By E. S.
The Wabash River presented the southwestern region of the State of Indiana with harsh flooding conditions during mid January of 1930. In addition to the already impacted region, subzero temperatures hit a few days after the heavy rainfall, creating even harsher and more dangerous situation for the people of this region. These subzero temperatures created mile long ice gorges along the river that made this somewhat mild flood into one comparable to the one of 1927 along the Mississippi. One of most affected areas in this southern region of the state was Posey County. Since this disaster caused no fatalities, the county was affected mainly economically due to the county’s heavily agricultural based industry.
Posey County in on the Southwestern most part of the State of Indiana; it is considered as a transitional zone between the North and South, and based on the geography, it could possible be considered a transitional zone between the East and West.[1] The county is bordered by the Wabash River (east bank) and Ohio River (north bank). The county holds seven townships: Bethel, Black, Center, Harmony, Lynn, Marrs, Point, Robb, Robinson, and Smith. Within these townships holds two well-known and important towns to the county: New Harmony located in Harmony Township and Mount Vernon located in Black Township. New Harmony lies along the east bank of Wabash River and it is 15 miles by land from the Ohio River. It was originally named Harmony and founded in 1814 by the Harmony Society led by German Immigrant, John Rapp. [2] This was a German, religious group that were originally from Harmony, Pennsylvania and sold the land and buildings to Robert Owen in 1825 after they decided to move. Robert Owen was a Welsh social reformer and industrialist that re-named the town New Harmony, with the aspirations of creating a utopian community there, which unfortunately encountered it’s economic failure shortly after.[3] The town became well known for it’s social and scientific advances within the community nationwide. It continued to be a heavily based farming community after that and into WWII; as of 1913 the town had two banks, a mill, and other establishments having to do with farming, such as a few grain elevators. The town was mostly known for it’s dependency on agriculture and some manufacturing but it also offered a wide diversity in occupations and various cultural and religious opportunities in the early 1900’s. [4]Mount Vernon lies on the Ohio River and is also the seat of Posey County and was formed in 1805 and was named after George Washington’s plantation, Mount Vernon, which resides in Fairfax County, Virginia. [5] It was there where Thomas Posey grew up living next door to Washington, Posey County itself was named after General Thomas Posey. Mt Vernon’s main industries during the late nineteenth century included industries such as The Keck Gonnerman Company, which manufactured engines, threshers and portable sawmills, but mainly milling industries. Mills in Mt. Vernon that were around during these times that mainly were used for grinding grain, lumber, and whiskey. Some examples of these mills include, Home Mill and Grain Company, the Sunlight Mil, and the Fuhrer Ford Milling Company. These were the main businesses as well as the farming that occupied the town during this time though the oil business came to Mt. Vernon in the early 1930’s. [6]Both towns were especially important during the flood and are the largest and most well known within the county and both agricultural ones as well. Though there were other industries that existed during this time, Posey County was proven to be a mostly agricultural area in the early twentieth century and into the 30’s.
The county’s sturdy agricultural industry is what mainly supported the county during the harsh economic times of the 1930’s. Posey County proved to be a large farming region for Indiana when in July of 1926; it set America’s record for the largest wheat crop. [7] The county did not feel experience the dramatic effects of the depression immediately unlike some areas of the country. The agriculture, school, and church interests made the depression less intense for the area; there were conventions held in the neighboring town of Mt. Vernon that allowed business to survive throughout the depression.[8] There were 4-H efforts and farmer institutions that also supported the county’s agricultural business, many crop prices went down, but it was recorded these price drops weren’t too critical. Though the county’s agricultural base didn’t completely crumble, it still experienced its share of impact. The U.S. census shows the county had 2, 071 farms in 1920 and then in 1930 it dropped to 1,733. These numbers slightly dropped during this ten-year period, the county was still covered in 215,805 acres of farmland in 1930, though in 1920, 233,828 acres of land was consumed with farming. [9] In 1930 the county’s harvested crop count was 120, 837 and the crop failure count was 16,317. [10] This crop failure was very high compared to other counties during this time most likely being a result of harsh conditions the land went through during the flood and it’s affects on the land afterwards. These numbers were, such as farm count, were probably altered by the economic changes that occurred in between these time periods as well in one way or the other and the urbanization movement seen during this time. Mainly, these changes in the agricultural numbers were, in all likelihood, due heavily to the environmental factors. Events such as droughts and natural disasters like the flood of 1913 hold the most significance toward this agricultural shift and other effects on the county.
