The Great Iowa City Tornado Of 1859.

It was Tuesday evening – between the hours of 6 and 7 pm – May 24th, 1859. Suddenly, it hit!

One of Iowa City’s first photographers and talented artist – Issac (I. A.) Wetherby – had a very successful business in Iowa City during this time – read more here – and immediately after the storm, he made his way to the south end of town and began doing the job of a news reporter – plus he put together five sketches that caught the attention of the national press. By June, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper had picked up the story and printed both Wetherby’s text and his sketches.

**Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper**, later renamed **Leslie’s Weekly**, was an American illustrated literary and news magazine founded in 1855 and published until 1922. It was one of several magazines started by publisher and illustrator Frank Leslie. Throughout its existence, the weekly provided illustrations and reports—first with wood engravings and daguerreotypes, later with more advanced forms of photography—on big stories such as John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry, the Civil War, the Spanish–American War, and the First World War. Surviving issues today are highly prized as collectors’ items for vividly depicting American life during the seven decades of its existence. Many distinguished writers were featured in its pages.

Here is Isaac Wetherby’s report as it appeared in the **June 18, 1859** edition of **Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper.**

*THE GREAT TORNADO IN IOWA – FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE TORNADO*

A Great Iowa City Tornado passed along what is now the southern edge of Iowa City, killing at least five people – Andrew Morgan, his son Vernon, and grandson Andrew, Jesse Berry, and his farmhand, Mr. McCoy. Many others were injured, and much destruction was inflicted on numerous farm homes, an orchard and, of course, early spring plantings of farm crops.

*GREAT TORNADO IN IOWA – SCENE AFTER THE TORNADO HAD PASSED*

Historian Clarence R. Aurner gives us this report…

*GREAT TORNADO IN IOWA – THE TORNADO PASSING OVER THE TIMBER*

In an another first-hand account, John Springer, who was a nine-year-old at the time of the storm, reported…

When (the tornado) crossed the Iowa River, its color instantly changed to white, and at a distance of about a mile, it seemed to be 20 feet or so in diameter, going east at a frightful speed accompanied by a dreadful roaring.

Springer also relayed the frightening story of a local farm hand who was scooped up by the storm and deposited nearly a mile away, practically uninjured. The man later told the local newspaper that he was returning to the East, swearing that he “wasn’t about to stay in a country where people are carried to heaven in a chariot of wind.”

The Daily Iowa State Democrat in Davenport reported on the storm on Thursday, May 26…

*THE GREAT TORNADO IN IOWA – FAMILY TAKING REFUGE IN A CELLAR*

The editor of The lowa City Republican was appalled by the destructive nature of the tornado. He followed in the path of the storm, recording the loss of life and devastation to property. According to his report in The Republican on June 1, 1859…

One hundred years after the Great Tornado of 1859, Iowa historian William J. Petersen (1959) offered this additional information (above) about how Iowans have responded to these monstrous storms – which, as we all know, just keep coming…

On April 13, 2006, Iowa City was hit once again by a devastating tornado, Fortunately, no one was killed this time, but, like the 1859 storm, the destruction was severe. Read more here.