Notes:

• Leroy Bagley
  Feb 1, 1930 - May 6, 1930
  
  Sarah Ann "Annie" (Couch) Bowman
  Dec 9, 1864 - May 6, 1930 [Obituary]
  
  William H. Bowman
  Mar 29, 1856 - May 6, 1930
  
  Gilyard Bogan
  Sep 30, 1897 - May 6, 1930
  
  Jefferson Davis Lee
  July10, 1861 - May 6, 1930
  
  Edward Agusta "Edd" Patterson
  Sep 15, 1881 - May 6, 1930
  
  Cora L. (Ponder) Woolley
  Feb 19, 1897 - May 6, 1930

TWENTY DEAD; FIFTY INJURED

RELIEF WORK WELL UNDERWAY
FORTY-FOUR IN LOCAL HOSPITALS

   One of the most disastrous storms in the history of the State completely destroyed the business section of Frost late Tuesday afternoon leaving in its wake a known dead list of twenty and over fifty injured, causing a property damage estimate at approximately $1,000,000.

   Forty-four of the injured were brought to Corsicana hospitals, several of whom are not expected to recover.

   Corsicana was first informed of the disaster through the Southwestern Bell Telephone company. The operators, under the direction of Miss Lizzie Harllee chief operator, called all doctors and nurses, ambulances and drug stores and aid was dispatched without delay. The specials over the Cotton Belt were alarmed immediately and aid reached the stricken city in the shortest possible time.

SCHOOL TEACHERS SHOW UNUSUAL FORESIGHT

   The McCord school teachers, Misses Lois Rogers of Hillsboro, and Lillie Yarbrough of Mertens and Mr. Merrell of Irene, showed unusual foresight by carrying all of the school children out in a cotton field nearby and having them to lie down between the rows. It was stated that there were approximately seventy-five children. The twister demolished the school building and none of the children were injured. The McCord school building is located about four miles Southwest of Frost.

   The jail was the only public building that was not demolished.

   Six freight cart were hurtled from the railroad tracks, one being turned directly across the main line. The depot was moved about four feet from its foundation.

COVERED WIDE TERRITORY

   The twister hit Irene, Hill county, about eight miles southwest of Frost, demolishing several business houses and residences, according to persons who had come from Hubbard to Frost. No one was seriously injured at Irene, it was reported.  Considerable damage was done to farms and farm improvements immediately west of Drane.

   R. L. Wheelock, mayor of Corsicana, took active charge of the situation and with the aid of a number of officers and members of the Corsicana, Texas, National Guard units, placed patrols over the business district. A sandwich shop was opened after the Corsicana train arrived on the scene. Sheriff Rufus Pevehouse and Deputies Walter Hayes and Jack Floyd in addition to several members of the Corsicana police department, aided in the restoring of order and the organizing of the patrols to keep persons from entering the ruins.

   Twelve men were in the vault of the Citizens State Bank.

   Scores of doctors from Corsicana, Blooming Grove, Italy, Mertens and Waxahachie were on the scene as fast as possible. The wounded were congregated in the home of Dr. H. H. Stephenson, where they were given aid, later being transferred to the train and brought to Corsicana. A number of nurses from the Corsicana hospitals were on the scene and returned with the injured on the train.

     Ambulances Answer Call.

  Three ambulances from Corsicana, one from Blooming Grove, one from Italy, and four from Waxahachie, were busy transferring the  dangerously wounded from the homes to the station where they were placed on the cars. Several were too seriously hurt to wait for the train and were driven in the ambulances to Corsicana. Several were brought to Corsicana in private automobiles. After those most seriously injured had been given first aid in Frost, a number of the physicians went out into the country, to render aid to persons injured.

   Muddy roads, occasioned by the several inch downpour of rain following in the immediate wake of the twister, hampered the rescue work in the town as well as hampered the arrival of workers and ambulances.

   The train which carried more than 300 Corsicana citizens to the scene of the disaster, returned to Corsicana shortly after 9 o'clock and after securing a quantity of clothing and food for the destitute citizens of the west Navarro town, returned to Frost and returned later in the night.

