Evening Star Newspaper, July 12, 1931, Page 71

| e—p—— @ Roemmele, Augustus Schneiter, Frederick 7 r, Wenlin Sauter, James Speakes, Fer- Turlon, Willlam R. Tait, Louis Vivans, John Vernon, Willilam Wilson and John J Willlams. Hose Divic.icn—James Kelly, captain. Mem- bers: G. T. McGlue, John Wilson, William Brown, R. W. Bates, A. Baker, J. Delany, A. Dixon, William Ford, Nicholas Funk, Edward Gaither, William Henly, Flodoardo Howard, George W. Harkness, Enoch King, Willlam Pet- tigrew, Louis A. Schneider, William Serrin, Wil- liam Stewart and A. Thompson. House Carriage Guards—George Hensly and John Knobleck. Suction Men— . Bridget, John Bridget, Ed- mund Cooledge, John Coburn, French S. Evans Agrecole Favier, Thomas F. Harkness, Charles N. Hagneor, Richard Headly, William Heming- ton, William Herbert, John Keoron, Jchn E. Moran, Thomas P. Morgan, Samuel McPherson, John Paradise, Charles Sioussa, B. H. Waring, Lemuel Williams, 1st; W. H. Degges, Lemuel Williams, 2d; James Westcott and Charles Worthen. Keep2r of the Apparatus—FPFerdinando Tur- ton. Honorary Mcmbers—French 8. Evans, Charles Calvert, C. W. Goldsborough, James Thompson, N. Towson, Richard Smith, John Gadsby, B. O. Tayloe, Alexander Hunter, George Bonford, . Alexander Macomb, Francis Markoe, jr.; Wil- liam Turnbull, James Eakin, T. P. Andrews, Robert Johnston, George Bender and M. St Clair Clarke. Franklin engine house, located on the | south side of D street between Twelfth and Thirteenth, just west of the old Van Ness property, is not nearly as old a building as is the home of the Oldest Inhabitants—or the old Union engine house—for the former, according to Sessford’s Annals, was not erected until 1857, and there can be no question about it, for Mr. Bessford in chronicling the improvements in Bhe second ward for that year says: “A large brick culvert down Thirteenth @trect, between north E and G; Ohio avenue graded and graveled; also north L from Twelfth $0 Fourteenth streets; Franklin engine house built on north D, between Twelfth and Thir- teenth strests—it is a neat, substantial build- ing, with a larg> me2ting room, etc.; large ad- dition and improvements to Epiphany Church on G street.” Nor is it apparent that the Franklin com- pany ever occupied this site before 1857. As evidence of this conclusion, the writer has be- fore him a map of the City of Washington, foaned him by James F. Duhamel, and en- graved in 1850, upon which the Franklin en- gine house is shown about where the Shepherd statue stands, and the city directory for that year checks up exactly. And again, according to John Sessford, we find this statement in his review of improvements for the year 1856: *“The old Franklin engine house has been re- moved, and the angle inclosed by a neat cast- fron railing.” Perhaps there is no question about the early focation of this company before it moved to D street. In refeiring to the burning of the Treasury Building on March 30, 1833, Wilhel- mus Bogart Bryan says: “As there were no night watchmen within ¢he building, so there were none on the outside, or even at the Franklin fire engine house, on the public space at the southeast corner of Pennsylvania avinue and Fourteenth street, which had becn built by public money, and supplied with an engine from the same source, for the protection of the Treasury and State Buildings. “The members of the company of citizens who volunteered their services to handle the fire apparatus were sound alseep in their beds, with no provision for being awakened. As it bappened, a citizen, passing in the vicinity, saw the flames and apparently familiar with the praciice of the fire company, went to Ful- Jer's Hotel, on the corner opposite, and go: the key of the engn~ house. He also secured a pair of horses, procably from the hotel stables that were in the rear, fronting on Fourteenth street, and in 20 minuizs after he first saw the fire, he estimated, th: engine was at the building, the first to arrive.” HARLES DICKENS, English novelist, stopped at what is now the Willard, or at least its site, when