On May 27, 1896, a massive tornado outbreak occurred in the central United States. St. Louis was devastated and hundreds of people were killed.
A Disastrous Tornado Sweeps Through St. Louis. More Than One Hundred People Killed and Several Hundred Injured. Several Million Dollars' Worth of Property Destroyed. The City Left in Darkness and Fire Adds to Its Horrors. City Hospital Wrecked and Patients Exposed to the Elements. Busy Times at the Morgue, the Dispensary and Convent of the Good Shepherd.
"Wind's Deadly Work." St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, Missouri). May 28, 1896. Page 1.
When the sun rose on St. Louis and vicinity this morning it showed a scene of terrible ruin and disaster, wind, rain and fire having combined in a mission of destruction. At least 200 lives were lost in this city and as many more in East St. Louis, while thousands were injured, many so severely that they cannot recover. The tornado, which caused this destruction, struck the city yesterday afternoon at 5:15 o'clock and soon swept to East St. Louis. The dead were found in all parts of the devastated section. Humanity suffered in ways innumerable and the names of all the injured will never be known.
"400 Dead." The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri). May 28, 1896. Page 1.
A few days later, Paul Laurence Dunbar visited St. Louis. He wrote about the experience to his future wife Alice Ruth Moore in New Orleans.
Mr. Paul Dunbar visited in St. Louis last week.
The Cleveland Gazette (Cleveland, Ohio). June 13, 1896. Page 2.
Home again, I take up my pen to tell you "howdy." I have just left that death-stricken city St. Louis and I assure you I am no more cheerful for the sights I saw there.
Paul Laurence Dunbar to Alice Ruth Moore, June 4, 1896. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 8).