Fowle's New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser

The following particulars of the terrible Hurricane which happened at Woodstock, in Connecticut, on the 22d of September last, are extracted from a late Connecticut paper.

Mr. GREEN,

For the information of the Public, I send you an imperfect account of a most terrible Hurricane, which went through this town last Wednesday the 22d instant; such an one as perhaps has not been known in this State since the memory of the oldest man living.--The tempest came on about 5 o'clock afternoon, in the north western part of this town, and proceeded in a south-east course, in width about a quarter of a mile, with amazing violence, as if the elements were at war, carrying desolation wherever it went. Such a torrent of rain and hail, such a whirling of the clouds, such violence of wind, lightning and thunder, none can form any adequate idea of but the unhappy sufferers. Beginning a few miles above this town, no material damage was sustained, except the destruction of some Indian houses, until it came down to two barns belonging to Capt. Daniel Lyon, which were overturned. It proceeded onward a mile and half through woodland, until it came to the dwelling-house of Capt. Stephen Tucker, which it separated in the middle, and carried away one half, and a young man out of the chamber into the field, not much wounded. After beating down his corn-house, and the roof from his barn, it went on about an hundred rods, and attacked the dwelling house of Capt. Phillips, and tho' a low house, yet with astonishing fury the tempest blew the roof and covering into pieces, stripping it of its stores, clothing and furniture, leaving it almost irreparable :--thence it continued in a south direction with irresistible fury, thro' a thick forest, leveling the woods before it, twisting off above the ground some of the largest trees, overturning others by the roots, and even new stumps, 20 inches in diameter, were seen turned out of the earth by the storm.--Stacks of hay and fences scarcely to be found after it. Passing on about a mile through the forest, having ruined a large quantity of excellent timber land, it took in its way a barn of Capt. Benjamin Lyon, swept off the roof and part of the covering, totally demolished his chaise house, blacksmith shop, coal house, and fruit trees--his dwelling house not much shattered, altho' cracked thro the middle. Above twenty rods across the road the storm lay with incredible weight upon the dwelling house of Mr. Elijah Lyon--it being a large house and standing fair to the wind, was in a few minutes stripped of its roof, of all the upper part of the chimney, and much of its covering--some of its windows with their frames, and even beds with their furniture, were blown out of the house and lodged in the wrecks of trees in the fields : his barn was left without a roof, and his cider-mill house and corn house, being full of grain in the sheaf, were shivered into small pieces and blown away into fields : about 200 of his apple and other fruit trees were plucked up by the roots. South about an hundred rods, the tempest fell upon the dwelling house of Capt. Wm. Lyon, which being almost new and built uncommonly strong, was shaken tremendously, the roof parting in the middle, One half went off with the storm ; and one of his barns, stowed full of hay and grain, was so entirely swept away, that no appearance of a barn is left ; a large number of his fruit trees also destroyed. Surprising as it may seem no lives were lost as yet, and no person wounded, except a child, and that but slightly. Only one house took fire, which was soon extinguished. From this it passed on more than a mile over pasturing ground and thro' groves of wood, marking its way with havoc and destruction until it came upon a large barn of Mr. Payson Child, stowed very full, which was laid in ruins irreparable, and some of the sheaves of grain carried a quarter of a mile. Near this place in open ground lies a large tree torn up by the roots, and no place as yet can be found where it stood within forty rods around it. East, a full barn of Mr. Job Holbrook was torn to pieces and left in ruins. The tempest in its progress lay a little east of the main street, and passing a long under the hill it unroofed two houses, and shattered to pieces a barn, a new cider-mill house, and other out-houses belonging to Gen. M'Clellan, with the ruin of almost all his orchards. It took the roof from the house of Mr. John Sanger, the roofs from two barns of Charles C. Chandler, Esq. another of his barns is utterly destroyed, with a great number of his fruit trees. With the same vehemence it passed on to the south east, and made bitter destruction of the barns of Mr. Nathan Child and Mr. Amos Perrin, uncovered and shattered the dwelling houses, and overturned their orchards. It carried much the same havock with it as it passed through the north east corner of Pomfret and thro' the town of Killingly. In the last mentioned town we hear a young woman was buried yesterday, who was killed by the fall of a piece of timber in the time of the hurricane. The inhabitants in this town turned out very spiritedly for two days, and laboured freely in securing the grain, hay and apples, buildings and fences, &c. The damage of the sufferers in this town is not yet estimated. I think what must be lost in grain, hay and corn fields, buildings, fruit trees and timber, cannot be estimated short of 10,000 dollars, many judge 15,000. Such a scene of desolation was never before seen by any of us, and it strikes the mind of every beholder with wonder and amazement --These are a part of God's ways and how little a portion of them is heard !-but the thunder of his power, who can understand ! JOSHUA JOHNSON. Woodstock Aug. 25. 1786. N. B. The facts above mentioned may be depended on for truth, as I have seen most of the ruins myself, and have taken particular pains to obtain certain intelligence as to the rest. In an account sent to the printer, by another hand there is the following, "A stone which covered the mouth of Mr. Amos Perrin's well,(on which stood the curb) supposed to weigh 500 wt. was taken off and removed by the force of the wind to the distance of six feet from the well."