L:> visited this city in 1841, When he returned to England he wrote “Amer- ican Notes for General Circulation,® tn which he gives a brief description of the exgine house o8 he saw it from his hotel window, then just across the sircet. It was this: “An old lop- sided, onc-eyed kind of a wooden building that Jooks like a church, with a flag staff as long a8 itself sticking cut of the steeple, something Jarger than a tea ch-st.” The Franilin, it would seem, succeeded the Alert company in 13827, and for awhile occu- pied its enginc housc on Thirteen-and-a-half street before moving to Fourteenth and the Avenue. Of this th~ Intelligencer of February 9, 1827, tel's us: “The Alert Fire Company held & mecting 2t the Lancasterian School room, Fourtcenth and G streets, January 30, and changed ils n2 " e to that of the Franklin Fire Company, and c’cted the following officers: Christopher And s, president; Charles L. Coltman, vice prasident; Willlam Jam-®s, sec- petary, and Isaac Cooper, treasurer.” As a maticr of historic reference we find that the Alert was formed in 1821, and a notice ap- peared in the Gazetie on March 9 of the fol- lowing ycar caliing a meeting at the enginc house on Thiriccn-and-a-half street. This company docs not scem to have started right, and at a meoting at the Lancasterian School, March 29, 1823, rzsolutions were adopted au- thorizing a committee—Messrs. Francis Coyle, J. A. M. Dune on and C. L. Coltman—to can- vass for mer It was said at the time that, owing to the many resignations, the mem- bership had been roduced and that it wouid be impossible {o render good service to the public unless there woa: an increase. Under the cir- cumstances, no doubt, the people we:e even rather surprized thai it lasted six years before d into the Franklin company. ian School, mentioned as an early mceting place for the volunteer firemen, was originally the White House stable—com- d to as the Jefferson stable build- stood where the Federal-American - THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. €, JULY 12, 1931, ° G Burning of The Evening Star Building, corner 11th strect and Pennsylvania avenue, April 13, 1892. National Bank is now located. Some years after the Lancasterian School system had been abandoned it became wcll known as the public school where Strong John Thomson kept good boys good and made good boys out of bad ones. Occasionally the writer will, even now, run across one of the pupils who attended school at this corner under the sirict discipline of this celebrated pedagogue. IN the early days of the volunteer fire com- panies it was rather the usu® thing to wind up a fire with a battle, a few of which proved to be serious afiairs, but gencrally bloody noses and black ey2s were about all the damage done. Upon one occasion, during the administration of President Tyler, the Franklin company and the Anacostia company on re- turning from a fire in George*own sclected the street in front of the White House for their customary fracas, and h:ld thzt part of the city, it is said, all to themselves for five hours, Indeed, they got into such a habit of fight- ing that sometimes they went to extremes and even fought their friends, as they actually did when the Wecaccoe Engine Company of Philadelphia paid a visit to Washington in 1851. Upon this occasion they selected the dining room of the Willard Hotel, and the battle waged quite desperately for awhile, firearms being frecly used and several of the combatants being injured, as was Ebenezer Rodbird, who was shot through the breast. One of the last membership lists which the writer found of the old Franklin company, dated 1855, gives the officers as: Robert E. Doyle, president; Joseph Williamson, vice presi- dent; W. H. Fanning, troasurer; George R. Crossfield, secretary; E. G. Eckloff, assistant secretary; Henry A. Ward, chie{ engineer; R. M. Downer, first engineer; John T. Sessford, second engineer; T. L. Martin, captain of hose; J. B. Medley, first director: J. B. Moran, second director, and M. Fitzgerald, third director. Members of