HISTORY
OF MARSHALL COUNTY. 383
LXX. DESTRUCTIVE FIRES AT THE
COUNTY SEAT.
Fire of December 16, 1851.
The first destructive fire which occurred in Plymouth was on the early morning of December 16, 1851, the particulars of which are learned from the issue of the Plymouth Pilot of the clay following, which is herewith reproduced:
"Destructive Fire - A fire broke out on Tuesday
morning about 8 o'clock in the building belonging to Robert Rusk, on the east
side of Michigan street. The buildings which contained the dwellings of Robert
Rusk and Frank Baker, and another family; the office of Dr. Rufus Brown; the
tailor shop of W. L. Bentz, and tin shop of Robert Rusk were burned, also the
grocery store of Bailey & Trowbridge; the store wareroom of John L. Westervelt;
the barber and tailor shop of A. Kendall, and part of the drug store of H. B.
Pershing. The balance of the drugstore and the law office of C. H. Reeve were
pulled down, which arrested the fire. The morning was bitter cold, the mercury
standing at 13° below zero, with a strong wind, fortunately from the west. Our
citizens collected en masse and worked with a good will. Ladies and all,
regardless of weather or condition, turned out and worked like firemen. Most of
the goods were saved, and the insurance of Bailey and Westervelt will probably
cover their losses. It's a hard time, though, to be turned out of doors without
a vacant building in town and no lumber to build any with. We understand the
losses of Pershing and Westervelt will be considerable. Three of the buildings
were owned by Pershing. and Judge Steele, on which there was no insurance, and
none on the building of Rusk. Including the buildings, etc., we are informed
the loss is over $5,000. If, as we hope is true, the losers by the fire are able
to stand it we rather think it will eventually prove a benefit by the replacing
of the unsightly (though convenient) buildings burned with substantial and
commodious business houses." Commenting on the heroic Conduct of the
ladies the editor of the Pilot said: "We never saw ladies work as ours did
at the late fire. We saw the wife of one of our merchants come running down the
street, and, finding she had no apron on, she gathered up her dress and carried
out more drugs and glassware than any man could. Mrs. Rhinehart, it is said,
did more work and manifested more coolness than any man there. She stood upon
the counter in Westervelt's store and handed down goods from the shelves until
the flames burst through the side of the building. Another lady, the wife of
one of our merchants, without gloves or bonnet, regardless of the bitter cold,
continued to carry goods until the buildings were either burned or torn down;
in fact, among all the ladies we saw no one but what was cool regardless of
everything except Saving property, and their capacious aprons and dresses made
'carry-alls' that saved large quantities of goods that would have otherwise
been lost."
Fire of March 22, 1857.
This block was again
destroyed by fire March 22, 1857, the alarm being sounded about I o'clock in
the morning. The buildings were all of wood,
HISTORY
OF MARSHALL COUNTY. 384
And there being no fire department in those
days, and not even so much as a bucket brigade, the citizens betook themselves
to removing the contents into the street, knowing that any effort they might
make to save the buildings would prove entirely fruitless. The intense heat
occasioned by the burning of an entire block of buildings, aided by a brisk
northeast wind, carried the fire to the west side if the street, and the goods
in the street and the entire block on the west side of Michigan street, with
the exception of a single building on the north corner of the block, were
entirely consumed. The loss in property and business, considering the size of the
town, was immense, and was variously estimated at from $75,000 to $ 125,000.
Fully four-fifths of the business establishments were destroyed, upon which was
an insurance of but $5,000. A careful estimate of the total cash losses at the
time footed up $62,050.
Fire of January 3, 1866
January 3, 1866, another disastrous fire occurred on the west side of Michigan Street, destroying all the buildings fronting on that street. The fire started in the rear of Hewett & Woodward’s three-storied brick building, which stood in the center of the block, and spread so rapidly that the little fire protection Plymouth had at that time could do practically nothing towards stopping it, and the entire block, both north and south of that building, was entirely destroyed. The estimated loss in buildings and goods was something like $100,000, with very little insurance. Those who lost, either in buildings or goods, or both, were the following:
Hewett
& Woodward, Building and dry goods.
James M. Dale & Co., Dry
goods.
Davidson & Co., Clothing.
Mrs. Dunham, millinery.
Philips & Johnson,
attorneys-at-law.
Dr. J. E. Brooke and Dr.
Long.
John Paul, boots and shoes.
In Corbin’s block ---
T. A. Simons, groceries.
A.
Loehnberger,
clothing.
M. A. O. Packard, attorney at
law.
A.
C.
Holzendorff, barber.
Public Hall, second floor.
North of Hewett &
Woodward’s building---
Jacob Weckerle, saloon.
Wm. W. Hill, bakery.
Drs. T. A. and O. A. Borton.
