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[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
RUINS OF THE GERMAIN ST. BAPTIST CHURCH BY MOONLIGHT.
From a Sketch by John C. Miles, Artist.]
THE STORY
OF THE
=Great Fire in St. John, N.B.=
JUNE 20TH, 1877.
BY
GEORGE STEWART, JR.,
_OF ST. JOHN, N.B._
=Toronto:=
BELFORD BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.
ST. JOHN, N.B.: R. A. H. MORROW; MONTREAL, P. Q.:
DAWSON BROS.; TORONTO, ONT.: JAS. CLARKE &
CO.; DETROIT, MICH.: CRAIG & TAYLOR;
BOSTON: LOCKWOOD, BROOKS & CO.
[Illustration: PAPER MANUFACTURED BY CANADA PAPER COY MONTREAL]
Entered according to the Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year one
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, by BELFORD BROTHERS, in the
office of the Minister of Agriculture.
HUNTER, ROSE, & CO,
PRINTERS AND BINDERS.
TORONTO.
TO
_GILBERT MURDOCH, C. E._,
MY FIRST FRIEND,
I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME.
=The Author.=
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
The Great Fire--Its Extent--Its Terrible Rapidity--A Glance
Backward--What the People Passed Through--The First Fire--
Protective Movements--The People who Lent the City Money--
Minor Fires--Fire of 1823--The Great Fire of 1837--The
Calamity of 1839--The Trials of 1841--The King Street Fire 9
CHAPTER II.
The Late Fire--Its Origin--Bravery of the Firemen--The High
Wind--The Fire's Career--Fighting the Flames--Almost Lost--
The Escape from the Burning Building--Destruction of Dock
Street--Smyth Street in Flames--The Wharves--Demolition of
Market Square--Something about the Business Houses there--
The Banks--Fire Checked at North Street 19
CHAPTER III.
The Fire in King Street--Recollections--The Old Coffee House
Corner--The Stores in King Street--The Old Masonic Hall--The
St. John Hotel--Its Early Days--The Bell Tower--King Square--
A Night of Horror--The Vultures at Work--Plundering the
Destitute 27
CHAPTER IV.
The Fire in Germain Street--The First Brick House in St. John
--Old Trinity--The Loyalists--Curious Ideas about Insurance--
The Rectors of Trinity--The Clock--The Royal Arms 36
CHAPTER V.
The Old Curiosity Shop on Germain Street--A Quaint Old Place
--"Rubbish Shot Here"--Notman's Studio--The Mother of Methodism
--Destruction of the Germain Street Methodist Church--Burning
of the Academy of Music--The Old Grammar School--Presbyterians
among the Loyalists--The "Auld Kirk"--Saint Andrew's--The Grants
of Land--Legislation--The Building of the Kirk--Ministers--The
"Victoria" in Flames--Fascination of the Fire--The "Victoria"
in Ruins--What might have saved it 48
CHAPTER VI.
The Odd Fellows' Hall--The Fire in Horsfield Street--The sweep
along Germain Street--The Old Baptist Church--Some Early
Ministers--Two Fiery Ordeals--The Brick Church--The Ruins--The
Bay View Hotel--An Old Landmark Gone--The Blazing Barracks--St.
James's--The Hazon House--St. Malachi's Chapel--The First Roman
Catholic Church 65
CHAPTER VII.
A Hard-Working Manager--The Dramatic Lyceum--The Temperance
Hall--The Water-Works Building--A Hard Fight--Another Rush
of the Homeless--The Weary March of the Unfortunates--History
of the Water Supply--Early Struggles--Changes--The Old Way--
The St. John Water Company--Placed in Commission--The Company
to-day 76
CHAPTER VIII.
Burning of the Leinster Street Baptist Church--The Varley
School--Centenary Chapel--The Gas Works--$17,000 worth of Coal
burned in Ten Days--The Tall Sentinel--St. David's Kirk--The
Reformed Presbyterian Church--The Victoria School--Gigantic
Ruins--An Accident--Sketch of the School-house 90
CHAPTER IX.
