Terrifying Pelham Lightning Storms in 1895 and 1906
Angry clouds gathered; the wind began blustering. Judge Van Cott heard a tent in his nearby orchard flapping. He hustled down the steps of the veranda and into the orchard to secure the tent before the rain began.
Mme. Albert knew a thunderstorm was brewing. She also knew it was time to retreat inside and wait for the Judge to return. She wore a lovely straw hat. Though it was secured to her hair with hat pins, the relentless winds tugged at her lovely chapeau.
Mme. Albert arose from her veranda chair. Instantaneously a blinding flash and explosive clap seemed to stagger her. The lightning bolt killed her before she fell to the veranda floor. Her straw hat was in tatters. Her hat pins were melted. Her eyebrows and eyelashes were entirely burned away.
The bolt continued into and through Judge Van Cott's home. On the back porch, it knocked the pipe out of the teeth of Joseph Alicolos, then leaped to a post three feet away and exploded it into splinters. The walls of the home "were scarred as if by red hot pokers." Alicolos was stunned, but unhurt. Judge Van Cott's life likely had been saved by the sound of the flapping tent.
The lightning storm became even more tragic and horrific as it spread eastward. Mrs. Oliver Bennet was caught outside in Roselyn during the storm. The lightning struck her. The bolt ran down her right side, leaving bluish black streaks, but did not kill her.
At Oyster Bay, lightning killed a horse owned by New York broker Thomas Young, Jr. and knocked his coachman, Thomas Palmer, unconscious for "several hours." The lightning also struck Young's barn and burned it to the ground. Several farmhouses near Watertown were struck by lightning and burned. At West Sayville, Seymour Burr was struck by lightning and severely burned.
The high winds of the same storm also did tremendous damage. Descriptions of a "whirlwind" during the storm suggest the region was struck by a tornado. Indeed, a heavy water tank cover was sucked into the sky and carried eight miles away where the winds smashed it into a fence, demolishing the fence. The winds blew down trees. Indeed, "fallen trees block[ed] the highway in many parts of the country." According to one accounts although the storm lasted only an hour, "It was the most severe storm in years."
Severe weather, of course, long has been a part of Pelham history. Indeed, I have written before about severe lightning storms and the damage they have done in our region. See Tue., Sep. 13, 2005: A Lightning Bolt Out of the Blue - Electrical Storm in 1895.
Occasionally, there are inspiring stories of survival in the face of such terrible lightning storms in Pelham. One such incident occurred at noon on Saturday, July 21, 1906.
Mrs. William Christal of Ninth Avenue in the Village of North Pelham was engrossed in the care of her nine-month-old infant on the first floor of the family home. The skies darkened; winds howled; she heard the rumbles of thunder.
Mrs. Christal suddenly realized she had left a bedroom window open upstairs. She stood from an armchair and gently laid her sleeping baby on the cushion of the chair next to a throw pillow also on the cushion. As the storm swept over the neighborhood, she raced upstairs to close the bedroom window.
No sooner did she reach the bedroom than there was a blinding flash and simultaneous explosive clap of thunder. Mrs. Christal felt the electrical shock and staggered. Nevertheless, she turned and raced back downstairs to her baby.
There, on the armchair where she had left the infant, was a pile of plaster and rubble from a portion of the ceiling above blown apart by the lightning bolt. She raced to the chair and scrambled to claw away the plaster. Beneath the plaster and debris was the pillow that had been knocked on top of the baby, protecting it from the force of the falling plaster. Her child was unhurt.
Only then did Mrs. Christal realize that she was deaf in her left ear. Soon, inspection of the home revealed that the lightning bolt had struck the side of the house, knocked off a piece of board, ripped up the floor in a second floor bedroom and knocked off the plaster from the parlor ceiling directly beneath the damaged floor "for the length of several feet."
The brunt of the lightning storm seems to have been felt in the Ninth Avenue neighborhood. Tragedy was averted at G. Bowden's barn and paint shop on Ninth Avenue. There in the barn was a wooden work bench with a large grindstone beneath which were stored pots of paint and oil. A lightning bolt struck the work bench, charring it and smudging the grindstone with smoky residue. Yet, only inches away the oil and paint were untouched. As a newspaper report noted: "Why the flames did not ignite these Mr. Bowden is at a loss to explain." Bowden was fortunate the barn and paint shop was not burned to the ground.
Nearby, a tall tree in the woods directly behind Mrs. Christal's home was struck by lightning. The bark was split and blasted by the bolt.
These are simply two stories of notable lightning storms in and around Pelham. Searches, of course, reveal dozens and dozens of news stories over the decades reflecting lightning strikes of homes, trees, businesses, telephone poles, and more. As one might expect, Since the late 19th century, virtually every neighborhood in Pelham has suffered lightning strikes at one time or another. Yet, the lightning storms described in today's Historic Pelham article appear to be two of the most notable -- and violent -- such lightning storms in our region.
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"NORTH PELHAM
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Lightning Struck Several Places in This Village on Saturday Afternoon.
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CHILD'S NARROW ESCAPE.
