Editor's note: Special thanks to Darlene Kritzman for allowing the wonderful story to be published in this blog.
“The town’s on fire. Send immediate help.”
The following is the text of
the news story from the Lewiston Evening Journal of April 20, 1888, joined with
a description of the fire by historian, Harry Cochrane, and the L. E. J.
follow-up, a week after the fire, with footnotes, pictures, and captions added
by the writer of this 2004 newsletter, Darlene R. Kritzman.
LEWISTON EVENING JOURNAL
VOLUME
XXVIII LEWISTON, MAINE, FRIDAY, APRIL
20, 1888
MONMOUTH’S WOE.
A Fast Day and A Quick Conflagration.
Twenty-Four Buildings and Whole Stocks of
Goods Consumed.
Almost the Entire Business Part of Monmouth
Centre Destroyed.
Every Store in the Village Swept Away.
The Post Office and All the Mail Destroyed.
The Village Hotel Burned and Eighteen
Families Homeless.
Fortunate Arrival of Steam Fire Engine From
Lewiston,
Which Saves the Village From Further
Desolation.
Graphic Pen Pictures of the Scenes of
Devastation.
The Origin, Rapid Progress and End of the
Fire.
Another Lesson for Unprotected Maine
Villages.
At 4 P. M. on Fast Day[1]
Lisbon street and Lewiston, and Court street and Auburn were enjoying the
Puritan fast day in the benignant[2]
modern style. The streets were crowded with carriages, horsemen, and
pedestrians when three strokes of the fire alarm sounded. That was all. It was
the Chief’s call, and nobody questioned further.
But the fire laddies, as in
duty bound, immediately reported, to hear the following laconic[3]
dispatch: “The town’s on fire. Send immediate help.”
This word was, by telephone,[4]
from Monmouth. Chief Merrill[5]
at once made arrangements to respond to the summons. The big steamer L. C. Peck
with a detachment of five men from each squad, at once moved toward the Bates
street station, whereby order of General Manager Tucker a special train was
made up by Yard Master Annable. The train consisted of two flat cars and a
passenger car, drawn by Locomotive 19, Walter Towle, engineer. There was a
delay of about 15 minutes to cross a freight train, but at 20 minutes before 5
the special relief train steamed out of Bates street station. There was no stop
until Leeds Junction, which was quickly reached. After passing the Junction,
the train was slowed up by section men, but only a few minutes loss of time was
involved. At 5.05 the train arrived at Monmouth Center, and was greeted by
rousing cheers by the people.
As the relief train
approached the village, the smoke and blaze were visible afar, and the
villagers counted the minutes with a natural impatience, but allowed ‘twas a
wondrous quick job of relief’. Fourteen miles travel and two streams on a fire,
one hour and thirty minutes after the fire alarm was sounded. Hooray if you
please, for electricity, steam and a well-organized fire department.
In less than five minutes
the L. C. Peck was throwing two big streams of water onto the fire but very
little over an hour from the time Lewiston was called on for aid.
The Scene on arriving at Monmouth Centre was demoralizing except to the cool
heads of the firemen. Eighteen stores and other buildings were on fire; the
blaze was lapping up a large store within ten feet of the Maine Central
station, and it looked as if the whole town must go. Men and women were huddled
together in the mud by the wayside, seeing their goods burning in the streets
whither they were hurriedly hustled from the blazing stores and houses. On the
south, the fire
 |
| (Courtesy Androscoggin Historical Society, Auburn, Maine) |
L. C. Peck Engine # 4, Ash Street Station, Lewiston, Maine.
Built by Manchester Locomotive Works, New Hampshire, it was bought in 1877 for
$4200. The last time Lewiston used a steam engine to put out a fire was in
1927. Sold in 1952 to a California museum for $850, the Amoskeag steam engine
was restored to its former beauty.
caught the village hotel, and its ancient swinging
sign was dangling in the air, half its hangings burned off. On the north, a
large house was ablaze with furious heat that allowed no near approach. No
wonder the people were glad to see Lewiston’s prompt relief force.
“Hooray for Lewiston,” was
the general welcome the people gave the L. C. Peck machine as it quickly shot
its double streams on the strong, offensive sections of the blaze.
Monmouth Center is lucky in having been built astride a lively little outlet of a quiet
big pond which goes by an almost insurmountable Indian name that gives its
primeval title to the village hotel. The Cochnewagan seems to have been
providentially provided as a natural reservoir, but the good Lord does not
provide steam fire engines, otherwise Monmouth this afternoon would be 18 or 19
stores and dwelling houses better off than she happens to be today.
As soon as the fire alarm
was sounded, the gates were hoisted and an unfailing and rushing stream of
water poured through the bed of the brook, past the store where the fire
originated, but unluckily little or none of it could be diverted for
re-extinguishing purposes. But when the Steamer L. C. Peck arrived, she was
halted on a flat car by the platform of the station and before you could say
Jack Robinson, she was squirting rivers of Cochnewagan Lake on to the hitherto
insuperable Fire Fiend. You should have seen how soon Monmouth fire got ashamed
of itself and went into its boots.
Monmouth Center village has
about 350 population. They did their best to fight the fire, but with buckets
of water you might as well attempt to drain Cochnewagan. They fought with
carpets wet on the roofs and thus saved some buildings, but in other cases the
more they fought the less they won. Fire sometimes is bent on destruction, and
the more you fight the less happy you are. The Monmouth fire showed just that
sort of freak.[6]
“Do you see that small house[7]
over there within a few feet of those burning buildings?” said a citizen. “It
was saved by snow and buckets, but on this side of Main street the fire couldn’t
be controlled that way, at all.” It is a way fire has of misconducting itself
against reason and propriety.
It was fortunate there was
no wind. A little puff of air to the eastward changed to a gentle breeze from
the northwest, but the wind was hardly more than a zephyr,[8]
and that was a lucky streak amid the day’s streaks of ill fortune. The red
flames, by 5.25 of the afternoon clock, had pretty thoroughly demolished the
old tavern on the south and the big house and barn[9]
on the north, but the fire laddies had stayed its progress on the west at the
store next to the railway station. But in this hour and a quarter 21 buildings of
all descriptions had been burned, 18 buildings of the best in town, including
every store in the village and 11 tenements.
The neighboring fields were littered with household
furniture and Main street on both sides was quite in ruins, from the hotel
corner to the railway crossing, while around the Maple street corner a saddlery
shop had gone up in smoke.
PICTURESQUE, RATHER.
A Heroic Fire Fighter Who Carpeted the Red Painted
Ridge-Pole.
Just at this point, a heroic
soul must go down to history. He was a young fellow who probably cast his first
vote for Blaine in 1881.[10]
He got a position on Wadsworth's[11]
ridge-pole on the Maple street and vowed by the Eternal that Monmouth Center
should continue a while longer. The blaze of the old tavern and of the saddlery
was a hot menace to his position, the heat grew quite unendurable, but yet with
buckets of water and with carpets enveloping, he stood his ridge-pole.
The
crowd thought he would be broiled alive. He was in smoke and sparks to his
ears. He kept pouring on water and he kept his grip of the ridge-pole. When it
seemed as if the ridge-pole must soon be burned beneath him, there was a rush
of the Lewiston fire laddies to that section of the fire. In a moment one of
the streams of the L. C. Peck was firing on to the threatened premises; they
were safe.