Queen Square--Incidents in the Burning--The Old Pitcher--"God
is burning up the World, and He won't make another"--Saved
from the Flames--Overtaken by Fire Three Times--The Night of
Terror on Queen Square--Alone amidst Perils--The Lone House
on the Square--Three People under a Table--The Sailor--"If I
die to-night, sir, hunt them up"--The Escape--The Deserted
Streets--An Anomaly--The Marine Hospital--What a few Buckets
of Water did--The Wiggins Orphan Asylum--The Block in
Canterbury Street--The _News_ Office--Savings Bank 101
CHAPTER X.
Incidents--An Old Corner Burned Down--The Lenders and Borrowers
--"Twenty per Cent."--The Shylocks of the Curbstone--The Human
Barometers--The Vultures of Commerce--Chubbe's Corner--The
Old Commercial Bank--The _Telegraph_ Office--The Bank of
New Brunswick--A Hard Worked Cashier--The Post Office--Not
a Mail Lost--Quick Dispatch--The Nethery House and Orangemen
--The Royal Hotel--The Custom House--The Dead of the
Conflagration 114
CHAPTER XI.
The Old House on the Hill--A Wily Commissary--The Bags of
Gold--What was Done at Midnight--The Dead of Night Deposit--
The Old Vault--A Timid Money Lender--Mr. Peter Johnson--The
Board of Commissioners--The Old Gentleman's Little Joke--The
Inspection--How it was Discovered--The Fight with the Flames
--"How much will I Get"--What he Got--The Oil Barrels--Dashing
the Water on the Kerosene--A Lively Time on Reed's Point
Wharf--The Bridge of Fire--On the Ferry-Boat--The Western
Union Telegraph Office--The First Despatch 129
CHAPTER XII.
A Thrilling Incident--The Burning House--The Tall Figure on
the Hall--Escape Cut Off--The Only Way Out--The Street of
Fire--Walking on Coals--The Open Boat--The Way to the Wharf
--Terrible Suffering--The Awful Death on the Street--Worn
Out--The Escape--Saved--The Firemen--How they Fought the Flames 144
CHAPTER XIII.
A Chapter of Incidents--Agony on Board--Coming Up the Harbour
--The Story of the Moths--The Newly Married Lady's Story--No
Flour--Moving Out--Saving the Drugs--The Man with the Corn
Plasters--Incendiarism--Scenes--Thievery--The Newspapers--
Enterprise--Blowing Down the Walls--An Act of Bravery--The Fatal
Blast--Danger and Death in the Walls--Accidents--The Fire and
the Church--The Ministers 155
CHAPTER XIV.
"I went againe to the ruines, for it was no longer a Citty"--
The Drive by Moonlight--Through the Ruins--After the Fire--A
City of Ashes--The Buried Silver--The Sentinel Chimneys--The
Home of Luxuriance--A Recollection--The Moon and the Church--
Back again 167
CHAPTER XV.
Aid for St. John--The First Days--How the Poor were Fed--
Organization of the St. John Relief and Aid Society--Its
System--How it operates--The Rink--The Car Shed--List of
Moneys and Supplies received--The Noble Contributions 175
CHAPTER XVI.
The Odd Fellows and the Fire--Relief Committee at Work--
Searching out the Destitute Brethren--Helping the Sufferers
--The Secret Distribution of Aid--List of Donations 203
CHAPTER XVII.
The Losses of the Masonic Fraternity--Great Destruction of
Masonic Regalia and Paraphernalia--Organization of the
General Masonic Board of Relief--Amount received in Aid of
the Suffering Brethren 239
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Destruction--The Loss--Estimates--The Acreage and
Streetage--Has the Land Decreased in Value?--Incomes swept
away--What is Left--Hope!--The Insurance--The Corporation
Loss--The Dominion Loss--Additional Deaths--The Wounded--
The Orange Body 244
CHAPTER XIX.
The Books we have Lost--"The Lost Arts"--The Libraries of
St. John which were Burned--The Pictures which were Lost--The
few that were Saved--A Talk about Books and Pictures--The
Future--What St. John Men must Do--Acknowledgments--Conclusion
of the Story of the Fire 259
THE STORY
OF THE
GREAT FIRE IN ST. JOHN, N.B.
