History

On December 21, 1903, a certificate of Incorporation of the Bryn Mawr Fire Company was presented in the Court of Common Pleas for Montgomery County. President Judge, Aaron S. Swartz ordered and decreed that this Charter was approved and that upon the recording of it, together with its endorsements and the order, in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds for Montgomery County, the subscribers and their associates would thenceforth be a Corporation. On June 22, 1903, William H. Ramsey, P.A. Hart and I. Warner Arthur, three of the subscribers to the Certificate of Incorporation, appeared before Edward W. Miller, a Notary Public, and acknowledged the Certificate of Incorporation of the Bryn Mawr Fire Company to be their act and deed.

On February 2, 1904, the Charter, its endorsements, and the order handed down by Judge Swartz, were recorded in the office for the Recording of Deeds and the Bryn Mawr Fire Company was a Corporation. On the Charter were the names of subscribers amounting to the sum of 32. And in this group were some men of great wealth and most of the important men of Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Rosemont of one half century ago. John H. Converse, of Rosemont, was the first president. He was an official in the Baldwin Locomotive Works. Dr. William C. Powell, physician to the countryside, whose son is now a local doctor, was vice president of the new fire company. Alba B. Johnson and Samuel M. Vauclain, two associates of Converse in the Baldwin Locomotive Works were among the incorporators. Vauclain continued for many years after that as consulting engineer for the fire company, and also, later on became the President of Baldwin Locomotive Works. Clarkson Clothier, of Strawbridge and Clothier, was one of the original members, as was Walter Lippincott of the Philadelphia publishing firm. I. Warner Arthur was another member. He managed to take the time for it when he was not busy running the Bryn Mawr Ice Company, his confectioner and baker business, and his wheelwright shop. He also found time to trade in real estate and wound up his career as Postmaster of Bryn Mawr.

There was also Joseph J. Derham, the carriage builder, who founded the body works in Rosemont that have established a world renowned reputation for their custom made automobiles. Among their clientele have been such dignitaries as the Pope and Joseph Stalin. Another member was John S. Clarke, who with his brother Louis S. Clarke, founded the Autocar Company in Ardmore. Thus it was fairly easy to see how the Bryn Mawr Fire Company came to be nicknamed the "Millionaire Fire Company." Some of the other members not mentioned, although not as well off financially, were nevertheless all solid citizens and the backbone of the community. As they grew old and died, sons and other volunteers filled their places. In this manner they have perpetuated for the last fifty years.

In the colorful days when volunteer fire companies were in their infancy, there was much rivalry among the men of the different companies. When the Bryn Mawr Fire Company began to operate in 1904, there were three other companies in operation in the township; Merion, Narberth and Union of Bala-Cynwyd. They met soon after and divided the area into four sections. The first fire engine that the new company acquired was a No. 4 Metropolitan steam fire engine, which was delivered in 1904. It was kept in the coach house on the estate of Samuel Vauclain until a one-story frame building was erected next to where the fire house is now and where the Bryn Mawr Hardware Store is now situated. Soon after, a new Holloway chemical engine carrying 400 feet of chemical hose, 1,000 feet of the highest standard quality hose, ladders and hand extinguishers was purchased. Besides supplying the first home for the engine, Samuel Vauclain also contributed a makeshift fire-gong. Since he was president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, he managed to get a locomotive tire, which was suspended, outside of the firehouse. Jackson Epright, the blacksmith, rigged up a big sledge hammer which operated by tugging a rope, and when the alarm was sounded, its loud peal could be heard all over the countryside.

Each year, beginning in 1903, a Fireman's Fair and Bazaar was held to raise funds. Their aim was $10,000 for capital expenditures and $2,500 annually for maintenance. A hall was hired and there was music, lemonade and entertainment. They had prizes, a shooting gallery, a wheel of fortune and other extracts from Coney Island. At one of these fairs, the net profit was usually around $2,000. They held picnics in the summer, the Bryn Mawr Brass Band which originated way back in 1869, gave concerts and there were baseball games. Even with all these money-raising schemes, $10,000 was due on a first mortgage and $4,300 on a second mortgage when the building was dedicated in May 1906. Vauclain, Johnson, Converse, Clarkson Clothier or any of the other charter members could have easily taken care of the finances, but that was not the idea. Everybody in the area pitched in and helped. One group got together and purchased a bell from the old Humane Fire Company of Philadelphia, which weighed 956 pounds. It was hung in the tower. The women baked cakes and sold raffle tickets. Another group raised the horse fund of $810. For the first year they had rented their horses from John Moore's livery stable on Merion Avenue, or from the Bryn Mawr Ice Company.

