The 1925 Tornado and the Tale of Father Nerinckx's Cabin

I first heard the story of the 1925 tornado that obliterated Father Nerinckx’s historic log cabin from Daddy, who told it with all the flair of oral tradition. According to him, the twister left nothing of the small cabin but a pair of elderly Black residents sitting unscathed in their rocking chairs amid the wreckage. Not a single log remained, yet the couple had not a scratch on them. For good measure, Daddy would add that the tornado’s winds drove wheat straws so forcefully they pierced nearby fence posts like tiny arrows.

It begins in 1812, when Father Charles Nerinckx established the Little Society, a fledgling religious order that later became the Sisters of Loretto. The log cabin at Little Loretta served as Father Nerinckx’s home and the headquarters of the Little Society near St. Charles Church.

After his death in 1824, the Sisters moved to St. Stephen’s Farm. In 1829, Austin Smith purchased the property. In 1895, the Sisters of Loretto purchased one unit of the double cabin from Austin and his wife, moving it to their Motherhouse for preservation.

Then came the tornado of 1925. The cabin was lifted clean off its foundation, scattered like matchsticks down to Hardins Creek. The only thing left was the rug on the floor, improbably intact, and the chimney, toppled nearby. Amid the wreckage, Austin sat in his rocking chair, most likely in shock.