Book Progress Update

Progress on Knoxville's Million Dollar Fire continues, but it has been at a snail's pace. Truth of the matter is that I have a lot on my plate, but I am thankful for that plate. My recent promotion to Assistant Professor of History and Lincoln Scholar at Lincoln Memorial University with the position of Executive Director of the Abraham Lincoln Center for Leadership and Public Policy has diverted my attention to a number of other projects. Moreover, I finally completed another project that I had been working on for nearly as long as this project--my history of the origins of "base ball" in Knoxville, Tennessee, which culminated in the McClung Award winning article, "'A Perfect Mania:' The Origins of Base Ball in Knoxville, Tennessee," and was published in the most recent volume of the Journal of East Tennessee History. You can also see the talk that I gave at the East Tennessee Historical Society last year highlighting my research as it was recorded for both the local public access channel and C-SPAN's American History TV.

I remain committed to finishing the book and hope to make that a reality this summer/fall so that the full and accurate story of Knoxville's Million Dollar will be told for the first time.

 

Into a Sea of Angry Sharks: Knoxville's Progressive Mayor Samuel G. Heiskell

The following cartoon that ran in the June 17, 1900 issue of the Knoxville Journal and Tribune illuminated one of the most pressing issues facing Knoxville and its citizens in the late 19th and early 20th century--the city's grim financial situation. As Knoxville mushroomed in both population and geographical size thanks to the captains of industry and merchant princes that funded the city's post-Civil War boom and subsequent annexations, its city fathers struggled to fund its public school system, essential city services, etc., etc. The political cartoon above reflects an enduring dilemma faced by Mayor Samuel G. Heiskell across each of his five terms (two decades) in office: how to balance the need to expand and fund the city's fire and police departments while also making much-needed, albeit, expensive purchases such as state-of-the-art firefighting apparatus in the wake of two disastrous conflagrations to Knoxville's central business district (not to mention another large fire in the vicinity of present-day Krutch Park), while at the same time meeting the financial obligations of administering the needs of one of the mayor's most heralded progressive reforms--expanding and improving the city's public school system.  

 

Map of Knoxville (1886) Library of Congress 

Knoxville's most-elected mayor, Samuel Gordon Heiskell dominated local politics for nearly two decades as the twentieth century dawned over the New South's "Great Jobbing Market" or "Queen City of the Mountains." At a time in which Knoxville's two political parties were nearly evenly divided and traded jabs at the ballot box every two years for control of city government, Heiskell stood out among the city's fathers in both parties who were traditionally fiscally conservative and adhered to a laissez-faire governing mindset. Heiskell's brand of Democratic politics incorporated the ideas of the nation's leading Progressives. He preached a message of civic boosterism and reform that earned him a reputation as one of the New South's most progressive leaders. In his efforts to implement his agenda, Heiskell ruffled the feathers of the city's conservative fathers at every turn. 

Southern Review (May 1898)

Financial matters had plagued the city throughout the 1890s, made worse by the Panic of 1893 that swept across the globe. Under Republican control, retrenchment was the watchword of the day. Budgets were tightened, spending curtailed, putting incredible strain on the city's ability to meet the needs of its citizens. There was a public outcry for much-needed reform, regulation, services, and safety, a call for a new era of responsive city government. It was in this environment that Knoxvillians, in early 1896, sought change and pinned their hopes on a thirty-seven-year-old ambitious lawyer turned politician. In his first election for major in 1896, Heiskell had campaigned as a progressive warrior that would cure the social ills of a modernizing, urban Knoxville. Heiskell promised to clean up the city's slums and pledged to issue fines and enforce nuisance laws on the statute books to crack down on the city's whore houses. His administration's policies effectively corralled local prostitutes into the Bowery's red-light district along Central Avenue, thus keeping them out of what Heiskell referred to as the more "respectable" neighborhoods. 

 

But Heiskell had also pledged to enact sweeping social, political, economic, and legal reforms that came with a hefty price tag. He championed educational improvements to uplift all Knoxvillians--both white and black. Although he endorsed racial segregation, very much a product of his time, Heiskell pushed ahead in his efforts to build more schools for whites and blacks alike (Knoxville's first public school for black children opened during his first administration in 1897). During his two decades in office, the number of city schools, teachers, and student enrollment nearly tripled. Moreover, he led the way to establish a public library. 

