“Human spirit perseveres after great fire of 1871” from the October 7, 1971 Door County Advocate
Human spirit perseveres after great fire of 1871
By KETA STEEBS
In 1871, federal aid was unheard of. Neither was there any Red Cross, Salvation Army or state relief agency to depend on. Victims of the great fire relied almost solely on the help of their more fortunate neighbors and the generosity of those city dwellers who were gradually being made aware of the devastation “up north.” Gov. Lucius Fairchild (after returning from Chicago following that city’s widely heralded fire) did pledge $20,000 in state funds to aid some 3,000 destitute persons — a gesture which prompted the city of Milwaukee to pledge $50,000, Manitowoc, $1,200; Marquette, Mich., $1,000 and Escanaba, $300. By Wednesday, three days after that terrible Sunday, relief was on the way.
EPILOGUE
One doesn’t read post-fire issues of the Door County Advocate without being reminded of Alexander Pope’s immortal adage “Hope springs eternal in the human breast” or being awed by the resiliency of the human heart. Scarcely a week had passed before the Sturgeon Bay Relief Committee, headed by G. W. Allen, H. Harris and R. M. Wright published an open letter to Gov. Fairchild thanking him for his help. An excerpt read:
“Our people, at least for the present, are neither naked nor hungry and in one way and another they have found comfortable, though temporary, shelter. With stout hearts and unbroken courage they are preparing to return to their black and desolate homes.”
Several alleviating factors were responsible for this hopeful statement. The German Relief Society of Milwaukee sent a case of 50 pairs of heavy woolen blankets “of the warmest kind” plus boxes of food and clothing topped by an encouraging letter. Evidently thinking Door county’s population was predominately German (which it wasn’t) the message read: “Courage to the German People! The United States has food and clothing enough for you all. In the future it will be better and the daily bread will come again. This is only a battle of life in which you poor and unfortunate people will yet be victors.” Written in German, it took some time before the predominately Anglo-Saxon-Scandinavian-Belgian beneficiaries could have this note of good cheer translated.
Under a headline “Noble Act” was an editorial praising Capt. Goodrich of the Goodrich Steamship Line for his generosity in sending 10 barrels of crackers to the stricken county via the good ship Truesdell. Capt. McDonall, skipper of the Truesdell, was also bringing supplies to and taking destitute families from the Sturgeon Bay port at no charge to anyone. Saying how strongly Capt. Goodrich’s “big heart throbbed for the destitute” the writer found himself in an embarrassing position the following week when Goodrich denied the cracker contribution.
The honest captain wrote the Advocate to say, “Honor to whom honor is due. F. B. Gardner donated those crackers. I only transported the stuff free of charge.”
Gardner, a local merchant and prosperous lumberman, was one of the Advocate’s biggest advertisers but instead of giving him a pat on the back, the writer stubbornly insisted on again commending Capt. Goodrich for his liberality in transporting the crackers and refusing “to take back a single word.”
Although the federal government wasn’t in any position to provide direct relief, the U. S. Army found itself in the enviable position of having a little something for almost everyone. Gen. Phil Sheridan sent 2,000 army blankets, 1,000 overcoats, 1,000 pair of shoes, 100 wagons and 100 harnesses. Unfortunately, he was unable to provide the horses.
While relief in various forms and amounts came pouring in, the Oct. 19 Advocate took time to briefly mention politics.
“For the past 10 days politics have been laid aside for the all absorbing work of burying the dead. We snatch a moment to tell our readers that Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas have gone Republican by a substantial majority.”
Directly under this triumphant announcement was a statement culled from a Milwaukee newspaper (obviously Democratic) whose editor wrote, “Calamities all come together.”
Calamities of a lesser nature were befalling the local relief committees whose altruistic efforts to provide aid for the needy were being suspiciously eyed by at least one local letter writer. Persons who hardly worked a day in their lives were getting help, complained this anonymous citizen, whose cause was taken up by Local Slivers. Referring to non-deserving, handout-takers as being “human hyenas,” the columnist darkly warned that hereafter they would find “small opportunity to prey upon the generous charity of outside benefactors.”
This was the same column in which the author again begged delinquent accounts to pay up (a recurring theme which prompts today’s reader to wonder if writer and publisher weren’t one and the same.)
By Nov. 9, a new relief committee had been formed in Green Bay due to “growing dissatisfaction among the people in some towns.” The towns were Nasewaupee, Gardner, Union and Brussels. Praise was given the Milwaukee Relief Committee (headed by a certain Captain Langworthy) for the impartial distribution of goods and a Mr. Bishop (chairman of a local group) was also credited with having sound sense and executive ability.
By now rain was falling quite regularly and the prospects of some “right smart frosts” were making themselves felt. On Nov. 2, the Advocate reported, “Many burned out homeowners are now building rough shanties in which to pass the winter months; all seem hopeful and ready to make the best of their sad situation. This same edition gave the Dodge Mutual Insurance Company verbal lashing for failing to make good its insurance claims. We trust, the writer said caustically, that from now on everyone will stay clear of that company.
On Nov. 23, Captain Langworthy was again commended for fair mindedness (he had sent a box of baby clothes, a carton of children’s wear, one box of shirts and 100 bushels of potatoes to Horn’s Pier) and the Green Bay Relief Committee again got the needle. “We don’t know but that they are doing all in their power to send supplies but they should bear in mind that the close of the navigation season is close at hand. Winter supplies must be got here before the boats cease running.”
Scofield and Company had lost no time purchasing the Williamson shingle mill site and plans to erect a new mill were announced shortly before Thanksgiving. Regarding this national holiday, Local Slivers said sagely, “Let those observe it who can.” Mr. McKinney was doing a brisk business in his new drugstore and Septimus Stephenson, in addition to advertising “Hot Weather Supplies” announced that his first class restaurant would be the scene of a ball and oyster supper for anyone with the $1.50 admission price.
An examination of the “Great Northwest Fire” was published in the Advocate’s post Thanksgiving issue. The total Door county dead was listed at 117, 167 families were rendered homeless and an unknown number had been severely burned. In answer to the common query, “Why could they not escape?”, the answer was there was no place to go. At Williamsonville, the shingle mill, boarding house and other buildings were located deep in the woods, surrounded by a dense hemlock forest through which the only exit was a single narrow road choked up with combustible debris from the mill itself.
The wonder is not that so many died, said that long ago writer who had just made a personal survey of the devastated area, but that so many escaped alive.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
Articles by Keta Steebs
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/keta-steebs
Articles describing the 1871 fire
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/the-1871-fire