Darrow School - Shaker Post Yearbook (New Lebanon, NY)

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The Peg Board 1936 CHURCH FAMILY DWELLING HOUSE THE HERB HOUSE The central building in the left-hand picture and the building in the right-hand picture were both destroytd. the fire occurred within our town limits, for the fraternity is so well known here, and their quiet village so often visited by our people in the summer season, that they seem quite like our own citizens. Though eight miles away, and beyond a great mountain, the smoke of the conflagra- tion was plainly seen from our streets, and even before the news of the disaster reached us, people were watching the thick clouds roll up over the western range, and had concluded that a large fire, and probably a disastrous one, was raging in that vicinity. About one o'clock a telegram called for help, and the old Housatonic hand-engine, with a supply of hose, accompanied by a dozen or more firemen, was promptly forwarded, and notwith- standing the bad condition of the roads, Nash's four horses-drawing the engine, which was loaded on a sleigh-made the trip in about an hour. It was a terrible and sad scene that met the view of these helpers as they rushed down the steep mountain side to the stricken village. Hundreds of excited men were darting about, slipping over the ice and plunging through the snow, the Hames were rolling high from burning buildings, and huge masses, bunches of fire-they can hardly be called sparks -,were being blown great distances in the air by the strong bitter wind that swept over the unfortunate settlement? With a cheer they hurried down to give a helping hand, and they were received with a responsive cheer from the almost discouraged and worn-out workers who had been fighting the destroyer so valiant- ly but vainly. A hundred willing hands quickly get the little machine in a suitable place for operations, and in spite ofthe intense frost which soon lined the hose with ice, water was thrown freely and copiously and was of much service in preserving threatened structures. The Origin and Progress The fire occurred in what is known as the Church family, in the immediate vicinity of the Shaker place of worship, and it was first discovered in the building called the Sisters' Shop. Contrary to established rules some one had emptied, near the building, a lot of ashes fresh from the stoves. The lower story was almost filled with seasoned firewood, and there were apertures left in the arches where the doors were situated, for the air to enter and circulate for the purpose of seasoning the wood. This Scplains the beginning of the mischief. There were 75 cords of this wood on the lower or ground story, all sawed, split, and piled, and pretty thoroughly dried. The same amount was piled outside, the whole forming a formidable starting place for a fire. The hot 1. The thermometer stood at six below zero. 54

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1936 The Peg Board as a storing place for extra things that were not in use. Appearing quite small from the outside partly because it is dwarfed by the large Dwelling House on its east, it is a well designed building characteristic of the Shakers' simple, sturdy type of construction. THE MINISTRY HOUSE The Great Fire at Mount Lebanon N FEBRUARY 6,1875 a great fire, the work of an incendiary, destroyed eight of the buildings belonging to the,Church Family at Mount Lebanon, including that family's main dwelling house. The Shakers were aroused by the ringing of the bell, and found their dwelling house on fire. They hurried to do all in their power to fight the flames. Their efforts, however, were in vain, The building was totally destroyed and others along with it. The Shakers lost most of their personal belongings and many valuable records of the society. Sister Miranda Barber, who was turning the Bible into verse and had gone through Deuteronomy, lost seven of her pre- cious volumes of manuscript. The other families at Mount Lebanon and elsewhere came quickly to the rescue and aided the Church Family generously with contributions of clothing and other necessary supplies. In commenting upon the fine spirit of cobperation which was shown, Sister Emma remarked wittily, We did not have to go to Washington for help. Through the courtesy of Mr. George W. Edman of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, we are able to reprint the complete story of the fire published on February II, 1875 in the Btfktfhifd Evening Eagle. The footnotes were written by Sister Emma J. Neale, the only surviving sister of the Church Family of Shakers who was present at the time. The Fire as Reported in the Eagle Between twelve and one o'clock, at midday, on Saturday, news was received in town that a a great fire was making devastation among the buildings and personal property of the Lebanon Shakers, and there was almost as much excitement over the report as there could have been had 53 i

