This week's theme is "Witness to History."
I have written about my second great grandfather, James Monroe Adsit a few times, at First Chicago Banker; when I shared his death certificate; about his New York roots; and also when I listed his children. (He had seven children, three grandchildren, and only one great-grandchild, my dad.)
A biography from Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois: with portraits (1899) states that he arrived in Chicago on April 2, 1838. He was definitely there by 1839 when he is listed in a city directory.
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| James Monroe Adsit Born February 5, 1809, Spencertown, Columbia County, New York Died September 4, 1894, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois |
62-year-old James was a witness to the Great Chicago Fire in October 1871. In fact, he was right in the middle of it!
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| Currier & Ives lithograph from Library of Congress |
Handed down in the family is a worn and torn newspaper clipping that had been saved in an envelope for many years. I now keep the paper unfolded, in an acid-free folder in an archival box.
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| Mr Adsit / Chicago Fire - 1871 |
Unfortunately, I don't know whose handwriting this is but the envelope and the enclosed newspaper were so important that it has been handed down in the family for over a century!
The Great Calamity of the Age!
Chicago in Ashes!!
Hundreds of Millions of Dollars' Worth of Property Destroyed.
The South, the North and a Portion of the West Divisions of the City in Ruins.
All the Hotels, Banks, Public Buildings, Newspaper Offices and Great Business Blocks Swept Away.
The Conflagration Still in Progress.
The text goes on to describe how the fire started on Sunday evening ("being caused by a cow kicking over a lamp in a stable in which a woman was milking"), how horrific it was, and details of the extensive losses it caused. The paper also reported that telegrams had been sent to various cities (St. Louis, Cleveland, Milwaukee) asking for aid, and noted where certain business and government groups would meet.
In the right-hand column, it is stated:
"We are under great obligations to the Interior Printing Company, 15 and 18 Canal street, for accommodations by which we are enabled to issue this Extra. We hope before many days, to be able to announce permanent arrangements for issuing The Evening Journal regularly. We have saved a portion of our subscription books, and hope to be able to resume publication with out great delay."
As I have reported previously, James Adsit allegedly loaded his wagon with his bank's cash and securities to save it all from the fire, saving him and his customers a lot of money.
He lived another 23 years, to the age of 85, and must have had many stories to share about that horrific period of time!
My maternal great-grandfather, Samuel Sewall Greeley, also lived through the fire and I shared his detailed remembrances of the fire at The Great Chicago Fire.
I descend from James M. Adsit as follows:
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