Steam and grit redeemed Monmouth Center from further disaster from that quarter. The young man came down to receive congratulations. He was but partially roasted. I suggest that he be made Chief of the fire department which we trust Monmouth Center will soon establish. All this hero said when stumbled off the ridge-pole was: “I’m wetter than a drowned rat.”
 |
John Miller Prescott, circa 1903 (Courtesy Monmouth Museum). |
No respecter of persons, Johnny vowed to save the home of a simple Millman. His life was full of tragedy. At age 6, he lost his father. Three months after this fire, his mother died. Five years later, he lost his 19 year-old wife, after only 3 months of marriage. He remained a widower. He and his older brother, Edward A., were known as “the Prescott Brothers”. John was a meat cutter, a grocer, and a farmer. He lived to be 77 and is buried in Monmouth Center Cemetery next to his beloved Stella May.
TALKS WITH THE FOLKS.
The Way Monmouth Center Felt While the Fire Fiend Was on
the Rampage.
The people at this time were
quite exhausted. “Can’t do nothing with it,” was their helpless mental state;
but when they saw the big streams and the superiority of steam over buckets
they said: “Why in thunder didn’t we buy a fire engine?” Well, they will. We
all buy locks after the hoss is stolen you know- for we may have another hoss
stolen if we don’t.
“How did it catch?”
“The devil only knows,” says
a man who sat in Edwards & Flaherty’s crock store at 3.45 P. M. of Fast
Day. “By thunder- it was just like a flash- a puff of smoke, an open cellar
door, and we all had to run for our lives. Never saw anything like it in my
life. It seemed as if we couldn’t get out of the store alive.” Mr. Edwards
said: “I was talking with several in the store and we saw smoke. In a moment we
were driven out by smoke. I couldn’t even catch up my account books; I hadn’t time
even to lock my safe. I don’t know how the fire caught. We had oils and
turpentine in the cellar. It seemed as if some gas were afire all at once. Two
barrels of kerosene exploded like a cannon a few moments later, but it was all
so quick I couldn’t save anything. We didn’t even save our money drawer.” Mr.
Flaherty’s statement was quite the same.
Just then Woodbury’s boot
and shoe store fell in with a crash, and one lady said: “I feel badly for one
woman. She’s gone to Massachusetts to work in a straw shop and all her
household goods are gone in that blaze.”
“See those goods burning in
the street. They thought they would be safe, but there they are- ashes.”
“The post-office was in
Edwards & Flaherty’s store, and the mail is all burned up- didn’t even save
the postage stamps.” This store of Edwards & Flaherty’s was the village
pride[12]-
boasted a plate glass front, hardwood finish and had a fine large hall in the
upper floor. All the people seemed to lament for this energetic pushing[13]
firm, whose loss includes five stores, and one large stock of goods. I asked
Mr. Edwards how much his loss might be. “Perhaps, $30,000, and but[14]
half insured” he said. This firm has done a good deal for Monmouth Center, and
their misfortune (as well as the misfortunes of the rest) is the town’s
misfortune.
 |
| Merton Oliver Edwards (Courtesy Cochrane’s History of Monmouth and Wales, 1894). |
The son of Oliver S. and Ellen Marston Edwards, Merton was a clever businessman, owning many buildings and apple orchards. He graduated from Maine Medical School at Bowdoin College in 1889. Around 1898, he and his wife of 25 years, Clara A. DeFratus, and their 15-year-old son, Harold, moved to Lewiston where he joined St. Mary’s Hospital staff and was considered an expert in difficult surgery cases. Clara died in 1902. He married Mrs. Maude Davis in 1907. He was elected to Legislature 3 times. M. O. Edwards was known as a delightful gentleman and an excellent physician. He was esteemed for his kindliness, uprightness, honesty, and cheerfulness. At the young age of 59, he died of Bright’s Disease.
One of the coolest of the
women was the telegraph operator, Mrs. C. P. E. Flaherty.[15]
She is also the ticket agent. It was her summons that Lewiston got at 4 P. M.,
or thereabouts. She was able to give a very clear account of the conflagration
and told a graphic story of the clearance of the stocks that the hurrying fire
lapped up in the streets. The women worked as hard as the men.
Edwards & Flaherty
couldn’t tell how much of a loss they might suffer in burned notes accounts,
books, and papers. Their safe was fished out of the ruins of their store at 5.45
P. M. It fell door downward, and its contents, presumably, are safe. Their
store was on the south side of Main street. Next south was Mr. Edwards’ house
and of course that went also.
One of the unfortunates[16]
heaped his goods onto a flat car in a heterogeneous[17]
mess, discouraging to anybody, and made, this little speech;
“I think I’ll go west[18]
and grow up with the country: You see I’ve got my car all loaded.”
He also made some vigorous
comments on the defeat of recent attempts to get a popular vote in favor of
buying a hand fire engine. He was in no mood of mind to be trifled with, and no
one under the circumstance could impeach his loyalty to fire engines or criticize
his chagrin[19]
at the unprotected fix of the village, in such a fiery crisis.
 |
| Washington Wilcox Woodbury (Courtesy Rick A. Woodbury, son of Ralph E. Woodbury). |
Can’t you just see him on top of his mess giving his
‘speech’? ‘Wash’ was the son of William S. and Abigail Folsom Woodbury, born in
1848. He graduated from Kent’s Hill in 1870 and went to teach in high schools
in California. In 1879, he married Elizabeth S. Dudley. In 1880, he was selling
boots, shoes & clothing in Monmouth. They had 2 sons, Ralph E. and Roy D.
In the 1900 Census, they were in Nashua, N. H. In 1910, they were again in
Monmouth, where they had kept up their business interests. He was a man of
exceptional ability and many talents. He died in 1928.
By This Time.
The firemen by this time had
pulled away at Woodbury’s ruined clothing store that stood within ten feet of
the depot, and had got its blackened ruins down to the ground, playing into
them from the roof of the railway station, so that before five o’clock they
also were black and registered among the dangers that had passed and gone.
COOL AS A CUCUMBER.
The Way Matters Looked
When Thirteen Buildings
Were Ablaze
A Philosopher- Women
Hanging Out the Clothes.
It was now 5.15 P. M., and
it was clear that the conflagration had spent its force. Thirteen buildings
ablaze at once had succumbed, and twelve more had gone down, so that from the
railway crossing there were two to three acres of abashed[20]
and smoking embers stretching down to Maple street- $70,000 worth of property
burned in less than two hours. Of this loss probably less than half is covered
by insurance. In the excitement exact details were unobtainable.
The scene was enough to
inundate the soul of Monmouth Center with blueness, but I heard one plucky
resident say: “Farmington got up and dressed herself after the fire- and so
will Monmouth Center. We have been growing and prospering, and we mean to hold
out.”
But it was a sight not
calculated to encourage the Phoenix[21]
at 5.25 P. M. on Fast Day. The very outlet of Cochnewagan was swimming with
cinders and floating and blackened timbers. The street was littered with
disabled and partially burned stocks- nail kegs consumed and the nails tumbled
into the street; stoves disabled and askew; partially destroyed boxes of goods;
hats and coats in various stages of ruin. One hungry fellow was cooking his
supper over a blazing nail keg- broiling the remains of a barrel of clams.
Goods in the mud were plenty and seemed to feel worse than those that had been
burned. One woman had her household goods in a secure mud puddle beyond the
depot and was hanging out her clothes on a small reel and philosophically
folding them. I suggest that she be accorded a prominent place in Monmouth
Center’s Village Corporation. A cool woman is the noblest work of God.