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1936 The Peg Board ashes, with sparks and burning cinders all through them, were sent by the wind Hying into this pile of combustible material, and most calamitous was the result? The building was 8o by 30 feet in size, and in the rooms above the store of wood the sisters did their tailoring, dressmaking etc.,3 and ,there a large number of them were gathered, engaged in their quiet occupations when the alarm was given. The consternation can be imagined. The flames leaped into the upper stories almost simultaneously with the alarm. There was no time to save even the smallest article. One sister was just going through that fascinating exercise, trying on a new dress, and a group about her were chirping about the bit to be let out in this place, the seam to be taken in in that place, and the garment was being smoothed about the happy maiden's form when the cry came, and she was compelled to rush away half nude. The whole building was almost immediately in Hames, and there was consumed with it all the paraphernalia of a woman's workshop, a thousand dollars worth of cotton and woolen cloth, stocking yarn, clothes, and six sewing machines, tables, furniture etc. There was not time to save even a spool of thread or a pair of scissors, but all the contents were utterly destroyed with the building! The Dwelling House About two rods east of the shops , stood the family dwelling house, with its dozens of busy inmates just at this time on the point of sitting down to dinner. The meal was spread on the tables, and the first dinner bell had rung when the fire-fiend struck the structure. It was one of the best buildings owned by the fraternity, 80 x 60 feet in size and four stories high, besides a roomy garret. 'It was covered with a slate roof, but that was not enough to save it, and in about half an hour from the time the shops were in a blaze, the dwelling house was a mass of fire. A small amount of bedding and clothing from the second story was saved, and that was all.5 As the roaring Hames mounted up through its stories and burst out of its many windows, it was an appall- ing sight. The people forgot that frost was biting them and the freezing gale that rushed down from the northwest, and stood terror-stricken, looking at the destruction that was going on. All the wearing apparel, the house-keeping utensils, food, crockery, furniture, were burned and melted in the awful heat. The building alone cost thirty thousand dollars, and among the provisions destroyed were loo bushels of potatoes, IO barrels of flour, 6 barrels of sugar, large stores of tea, butter and other groceries, zooo pounds of cheese, sauces, preserves and canned fruit. It was a scene to be remembered for a life-time. In the midst of all the terror there was a new alarm. One of the sisters was in a room in an upper story, cut off from escape! Elder Daniel Crossman gallantly rushed to the rescue. A ladder was obtained with all haste, and instantly raised, and Sister Harriet Goodwin was glad, for once in her life,'to trust herself to the brave elder's arms as she made the descent! We are sorry to hear that Mr. Crossman was afterwards quite seriously hurt by falling from a roof. Andrew Barrett had his collar bone broken by a fall at the same time, and Elder Daniel Boler' was badly burned and nearly lost his life from suffocation in trying to save property. Other Buildings Burned The huge dwelling house furnished clouds of cinders and sparks to start fires among other buildings in every direction, and the house occupied by the ministry very near the church edifice, was soon on fire.' That fell next, and the meeting house was only saved by the greatest exer- tions. lt was considerably damaged. While the efforts were being directed to the saving of these, 2. This was one explanation given at the time, but later it was definitely proved that the hrs was caused by an incendiary. The regu- lations were to empty ashes only in a iireproof building provided for the purpose. 3. Also basketwork. 4. After the fire Sister Sarah Bates said, I haven't even a thimble left. 5. This is a slight exaggeration. Some of the sisters' meeting dresses were rescued from the attic, but not much was saved. 6. She crawled down by herself. She had gone in to save the Covenant, a book in which membership in the society was recorded. 7. If it had not been for Dr. Broyer, a physician from Australia who was visiting here, he would have died. 8. The old Ministry House was a frame building. It stood on the site of the later Ministry House, now the residence of the Headmaster of the Lebanon School. It was used by the Ministry as a workshop. 55