Cagle's in Georgia hurricane
by Jennifer & Robert Romano
Some time ago I shared with the list some of grandfather's stories about
his families, including his grandparents, Levi Cline and Martha (Patsy)
Cagle Cline. I warned everyone that the stories were unverified, and
often about things he had heard about, not witnessed.
One of the stories he wrote included this passage about a hurricane:
"The storm passed within a hundred yards of our home. When I was ten
years old, I could easily trace its course through the forest trail
which it made. On the north side of its path, the uprooted trees had
fallen toward the south. On the south side, the fallen trees pointed
north. And in the center of the path, the trees had fallen toward the
east. . . . The cyclone came about 1887. [Note:
this pre-dated my grandfather's birth.] It was so furious that it was
an historical landmark in the community for fifty years. It killed Pete
Cagle's wife; and hours later they found his dead child lodged in the
fork of a tree a quarter of a mile from where the house had
been."
A sharp-eyed list member wrote me that there was no Pete Cagle who lived
at the time, which of course would indicate the story was not true.
I just came across an interesting bit in John Cagle's book (per my
previous e-mail) that reads: "Levi Cagle, 1847 - 1938, the fourth son
of Martin Cagle, 1816 - 1900, and wife Mary was born in Cherokee County,
GA, and moved to Pickens Co. GA by 1870, where he purchased land with
his brother Peter Cagle, 1844-1895 . . . Levi's first wife, Clarissa
Jane, and two of their children, were killed in a tornado in 1884. .
.." (page 367 of Volume II, Part Three) The two children were named
Peter and Martha Jane, and they, along with their mother, died on
February 19, 1884.
It is interesting that my grandfather's story was close as to fact (off
by only 3 years, which really isn't bad since it happened before he was
born), but off as to names. So it was Levi's wife, son Peter, and
daughter who died, rather than "Pete's wife and son". It is an
interesting insight into anecdotal family stories: they may be true in
substance, but not in details or identities!