Chapter 20

Presenting The Sun Fire Company

In the eighteenth century calamities visited Alexandria, and of these nothing was more feared than fire. To prevent and control such catastrophes the gentlemen of the town formed themselves into several companies of fire fighters. How and with what means the raging holocausts were controlled is revealed in an old, mutilated, leather-bound minute book of the Sun Fire Company.[135] The first entry in this treasure is part of the damaged record for the March meeting in 1775. The next page is numbered 9 and contains the minutes for the April meeting. This is evidence that the Company was formed in 1774 between August and December.

At this March 1775 meeting it was agreed to limit the number of the Company to forty-five persons. The clerk for this meeting was John Dalton; members served as clerks in rotation. Absent members were fined one shilling three pence. Members were to be provided with two buckets, a brown linen or oznaburg bag containing at least four yards of material, and a wicker basket as soon as possible after admittance. These were to be hung up in good order and always in place. There was a forfeiture of money for any neglect. The Company took some several months to acquire proper ladders and hooks. In April the "propriety of purchasing an Engine" was discussed and at the June meeting it was agreed to postpone the matter. Three ladders were then finished but most of the buckets were at the painters being marked with owners' names and numbers. By August the ladders had been completed by Thomas Flemming, and John Dalton was ordered to procure locks with proper staples for securing the ladders under the "piazza of the Court House."

As the Revolutionary War got under way many of the members were excused, "being frequently abroad on the Servis of Their Country." Among these were Captain Valentine Peirs, Captain John Allison, Colonel John Fitzgerald and J. Windsor Brown.

Unfortunately the clerks took for granted that everybody knew when there had been a fire and rarely are these important events mentioned in the minutes. In January 1777, "William Wilson lost a bucket at the late fire" and he was authorized to purchase another at the Company's expense; Robert Adam, who was clerk, forgot to "warn the Company and was fined Ten Shillings"; several members neglected to put up lights when the late fire happened at Zael Cooper's and the fine was two shillings. The next clerk was "desired to Enquire of the several members if they had candles at their windows and to collect Fines from such of them as had not."

The light begins to break--at the first hint of fire the Company member must, at the fastest possible speed, put lighted candles in the front windows of his dwelling. This was Alexandria's first alarm system! The member then dashed for four yards of material in an oznaburg bag, two leather fire buckets (they each weighed as much as a saddle) and a wicker basket and, without stopping, he raced to the fire, where he either pumped water, formed spectators in ranks for passing buckets, removed goods from burning houses in his bag or basket, climbed ladders or pulled down adjoining houses when necessary; and last but not least watched to "prevent evil minded persons from plundering sufferers." The only tranquil occupation was that of the "sentinels" who kept watch over goods removed from the conflagration wherever such goods were deposited.

What a spectacular sight a fire in Alexandria presented when one remembers the elegant dress of the day; short clothes, elaborate jackets or vests, ruffled linen, full skirted coats, perukes, queues braided and beribboned, powdered heads in three-cornered hats, silken and white hose, buckled shoes; and that fires generally occurred in winter upon the coldest days and in the worst weather, often at night, and that these firemen were the élite of the town, the serious, responsible merchants, doctors, masters, ship captains and owners.

There was some reward now and then for their efforts. At the April meeting in 1777, the "Succeeding Clerk is desired to warn the Company to meet next month at the _Ball Room_ and to Desire the Treasurer to purchase Ten Gallons of Spirits, and one Loaf of Sugar Candles etc. The Clerk to have the Ball Room cleaned and put in order." Alas, the members were either not warned or invited for only six showed up. The next month was worse, again no warning and only four came. The clerk was ordered to warn again and provide what spirit, sugar and candles may be necessary for the next meeting and "that the same be held in the Town House." The clerk was reimbursed "one pound Two Shillings for white washing and cleaning the Ball Room."

