1952 Judsonia AR tornado damages and survival of a mansion.

Barbara,

Hi!  Thank you so much for posting this photo!  I own the "house to the right of the mansion".  Bought it thru Ms. Jimmie England in 1994. 

Do you have the original photo posted here?  If so, I would like a copy.

Cheryl Allen

I just wrote quite a bit about the tornado and lost the text when I tried to submit. I didn't see the graphic box below. So I'm not going to reconstruct all of that except to say that I grew up in Judsonia and my mother and her family have always lived there, until my parents moved to Searcy when they retired. They survived the tornado and my mother tells the story of she and her brother holding the doors in their house shut, although that wouldn't have been effective in a direct hit. W.E. Orr wrote the only official history of the town in a book titled That's Judsonia, and he devoted a full chapter to the tornado. The White County Historical Society has publications that contain information as well as other resources such as the state library and research libraries. I agree with a comment in an earlier post that the town was never the same...to this day, people measure time as "before the tornado" and "after the tornado." For those who are really interested in more information, just google "Judsonia, tornado" and several links will generate...many are personal accounts or stories handed down through families...and many with pictures. Some links will be to weather/storm sites with more official information, such as the tornado being an F4 and about the series of storms that slammed the state that night. The mansion is the Henson House (Alfred W. Henson House), built in 1884. It's still there at 111 Main Street, one street over from Judson Avenue (the actual main street). It's about 1/2 block from where the old post office was and a block behind the location of Hearn's Grocery and Farmers and Merchants Bank. Hearn's Grocery is no longer there and I am not sure about the bank.

Thank you for bearing with me through this long message. As you can tell, this little town means a lot to me as I spent my childhood and teenage years there and still have some family there. I love history, and this town is full of it...as well as historical buildings and structures. I am fascinated by weather and the stories of the tornado...and those who survived have some unique stories to tell. I hope that this has been helpful and encourage you to take some time to learn more.

Barbara thanks for the photos..I can relate very well that house..I lived on same street about 3 houses away when that awful day happened..It killed several of my neighbors..My family (mom and dad) never received a scratch..Our house was destroyed and we spent the night in neighbors car..They were both killed..They were the telephone operaters (those were in private houses then)...My fathers business was right in front of the crushed car of the royal crown bottlers you see in pictures..I can recall what happened very well to this day..Thanks again...Don Evans

I was 11 years old at the time of the big Judsonia Tornado.  We lived on a farm about a mile north of the little community of Midway.(now sure what it's called now).  I think if was called Midway because it's halfway between Judsonia and Bald Knob. We were out of the path of the storm, however the wind blew so strong straight toward the tornado that it blew down all the buildings on the farm except the main house. 

I want bore you with all my stories, but the one that stands out in my mind is kind of humorous and happened to my Dad. He was in the barn milking the cows when the storm hit.  The barn blew down on him.  When the wall came down on top of Dad, a wood hay manger held the wall up off Dad so he didn't get crushed.  He made it to the house while the wind was blowing at it's hardest.  He was carrying 2 big milk buckets with about 2 inches of milky water in the bottom.  He looked at Mom and said sheepishly "Sorry Mar, I spilled the milk."        

I was in the 6th grade at Bald Knob Elementary at the time.  Because my Dad didn't have barns for the cattle after the storm we moved to a farm at Rocky Point.  As a result of the move I changed schools and graduated from Judsonia High School in the class of '58.   

I just wanted to thank everyone for their comments and a big thank you to Mrs. Duncan. I am a band director in Virginia and recently purchased a piece for my band titled "Wondrous". The piece was written by Brant Karrick and published by Daehn Publications. The piece was originally composed for the Riverview High School Band in Searcy and he included musical references to Judsonia and Kensett. It has a fast section that is a nod to the busy railroad past. The piece begins and ends with "What Wondrous Love is This", the composer was told that the only building in town not damaged was the Methodist Church. It's a beautiful piece. I am going to share your blog and the comments with my students to help them connect with the music and what happened. Thank you again.

I am a survivor of the 1952 Bald Knob tornado. I was three at the time, but I remember the incidents as they are indelibly imprinted in my mind. My mother Helen Arnold and her husband Walter Arnold were killed when our new house was blown away. They were found about a half a mile or so from where the house stood. My sister Judy suffered serious head trauma but is still alive today except that she now has advanced dementia. Also surviving was a girlfriend of my sister named Pat. I was referred to as Billy in newspaper articles. We were raised by our biological father Harold (Jack) Jackson in Murphysboro, Illinois.

My Great Grandparents (Otto and Annie Stecher) were from Judsonia, although had passed by the time of the tornado. My GGrandmother remarried after the death of my GGrandfather to a man by the name of Balshanak. If anyone reading this board knows anything of my family, I would be most appreciative, as tracing their family history has been quite a challenge, especially the Stecher side. Many thanks in advance. The information on this blog is quite interesting. Thank you for sharing.

Interesting thread.I was in it myself we lived in Depot town behind the ice house a ways in a shack with the tin roofs.My Grand dad died in Judsonia about 85 i think. His name is Herman Gossien and mine is Jackie Wrinkles if anyone wants to discuss it more MoparJackie@AOL.com

Thanks Barbara also my Sister Carolyn Marie was born in Searcy in 1950 to Howard Sims.

I lived in Bald Knob at the time of the 1952 tornado. I was a 7 years old. It ripped Bald Knob School apart. Fortunately, it hit about 5 in the evening. I don't have any pictures just memories.

I lived in Judsonia a ways behind the Ice plant in old Depot town I remember it all too well. Our barn was leaning badly afterwards. Herman Edgar Gossien and Dixie was my Grand parents.