Typescript text of an address delivered at the Charleston (S.C.) Rotary Club on December 22, 1953 by D. A. Amme, Vice President, Board of Firemasters. Speech traces the history of firefighting in Charleston from the 18th century until the 1950s. Also notes the affliation of the police department and lists "Notable Conflagrations."
Records include correspondence, lists of dues-paying members, and receipts. The names of Carl Metz, R. Emmett Vaughan, and Charles F. Hencken, president, secretary, and treasurer of Local No. 502, figure prominently in the records. "Musicians' Protective Association" appears as part of the name of the local in many records.
The bulk of the material relates to the payment of dues to the union, and some records concern the rental of the German Artillery Hall for the organization's meeting and for concerts by the Metz Band.
Excerpts from minutes of "the regular monthly meeting held in their hall July 4, 1887" concern the election of J. Powell Reid as treasurer of the Mechanics' Union No. 1. The Mechnic's Union No. 1 was a trade union organized in Charelston in 1869.
Certificate of citizenship for John McCormick, a "laborer" from Ireland. McCormick lived in Charleston from 1871 until at least 1894. Initially he is listed as a "seaman" in Charleston City Directories. By 1882, McCormick is listed as the captain of the Rattlesnake Shoals light ship. A light ship is a vessel which acts as a lighthouse for locations that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction and many were operated under the auspices of the U.S. Lighthouse Service, later the U.S. Coast Guard. John McCormick served as captain of the Rattlesnake Shoals light ship until at least 1894 when his name disappears from the City Directories. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the Rattlesnake Shoal Light Ship was blown off station by a hurricane on August 27/28, 1892. It was then driven ashore at Long Island Beach (SC), 40 feet above low water mark. While beached, the light ship was damaged by a second hurricane in October. It was hauled off in 1894 and brought to Charleston for repairs. McCormick changed residences frequently during the 1880s living at 129 Coming St., 6 Thomas St., 17 Thomas St., and 55 Chapel St. By 1892, McCormick had settled in at 62 Cannon St., a residence he shared with a Miss Lillie McCormick, who is listed as a teacher at Courtenay School, according to City Directories.
Records chiefly consist of membership rolls for volunteer fire companies of Charleston (S.C.) including the Eagle Fire Engine Company, the Charleston Fire Engine Co., the Vigilant Fire Engine Co., Marion Fire Co., Aetna Fire Co., Washington Fire Co., Hope Fire Co., Charleston Fire Company of Axemen, Palmetto Fire Co., German Fire Co., and the Phoenix Fire Company. Also included is a printed blank form that certifies the bearer is an active firefighter and therefore exempt from Confederate military service. Printed on the certificate are two images of fire engines.
Printed broadside includes description of curriculum, rules of conduct, tuition and refereces. Madame Rosalie Acelie Togno opened her french and english boarding school for young ladies in Charleston under the patronage of James Louis Petigru in 1854. Initially located on Tradd Street, the school and dormitory for students was relocated to Meeting Street soon after. Togno was a fluent speaker of french and arrived in Charleston by way of New York. Her strict teaching style set new standards for education in antebellum Charleston and students were instructed in science, history, geograph and writing . Madame Togno's students included such notable women as Adele Allston Vanderhorst and Elizabeth Allston Waties Pringle. During the Civil War, Togno relocated her school to Barhamville, South Carolina but was forced to flee South Carolina soon after.
