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see them. By pushing them all before me I got them safe out and no person entered the building again and by the time the women and children entered my door which was not more than two minutes after they left their own dwelling and less than ten minutes from the time I had been called out of my bed; the whole house was in a blaze from end to end both up stairs & down and in fifteen minutes afterwards the whole house was consumed excepting the foundations and the Eastern chimney fell. The wind from four oclock am to six am blew a perfect gale from ESE to SSE from which latter point it blew the burning shingles directly against the new stone now building, but the rain at the time falling in torrents saved it from being burned. You will see how rapidly the building must have burned when I tell you that when I entered the western door to see after the women and children Martin Ely was a head of me and ran up stairs and threw down his three chests but was compelled by the blaze and smoke to leave by far the most valuable one at the door where it was consumed.
From Jackson, Knock & Ely the only men who were at home on the night of the fire, I get the following particulars respecting the origins and process of the burning but that you may understand me I must first tell you that the house and both chimneys stood on wooden piles [viz?] That at one o'clock on the morning of the 18th Jackson found his end of the house to be on fire somewhere about the foundation of the chimney, that he immediately cut away the floor and dashed down a quantity of water when Knock and Ely coming to assist him they went out side the building and cleaned away about the chimney and found the piles on which it rested to be burned to cinders; that they threw water from both outside and inside the house until they supposed they had completely extinguished the fire and then the women and children and Knock went to their beds again but Jackson and Ely remained up and at four o'clock they found the house to be burning behind the chimney when they all again threw water and thought they had the fire entirely out and then Ely came for me not they say that they considered the house to be in danger or that they needed help to
put