Up in Smoke: The Southern Tier Sanitary Fair

 By Rachel Dworkin, Archivist

 

The Southern Tier Sanitary Fair opened on the evening of March 14, 1864 at the newly-constructed First Presbyterian Church. The planning committee included all sorts of important figures like congressman turned soldier Alexander S. Diven, businessman and future Mark Twain father-in-law Jervis Langdon, and Rev. Thomas K. Beecher of the Park Church. The fair was supposed to take place over two weeks with events taking place in several churches and public halls across the city. It was to be the biggest and best Sanitary fair in all of Western New York. Alas, things went horribly, horribly wrong.

The United States Sanitary Commission was created in June 1861 as a charitable organization aimed at protecting the health of Union soldiers. To that end, they inspected and improved military encampments; constructed hospitals and soldiers’ homes; trained nurses; and collected and distributed aid. For more information about the Commission and their activities, check out this blog post: Southern Tier Sanitary Fair and the United States Sanitary Commission.

The first Sanitary Fair was Northwest Sanitary Fair in Chicago from October 27 to November 7, 1863. The fair featured patriotic exhibits, crafts available for purchase, concessions, big ticket auction items, and plenty of spectacle. It was incredibly successful, raising $78,682.89 in just two weeks! Soon, everyone wanted to hold one. It kicked off a wave of similar fairs in cities across the North including Cincinnati, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Baltimore, and, of course, Elmira.

The opening night of the Southern Tier Sanitary Fair featured a concert by Pier’s Brass Band, speeches by dignitaries, and a supper. Over the next several days, fairgoers got to see booths put together by charitable groups and shops from across the Twin Tiers at the Bazaar located in the First Presbyterian Church. There were fancy goods made by ladies from across Steuben, Tioga, Bradford, and Chemung counties, all of it for sale. Located in Holden Hall was the portrait gallery and cabinet of curiosities featuring artifacts from Japan, Europe, the Middle East; a Native American exhibit; taxidermy birds and animals; and captured Confederate military equipment. Concessions were provided at the New England kitchen, located in a small, temporary structure next to the church.

 

Sanitary Fair ticket

Each night the ladies from a particular town would prepare and serve a public supper. The first night, dinner was served by the ladies of Southport, followed the next day by Big Flats, then Horseheads, etc. Waitresses wore special liberty caps and red, white & blue ribbons. We have one of the ribbons at the Chemung County Historical Society, but, sadly, none of the caps. After supper, the evening entertainments would begin. They included a tableau where people acted out famous paintings; concerts; dancing; and a lecture given by Col. A.D. Streight, who had recently escaped from a Confederate prison.  One night’s entertainment was the wedding of Mr. William O. Brown and Miss Josephine Burke performed by Rev. Thomas K. Beecher with the wedding cake sold off at 25 cents per slice. The fair and evening entertainments were very well attended and quite profitable. By day three, they had already brought in $11,191.19. 

 

Ribbon worn by waitresses

Then it all went up in smoke. On the evening of March 18^th, two boys lighting the gas lamps managed to catch the evergreen garlands hanging inside the Presbyterian Church on fire. Attempts to contain the blaze failed and from there it was a mad scramble to evacuate the building. Various individuals were hurt getting people out and three eventually died. Fred Hall and Charles Hazard were attempting to flee together when they were overcome by the smoke. Hazard was pulled to safety by H.S. Brooks (who died several months later from complications due to smoke inhalation) while Fred Hall’s body was eventually found in the wreckage. M.M. Converse tripped while saving a little girl and was so severely burned he died a few days later. The newspaper accounts were filled with the horror of the event coupled with the heroism of those who risked their lives to help others and save the merchandise.

Charles and Robert Hall, Clark Ingraham, Ella Diven, and S.C. Reynolds collectively managed to grab some $300-worth of goods from the Bazaar. Alice Blossom actually rushed back into the fire to get $70 in cash from the ice cream stand. Still, most vendors lost all their wares and the church itself was a total loss. The furniture lent by various Elmira families, all the outer wear in the cloak room, and a number of heirlooms on display in the New England Kitchen were all reduced to ash. The portrait gallery and the cabinet of curiosities in Holden Hall remained intact, but the festive mood was shattered and the rest of the planned events were cancelled. Despite the tragedy, the fair managed to raise $12,000 of the expected $15,000. 

Mourning ribbon from Fred Hall's funeral