CHAPTER I.
The Great Fire--Its Extent--Its Terrible Rapidity--A Glance
Backward--What the People Passed Through--The First Fire--
Protective Movements--The People Who Lent the City Money--
Minor Fires--Fire of 1823--The Great Fire of 1837--The
Calamity of 1839--The Trials of 1841--The King Street Fire.
One of the most destructive fires of modern times occurred at St. John,
N.B., on Wednesday, the 20th June, 1877. It was more calamitous in its
character than the terrible conflagration which plunged portions of
Chicago into ruin, and laid waste the great business houses of Boston a
few years ago. In a relative sense, the St. John fire was a greater
calamity, and its people for a time suffered sterner hardships. The fire
in the large American cities was confined to a certain locality, but in
St. John an immense area of territory was destroyed in the incredibly
short space of nine hours, and fully two-fifths of the entire city were
laid in ashes, and one thousand six hundred and twelve houses levelled
to the earth. The fire raged with overwhelming violence, carrying in its
wake everything that came before it. At one time three portions of the
city were burning at once, and all hope of checking the conflagration
died in the hearts of men as the terrific volume of flame thundered and
crackled, and hissed in sheets over their heads. The blinding smoke
rolled heavenwards in a thick heavy mass; the flying embers were carried
along for miles, and the brisk north-western wind brought the destroying
flame to a thousand households. Men and women stood paralyzed in the
streets, fearing the worst and hoping against hope. Those who had worked
all afternoon trying to save their property now sank to the earth and
barely escaped with their lives, for the fire was upon them. Nothing
appeared to stay the march of the fiend. Immense piles, that seemed to
stand like an army of picked guardsmen, were swept away in an instant;
granite, freestone, brick and marble were as ineffectual in staying the
conflagration as the dryest tinder-box houses which fed the flames at
every turn. Even old stone buildings that had stood for sixty years, in
the outskirts of the city, and had withstood many a serious fire before,
now crumbled and tumbled before the conquering scourge.[A] 200 acres
were destroyed, all that part of the city south of King Street,
regiments of houses, stores and public buildings were burned, and the
fire was only stayed when the water-line prevented its going further.
The boundary of the burnt district followed a line on the eastern and
northern sides of Union Street to Mill Street, Mill Street to Dock
Street, northern and eastern sides of Market Square, centre of King
Street to Pitt Street, Pitt Street to its junction with the water;
thence around by the harbour-line to the starting point. In brief, this
was the battle-ground through which the grand charge of the fire was
made--unparalleled in its brilliancy by any similar exploit which the
annals of military deeds unfold. Men, horses, rows of stoutest building
material, steam, water, all succumbed and went down like chaff before
the whirlwind. Nothing was too strong to resist, nothing too weak to
receive clemency.
A glance at the earlier history of St. John will show that destructive
fires have been of frequent occurrence, and its people have suffered
much from this system of devastation. In 1784, on Friday, the 18th June,
the first fire of which we have any knowledge took place. At that time
it was considered a terrible blow, and the sparse population thought
that many years would elapse before the little city could recover from
the wreck which the fire had made. Eleven houses were burned, and a
large number of discharged soldiers of the 42nd Regiment were the
principal sufferers. About this time a woman and child were burned to
death at the Falls, and seven houses in this quarter were destroyed.
In April, 1787, the people decided to take active measures for
protection against fire, and accordingly the following document was
drawn up:
We, the subscribers, taking into our serious consideration the
alarming situation of the city for want of fire-engines and public
wells, should a fire break out in any part of it, and, at the same
time, being sensible of the present inability of the city
corporation to advance money for the purpose, do severally promise
to pay the mayor, aldermen and commonalty, of the City of St. John
(or to such persons as they shall appoint), the several sums
annexed to our names as a loan upon interest, for the purpose of
importing from London two suitable fire-engines, and for sinking a
sufficient number of public wells in this city.
