1885 Morris Fire Department

Be sure to drop down to the bottom of the page and read the account of the history of the Morris Fire Department by Ted Johnston that traces events back to the Active Hose Company scene in front of the Engine & Townhouse.

About the photo -1885
BACK ROW L. to R. John Bellamy, George Joslyn, William Sanderson, Nelson Moore, John McNitt, W.D. Johnson, Ed. Carpenter, Asel Avery.

MIDDLE ROW Will Hoke, Harry Ward, R.R. Ripley, Clem. Carpenter, Dr. Hall. J. McNitt.

FRONT ROW Henry Wallace, Lynn Kenyon, Perry Foote, Volney Hoke, Arnold Potter, Ed Watson, Bert Weedon.

For details known about each fireman please scroll down below the photograph.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156290832/arnold-e-potter

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/128316763/asahel-stevens-avery

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88707409/volney-j-hoke

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/182275959/horatio-nelson-moore

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/68176145/william-wing-sanderson

Clement D. “Clem” Carpenter, b. 23 May 1863 in Oneonta, NY, d. 24 Oct 1930 in Morris, NY. Clem was
one of two sons of Leman P. Carpenter and Emeline C Whitcomb. L. P. Carpenter and his son Edward E.
Carpenter were the publishers and editors of the local paper, The Morris Chronicle. Clem Carpenter was
the typesetter for the paper. Clem came to Morris from Oneonta at about age 6 when his father L. P.
Carpenter bought the paper in 1869. Clem was working in the printing office by age 17 in 1880 and
continued to do so for most of the remainder of his life. In his later years, after his brother disposed of
The Morris Chronicle, On 14 October 1891, Clem became the Morris correspondent for the Oneonta
Daily Star. Clem Carpenter married Adeline Lucetta Matteson, daughter of the late Otis B. Matteson and
Lucetta Moss Bates. Adeline (Matteson) Carpenter, b. 19 May 1866, d. 9 Jul 1927, was a graduate of the
Morris Union School, and like her two older sisters, was a teacher at the school.

Originally from Laurens, Addie’s father O. B. Matteson and her grandfather father Joshua D. Matteson
bought the Holmesville tannery built in 1834 on Calhoon Creek in Morris from O. B.’s brother Benjamin
H. Matteson in 1850. The O. B. Mattesons lived next to the tannery in the house now numbered 40 West
Street, Morris. O. B. Matteson ran the tannery until the mid-1880s. When Clem Carpenter married
Adaline Matteson, he moved from his parents’ house on Church Street to the Matteson house on West
Street. