Left: The Collins and Benefiel families miraculuously escaped serious injury when a tornado damaged their homes near the intersection of Montgomery St. and Webster. (photo courtesy of the David Craig files). Right: A view of the West Street Methodist Episcopal Church in the early 1920s, with the bell tower still intact (photo courtesy of George Young).
Editor’s note: This week marks 100 years since the June 8, 1924 devastating tornado that tore through Shelbyville. The Sunday occurrence gave a full day for news reports before the Monday afternoon edition. Below is an excerpt of The Shelbyville Republican’s coverage.
Property damage estimated at $300,000 ($5.5 million in today’s money) was caused by a tornado which passed over a part of Shelbyville and Shelby County Sunday morning between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. The storm traveled in a path estimated at 30 to 50 feet wide.
Traveling from the west, the storm struck the west edge of Shelbyville in the factory section with terrific force, causing heavy damage to factory buildings. It swept through the city, jumping up and then down, and causing loss wherever it struck. The center of the storm appears to have passed through Shelbyville in a straight line, from west to east. At the east edge of the city it veered to the north, striking Morristown and Gywnneville, before passing on.
Shelbyville factory buildings were badly damaged, several homes were wrecked, windows blown in, chimneys torn loose and bricks hurled through windows, the steeple of the West Street Methodist Episcopal Church was blown down, shade trees were uprooted and others broken off, telephone lines were broken, poles were down, and the electric wires of the Interstate Public Service Company, which provides electric light and power here, were a broken and tangled mass along the path of the storm.
The plant of the Conrey-Davis furniture company, at the west edge of the city, was badly wrecked by the wind. The roof of the factory was torn off and hurled a distance of more than 100 feet by the wind. Parts of the factory sprinkling system were picked up a great distance from the plant. The west and east walls of the building were torn out on the second floor, and the floors were broken and found sagging at the ends. The office of the Conrey-Davis Company, a brick building at the south side of the factory, was crushed like an egg shell by the heavy roof which was thrown against it with terrible force. All of the machinery in the factory was damaged, and furniture in various stages of completion was practically demolished.
Damage also occurred at the plants of the Spiegel Cabinet Company and the Spiegel Furniture Company, which are located across the street from the Conrey-Davis factory. The roofs on the two plants were torn off, and thrown through the air. Part of the wall of the Cabinet Company was blown in. The sprinkling system in the two plants were broken, causing all floors of the factory to be flooded with water. Machinery and furniture in the buildings were greatly damaged.
The Shelbyville Wardrobe Company plant, in the east part of Shelbyville, more than a mile distance from the other factories, was partially unroofed. The storm of Sunday morning was the second to strike the plant of the Wardrobe Company in two days. Water damaged furniture in the building, and also machinery.
The homes of David Collins and Arthur Benefiel, in the west part of the city, a short distance from the factory buildings damaged, were practically wrecked by the wind and by heavy timbers and metal hurled against them, which had been carried from the factories. Both houses had been mashed in, and the walls were pushed out. Windows and doors were broken out.
The escape from injury or death by the members of the Collins and Benefiel families is considered miraculous in view of the condition of the houses. Mr. and Mrs. Collins, both aged people, were carried out of their home by their son, Ernest, who managed to get through a window. Mr. and Mrs. Benefiel and their four children, who were in bed when the storm struck, also escaped through a window. Mr. Collins suffered a bump on the head, but the others did not receive a scratch.
The city cleaning department spent Sunday clearing away debris to permit traffic. Limbs and trees were piled at the sides of the streets. In many places it was necessary to use teams to pull the heavy trees to the side of the streets.
Mayor Scott Furgeson held swearing-in ceremonies for two new city department heads yesterday: William “Billy” Leffler as director of the animal shelter, replacing Adam Barrett, and Chris Hext, director of the newly organized building department.
The Shelbyville Board of Public Works yesterday issued orders to appear to the owners of 504 Van Ave. and 718 Indiana Ave. regarding nuisance cases. Previously issued orders for the owners of 200 S. Harrison St. (CVS), 329 W. Hendricks and 321 W. Mechanic St. have all been resolved.
The board of works also approved the Shelbyville Fire Department hiring Cade Oliver, bringing the department to a fully-staffed 60 firefighters, Chief Doug Lutes said.