Journal and Tribune, June 17, 1900

Heiskell's political opponents countered that the mayor could not pay for his ambitious campaign promises and would further bankrupt the city's finances. As such, Heiskell proposed several initiatives and even took politically risky positions that often drew some angry opposition among various groups and especially his Republican enemies.





In 1896, Heiskell endorsed the consolidation of both West and North Knoxville as a means to help raise the necessary tax revenues to help fund his reforms and augment necessary city services such as the fire, police, and street departments. Republican aldermen issued a protest noting that "Knoxville proper is now carrying as heavy a burden of Public expense as it can possibly carry and pay its current expenses." They observed that at the present necessary city services such as the fire, police, and street departments were inadequate to serve the city itself and had faced draconian cuts over the past few years due to budget shortfalls. Moreover, the cost to operate the existing city schools had already exceeded the amount allocated by about $4,000. In closing, the Republicans admonished Heiskell to reconsider his plans to annex North and West Knoxville who had failed or were barely paying their current expenses respectively. Their annexations would so bankrupt Knoxville that their children and their children's children would be paying on the debt incurred from such a fiscally irresponsible decision. Heiskell ignored the Republican minority on the board and endorsed the annexations in a popular referendum that passed nearly 5 to 1 on July 23, 1897. Despite Knoxvillian's endorsement of annexation, Heiskell found much opposition among both fiscal conservative Democrats and Republicans to increase expenses for city services. Even Knoxville's Million Dollar Fire, which exposed the city's inadequate fire defenses, prompted little immediate support within both political parties for increasing fire personnel and purchasing much-needed fire apparatus.

 

Heiskell continued to press forward into risky political territory to help fund his proposed reforms and expand and full-fund much-needed city services. In the early 1900s, Heiskell appeared to throw all caution to the wind and willingly commit political suicide when he waded into the thorny issue of prohibition. It was a sea of angry of sharks made up of the usual suspects, those who sought to block Heiskell at every turn. Prohibition, a central issue in Gilded Age Tennessee politics, gradually gained momentum as a coalition of religious fundamentalists (Women's Christian Temperance Union, Anti-Saloon League, and other like groups) and conservative politicians in both political camps mounted an effective campaign that washed over the state. By the dawn of the twentieth century, the whole state was dry except for its four largest cities. In Knoxville, Heiskell took a firm stand against prohibition and tried his best to counter the prohibitionists by putting forth an economic argument. He reasoned that under the current saloon tax, roughly about $30,000 had been brought into city coffers annually and that the loss of that revenue would result in the city being forces to raise property taxes to balance that loss. His argument had little effect on the prohibitionists, who, led by the city's fundamentalist churches and Republicans, successfully revised the city charter to made Knoxville effectively dry--in name that is.    

 

Throughout his five terms in office, the city's fiscally, conservative mindset largely kept Heiskell in check, undermining his grand vision for sweeping progressive reforms. Still, the Progressive warrior resonated among the people who continued to reelect Heiskell despite the fiercely, divided nature of Knoxville politics at the time.   

Killing 2 Birds with 1 Stone: How a Presidential Son's Snub Led to an Iconic Image

Not a Knoxville related blog, but an interesting story about one of the most famous photographs of the horse drawn steam fire engine era.

Delmar Gerle Roos, better known as "Barney" to his friends (Roos idolized Barney Oldfield, America's pioneer race car driver who became the first man to reach 60 mph on a circular track), was an accomplished early twentieth century automobile engineer who served as Studebaker's head of engineering specializing in its straight-eight engines. He left South Bend, Indiana and Studebaker for England in the mid-1930s where he worked for the British Rootes Group and was responsible for the designs of the Humber, Hillman, and Sunbeam Talbot cars. Sensing the looming threat from Nazi Germany after attending a speech by Adolf Hitler, he left Europe and returned to the United States where he co-designed the Willys Go Devil engine that powered all the Jeep vehicles built for the United States and its Allies during World War II, as well as postwar civilian Jeep vehicles. Roos's life was an accomplished one, and when a reporter from Automotive Industries magazine tasked with gathering information about the man who had been recently elected President of the Society of Automotive Engineers asked, "What, among the many things you have done, are you proudest of?" the engineer's response came as a surprise. The interviewer had expected to hear Roos explain some sort of engineering feat; however, the engineer's eyes twinkled and he answered, "I once made a famous news picture." The reporter's pen flew over his notebook as he scribbled away while Roos related one of the great stories of early news photography.

