Fireman Charles W. Abrams, a member of Engine 18 (Union), died after being injured at a fire at Cram's Distillery located at Broadway between White and Walker Streets. Fireman Abrams was twenty-five years old at the time of his death. This early morning fire started when the cap of a turpentine still melted and the solution boiled over and exploded. The fire spread rapidly through the wooden buildings and destroyed twenty-nine homes, business and other buildings. Fireman Abrams was an active member of his church where he taught Sunday school. He lived at 58 Frankfort Street. The main reason for the spread of the fire was the lack of water in the area. Early in the century turpentine distilleries were being erected on and around the old Collect Pond, between Orange and Ryders Streets, considered in 1820 to be the upper part of the city. These distilleries would burn down two or three times a year, calling for the "machines" [fire engines] to be drawn to them from the distant parts of the city. Even if the machines did reach the fire in time, the lack of water was always a problem. After many fires, the turpentine businesses were driven further north away from the populated areas.

The historian of Trinity Church on Broadway in lower Manhattan confirmed that Charles Abrams was buried in the churchyard on June 24, 1820. An article in the June 14, 1930 issue of "New York" magazine describes the tombstone of a fireman, constructed around 1825, with a helmet displaying an eagle on it. The article states that the eagle was included by the sculptor even though it was not part of the typical fireman's helmet of the day. It goes on to say that this artistic license was adopted by fire companies at the time that had eagles added to their helmets. And so, the grave of Fireman Charles Abrams is credited with this feature that remained on New York City firemen's helmets for over one hundred years. Unfortunately, the monument is no longer in the churchyard and church records do no indicate the plot number of Fireman Abrams' grave.