Church Service is Cut Short by $5,000 Blaze in Annex; Memorial Painting is Saved

17 March 1941 | Cincinnati Enquirer 

Fire of undetermined origin cause $5,000 damage to the two-and-one-half-story stucco annex of Seventh Presbyterian Church, Madison Road and Cleinview, Walnut Hills at noon yesterday during services.

 

The annex, which connects with the church, houses the pastor’s study, a library, a music room, an auditorium, and storage quarters.

 

The fire, starting in the upper half story of the storage room, burned fiercely under the slate roof, Assistant Chief Edward Shearwood and Marshal William Cunningham reported.

 

First news of the fire was given to Fire Company 23, a square away at Madison Road and Hackberry Street, when a motorist, George Hack, stopped to report that smoke was pouring from the building. The company hurried to the scene, followed immediately by other companies.

 

So quietly did the firemen approach that few among the congregation attending services were aware of the blaze until the pastor, Rev. Jesse Halsey, curtailed the almost completed service as smoke started to filter into the edifice.

 

The congregation filed out of the structure in orderly manner. Many then joined spectators on the sidewalk to watch the fire.

 

Rev. Mr. Halsey had been informed of the blaze some time before by the assistant pastor, Rev. Samuel Warr. Rev. Mr. Warr told his superior that firemen were on hand and that everything was under control.

 

Rev. Mr. Halsey and Mrs. Halsey thanked fireman and the Salvage Corps for protecting an oil mural in Rev. Mr. Halsey’s study with tarpaulins. The mural hung immediately below the point where the fire was most intense. The picture is one that Cleveland Woodward painted as a memorial to the Halseys’ son. William Halsey, who, when 7 years old, was killed by an automobile in front of the church in 1927. The building in which the fire started had been used earlier in the morning for children’s Sunday school classes. The children were out of the building, however, when the fire was detected.

Marshal Louis Schraffenberger and Captain Carl Rogers started an immediate inquiry . .   . 

Persons associated with the church were summoned to a hearing in Deputy Feldmeann’s office this morning.

 

Too Much Competition!

“There’s too much competition!”

Thus did Rev. Jesse Halsey, pastor of Seventh Presbyterian Church, impart to his congregation yesterday the knowledge that a fire in the edifice was too intense to permit him to complete the morning worship service. 

 

Rev. Mr. Halsey had been informed of the blaze previously by an assistant pastor, Rev. Samuel Warr. The clergymen had hoped that firemen, already on the scene, would be able to keep the flames under control sufficiently to avoid disruption of the services.