Chicago Fire
On the evening of October 8, 1871, a fire consumed the O'Leary family's barn at 137 DeKoven Street. Due to a high wind and dry conditions it spread to burn a large percentage of the city, an event known as the Great Chicago Fire.
After the Great Chicago Fire, Chicago Tribune reporter Michael Ahern published the story that the fire started when a cow kicked over a lantern while a woman was milking it. Though the woman was not named in the original report, Mrs O'Leary was soon identified, since her barn had been the source. Various illustrations and caricatures soon circulated depicting Mrs O'Leary with the cow. The story took the population's imagination and is still widely circulated.
Ahern admitted in 1893 that he had made the story up because he thought it would make colorful copy. The official report at the time stated "whether it originated from a spark blown from a chimney on that windy night, or was set on fire by human agency, we are unable to determine". Mrs O'Leary herself stated that she was in bed when the fire started, and had no knowledge of what set it off. Daniel "Pegleg" Sullivan, who was the first person to raise the alarm, reported that on seeing a fire in the barn, he ran across the street to free the animals (which included a cow owned by Sullivan's mother). He then informed the O'Learys, who were at home.
Anti-Irish attitudes at the time encouraged stories scapegoating the O'Leary family. It was claimed that the supposed accident happened because she was drunk, or that she hid the evidence to avoid being blamed. Neighbours later claimed to have seen shards from the broken lamp, but none of these stories could be verified. One person stated that he had found the lamp, but it had been stolen by an Irishman to protect the O'Learys.
Other theories posit that Daniel "Pegleg" Sullivan himself may have started the fire, or Louis M. Cohn, who later claimed to have been gambling in the barn with the O'Learys' son and several other boys.
Read more about this topic: Catherine O'Leary
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