Delmar "Barney" Roos

In the summer of 1910, Roos, who was attending Cornell University where he was studying to become a mechanical engineer, obtained a seasonal job as a news photographer. He had an interest in photography and owned a 5x7 Kodak Portrait Graflex camera. Roos was hired by Arthur Brown of Brown Brothers, New York, an independent news photo service that provided photos for newspapers since very few had photographic departments at that time. As one of his first assignments, Roos was dispatched to New Haven, Connecticut in late June to take pictures of the Yale commencement ceremonies. Arthur Brown instructed Roos that there was one photograph that he had to get--a photograph of graduate Robert A. Taft, the son of President William Howard Taft, in cap and gown with his diploma in hand.



Yale University 1910 Commencement (Yale University)

Roos began to make his first series of photographs. However, when he came to Taft, the president's son refused to pose. Roos made the rest of his photos until he had exposed twenty-three of the twenty-four plates he had with him. He tried Taft once again but received a firm "no." Having failed to obtain the photo his boss desired, Roos walked across the street to catch a trolley car back to the train depot. As he waited on the corner he heard some commotion down the street from the Yale commencement; however, a row of building blocked his view. With the large camera still in his hands, Roos took a few steps off of the corner and into the street when he saw the source of the commotion coming into view. He soon found himself in the direct path of three Percheron draft horses that were bearing down on him at a furious pace. The team of horses was pulling the New Haven Fire Department's steam fire engine, smoke billowing from its boiler. The driver, with a firm grip on the reins, began to make a sharp turn up the street and Roos could see the steamer's engineer steady himself from his position in the rear of the horse-drawn apparatus. Roos readied his camera, looked down into his viewer, and pressed the shutter release to record the moment for posterity.



An unidentified man takes a photo with a 5x7 Home Portrait Graflex camera 

From across the street, Robert Taft had witnessed the entire scene. Greatly impressed, Taft came over to Roos and now consented to have his picture made. However, Roos had just exposed his last plate on the three-horse-drawn fire steam engine.



A catalogue featuring the Kodak Home Portrait Graflex camera with various accessories and prices. (ca. 1914)
 

As Roos boarded his train for New York City, he feared that he would be fired by Brown for failing to get the photograph that his boss wanted most. But as he examined his photograph of the horse drawn fire steam engine, he was astonished to see two things. First, the image was clear, far clearer than he could have imagined as the steam fire engine's driver had made the turn and the team of horses had continued to gallop at breakneck speed. Second, standing in the background of the photograph, among the spectators watching the New Haven Fire Department in action, was the man who had just moments earlier refused to be photographed--Robert Taft. He was partially hidden by another spectator; however, there he stood in cap and gown, clutching his diploma.

Ross's image of the New Haven (CT) Fire Department's horse drawn steam fire engine with Yale Graduate 
Robert Taft (fourth from left) partially hidden by a gentleman taking a step off the corner into the street.

Senator Robert A. Taft

After his graduation from Yale, Taft pursued a law degree at Harvard, graduating in 1913. He then moved to Cincinnati where he began practicing law. But he soon abandoned his law practice for politics where he followed in his father's footsteps. He quickly rose up the Republican ranks in Ohio politics to serve as one of its Senators in the U.S. Congress. In the Senate, Taft aligned with Conservative Democrats to prevent the further expansion of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and was that institution's most prominent non-interventionist who stood opposed to U.S. involvement in World War II. His political aspirations for higher office were frustrated with three unsuccessful bids for his party's presidential nomination.

As for Roos, he never went back into the news photography service after he completed his work for Brown Brothers that summer. But the great steam fire engine picture he made was sold to many newspapers throughout the United States and has since become one of the most famous photographs of the bygone era of the horse-drawn steam fire engines.



"Knoxville's" First Motorized Fire Truck

Since posting my previous blog, Digging Deeper: Researching the Fire--Using Facebook to find "Knoxville's" 1st Motorized Fire Truck, in which I described how using social media has been productive in the course of my research, I have had some help in locating two additional photographs of "Knoxville's" first motorized fire truck (see below!). Collectively, these three photographs constitute all of the "known photographs" of the American LaFrance fire truck purchased by Park City in 1913 prior to it being incorporated into Knoxville in 1917. But surely, there must be more out there, eh? Yet another positive use of Facebook to do research.