the engine division: Joseph Ab- bot, Arthur Anderson, A. Andcrson, E. F. Alex- ander, George K. Boyd, W. A. Boss, John Brow- ers, J. A. Burch, John Boyle, Samuel Butt, A. Burch, J. W. Bangs W. H. Beardsley, Thomas Burns, Charles L. Coliman, James A. Cooper, Charles J. Canfield, W. Cammack, J. Codington, W. D. Crampsey, T. Croghan, W. Crampton, W. C. Chambers, C. W. Cunningham, Milton Clarke, Charles Cripps, P. Coleman, J. A. M. Duncan- son, Lewis W. Denham, W. J. Donoho, P. R. Dorsett, Joseph W. Davis, D. W. Driscoll, A. Eckloff, T. J. Edmundson, Charles Eckloff, E, C. Eckloff, E. H. Edmundson, J. T. Evans, A. Earpe, Thomas J. Fisher, R. Iiancis, J. T. Fendley, Alfred Farrell, W. M. Fisher, J. S. Finch, J. F. Fuss, Conrad Finkman, W. J. Gary, John Hudson, Henry C. Huichins, M. Holahan, C. Holbrook, J. M. F. Hough, J. D. Hutton, Wwilliam Hutton, J. W. Hays, R. H. Handy, J. Hetch, W. Johnson, A. Jackson, W. Jones, H. Kleiber, James King, Lewis Karf, A. Kerr, Samuel King, R. King, George Lamb, sr.; 8. T. Larcombe, Douglas Moore, J. McDevitt, J. F. Maguire, G. M. Meisell, J. T. Mitchell, T. A, Laughlin, W. H. Nally, Y. Neidfelt, Grafton Pow- ell, D. S. Porter, J. A. Piper, J. C. Reeves, J. H. Ray, Joseph Reese, H. Rodier, J. Rollins W. Richey, Joseph Sessford, Thomas Sinon, W. H. Smith, George T. Stewart, C. A. Sengstack, J. Shafer, Eugene Townly, William Tozer, James Thompson, H. Weaver, John Wells, C. W. White, J. Whalen, C. C. Weaver, L. J. Williams, T. williams, J. O. Whitney, William Worthington, Robert Warmnsley and J. W. Williams. Hcse division: R. H. Abbott, James Anderson, W. M. Belt, B. W. Brown, Geoorge Beardsley, H. L. Barron, S. H. Barron, H. Craver, J. T. Coombs, G. Chamberlin, William Durr, J. C. Donoho, B. Donelly, Charles T. Dorsett, A. 8. Dont, J. Frizzell, E. Fitzgerzld P. B. Fridley, A. H. Gawler, Joseph Gawler, C. L. Grenocher, J. T. Given, T. N. Hooper, A. R. Hilton, F. H. Fridley, L. Heing, B. F. Howard, Albert Kirby, Charles Lemon, S. C. Lewis, Charles McDonald, A. McGunigal, C. F. McDevitt, J. McDonald, #. Miller, J. C. Noerr, P. S. Newman, Willlam Naylor, Washington Naylor, €4 “gle, William M. Payne, L. H. Pouvie, Grurz+ Payne, J. H. Posey, J. Rodgers, William Rabbit, W. Seldon, John Stanley, A. Sioussa, George Shackelford, J. H. Sullivan, J. H. Sessford, A. Spring, W. M. Siarsbuty, Johu S. 8cssford, L. R. Thomas, Alexander Tait, Allen Thompson, A. H. Voss, H. H. Voss, James Warwick, George Walker, H. Webster, J. D. West and J. T. White. ROM time to time, Washingten had num-er- ous volunteer fire companies. Ind-:d. it fs not unusual to find the same namc bcing used by more than one organization, and this has naturally brought on some confusion. ilow- ever, nearly 30 years ago the members of the Volunteer Firemen's Association undertook, themselves, to settle upon the accurate dates of the life of each company and the following was the result of that effort: “Pirst fire ward company, 1804 to 1818, at West Market. “Union of second fire ward, 1804 to 1814, John J. Peabody, tRe first chief engi- neer of the Washington City Fire Department. first near the Treasury and then at the Center Market. The last heard of this company was on the eve of the battle of Bladensburg. “Columbia, fourth fire wa:d, 1804 to 1864, first at Capitol Hill Market, on New Jersey avenuc. “Third fire ward company, 1804 to 1818, near Sixth and K strests scutheast. “Star fire company, 1817 to 1827, near Treas- ury. “Union of first ward, 1818 to 1836, at West Market. “Navy yard, 1818 to 1825, in the yard. “Anacostia, 1318 to 1864, ncar Ninth and K streets southeast. ' “Patriotic, 1819 to 1822, at Center Market and at post office. “Phoenix, fifth ward, 1819 to 1827, at to- bacco warehouse, Third between M and N streets southeast. “Potomac, 1820 to 1866, near United States Arsenal. 