The person identified in the following 1900 report as "Sister H.C. Travers" . . . aka Sheldon H. "Della" Raby . . . was the wife of Herndon C. Travers, who was postmaster in Rockdale in the 1880s . . . a Baby Boy Travers is buried at the Old City Cemetery in Rockdale . . . he is their son . . .
Advent Review and Sabbath Herald
Battle Creek, Mich.
November 13, 1900
"When Galveston is mentioned, the minds of the Review readers will instantly revert to the awful destruction brought upon our Texas coast by the great hurricane of September 8. . . . The storm was terrific here at Houston . . . The storm was much harder east and south of here, seeming to center about Galveston. It is impossible to describe the destruction brought upon that city by the wind and waves.
The results of the storm are horrifying in the extreme. Nine of our people perished in Galveston. Their names are as follows: Sister H.C. Travers and little boy . . . We deeply mourn the loss of these dear sisters and these little lambs, but we hope to meet them again when the sea gives up her dead. . . .
Being very anxious about our people in Galveston, I went there as soon as the strict martial law would admit me into the city. On my journey I found that the prairie for twenty miles inland was covered with all kinds of valuable property and debris, interspersed with carcasses. The human bodies along the public route had been previously buried, though there were still hundreds on the prairie. Some were picked up even a month later. . . .
It is impossible to imagine the force of the waves. Think of railroads being swept from their beds, the rails being snapped and twisted as if they were cords! It would be useless for me to enter into details." Felix Conway.