Everybody’s
Honest.
There was no looting.
Everything, whether in the mud or not, was perfectly safe. They had a large
parade of miscellaneous wares finally assembled on the west side of the track,
and as the sunset, the scene was not unlike that of the frontier when the
caravan stops for the night. There was everything, from True’s Worm Elixir to
wigwam slippers, covering the mingled snow and mud with a veneer of
civilization. Everybody by this time was calm, and as I have said, one or two
women were philosophic. Some of the bucket brigade were very weary, and as the
hospitable people passed hot coffee around among saints and sinners,
irrespective of creed, there was a sense of satisfaction that things were no
worse.
NOTHING TO SELL.
A Village In Which You
Can’t Buy Anything for the Time.
The two church spires at
either end of the village still point their spires heavenward and fifty or more
houses stand- beside the moccasin factory.
“But you can’t buy a paper
of pins or a pound of tea or a yard of calico in Monmouth Center tonight,” said
one, lately a merchant.
“And the joke of it is,
there isn’t a hitching post on Main street to hitch to,” said a native wag.[22]
The two and one-half acres
of smoking ruins look somewhat lonesome. The gaunt[23]
chimneys stand, for the most, to bear witness to ancient chimney corners.
Considerable history is writ in fire in a couple of hours. Now you see it, and
now you don’t- is the size of it.
THE TALKING REACTION.
Wished They Had Bought A Fire Engine
The People’s Words.
“We’ve been talking up
hydrants and so on, but we couldn’t get a vote.” “I’m a farmer,” said another,
“but I would vote to buy a fire engine. The farmers can’t afford to have the
village burn up.” Just then the firemen changed their nozzle to another aim and
a big stream hit a villager, who quietly remarked, “They wet a fellow all over-
but don’t say a word.”
John Turner's house was between two fires, but it
yet stands, to show that it is the unexpected that happens.
“I
was talking with a man,” said a sturdy farmer, “and a streak of water hit me in
the back and almost broke my spinal column. It did strike hard.”
“It’s
too bad for Edwards and Flaherty- they were great pushers.[24]”
“If we had had one hand
engine here an hour ago the fire might have been quenched on the spot where it
started.”
“We’ve even lost our plank
sidewalks.”
“The grass in my field
caught fire, and I thought one time my farm was a-goin'.”
“God bless Lewiston. Her
fire engine took us when we were tuckered and saved both ends of the village.”
“Eighteen families will have
to board out tonight.”
“This was too bad- it was a
pretty village.”
“We did pretty well; not a
building burned since we got here,” remarked a Lewiston fireman.
“I started a move to buy a
fire engine, but we failed. One of them burned buildings would have paid for an
engine. Maybe ‘twill be a costly means of grace.”
“This was an awful hot fire
for the fire to cross the street in face of what breeze there was.”
“'Twant bug juice[25]
that exploded, was it?”
“No- we don’t have none of
that here.”
Such were the familiar
colloquies[26]
by the blazing ruins. A front yard fence was the last landmark to go.
COOLING OFF.
An Orderly Recapitulation[27] of
the Fire.
The village at Monmouth
Center is built along a main street, running north and south. The railroad cuts
it through, just north of the sites of the burned stores. These with the old
Cochnewagan House occupied all the space to Maple street, on the road to
Litchfield. On the opposite side, extending to the station were stores, all of
which were cleaned out by the fire of Fast Day afternoon.
The fire started in the
basement of Edwards & Flaherty’s store. A gentleman in the store at the
time says in a moment the building filled with smoke, and in another moment it
was impossible to get into the store. How could it have kindled so quickly, and
filled the store so suddenly is inexplicable. The opinion seemed to be that it
was spontaneous.
The fire was first observed
at 3.45 o’clock. It caught in Edwards & Flaherty’s drug store and in a few
moments spread to the shoe shop of Mr. Harlow[28]
next north, then to the shoe shop of Oliver Edwards.[29]
The next building in its
course north was the hardware store of Gilman & Beal. The goods were moved
in part. The next store to burn was owned by Rufus and S. 0. King,[30]
and occupied by Gilman & Beal as a shoe store. The second floor was a
tenement, occupied by Frank Whitney.[31]
The fire next took the
Dudley store, owned by W. K. Dudley, and occupied by his son E. A. Dudley,
general dry goods and groceries. Some of the goods were saved, but scattered
and damaged. It was a two-story building, and he occupied the whole. Mr. W. K.
Dudley had just stored in the cellar a carload of Aroostook potatoes.
Then the fine dwelling of H. A. Williams, station
agent at Winthrop[sic should read Monmouth] caught. This was the pet of Mr. W. and his great pride was in
keeping everything about it in neatest trim. It was occupied by himself and his
father-in-law, Mr. Barker. Mrs. Barker was sick and was removed to safe
quarters with great difficulty. Some, but only a small quantity of his
furniture was saved. This brought the fire to the railroad when its northerly
course was stopped by the gap caused by the diagonal railroad crossing.
 |
| Henry A. Williams (Courtesy Cochrane’s History of Monmouth and Wales, 1894). |
Harry Cochrane described Henry as friendly, humor-loving, well-liked, and methodical in business. During the Civil War, he was a Commissioner of Enrollment. Born in 1829, the son of Thomas and Charlotte Brown Williams, he was married at the age of 42 to Lydia Barker. He was deeply attached to his mother-in-law, and a few weeks after this fire, in which he lost his beloved home, she died. Harry Cochrane stated that Henry's "natural buoyancy was crushed" by these losses. It appears that he tried to drown himself[32] at Old Orchard Beach on August 22, 1888, and died later that day of a stroke. Henry was the railroad Station Master at Monmouth for about 35 years.
South of the Edwards and Flaherty store was the dwelling and stable of Dr. M. O. Edwards of the above firm. This was quickly in flames. This with its convenient stable was an elegant establishment.
This led the fire to the old
Cochnewagan House on the corner of Maple Street, kept by David Pinkham. The
fire extended down the long row of buildings to the outlet of the pond, and
made a desperate attempt in the ell of Elias Wadsworth’s house, but Johnny
Prescott, wrapped in a wet bed-quilt was there and supplied by a bucket team
made a valiant fight. He held the fort till a stream from the Lewiston steamer
reinforced him, and cooling down the fire in the old stable, placed that side
of the street in safety, and also saved the grist mill opposite.
On the south-east of the
Edwards & Flaherty store was a harness shop occupied by W. A. Smith,
formerly of Lewiston. Back of Oliver Edwards’ shoe shop and the store of Gilman
& Beal was Mrs. Getchell’s large boarding-house. This was a large,
three-tenement building.
Beyond this block was a
small house occupied by Mr. Turner,[33]
section man on the Maine Central. In the rear of the Dudley store was a small
house owned by Simon Clough, and occupied by John Wilcox.
Below this was the fine
two-story house and stable lately built by Simon Clough. This place was worth
fully $4000. This was the extent of the buildings burned on the east side of
the Main street.
From the Edwards & Flaherty store, the flames jumped across Main street, as much as four rods,[34] and attacked the Dudley[35] block of two stores. The first was occupied by Mr. Jewett, who was just establishing a grain store. The second was occupied by Mr. Hooper, as a marble[36] shop. Mr. Hooper’s heavy stock could not be moved.
Next the big store of W. W.
