Cause for Alarm: The Volunteer Fire Department in the Nineteenth-Century City

244 Pages·1998·18.57 MB·English

by  Amy S. Greenberg

Cause for Alarm

Cause for Alarm
THE VOLUNTEER
FIRE DEPARTMENT IN THE
NINETEENTH-CENTURY CITY
Amy S. Greenberg
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEWJERSEY
Copyright © 1998 by Princeton University Press
Published by Pnnceton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom' Pnnceton University Press,
Chichester, West Sussex
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-m-Pubhcatwn Data
Greenberg, Amy S , 1968-
Cause for alarm the volunteer fire department in the
nineteenth-century city / Amy S Greenberg
p cm
Includes bibliographical references (p ) and index
ISBN 0-691-01648-8 (cl alk paper)
1 Fire departments—Maryland—Baltimore—History—19th century
2 Fire departments—Missouri—Saint Louis—History—19th century
3 Fire departments—California—San Francisco—History—19th
century I Title
TH9505 B2074 1998
363 37'09752'609034—dc21 97-43370
This book has been composed m Berkeley Book
Pnnceton University Press books are printed
on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for
permanence and durability of the Committee
on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council on Library Resources
http.//pup.pnnceton edu
Printed m the United States of Amenca
1 3 5 79 10 8 6 42
CONTENTS
List of Tables, Figures, and Maps vii
Acknowledgments ix
INTRODUCTION
Beginning at the Wake 3
Writing a Fireman's History 4
The Evolution of the Volunteer Fire Department 9
Synopsis: Fire-Man, Urban Citizen 12
CHAPTER ONE
Paying Tribute 18
Invested in Firefighting 28
Investing in Protection 29
A Fragile Relationship 39
CHAPTERTWO
Manly Boys and Chaste Fire Engines: The Culture of the
Volunteer Fire Department 41
Choosing a Fire Company 44
The Brotherhood of Firemen 52
Classless Masculinity 60
Gendered Fire Engines and Absent Women 70
Families versus Firemen 76
CHAPTER THREE
Fights/Fires: A Glance at Violent Firemen 80
The Firemen of Mob-Town 84
St. Louis Rowdyism 94
The "Model Fire Department of the World" 101
Some Conclusions about Fire Department Violence 106
CHAPTER FOUR
Smoke-Filled Rooms: Volunteer Firemen and Political Culture 109
Seventeen St. Louis Mayors 111
The Limitations of Political Mobilization, or What Do Seventeen
Mayors Really Buy You? 119
VL CONTENTS
CHAPTER FIVE
Insuring Protection: Fire Insurance and the Era of the Steam Engine 125
Insuring Protection 128
A Mighty Agent 133
CHAPTER SIX
Deluged and Disgraced 152
CONCLUSION
One Last Eulogy 163
APPENDIX
Occupational Scale Used for Quantitative Analysis 167
Notes 169
Bibliography 207
Index 223
LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES, AND MAPS
Table 2.1 San Francisco Volunteer Fire Department, Firehouse
Permanent Residents 57
Table 2.2 San Francisco Volunteer Fire Department, Occupational
Composition m 1860 61
Figure 1.1 The American Fireman, Facing the Enemy (Currier and Ives, 1858) 20
Figure 1 2 The Pioneer Hook and Ladder quick step 38
Figure 2.1 TheBrotherhoodofFiremen 53
Figure 2.2 No Mere Machine 74
Figure 2.3 The Little Fireman (Currier and Ives, 1859) 11
Figure 3.1 Mose, the Fighting Fireman 81
Figure 3.2 BurningoftheFrontStreetTheaterandCircus 82
Figure 5.1 Phillips'Fire Annihilator 136
Figure 5.2 Automatic Signal Telegraph Company 138
Figure 5.3 Nineteenth-century illustration of citizens admiring an early
steam fire engine, with no firemen in sight 141
Map 2 1 The Sansome Hook and Ladder Company 47
Map 2.2 The Crescent Engine Company 48
Map 2.3 TheYoungAmericaEngineCompany 49

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WITHOUT the support of friends, colleagues, and a remarkable number of gen­
erous acquaintances, I could never have completed this book. From Alexander
von Hoffman, who originally suggested that I take a look at firemen, to con­
ference panel audience members who challenged me with tough questions,
numerous people have improved this project with their advice and sugges­
tions. Jeffrey Scott Adler, Bernard Bailyn James Baumohl, Donald Cannon,
1
Robert Chandler, Richard John, Terrence McDonald, Kevin Mullen, Mary
Ryan, and Pieter Spierenberg have provided important input at various stages
of writing.
Steve Aron, Mark Carnes, Philip Ethington, Ellen Fitzpatrick, Alexis McCros-
sen, Eric Monkkonen, Jose Moya, William Pencak Stephan Thernstrom, and
1
Ronald Yanosky all read drafts of this project and deserve an extra thanks for
bearing with my often stubborn resistance to their good suggestions. Also
important has been the feedback and support of my colleagues at Penn State;
Gary Cross, Gary Gallagher, Lori Ginzberg, Thavolia Glymph, Susan and Billy
Jo Harris, Deryck Holdsworth, Caren Irr, Philip Jenkins, Sally McMurry Jef­
1
frey Nealon Anne Rose, Francesca Royster, Londa Schiebinger, Robert and
1
Marie Secor, Susan Squier, Claudia Swan and Nan Woodruff, especially, have
1
amazed me with their generosity. Because of them, Penn State has proven to
be a wonderful environment in which to work, think, and survive.
Several institutions deserve ample thanks for their financial support of this
project. The Office of Research and Graduate Study at Penn State, The Charles
Warren Center for American History, The Mellon Foundation, and the Har­
vard Fellowships office provided me with the time and funds to conduct re­
search and focus on my writing. Deborah Malmud at Princeton University
Press deserves a special thanks for her enthusiasm and sense of humor.
Librarians at the Bancroft Library, Missouri Historical Society, Maryland
Historical Society, Enoch Pratt Free Library, San Francisco Public Library,
New York Public Library, Wells Fargo Archives, and Library of Congress have
all facilitated my research, as has Dean Krimmel at the Peale Museum in Balti­
more. Nik Huffman deserves credit for his creative cartographic work. I would
also like to thank Robert Middlekauff, who convinced me that there was no
more honorable field of investigation than history.
Without the love and support of several close friends I could not have
started this book, let alone completed it. Leisurely dinner parties, afternoons
wandering around, and long phone calls with Alexis McCrossen, Skye McGin-
nes, Kathy Newman, and Eileen Randall made the alienation of writing bear-