   Scores of frantic relatives were running about, inquiring concerning relatives, and others whose relatives were living outside of Frost were making efforts to locate them.

   All telegraph telephone and light wires were out of commission, and many telegrams were taken to Blooming Grove, where they were dispatched to relatives in other sections of the country, telling anxious relatives that the senders and families were safe—or of telling of someone who had been a victim of the tragedy.

   Many were of the opinion that there was the possibility that other bodies would be discovered when the debris is removed. All of the business houses were razed.

     Fire Followed Storm.

   Fire broke out soon after the twister, but with the aid of the torrential rain and the Blooming Grove fire department the blaze had been extinguished before the motor car containing five firemen and a quantity of  hose from the Corsicana fire department arrived.

   Only a fringe of houses on the extreme eastern and western sides of the town remained, and many of those had roofs and chimneys damaged.

   One newspaperman from Hillsboro arrived on the scene of action via, a handcar with a motor attached.

Scores of new automobiles and a large number of used cars were picked up and dashed about, being twisted into odd and gruesome shapes and conditions. Timbers, tons of bricks, and other debris was scattered over the landscape and in the wake of the tornado immediately north of the town, cars, timbers, household furniture and other wreckage was left as if sown by a monster hand.

    As is peculiar to the twisters, many freak results were noted.

   One man reported that he saw the danger approaching and ran for the back of his home. He had reached the back porch and the crash came and when it was over, the entire house with the exception of the back porch had been carried away.

   Another instance was reported where a negro family of seven were huddled in their home and the walls and roof was swept away, leaving the family sitting on the floor, uninjured.

   The roar of the angry tornado was heard at Blooming Grove plainly, six miles distance.

    Electric Poles Snapped

   Huge new electric power line they had been toothpicks, and fence posts were snatched from the ground like so many straws.

   The twister missed the water standpipe and tower.

   One farmer residing immediately south of Frost was almost in the patch of destruction, a chicken house being picked up and swept away, while his residence and barn were not damaged.

   The infant child of Jessie Satchel, a negro, was picked up by the whirling mass and late Tuesday night had not been found, and no one had been reported as having seen the child since.

   League Wooley saw the dangerous looking clouds approaching, it was reported, and went to the school building in his car for his child.  He had just reached home when the crash came, killing his and child, and seriously injuring him.  Late Tuesday night, he had not regained consciousness and did not know what had befallen his family.  He incessantly was asking what had struck him.

    Children injured.

Many little tots lay in improvised cots, or in their parents' arms, mangled and lacerated, not knowing the why or wherefore. One little girl, probably two and one-half years old, a curly little blond, whimpered and sobbed softly, suffering with several head injuries and doctors thought with internal injuries. She was too weak to make much outcry.

  Little negro children were huddled frightened and panic-stricken, many of them with bandgaged heads, hands and bodies.

   One man's face had so much blood on it that he could not be distinguished from a negro. He had been burned severely about the face and body and was almost black.

   Many after receiving first-aid treatment, and in a number of instances when they should have been in bed and not on the rain-soaked streets, returned to the scene of the disaster and heroically aided in any manner possible.

   No effort was made to remove the wreckage from the stores and it was feared that when the debris was removed many of the bare walls remaining would crumble.

   Lanterns and flashlights were at premiums and bonfires were built from the loose timbers to light up the gruesome spectacle of the National guardsmen guarding the stricken down-town area and with the hurrying ambulances taking the dead and injured to the concentration point.

   One man reported narrowly escaping death or serious injury. Realizing that he could not escape the onrushing winds, he finally secured a death embrace on a fairly large tree. The twister wrenched the top and a portion of the trunk from the tree but did not hurt the man.

      Clouds "Bounced."

   Some of the persons who saw the approaching clouds, said that it bounced along, and that it looked like the clouds were in two sections, coming together like an explosion in the main section of town, with a huge funnel above the town.

   The path was something like a half mile wide.

