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Museum purchase, 1961.14.12  Photograph by David Stansbury  © 2013 The Connecticut Historical S…
Tornado in Windham, Conn.
Museum purchase, 1961.14.12 Photograph by David Stansbury © 2013 The Connecticut Historical Society.

Tornado in Windham, Conn.

Dateafter 1808
MediumPainting; oil on cardboard in wood frame
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (panel height x width): 6 7/8 x 10 1/2in. (17.5 x 26.7cm)
Frame (height x width x depth): 9 5/8 x 13 1/4 x 7/8in. (24.4 x 33.7 x 2.2cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineMuseum purchase
DescriptionA tornado is striking a barn on a hill, demolishng it and sending debris flying. A frame house is to the left of the funnel, and other houses are in the valley in the foreground surrounded by fields. A dirt road, bordered by rail fences, leads into the distance.
Object number1961.14.12
InscribedOn back of cardboard, right margin, in pencil, "Mrs. Gray 1 1/2 D. Gold / 50"; lower center, in red paint, "14-1961-12"

On back of frame, in black ink, "TORNADO IN WINDHAM, CONN. / BY MRS. GRAY"; in red paint, "14-1961-12"
NotesSubject Note: A tornado struck Windham on 7 July 1808, causing substantial damage. A "dozen barns" were blown down and several houses and outbuildings were substantially damaged. This painting may have been intended as a depiction of that event.

Date Note: Although the painting appears to depict the tornado that struck Windham in 1808, stylistically it appears to date from much later in the nineteenth century.
On View
Not on view
Gift of Joseph S. Gould, 1959.43.0  Photograph by David Stansbury  © 2013 The Connecticut Histo…
Osbert B. Loomis
before 1880
The Newman S. Hungerford Museum Fund, 2005.120.0  Photograph by David Stansbury  © 2013 The Con…
John Wells Stancliff
Probably 1870s or 1880s
Bequest of Mrs. J. Edward Grinfield-Coxwell, 1969.17.5  Photograph by David Stansbury  © 2013 T…
Nelson Augustus Moore
1862
Gift of Miss Helen E. Royce, 1953.73.2  Photograph by David Stansbury  © 2013 The Connecticut H…
Henrik Hillbom
before 1925
Museum purchase, 2002.32.2. Photograph by David Stansbury. © 2008 The Connecticut Historical So…
J. Denison Crocker
1847-1860
Connecticut Historical Society collection, 1947.19.0  Photograph by David Stansbury © 2012 The …
James Rabbeth Jr.
about 1855
Gift of the Heirs of Morgan B. Brainard, 1960.93.4  Photograph by David Stansbury  © 2013 The C…
George Francis
before 1834
Gift of the estate of Adele R. Hough, 1970.24.1  Photograph by David Stansbury  © 2013 The Conn…
Unknown
before 1900