TYLER RELIEF COMMISSION:

The commission, formed on August 31, 1918, consisted of, among others, former governor Samual R. Van Sant as chairman, E. G. Steger as secretary, Edward B. Young, and W. C. Briggs. This commission was also influential in raising funds for victims of the forest fires that occurred in northern Minnesota in that year. Consequently, T. O. F. Herzer took over the secretarial duties of the commission after Steger was sent to help out in northern Minnesota.

At its first meeting, the commission decided that Herzer would go to Tyler to ascertain the amount of damage that the tornado had inflicted upon the town. Herzer received help from the local relief committee, whose most active member was M. Glemmestad. After Herzer's assessment, the commission determined that $190,960 of the $362,310 in damages needed to be raised from sources outside of Tyler and vicinity. The commission proceeded to ask the other counties and cities of Minnesota to raise donations for the tornado victims. Eventually the commission, with the help of the local relief committee of Tyler, raised $70,030.71. Included in the commission's financial records are lists of towns, counties, individuals, and organizations, noting how much each donated to the Tyler relief fund.

The commission used claims submitted by people to determine where the money was to be distributed. The financial records contain lists of victims and how much money they received. Claims were sent in either by people who needed money due to damage done by the tornado or by people who had spent money helping the tornado victims. Damage done by the tornado, as seen in some of the claims issued, included broken dishes and windows, and loss on furniture and fixtures. Other claims were submitted by committee members for reimbursement for railroad trips taken to attend meetings in Tyler.

Relief for the victims of forest fires in northern Minnesota had siphoned off a great portion of the money that otherwise might have gone to Tyler. When the legislature and Governor realized this, they appointed a new commission in March, 1919, and appropriated $35,000 from state funds for the commission to distribute (Laws 1919 c62). (Laws 1919 c4 legalized all prior appropriations of public funds by local governments for Tyler tornado relief.) The second commission included many of the same members as the first, and thus the two groups worked jointly and filed their records together. The two commissions disbanded in August of 1921 after submitting a report to Governor J. A. O. Preus that outlined how and to whom their funds were distributed. A carbon copy of the report is included in the commission's files (location of the original is unknown).

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Tyler Relief Commission (Minn.). Tyler Tornado Relief Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 2197 (mss)

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 001730086

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Disaster relief -- Minnesota -- Lincoln County.

Forest fires -- Minnesota.

Tornadoes -- Minnesota -- Lincoln County.

Persons:

Herzer, T. O. F.

Steger, E. G.

Van Sant, Samuel Rinnah, 1844-1936.

Young, Edward Blake, 1864-1927.

Organizations:

Minnesota. Governor (1915-1921 : Burnquist).

Places:

Tyler (Minn.) -- History.

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