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

Page 64 text:

The Peg Board 1936 the fire unobserved had lighted the combustibles in a barn about IO rods from the road, on the east side.' Instantly there was a rush in that direction, but the fire had got a hold that could not be loosened. Twenty tons of hay, a new wagon, tools of all sorts, two oxen, and a tool shed Ioo feet long were consumed by the fire in that locality. Clustered in the vicinity of the dwelling house and the sisters' workshop, were the ice house, gas house, and store house, which were all destroyed. The latter contained quite a large quantity of kerosene, flour, etc., but they were removed before fiames reached the building. On the east side of the road is the infirmary, with all the conveniences needed for a hospital, and valuable in its contents as well as the structure itself. This was scorched and blackened, but saved by our fire engine and the extinguisher from Tilden's works. Altogether there were eight buildings des- troyed, and the trustees estimate the total loss at flO0,000Qm and there is not a cent of insurance to recover. Items and Incidents In the midst of their distress the Shakers did not forget to be hospitable, and the people from Pittsfield, firemen and others, were most generously served with an abundance of substantial re- freshments. They speak in the highest terms of the Shaker kindness in this respect. The firemen returned to town about 9 P.M. and the engine was brought home on Sunday morning by Shaker teams. Of course there was the most distracting confusion in the village during the fire. Goods of all kinds were piled in the church, making a collection never before seen in a house of worship. The sisters lost all their clothing except what they wore, and one young woman was seen going about the church looking for a shoe to match the only one she had time to put on in her flight from the dwelling. The famous big barns of the society, where 200 tons of hay are stored, were in great danger, and it seemed at one time as though they could not be preserved, but the wind blew from them and thus they were saved. About Ioo people were made homeless by the fire, but the adjacent families kindly took them in, and they are still provided for by them. The question of rebuilding is yet to be decided. The Shakers, though wealthy in real estate are not supposed to have a large surplus of money, and the loss will be severely felt. Elder Evans is a confirmed spiritualist and believes in materialization and all that. The question is now asked why didn't the spirits tell him the great fire was about to happen? It was a perfect Chicago fire to the Shakers. Not exactly caused by a cow kicking over a lamp, but by a mule dumping hot ashes at a wood-house door.11 It took the daily papers till Monday to get an account of the catastrophe and then, such accounts as they had! Here is a sample which we clipt from the Boston Herald:- A fire at New Lebanon, N. H. about noon Saturday destroyed two dwelling-houses, two barns, and a shop belonging to the Church family of Shakers. An engine was sent from Housatonicf' One of the sisters, whose names we could not learn, was determined to secure a box in the upper story of the main building, which, at the time, was not safe to enter. The men had been driven out by the fire and smoke. But she felt courageous, and in she went followed by Wm. Fromly, who was seen coming out with the sister under one arm, and the box under the other, hav- ing passed through great fiame and smoke in so doing. That woman's life is due to Mr. Fromly.U While John Connor was engaged in getting out the cattle at the barn, which was burning fearfully at the time and when all but two were let loose, a man on the outside knocked in a window, which made a good draft, and Mr. Connor came near losing his life by the smoke and 9. This barn stood behind the Shaker school. 10. This estimate is too conservative. The loss was nearer 5200,000. Cf 2 11. . Note . 12. This was Sister Elizabeth Sidle, a deaf woman, who was going back after her things. 5 6

Page 63 text:

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

Page 65 text:

1936 The Peg Board flames which immediately filled the stable. Had the window been let alone, it is likely the two cattle would have been saved. While talking with a young brother in regard to the unsafe condition of the village, etc., such a time as this, he remarked that they had trusted too much in the Lord. If they would trust a little more in a fire engine and not so wholly in the Lord he thought they would have been better of that night? It was a noticeable fact that the Shakers, both men and women, were the least excited of any present. All seemed to be good-natured and to look at the sad sight as if it was an event that they had expected, and were bound to take it coolly and make the best of it. It was thought by some that the younger part of the society had not enjoyed themselves as well in a long time. Just as the world's people were leaving, Elder F. W. Evans thanked them very kindly for their assistance, and hoped that neither would have to call on the other for similar help, in many a day, which sentiment was heartily acquiesced in. Statements in regard to the origin of the fire are conliicting. A member of the Church family was in his office on Tuesday, and stated that it was his belief that the fire originated in a chimney. The hot ash theory is, however, most generally accepted.15 The Shakers feel under deep obligations to Mr. Henry Tilden, for the valuable help he furnished from his manufactory in men and fire extinguishers. He was himself one of the hardest workers, and it was through the services of his machinery and corps of assistants that the infirmary and other buildings were saved. If the infirmary had not been saved, the fire must have swept from it to half a dozen other buildings in the vicinity, and the loss would have been almost double even the great figure it now reaches. The Church family is one of the richest, if not the richest of the Shaker societies, and had about a hundred members. They own a vast tract of land, cultivated and in wood, and if the fire was to happen, it could not have struck a family better able to bear the loss.m The Social Gathering By SISTER A. ROSETTA STEPHENS IN THE remote days of the last century,-in the seventies, eighties and nineties-, there was held by the Novitiate Order of Mt. Lebanon Shakers, a yearly festival called, The Social Gather- ing. It was held in September, and was for the express purpose of bringing the people together to give praise and thanksgiving for the bountiful harvest from farm, field and orchard. The Novitiate Order comprised the North Family, Mt. Lebanon, Upper Family, Canaan, also, and the Lower Family where now is situated the Berkshire Industrial Farm, and numbered about one hundred members. When the idea was first conceived there was a great deal of cogitation about where it should be held. So our mountain climbers, who knew the lay of the land, were sent out to reconnoiter. They soon found a most desirable place on the Lower Family's property. Rising from the shore of Lake Queechy, is a hill the summit of which forms a plateau which gently slopes to the road and is surrounded by pine trees. The natural beauty of the place, the pungent odor of the pines, and the woodsy fragrance of low growing things, combined to make this the ideal spot. This spot having been found, another group was sent out to clear the ground of brush and brambles, for there must be a oneness of spirit. 13. The Shaken trusted not only in the Lord, but also in their great earefulnesa. 15. Cf. Note 2. 16. The Shakers had land, but not much ready cash. The Church Family was certainly not prepared to meet such a Hre. 57