The Turnbo Manuscripts
by Silas Claiborne Turnbo
1844-1925
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HOW THE MEMORABLE METEORIC DISPLAY WAS
OBSERVED AT YELLVILLE, ARK.
By S. C. Turnbo
The great meteoric display spread terror among the few settlers of Marion County Ark. as well as it did elsewhere in North America. Let us go back to an early period of Yellville and relate a brief history of the display as it occurred here on the night of November 13th 1833, which was witnessed here by a few settlers and spread terror and consternation among the inhabitants. At that time Yellville was known as Shawnee Town and only a few white people lived here then. The Indians had been leaving the village and Crooked Creek for more than a year and at the time I speak of there were but few stationary Indians here. The account of the display was told me by John H. Tabor, who said that on that day he moved into a small hut that had been vacated by an Indian of the village. His brother Smith Tabor had assisted him to move from the Flippin Barrens on pack horses.
In giving the story of the display Mr. Tabor went on to say that his brother
and Nimrod Teaf remained overnight with him and "we were so tired that
we all lay down early and went to sleep", said he. "Just before
midnight my brother woke up and was nearly paralyzed with fear at beholding
the air filled with "falling stars". When he was able to speak
he woke us all up and told us to hurry and get on our clothes for the world
was coming to an end. I was almost stupified with wonder and astonishment
and hurriedly rose from my couch of bear skins and looked out at the door
and saw that the whole heavens as far as I could observe, was brilliantly
illuminated with hundreds and thousands of "stars" shooting swiftly
down toward the earth. Apparently they would disappear or go out before
reaching the ground. It was a grand but fearful sight. Like my brother I
and Nimrod Teaf thought it the last of earth, and we all concluded that
it was too late to pray and submitted ourselves to await the approach of
our destruction. I fully believed that we would have to give an account
of our sins to God at once and we sit down and waited for the awful moment
to appear. Me suspense of waiting was dreadful. If I was condemned to be
hung and were standing on the trap door with the noose around my neck waiting
an hour for the trap to be sprung, I could feel no worse than I did that
night. We waited and went on waiting for the coming of our doom. The grand
display continued and our terror aid not grow less. The night seemed a month
long, and the end of the world had not come yet. When at last to our surprise
we noticed that day was breaking in the east and it looked as natural as
it ever did, as we discerned the approach of day and as it grew lighter
we found to our joy that mother earth was still here and the end was not
in sight. The flying meteors were gradually obscured by the light of day
and we were left unharmed and as far as we knew the earth remained intact.
God in his mercy and goodness kept the earth in its proper place and did
not allow the great flying objects to harm us in the least or knock the
earth from its hinges. Others who had viewed this remarkable phenomenon
said that they were as bad scared as I was and believed that earth and all
living creature would succumb to the wrath of God that night. I was a wicked
man then but after the date of the "falling stars" I did not live
so sinful toward God."
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