 

The above photograph was taken in January 1913 during the arrival of the American LaFrance Type 10 Triple Combination Pumper from the company's factory in Elmira, New York. The new fire truck, purchased by Park City, is being driven by members of its fire department. Captain Rufus B. Newman is sitting next to the driver. Captain Newman was the son of veteran Knoxville firefighter David Newman, who also had two other sons serving in the Knoxville Fire Department. For more on the Newmans, Knoxville's first family of smoke eaters, see my earlier blogs: Part 1 & Part 2.

The 1913 American LaFrance Type 10 Triple Combination Pumper was moved from Park City to Engine Co. 4 in May 1917 where it remained for many years at the fire hall located at the corner of Clinch and Lithgoe in East Knoxville. (Knoxville News-Sentinel, March 17, 1985)

Digging Deeper: Researching the Fire--Using Facebook to find "Knoxville's" 1st Motorized Fire Truck

For all its ills, social media--Facebook in particular--can be a very useful tool for the twentieth-first century researcher. What began in the early to mid-2000s as an exclusive social networking platform for Ivy League and other college students--today's so-called "Xennials" & the earliest "Millenials"--has since rapidly expanded to anyone with internet access who is at least 13 years of age. By the late 2000s, Baby Boomers and their parents were fast becoming active on the social medial platform as they wanted not only to connect with family and friends, but also reconnect with long, lost friends through group pages often associated with their high schools and communities. In the process, group pages devoted to communities that they had once lived or currently resided were born and these pages became portals for members to share and preserve the history of their communities through photographs, newspaper clippings, oral accounts, letters, etc., etc. Likewise, group pages devoted to a particular hobby or interest that members joined because of a subject that they were passionate about developed along the same lines. The posts on these pages not only generate a reaction in the form of a thumbs up, but also receive comments from people who have a connection to the subject matter or, better yet, have more historical information/artifacts to share to the discussion. For a historian, these posts shared on group pages can be a gold mine to discover primary sources that are not currently preserved in an archives or some historical repository, but rather are currently being shared on social media via someone sitting in front of their desktop, laptop, or mobile phone making either a post or a comment.

Since I began actively researching for the book, I have joined any and all Facebook pages that relate to the subject matter of my project--Knoxville, TN history & firefighting. My favorite pages--the ones that have been most useful--are Knoxville Tennessee History & Memories (devoted to, as the name suggests--Knoxville's history) and SPAAMFAA (The Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus of America), which includes very knowledgeable people who have worked in the firefighting sector whether it be as a firefighter or a mechanic, or perhaps are enthusiasts who have purchased and restored vintage firefighting apparatus. There are additional pages devoted to Knoxville history and more particularly hand and steam fire engines that are also very useful; however, these two Facebook group pages have been very useful and both boast over 20,000 members. That does not necessarily translate into 20,000 experts on the subject matter of their respective pages; most members join simply to read the posts and learn something rather than engage and share content themselves. But among these members, there are indeed experts, those who have firsthand knowledge of the subject matter. Some are very passionate about a particular subject. For instance, they know everything about every mile of railroad track in and around Knoxville or they know the inner workings of American LaFrance fire trucks. Perhaps they are connected to a first family of Tennessee and have a stash of personal papers and other trinkets or treasures from generations of their ancestors locked away in boxes in the attic. Though they may live far away in another state, on the opposite coast, or even another continent, that knowledge, that rich history, is waiting to be shared if researchers reach out and make contact with these valuable conduits of history who are but a mouse click away.

Now, for an example of how one of these Facebook group pages helped me discover an image of "Knoxville's" first motorized fire truck (you will soon discover why Knoxville is placed in quotes), let me begin with the following photograph (see below) that was shared with me by the great-granddaughter of James C. McIntosh, Jr., the fire chief during Knoxville's Million Dollar Fire. I will, in an informal or casual manner, work through the process by which I analyze a historical photograph.

Engine Co. 4 on Gay Street (L to R: George A. Leach, Driver; Capt. James C. McIntosh;
Lt. James Huffaker; William W. Henry; unknown; Joseph Mack Hickey

First, I am immediately curious as to the specific time, location, and model of fire truck in this photograph. The image was shared with me without any additional information except that the gentleman seated next to the driver (second from left) was James C. McIntosh.