   Members of the train crew on the Hislboro-Corsicana branch motor car of the Cotton Belt lines also gave graphic descriptions. The train was just leaving Frost and was only a couple of blocks or more outside of the winds when the little town was practically wiped out., The trainmen speeded up the motor car and escaped by a narrow margin.

   Odis Dickson, a youth hid behind a safe in one of the stores. Crawling out from the debris with numerous bruises and abrasions, he found his car which had not been wrecked, and sped to Blooming Grove where he spread the alarm and called for help. His car sped just in front of the torrential downpour that fell immediately after the hurricane.

   The teachers of the Frost schools had all of the school children congregated on the first floor of the brick building. When the crash came, only the roof was taken and the remainder of the building was left. None of the children were injured.

   Pilot H. J. Nichols, of Corsicana, accompanied by Felix Irwin, Earl Pressley and Elton Tinkle, flew over the stricken area. Pilot Nichols stated on his return to Corsicana late Tuesday that the path was approximately 300 yards wide and approximately ten miles long. He said that there were numerous farm houses demolished and much dead stock littered the ground in some localities. The storm approached from the southwest and proceeded northwestward.

   The Southwestern Bell Telephone company was the first to receive the news of the disaster in Corsicana when a telephone call was received, asking for all available doctors, ambulances, nurses, and medical supplies.

   Festus A. Pierce and other druggists here returned to Frost with additional medical supplies late Tuesday night.

   The local telephone operators gave the alarm and the ambulances from the Sutherland Funeral home and the Corley-McMahon Funeral home answered.

      Doctors and Nurses Went.

   A motor car containing a number of doctors and nurses, newspapermen, firemen and city officials, pulled out of Corsicana as soon as  ossible. The relief party was headed by Mayor R. L. Wheelock. Commissioners W. C. Stroube, Liston Tatum and W. P. Brown. Commissioner R. D. Fleming was out of town and did not make the trip.

Included in the party were Drs. E. H. Newton, W. K. Logsden, C. L. Tubbs. T. P. McLendon, S. H. Burnett. H. B. Jester, W. W. Carter, Dubart Miller and others. The nurses included Misses Erskine, Gilliam, Phillips and others, from the Navarro Clinic.

   Other doctors later going to Frost were R. N. Holloway, H. H. Panton, F. C. Bowmer, Harry Ezell and A. W. Rogers. Mrs. Taylor. superintendent of the Navarro County hospital, and thirteen nurses, etc., were carried on the steam on the steam train.

    First aid materials, cots, bandages, etc., were carried on the steam train.

   Major H. S. Phillips, superintendent of the Cotton Belt lines, and W. F. Murral, traffic manager of the same road were in the city and turned their special coach over to be used by the nurses. They also made the trip to the stricken area.

   A. L. Springfield, local agent. and others acted quickly in securing accommodations and making plans for the relief trains.

   The officials and employees of the Cotton Belt lines refused to accept fares from persons going to Frost or returning to Corsicana.

      Track Blocked.

   The main track of the railroad at Frost was blocked for a considerable time, but a wrecking crew arrived within a few hours and began clearing the road. The motor passenger train-was held up in Frost pending the removal of the debris.

   The motor train was manned by Engineer Frazier, Conductor McKnight and Brakeman Kittenger. The steam train crew consisted of Conductor Shoemaker, Brakemen Ammerman and Ray and Engineer Collum.

   The steam train on its return met by ten members of the local National Guard unit members with a number of cots and other articles to be used in the caring for the injured. Thousands of spectators were in the vicinity of the Union station when the train arrived.

   A large amount of sandwiches were sent to the area by the Corsicana Daily Sun. Other organizations and a number of individuals sent food and clothing.

      Telephone Company on Job.

    The Southwestern Bell Telephone company sent a crew of men to the town as soon as possible and set up a temporary station and line, starting service within four hours after the catastrophe.

   All utility wires were in a tangled mass. The power was turned off as soon as possible, removing the danger from that source. T. M. George of Blooming Grove was the first to return from Frost able to give a graphic description of the disaster in a long distance telephone call to the Corsicana Daily Sun.

