1875 Storm, Indianola

Indianola was the county seat of Calhoun but is now a ghost town.

In 1875, the city had a population of 5,000, but on September 15 of that year, a powerful hurricane struck, killing between 150 and 300 and almost entirely destroying the town. Indianola was rebuilt, only to be wiped out on August 19, 1886, by another intense hurricane, which was followed by a fire. Indianola was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1963, marker number 2642. [Wikipedia]

The following lists are taken from The Victoria ADVOCATE, Friday, September 24, 1875. There is a very descriptive account of the fury of the hurricane that took place on Thursday, but only the names have been extracted here. This edition can be found on the microfilm collection in the Local History area of the Victoria Public Library.

The Missing

Whites in Indianola
  • BARTON, Capt.
  • BRENNAN, Mrs. Mike and two children
  • C________, Mrs. Alfred, mother of Arthur and William.
  • CAHILL, Willie and Tennie
  • CLARK, Mr.
  • CLEMENTS, two children of Mr. Thomas CLEMENTS drowned in his arms.
  • COFFIN, Mrs. Wm. and two children.
  • COLE, three children of Mr. Alex COLE.
  • COUTRET, Joseph, wife and child.
  • DINTER, A.
  • ERNST, Mrs. Charles, and child.
  • F____, Mrs. Emery, and child.
  • FINK, Ed, at the red light, keeper of one of the lighthouses in the bay which were lost and destroyed.
  • GOEFFERT, Fred.
  • H_______, Capt. Thomas, and three children.
  • HALL, Dr., at the white light, keeper of one of the lighthouses in the bay which were lost and destroyed.
  • HALLER, Mr. M., and wife
  • HANNA, Miss Rebacca.
  • HERD, Mrs. and three children.
  • HICKS, Mr. John S., at the white light, keeper of one of the lighthouses in the bay which were lost and destroyed.
  • HOMBERG, the Rev., wife and child.
  • JONES, Mr. E.W.R., and wife of Saluria, attending court at Indianola.
  • JOPE, the Rev. & Mrs., Misses Josie & Annie JOPE, and Davenport LEE, son of Mrs. JOPE, and two orphan boys, members of the JOPE family.
  • KALE, two children of Mrs. KALE.
  • KELLEY, Mrs., and daughter.
  • LEAKE, Dr. J.H., who fractured his leg jumping from a window, and was rendered helpless and drowned at Saluria.
  • LEE, Davenport, son of Mrs. JOPE.
  • MADDEN, Mrs. Pat, and three children.
  • MAYNE, Thomas, at the red light, keeper of one of the lighthouses in the bay which were lost and destroyed.
  • McCREARY, Dr. J.K., the quarantine officer of Indianola was lost at Saluria.
  • McGRATH, Mrs. Catherine, and two children.
  • MOORE, Mr. Robert, and daughter and infant child of Corinne ___?ILLER.
  • MORRISON, Mrs. James.
  • PERRY, Mrs., and Amelia, her daughter.
  • Pete, other name unknown, called Spanish Pete.
  • PETERS, Mr., wife and son.
  • SCHMIDT, Alex, steward of the hospital.
  • SIMON, Misses Barbara and Minnie
  • SMITH, Mrs., and daughter, Bridget.
  • STRANG, James.
  • Unknown Spaniard and wife.
  • WALKER, Charles, wife and four children.
  • WINKLEMAN, Mr., drowned in the hospital.

Recent Additions

The following names added to this list are submitted by Linda Jacobs Looper, LLoop27@aol.com. The information about her ancestors comes from published family biographies.
  • MITCHELL, Mary Jacobs and husband William MITCHELL, their twin baby sons; and
  • JACOBS, George W.

DeCrow's Point

settlement destroyed in 1875
  • CHERRY, Mrs.
  • COLLINS, James.
  • DE CROW, Thomas, and wife.
  • HUMPHREY, Mr. Geo., and three children.
  • HUMPHREY, Mrs. John.

Saluria

settlement destroyed in 1886
  • BROWN, S.K., and family.
  • DE CROW, Miss Olive, who was visiting Saluria in attendance upon a sick friend.
  • DE CROW, Phut, swept away but rescued.
  • HAWES, Judge.
  • HAWES, Walker and family.
  • HILL, Mr. & Mrs., and two daughters.
  • HORTON and family.
  • KEMP and daughter.
  • NICHOLS, Henry.
  • WILKERSON and family.

