Monday, January 16, 2012

Congregation Church Fire - 1941


The disastrous fire that decimated the 170 year old Somers Congregational Church on New Year's Day shows the frailty of our historic New England wooden structures. East Hampton has not been immune to such tragedies. On November 4th a month before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Congregational Church, a mainstay of our Village Center, erupted into flames. Unlike Somer’s fire, our own was not started from some unknown origin. Three painters from the Goodrich Construction Company of Cromwell were using blow torches to soften and remove old paint. Wood beneath clapboards ignited near the northwest corner of the church proper carrying undetected flames throughout the balloon framing. Their job was nearly complete when the workers noticed smoke coming from the belfry where the fire had spread into the attic.




Two of the painters ran across the street to the Barton Drug Company (now Devine Jewelers) to get a fire extinguisher. Paul "Pat" O’Connell, assistant fire chief, in his barber shop next door, went to the firehouse (located on Watrous St.) and sounded the siren twice. He drove the pumper to the church and went back for a second pumper, sounding a 12 alarm alert to which Middletown and Portland fire companies responded. Within 20 minutes the fire had spread through the roof of the north end of the church.



The judgment of the firefighters was to grab hold of ropes hanging from the steeple put up by the painters. With assistance of the gathered crowd, they were eventually able to pull the steeple into the church and away from the parish house; quick thinking that saved the parish house as a steady stream of water from the local mill ponds poured onto the north wall of the church. In 1976, I had the opportunity to climb into the church attic and inspect the Chestnut beams and charred wooden girders that remain not only rock solid today, but a tribute to the firemen who were able to preserve them 70 years ago.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Off to War - December 1941

Typical holiday festivities changed abruptly after the attack of Pearl Harbor followed on Dec. 8th by a declaration of war after President Roosevelt made his memorable address to the joint Congress "this day in infamy.".  Although instituted during the prior year, the "draft" began calling men for active military duty.  After my last article, a dear friend, Rita Clark, called to talk about those days. She told me her brother Bill Clark and Francis O'Connell were the first two locally called to active duty and were to report for training somewhere in the Carolina's.  Rita's mother inquired as to where that was?  We forget how small our world has become as media take us live to interview troops in Afghanistan, see the wedding of a future British Monarch, or witness the stirrings of Democracy in Cairo or the overthrow of a dictator in Benghazi, Lebanon. Bye the way, Mrs. Clark was informed that where the boys were going, they wouldn't need snow shovels! Locally a Defense Council was formed to prepare our community should military attacks occur.  Harlan Hills, First Selectman, was appointed General Chairman with Teresa Valli our Town Clerk as Secretary; along with chief air raid warden, Howard Engel; fire protection, Merton Weir and Paul O'Connell (fire chiefs); police protection, Samuel Wallis, Roy Hallberg and Gustave Dotzauer.  (Notice no police chief participated?  EH didn't have a police department unitl 1963.); women's activities, Maude Clark and Mrs. Theodore Thomas; medical and health, Dr. Norman Gardner, transportation, Clement Wall and Reuben Ostergren, publicity, Albert Ellis, emergency housing, Meritt Cornwell; evacuation, Herbert Wall and Mrs. Samuel Wallis, volunteer defense bureau, Mrs. Paul Garvey; communications, Al Romane; welfare, Ruth Hopkins; nutrition, Mabel Colson; recreation, Ernest Olson; child day care, Mrs. Ralph Thatcher; and civil defense units John Kane and David Enegren.  If Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Italy and the US  can all become staunch allies, there is certainly hope for our future! I wish you and your families well and may this season of peace prevail.