of the tempest were 

 warned of their danger by the shaking of their houses the moment 

 before they fell. A change of position saved the lives of some, 

 and caused the death of others. Some found themselves suddenly 

 in the open air, surrounded by falling timbers, planks, and bricks ; 

 others were buried in the ruins of their houses. Some met death 

 whilst endeavoring to escape ; others perished in their beds, crushed 

 beneath their falling dwellings. Only five persons were killed. A 

 few were dreadfully bruised, who recovered from their wounds. 

 The interpositions of a merciful Providence for the preservation of 

 life in the midst of such danger, were numerous and astonishing to 

 all who knew the facts, and so much out of the way of common 

 events, that they would scarcely be believed on the testimony of a 

 single individual. Whole families were rescued from the ruins of 

 their houses without any material bodily injury. Individuals were 



