Part 14 (2/2)
It is distressing to think of the eighteenth century interior destroyed on that hot afternoon of July 1835, but we must be grateful for what the rebuilders of 1837 preserved as an outstanding example of Georgian architecture. In 1843 the tower was added: it was in the approximate location that the pulpit had stood for many years. In 1853 the front vestibule was constructed.
Dr. Harrison was a delicate man and for a long time his health was far from good. In 1848 he was so wretched that it was recommended he go south for his health. The firm of Lambert & McKenzie offered Dr.
Harrison a free pa.s.sage to and from the Barbados on the barque _Archibald Gracie_. The minutes of the committee record the motion of appreciation to the owners.
Mr. Robert Bell of the old printing firm of that name made a gift of letter paper to Dr. Harrison every Christmas for many years. In his latter years the Doctor in thanking Mr. Bell always said that he never expected to see another Christmas. He saw at least three after the first of these communications, for that many letters exist containing the same mournful allusion.
In 1862 the Civil War disrupted the Church. Dr. Elias Harrison died in 1863 after forty-three years of ministering to his congregation and with his death the Church ceased to function and its congregation scattered.
During the Battle of Bull Run, it was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers, and from time to time it was used by other faiths, including a Negro Baptist congregation. Neglected, uncared for, the prey of thieves and vandals, the doors were finally closed.
The cemetery lies between the Church and the manse. Here John Carlyle sleeps. Cofounder and trustee of Alexandria in 1748; son-in-law to Colonel William Fairfax; brother-in-law to Lawrence Was.h.i.+ngton; commissary of the Virginia forces under Braddock in 1755; collector of customs on the South Potomac, and major in the Revolution; a Scottish gentleman, heir to a t.i.tle, he cast his fate with the colonies. Nearby lies the tomb of William Hunter, founder of St. Andrew's Society, and that beloved friend and physician of General Was.h.i.+ngton, Dr. James Craik. Ramsay, McKenzie, Muir, Vowell, Harper, Hepburn and Balfour are among the names found inscribed upon the old stones. Their dust makes of this soil a part of Old Scotland.
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Chapter 12
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 s.h.i.+lling 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 s.h.i.+llings”; several members neglected to put up lights when the late fire happened at Zael Cooper's and the fine was two s.h.i.+llings.
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 pa.s.sing 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 elite of the town, the serious, responsible merchants, doctors, masters, s.h.i.+p 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 s.h.i.+llings for white was.h.i.+ng and cleaning the Ball Room.”
On February 22, 1779, a resolution was pa.s.sed to fine the clerk refusing or neglecting his duty forty-two s.h.i.+llings, and absent members three s.h.i.+llings. There was a fine called the ”Moreover Fine,” which was increased from five s.h.i.+llings to nine s.h.i.+llings, 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 s.h.i.+llings 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 pet.i.tion 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:
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