Woodbury was kindled. Mr. Woodbury kept a heavy stock of boots and shoes, and
ready-made clothing, and sent out a large quantity of Boston clothing to be
made through the country. A good many of his goods were got out but in bad
shape. A platform car in the rear of the store was piled with goods, mixed in
every way, which was run out of the reach of the fire.
Back of the marble shop was
a stable, owned by Edwards & Flaherty. Wm. Borneman had taken possession
that day. His carriages and horses were all saved.
 |
| Timothy Franklin Flaherty (Courtesy Monmouth Museum). |
A RIPPING TIME.
How the Fire Laddies Had Luck as Well as Steam on Their Side.
The fire had spread over the
whole territory, and had just taken full possession of the stable, and was just
licking the shingles of the station when the train pulled in.
By rare good fortune, the
outlet of the pond runs under the depot platform. It was the work of a moment
to rip up a plank, run out the suction hose, and the steamer, already fired up,
began to throw a stream through only a hundred feet of leading hose. This fire
cooled off and the station safe, a second stream through a long line of hose was
used to cool the fire in different parts of the territory. It was this stream
that helped out Johnny Prescott in his fight on Maple street.
Just as the steamer had
exhausted its supply of coal, the owner of a pile of wood[38]
said to the hosemen: “That pile of wood is all I have got left. If you can lend
a stream it will be a help;” and fortunately it was well wet down when the
stream shut off.
Had the Lewiston engine been
five minutes later, the fire must have taken the station, crossing the track to
the freight house, then to the moccasin shops, and up the hill, taking a long
line of buildings.
One loser, who inveighed[39]
against the voters that refused to purchase the engine, which would have saved
his property confessed to having himself neglected to adequately insure his
goods. You know we never like to take our own medicine or, fairer it would be
to say, we forget ourselves!
The postmaster had just
distributed the mail. It being a holiday, everybody was waiting, and the lady
in charge thinks nearly all the day’s mail was taken before the office was
burned- including a big grist[40]
of Lewiston Journals which circulate
in Monmouth in about every house in town. The Journal reporting staff, that was
on the ground early, were much indebted to the courtesy of the people.
AFTER SUNDOWN.
The End of It All In Smoke- Watching the Ruins.
It would not be too much to
say that as the sun sank in the western red on Fast Night, Monmouth Centre was
in ashes if not in Puritan sackcloth. She had seen the ripe work of years swept
out of sight almost in a moment. All the blocks destroyed were of wood, but
they were better buildings than country villages usually boast of. A store[41]
in cherry with plate glass front, as fine a hall as any Maine village can
boast, they could fairly brag on- and the finer the building, the quicker the
spite fire had against it.
Woodbury's stock of goods,
shoes, boots, and so on, filled a flat car four feet high. Woodbury was bound
to emigrate west if the fire drove him and so got on wheels handily.[42]
It was as bad a mess of goods as you ever saw in one heap.
And at sunset the mixture on
the ground was as messy. Dry goods and coats, cloths and showcases, meal and
beds, rocking chairs and looking glasses, stoves, and sewing machines were
plumped[43]
about, free and easy, and families huddled about, wondering whether it was best
to grow up with the country or somewhere else. You could not pity them because
they were so plucky[44]
and gritty. They didn’t seem to invite pity so much as admiration. But here
were eleven homeless families.
“None of ‘em will want for
anything,” said a neighbor. “Our houses are like omnibuses.[45]”
It only takes an emergency to make folks fit for one. As darkness crept on the
flames lighted up the stalking chimneys and the dead trees and the women with
shawls over their shoulders and the men in mud to their shirt collars, in the
energy of their work against fire. It was rather lonesome, but one fellow
struck up “Hail Columby,”[46]
with zest.
Near the slipper factory
were heaps of wigwam slippers made here for M. Crafts & Co., Auburn. The
factory was cleared but not burned, and the wigwam slippers were speedily
hustled to their wigwam again.
I saw but one man who looked
as if he had been tarrying long at the hard cider barrel. His friends took this
case of spontaneous combustion off in their arms. Monmouth has no rum-shop
within her borders and almost no topers.[47]
The Maine Central was in luck. As good fortune ordered, the railroad station was the handiest building when the Lewiston firemen arrived and exactly in the northward progress of the blaze.
AFTER DARK.
The Lewiston Relief Force Depart.
It
was now 7 o’clock; the fires were out except local spurts of blaze near the
ground. Sparks and embers flew, but there was no longer anything but ruins for
them to fly to. A little farewell blaze by the depot was put out with buckets.
The red smoke was rolling in big masses over the 2 ½ acres, and all Monmouth
was tuckered.
The
fires under the fire engine were pulled, and orders given to make ready for
Lewiston.
“Ain’t
this a terrible sight? Won’t it be awful to look around here to-morrow
morning,” said one of the people. “We’ll have this built up again in three
months,” said True Grit, another Monmouth man whose other name I didn’t learn.
An
excited loser was making a vigorous speech to the fire laddies on the utility
of locking the door before the hose is stolen.
The
ladies were sent home to make coffee for the firemen but here was a fix. Every
store was burned and house supplies were limited. At length a box of coffee was
extricated from the relics of a grocery, and the men were at the mug as fast as
the beverage could be prepared.
At
7.30 P. M. the relief train pulled out of Monmouth Center, Lewiston-bound. The
fire extinguishers were in the best of spirits- and they were rightly so. They
had saved every building that was not past saving when they reached the scene.
One
of the old firemen said: “Here’s a pretty sum. Perhaps in five years Lewiston
and Auburn have not loss $70,000 by fire. Here’s a little village- all but
swept away, and $70,000 of property gone up. One hand tub probably would have
confined the fire to the first store. An expenditure of a thousand dollars
might have saved $50,000 or more.”
The
firemen sang their way back to Lewiston. A youth with a soprano voice led the
chorus. They called him Roxy- a versatile lad with the clog,[48]
certainly a good singer. He brought down the house. At 8.05 the steamer L. C.
Peck was back in Lewiston.
Lewiston is only too happy
to aid her neighbors. She hopes they will all buy fire engines, however; for
the time to put out a fire is either before it starts or just afterward.
THE LOSSES.
The First Rough Recapitulation.
Edwards
& Flaherty, $25,000 (one-half insured); E. A. Dudley, $6000 ($4000
insured); W. W. Woodbury, $6000; Oliver Edwards, $3000; Simon Clough, $5000
($530 insurance); hotel and stable, $2000 ($1200 insurance); Boarding house,
(owned by heirs of Mark Getchell)[49]
$2500; H. A. Williams, $4000, (probably insured); M. E. Cowan’s household
goods, $1000, (probably insured); Hooper’s Marble Works, $1000 (no insurance).
And many other smaller losses. Total, upwards of $70,000. “$75,000 wouldn’t
replace things,” said a leading loser. Later, I will give you a more exact
account of losses and insurance.
Another Estimate.
Edwards
& Flaherty, three-story building, and stock of dry goods, drugs, groceries,
etc., loss $25,000, half covered by insurance. Gilman & Beal, hardware,
loss $5000, insured $4500. The building was owned by King Brothers and worth
$2000, insured for $1,500. O. S. Edwards’ store, worth $1000, was insured for
$400. His stock of boots and shoes values at $2500 was insured for $1500. W. W.