On February 22, 1779, a resolution was passed to fine the clerk refusing or neglecting his duty forty-two shillings, and absent members three shillings. There was a fine called the "Moreover Fine," which was increased from five shillings to nine shillings, and the Company voted to dispose of any sum not exceeding £5 "when less than 2/3 of the members are met." Besides funds in cash, the Company had 1,000 pounds of tobacco on hand. The following July the Company ordered the tobacco sold.

On Monday, October 27, 1783, nine years after the founding of the Company, the succeeding clerk is ordered to give notice that at the next meeting a proposal will be made to dispose of the money in stock in the purchase of an engine. Two months later, undaunted by the recent unpleasantness, the treasurer was requested to "Import from London on account of this Company a fire engine value from seventy to eighty pounds sterling." It took two years for the engine to arrive. Preparatory to its reception, officers were appointed for its direction. Nine stalwart members were chosen, and they were ordered to serve nine months. Six shillings each was collected from the members to help make up the deficiency, and a committee was appointed to wait upon the county court with a petition requesting ground sufficient for building an enginehouse upon the courthouse lot. This was granted and the enginehouse was built on Fairfax Street "adjoining the school House." The members were called on for a dollar each for this purpose and it was later necessary to borrow another dollar. Two keys were ordered labeled "Sun Fire Company."

The April minutes in 1786 contain the invoice for the engine:

To a Fire Engine Imported from London with 2 dozen buckets Amt p. invoice £ 72.14 Commission on shipping D^o--5% 3.12. 8 Insurance on £76 @ 2-1/2pc 1.18 Freight from London 6. 6 ---------- £ 84.10. 8 Exchange 40 pc^1 33.16. 2 ---------- 118. 6.10 Freight from Baltimore 1. 4 ---------- £119.10.10.

It was incorporated into the articles that the engine was to be worked for two hours every Monday of the meeting, and anyone neglecting to attend and work the engine was penalized nine pence. Moreover William Herbert, Dennis Ramsay and Isaac Roberdeau were charged with getting the engine to fires.

About this time (1788) the Virginia Assembly passed an act authorizing the different towns in the state to elect fire companies.

In May 1789, Dr. William Brown was elected treasurer to succeed William Hartshorne.

The first mention by the Sun of other fire companies in Alexandria is in the minutes of February 28, 1791. In July specific reference is made to the Friendship Fire Company and the Relief Fire Company.

In May 1793, the Sun Company was dissatisfied with the English engine, and they began correspondence with a Mr. Mason of Philadelphia with the intention of selling the old engine and acquiring a new one. Mason manufactured three engines. They contained 190, 170 and 160 gallons of water, respectively, which they discharged in one minute and a half and they were worked by twenty-four, twenty-two and eighteen or twenty men, respectively, and varied in price accordingly. The Sun Fire Company purchased the smallest engine for £125. It seems to have arrived in April 1794. Later the old engine "with the suction pipe" was thoroughly repaired by Mason and returned to the Sun Fire Company.

By 1796 such confusion reigned at fires that the three companies associated themselves together to make and sustain certain plans and rules for the management of fires. It was decided to have three directors or commanders, one chosen from each company, only one of whom was to act at a time, who were to have control of the engines, fire hooks, ladders and to be the judges of the expediency of pulling down adjacent buildings. In order that these gentlemen be more conspicuous (distinguished was the word) it was decided to "elevate their voices above the ordinary clamour on such occasions," each of them in action was ordered to carry in his hand a "_speaking trumpet, painted white, and not less than three feet long_." Each company was to keep such an affair in the enginehouse.

There were then chosen three subordinate directors who had immediate charge of the engine under the commander, then four persons from each Company, to be called regulators, who were to "_be diligent in searching for the most convenient source of water_, in forming lanes for the supply of the engines, and _preventing the use of dirty puddle water_." Upon these gentlemen fell the unpleasant task of "noticing remisness in the members and others and being obliged to give information to their respective companies whenever such shameful instances occured to their observation." Trustees were responsible for the removal of property, and the entire company was obliged to wear "at times of fire" by way of distinction, black caps with white fronts with letters thereon designating their company. Moreover these companies pledged themselves to "respect" the other companies when their property was in danger from fire, "in preference to persons who are members of neither."

