1858, May 18th, Another Disastrous Conflagration. Nine Lives Lost, Chicago.

About three o'clock in the morning, our city was visited by another of those disastrous conflagrations which now and then come to send a thrill of horror through the community.

On the West side of South Wells Street, between Jackson and Van Buren Streets, stood a row of four two-story wooden tenements, occupied on the street level by a bakery and the others for saloons and on the second floor by a number of families.

№ 258, the south tenement, situated on an alley, was occupied by Damiel Bates, known as "English Dan," as a saloon, and he and his wife lived above.

№ 260 was vacant on the main floor.

№ 262 was occupied by John Wilson's bakery, and his family resided above.

№ 264 was occupied by the Troy Exchange" saloon, owned by Patrick Howard. 

№ 266 was partially burned.

In the upper stories of the first four named buildings were sleeping, at the time the fire broke out, Daniel Bates and his wife; Harrison Burgar, his wife and three children; John Johnson, his wife and one child; William Reilly and his mother and three other persona, whose names have not been ascertained.

At three o'clock, the kitchen extension in the rear of № 258 was discovered to be in flames. Still, for some reason, those who first discovered the fire, instead of giving the alarm, called for the police and attempted to rescue the property on the lower floor, also neglecting to render aid to those sleeping in the upper room.

The cry for the police summoned officers Brazce and Ewing, upon whose beats the burning building was, and not until their arrival was the alarm of fire sounded. At the time, the wind was blowing the flames against the front portions of the tenements and filling the upper rooms with dense and suffocating smoke. Officer Brazee ascended one flight of stairs leading from the street and Officer Ewing another. Brazee was forced back by the smoke, but Ewing kicked open the door and immediately two men rushed out, one of them, Mr. Johnson, and the other unknown. By this time, the smoke became so dense, and the flames spread so rapidly that the policemen were compelled to retreat. However, they could hear groans from those inside the rooms.

Owing to the tardy arrival of the firemen, it being long after the flames were visible from Clark Street before the Court House bell sounded the alarm, and the cries of "fire" being confined to the immediate scene of the disaster, the flames spread rapidly, and the four buildings were soon destroyed, and horrible to relate, nine perished in them, while three others are missing.

As soon as the flames were sufficiently subdued to render it possible, the charred and blackened remains of the unfortunate victims were dug from the ruins and removed to the Armory Building. There they were laid, a ghastly, frightful row of what a few hours before had been fair types of humanity.

Coroner Hansen was in hand and organized the following jury of inquest: James E. Brown, Foreman E.H. Smith, J.C. Reinhart, Charles Partridge, M.S. Nichols, C.W. Dawson, S.W. Wallace, C.S. Burdsall, William Rennie, Remig Gootz, H.S. Hilon, and D. Bloom.

The bodies were then identified as follows, the number being those placed on the bodies by the Coroner:

№ 1. Wife of Harrison Burgar. This body was considerably burned and disfigured.

№ 2. Son of John Johnson, a ten-year-old child. This body was also considerably charred.

№ 3. Margaret Johnson, wife of John Johnson. Her maiden name was Malone, and she was formerly engaged in the business of peddling goods about the city. The body was not burned too badly and was readily recognized.

№ 4. The body of William Reilly, a middle-aged Irishman. The body was terribly burned and mutilated. He was a clerk of Van Smith, who has a lumber store and construction office.

№ 5. The body of Harrison Burgar, a carpenter by trade, and was Danish.

№ 6. Mother of William Reilly mentioned above. Her remains were so badly burned and disfigured, making her identification difficult.

№ 7, 8, and 9. The girls and a boy, aged respectively three, five, and seven. The children of Harrison and Margaret Burgar. These bodies were so badly burned their recognition was circumstantial. 

These were all the bodies that could be found, and they were placed in coffins by the coroner for interment.

The following are the more important portions of the testimony taken by the coroner:

JAMES HALL, sworn — I got to the fire about a quarter of an hour after the first alarm; the premises were in a blaze; I belong to the Fire Brigade; I did not go into the houses; I could not get in; I tried to go up stairs; they were two-story frame houses; I tried to get into the second house from the alley; I saw bodies taken out and helped to take them out; I helped to take out the bodies numbered one and two (boy and a female); helped to take out bodies numbered three and four (a male and female); I cannot say anything as to the rest of the bodies; I found the first two bodies very near the front of the building on the alley; found the others about the center of the building to the south; I do not know the names of any of the parties; I think the fire occured about three o'clock; it may have been eariler; I have had no conversation with any one in regard to the fire; when I got there the fire appeared to be in the read part of the building on the alley. There was a dance in the Illinois House, towards the end of the block, near Van Buren Street; it was kept up nearly all night, and there was a good deal of noise there; It was a "Dutch" dance; the first building was a saloon kept by an Irish boy known as "English Dan"; Dan says it is the third time the building has been set on fire.

