On
March 25, 1913, just like any other school day morning, John Braun was woken up
by his mother. As he made his way down the stairs, he could hear whistles and
bells making loud noises outside. His mother explained that these alarms were
warnings of an impending flood. As a ten year old, all of the commotion was
very exciting to John. He expected to go to the school at Holy Rosary, but this
day was different. The events of that tragic day prevented John from going to
school that day and several days after. Since he lived on Light Street, John
and his family were only a few blocks away from the flooding Mad River. John
and his father left the house in order to discover the cause of all the
turmoil. When they had reached the river, they realized the danger at once. The
levee had broken and water began to rush down the street. The pair hurried home
in order to warn the family of the imminent disaster. When they arrived at the
house, they scrambled to move their possessions from the basement to the higher
levels. After successfully completing one trip upstairs with a sack of
potatoes, John scuttled back downstairs. As he descended the stairs, he quickly
stopped because he couldn’t see the basement floor. John’s father quickly lit a
match and, to their horror, the basement was full of water. In a panic, the
family scurried to the second floor. John, his parents, his four siblings, and
his grandma could all hear the water rising on the floor below. As the water
filled the house, they could hear the furniture on the ground floor bumping the
ceiling. They looked out their window and they could see the water swirling
around the houses in their neighborhood. They saw their neighbors attempt an escape.
The neighbors had piled into a motorboat, but, because of the fierce current,
the boat overturned and the neighbors disappeared into the muddy waters. As
night came and darkness descended, John and his family were filled with horror.
In the distance, they could see downtown Dayton ablaze with uncontrollable
fires. They could hear screaming and cries for help throughout the night.
John’s parents did not know what was going to happen. They determined that if
the waters were to rise even higher and flood the house, they would tie the
family together and all die together. Although they were hungry and cold, they
survived the night. Since the adjacent house was on higher ground, John’s dad
knocked a hole in the wall and put down a plank that connected their home to
their neighbor’s house. His parents told John that he was the first to cross.
They tied a rope around him and he began to balance on the plank. When he
reached halfway across, John stopped and looked down at the water. John’s
father told him to be brave and encouraged him to push on to the other house.
John made it safely across and the rest of the family made it without an
accident. They stayed at their neighbor’s house through the rest of the day and
night and ate potatoes and raw eggs to avoid starvation. On the third day, they
saw some people in a rowboat approach the house. They had enough room for John,
his sister Sarah, and his grandma. The rescuers docked somewhere near Valley
Street and Chapel Street. Once the whole family was reunited, they found a
family to stay with until the waters subsided. When the flooding had finally
ceased, John and his father returned to the house to examine the damages. Their
neighborhood was a mess. Their home was in shambles, debris filled the street,
and mud was everywhere. John was frightened by the sight of a dead horse on the
road. When he glanced across the street, he saw the motorboat overturned. The
days of late March 1913 were full of tragedy. John couldn’t forget and he carried
the memory of the events of those days into his old age.
Harrington 1913 Flood collection, SC-92. Wright State
Special Collections and Archives.Wright State University: Dayton,
OH.
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