4 “Alert, 1321 to 1827, on Thirteen-and-a-halt below E street. This became the Franklin. “Washington, 1822 to 1837, near post office. “Phoenix of third ward, 1827 to 1837, Center Market. “Franklin, 1827 to 1864, at Alert’s house and Fourteenth and E streets. “Columbian, 1830 to 1831, near Capitol. “Perseverance, 1837 to 1864, near Pennsyl- vania avenue and Ninth street, site of Empire. “Northern Liberties, 1840 to 1858, Eighth and K and Sixth and L sireets northwest. “Island, 1840 to 1846, Tenth street and Mary~ land avenue southwest. “Weste:n Hose, 1855 to 1864, near Twentye sixth and K sirects. “Maetropolitan hook and ladder, 1855 to 1864, site of No. 6 engine, Massachusetts avenue be- twzen Fourth and Fifth streets northwest. “American hoox and ladder, 1855 to 1864. “Georgetown companies: Union, 1813 to 1819; Potomac, 1813 to 1819; Columbia, 1813 to 1819; Sun, 1813 to 1819; Vigilant, 1817 to 1867; Me- chanical, 1819 to 1826; Columbla, 1827 to 1837; Eagle, 1827 to 1830; Western Star, 1831 to 1857; Potomac hose, 1864 to 1867.” HEN representatives of the Union Com- pany. the Perseverance, the Northern Liberties, the Metropolitan hook and ladder and the Ametican Hook and Ladder Company met in 1857 to decide which was the oldest company in the city first place was given to the Columbia Company of Capitol Hill, because of its continuous existence from 1804. To this decision, however, the Anacostia Company did not agree, but could not at that time submit sufficient evidence to change the minds of the representatives. So far as continous service is concerned, the Anacostia Company really did have grounds to justify its claim—but no doubt the Columbia's evidence was convincing. The Anacostia Company was organized on December 16, 1818, in accordance with the fol- lowing notice appearing in the Intelligencer of that date: “Pire company—The citizens of the fourth ward are particularly requested to meet at the tavern of Lawson Pearson on Wednesday eve- ning, 16th instant, at 7 o'clock, for the purpose of organizing a firc company agreeable to law.” Subsequently a meeting was called for Janu- ary 6, 1819, for the election of officers, but the time was evidently postponed until February 9, when the following officers we:e elected at Hemsworth's tavern: Dr. Alexander McWil- liams, president; John W. Brashears, secretary; Robert Desher, treasurer; Thomas Haliday, di- rector of engineers; Robert Clark and Colmore Bean, ax men; James Friend, director of ladder men; George Adams, director of sentinels; Wil- liam Prout, director of furniture men, and Ed- ward W. Clarke, director of line or linemen. At first this company was located near thé Branch Market, south of K street, between Fifth and Sixth streets, and afterward on the west side of Ninth street southeast, between K street and Virginia avenue, where No. 18 Engind Company is now located. In 1863, shortly bee fore it went out of existence, its president was Thomas W. Cook. Caleb Burgess was vice presia dent, Willlam H. Cross secretary, James A, Gordon treasurer and A. D. Shaw steward. N incident of unusual judgment and brave ery, which occurred back in 1843, is told of two members of the Anacostia Company. “Some powder in the Navy Yard exploded® 80 it is related, “and the explosion set fire to some buildings, among which was the powder house. As soon as it was noticed that the pow- der house was on fire a general scramble took place to get to a place of safety. But among the crowd were at least two cool heads, Messrs, John F. Tucker and John Goss, both members of the Anacostia Fite Company. Instead of running with the rest of the crowd, they set te work to extinguish the flames. They grabbed the Anacostia pipe, broke open the door of the powder house and flooded the contents, thus preventing another explosion and saving thoue sands of dollars to the Government and mord than likely a terrible loss of life. Their actiog was highly commended by the supcrintenden§ of the yards, and the Secretaty of the Navy in & most complimentary order, published thg fact, and returned the thanks of the Governe ment to th: two men named. This was & heroic act, as at any moment a spark was likely to drop em some powder and blow thenw to atoms.” i ‘To many persons of the Navy Yard sectio@ Continusd on Fouricenth Page