Doctor Dick stated that he lost his fire bucket at the fire at William Herbert's house, then occupied by Edmund Edmunds, and the treasurer reimbursed the good Doctor eighteen shillings on October 24, 1796.

In July 1797, Dennis Ramsay was ordered to lower and enlarge the engine house to receive the old engine; the floor had given way in 1793. He presented his bills the following February for a total of £43 9_s._ 9_d._

In 1799 it was decided to hold meetings at the courthouse, from May to October at half after seven o'clock, and from November to April at six o'clock.

One of the last mentions of the engines was in 1800. The engines were both worked at the January meeting, found to be in good order, except that the old one leaked a little.

Governed by a set of "articles" framed by themselves, to which they faithfully adhered, these firemen fined themselves and paid their fines, cheerfully or otherwise (they were mostly Scotsmen) when neglectful of their duty. A roster was kept each year, month by month, marking the members present or absent. The A's predominate. It was from these fines, plus others for neglect of duty that the Company's funds were formed. Many of these rosters have been destroyed, but enough remain to give an idea of the citizens who were members of the Sun Fire Company and lived near each other within a certain radius of the water front.

* * * * *

List of members of the Sun Fire Company of Alexandria for January 1777--being the first intact roster in the minutes:

William Ramsay John Dalton Robert H. Harrison James Hendricks Thomas Fleming Richard Conway William Hartshorne James Kirk Patrick Murray Mathew Campbell James Buchannan William Hunter David Jackson (Doctor) John Mills John Carlyle John Harper (Capt.) George Gilpin Robert Mease McCrea William Rumney Richard Harrison William Wilson Thomas Kirkpatrick Andrew Steward James Stewart Josiah Watson William Herbert Robert Mease John Finley William Brown (Dr.) William Hepburn Cyrus Capper Robert Allison James Muir Robert Adam George Hunter Edward Owens

_Added 1778_

Dennis Ramsay (Col.) John Fitzgerald (Col.) David Arrell Valentine Piers

_Added 1780_

James Adam William Hunter, Jr. Colin MacIver David Steward (Doctor) Peter Dow Daniel Roberdeau (Gen.)

_Added 1783_ [_Pages from 48 to 72 missing_]

William Bird R. Hooe (Col. Robert T. Hooe) William Lyles (Col. Committee of Safety) Samuel Montgomery Brown Joseph White Harrison Jesse Taylor Charles Simms Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick

_Added 1784_

John Sutton Henry Lyles John Hendricks (Col.) George Richards John Oliphant Michael Ryan (Col.) John Allison John Hawkins Daniel McPherso

_Added 1785_

Thomas Williams Jonathan Swift Randle Mitchel William Baker (Doctor) William Lowry Michael Madden William Ramsay (Doctor) Edward Harper Jonah Thompson

_Added 1786_

James Woodward (Capt.) W.H. Vowel Philip Marsteller Joseph Greenway William H. Powell Cleon Moore John Rumney John Potts Robert Donaldson

_Added 1787_

Baldwin Dade Francis Peyton John Long John Love George Deneale

_Added 1789_

Joseph M. Perrin Richard Harrison John Gill John Forster

_Added 1790_

Jonathan Mandeville John Carson Seton Bernard Ghequiere James Lawrason Gustavus Brown Campbell (Doc.) Joseph Riddle

_Added 1793-4-6_

James Douglas John D. Orr (Doc.) Stephen Cook (Doc.) Robert Young Henry Rose (Doc.) Leven Powell, Jr. James McRea Augustine J. Smith (Doc.) Jesse Wherry Robert Hamilton John Dunlap Charles R. Scott Abraham Faw

_Added 1798_

William S. Thompson Joseph Saul James Russell William Hodgson Nicholas Voss Amos Allison, Jr. Charles I. Stur John T. Ricketts Cuthbert Powell John Ramsay William Byrd Page Joseph Mandeville Guy Atkinson Jacob Hoofman Antony Vanhavre Peter Wise, Jr. (Doctor) Thomas Magruder James Bacon John Watts Alexander Kerr Walter Jones Thomas Swann

_Added 1799_

William Groverman John Dunlap

_Added 1800_

Michael Flannery

(Note: _Not all members at the same time._)

By the turn of the century, the city of Alexandria boasted three fire companies whose membership rosters included the most responsible citizens. The year 1774, marking the formation of the Sun Fire Company, also saw the organization of the better-known Friendship Fire Company, claiming Washington as honorary member. The Star Fire Company was founded in 1799.

