J. W. Barringer
Berryville man whose house on East Main Street was struck by lightning in the April 1921 hailstorm; he was dazed on the porch but unhurt, and his watch stopped.
What the sources support
The Clarke Courier of May 5, 1921 reports that during the previous Friday's hailstorm lightning struck the northwest corner of the home of J. W. Barringer on East Main Street, about five feet from Mrs. Barringer's head, and that Mr. Barringer, sitting on the front porch, was dazed but uninjured, though the bolt stopped his watch.
See the source and its limits
The Clarke Courier of May 5, 1921 reports that during the previous Friday's hailstorm lightning struck the northwest corner of the home of J. W. Barringer on East Main Street, about five feet from Mrs. Barringer's head, and that Mr. Barringer, sitting on the front porch, was dazed but uninjured, though the bolt stopped his watch.
What the source supports
That the East Main Street house of J. W. Barringer was struck by lightning in 1921 without injury to him.
Uncertainty
Read from uncorrected OCR, not from the page image. He is known here only from this report, which gives only his initials.
Source
Evidence role: supports. The May 5, 1921 report.
Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., May 5, 1921
Clarke Courier · 1921-05-05 (publication)
Locator: Page 1, report "Miraculous Escape from Lightning Bolt"
Relevant passageA bolt of lightning, during last Friday's hailstorm, strqck [struck] the north. west corner of the home of Mr. J. W. Barringer on East Main street, both Mr. and Mrs. Barringer having nar. row escapes ... Mr. Barringer was sitting on the front porch and while he was dazed he was uninjjured. The bolt how. ever stopped his watch
Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: clarke-courier. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-16. How this project checks its sources
Life dates that aren't known aren't guessed at here.
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