NATIONAL NEWS: In the mid-2000s,Rolling Stonemagazine began to offer a$99 lifetime subscriptionto their magazine, which was a great deal for people who saw themselves reading the magazine for a while given that an annual subscription was in the ballpark of $20 a year. The “lifetime” subscription would run through 2059 — that is, until this past May, when the people who bought into a lifetime subscription were unceremoniously informed that their deal was ending, and while they’d get their digital editions, no longer were they getting the actual magazine anymore. This has obviously ticked off their most devoted readers. Today, a print and digital subscription goes for $120.Update: Upon receiving this news item yesterday morning, The Addison Times immediately reached out to a loyal, albeit seemingly unlikely lifetime Rolling Stone subscriber: classical music aficionado David Finkel, who is also an aficionado of all things music. Coincidentally, Finkel just received his notice (see below) yesterday. He immediately called the publication and - what do you know - Finkel’s print magazine subscription will continue. (Numlock/Addison Times)
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2014: Lightning struck 266 West Taylor St. The residents heard and felt the strike and called 911. Upon arrival of the fire department, smoke was coming from the roof of the structure and fire had started in the attic.
2004: C.P. Morgan announced plans to build 403 homes in the new Central Park subdivision, located on 88 acres just south of Kroger. Prices would range from $90,000 to $200,000, developers said.
1994: Bob Evans restaurant officials said they were looking for a site in Shelbyville to build a new “small town” restaurant, which would be half the size of a normal Bob Evans, seating about 95 people. Bob Evans only had one other “small town” concept store in Indiana and nine throughout the country.
1984: The Shelbyville Parks Department marked its 75th anniversary with a few hundred people attending a concert featuring “The Guys” at the Morrison Park amphitheater.
The Shelbyville Common Council denied a rezone request of one acre to allow for a convenience store and gas station at W. McKay Road and W. State Road 44. Nearby residents had complained about the possible infringement on their quiet neighborhoods. Attorney Peter DePrez had argued that a gas station would be of greater use for the land than the likely alternative: a proposed 20-unit apartment complex.
1974: The city and county put a new 1974 Dodge ambulance into service. Federal funds paid for 70 percent of the costs. Jim Bogeman was the emergency unit chief and Peter Hall was the newly hired emergency unit attendant.
Fashion Parade Imports opened at 2760 East State Road 44, adjacent to Countryside Inn. Bob Gurbani was the store director.
1964: Shelby County’s population had increased by approximately 1,000 between 1960 and 1963, to 34,093, a state Board of Health report said. Rush County had lost 400 residents.
A new organization, the Gold Team, was formed by the Shelby County Association for Mental Health, a SCUFFY agency. The group would volunteer at the hospital and in local nursing homes. Members of the group were girls from 15 to 18 who were also members of the SHS Sunshine Society. Mrs. Hasselbring and Mrs. Joan Kelley were sponsors. Members were Debbie Hadley, Jackie Stader, Terry Headlee, Mary John, Dennie Haehl, Judy Dennison, Debbie Moore, Sally Landwerlen, Mary Kuhn, Billie Hulsman, Terry Richardson, Susan Caswell, Karen Marshall, Ann Ford, Kathy Nally, Maybelle Price, Mary Gushwa, Terry Koch, Saundra Shaner and Sheila Shaner.
1954: Parrish Fuller, a former Shelbyville man, son of Minnie Fuller, 126 N. Harrison St., was awarded an honorary degree at the school’s commencement. Fuller had been a student at Wabash in 1910, but withdrew to acquire an extensive timber business. He also owned Fuller Farms. He was a full-time resident of Oakdale, Louisiana and also a trustee at Wabash College.
1944: Columbus Foods Corp., East Hendricks Street, put out a call for men and women to help with the pea pack.
1934: Three ponds owned by Walter Bowling, a half-mile southeast of St. Paul, were stocked with 28,000 bass for the Shelby County Better Hunting and Fishing Club. The Club was also attempting to place in the state crow-killing contest. Any crow hunter who had not yet turned in his crows’ feet to the Floyd & Griffey store was requested to do so.
1924: Major Memorial Hospital officials announced June 18 as the official opening day for receiving patients. The board of governors had recently ordered an X-ray machine for $4,000 ($72,500 in today’s money).