Woodbury’s loss in his stock of boots and shoes is $5000 or over. Partially
insured. E. A. Dudley, store and stock of dry goods and groceries, loss $5500,
insured for $4000. Henry Williams lost $4000 on house and furniture, $2800
insurance. M. O. Edwards, three stores, livery stable, house and furniture,
$4000, loss partially covered by insurance. David A. Pinkham, proprietor of the
Cochnewagan Hotel lost $2500, insurance $1400. H. M. Hooper, marble shop, loss,
$1000, uninsured. The building was owned by Mr. Davis.[50]
F. S. Jewett, grain dealer, loss $300, insured for $100. Lewis Harlow,[51]
shoe shop, $400, no insurance. Simon Clough’s residence and furniture, with two
other houses and a harness shop, all valued at $5000, were insured for only
$525, in the North American Insurance Co. of Philadelphia.
The loss of Mr. Clough’s
tenants was as follows: C. A. Frost, Frank Wadsworth, and Augustus Loon, $100
each; John Wilcox, $500; Mrs. Etta Dudley, $35; Wm. Smith, $700 worth of
harnesses, etc. No insurance.
The Mark Getchell estate
loses a boarding house, which was occupied by Mrs. A. W. Getchell,[52]
whose loss is $1000. Insurance $700.
THE LATEST WORD.
Scenes Among the Ruins This Morning.
The Plucky[53]
People Will Rebuild.
Edwards & Flaherty’s Books and Notes Safe.
Monmouth, Apr. 20.
Large crowds by train and
teams are arriving this morning to view the smoking ruins of this desolate
village. It is the most thoroughly fire-swept Maine town for years. Insurance
men are arriving by every train, who view the loss with downcast countenances.
Sixteen families were rendered homeless, losing nearly all their earthly
possessions. Amid the excitement, there is no possible way to ascertain the
individual loss, which is immense, being poorly covered by insurance, some
losing thousands with only a few hundred insured. Had it not been for the
Lewiston steamer, the fire must have spread much farther. It is probable the
village will rise again, as most of those burned out are determined and
courageous.
 |
| Oliver S. Edwards (Courtesy Cochrane’s History of Monmouth and Wales, 1894). |
The oldest of twelve children, born in West Gardiner in
1819, Oliver was a lineal descendant of the famous Puritan preacher, Jonathan
Edwards. Gifted with a beautiful voice, from the time he was 18 he taught music
in schools in Maine. He married Ellen Marston, the daughter of Captain Daniel
Marston in 1848. Besides owning a shoe store, Oliver, at other times, practiced
blacksmithing and was a wheelwright. He was known as a man of sterling
character and high ideals and was loved and respected by all who knew him. He
was extremely fond of his grandchildren, Harold M. Edwards and Cathalena E.
Flaherty, and was highly devoted to them. Healthy until his last week of life,
he died in Portland, Maine at the full age of 92, and is buried in Center
Cemetery with his wife, son, and son’s family.
I send some figures of losses. Of course, the figures are simply estimates of the losses, as many of the traders here have saved a part of their goods in a damaged condition. There were eighteen families burned out, a portion of them partially insured. The losses of business firms are estimated as follows: Gilman & Beal about $7000, insurance $4500; O. S. Edwards, $2500, insured for $1500; H. M. Hooper, $800, no insurance; Wm. Smith, $400, no insurance; E. A. Dudley already reported; Edwards & Flaherty, already reported; W. W. Woodbury estimated previously; Henry A. Williams dwelling house, etc., $5000, insurance $2800; Simon Clough, dwelling house, etc., $5000, insurance $525; R. G. & S. O. King, store $3000, insurance $1500; D. A. Pinkham, $2500, insurance $1400. Hall’s safe[54] stood the test with Edwards & Flaherty.
Excerpt from History of Monmouth and Wales[55] by Harry H. Cochrane
“While Wales has been
extremely fortunate in the matter of loss by fire, losing only three buildings
in that way, since it was incorporated as a town, and two of these in the past
five years, Monmouth has been as extremely unfortunate. It is safe to assert
that Monmouth has had, on an average, a conflagration for each two years of its
existence as an incorporated town; and since 1860 this rate has nearly doubled.
If we count each separate stand that has gone up in flames since that date, the
average would be something above one for each of the thirty-five years. And yet
Monmouth has not so much as a single ladder or fire-bucket that could be
brought into service in case of fire, without borrowing. The fallacy of thus
toying with the fates was exemplified, in a most thorough manner, on the 19th
of April 1888, when the entire business portion of Monmouth Center was leveled
to the ground.
“It was Fast day when this
awful catastrophe occurred, and everything was moving lazily. The afternoon
mail had arrived and was distributed and mostly delivered. A few loafers were
hanging about the post office, which was located in a new three-floored store
owned by Edwards & Flaherty. This store had been built only two years
before, to take the place of one which was destroyed by fire on the same site
in the fall of 1885, and was the most pretentious building ever erected in
Monmouth. The first floor was used by the proprietors as a dry goods and drug
store, the second, as a dwelling flat and the third, as an entertainment hall.
The basement was filled with such articles of commerce as are generally found
in a country store, including barrels of kerosene, cans of turpentine, oil and
varnish, and casks of rosin and other inflammable[56]
substances. All at once, a puff of smoke came from beneath, and in an instant, the building was in flames. The loafers rushed to the street for their lives,
and the proprietors followed them, not getting time to secure the remnant of
the mail, the postage stamps, money drawer, or even to lock their safe. Fifteen
minutes later the chief of the Lewiston fire department received a telegram
from Monmouth which read: “The town's on fire. Send immediate help.” One hour
and five minutes from that time, a special train, consisting of two flats and a
passenger car, dashed into the village bearing the L. C. Peck, Lewiston's
largest steamer, and a crowd of willing helpers.
“In the
meantime the fire had made sad havoc. An alarm from the church bells had
brought the villagers to the scene with water-pails and homemade ladders, and
many of them worked heroically to save the surrounding buildings, while the
flames mocked their energy. Curling its red tongue toward the north, the fire
fiend lapped up a small building occupied by E. L. Harlow as a cobbler's shop,
and then sprang to the roof of a shoe-store owned by O. S. Edwards. Still
working northward, it devoured a large building owned by S. O. & R. G. King
and occupied, on the first floor, by Gilman & Beale as a hardware store and
above, by Frank Whitney as a dwelling. Next, it made its way to the dry goods and
grocery store of E. A. Dudley, and a moment later was fastening its greedy jaws
on the ell of a fine stand owned by H. A. Williams. This house was occupied by
Mr. Williams and his father-in-law, Nelson P. Barker. The aged wife of the
latter was sick, and was removed with considerable difficulty to a house beyond
the fire track. The stand flanked the railroad crossing and was the last
building on the east side of the street for quite a distance. Consequently, the
flames were stopped at that point without difficulty, although constant
watchfulness was required to prevent the lodgment of brands and cinders on the
M. E. church and parsonage beyond.
“While buildings on the
north were rapidly falling, the paint on those on the south began to blister
and smoke. Next to the store where the fire originated, on the same side, was
the dwelling-house of M. O. Edwards, the senior partner of the firm of Edwards
& Flaherty. This was soon in ashes and the hotel at the corner of Main and
Maple streets quickly followed it. On the opposite side of Maple street wet
blankets and liberal distribution of water on the buildings of R. G. King
saved that stand and the Congregational church, which almost joined it. Turning
the corner at Maple street, the flames followed down the ell and stable
connected with the hotel and leaped across a narrow driveway to a harness shop
occupied by W. A. Smith, with a tenement above. The Cochnewagan stream flowed
between this and the next building, and here, by a tremendous effort[57]
the fire was turned.