Aaron Renbarger, harness.
Mrs. C. O. Smith and Mrs.
Shook, milliners.
A.
Reisker,
merchant tailor.
Mr. Nichols, bakery.
On La Porte Street –
Coons & Co., meat market
David Hartman, harness.
HISTORY
OF MARSHALL COUNTY. 385
The fire started in the rear
of the Hewett & Woodward building and had made considerable headway before
it was discovered.
The Hoham
Block Burned August 1, 1872.
August I, 1872, John Hoham's
block, containing eleven business rooms, situated on what is known as the bank
lot on the river, fronting on La Forte street, was entirely consumed by fire\
The entire row of buildings was owned by John Hoham, who sustained a loss of
about $12,000. The total loss sustained by the businessmen occupying the rooms
was about $32,000, on which there was an insurance of only $3,000. The
sufferers were J. C. Kern, 0. H. P. Bailey, John Gartner, Dr. J. J. Vinall,
Nicoles & Maxey, Col. Poe, A. 0. Shultz, P. Stegmari, C. Bergmann, B.
Nussbaum, J. W. Cleaveland, Wilcox & Leonard, M. Ruge & Co. The little
hand fire engine, which was a poor excuse at best, was stowed away in a barn on
the south side of Yellow river, and those who went after it were delayed some
time in getting it out. Before the hose was attached and placed in the cistern
and the pumpers got to work the whole block was practically destroyed.
B. Nussbaum, who was engaged in business in
the block, died and was buried the day following the fire.
The Fire of February 6, 1895.
One of the most destructive
fires Plymouth has had was that which occurred February 6, 1895, destroying the
brick buildings of Horace Corbin and John C. and Fred H. Kuhn, on the west side
of Michigan street. The weather was extremely cold, and when the fire hose was
attached to the hydrant and the water turned on it quickly froze so that no
water could be forced through the hose. Another hydrant was tried with the same
result. Then torches were lighted and applied to the hydrants, which Soon
melted the ice and the engine began at once to do effective work, but the fire
by that time had made such headway that it could not be got under control, and
the consequence was that the goods of all those occupying the rooms below and
above were completely destroyed.
The following were the losers
in this fire:
Gus Wolf, dry goods and
clothing.
C. M. Welch & Co.,
jewelry.
Frank Nicholay, barber.
Charles KellisoIl,
attorney-at-law.
Wise & Seiders,
attorneys-at-Law.
Corbin & Co., abstracts,
etc.
H. Corbin, attorney-at-Law.
J. A.
AIlderson, merchandise.
Plymouth
Telephone Company.
B.
Firestone,
harness.
C.
Horace
Corbin, building.
103 Cigar store.
John C.
Kuhn, building and merchandise.
James K.
Houghton, groceries.
R. B.
Oglesbee, attorney-at-Law.
E. E.
Kuhn, merchandise.
386 HISTORY OF MARSHALL
COUNTY.
L. M.
Lauer, attorney-at-Law.
George
Paul, merchandise.
Fred H. Kuhn, building and
merchandise.
John R, Losey, jewelry.
Martin Ehrdall, merchandise,
Fire of September 20, 1858.
Speaking of the destruction
of the French mills near the old Fuller mill, then owned by Richmond &
Wilbur, September 20, 1858, the Plymouth
Democrat said: " Although every effort was made to save it, the fire had so far advanced before assistance arrived that both mills with their contents fell a prey to the flames, The mills had not been in operation more than six months and were in complete running order, The Richmond and Wilbur mills, situated about fifty feet from French's, were saved by the superhuman exertions of the firemen and citizens. The firemen acted nobly, every man of them, and the amount of property saved by them is more than the organization of the hook and Ladder Company has or ever will cost. Messrs. Richmond and Wilbur manifested their appreciation of the services of the firemen by treating them to a fine oyster supper in the evening."
Since that time there have been many fires in
Plymouth, but none, which are of historical importance.
Culver Military Academy.
On February 4, 1885, Culver
Military Academy, then just starting on its most successful career, was totally
destroyed by fire. The buildings were of wood, and, there being no fire
apparatus at that time in connection with it, nothing could be done to save it,
and in a short time it disappeared in smoke and ashes. The loss was estimated
at about $10,000. Possibly its destruction was a fortunate affair for the
future of the great institution, as Mr. H. H. Culver, the proprietor, at once
set about rebuilding on a much larger scale than he had originally intended,
the material, instead of wood, being cement, brick and stone.
In 1905 the new gymnasium, complete and
perfect in all its parts, and thought to have been fireproof, caught fire,
supposedly from spontaneous combustion, and was completely destroyed, entailing
a heavy loss on the academy management, Another gymnasium has been rebuilt,
even better than the one destroyed.