1914: Nearly 100 local women attended a party at Margaret Edwards’ home to discuss the desire for women to vote. A speaker from Indianapolis said women’s attitudes on the matter had changed due to education, and 75 percent of high school graduates were women. Many had gone on to universities. “These women have not only disproved the assertion that woman’s mentality is less then man’s; they have learned the comradeship that exists in the college community; they have learned that men and women are needed to make a society a community, a state, that the votes of both men and women are needed to make the society, the community and the state as efficient as they may be,” The Republican reported.
Louise Campbell, 94, of Shelbyville, Indiana passed away on Monday, June 3, 2024, surrounded by loving family, in her home at Ashford Place Health Campus, Shelbyville.
Mary Louise Vest was a Christmas baby, born on December 25, 1929, in Whiteland, Indiana to Paul and Lela (Voyles) Vest. On June 26,1949 she married Max D. Campbell at Main Street Christian Church in Rushville, Indiana. Max preceded Louise in death in 2022 after 73 years of marriage.
Surviving Louise are sons Bruce Campbell (wife, Ana) of Shelbyville and Mark Campbell (wife, Carrie) of Indianapolis; daughters Joy Abel (husband, Alan) of Lafayette and Jill Stieneker (husband, Troy) of Shelbyville; nine grandchildren - Brady Campbell, Natalie Lux, Kurt Abel, Adam Abel, Kristen Abel, Christopher Miller, Lindsey Bushfield, Andrew Campbell, and Valerie Beard; 14 great-grandchildren and five step-great-grandchildren. Louise was preceded in death by her parents, husband Max, and three sisters.
Louise graduated from New Salem High School in Rush County in 1947. She worked as a secretary for Myers Insurance Agency of Rushville until moving to Shelbyville with husband Max in 1950. In Shelbyville, Louise worked as a secretary at West Street United Methodist Church, of which she was a member. In 1970, Louise was elected Addison Township Assessor, and served in that capacity from 1971-1974.
Louise also worked for the Shelby County Welfare Department and retired as secretary for Blue River Vocational School in 1992. Following retirement, Louise volunteered at Shelby Senior Services for 12 years and at Major Hospital for 13 years. Louise was a 60-year member of Beta Sigma Phi sorority, and also a member of Naanah Chapter of Eastern Star, St. Joe Social Club, Carefree Travelers Club, Susannah Wesley Circle, and a Senior Promise life member of Franciscan St. Francis Hospital.
Louise served and supported the youth of her community as Pearson Elementary PTA President, Room Mother, Sunday School teacher, Girl Scout and Brownie troop leader, Cub Scout den mother, cheerleading coach, and in many other ways. She was a faithful and quietly enthusiastic booster for the athletic and all other activities of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren and their teammates and friends.
If you loved Louise, she loved you more.
A private graveside service at Forest Hill Cemetery will be observed by immediate family only, officiated by Rev. Bill Horner. A public Celebration of Life and Open House will be held at the Shelbyville
Knights of Columbus, 413 East South Street, on Friday, June 7th, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Everyone is invited.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Ashford Place, 2200 N. Riley Hwy. Shelbyville, IN. 46176. The Campbell family would like to thank the entire staff at Ashford Place Health Campus for the extraordinary care and love shown to Louise. Glenn E. George & Son Funeral Home is handling the arrangements for the Campbell family.
Jerry Dale Bullard, 64, of St. Paul, passed away on May 18, 2024 at his residence. He was born on June 30, 1959, to Albert Bullard and Alice (Lemmons) Bullard in Shelbyville, In. He married Voncile (Swafford) Bullard on December 4, 1993, and she survives.
Other survivors include daughters Lyda Bullard of St. Paul and LaTosha Bullard of Greensburg; one brother, Larry Bullard of Fountaintown, IN; and three grandchildren, Caleb May, Bailee Sweet, and Haven Parkison. He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister.
Mr. Bullard spent his lifetime in this area, where he was a factory worker for Knauf Fiberglass and also worked at Runnebohm Construction.
Funeral services will be held at the Glenn E. George Funeral Home, 106 E. Franklin Street, St. Paul Indiana on Sunday, June 9, 2024 at 3 p.m., with Adrian Scripture officiating. Visitation will be held from 1 p.m. until the time of service.
In lieu of flowers please make Memorial donations to the Jerry Bullard Memorial Fund in care of the funeral home.
The family of Jerry Bullard would like to give a special "Thank You" to Our Hospice of South Central Indiana and the Columbus Regional Cancer Center for their loving care during this difficult time.
