All Hail to the Chief: Knoxville Fire Department's Chiefs (1870-1929)

Chief Sam B. Boyd (center, front row) c. 1900

There are a lot of discrepancies from one book to the next, including websites, as to various historical facts of the Knoxville Fire Department. In the course of my research, I have discovered that even "official" histories of the fire department are woefully inaccurate. For example, identifying the chiefs of the fire department can be quite perplexing if you do a quick search of the internet.

Take for instance the City of Knoxville's official page for the fire department. According to its "history" of past fire chiefs, there have only been 17 chiefs of the Knoxville Fire Department since 1875. Since my project does not go past the moment in time that the city's fire department motorized in 1929, I did not set out to determine whether or not most of the chiefs listed (all but 2) on the page following Chief Samuel B. Boyd's tragic death in 1929 are accurate. However, after digging deep into the city's archives, I can confidently say that there were more, many more, fire chiefs prior to Sam Boyd being "elected" fire chief in 1900 (prior to civil service in 1912, all fire department personnel were elected by the city fathers), than the 2 chiefs listed: Dr. John M. Boyd & Herman Schenk. In fact, Dr. Boyd, who was elected as fire chief on November 18, 1870, was no longer serving in that role by 1875.

In the course of my research, I have found, and have documented below, 20 Knoxville Fire Department chiefs who were elected (one, Frank A. Moses, declined) to serve since the fire department was officially organized on November 18, 1870. The Knoxville Fire Department remained a voluntary department until the city began paying its firefighters a meager annual salary in 1883. Two years later, on March 6, 1885, the Knoxville City Council passed an ordinance to make the fire department a regular, salaried department. Below I have listed each of the 20 elected fire chiefs between 1870-1900 as well as their tenure of service.

 

Knoxville Fire Department Chiefs

1.) Dr. John M. Boyd (Nov. 18, 1870 - Jan. 1873)

2.) Carrick W. Park (Jan. 1873 - Nov. 1873)

3.) Samuel T. Atkin (Nov. 1873 - Feb. 1874)

4.) Spencer Munson (Feb. 1874 - Apr. 1874)

5.) John M. Brooks  (Apr. 1874 - Feb. 1876)

6.) Frank A. Moses (Jan. 1876 elected but declined)

7.) William Coffman (Feb. 1876 - Feb. 1879)

8.) C. A. King (Feb. 1879 - Jan. 1880)

9.) Thomas A. Burrier (Jan. 1880 - Jan. 28, 1881)

10.) Stephen P. Condon (Jan. 28, 1881 - Jan. 14, 1882)

11.) James L. Housholder (Jan. 14, 1882 - Apr. 1882)

12.) Mel H. Dickson (Apr. 1882 - Feb. 9, 1883)

13.) Herman Spiro (Feb. 9, 1883 - Feb. 8, 1884)

Note: first paid fire chief, $100 a year

14.) Herman Schenk (Feb. 8, 1884 - 1886) 

Note: Paid (regular salary) Fire Dept. organized March 6, 1885, $50 a month

 

15.) Philo B. Shepherd (1886 - Mar. 23, 1889)

16.) William W. Dunn (Mar. 23, 1889 - Aug. 9, 1894)

17.) William Cross (Aug. 9, 1894 - Sept. 10, 1896)

18.) James C. McIntosh, Jr. (Sept. 10,1896 - Feb. 23, 1898)

Chief James C. McIntosh, Jr.

19.) Volney F. Gossett (Feb. 23, 1898-Feb. 23, 1900)

20.) Samuel Becket Boyd, Jr. (Feb. 23, 1900 - Mar. 29, 1929)

Chief Sam B. Boyd 1913 in Manhattan, New York