 1883 Flood Recollection |
Lucy Elliot Keeler, a resident of Fremont, wrote about the 1883 flood:
"Before dawn on the Sunday morning of February 4, 1883, the Fremont fire bell aroused the citizens who found hundreds of their dwellings surrounded or already inundated by water. Heavy rains of two days, falling upon a frozen ground, with ice gorges formed below town, had caused a sudden rise of water in the river four or five feet above any previous high water mark. The water flowed through Front street, the principal business street of the city, with a mighty current which no boats could stem. The whole third ward between the river banks and the foot of the hills was several feet under water; huge ice blocks floated in, packed and froze solid. Two thousand persons were driven from their homes. There were many narrow escapes and several deaths from drowning and exposure. Several bridges along the river were carried away, and that of the L. S. & M. S. Railway collapsed under a freight train, thirty-seven cars being precipitated into the river. The damage to property in Fremont alone amounted to about $100,000. Loss in the upper towns of Tiffin, Bucyrus and Upper Sandusky was also large."
Excerpted from: Keeler, Lucy. "The Sandusky River: Its Geography, History, and Tradition." Columbus, Ohio, 1904.
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| Fremont, Ohio Rutherford B. Hayes Library and Museums |
Excerpts from the Diary of Rutherford B. Hayes
February 4 -- The last two days will be long remembered. Yesterday for the destruction of trees, today for the greatest flood ever known at Fremont. The rain Saturday morning began to freeze as it fell. The telegraph wires became so heavy with ice that the poles were broken or pulled over, and the whole telephone and telegraph system of this neighborhood broke down. The small twigs were covered with ice until they were an inch in diameter. All the weak-limbed trees suffered greatly. For two or three hours the crash of falling limbs was almost constant. Even a small limb falling with its ice and the ice on other limbs which it broke would make a roaring noise. Lucy and the family watched the scene with the greatest interest. Many favorite trees were badly marred. Old trees of all sorts lost large limbs. Soft maples, cottonwood, and elms suffered particularly. Young white oaks and evergreens stood up best. The losses that grieved us most are the injury to the large elm northeast of the house; one half of the tall sassafras; the young hickory in the orchard; the damage to three of the large old oaks, [and] to the four street elms.
Sunday was given up to the flood and the rescue and relief of the sufferers. No such flood was ever seen here before. The water filled the valley from bluff to bluff. It ran two to four feet the whole length of Water Street, and drove from homes perhaps one to three hundred families. Men with skiffs were at work all day, rescuing people. One woman was drowned--others perhaps. The water reached on the pike (State Street) to the west of Arch Street, on Croghan Street south side to the--. On Birchard Avenue it ran in rear of the Ball House and within two inches of the lower side of the water table of the building. The anecdotes of escapes, losses, and experiences are without number and often very interesting,
Note: The following day Hayes asked for voluntary contributions since it was decided the need was immediate and asking the state legislature for funds would take too long. Hayes organized a committee of five men who would take charge of finance, supplies, and distribution. Hayes contributed $100 of the $1000 raised.