“Across the street from the
Edwards & Flaherty store was a block containing two stores, one occupied as
a grain store by Mr. Jewett, and the other, as a marble shop by H. S. Hooper,[58]
and two tenements above. The flames and sparks were blowing in the opposite
direction, but the heat was so intense that this block was soon in flames. A
livery stable which adjoined it on the west was the next to fall, and a large
store separated from it by a narrow alley was not long in following. This store
was occupied by W. W. Woodbury, in the sale of boots and shoes and ready-made
clothing and the upper floor was furnished for the manufacture of coats for
the Boston trade.
“At the rear of the King
store was a large house containing three tenements, the principal one of which
was occupied by Mrs. Getchell as a boarding house; and in the rear of the
Dudley store was a small dwelling-house occupied by John A. Wilcox and a large
one owned by Simon Clough. This last was the finest dwelling-house in the
village.
“Sad as was the spectacle of
an entire village falling into ashes a yet sadder one followed, for the goods
that had been carried into the street for safety caught from the excessive
heat, and, like a line of tinder, the accumulations of years, and mementos that
no years of toil could replace flashed up for a moment, and then fell in a bed
of sparkling coals.
“The weird appearance of the village streets that night could be described by no one but Charles Dickens. Eighteen homeless families turned from the hospitable doors that were opened to them and wandered, with strange fascination, among the debris, their melancholy faces lit up by the intermittent flashes of the now dying flames; tall black chimneys and skeletons of trees stood like gaunt demons in every direction; heaps of rubbish, so mixed that they looked as if they would hardly pay for sorting were scattered here and there. In one place a homeless man cooked his supper over a smoldering nail keg; in another, groups of women with shawls over their heads were hysterically exchanging experiences. Men who ought to have been praying were swearing vociferously, women were weeping and children ran about with excited faces, enjoying the novelty as keenly as they lamented the misfortune. Busy reporters flying around in anxious haste to secure every particular, collided
 |
| Simon Clough (Courtesy of Monmouth Museum). |
Hailed as the “Monmouth Oracle”[59] he was sought out for information on
legal matters and local history. Son of Asa and Mary F. Griffin Clough of
Norris Hill, he served a year in the Civil War in the 28th Maine. He
was a postal clerk on the Central Maine Railroad, a justice of the peace, a
carpenter and house-builder, and active in politics for 40 years. His famous
brother, Capt. Benjamin Clough heroically defeated a mutiny on a ship in the
Indian Ocean in 1844 when he was only a 3rd mate. Quite the colorful
character, a news-paper[60] article quotes Simon as saying,
“Personally, I am from fighting stock. My great grandfather, Benjamin Clough,
was in the revolution. My father, Asa Clough, was in the War of 1812. My
brother, Capt. Ben Clough, served in the Aroostook war, I was in the rebellion,
and my nephew was in the Spanish war. We try to furnish some of our family for
every war that comes along.” He lived to be almost 80 years old.
with elephantine coffee-pots borne by
dispensers of both sexes flying around in as anxious haste to secure, and fill
to the chin, every brave fireman who had rendered such valuable service. Such a
spectacle is seen but once in a lifetime, and it can not be afforded oftener,
for it cost, at least, $40,000.
“It would seem as if an
experience like this would lead to the immediate purchase of something in the
line of fire-extinguishing apparatus, but nothing has yet been done. A special town meeting was called, it is true, to discuss the expediency of providing for
future emergencies, but whatever plans were developed, like the village, went
up in smoke. And because nothing was done thousands of dollars in valuable
buildings have since gone up in smoke.
“...An assessment of one per
cent of the real estate valuation of the town would purchase two good
second-hand extinguishers; but in this case, at least, the burned child does
not fear the fire.”
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map (October 1885 - modified)
1. Gilman & Beal’s shoe store; second-floor tenement: Frank Whitney; owned by Samuel O. & Rufus G. King.
2. Gilman & Beal’s
hardware store- owned by Edwards & Flaherty.
3. Oliver S. Edwards’ shoe
store-owner M. Edwards.
4. Ephraim L. Harlow’s shoemaker shop.
5. Edwards & Flaherty’s Store and post office – where
the fire started.
6. Home and stable of M. O.
Edwards (of Edwards & Flaherty).
7. Cochnewagan House (Old
Tavern) kept by David A. Pinkham.
8. W. W. Woodbury’s Store- clothing, shoes and boots.
9. F. S. Jewett’s grain
store; H. S. Hooper’s marble shop; two tenements above-(former Moody Block).
9a.Livery stable run by
William Borneman; owned by Edwards & Flaherty.
10. The ruins of the 1885 fire; pile of lumber on site.
11. Blossom House – not burned.
12. Saddlery/harness shop
occupied by W. A. Smith; tenement: Smith, Loon, Frank Wadsworth- owner Clough.
13. Elias Wadsworth's house saved by Johnny Prescott.
14. E. A. Dudley’s general
dry goods and groceries; owned by his father, W. K. Dudley.
14a.Small house occupied by John A. Wilcox; Civil War veteran: 7th
Maine Co. K, ankle wounded at Antietam; owned by Clough.
15. Home of Henry A. &
Lydia Williams; and his parents-in-law, Mr. & Mrs. Nelson P. Barker.
16. Two-story house and
stable built by Simon Clough.
17. Mrs. Getchell’s large boarding-house, three-tenements. Flaherty’s
sisters lived here.
18. Small house occupied by John M. Turner, section man on the Maine
Central Railroad – not burned.
 |
Photo by George F. McIntosh, Gardiner, Maine (Courtesy Monmouth Museum).
|
The devastation in Monmouth Center the day after the fire.
This photo is taken from Maple Street,
facing northwest, perhaps out the window of the Blacksmith Shop.
On the far left is the Blossom House –
presently painted yellow and across from Monmouth Museum office on Main Street.
The long building in the middle is the
Train Depot that stood only 10 feet from Woodbury’s destroyed building.
The large white two-story building is
the Grand Army Hall Block owned by Simon Clough- burned in 1965.
The little building to the right of the
G. A. Hall is the present-day Leone’s Restaurant.
Up the street, the tall building with
windows in its mansard roof is the Grange Hall – just after today’s fire
station.
LEWISTON EVENING JOURNAL
SATURDAY,
APRIL 28, 1888
COUNTING
THE COST
Among the Ruins of Monmouth’s Great Fire.
The Town Discussing the Fire Extinguisher.
Buying the Hardware and Picking Bargains
Out of the Embers.
Picturesqueness Among the Ashes of
Prosperity.
Re-opening Stores In Close Quarters.
The Propositions for Rebuilding Hanging
Fire Till Town Meeting.
[Special to Lewiston Journal.]
Monmouth, April 28.
The great fire which swept
through the business section of Monmouth Center, on Fast Day, was an awful
scorcher, for today there is nothing but ashes in the stead of modern business
blocks and residences. Every building in the center of this busy town was
fire-swept, clean to the ground. One stalking chimney, however, is yet standing
in these ruins, and that the grim, old-fashioned chimney in the center of the
ruins of the Cochnewagan Hotel, the ancient hostelry of the section. But the
universal courage is way up in the face of this wholesale ruin, and the victims
of the fire, instead of folding their hands and weeping, are busy clearing
their burnt acres and getting ready to build again as soon as possible. Indeed,
Monmouth Center has been the busiest of the springtime since the fire. Work
was commenced
Clearing Away
the debris, the morning after the conflagration, and has
continued up to Saturday, when the business section begins to look quite
respectable for a fire-swept town.