   "The entire business section is in a mass of ruins," Mr. George stated, " and many injured people were in the streets begging for assistance. I saw several bodies and I feel sure that there must be more in the ruins."

      All Buildings Down.

   He stated that there was not a building left standing in the business part of town but that the residential section seemed to have escaped the brunt of the storm. Mr. George urged that every available doctor and nurse be dispatched to the area.

   On the special motor car going to the scene of the tragedy, each stop made on the regular schedule, people in the towns would tell of the graphic and gruesome wreckage, but when the train approached the town from the east, no smoke was visible, the fires having been extinguished it did not appear that the town had been demolished, as the houses on the eastern section of the town, a hill, were in fairly good condition, and a number of the rescue party were of the opinion that the stories and reports had been exaggerated. However, this notion was short lived, as the motor proceeded to the center of the town,  and then the carnage; wreckage, death and desolation came into view: wires everywhere, stores crumbled as if an earthquake had occured, timbers strewn over the entire landscape, the maimed, wounded and dying on cots, blankets, boards, etc., awaiting the time when the limited number of physicians could reach them.

   It was a revolting and sickening sight to behold the desolation, and wreckage, and death apparent.

      No Delay in Rescue.

   Under the direction of the first contingent of doctors and nurses from Corsicana, the caring for the injured began in a systematic manner, with the physicians administering first aid to those in dire need, and the congregating of the injured and dead in central points from which they could be cared for and handled with dispatch.

   The officers, National Guardsmen and others, under the direction of Mayor Wheelock, soon had order out of chaos, and the uninjured and visitors begun inspecting the debris and houses, looking for additional people who might be caught under the wreckage, their efforts being hurried frantically as the afternoon was waning rapidly and realizing that the work must be done quickly as the night would stop the search, due to the light and power service being disrupted. American Legion members took the lead in the hunting of the bodies among the razed buildings.

   Some of the portions of the brick buildings which had remained upright, crumbled to the ground more than an hour after the wreck.

   In one of the markets in Frost, the entire top and front of the building was swept away and tons of brick fell inside of the place, but the showcase glass at the counter was not broken.

      Loss a Million.

   It was estimated by conservative business man of the Frost community that the damage in Frost would approximate $1,000,000, to say nothing of the losses in the farming sections from wrecked houses, losses to livestock and growing crops, and the torrential rains that washed the lands badly.

   Two of the churches in the town and all of the gins with the exception of the Simms gin on the southeast side of the town, were destroyed.

The new $4,000 stadium where athletic events and the Frost Fair and other community gatherings are held, was completely obliterated.

   Under the supervision of Mayor R. L. Wheelock the entire business section of the city was roped off and placed under semi-martial law, with Commissioner Liston Tatum acting as adjutant and maintaining headquarters while the mayor directed relief.

   Guards were assigned to regular beats to prevent looting, and within a short time after nightfall, the wrecked city was orderly.  A pale moon was the principal light, aside from campfires, with a few streaks of lightning at irregular intervals.

   Under the direction of Mr. Poole of the Texas Power and Light company of Corsicana. Assistant City Engineer W. V. Mowlam, and others, a number of batteries were salvaged from wrecked cars, headlights were removed from the cars and temporary lights set up at vantage points.

   The lights were of particular aid to the undertakers and embalmers as they prepared the victims of the tragedy for burial.

   The bodies of about seven white people were prepared for burial in a private home, while seven, negroes were in an improvised morgue in the business section.

   Shortly before nine o'clock, C. R. Hall arrived on the scene with a portable Delco-light outfit and lines had been salvaged from the within a few minutes temporary ruins and lights were spotted; at various vantage points.

      Canteen Established.

   An impromptu canteen was established in the wreckage of a meat market where sandwiches, coffee and soda water were handed out to the survivors of the tragedy, guards, and rescue workers during the night under the supervision of Mrs. Harry Ezell, Miss Dorothy Drane, Mrs. W. W. McClendon, Miss Nannie Bell Taylor, Ensign William Stevenson of the Salvation Army. Cigarettes and cigars were handed out to the workers from headquarters.

