| Notes |
- Helen married James Roach and later married Unknown James.
- Anthony and Bessie Gritton’s family was in the path of the April 1922 tornado outbreak that swept across Indiana.
Abridged from the Journal and Courier, Lafayette, Indiana. Tuesday, 18 April 1922.
Nine persons lost their lives, many other were seriously injured and much property was destroyed in a cyclone that visited Warren county late Monday afternoon, the terrific storm wiping out the village of Hedrick, six miles northwest of West Lebanon, where four of the storm victims met death, then swooping down on a settlement known as Soul Sweep Corner, two and a half miles east of Hedrick, where three were killed; and finally striking the Ulrich Hunter farm south of Judyville, where two lost their lives.
House Plows Furrow
At Soul Sweeper corner, the Gritton home in which two children lost their lives, was carried 50 feet from its foundation, and left completely shattered in a field. It plowed a deep furrow in the ground as it was swept along by the force of the storm. The body of Mrs. High, whose home was completely destroyed was found in the wreckage. The body of taken to the home of her father, Charles Wakely, in West Lebanon. The bodies of the Gritton children were taken to the Byers home west of the corner.
The Dead At Soul Sweeper Corner
Mrs. Gladys W. High, 34.
Paul E. Gritton, 6.
Ruth E. Griton, 3 months old.
Seriously Injured
Tony Gritton, father of children killed. He was a broken hip and ankle and is hurt internally.
Ivan, Harlan and Helen Gritton, of Soul Sweeper Corner, all badly injured and at Lakeview hospital, Danville, Ill. Ivan and Harlan are expected to die.
[LKH note: George Harlan Gritton and Helen Gritton survived their injuries.]
[5]
- Decatur Review | Decatur, Illinois | Wednesday, April 19, 1922 | Page 1
Danville TOLL 11.
Danville, IL, April 19.
With the death of Ivan Gritton, age 3 years, son of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Gritton, of Hedrick, Ind in a hospital here, the death list from the tornado of Monday afternoon was brought up to 11. Mr. and Mrs. Gritton are in a local hospital suffering from injuries inflicted by the storm and are in a serious condition. Two other Gritton children were instantly killed.
[6]
- Abridged from The Richmond Item, Richmond, Indiana. Wednesday, 19 April 1922.
At Pleasant View Corner, two miles distant, east, four were killed. Ruth E. Gritton, three months old, was on her mother’s lap, and Paul, six years old, was playing at his mother’s knee. The home was wrecked and the children blown into a hedge fence one hundred years away and killed. Mr. and Mrs. Gritton and three children are in a serious condition at a Danville, Ill., hospital. Across the road Mrs. Phillip High was killed outright and Joseph High fatally injured.
[5]
- James
Decatur - Helen Irene James, 81, of Decatur died 8:10 p.m. Friday (Feb. 8. 2002) in Fair Havens Christian Home.
Memorial services will be 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, in Prairie Avenue Christian Church. Graveside services will be 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20 in West Lebanon, Ind. She will be buried with her sister and brothers who died in a terrible storm, in which Mrs. James survived. Brintlinger and Earl Funeral Homes is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Prairie Avenue Christian Church or Owen Scott Chapter 111 Order of the Eastern Star.
Mrs. James was born Dec. 18, 1920, in Maple Township, Neb., the daughter of Anthony and Bessie Heck Gritton. She was a member of Prairie Avenue Christian Church. She was past worthy matron of Owen Scott Chapter 111 Order of the Eastern Star and had belonged to the Leighton Court of the Amaranth. She had worked for Miller-Oneil, Carson, Pirie Scott & Co. and First National Bank. Mrs. James was a drapery maker and had made all of the draperies in Prairie Avenue Christian Church. She married James Roach and later married Glenn James. Both husbands preceded her in death.
Surviving are her sons, Donald E. Roach and wife Betty Jean and James H. Roach and wife Billie, all of Decatur; grandchildren, Michael Roach, Donna Spiker, Timothy Roach, Danny Roach, Jammie Cassidy and Phebe Bell; sisters, Esther Carrier and husband Jac of Forsyth; Leora Birch and husband Fed of Decatur; eight great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers and two sisters.
Herald and Review, Decatur, Illinois. Sunday, 10 February 2002.
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1920 - 2002 (81 years)
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