Alexandria property owners were quick to realize the advantages of membership in the Mutual Assurance Society, established in December 1794 and offering protection "Against FIRE on BUILDINGS in the State of Virginia." At the Alexandria office, leading citizens enthusiastically subscribed to a plan so soundly conceived and efficiently administered that the company which pioneered it is in operation to this day. The archives of the Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia constitute a mine of valuable information for the researcher. From General Washington's own files derives a broadside listing early subscribers throughout the state.[136] The Alexandria section includes a number of citizens whom we know to have been conscious of the ever-present danger of fire:

_Number_ _Buildings_ _Name_ _Insured_ _Value_ Wm. Hartshorne 3 7000 John Potts 4 10000 Isaac McPherson 8 17700 Rob. Hamilton 4 6000 J. B. Nickols 6 2000 Ch. Simms 4 3000 Lemuel Bent 1 400 Thomas Rogerson 2 1000 R. T. Hooe 7 23500 John Dunlap 1 2000 Wm. Hodgson 3 10000 Rob't Young & Co. 2 8000 Tho's Patten & Co. 12 14600 John R. Wheaton 2 3000 John Mandeville 10 15000 Charles Lee 2 6000 Wm. Herbert 6 16000 John Longden 3 3000 Richard Weightman 4 4000 R. Weightman for the heirs of Ray's Estate 3 1000 Wm. Summers 5 8000 Wm. Brown 3 5500 Henry Stroman 1 300 Diedrich Schekle 2 3400 E. Deneale 1 2000 Korn & Wisemiller 3 6000 Rob. Lyle 4 7300 Wm. Ramsay 2 2000 Henry McCue 3 4000 Philip Wanton 1 800 Ephriam Evans 2 1600 Dennis Foley 2 2000 Wm. Hartshorne 1 4000 Philip G. Martsteller 2 3300 Joseph Thornton 1 2000 Stump, Ricketts & Co. 3 10000 Samual Davis 1 2000 Thomas Richards 5 15000 Adam Lynn 2 2000 Mathew Robinson & Co. 2 3000 Wm. Hoye 1 1600 John Harper 4 8000 Benjamin Shreve 3 9000 John Dundas 2 7000 Henry Walker 1 800 John & Tho's Vowell 2 3000 Ricketts & Newton 2 5000 George M. Munn 2 5000 Jonah Thompson 5 14000 Adam S. Swoope 1 2000 Mordecai Miller 1 3000 Wm. Bushby 2 4500 Philip Richard Fendall 7 10000 Wm. Hepburn 9 13500 Tho's White 2 1600 Richard Conway 8 15000 Wm. M. McKnight 1 3000 Charles McKnight 1 2000 P. Marsteller 1 2000 Adam Faw 1 2000 Wm. Halley 1 3000 Jacob Schuch 3 1000 Peter Wise 3 9000 John Fitzgerald 3 6000 Thomas Forrell 1 800 Wm. Wright 3 2700 James Kennedy 2 6000 Joseph Riddle & Co. 2 3500 Guy Atkinson 1 3000 James Patton 2 6000 James Lawrason 1 1500 Shreve & Lawrason 7 12000 Geo. Hunter 5 2700 Jacob Cox 4 3000 Geo. Gilpin 3 6000 Isaac McPherson for N. Elliot 4 12000 George Slacum 3 3000 Geo. Slacum for Gabriel Slacum 1 2000 Samuel Harper 1 1200 Jamieson 1 400 Chapin 2 2600