Famous People That Were Firefighters
Firefighter Wayne over at his blog called Firefighter has lots of interesting posts about the history of firefighting. This caught my eye from today's post:
BEING A VOLUNTEER WAS A STEPPING STONE INTO POLITICS.SEVEN NEW YORK MAYORS,
EIGHTEEN ST. LOUIS MAYORS
AND
TWO PRESIDENTS STARTED THEIR CAREERS AS VOLUNTEER FIREMEN.
THE TWO PRESIDENTS WERE
JAMES BUCHANAN, UNION COMPANY, LANCASTER PENNSYLVANIA
AND
MILLARD FILLMORE, OF BUFFALO'S EAGLE HOSEALSO, SOME OF THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE STARTED OUT AS VOLUNTEER FIREMEN,
JOHN HANDCOCK,
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
JAMES WILSON,
DR. BENJAMIN RUSH,
GEORGE CLYMER,
FRANCIS HOPKINSON
AND ROBERT MORRIS
I wonder what fire departments these guys belonged to. If you have any info, please send me an email.
Comments
I found some info on Benjamin Franklin from Delmar's Firefighters Handbook " began his influence over the early American fire service by being the a cofounder of the Union Fire Company in 1736.....is considered by many to be America's first fire chief"
Posted by: Dave at February 10, 2006 11:43 AM
Yes, Benjamin Franklin was a VERY active & influential firefighter. He most certainly is considered the first chief
Posted by: fireresqguru at February 11, 2006 06:22 PM
John Hunt Morgan, a very prominent Confederate Genaeral was a captain of volunteer fire Brigade in Lexington Kentucky before the civil war. During the civil war he raied Lexington and set fire to it.
Hows that for Irony?
Posted by: Paul Richardson at May 2, 2006 09:16 PM
Hi Paul,
Thanks for stopping by Firewhirl and leaving a comment. Interesting stuff - I'll see if I can find some info on Morgan. It sounds like a great story.
Stay safe,
Joe
Posted by: Joe at May 3, 2006 06:37 AM