"Which several sums the said corporation have engaged to repay to
each separate subscriber with interest annually, as soon as their
funds will enable them so to do, as appears by an abstract from the
minutes of the common council, dated the 20th March last:
"City of St. John, N.B., 5th April, 1787.
L s. d.
"Gabriel G. Ludlow (Mayor) 10 0 0
Ward Chipman (Recorder) 10 0 0
Jonathan Bliss (Atty.-General) 10 0 0
James Putnam (Judge) 10 0 0
Christopher Billop 5 0 0
Zeph Kingsley 10 0 0
Samuel Randall 10 0 0
Gilbert & Hanford 10 0 0
Isaac Bell 5 0 0
Robert Parker 10 0 0
BENEDICT ARNOLD 10 0 0
William Wyly 10 0 0
Mark Wright 3 0 0
C. C. Hall & Co. 5 0 0
William Pagan 10 0 0
John Colwell 5 0 0
Thomas Bean 10 0 0
Francis Gilbert 5 0 0
Samuel Hallet 3 0 0
William Hazen 10 0 0
James Ruon 5 0 0
John Califf 4 13 4
Isaac Lawton 5 0 0
Samuel Mills 5 0 0
Paul Bedell 5 0 0
William Wanton (Collector Custom) 10 0 0
Adino Paddock, M. D. 5 0 0
McCall & Codner 10 0 0
Thomas Horsfield 10 0 0
John McGeorge }
Thos. Elliot } 10 0 0
William Bainy }
Thompson & Reed 10 0 0
Christopher Lowe, (King's Printer) 5 0 0
W. S. Olive, (Sheriff) 5 0 0
Wm. Whittaker 5 0 0
Peter Quin 3 0 0
Charles Warner 5 0 0
Abiather Camp 5 0 0
James Peters 5 0 0
Daniel Michean 3 0 0
Fitch Rogers 5 0 0
Munson Jarvis 5 0 0
Nehemiah Rodgers 5 0 0
Edward Sands 3 0 0."
On the 2nd February, 1786, the corporation paid Peter Fleming L136 6s.
8d. for two fire engines. These must have proved ineffectual, for the
reader will notice that the above loan was made up hardly a year
afterward, and the present sum was raised for the special purpose of
buying London engines, and sinking wells.
The movement was not inaugurated a moment too soon, for in 1788 the
following year, a fire occurred in the store of General Benedict Arnold,
of revolutionary fame, which threatened to become very serious before it
was got under way. Arnold's store was situate in Lower Cove, where the
sewing machine factory adjoining John E. Turnbull's sash factory stood,
till the late besom of fire swept it away. A good deal of excitement was
occasioned at the time of the fire in Arnold's premises. His former
partner, Hoyt, charged him with setting fire to the store. Arnold sued
him for slander, and recovered a verdict of twenty shillings!
The next fire broke out in 1816 in a large two-story house on the corner
of Germain and Britain Streets, occupied by a military physician named
Davis. The doctor and his wife were saved from burning by the heroic
conduct of their next door neighbour. A party of soldiers were engaged
the next day sifting the ashes and searching for the silver which had
melted; not a trace of it was found however.
The fire of 1823 was a very serious one, and caused great destruction.
It began on Disbrow's Wharf and took along with it nearly both sides of
Prince William Street; the old wooden building on the latter street
lately occupied by _The Telegraph_ newspaper, alone escaped. The lot on
which it stood cost Dr. Adino Paddock five shillings in 1786. During
this fire over forty houses were burned, and the loss of property and
goods was estimated at L20,000, which in those days was felt to be
enormous.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN PANORAMIC VIEW OF ST. JOHN, 1828 OR '30.]
