William Barclay, May 2nd, 1856
On Thursday morning, May 1, 1856, at about 12:30 a.m., a fire was discovered in the paper and rag warehouse of Jasper and Moore. This three-story building was located at 96 North Street, between Fifth and Sixth Streets, just north of Market Street. The firemen arrived shortly after the alarm was sounded. However, when they arrived, they found the building fully engulfed in flames. A stiff northerly wind helped fan the flames and by the time the fire was contained it had consumed forty buildings. The heat from the blaze was so intense that buildings on the south side of Market Street were damaged. At about 1:30 a.m., the rear wall collapsed killing a fireman (see John R. Groff for more information).
Between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., two men dressed in white fire coats confronted the 25-year-old William Barclay, a member of the Franklin Hose Company, a heated argument ensued. During the argument, one of the men stabbed William Barclay in the chest, which punctured his lung. They disappeared into the heavy smoke which blanketed the area. Mr. Barclay was taken to Pennsylvania Hospital where he died of his wound on May 2, 1856. He is buried in The Woodlands Cemetery.
On May 6, Mayor Richard Vaux, Mayor of Philadelphia, offered a $ 250 reward for the arrest and conviction of the person who stabbed William Barclay. On the same day, the Franklin Hose Company offered its own $100 reward. The American Protestant Association Lodge 13, of which he was a Past Master, offered a $100 reward on May 18, 1856.
We have found no evidence that William Barclay’s murderer was ever caught.
William Barclay, May 2nd, 1856
On Thursday morning, May 1, 1856, at about 12:30 a.m., a fire was discovered in the paper and rag warehouse of Jasper and Moore. This three-story building was located at 96 North Street, between Fifth and Sixth Streets, just north of Market Street. The firemen arrived shortly after the alarm was sounded. However, when they arrived, they found the building fully engulfed in flames. A stiff northerly wind helped fan the flames and by the time the fire was contained it had consumed forty buildings. The heat from the blaze was so intense that buildings on the south side of Market Street were damaged. At about 1:30 a.m., the rear wall collapsed killing a fireman (see John R. Groff for more information).
Between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., two men dressed in white fire coats confronted the 25-year-old William Barclay, a member of the Franklin Hose Company, a heated argument ensued. During the argument, one of the men stabbed William Barclay in the chest, which punctured his lung. They disappeared into the heavy smoke which blanketed the area. Mr. Barclay was taken to Pennsylvania Hospital where he died of his wound on May 2, 1856. He is buried in The Woodlands Cemetery.
On May 6, Mayor Richard Vaux, Mayor of Philadelphia, offered a $ 250 reward for the arrest and conviction of the person who stabbed William Barclay. On the same day, the Franklin Hose Company offered its own $100 reward. The American Protestant Association Lodge 13, of which he was a Past Master, offered a $100 reward on May 18, 1856.
We have found no evidence that William Barclay’s murderer was ever caught.
Career History
Volunteer with the Franklin Hose Company