Week 45-Stormy Weather: Family Stories of Storms from Newspapers

Hamilton, Montana, Voting Day
This week’s theme would have gone well with last week’s theme of voting. My great-uncle, Anthony “Tony” Hork, served as Ravalli County, Montana county recorder for fifty-two years, from 1911 to 1962.[1] Tony ran as a Republican and served until his retirement.

To meet this week’s theme of stormy weather, on 7 November 1950, was another election, where Tony ran unopposed for Ravalli County Clerk and Recorder. That particular day, seventy-five percent of Ravalli voters went to the polls despite the stormy weather.[2]

This was the first snowfall of the year. It began as rain in the morning and when it grew colder, the snow began to fall and made the roads and streets slippery and visibility poor. “The storm made the evening uncomfortable for election revelers and reporters who gathered the returns, but did not seem to affect the voting.”[3]

Holdrege, Nebraska, Wind Storm
On 26 June 1922, a huge storm of wind, hail, and rain caused damage in the town of Holdrege, Nebraska and the surround farms. The storm was short-lived but left much destruction in its path. The sharp, cyclone like wind knocked limbs from trees, broke windows, destroyed many outbuildings. The hail wrecked home gardens.[4] My husband’s great-granduncle, John S. Hult, a grocery man, had his chimney blown down. Luckily, no one was hurt.

Weather & Family Stories
Even if family members are not named in newspaper articles about storms, reading about major weather events that occurred where they lived is important. County histories often give accounts of major weather events such a flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, or blizzards. Take a look at those and imagine how your ancestors survived them.

This is my fourth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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[1] “Old Timer Dies,” Daily Inter Lake, 8 Jun 1966, p. 12, col. 4.

[2] “County Vote Follows GOP Trend,” Ravalli Republican, 8 Nov 1950, p. 1, col. 1.

[3] “Bitter Root Has First Valley-wide Snowfall,” Ravalli Republican, 8 Nov 1950, p. 1, col. 4.

[4] “Terrific Storm Visits Holdrege,” The Holdrege Citizen, 29 Jun 1922, p. 1, col. 1.

Copyright © 2021 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.