   A prize telephone crew restored telephone communication with outside points about 8 o'clock.

   About ten o'clock about thirty members of Headquarters Battery and Battery D of the 132d Field. Artillery, T. N. G., under the command of Capt. John J. Garner, and Lieuts. Charles Leighton, and B. C. Caldwell, equipped with sidearms arrived on the scene in. trucks and immediately began patrolling the wrecked areas. The military guards were augmented by about fifty civilian guards.

   Mrs. A. W. Gunn, public health, nurse, and other nurses from, Corsicana continued on duly until about midnight, rendering first aid to those who needed it, and aiding in caring for the injured, who remained in Frost.

     Slay a small community on the Navarro -Ellis county line, was also reported in the path of the storm and had a few houses damaged.

      Several Killed lit Bynum.

   According to reports received at Frost headquarters the storm took several victims at Bynum, southwest of Frost, Including  Mr. and Mrs. E. F. Isbell.

   More than thirty business houses were wrecked in Frost, school building, and approximately 200 private homes. The (not readable) in addition to two churches, Presbyterian church escaped with no serious damage.

Dozens of survivors of the cyclonic disturbance, augmented by perhaps a hundred citizens of Corsicana, Blooming Grove, Barry and other nearby towns were anxiously waiting for daylight when a thorough search of the debris of wrecked homes and business houses could be started.

Many expressed fears that bodies were imprisoned beneath the wreckage.

      To Search Rural Area.

   Plans were also being made to search the rural district in the  path of the storm for possible victims. Some attempts to bring bodies into the improvised morgues wore thwarted by swollen creeks that were out of banks.

      Red Cross Arrives.

   Ned Campbell of St. Louis, field director of relief for the American Red Cross, arrived in Corsicana shortly after midnight, and went to Frost immediately. He announced that relief headquarters would be opened immediately with trained officers in charge of the work.

DEAD AND INJURED  

The known dead include:

JOHN FLY, 50.

JOHNNIE FIEW, 19.

LE ROY BAGLEY, nine months.

W. H. BOWMAN, 60.

MRS. W. H. BOWMAN, 60.

TOM BOGAN, 60.

GID BOGAN, 34.

J. D. LEE.

E. A. PATTERSON

R. L. BELL and Child.

MRS. LEE WOOLEY and Child.

MARY CURRIE, 50, negro.

SON JONES, 35, negro.

Negro Infant. _

Four negroes were also reported killed on the D.

Mitchell farm northeast of Frost.

The known injured include the following:

Fred Sheppard, 27, Corsicana hospital, back and

arms cut.

F. C. Crouch, slight.

Mrs. F. C. Crouch, chest and head.

Cecil Summers, both legs broken.

NAVARRO CLINIC:

Bill Bowman, 5, shock, bruise, probably internal.

W. E. Bowman, slight, head.

Mrs. W. E. Bowman, head badly cut, other injuries.

Eva Cook, 13, body bruised, probably internal.

Amon Cook, 10, cuts and bruises.

Berta Pearl Cook, 7, cut and bruises. '

Sis Bagley, head crushed, badly bruised.

Allison Merrill, leg broken, chest crushed.

L. O. Ellis, slight

Mrs. L. O. Ellis, head cut, may have crushed skull.

Mrs. T. F. Bonnett, ribs.

S. E. Gaines, scalp.

William Jones, slight.

COUNTY HOSPITAL:

Ernest Threet, left foot.

E. E. Omberg, right leg.

R. E. Mitchell, head.

Jack W. Fletcher, head.

Richard Floyd Trull, 4, both arms broken, head hurt.

L. R. Trull, slight.

Mrs. L. R. Trull, head.

Hattie Marie Trull, 2 years, crushed.

Mrs. Lloyd Davidson, head and body.

Rachael Frances Davidson, arms broken, crushed.

Rufus Lloyd Davidson, bruised, head.

Jack Walton Davidson, bruised and cuts.

Erline Bogan, 6, head.

Mrs. J. E. Hobb, head crushed, knee crushed.