Then the fire company bought its own horses. The first two were a gray pair named Dick and Is, after Dick Fogarty, who was a dealer in livestock, and giant Israel H. Supplee, the first fire chief, who was reported to have been over six and one-half feet tall. Everyone was pitching in and doing all that they could for the cause. Harry Kerr was no exception. He was foreman of the paint shop at J.J. Durham's carriage works. As a voluntary contribution, he offered to repaint the steamer and the chemical wagon without charge. One day a committee made up of charter members called on Kerr at the carriage works just as he was mixing a batch of green paint to be used on one of the coaches. They all admired this particular shade and it was suggested that the engines be painted that color. Right then and there it was agreed upon and to this day the engines are green, along with gold for the lettering and the striping. After they had their own horses, they arranged the equipment for the fastest possible takeoff. Three sets of harnesses were kept suspended above the two poles of the steamer and two sets above the one pole of the chemical wagon. When the alarm was sounded, the horses trotted from their stalls to their respective places, the sets of harnesses were dropped over their heads and put on them securely, the steamer boiler was fired and the engines were ready to leave.

When automotive engines first came into being but it was still more practical to use the old standby - the horse. The motorized engines had to be hand-cranked and were slow to start. They often broke down on the way to fires too. Horses, however, were quick to respond to the alarm, quick to fall into place to be hitched and made good time on the roads that were not paved. There was also a bond of friendship between the horses and the firemen. Even as early as 1904, there were fire hydrants, though not many. Thus, the need for the chemical wagon was recognizable, since many of the houses were not near a hydrant or any other water supply. The first test for the Metropolitan steam engine after its purchase was on January 16, 1904, at Montgomery Avenue and Roberts Road. In seven minutes, the pumper had reached the necessary 230 pounds of pressure needed to produce steam. The steamer got its real first test at a fire in Ardmore, when flames spread through a handsome three-story house. At the time, the Merion Fire Company was all attired in tails and silk hats at a banquet. When they arrived at the scene, it was plain to see that little could be done to save the place. They phoned to Bryn Mawr for help. When the Bryn Mawr Fire Company arrived the building was lit like a torch and obviously hopeless to be saved. However, the firemen from Bryn Mawr did help save the surrounding houses of the neighborhood, which were in some danger of being ignited by flying embers. That was the first time that Ardmore and Bryn Mawr worked together at a fire, and to this day they are still doing it when one occurs in the building district.

Though Bryn Mawr and Merion worked together at the scene of fires, it was a different story when it came to baseball. In the same year in which the Bryn Mawr Fire Company was formed, the Main Line Baseball League was organized. Bryn Mawr got together a team and entered it in the league and won 18 games while losing four in 1905. The following year they won 20 and lost nine. It was explained that this was due to sore arms and poor umpiring. They bounced back in the next two years and won the championship both times. The Merion Fire Company did not have its own team, but a number of them played for the Ardmore team. They rivalry was so terrific between these two teams that practically the whole Lower Merion police force had to patrol the games. One time as a gesture of good sportsmanship, Ardmore invited the Bryn Mawr team to be their dinner guests following the game. However, by the time the game was over, the men from Ardmore were so bitter that they told the Bryn Mawr firemen to go buy their own meal. Ardmore charged that Bryn Mawr stole players and bribed the umpires. Bryn Mawr, in turn, said that Ardmore was throwing games and, with pretty good reason, accused them of being soreheads. The betting produced most of the bitterness. Fans would borrow, embezzle and risk everything they had on the outcome of these games. However, Ardmore and Bryn Mawr had been rivals long before baseball was even heard of. It had been discovered when these towns were named that they both meant, "high moor." Bryn Mawr won this argument too, when they proved that the highest point in Ardmore was six feet lower than the highest of Bryn Mawr. As stated before, they did not get along at times, but all was harmonious at the scene of fires.

The second time both companies responded was in May of the same year as their first time. The call came late at night and the Ardmore firemen was unable to get their horses. So a dozen of the firemen grabbed the pole of the chemical wagon and started to pull it in the direction of Haverford where the fire was. Fortunately, a man came along with a car and towed them to Haverford. Soon after the Bryn Mawr firemen arrived and after working for hours, the blaze was finally gotten under control. But not until the amount of damage totaled the sum of $15,000. Among the notable fires that occurred was one, which happened when a heavily loaded freight train crashed into another at Roberts Road in March 1905. A coal stove in the caboose of the latter started a fire and soon the whole wreck was a blazing inferno. Bryn Mawr saved the rest of the cars. Last year, on May 18, a train wreck occurred at practically this same spot when the Red Arrow Flyer struck the 19-car Philadelphia Night Express, which was from Detroit bound to New York. Though there was just a small amount if fire, caused by severed electric wires, the firemen pitched in and helped extricate the injured and remove the bodies of the dead. The toll was 123 injured, and nine dead.

In January 1906, together with the fire fighters of West Conshohocken, the Bryn Mawr responded to a call at the residence of Otis Skinner, famous actor, who lived on Spring Mill Road. His daughter, Cornelius, is now also well known. One month after this, they joined Wayne's fire company in fighting a fire, which demolished the Suburban Publishing Company's plant in Wayne. The loss amounted to $20,660. Six newspapers had to find other methods of printing their matter; the Bryn Mawr Record, Overbrook Argus, Downingtown Archive, Berwyn Herald, and Wayne Times.

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