1822 ORIGINAL Constitution & Bye-Laws Cumberland Fire Company, Carlisle PA

Edité par G. Phillips, 1822

The Constitution and Bye-Laws of the Cumberland Fire Company, Instituted in Carlisle on the 18th Day of February, A. D. 1809. Amended and Adopted on the 6th Day of April, A. D. 1822. G. Phillips, Printer - Carlisle. 1822. 12 pp. [bound with] Constitution and By-Laws of the Cumberland Fire Co., of Carlisle, Penn a. Carlisle, PA: Printed at the Sentinel Office. 1888. 26 pp. Binding (late nineteenth century) 6.5 x 4 , 12mo. **Also included with purchase is a copy of the Constitution used in 20th century. Red paper covers, 26 pp, 4.75 x 3.25 . In fair condition. Black cloth boards normally scuffed at edges and worn/bumped at corners. Head and tail of spine rubbed; cloth beginning to fray. Both front and rear gutters beginning to split. Light finger-soiling and toning on contemporary end-pages. Original front cover of 1822 constitution exhibits pen marginalia around all edges. Normal age-related toning throughout 1822 text-block. 1822 pamphlet was folded twice & creases exhibit some age-staining. Front cover exhibits small tear at crease at fore-edge. 1888 pamphlet is lightly toned, with some instances of finger-soiling. 1888 pamphlet exhibits pencil marginalia rather regularly throughout. Red modern pamphlet is clean and stapled binding intact. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. When towns were small, fires were fought by bucket brigades, neighbors helping neighbors. As communities grew and the complexity of fire protection increased, fire companies were formed to purchase equipment and provide the organization needed to suppress fires. The first fire companies in Pennsylvania were in the larger towns; Carlisle, Shippensburg, Mechanicsburg, Newville and Churchtown. All of these towns had fire companies before the Civil War. In its early days, Union Fire Company could get by with smaller water volumes subjected to lower pressure. However, once the building caught fire, it was beyond the ability of the fire department. The company was fairly active from 1789 until 1805. By then, very few people had joined the ranks and many of the charter members had died or moved away, there probably was only a major fire every couple years. That began to change in January 1809, when house fire in the middle of the night killed two residents and severely burned a third person. A month later, Cumberland organized as the second fire company in Carlisle and nine years later, in 1818, Union reorganized and rejuvenated. In 1821, the Union and Cumberland fire companies joined together to build a two-story building next to the original courthouse that fronted present-day West High Street in the Square. The first floor served as the equipment bay for the two fire companies while the second floor was the borough hall. This building, along with the courthouse, was destroyed in March 1845 when an arsonist set a fire after using a rope to tie all the apparatus together. By the early 1840s, each fire company in town began to exhibit its own identity as a social organization. A group of men calling themselves the Alert Fire Company formed around 1842 and started to parade down Carlisle streets in uniform. In the decades that followed, Union Fire Company suffered a financial downturn and in the early 1880s came very close to bankruptcy. Despite that, company leaders took a huge risk in 1885 when they placed an order for an elaborate hose carriage at a cost of $1,500 about $38,300 in today s money. It was an investment born of pride to take to the state firemen s convention and parade. That year, Union purchased land on the north side of Louther Street for the construction of the original section of its current fire hall. Carlisle hosted the convention and parade which draw tens of thousands of people to the town. An ORIGINAL 1822 Constitution & Bye-Laws pamphlet of the Cumberland Fire Company! VERY RARE! This is the only known copy being sold. RAREA1822DTVB 05/24 - HK1633. N° de réf. du vendeur RAREA1822DTVB

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : 1822 ORIGINAL Constitution & Bye-Laws ...
Éditeur : G. Phillips
Date d'édition : 1822
Reliure : Soft cover
Etat : Fair