P. L. Wooley, right arm cut.

V. B. Young, fractured leg.

Prentiss Fiew, broken legs, head cut and bruised.

Colored:

Cecil Frazier, head and back.

Sophia White, body bruised.

Vera Roberts, head.

Odessa Washington, left arm broken.

Roberta Lawrence, left arm broken.

Mabel Roberts, head.

Sam Searcy, left hip crushed.

Felix Tucker, arm broken, head hurt.

Jessie Ford, right side crushed.

Story Frazier, left arm broken.

Notes:

• The Corsicana Daily Sun - Wednesday, May 7, 1930

• Submitted by Diane Richards

John Thomas Fiew Jr.
Jan 3, 1915 - May 6, 1930

Johnnie Ruth Woolley
Dec 1, 1921 - May 6, 1930

Cora L. (Ponder) Woolley
Feb 19, 1897 - May 6, 1930

James Prentiss Fiew
Jan 1, 1911 - May 7, 1930

John Thomas Fiew, Jr.
Jan 3, 1915 - May 6, 1930

Leroy Bagley
Feb 1, 1930 - May 6, 1930

Sarah Ann "Annie" (Couch) Bowman
Dec 9, 1864 - May 6, 1930

William H. Bowman
Mar 29, 1856 - May 6, 193 

Gilyard Bogan
Sep 30, 1897 - May 6, 1930

Tom Bogan
1853 - May 6, 1930

Jefferson Davis Lee
July10, 1861 - May 6, 1930

Edward Agusta "Edd" Patterson
Sep 15, 1881 - May 6, 1930

LAST RITES FOR TWELVE VICTIMS OF TORNADO THURSDAY

IMPRESSIVE BUT SIMPLE CEREMONY MARKS SAD OCCAION FOR LITTLE TOWN

Devoid of all sectarianism or dividualism, the twelve white victims of the Frost tornado were collectively eulogized at the last rites for them Thursday afternoon and laid to rest in the storm-torn cemetery that is located on the brow of the hill overlooking the wasted community.

The stricken persons were interred in three double graves and six singles, as thousands of people from miles around stood with bowed heads as the paid their final tribute and extended their sympathy with this mute gesture.

Rev. W. W. Richeson, Methodist preacher and the only resident minister in Frost, was in charge of the mass service and his voice trembled with the intensity of his feeling as he announced the first song, “Jesus Lover of My Soul,” which was rendered by a group of singers from the churches of Corsicana Among the singers from the churches of Corsicana.

Among the singers were Mrs. Harry Williams, Mrs. L. S. Cooper, Mrs. W. H. Milam, Mrs. R. R. Range, Mrs. Lester Kirk, Miss Lena Mae McClure, Mrs. W. R. Sneed, Mrs. Henry Robbins, Mr. and MRs. Sydney Brietz, C. C. McClung, A. B. Horn, K. L. McKeown, Robert Layton, Roy Leeds, Fred White, E. E. Burkhart, Lloyd Kerr.

Ask Blessings of God
In the opening prayer Rev. Nelson of Mt. Calm, petitioned the blessings of God on the torn community, on the people of Corsicana and other towns for their friendliness and aid, and on the hearts of the grief-stricken and injured citizens.

The funeral choir than sang, “Rock of Ages,” and as the solemn notes rang through the quietness, the sobbing gasps of the mourning relatives was the only break in the quiet.

Rev. Richeson then expressed the appreciation of the entire community to the people of Corsicana for responding so promptly to the needs of the town, and coming in and organizing the relief work, and supplying the many things needed. He also expressed their appreciation to the singers who came when the citizens could not sing. He then call the roll of the dead.

Rev. Richeson announced that a joint Sunday school would be held Sunday morning on the ground floor of the high school, with the Baptist superintendent in charge, while he would bring the sermon at the morning hour.

All Work Ceases
As a tribute to the storm dead, the out of town workmen halted their work for about five minutes at the hour of the funeral.

Rev. E. R. Swindell of Hillsboro, a former Frost pastor, made the principal address reviewing his lengthy acquaintance with the community and its people since the founding of the town.