The flood of 1930 was not the first time Posey County had encountered a flood and experienced the obstacles that came along with. In the month of March during the year 1913, it rained for ten days, raising the Wabash River by 15 inches. [11] The water rose rapidly causing the river to start flooding surrounding areas. New Harmony, being the highest point in the county and also had been previous minimally harmed by past floods, had been taken over by these rising waters. More than 3,000 homes in New Harmony were flooded and most of them ripped from their foundations as well. [12] There were efforts made to manage the overwhelming results of the heavy rainfall, barges came loaded with stones to mend the breaks in the levee but crashed into the levee making a much larger break and much larger problems. The residents were forced out of their homes, due to a significant amount of these homes being water logged or ripped away from the raging waters. The residents of the affected areas took refuge in the hills, and places like city halls and churches. The people themselves were not the only things that were affected in Posey county; the extreme amounts of water carried things away with the current like buggies, machinery, farm equipment, wagons, and even buildings. The status of livestock was documented in the Western Star, it stated, “ hundreds of hogs and thousands of chickens and poultry of all kinds were swept away by the rushing waters.” [13] The Ohio River rose just as rapidly and as high as the Wabash, making Mt. Vernon also experience the disastrous impacts of flooding. It was recorded that the Ohio River water marks had reached 52.8 feet, making this flood the worst the town had ever seen to the date. [14]The estimated damaged for the county was around 800,000 dollars.[15] Though no deaths were recorded in this flood, it had a major impact on the agricultural status of the county and made heavy loses for the farmers; thousands of dollars were just due to the damages of corn and wheat. It was recorded that the American Red Cross provided relief to these farmers by providing them with necessities such as food and clothing that the farmers, like many of the other residents were striped from. [16]This was also around the time when the American Red Cross had started to provided relief to victims of things such as natural disasters. This county now had a first hand encounter with the brutality of severe floods and what they entail such as the amount of damages and the costs of those damages. This flood had helped prepare, if not warn the county, that it’s location near the Wabash and Ohio Rivers would most likely present more severe floods in it’s future, which would also need the aid of outside help such as the American Red Cross, such as the flood of 1930.
The American Red Cross was starting to become progressively present in local disasters in the early twentieth century, such as the flood of 1913 and in the relief efforts during the flood in 1930. This organization, that is present today along with it’s founding missions, was founded as a charitable, non-government organization on May 21st 1881 by Clara Barton and a few other colleagues; it was inspired by her travels to Europe after the civil war and her observations of the Swiss Global Red Cross. [17] The American Red Cross is known for providing aid to and supporting: people affected by disasters, members of the military and their family, blood collection and distribution, health safety education and training, and international relief and support as well. The first time the organization started to provide services to veterans, safety training, accident prevention, home care for the sick, nutrition education, and relief for victims of natural disasters was after WWI, which was what sparked the organization growth in funds, that were contributed from the public. [18]The American Red Cross began to play a bigger role in local disasters such as the Mississippi flood of 1927, severe droughts, and even the depression in the 1930’s; the Wabash flood in 1930 was not one forgotten. The national Red Cross representative at the time of the 1930 flood, H.B. Williamson, claimed in the New York Times, January 23rd 1930 paper that the conditions produced by this flood rivaled those of the Mississippi flood in 1927. [19]