Those who were the heaviest
losers, are making the best of their misfortune, and say they are only waiting
to find out what the town will do about an L. C. Peck of steam-power, to drown
out all possible future fires, before they interview the builders and
contractors and start new building enterprises.
A call for a special town
meeting has just been issued where the steam fire engine and the hydrant
questions will be discussed. Undoubtedly a fire company will be formed[61]
and decisive steps taken for a proper protection against fire.
“I hope the town will follow
the Journal’s suggestion and appoint
for chief of her fire department the chap[62]
who climbed the Wadsworth ridge-pole, and vowed by the Eternal the house should
live through the fire, and it did come out with only a slight scorching. I
reckon the young man saved the house anyhow.” The foregoing was spoken by one
of the heaviest tax-payers in town.
People from the surrounding
country have flocked to Monmouth Center in crowds, every day since the fire,
viewing the ruins and buying some of the damaged stock. Lots of the farmers
have been picking up
Damaged Hardware
on the ruins of Gilman and Beal's hardware store,
and tugging heavy loads of these damaged goods to their homes. One man bought
600 pounds of nails that went through the fire.
Here is a sample of how the
goods sold. A well-known farmer accosted one of the members of the hardware
firm, Friday, as he was weighing out old iron on a pair of iron scales, by the
side of a road, and showed a big iron kettle full of nails that he pulled from
the rubbish.
“How much do you want for
that?” said the farmer.
“O, perhaps it is worth five
cents, it cost me at wholesale over a dollar. Making money today, ain't I?”
said the hardware man.
The line of improvements has
already commenced. A new sidewalk is just completed on Main street along the
track of the black ruins. The next improvement will follow at once- new
hitching posts, for nothing remains of the long row of posts on Main street
today, but a few grim stumps.
Nobody Knows How
the fire started, and the opinion here still seems
to be that it was spontaneous among light oils.
The Cycle of Cycling Dinners.
“The members of your Lewiston
and Auburn wheel club will miss the old Cochnewagan on their cycling tours to
Monmouth Center, some of these summer days,” said mine host, D. A. Pinkham,
Saturday morning, hunting for the ancient swinging sign of the Cochnewagan in
the rubbish, but it wasn't there. “Your Lewiston cyclers used to come out here
once a week, last summer, and we always tried to give them the best dinner the
town afforded.”
“Yes,” said Leander
Macomber,[63]
one of the oldest residents of Monmouth Center, who has lived here fourscore
years and ten,[64]
“I hated to see the old Cochnewagan go. I built the hotel and did business at
the stand myself fifty-five years ago. One of my children was born in that
hotel and two more saw the light of day in the next house. I fought as hard as any
of the lads to save that house, too. I am in my seventy-ninth year, but I
suppose I didn’t fall from the ranks of the bucket brigade until I saw it was
no use, and that the building had got to go. Too bad, that the old place where
my children were born is now nothing but a pile of ashes.”
The Upbuilding.
Since the fire, Landlord
Pinkham has sold the site of the burned hotel to A. M. Kyle, who, I am told,
contemplates building a three-story block thereon. “And I hear it is to be of
brick,” said a well-known Monmouth businessman.
Gilman & Beal, the
hardware merchants who were burned out, have purchased a building site on the
deserted Main street, and will probably rebuild as soon as possible.
I asked Mr. Flaherty of the
firm of Edwards & Flaherty, who are among the heaviest losers by the fire if his firm would rebuild this summer, and he said, “We have made no definite
plans as yet. Like some of the rest in our plight, we are waiting to see what
comes out of our special town meeting, where we shall talk about a proper
protection against fire, and then we will see about building.”[65]
There is every indication
now that Main street will be built up again at once. “Of course the fire has
been a great blow to us,” said one of the losers, “but Farmington people had
great grit, and I hope we’ve got the Yankee push here.”
The post office has been
moved to the Grange store, so-called, above the railroad opposite the Methodist
church. The Grange store, by the way, is the only business depot of the town
these desolate days. Mr. Woodbury has just opened a boot and shoe store in this
building, where the relic of his valuable stock which was saved was transferred
soon after the fire. E. A. Dudley has reopened a grocery store in the first
building above the railroad, and Monmouth folks can now steep their tea and
coffee and get their flour and molasses supply. Many of the families that were
burned out have moved the few household goods that were hustled out of the
burning houses, and themselves, into the country.
 |
| E. A. Dudley (Courtesy Monmouth Museum – Hanson Studio, Portland, Maine). |
The Losses.
The extent of the losses can
hardly yet be accurately computed, but I send you a carefully collected
statement of the same, as far as I have been able to ascertain them.
Loss on the Cochnewagan
House and stable, owned by D. A. Pinkham, $2,500; insured for $1400. Only a
small part of the furniture in this hotel was saved. The balance was a total
loss.
Loss on a dwelling house on
Maple Street, owned by Simon Clough, $400. No insurance. This residence was
occupied by Frank Wadsworth, Augustus Loon, and William A. Smith. Mr. Smith saved
a good part of his personal property, and his loss was slight. Mr. Loon’s
household goods were a total loss. No insurance. Mr. Wadsworth also lost nearly
all his household goods. They were uninsured.
The loss on the story and a
half residence and stable owned by Edwards & Flaherty was $1800. Insured
for $1400 in the North American Insurance Company of Boston. This residence was
occupied by M. O. Edwards. All the furniture was burned. Insured for $500.
Loss on Edwards &
Flaherty’s drug store, $8,000. Insured for $4,000 in the Etna, Hartford and
Fire Association of Philadelphia. Their $10, 000 stock was all burned.
Insurance on stock $7,000; insured in the Phoenix and Connecticut, Hanover,
Liverpool, London, Globe and Home insurance companies. Loss on a small building
owned and occupied by Lewis Harlow as a repair shop $200. No insurance. Loss on
building owned by M. O. Edwards and occupied by O. S. Edwards as a boot and
shoe store, $600. No insurance.
O. S. Edwards’s loss on the stock
was $2,000. Insured for $1,300 in the Hanover Insurance Company. Loss on a
store owned by Edwards & Flaherty $1,500. Insured for $1,200. This store
was occupied by Gilman & Beal, hardware dealers. Their loss was $6,000;
insured for $4,800. The loss on a two-story building owned by R. G. and S. O.
King was $2,000; insured for $1,500. Wm. K. Dudley's loss on a building
occupied by E. A. Dudley, grocer, was $1,200. Insured for $800. Mr. E. A.
Dudley's loss was $3,500. Insured $2,000. H. A. Williams loses $3,500 on his
dwelling house. Insured for $2,800 in the Quincy Mutual.
A dwelling house owned by
Simon Clough was a total loss of $800. John Wilcox, the occupant of this house
loses $200 worth of household effects.
Simon Clough also loses
nearly $4,500 more through the burning of his fine residence and stable.
Insured for $525, in the North American Company. Mrs. Etta Dudley and Charles
Frost tenants in this house, each lose $125 worth of personal property. Loss on
the building owned by the estate of Mark Getchell, and occupied by Mrs.
Getchell as a boarding house, $2000. Insured for $1500. Mrs. Getchell's loss
was $1000. Loss on the Moody Block[66]
so-called, owned by M. O. Edwards, $2000. Insured for $1500 in the Royal
Insurance Company.