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Was in a Chair Asleep and Pillow Saved It from Fall of Plaster -- Workshop Hit.
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North Pelham, July 23. -- A pillow saved a child's life last Saturday noon, when lightning struck the house of William Christal on Ninth avenue. It was in the midst of the storm, when Mrs. Christal rushed upstairs to close a window. She had no sooner reached the bedroom than there was a blinding flash of lightning which was followed by a loud report. She rushed downstairs, and as she reached the first floor her first thought was that of her nine months' old child, whom she had left asleep in the parlor lying on an arm chair. As she entered the room she found the baby buried beneath a quantity of plaster, underneath which was the pillow. She is quite confident that the child would have been killed but for the pillow.
The lightning struck the side of the house, knocked off a piece of board, ripping up the floor in a bedroom on the second floor and knocking off the plaster from the ceiling of the parlor directly underneath for the length of several feet. Mrs. Christal was shocked by the lightning and was deaf in one ear all afternoon.
The lightning played a prank in G. Bowden's barn and paint shop on Ninth avenue Saturday. It struck a work bench upon which was a grindstone. The side of the bench was ignited and from the charred condition of the bench and the smoky appearance of the grindstone Mr. Bowden is at a loss to account for the fact that the barn was not consumed. Directly beneath where the flames had charred the bench were pots of paint and oil. Why the flames did not ignite these Mr. Bowden is at a loss to explain. He considers himself fortunate that the barn was not burned to the ground.
The storm must have centered its destructive forces about Ninth avenue for a tall tree in the woods directly in the rear of the house was struck by the lightning and the bark split. The storm was very severe throughout the neighborhood. During the past two weeks Pelham has suffered considerably from thunder storms."
Source: NORTH PELHAM -- Lightning Struck Several Places in This Village on Saturday Afternoon -- CHILD'S NARROW ESCAPE -- Was in a Chair Asleep and Pillow Saved It from Fall of Plaster -- Workshop Hit, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 24, 1906, p. 5, col. 1.
"A HEAVY STORM EAST.
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The Work of Destruction in New York by Wind and Rain.
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The Display of Lightning Was Terrifying -- Several Houses Burned, Roads Washed Out.
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NEW YORK, Sept. 13. -- A heavy storm struck City Island last night. The display of lightning was terrifying. Judge Van Cott and a kinswoman, Mme. Albert, were on the veranda of the Judge's house on High Island, while the clouds were gathering and the wind growing higher. The Judge went into his orchard to secure a tent that was flapping and Mme. Albert finally decided to go into the house.
Just as she arose from her chair a bolt of lightning struck her and she fell dead. The electricity burned off her eyebrows and eyelashes, tore her straw hat in tatters and melted the pins in her hair.
On the back porch of the same house sat Joseph Alicolos, a veteran of the Civil War. The same bolt knocked the pipe he was smoking out of his mouth. It then jumped to a post three feet away and split it into splinters. Alicolos was not hurt but the walls of the cottage were scarred as if by red hot pokers.
The storm was particularly severe at the east end of Long Island. Just before sunset the wind rose. Then there was a lull, and it seemed as if the heavens had opened. Rain came down in torrents, while the sheets of blinding lightning frightened women and children and drove the bravest men indoors.
The wind, while it lasted, had a hurricane's force. Trees were leveled to the ground and telegraph and telephone wires were blown down in many places in the suburbs of New York. The lightning struck in several places.
At Roselyn Mrs. Oliver Bennett was outdoors when the storm broke. The lightning struck her and ran down her right side, leaving bluish black streaks, but did not kill her.
Several farmhouses near Watertown were struck by lightning and burned. The roads were washed out in places and fallen trees block the highway in many parts of the country. It was the most severe storm in years, although lasting only an hour.
The storm was the severest of the season at Oyster Bay. Lightning struck and burned a barn owned by Thomas Young, Jr., a New York broker, killed one of the horses and stunned the coachman, Thomas Palmer, who was unconscious for several hours.
At West Sayville Seymour Burr was struck by lightning and severely burned. His condition is critical. Telegraph and telephone wires and poles were broken down there and communication was cut off.
Telegraph wires and trees were blown down at Port Jefferson and the forces of the wind smashed the plate glass windows in some of the shops.
The heavy cover of Dr. Jones' water tank was carried eight miles off where it brought up against a fence demolishing it. Up the Hudson the storm took the form of a whirlwind. Crosswalks were swept away and deep ruts washed into the roads.
Haverstraw also suffered, many brickyards having been flooded."
Source: A HEAVY STORM EAST -- The Work of Destruction in New York by Wind and Rain -- The Display of Lightning Was Terrifying -- Several Houses Burned, Roads Washed Out, Santa Cruz Daily Sentinel [Santa Cruz, CA], Sep. 14, 1895, Vol. XXIII, No. 127, p. 1, col. 5 (Note: Paid subscription required to access via this link).
Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.
Labels: 1895, 1906, High Island, Judge Van Cott, lightning, Mrs. William Christal, Ninth Avenue, Storm, Weather, Windstorm
posted by Blake A. Bell @ 4:43 AM
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