He declared that no circumstance could result in a more lasting impression than the disaster, nor should show more clearly the dependence of man on God, and the frailty of a human being. He declared that he had found the faith of the community unshaken. There is no explanation to such occurrences he declared, but they are lasting times.

Just as Job remained faithful in adversity, and Paul was faithful in the face of shipwreck, so the people of Frost had remained faithful, and peace and confidence was still shown in their faces.

Challenge Must Be Met.
“All things work together for good to them that love God,” the speaker asserted, choosing this passage as his text for the message. He closed with the statement that the disaster was a challenge to Frost, and that he was confident that they would meet the test.

The funeral was held at the home of L. A. Morgan, with caskets on the inside of the house and the close relatives seated on the porch, many of them only able to be there for a short time, and forced to return as soon as possible to hospitals in Corsicana.

Eleven hearses from Frost, Corsicana, Italy, Hubbard and Waxahachie carried the bodies to the cemetery, preceded by a military guard of honor.

Final commitment services were held at a central spot in the cemetery, with the choir singing “In the Hour of Trial,: and then as the notes of “Taps were sounded by Bugler Joe Jefferson of Battery D., 132 Field artillery, the caskets were lowered into the graves; ending another read chapter in the Frost disaster.


Notes:

• The Corsicana Daily Sun - Friday, May 9, 1930

• Diane Richards

BLOOMING GROVE AIDING SUFFERERS IN STORM DISTRICT

BANKER OF NEIGHBORING TOWN PRAISES CORSICANA FOR QUICK ASSISTANCE

J. R. Griffin, Blooming Grove banker, and one of the first to rush to the stricken city of Frost Tuesday when the devastating tornado swept the community, was in Corsicana Friday and was highly complimentary on the manner in which the citizenship of Corsicana had responded to the need of the West Navarro town. He said that Corsicana had done everything that could be expected or wanted in every respect.

Approximately $2,200 is in the bank at Blooming Grove for the sufferers, he stated. About $900 of the amount was raised by the committees of Blooming Grove citizens on the highways toward Blooming Grove.

Citizens of Kerens brought $400 to Blooming Grove Thursday, which is not included in the Blooming Grove figures, to be used in the relief work, and the Kerens citizens said that additional money would be raised and sent. This amount is going toward the sufferers in Frost.

The Cotton Belt Lines have sent a string of box cars to the Frost area to be used as temporary houses. Several vacant houses in Blooming Grove are being used for housing the refugees.

Churches Tendered
Pastors of the various Blooming Grove churches went to Frost Friday morning and tendered the use of the buildings to the Frost churches for services and Sunday schools, offering to divide the time.

Blooming Grove is tendering the use of a school building to Frost if it is desired for the finishing of the high school session, Mr. Griffin pointed out.

“Corsicana sure has been liberal, and has done everything that could be done,” Mr. Griffin said. He also stated that approximately 100 truck loads of lumber from Corsicana lumber yards passed through Blooming Grove to Frost Thursday.

Speaking of the damage done in the Lone Cedar community which is north of Blooming Grove, Mr. Griffin said that the George Green Gin was demolished and nineteen residences were damaged or destroyed, and that many of the tenants in that community had lost all their possessions. The citizens of Blooming Grove sent $100 into that community to purchase food for the destitute, and more aid is to be sent.

Notes:

• The Corsicana Daily Sun - Friday, May 9, 1930

• Submitted by Diane Richards

William Edgar Bowman - Pliny League Woolley

Local Post Office Employees Present Fund to Frost Men
Employees of the Corsicana post office -Friday presented League Wooley and W. E. Bowman, postal employees at Frost, with $65 donation. Wooley's wife and child were killed and he received several injuries. Bowman's parents were killed and his wife and child injured.
The local postal employees had previously given $20. to the general relief fund and the $65 was direct to the postal employees mentioned above, according to an announcement Friday afternoon.

Notes:

• The Corsicana Daily Sun - Saturday, May 10, 1930

• Submitted by Diane Richards