1902 Park Avenue Hotel Fire: a Virtual Cemetery

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1902 Park Avenue Hotel Fire

New York, February 22. -- Sixteen [sic] guests of the Park Avenue Hotel, at Park avenue and Thirty-fourth streets, lost their lives this morning in a fire that investigation almost surely proves to have been of incendiary origin. . . . Two dead bodies were found on the top floor, at the rear of the building, three on the sixth floor at the head of the stairway, and two in the dining room on the third floor. The latter had been suffocated, the flames having done little damage on the third floor. The three found on the sixth floor had attempted to reach the centre stairway and elevators, where the fire was fiercest, and had evidently fallen unconscious from smoke directly in the path of the flames, which had almost consumed their bodies. Those on the top floor had been suffocated and showed no marks. Dozens of people, prostrated by the smoke, but still alive, lay scattered about the corridors, where they had been driven by the blaze. The Times (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) February 23, 1902 ///// New York, February 22. -- The following is a list of persons who lost their lives in the Park-avenue Hotel fire, or who died from injuries, . . . [1] Norman Acton, died in Bellevue Hospital, body at Morgue; lived in Colorado Springs. . . . [2] Colonel Charles L. Burdett, Hartford, Conn., commander of the First Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers; killed by fall in fire; body removed from the Morgue and shipped to Hartford. . . . [3] William J. Bernhardt, Chicago, 35 years of age, killed in hotel; body taken to undertaking rooms for shipment to home, Chicago. . . . [4] Mrs. William J. Bernhardt, died in Bellevue; same disposition of body as that of her husband. . . . [5] Lee G. Conrad, 21 years of age, draughtsman, of this city. . . . [6] Fred S. Hovey, 35 years of age, of Lyons, N.Y., died at West Thirtieth-street Station-house. . . . [7] James R. Hames (not certain -- may be Thomas Horne), lived in Denver and was agent of the H.B. Claflin Company. . . . [8] John Iverson, died in hotel; lived in Denver; agent of H.E. Claflin Company. . . . [9] Minnie E. Liggert, 40 years of age; dressmaker of Denver, where she was employed by Daniels & Fisher Company. . . . [10] Mrs. J. McManus. . . . [11] Captain Charles Underwood O'Connell, died in New York Hospital; was formerly clerk in the supreme court. . . . [12] Ex-Congressman Gaston A. Robbins of Selma, Ga. . . . [13] Esther Schlessinger, 38 years of age, of Chicago; a buyer. . . . [14] Jacob Spahn, 50 years of age, Rochester, N.Y. . . . [15] John G. Walker, 35 years of age, Columbia, Tenn. . . . [16] Colonel Alexander M. Piper, United States Army, retired, 70 years of age; died in hotel. . . . [17] Mrs. Salome Foster, known as the "Tombs Angel." . . . [18] Unidentified body of a woman [i.e., Julia Boardman], which may be that of the wife of Rev. William S. Boardman, who is a patient in Bellevue. This list of eighteen may be cut to seventeen, as one body has been identified as that of William J. Bernhardt and as that of Lee G. Conrad. . . . San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California) February 23, 1902, Page 1 and Iowa City Press-Citizen (Iowa City, Iowa) February 24, 1902. ///// [19] Miss Sophia Elizabeth Beach, who died in Bellevue Hospital and was the eighteenth victim of the hotel horror, had for some years past spent the Winter at the Park Avenue Hotel. She was of large means, and devoted much time to charitable work. She was an attendant at Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church, Foruth Avenue and Twenty-first Street. . . New York Times (New York, New York) February 24, 1902

New York, February 22. -- Sixteen [sic] guests of the Park Avenue Hotel, at Park avenue and Thirty-fourth streets, lost their lives this morning in a fire that investigation almost surely proves to have been of incendiary origin. . . . Two dead bodies were found on the top floor, at the rear of the building, three on the sixth floor at the head of the stairway, and two in the dining room on the third floor. The latter had been suffocated, the flames having done little damage on the third floor. The three found on the sixth floor had attempted to reach the centre stairway and elevators, where the fire was fiercest, and had evidently fallen unconscious from smoke directly in the path of the flames, which had almost consumed their bodies. Those on the top floor had been suffocated and showed no marks. Dozens of people, prostrated by the smoke, but still alive, lay scattered about the corridors, where they had been driven by the blaze. The Times (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) February 23, 1902 ///// New York, February 22. -- The following is a list of persons who lost their lives in the Park-avenue Hotel fire, or who died from injuries, . . . [1] Norman Acton, died in Bellevue Hospital, body at Morgue; lived in Colorado Springs. . . . [2] Colonel Charles L. Burdett, Hartford, Conn., commander of the First Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers; killed by fall in fire; body removed from the Morgue and shipped to Hartford. . . . [3] William J. Bernhardt, Chicago, 35 years of age, killed in hotel; body taken to undertaking rooms for shipment to home, Chicago. . . . [4] Mrs. William J. Bernhardt, died in Bellevue; same disposition of body as that of her husband. . . . [5] Lee G. Conrad, 21 years of age, draughtsman, of this city. . . . [6] Fred S. Hovey, 35 years of age, of Lyons, N.Y., died at West Thirtieth-street Station-house. . . . [7] James R. Hames (not certain -- may be Thomas Horne), lived in Denver and was agent of the H.B. Claflin Company. . . . [8] John Iverson, died in hotel; lived in Denver; agent of H.E. Claflin Company. . . . [9] Minnie E. Liggert, 40 years of age; dressmaker of Denver, where she was employed by Daniels & Fisher Company. . . . [10] Mrs. J. McManus. . . . [11] Captain Charles Underwood O'Connell, died in New York Hospital; was formerly clerk in the supreme court. . . . [12] Ex-Congressman Gaston A. Robbins of Selma, Ga. . . . [13] Esther Schlessinger, 38 years of age, of Chicago; a buyer. . . . [14] Jacob Spahn, 50 years of age, Rochester, N.Y. . . . [15] John G. Walker, 35 years of age, Columbia, Tenn. . . . [16] Colonel Alexander M. Piper, United States Army, retired, 70 years of age; died in hotel. . . . [17] Mrs. Salome Foster, known as the "Tombs Angel." . . . [18] Unidentified body of a woman [i.e., Julia Boardman], which may be that of the wife of Rev. William S. Boardman, who is a patient in Bellevue. This list of eighteen may be cut to seventeen, as one body has been identified as that of William J. Bernhardt and as that of Lee G. Conrad. . . . San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California) February 23, 1902, Page 1 and Iowa City Press-Citizen (Iowa City, Iowa) February 24, 1902. ///// [19] Miss Sophia Elizabeth Beach, who died in Bellevue Hospital and was the eighteenth victim of the hotel horror, had for some years past spent the Winter at the Park Avenue Hotel. She was of large means, and devoted much time to charitable work. She was an attendant at Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church, Foruth Avenue and Twenty-first Street. . . New York Times (New York, New York) February 24, 1902