Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives News.....Fire, 1881 

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Fire, 27 Feb 1881, Franklin 


"The (Richmond, VA) Daily Dispatch," Tues., Mar. 1, 1881, p. 2, col. 4 

Conflagration in Southampton County - 
   Half of the town of Franklin in Ashes - Loss, $100,000. 
[Correspondence of the Richmond Dispatch.] 
                        FRANKLIN, VA, February 27, 1881. 

  At an early hour this morning a lamp exploded in a kitchen in the rear of 
the store of W.H. Jenkins & Co., in the town of Franklin, Southampton county, 
on the Seaboard road, and the wind being high the flames communicated rapidly 
to adjoining buildings, and before it stopped nearly one half the place was 
swept away.  A number of large stores and other buildings were burned, 
together with the telegraph-office, ticket-office, and waiting-rooms of the 
Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad Company.  At this point the fire stopped, and 
the large warehouse of the company on the opposite side of the track escaped. 
The office of Captain John H. Bogart, superintendent of the Blackwater 
Navigation Company, was burned, but no other property of that company. 
Franklin, though small, possessed a prosperous business, and the fire is an 
absolute calamity, from the effects of which it will take years to recover. 

  The total loss is estimated at about $100,000, and insurance $50,000, in 
the following companies: City Fire, $1,000 on S. Lewis's store and $1,000 on 
A.W. Norfleet's stock; Virginia Fire and Marine, $1,500 on A.W. Norfleet's 
store; Petersburg Savings and Insurance Company, $1,000 on S. Lewis's store; 
Watertown Insurance Company, $3,500; Hamburg-Bremen (Gordon & Pleasants, 
agents), $2,000; Virginia State, $800. Besides these the following companies 
have risks, but the amounts are not yet reported: New York Underwriters' 
Agency, London, Liverpool and Globe, the Portsmouth Insurance Company, and 
others. 



"The Shenandoah Herald" (Woodstock, VA), Wed., Mar. 2, 1881 (Vol. 61, No. 19) 

p. 2, col. 4 

  NORFOLK, VA., Feb. 27;- Intelligence reached Norfolk to-day of a very 
disastrous fire at Franklin, Southampton county, Va., caused by the explosion 
of a lamp in a kitchen.  All the business portion of the town was burned with 
the exception of a store or two.  The postoffice and telegraph office were 
also destroyed, and by the greatest exertions the warehouses of the railroad 
company were saved.  The Office of the Blackwater Navigation Company went 
with other property.  The loss will reach $125,000, and the insurance foots 
up about $50,000.  The fire is very serious to the Franklin people, and it 
will be many months before they recover from the blow. 



"The Jeffersonian Republican" (Charlottesville, VA), Wed., Mar. 2, 1881 
   (Vol. 8, No. 46) 

p. 3, col. 2 

  The town of Franklin, Southampton county Va., was destroyed by fire, 
on Monday.  The fire originated from the explosion of a kerosene lamp.
[...] 



"The Shepherdstown (WV) Register," Sat., Mar. 5, 1881 
   (New Vol. 16, No. 9) 

p. 2, col. 4 

  All the business portion of the town of Franklin, Southampton county, Va., 
was burned on Monday, caused by the explosion of a coal oil lamp in a kitchen. 
Loss $120,000. 


Additional information: 

Article posted as part of the Library Of Virginia's "Virginia Chronicle" 
   Virginia newspaper project, at: 
   http://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/virginia_newspapers 
   - text of article corrected 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
by File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/news/18810301rd.txt