According to the monthly weather review for January, 1930 the only floods were those of the Wabash- White River system in Indiana, and the St. Francis River of Arkansas. [20] Natural warnings had been given to the Wabash area from the December snow melting from the high temperatures of early January and the rain patterns that began to be heavy into the 14th day into the month. The first few days of this heavy rainfall the average was 2.60 inches over the upper half of the Wabash Valley and 2.90 inches over the lower half. [21] These numbers proved to be significantly lower than those seen in the previous major flood on the Wabash in 1913, but the 15th of January occupied the area with a large temperature drop, making the conditions significantly more complicated and severe for the area of Posey County. These temperatures formed ice gorges, a large one being just south of New Harmony. As if the water wasn’t harsh enough, these ice gorges also contributed toward the destruction and damage to the levees that protected towns in the Posey County area.[22] In The Washington Post on January 22nd, it was recorded that the ice gorges were up to eight miles wide in lower Posey County, were damning up the flood waters that were already over flowing the river’s banks. [23] These ice jams gave fear to the residents in the county that were already enduring the brutal conditions the flood gave them but also the sickness the water and subzero temperatures gave them as well, such as pneumonia, smallpox, and influenza. In a report from the Chicago Dailey Tribune, it was said that there were reports from Mount Vernon that conveyed worry for two families that took refuge in a home that had been submerged in water since the families arrived there.[24] This put residents at an even greater risk along with the loss of resources such as food, water, shelter, and fuel which the flood viciously took from them. The stranded residents of Posey County who mainly owned homes in low lying farm land towns were taking refuge in the upper stories and roofs of homes. While the residents of the areas were seeking refuge, animals were being frozen in the ice forming from the water in barns, and horses and cattle had been without food for weeks, many livestock did not survive long. Though the residents were not forgotten by any of the state relief missions and efforts, the plans for delivering this relief were limited due to the ice gorges.
Relief efforts were trying the best they could in the conditions that Posey County and surrounding areas affected by the flood were in. The ice proved to be too thick for supplies brought to the refugees by boat, so aircraft was issued to aid affected flood areas along the Wabash River.[25] The Indiana National Guard, 113th Observation Squadron, lead by Lieutenant Lawrence Genan and Walter Peck carried packages containing food and medicine to wide areas in devastation. Other options were used to deliver much needed supplies as well, such as brought via sled. An example of this was recorded in the newspapers stating, nine men with one hand sled each, brought supplies such as food and fuel to hard to reach areas with isolated people.[26] Even with relief efforts put forth, affected areas were still heavily impacted by the natural disaster.
Residents of Posey County primarily felt the physical and economical impacts of the Wabash River flood and the surrounding affected areas as well. H.B. Williamson, national American Red Cross representative reported that at least 200,000 acres of land in the areas, including Posey County, had been flooded and affected by the water from the Wabash. The American Red Cross surveys also showed that three Indiana counties (along with 3 Illinois counties), 2,265 families are flood survivors, 1,025 are homeless, and 1,180 are in need of help. [27] The physical affects of this flood directly impacted the economic results of the flood. Though this flood was not as severe as the flood seen in 1913, there were still devastating costs that were made due to the flood and the subzero impacts on the flooded areas. A monthly weather report of January reported that seven hundred dollars of tangible property was damaged, around sixty seven thousand dollars worth of crops were damaged, and suspension of businesses cost around nine thousand dollars.[28] The possibilities of severe flooding in this area was something that Posey County and surrounding areas knew beforehand due to previous situations with the Wabash, so this event was one that the community had slightly experienced before. The warnings of the Weather Bureau ended up saving the affected counties almost forty thousand dollars of damage that could have been caused by this flood. [29] This could have been mostly due to experience and efforts towards a levee system on the Wabash. The flood could have caused a lot more problems than it did considering the status of the weather and the people involved.