So, what next? Now comes the flood of questions to answer of this particular photograph. From my own knowledge of Knoxville history and as a student of history, I am immediately drawn to identifying the specific time and location of the image:

Time & Location: obviously an early motorized fire truck; so, has to be post-1913 when Knoxville first became motorized (I have a list of the motorized trucks from a Knoxville history of the fire department, which I have corroborated with the City Council Meeting Minutes since I quickly discovered some discrepancies with the list that was compiled by a former firefighter).

American flags on truck; so, could be a parade.

Banner on side of truck (looking at a higher resolution scan of the photo) indicates a campaign to sale war bonds. Thus, since the image was taken during a war bonds sale and considering the vehicle's design, more likely age of the WWI rather than WWII era, I will assume the photograph was taken during WWI in the 1910s (noting that the war took place between 1914-18 but United States military involvement in the war was 1917-18); however, I need to look at more details to nail down the time for certain.

For example, the business in the background will help identify location and a search of Knoxville's city directories will help narrow the time. Working on the assumption that this could be WWI era, I immediately went to check the city directories for 1914-1918. Looking up "L.B. Trotter," I found a similar name for a clothing store located at 207 Gay Street (matches the address in the picture!) in 1916--the business was located at the 207 address from 1912-1916; however, the business is no longer listed in the 1917 and subsequent city directories. It appears L.B. Trotter went out of business either after the 1916 city directory was printed or sometime in 1917.

So now I know the location = 200 block of the west side of Gay Street and that the time period is certainly within the WWI era. Because L.B. Trotter was closed at some point in either late 1916 or sometime in 1917, that does not mean that the photo is certainly before 1917 as the signage could still remain above the store before a new business entered.

A little more research before reaching out for help on social media. I decided to search for WWI parades and Knoxville had a few indeed. There were a couple big parades to celebrate Armistice Day and to welcome the soldiers home; however, these came at the end of the war. Would a bond sale be needed after the war? Wouldn't think so, right? I went to look for parades held during the WWI itself, when Knoxville sent its soldiers off to war. I quickly zeroed in on September 7, 1917, the only parade that I could find during the war and a day in which thousands of Knoxvillians turned out to say goodbye to the men of the Third Tennessee Infantry, an East Tennessee regiment of 900 strong headed off for combat service in France. As the troops marched to the railway station a band played, flags waved, and cheering crowds lined the streets. Among the festivities, the fire department's new fleet of trucks were adorned with flags and, SIGNIFICANT, the firemen of each station rode atop their apparatus.

Front page of the Knoxville Journal and Tribune, Sept. 8, 1913 noting 40,000 Knoxvillians turned out to send the Third Tennessee Infantry off to France.

Ernest E. Burtt's front page cartoon depicting the Third Tennessee's send off
Knoxville Journal and Tribune, September 7, 1917 

Discovering make and model of the fire truck: Now, feeling solidly confident on location of the photograph and fairly good about its date, I was ready to seek out expert help identifying the particular model of fire truck in the image. As I previously mentioned, I had a list of fire trucks in Knoxville's motor pool as of September 7, 1917. Therefore, I posted the above photograph on the SPAAMFAA (The Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus of America) Facebook page and asked if anyone could help identify the model and year. Within minutes I began receiving comments on my post and private messages from not only fire truck enthusiasts, but also people who had worked for American LaFrance, one of the nation's largest companies that built fire trucks. Soon, a retired American LaFrance employee, who is currently affiliated with the North Charleston Fire Museum in South Carolina, had the answer (it was also corroborated by other members on the page in quick succession). He informed me that the truck in the photograph was an American LaFrance, Type 10 Triple Combination Pumper with its characteristic 4-cylinder engine, short hood, and flat fenders. It came complete with gas headlamps, hooks, ladders, chemicals, and a 40-gallon water tank capable of pumping 500 gallons of water per minute and attaining a speed of 60 miles per hour. This particular model was the only one servicing Knoxville before the city fathers began purchasing the then new, American LaFrance 6-cylinder Type 12 that they would buy in bulk in 1917 as the department became fully motorized and new stations were hastily built to accommodate a rapidly expanding city thanks to the 1917 annexations.