W. W. Woodbury’s loss in his
store and stock of boots and shoes is $5000, or thereabouts (partially
insured.)
Misses Lizzie and Nellie
Flaherty loss $700 worth of household goods. Insured for $500. Mrs. Eva Cowan's
loss on furniture $700. Insured for $500. H. M. Hooper lost $800 on his marble
shop. No insurance.
I was unable to find many of the tenants who were turned out, as several of them are temporarily residing several miles out of town. The revised list of losses, of course, varies somewhat from the hastily assembled schedule at the time of the fire, but the list I herewith give is an improvement over the first estimates.
 |
| (Courtesy Monmouth Museum). |
Right
to Left:
Cochnewagan House, M. O. Edwards’ home, Edwards & Flaherty’s store, (itty-bitty
dark bldg.) Harlow’s shoemaker’s shop, O. S. Edwards’ shoe store, Gilman &
Beal’s hardware store, Gilman & Beal’s shoe store, Dudley’s general store, H. Williams’ home, M. E. Parsonage, M. E.
church steeple, Center Cemetery, Town Hall.
 |
| The west side of Main Street in Monmouth Center facing south prior to the fire of 1888. (Courtesy of the Monmouth Museum). |
The Blossom House is partially visible behind the boat a little to the left.
*Final Notes*
No life was lost
that day.
The fire started
at 3:45 P.M. Lewiston was called at 4 P.M. They got the L. C. Peck steam fire
engine on the train and heading out of Lewiston by 4:40 P.M. (There was a 15
minute delay.) The L. C. Peck arrived in Monmouth at 5:05 P.M. It started
pumping water onto the fire at 5:10 P.M., 70 minutes after the call- and that
was considered excellent time! No additional buildings were lost after
the Lewiston Fire Department got there.
The news stories
seem to be a combining of reports from two or three reporters, thus the
differing writing styles and conflicting information. The headline said,
“Graphic Pen Pictures of the Scenes of Devastation”, but we were disappointed
not to find them on the microfilm.
Monmouth was not
quick to establish a fire department. They waited until after another serious
fire in 1903 to buy a fifty-year-old hand pump (which was displayed at this
year’s Monmouth Museum Apple Fest- much to the delight of current fire
department personnel).
The Sanborn Fire
Insurance Map from 1894 shows that all the burned buildings were replaced
except for these: the store where the fire started and the livery stable, both
belonging to Edwards & Flaherty, Merton O. Edwards’ home, and Henry A.
Williams’ home.
The old Town
Hall was moved in 1900 to the spot where the Edwards home was, and Rhonda’s
Grill (formerly Curly’s Restaurant) sits upon the spot where Edwards &
Flaherty had built their ‘pretentious’ store in 1886. The locations of the
livery stable and Henry Williams’ home are still unoccupied.
This story has been fascinating to me
since I first read it a year ago. I remember tears coming to my eyes when I
read about Johnny Prescott’s boldness and courage, and thinking what a fine
young man he must have been. I also enjoyed the delightfully warm writing style
of the newspaper journalists.
My interest in the history of Monmouth
began last year when my husband and I bought Rod Cumber’s apartment building
(a.k.a. Dr. Chenery’s place, or the Oscar F. Frost homestead) on Main Street. I
found out that one of the previous owners was Edwards & Flaherty! The more
I have researched and read about the people of Monmouth, the more near and dear
to my heart they have become. Harry Cochrane’s History has been such a rich source of information. I’m thankful to
all those who have gone before me to preserve the history of Monmouth, and
especially to Bobbie Bowler for allowing me the honor of preparing this
article, and for sharing with me her time and her many abilities in historical
research.
 |
| Darlene Rose Kritzman 2004. |
[1]
April 19, 1888 - Fast Day was a civil holiday of public fasting, humiliation,
and prayer, called by the Governor of Maine (Sebastian S. Marble -1887-1889).
[2]
Kind; gracious; favorable.
[3]
Expressing much in few words.
[4]
Actually telegraph.
[5] I.
B. Merrill – Lewiston Fire Chief - 1881, 1882, 1888.
[6]
Whims.
[7]
Most likely the Blossom House.
[8] A
soft, gentle breeze.
[9]
Probably Henry A. Williams’ place.
[10]
Johnny Prescott, s/o Henry Albert Prescott, born 1864.
[11]
Elias H. Wadsworth, Millman in sawmill.
[12]
Harry Cochrane called it “the most pretentious building ever erected in
Monmouth”.
[13]
Enterprising.
[14]
Only.
[15]
Cathalena Phillips Edwards Flaherty, Flaherty’s wife, and Edwards’ sister. Her
family suffered the majority of loss from the fire- fully half of the total.
[16]
W. W. Woodbury, boot, shoe & clothing
dealer.
[17]
Miscellaneous.
[18]
He stayed a few years, went to Nashua, N. H. for about 15 years, then came back
again.
[19]
Aggravation.
[20]
Ashamed.
[21] A
mythical bird that is reborn out of ashes.
[22]
Joker.
[23]
Thin.
[24]
Entrepreneurs.
[25]
Cheap or inferior liquor.
[26]
Remarks.
[27]
Summary.
[28] Ephraim Lewis Harlow, shoemaker.
[29]
Oliver S. Edwards, shoe seller.
[30]
Rufus G. and Samuel O. King, brothers.
[31]
Frank worked in a moccasin factory. He had a wife and two kids.
[32] Lewiston Evening Journal, 23 August
1888, p. 2.
[33]
John M. Turner.
[34]
Four rods = 66 feet.
[35]
Actually the ‘Moody Block’.
[36]
Marble monuments and gravestones.
[37]
One of the largest apple export markets of the nation.
[38]
Probably M. O. Edwards. There is a pile of lumber next door to the Blossom
House in front of the barn in the photo on page 13.
[39]
Uttered furious blame.
[40]
Supply.
[41]
Edwards & Flaherty’s ‘pretentious’ building.
[42]
In a convenient manner.
[43]
Dropped.
[44]
Courageous.
[45]
A long four-wheeled carriage, having seats for many people.
[46]
"Uncle Joe's Hail Columbia" (1862) by Henry Clay Work –
a rowdy abolitionist tune.
[47]
Drunkards.
[48]
Dancing.
[49]
The late Rev. Mark Getchell.
[50] A
mistake. It was owned by M. O. Edwards.
[51]
Ephraim L. Harlow.
[52]
Augusta Woodbury Getchell, Rev. Mark Getchell’s daughter-in-law.
[53]
Courageous.
[54] A
well-made safe, about 5’ high, 5’ wide, and 4’ deep.
[55]
Harry H. Cochrane, History of Monmouth
and Wales, Vol. II
(East Winthrop: Banner Company, 1894), pp. 839-844.
[56]
This word used to mean ‘flammable’.
[57]
The effort of Johnny Prescott and those who helped him.
[58]
Horace M. Hooper.
[59]
Wise person.
[60]
Found in a scrapbook. Source unknown.
[61] A
fire company was not formed until 1903.
[62]
Johnny Prescott. (He did not become fire chief.)
[63]
Born 2 May 1810, almost 78 years old.
[64] A
mistake. He’s almost fourscore years. (A score equals 20.)
[65]
They did not rebuild.
[66]
Formerly owned by Lucy Ann & David Thomas Moody, siblings.