The Wabash flood in 1930 was not seen as Posey County’s or even the southwestern region of Indiana’s largest and most impactful flood of the early twentieth century, but it was certainly a unique flood to these areas. This flood was not simply just a flood, in addition to the Wabash River rising, subzero temperatures occupied the water turning it to ice. The ice gorges and freezing temperatures made it a difficult for a farming community like Posey County to know how to handle the situation they were given. Mentioned earlier, Posey County did not struggle as much as some areas during the depression of the early 1930’s, although this flood set the county back a little it did not bring any lasting affects on the community other than efforts made to prevent this type of flooding from happening again. The land was the major area in the disaster that was affected by the flood. To summarize, this flood impacted Posey County mostly economically due to the heavy dependence the county had on it’s agriculture industries, no significant social or political impacts were made by the Wabash River flood in January of 1930 that were large enough to create concern.
[1] Adams R., William, Archeological Notes on Posey County Indiana (Ann Arbor: Indiana Historic Bureau, 1949) pg. 11.
[2] “Posey County Cities and Towns: New Harmony,” Posey County Government Website, http://poseycountygov.org/poseycounty/citytown/citytown.asp?id=3
[3] “Posey County Cities and Towns: New Harmony”
[4] “Town of New Harmony, Indiana,” Official Site Of New Harmony Town Government, http://www.newharmony-in.gov/about_new_harmony.php
[5] “Posey County Cities and Towns: Mount Vernon,” Posey County Government Website, http://poseycountygov.org/poseycounty/citytown/citytown.asp?id=2
[6] “The History of Mount Vernon,” City of Mount Vernon Indiana, http://www.mountvernon.in.gov/category/subcategory.php?categoryid=24
[7]Jennifer St. John, Posey County Indiana One Hundred Seventy Fifth Anniversary 1814-1989: 175 Anniversary History (Nashville: Turner Publishing Company, 1989), 22
[8]John, Posey County Indiana One Hundred Seventy Fifth Anniversary 1814-1989, 22
[9] William Lane Austin, “Farm Acreage and Farm Values By Townships Or Other Minor Civil Divisions,” Fifth Census of The United States: 1930, Agriculture (Washington: United States Printing Office, 1931) 167
[10] William Lane Austin, “Agriculture: Farm Acreage and Farm Values By Townships Or Other Minor Civil Divisions,” 167
[11]John, Posey County Indiana One Hundred Seventy Fifth Anniversary 1814-1989, 24
[12] John, Posey County Indiana One Hundred Seventy Fifth Anniversary 1814-1989, 25
[13] John, Posey County Indiana One Hundred Seventy Fifth Anniversary 1814-1989, 25
[14] John, Posey County Indiana One Hundred Seventy Fifth Anniversary 1814-1989, 26
[15] John, Posey County Indiana One Hundred Seventy Fifth Anniversary 1814-1989, 26
[16] John, Posey County Indiana One Hundred Seventy Fifth Anniversary 1814-1989, 26
[17] “A Brief History of the American Red Cross,” American Red Cross, http://www.redcross.org/about-us/history
[18] “A Brief History of the American Red Cross”
[19] “Sickness Adds to Hardships of Marooned Folk: More Than 2,000 Families Flood Survivors,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Jan 23, 1930, 3
[20] R.E. Spencer, “Severe Local Storms: Rivers and Floods,” Monthly Weather Review (1930), 32-33
[21] Spencer, “Severe Local Storms” 32-33
[22] Spencer, “Severe Local Storms” 32-33
[23] “New Alarm on Wabash,” The Washington Post, Jan. 22, 1930, 3
[24] “Sickness Adds to Hardships of Marooned Folk: More Than 2,000 Families Flood Survivors”, 3
[25] “Ice Jams Hide Fate of Flood Area Folk,” The Washington Post, Jan. 29, 1930, 3
[26] “Sickness Adds to Hardships of Marooned Folk: More Than 2,000 Families Flood Survivors”, 3:
[27] “Sickness Adds to Hardships of Marooned Folk: More Than 2,000 Families Flood Survivors”, 3
[28] Spencer, “Severe Local Storms” 32-33
