- Creator
- Chelsea Fire Club
- Call number
- MssCol 638
- Physical description
- .2 linear feet (1 volume)
- Preferred Citation
Chelsea Fire Club record book, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library
- Sponsor
- Digitization was made possible by a lead gift from The Polonsky Foundation.
- Repository
- Manuscripts and Archives Division
- Access to materials
- Request an in-person research appointment.
- Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.
The Chelsea Fire Club of Norwich, Connecticut was a voluntary association instituted on December 11, 1788 to protect the waterfront district of Chelsea, or Norwich Landing, from fire. The Club's first elected officers were Ebenezer Whiting, chairman, and Ebenezer Huntington, secretary. Participants included Jabez Huntington, Levi Huntington, and members of the Coit, Howland and Perkins families, among others. The Chelsea Fire Club record book, dated 1788 to 1796, contains the Club's by-laws, meeting minutes, and an account of fines paid by members. Minutes dated 1788 December 11 to 1796 May 6 concern attendance, membership, and the election of officers; Club regulations; maintenance of fire-fighting equipment; procedures for fire alarms; and petitioning local government for support. The possible dissolution of the Club was raised at the annual meeting of December 22, 1795, and on May 6, 1796 the Club voted to transfer the care of its fire engine, engine house and apparatus to Norwich's Second Ward fire company.
Digital Assets
Administrative information
Source of acquisition
Donated by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1899, as part of the Ford collection
Processing information
Compiled by Susan P. Waide, 2015
Related Material
Forms part of Ford collection
Key terms
Subjects
- Fire clubs (Cooperative societies) -- Connecticut -- Norwich
- Fire prevention -- Connecticut -- Norwich
Places
Occupations
Material types
Using the collection
Location
Manuscripts and Archives DivisionStephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328