The fire of 1837 will linger long in the memory of many of the
inhabitants of St. John. It was the most wholesale destruction of
property which the people had ever known. Many to-day contrast the
misfortunes of that day with those of the present hour. Even when the
flames were carrying death and destruction on all sides on that warm day
in June, 1877, men stopped to compare notes and whisper a word or two
about the fire of 1837. Of course the loss was not as great then, or the
number of lives lost so large, or so much valuable property destroyed as
at the present time, but the people were less able to bear the trials
which came upon them then, and many never recovered from the shock. The
city was young and struggling to gain a foothold. The city was poor and
the people were frugal. They were not able to bear the burdens which
were in a night entailed upon them, the magnificent system of relief
from outside sources was not in operation, and without help of any kind
save that which they themselves brought into requisition, the citizens
nobly worked long and hard to rebuild their little seaport town. There
was a prejudice against insurance, and many lost every dollar they
possessed. The hardships of those days are remembered by many who
passed through them then, and who once more endure the horrors of a
great calamity with almost Spartan courage. The time of the '37 fire was
in the very heart of a rigorous winter, on the 13th of January, and we
can only picture the destruction of Moscow to enable the reader to
understand how terrible the sufferings of the people must have been,
when snow and ice were on the ground, and not a shelter covered the
heads of the afflicted women and tender babes. It was a day remembered
long after by those who had passed through its trials. The fire
originated on Peters's Wharf, and in a moment, like lightning, it darted
along South Market Wharf and extended up to the ferry boat. Both sides
of Water Street and Prince William Street between Cooper's Alley and
Princess Street were destroyed. The old Nichols House was saved; it was
occupied then by Solomon Nichols and stood on the corner of Cooper's
Alley and Prince William Street, lately the site of Farrall & Smith's
dry goods store. It was originally built of wood and it was a marvel
that it was not carried away with the rest; but it stood like an oasis
in Sahara, or the old sentinel who was left on guard and forgotten after
the army had fled. One hundred and fifteen houses were consumed, and
nearly the whole of the business portion of the city, and one million
dollars' worth of property were destroyed.
[Illustration: The Burland Desbarats Lith. Co. Montreal
MARITIME BLOCK (1873) SHOWING VIEW OF PRINCE WILLIAM ST.
Climo, Photo.]
Hardly had the people recovered from the disaster of 1837, when another
scourge came upon them causing nearly as much destruction as before.
This was in August, 1839, when a fire started in Nelson Street and
burned the entire north wharf, both sides of Dock Street, Market Square,
with the exception of the house standing on the site now occupied by the
Bank of British North America, and a house on Union Street west,
occupied by Mr. Hegan. It didn't cross Prince William Street. The old
Government House, Union Street, escaped.
The spring of 1841, 17th March, was the scene of another fire, when four
lives were lost and much excitement prevailed. Mr. Holdsworth, of
Holdsworth & Daniel, (London House) perished while endeavouring to keep
off the sparks from the roof of his store.
On the 26th August, a L30,000 fire in Portland carried off sixty houses;
and on the 15th November, 1841, a fire broke out on the South Wharf and
burned the whole of that wharf together with Peter's Wharf, south side
of Water Street, and the large brick Market-house in Market Square,
which was occupied by butchers in the ground flat, and used for the
civic offices in the second story. This building could have been saved,
and was lost through gross carelessness. Incendiarism was rampant and
the greatest excitement filled the public mind.
In 1845, 29th July, forty buildings were burned from a fire which took
its start in Water Street, and in 1849 the famous King Street fire broke
out in a store in Lawrence's building. The Commercial Hotel, then kept
by the late Israel Fellows, father of James I. Fellows, Chemist, was
destroyed, together with the Tower of Trinity Church, which had to be
pulled down that the Church might be saved. Pilot Mills climbed to the
cupola and secured the fastenings by which it was brought to the ground.
The fire in Prince William Street of March 8th of the present year,
which broke out in the building owned by the Ennis and Gardner estate,
and resulted in the loss of seven lives and nearly two millions of
dollars' worth of property, is still fresh in the minds of our readers.
Thus the reader will see that St. John has had a goodly share of the
great fires, which, in a moment lay prostrate a city, and plunge her
inhabitants into almost hopeless ruin. We come now to that day of our
last and greatest tribulation when the city was shook to its very
foundation and was well nigh thrown out of existence.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] The exact acreage, from actual measurement is 200 acres;
streetage, 9.6 miles.