Black Sunday

April 14, 1935  We all went to church.  For dinner to A. E. Reimers and in the afternoon to Mrs. G. J. Classen and Mrs. Harms.  Then a dark dust storm rolled in.  It got so dark in fifteen minutes that we could not see the windows, even though it was mid-afternoon.  It was very serious to all of us.  By 5:45 the storm had let up enough so that we could drive home.  But it was difficult and slow driving.

As terrible as the dust storms had been for four of the last five days, they paled in comparison to this day.  April 14, 1935 has gone down in history as Black Sunday, the worst dust storm of all.  It is estimated that this storm removed 300 million tons of topsoil from the Plains States.  It was especially notable for the high winds that drove it, which is why Cornelius records that it got pitch dark in fifteen minutes.

The Siemens had gone to worship services in the morning, and for dinner they went to Mrs. G. J. Classens.  The Reimer girls (Catharine, Helen, and Mary) had taken the little children, Henry, Elmer, and Anna, who were 4, 3, and 1 years old, outside to play after dinner.  The storm struck so suddenly that the Reimer girls had not been able to get the children back inside before it hit.  With the wind howling at gale force and it completely dark, it was truly dangerous for them to be outside.  Cornelius’ wife Margaret recalled years later how worried she had been about what had happened to the children who were swallowed up in the night.  With the adults inside unable even to see the windows and the house shaking from the wind, there was little they could do to find them.  But somehow the Reimer girls had found their way to house with the little children safely in tow.

Eventually the storm let up, but there was still so much static electricity in the air that the cars would not start.  Finally someone got the idea of grounding them by attaching a chain to the car and dragging it along the ground, and then they were able to start them.  But with all the dirt drifted across the road and the wind still blowing, it was very difficult for the Siemens to drive the sixteen miles home.

Black Sunday, April 14, 1935.