AUSTIN BRIZEE (Policeman Star № 73), sworn — I was on beat № 9 last night; I passed those premises about a quarter before three o'clock; saw no lights there in any buildings, nor in that block; all was quiet; heard the cry of fire when  I was on the corner of Quincy and Clark Streets; got there before Ewing, I think; I came down Jackson Street; the fire seemed to be between the two buildings, in the partition; saw no fire, but the reflection from the rear; there was plenty of smoke; thought the fire was in the partition between the rear and the front parts of the house; went into the second story of the first building and burst the door open; two men came out; one was John Johnson: do not know the other; do not know that they were dressed; I asked them if there were any other persons in the building, and they said there were; when I went upstairs I heard someone groaning.

HENRY EWING, sworn — I am a policeman; my number is 78; I was on Wells street beat № 9 this morning; I am familiar with the place where the fire was, but do not know the number of the house; when I got there the bcak kitchen was in flames; there were five or six men there, who seemed to be trying to get things out of the house; did not notice who they were; I asked them if they could get buckets; I had been there on my beat an hour previous; they hollered "fire" first; heard no cry of fire before; do not know that we met any one; the fire was so close to my own house that it startled me; saw a woman and two or three men trying to get things out; had to go around to another house to get water; the hydrant in that yard was out of order the entire rear of the kitchen part of the house was on fire and the wind driving the smoke and flames into the front part of the house; I ran around to the front of the house and got a candle at Hannegan's Saloon, next door; I went up stairs; it was pitch dark and there was no fire up stairs to be seen; I opened a door and there came out smoke whichput out my door and there smoke came out which put out my candle and drove me down the stairs; it was black with smoke, and I only got the the head of the stairs; did not got to the door.

DANIEL BATES, sworn — I live at 266 South Wells Street; kept a saloon; went to bed a little after ten; slept upstairs; wife went to bed at the same time; I  rented the upper room to a man named Harrison, a carpenter, his wife and three or four children, a Frenchman, a widow woman named Riley and her son, a peddler, his wife and child. The peddler is away. The first I knew of the fire, my wife woke up and said, "My God! Dan, the house is on fire." I jumped up and opened the door, and the smoke rushed in and sent me back. I then opened the window and jumped and told her to follow, and I would catch her. She jumped and injured herself. Mrs. Riley screamed from the front window that the house was on fire; told her to jump, but she went back, and that was the last I ever saw of her. The next person I saw was Johnson, who got out; There was no fire in any place, but a back shed in the rear of the vacant rooms, between me and the bakery was all in flames; the building was owned by Smith; the landlord and I had some words a few days since, and he has sued me for rent. My property was not insured. 

Mr. Johnson states that he and his wife stood by the door when Officer Ewing burst it open and that he supposes instead of following him, she went back for her son and perished in her attempt to save his life.

Daniel Bates states that when he was awakened, he opened the window, jumped out, and told his wife to jump after him and he would catch her in his arms. She jumped, however, before her husband succeeded in recovering sufficiently to catch her, and she fell upon the sidewalk, severely injuring herself. She was badly burned, and it is doubtful if she will recover.

One of those present at the fire states that a man was seen rushing toward the stairs with a child in his arms and that he fell, and nothing more was seen of him. This is no doubt Mr. Burgar, as beneath his burned and ghastly remains, the body of a young child was found.

It is possible that most of those who lost their lives were wholly or partially smothered by the dense smoke which filled the upper rooms for some time before the flames reached them, and this accounts for the non-discovery of the fire by the occupants until it had made such headway as to render escape nearly or quite impossible.

A package of gold coins amounting to $200, was found in the ruine. It is supposed to have been the property of Mr. Burgar.

Building № 262 was owned by John Kane, and building № 264 by John A. Phelps. Building № 266 was only partially burned. The Buildings № 258 and 260 were owned by Mr. A Smith. The property was not insured, and the pecuniary loss is about $6,000.

We have given all the particulars of this disaster, which ranks only second to the "Great Conflagration" on Lake Street in the terrible loss of human life.

It is generally believed that the fire was the work of an incendiary, as the building had been set on fire from the outside twice before. Still, the intentions of the dastardly incendiary were frustrated by the timely discovery of the fire by the tenants. We trust the police will make every exertion to trace out the origin of the fire, and should the incendiary be found, if one there is in this case, he should be made fully to expiate his terrible crime.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.