Hamilton County Courthouse, 1890s
The funerals for the fallen firefighters, Henry Iler and Matt Peak, had concluded at Forest Hills on Saturday, June 11, 1887 with final remarks from Dr. J. W. Bachman. “It takes a calamity like this sometimes to bring us to a realizing sense of our duty toward these brave fellows, who often so risk their lives and limbs for our safety… As they had fallen to death beneath the smoldering ruins so they are laid side by side on a beautiful knoll… The fittest place for man to die is where he dies for man…”
Within hours of the tragedy, Chattanooga residents and business leaders came together with financial donations, first to provide for the families of Iler and Peak, and then to consider a “suitable monument” to their memories.
Less than a week later, conversation had focused on a “large fountain surmounted by a heroic figure of a fireman with nozzle in hand, and the base of which would be an immense basin for watering animals… placed at a central point.” The combination of a memorial that would remind Chattanoogans for generations to come of “their discharge of duty, even unto death” with a practical and useful convenience for those visiting the Hamilton County Courthouse, identified as the probable location, appealed to contributors.
Individual contributions were supplemented by organized events like the South Chattanooga Aid Society’s Lawn Fete, hosted by M. M. Murray on June 17. Proceeds from the evening would support the firemen’s fund and the Murrays had planned an event designed to attract Chattanooga society. Music, ample refreshments and varied entertainment including Miss Maggie Powell’s recitation of Florence Gerald’s poem to the “fire laddies” guaranteed a memorable evening. The committee - - Mrs. Seth Powell, Mrs. M. M. Murray, the B. T. Howards, T. J. Lattner and “his lady,” W. D. Hill, H. C. Powell and J. T. Hughes were assisted in planning by a “large number of South Chattanooga’s most popular ladies.”
As the fund increased, a committee was created for oversight of the memorial project; Mayor Alonzo Grant Sharpe, Charles Whiteside, Reverend G. W. Dumbell, R. M. Barton, Jr., Dr. J. H. VanDeman, M. L. Chapman and John C. Griffiss would oversee the project while the Chattanooga Daily Times would handle the accounting duties.
On Sunday, June 3, 1888, the newspapers announced that ‘The Fireman’s Fountain’ would be dedicated on the first anniversary of the tragedy, Saturday, June 9 at 3 p.m. Charles Whiteside, Chattanooga Fire Department Chief organized the formal presentation of the fountain to Mayor John B. Nicklin by Dr. J. H. Van Deman, the memorial committee chairman. Whiteside predicted that the fountain was destined to become “a great ornament to the city.”
On the anniversary, Chattanoogans turned out to pay tribute to the “heroic firemen,” Henry Iler and W M. ‘Matt’ Peek. The dedication committee chosen to begin the procession to the fountain site at promptly 4:30 p.m., the “hour when the fatal alarm, calling the department out on that day, was sounded.” Long before the designated hour, a crowd began to assemble on the three sides of the fountain with the overflowing crowd scattered around the courthouse and blocking Georgia Avenue. Dr. Van Deman would later comment that the record attendance for a public event was an endorsement for the decision to erect the “handsome fountain” as a memorial.
At 4:30 p.m., the procession organized and began at the intersection of Ninth Street and Georgia Avenue. Chief Whiteside stepped off, joined by the Assistant Chief and followed by the Chattanooga Silver Cornet band, the Chattanooga Police Department in double file and the Chattanooga Fire Department’s Lookout Fire Company, Carlisle Engine and Hose Reel and Lookout Engine and Hose Reel. Each fire department piece was adorned with flowers and boughs of evergreens. Upon arrival at the site, they assembled in a semi-circle about the fountain. Carriages came next, containing members of the Chattanooga City Council, ex-Mayor Sharp, Judge Warder, and members of the memorial committee. A number of prominent citizens joined the procession, either in their carriages or walking in tribute.
The fountain had been draped in black and a large platform had been constructed for the special ceremony. Invited to the platform were Mayor John B. Nickin, Aldermen Dyer, Sylvester, Lynn, Howard and Williams, City Attorney C. R. Evans, Auditor V. S. Whiteside, Treasurer Prosper Lazard, City Physician Dr. J. L. Gaston, Dr. J. H. Van Deman, A. S. Ochs, Col. Tomlinson Fort and Chief Whiteside and others.
The ceremony began at 5 p.m.
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Linda Moss Mines is the Chattanooga and Hamilton County historian