The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 11
NELSON HARRIS is a former mayor of Roanoke and author of a dozen books on
the region's history. He is the minister at Heights Community Church in Roanoke
and a past president of the Historical Society of Western Virginia.
COURTESY OF NELSON HARRIS
from the base of the oak tree, and at the barn a piece of
wood was jolted from one corner with such force that
it penetrated into the wood frame on the opposite side.
On the main floor of the barn were three horses and
Grisso. As the storm subsided, Susie and Price made their
way to the barn where they discovered their husband and
father dead. Grisso had literally been standing in the
wrong place at the wrong time. The horses, just a few feet
from Grisso, were unharmed.
The sight was as mysterious as it was unimaginable.
Grisso, at the time of the strike, was standing directly
under an electric wire where the current, induced to
seek the ground, moved from the wire down through its
victim. The current traveled from Grisso's head, where it
burned his hat but not his hair, coursed down through his
body and exited the right foot, splitting his leather shoe.
The rims of his eyeglasses were burned off, but Grisso's
body showed little external signs of the fatal strike.
Three days later, scores of friends attended the funeral
held at Cave Spring Methodist Church and processed to
TheRoanoker.com
Evergreen Cemetery for the interment. Grisso left behind
a widow, two sons and a daughter (my grandmother).
Grisso was 55 years old.
Snead, in his news piece several days later, wrote about
the interest the bizarre occurrence had created. "Since
news of what happened on Mr. Grisso's farm began to
be circulated, there have been scores of motorists a day
visiting the scene. They continue to go and marvel at
the strangeness of the lightning's tragic manifestations."
Scientists from area colleges visited the farm and
concluded that the lightning strike had electrified fencing
across ten acres. The current had leapt across wide gaps
in the wire fencing, a phenomenon not seen before in
nature or the laboratory.
At the epicenter of the strike where the large oak
had stood was a trench up to the knee. The reporters,
neighbors and academics could only shake their heads in
awed bewilderment at the scene of nature's devastation
upon a farm and family.
ABOVE:
An unidentified
man observes the
splintered remnants
of a massive oak that
was the site of the
lightning strike.
-NELSON HARRIS
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
11
http://www.TheRoanoker.com
The Roanoker - November/December 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker - November/December 2020
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - Cover1
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - Cover2
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 3
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 4
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 5
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 6
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 7
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 8
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 9
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 10
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 11
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 12
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 13
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 14
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 15
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 16
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 17
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 18
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 19
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 20
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 21
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 22
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 23
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 24
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 25
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 26
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 27
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 28
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 29
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 30
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 31
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 32
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 33
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 34
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 35
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 36
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 37
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 38
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 39
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 40
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 41
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 42
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 43
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 44
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 45
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 46
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 47
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 48
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 49
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 50
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 51
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 52
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 53
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 54
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 55
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 56
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 57
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 58
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 59
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 60
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 61
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 62
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 63
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 64
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 65
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 66
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 67
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 68
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 69
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 70
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 71
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 72
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 73
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 74
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 75
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 76
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 77
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 78
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 79
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 80
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 81
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 82
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 83
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 84
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 85
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 86
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 87
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 88
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 89
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 90
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 91
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 92
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 93
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 94
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 95
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 96
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 97
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 98
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - Cover3
The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/the-roanoker-march-april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/the-roanoker-january-february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/leisuremedia360/leisure/RKRND21
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/RKRSO21
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/TheRoanokerJA2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20210506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20210304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20210102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_2020_1112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20200910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20200708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20200506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20200304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20200102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20191112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20190910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20190708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20190506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20190304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20190102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20181112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20180910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20180708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20180506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20180304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20180102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20171112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20170910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/TheRoanoker_JulyAugust2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/TheRoanoker_MayJune2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20170304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20170102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20161112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20160910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20160708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20160506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20160304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20160102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20151112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20150910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20150708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20150506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20150304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20150102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20141112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20140910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20140708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_20140506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_201403
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leisure/roanoker_201402
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com