American LaFrance Type 10 Triple Combination Pumper

American LaFrance
Knoxville notecard

This was rather exciting news because my research and the list of Knoxville's earliest fire trucks confirms that Knoxville has had only one Type 10 fire truck in its history. So, this must be a photograph of "Knoxville's" first motorized fire truck? Additional information was shared with me in the form of notecards compiled by an American LaFrace historian that includes the various apparatus ordered by Knoxville along with their registration numbers and shipment dates. With the shipment date of January 11, 1913 for the Type 10, I could cross check with Knoxville's newspapers--Daily Journal and Tribune and Sentinel--to find any articles of the truck's arrival and testing. Sure enough, I found articles noting its arrival on the evening of January 16, 1913 and first public test six days later. But what struck me from the articles is that I learned that the fire truck was not meant for Knoxville's Fire Department. Rather, it was destined for Park City, in what is now East Knoxville.

Park City was its own community that in 1913 stood on the outskirts of Knoxville's city limits. They had their own government and fire department and had placed the order for the Type 10 truck with American LaFrance. Thus, Park City's Fire Department became motorized a full year before Knoxville would purchase its first motor fire engine for its fire department. But the Type 10 fire truck would see action in Knoxville between 1913-17 as both departments often sent their firefighters and apparatus to help assist in fires. In 1917, Knoxville's city limits expanded significantly as a result of annexations that included Park City.


Knoxville Daily Journal and Tribune (January 18, 1913)

The annexations of 1917 help explain how Knoxville came to acquire the Type 10 truck originally owned by Park City. Prior to 1917, Knoxville owned 3 motorized fire trucks, 2 of which were stationed at the main headquarters at Commerce Ave. and one at Central Market Fire Hall at Emory Park (Engine Company #3). On May 15, 1917, as recorded in his diary, Knoxville's fire chief Sam B. Boyd made the decision to pull the Type 10 fire truck from Park City and bring it to Engine Company #4, located in East Knoxville at the corner of Clinch and Lithgoe Streets, so as to strategically locate the motorized fire trucks in central locations within Knoxville while the city fathers placed orders with American LaFrance for additional Type 12 trucks to cover the rapidly expanding city. In turn, Boyd ordered Knoxville's second newest steamer, the 1904 J.T. McTeer, which had been stationed with Captain McIntosh's Engine Company #4, to be sent to Park City. Though temporarily returned to the horse drawn steam era, Park City's fire department would soon receive one of the brand new Type 12 trucks.


Knoxville's 1904 steamer J.T. McTeer (American LaFrance 750 GPM, Serial 500) 
stationed at Engine Co. 4 in East Knoxville c. Oct. 1911-May 1917

Thus, I have drawn the conclusion that the American LaFrance Type 10 fire truck had been acquired by the Knoxville Fire Department for Engine Co. 4's use nearly four months before the company, as pictured in the photograph, paraded the truck on Gay Street on September 7, 1917 to send off East Tennessee's doughboys to fight in France during World War I.

Now, who are the men pictured in the photograph? I was able to identify the gentlemen in the photograph from a retired Knoxville firefighter who collected and preserved the department's history. Within that collection, were numerous photographs of Engine Company 4 with identifications of the firefighters, including a copy of the photograph shared with me by James C. McIntosh's great-granddaughter. I was able to determine for certainty looking at several photographs that the names listed for the individuals appeared to match up according to whoever had originally identified the firefighters in the images.

Lots of pieces in a jigsaw puzzle to assemble, indeed; however, social media can be a useful tool in helping piece that puzzle together.

I will be periodically sharing more of these stories of interesting finds from the course of my research in forthcoming "Digging Deeper: Researching the Fire" blogs.

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

 

 

Digging Deeper: A Behind the Scenes Look into a Historian's Research

Given some recent conversations that I have had with a few of my Facebook friends about successes that I have had with using social media to research I have decided to begin a series within this blog titled "Digging Deeper: Researching the Fire," in which I will address how historians do research and why does "History" change over time using my research for my forthcoming book Knoxville's Million Dollar Fire as an example.

In the process, I will be sharing some neat things (photographs and other primary sources) that relate to Knoxville's history and its fire department that simply won't make it in the book. I will begin this new series in the week ahead with a look at using Facebook to research in the 21st century.