Dalen, Ellend 1870 - 1916

DAHLEN, DALEN

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 5/4/2021 at 16:17:45

Cresco Plain Dealer June 9, 1916 P-1 C-5

Northeastern Iowa Flooded.
This section of the state was visited last Thursday evening by a torrential rain which seemed to the east of us caused a vast amount of damage to crops and property and the loss of two lives near Calmar.
Decorah was visited by flood worse than that of fourteen years ago, Dry Run rising out of its banks in a few minutes, a wall of water eight feet in height sweeping down between the hills, washing away railroad tracks and bridges, carrying barns and small buildings down stream or crushing them, and overflowing houses with water to a depth of four or five feet in many cases, leaving deposits of mud and filth in the lower story and cellars of practically one-third of the residences in Decorah. The home of L. J. Stoskopf was floated from its foundation, carried a half block or more across the Milwaukee tracks and smashed against some trees. The family were in the house at the time.
Railroad traffic east of Cresco is still demoralized, and at no previous time has high water caused so much irregularity and delay in the arrival of mails at Cresco. Between Calmar and Decorah, 12 bridges and five miles of track are washed out, and officials state that under the most favorable circumstances, it will still be a week before trains will run to Decorah. Between Jackson Junction and Fort Atkinson, two bridges and a half mile of track was washed . This has been repaired, and traffic was resumed over the Cedar Rapids-Calmar line on Wednesday. Trains are running from Calmar to Monona, but from Beulah to McGregor the track is badly damaged and several bridges out. McGregor and North McGregor suffered terribly; the freight depot, warehouse and railroad yards at the latter place were destroyed by the flood and at McGregor much damage was done by high water to property.
The Rock Island road between West Union and Decorah suffered so badly that it is doubtful if train service will be resumed between those two points until late in the summer.
The first reports gave accounts of loss of life at various places, but at Calmar occurred the only actual cases of death by the storm, concerning which we clip the following from the Calmar Courier:
“From the Ellend Dahlen home, just two miles northeast of town, two lives were sacrificed to the flood, Ellend Dahlen himself, and his maiden sister, Synerva, who made her home with Ellend, both losing their lives in the flood of water that swept through the premises. Ellend, his sister and his wife’s brother, George Numedahl, were working or choring out in the barn yard. As the rain began to pour down they went into a building that was built on a good cement foundation, and used for a macchine shed and hen house. This building, although securely bolted to the foundation, was swept away and the occupants were soon struggling in the raging waters.
George Numedahl finally clung to a wire fence a quarter of a mile below the place, and worked himself out hand over hand along the fence to a place of safety.
The other two were swept on down the valley and the lifeless bodies were found five miles below their home in Mr. Wheatman’s pasture.

Transcriber’s Note: Find a Grave shows the name spelled Dalen and that Ellend was born Feb. 11, 1870 and Syneva was born Oct. 24, 1860. They both died June 1, 1916 and are buried in Calmar Lutheran Cemetery.

Calmar Lutheran Cemetery
 

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen