April 1, 1884 Lawrence-Morgan-Limestone-Madison-Jackson County Tornado 

From Huntsville Independent, April 3, 1884, pg. 3:

Terrific Storm.

Two Women Killed and a Baby Blown Away.

A Colored Man Not Yet Heard From.

South-East Madison Has A Severe Visitation.

We learn of a terrible storm in the south-eastern portion of Madison county, Tuesday evening. It begun, so far as our informant can tell us, near Whitesburg, and took a course up the river. On the Coltart place, in the Big Cove, about 10 miles from Huntsville, John White’s mother and mother-in-law, Mrs. Congo, were killed, their house blowing down on them. White himself was awfully hurt, but will probably recover. Mr. Whit Glover had both shoulders broken and his wife was seriously hurt, with several bones broken. Their baby was blown clean away and not found until Wednesday morning, very seriously injured. The storm passed across Flint, doing great damage to property all along its wake.

             Across Flint, a colored man was blown away and has not yet been heard from. The storm crossed the Tennessee River some miles east of the mouth of Flint.

From Huntsville Gazette, April 5, 1884, pg. 3:

A Destructive Storm.

    Several People Killed and Great Damage Wrought on Property.

The South-eastern part of the county was in the track of the fearful cyclone Tuesday evening and suffered greatly. In the Big Cove, ten miles from town, Mrs. White and her mother-in-law, Mrs. Connor, were killed; a baby carried away several miles and the house blown entirely away.

             Mr. Whit Glover was mortally hurt, having both shoulders broken. He was sitting in the house with a child on each knee when the storm struck the house. Both children were found in his arms unhurt, but his wife was badly injured.

             A colored man named Acard Flint is missing, as is supposed to have been away by the wind.

             Fences, timber and houses suffered terrible damages from the great force of the wind.

The Storm Elsewhere.

The Chattanooga Times gives the following account of the storm at other points:

             “A terrific cyclone, leaving death and destruction in its path, passed through North Alabama and North Georgia Tuesday night about 10 o’clock. Much of the country is miles from a railroad, and only meagre details can be learned, but enough is known to characterize it as the most destructive storm that has prevailed in this country for years. The storm commenced in the neighborhood of Collinsville, Ala., and passed in a North-easterly direction, sweeping up Wills Valley, and then crossing Lookout Mountain. It passed off into North Georgia, and near Tilton left the earth. The width was less than 300 yards, but its force was terrific. The wind seemed to be formed into numberless whirlwinds, each whirling within itself, with a roar like thunder, and it moved over the earth with lightning-like rapidity. Trees were uprooted and whirled hundreds of feet, and the path followed by the storm was cleared as wheat before the scythe. The swath was precise and well-defined, and the strip it made is a scene of ruin and desolation. The house of Hon. Clayton Tatum, of Dade county, Ga., brother of the State Senator, was demolished. He received fatal injuries, his child was instantly killed, and his wife had both legs broken.

             The house of John Crowley, in the same vicinity, was also demolished and the entire family killed. A lady and her daughter, living near Collinsville, were killed. It is reported that the cyclone swept along the crest of Sand Mountain, Georgia, before it reached the valley, and every house in its path was whirled like a cork on the sea and many of the inmates killed. The fatal accident caused on the Alabama Great Southern Railroad by the storm is narrated in another column.