Hours after wedding, 1886 cyclone killed 14 near Rice

Etched in weathered sandstone, the grave marker in the Rice cemetery says, in German, "Killed in the Storm – 14 April 1886."

Also inscribed on the same monument are three names: Henry Freitag, Louise Schulz and Henrietta Schulz. These names recall the cyclone that killed or injured 30 guests at the wedding of Henry Freitag and Minnie Schulz near Rice — then Rice's Station — on April 14, 1886.

The source of the Rice Station tragedy began more than 10 miles away and 90 minutes earlier in St. Cloud.

On April 14 the St. Cloud newspapers said the spring weather was "surprisingly sultry" and that a "heavy, oppressive atmosphere" had hung over the city all day.

A few minutes after 4 p.m., a funnel cloud appeared near North Star Cemetery, a mile southwest of the St. Cloud city limits. According to historian William Bell Mitchell, the cloud "twisted and writhed as though it were the tail of some monster serpent reaching out to gather within its folds the things, animate and inanimate, destined to be crushed to death or into shapeless ruins."

After flattening tombstones, the cyclone hit the Juenemann home in St. Cloud, killing Nicolas Juenemann and severely injuring his wife, Angeline. Huddling under the dining room table, all nine children miraculously survived.

Next, the funnel dropped down and sliced off the roof and second story of John Schwartz's elegant red-brick home at 1705 West St. Germain St. (Rebuilt, the house stands today.)

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Spinning past downtown St. Cloud, the cyclone sucked water out of the Mississippi before slamming into Sauk Rapids. After destroying the wagon bridge and a flour mill, the funnel hit the Northern Pacific Railroad Depot and swept through the business district, destroying every building along River Street. From there, the cyclone leveled the courthouse, the school, the post office, newspaper offices, a hotel and 200 houses. (Countless lives were saved because schools ran out of money and closed five days earlier.)

This is where the tragic story of the Freitag-Schulz wedding ceremony begins.

In 1886, Rice's Station was a tiny village in Benton County. Five miles east of the hamlet, a wedding party had gathered at the farmhouse of John Schulz to witness the wedding of his 19-year-old daughter, Wilhelmina (Minnie) Schulz.

The groom, Henry Freitag, 26, was born in 1860 in Prussia. In 1885, he purchased a farm in Graham Township adjoining the Schulz family's property. Minnie Schulz was born in Prussia in 1868. Her family came to America in 1871 and settled in Iowa before moving to Benton County.

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Six hours before the cyclone tore through the heart of Sauk Rapids, Henry and Minnie had celebrated their marriage in a garden ceremony. Following the service, 35 guests gathered inside the farmhouse to share a feast prepared by the bride's mother. When guests left the table, the Rev. Gustav A. Schmidt, an Evangelical United Brethren pastor, delivered a farewell sermon to commemorate his transfer to a new parish.

During the benediction, at about 5:30 p.m., the cyclone crashed into the house, where it killed — in one stroke — 14 members of the wedding party.

Of the six children who survived, two boys — including Schmidt's son — crawled under a chicken coop and escaped injury before the coop was swept away.

Though badly injured, a young boy, Oscar Gaunmnitz, rode to Rice's Station on horseback to carry the news of the cyclone. Several citizens and two physicians drove out to the farm where they found bodies strewn over 600 feet. Helpful neighbors soon arrived with horses, wagons and buggies to transport the dead to the town hall in Rice's Station and the injured to hospitals in Royalton and St. Cloud.

A Minneapolis Tribune reporter described Minnie Freitag as she lay in the hospital: "Her face is horribly scarred, but the right side is comparatively whole. Her injuries are not considered dangerous. ... She makes a very touching picture lying there with all the associations of bride widowhood about her. Most touching of all is the right hand which lies outside the coverlet, with on the third finger a bright new wedding ring — put on her finger three days ago by the man who was buried yesterday."

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Still unspent, the twister delivered two more blows, one at Buckman, where it killed William Dahlmeyer and Fred Clark, and a second strike at Fish Lake, where Hattie Randall died. Leaving the prairie strewn with the dead and dying, the vicious storm finally blew itself out near Lake Sullivan in Morrison County.

Minnie Freitag's story included one more tragedy. Three years after her recovery, she married Adolph Schreiber. The couple had five sons and three daughters. In 1897, Adolph fell to his death while fixing a chimney. Minnie died in Bagley in 1950.

Bill Morgan can be reached at 293-5871 or at wtmorgan@stcloudstate.edu.

Mary Ostby and Meredith DePree at the Benton County Historical Society, and Ann Marie Johnson of the Morrison County Historical Society helped gather material for this story.

Cyclone victims near Rice

The following is a list of those who died instantly when the April 14, 1886, cyclone struck a wedding celebration near Rice:

•Henry Freitag (sometimes spelled "Friday"), the groom.

•The Rev. Gustav J. Schmidt.

•Philipina A. Schmidt, the pastor's wife.

•Henrietta Schulz, mother of the bride.

•Charles Schulz, brother of the bride.

•Louisa Schulz, sister of the bride.

•John Sauer, guest.

•Martin Sauer, guest.

•John Trabant Sr., guest.

•Christina Trabant, his wife.

•Mary Trabant, their daughter.

•Christina Vogt.

•Henrietta Gaumnitz.

•Mrs. F. Tiemann.