West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 82 by Charlie Miller
____June 21, 1882 – DESTRUCTIVE FIRE – The alarm of fire sounded in our streets Friday morning last, by Dr. Snyder’s discovering a blaze coming from the second story of the American House. In a few minutes, a crowd had gathered and the door of the hotel broke in, and the occupants awakened, all of whom fortunately escaped with their lies. But very few goods were saved, the hotel furniture all being destroyed. The origination of the fire seems to be a mystery, with no fire being used in the part of the house where the flames were first seen. By almost superhuman effort the adjoining buildings belonging to Fellows and Millikin were kept from the fire fiend, but large sparks ignited several other buildings in town. Luckily no breeze was stirring, less perhaps the entire business portion of town would have been burned. Several amusing incidents occurred among the traveling men who were endeavoring to save some of their goods. One gentleman had $1,500.00 worth of silk, which he managed to get out of the building. One man carried his apparel downstairs in one arm and dragged his trunk with the other, being so excited as to forget his nude condition. The building was owned by Mr. Ingalls of Mechanicsburg and was not insured. The loss was about $2,500.00. Our town should have purchased a fire engine last week instead of a hook and ladder truck.
____August 4, 1882 – Charley Kuehner has purchased a fine driving horse.
____November 29, 1882 – James Peene’s elevator is finished.
____Triplets in West Jefferson- Last Friday evening, Mrs. John Johnson presented her husband at one childbirth, three sons, each weighing 5 pounds. The triplets are all doing well as also the mother. Dr. J. T. Colliver was the attending physician and is bound to bring Jefferson to the really attractive point.
____January 10, 1883 – Mayor A. D. Burnham died. (Albert Delos Burnham was born in 1834 in Homer, New York. He came to West Jefferson ca. 1860 and opened a grocery store. He served as Post Master from 1875 to 1883. He was elected mayor in 1883 and died in office on January 6, 1883, and was buried at Homer.)
____1883 – The population of West Jefferson is now 800 people.
____February 3, 1883 – The Baptist congregation is meeting with encouragement to raise a subscription of $7,000.00 with which to build a new church.
____May 30, 1883 – The telephone office will be in Dr. Z. R. Taylor’s Drug Store.
____January 30, 1884 – A new iron bridge is being built over Little Darby Creek by the Little Miami Railroad Co