Mrs. O'Leary's Damned Cow May Have Been a Horse!

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Newspapers.com, a cash cow that resides in the barn of Ancestry.com, which, in turn, is majority-owned by the Blackstone Group, a private equity investment company that this morning is selling for $115.28 a share on the New York Stock Exchange - that cash cow is today circulating an item of interest over the internet which discusses the "Great Chicago Fire," an event that began 150 years ago this evening when a Chicago farm wife, Catherine O'Leary led her horses to the barn and then promptly retired for the night.

Soon she and her husband, Patrick, were awakened by an excited neighbor who had seen flames coming from the O'Leary barn - which was actually a shed attached to the house.  Rumor had it that Mrs. O'Leary had possibly left an oil lamp burning in the shed and that one of the farm animals had kicked it over - and some poor cow got the ultimate blame.

That fall in Chicago had been hot and dry, a drought was in effect, and the city, constructed primarily of wood, was a tinder box just waiting for a flame and a breeze.  Two days after the fire had originated and gotten out-of-control on the O'Leary farm, it had burned five square miles, destroyed over 17,000 structures, and killed more than 300 people.  

An article in Newspapers.com blog, "The Fishwrap," by Jenny Ashcraft, contained this clipping from the Chicago Tribune that was published on October 11th, 1871:

"The West Side.

"At 9:30 a small cowshed attached to a house on the corner of DeKoven and Jefferson Streets, one block north of Twelfth street, emitted a bright light, followed by a blaze, and in a moment the building was hopelessly on fire.  Before any aid could be extended the fire had communicated to a number of adjoining sheds, barns, and dwellings, and was rapidly carried north and east, despite the efforts of the firemen.  The fire seemed to leap over the engines and commenced far beyond them, and, working to the east and west, either surrounded the apparatus or compelled it to move away.   In less than ten minutes the fire embraced the area between Jefferson and Clinton for two blocks north, and rapidly pushed eastward to Canal street."

That article continued at length, and numerous other pieces about the fire ran in the same edition of the Tribune.  And it's all available at Newspapers.com.

I subscribe to Newspapers.com  and Ancestry.com.  Both are excellent history and genealogy sources, though quite pricey by my modest standards - but the care and feeding of private equity firms like Blackstone does not come cheaply!  Subscriptions to both as well as to Fold3, Ancestry's other cash cow that helps with accessing military records, are available free in many libraries - though sadly not mine.