Colored

  • ANDERSON, Alexander and Maria.
  • ANTOINE, Emily.
  • AUTVIDE (AUTVILLE), Emily A.
  • BATEMAN, Berry.
  • DANIELS, Charity.
  • EBLEY, Lilly.
  • GIBBS, Grant and son.
  • GRAY, infant child of Kitty GRAY.
  • GREEN, Jobe, and three children.
  • GREEN, Sarah.
  • JONES, Fannie.
  • JONES, Harriet.
  • JONES, Mrs. Phil, and child.
  • JORDAN, Charley and Harriet.
  • LEWIS, Wallace, wife and one child.
  • LOYD, Julia, and three children.
  • LUCOMB, Rev. and Mrs.
  • McDUFFY, Charity.
  • MITCHELL, Elizabeth.
  • NELSON, Rev. John, wife and three children.
  • RUTLEDGE, Henry (five years old.)
  • TURNER, Wm., and four members of his family (three saved).
  • TURNER, Wm., and wife, Sarah.
  • WALTER, Dave.
  • WILLIAMS, Ed, wife and three children.
  • WILLIAMS, Julia, and three children.
  • WILLIAMS, Mollie.
  • YOUNG, John, and wife.

Destruction of Property

  • ALEXANDER DRY GOODS STORE, was washed down towards the last.
  • ASHWORTH - residence gone
  • BARLOW, John E. - wrecked.
  • BILLUPS, Mrs. - shattered considerably.
  • BURBANK, Arthur - gone.
  • BURBANK, C., agent - Corpus Christi mail boats destroyed.
  • BURBANK, Capt. - gone.
  • CASINO CONCERT HALL - wrecked and lies a mass of ruin.
  • CATHOLIC CHURCH - wrecked, together with the other buildings attached.
  • CHURCH BUILDING - belonging to the colored people, entirely gone.
  • CONTRET, - the new concrete building belonging to Mr. CONTRET, occupied by ALEXANDER as dry goods store, was washed down towards the last.
  • COPKA - house occupied by Mrs. COPKA, shattered.
  • COURAGE, Wm. - gone.
  • COUTRET, Joseph - dwelling gone.
  • CROSSLAND, Mrs. - shattered.
  • DANE or DARE, J.H., COMMISSION, etc - destroyed.
  • DE PLANQUE'S photograph gallery - entirely gone.
  • DEISNER, F.S. GROCERY STORE - destroyed.
  • DOHME'S building, occupied by DE PLANQUE'S photograph gallery, WOODWARD and others - entirely gone.
  • DOVE, Andrew - wrecked.
  • EVERS, Ernest - two buildings gone.
  • FRENCH, Chris - wrecked.
  • GERMAN METHODIST CHURCH - gone.
  • GULF HOTEL - where this hotel stood, another buildings now stands.
  • HAULTZHEUSER - roof off.
  • HOGAN, Wm. CROCKERY BUILDING - moved southward and partially destroyed.
  • HUBBLE, Charles - livery stable gone.
  • HUCK, H.J., & CO. - nothing remains of this lumberyard.
  • IKEN'S WAREHOUSES, STOREHOUSES, etc. - are mostly swept away.
  • IKEN, Henry - gone entirely.
  • J. HOMES RESIDENCE - wrecked.
  • JOHANNES, M. - shattered.
  • KELLER, A. - wrecked.
  • LEWIS, Dr. - lost two warehouses in the rear of his drug store.
  • MARKS - on Front Street gone.
  • MARSHALL, Mrs. - shattered.
  • MASONIC HALL - gone.
  • McCREARY HOUSE - gone.
  • McCREARY, Dr. - one-half destroyed.
  • MEISSNER - badly shattered.
  • MENNEFIELD, Mrs. - several buildings entirely destroyed.
  • METHODIST CHURCH - gone
  • MITCHELL, J.E. & CO. HARDWARE - had their roof partly destroyed and the frame of the building badly wrenched.
  • POOL, Mrs. - wrecked.
  • POOLE, Thos. - wrecked.
  • PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - shattered.
  • PROCTOR, D.C. - residence ont seriously damaged, although considerably undermined.
  • REGAN, Mr. D. (B.)? DRY GOODS STORE - escaped, although the goods are more or less damaged.
  • REUSS, Dr. - shattered.
  • RUNGE, H. & CO. - roof partially off and store room totally lost.
  • SCHULTZ, W. - three buildings gone.
  • SEELIGSEN, Geo., FURNITURE - warehouse destroyed.
  • SHEPPARD, Capt. - considerably shattered.
  • SMITH, Pat - hotel gone.
  • STUBBEMAN, Mr. - lower floor gone.
  • SULLIVAN, Mr.D., - had two wareshouses carried away.
  • SWARTZ MARKET - badly shattered.
  • WARN, R.C., HARDWARE - badly shattered.
  • WESTHOFF & CO. - nothing remains of this lumberyard.
  • WILLEMAN JEWELRY - carried across the street and lower story destroyed.
  • WOODWARD, Gen. - entirely gone.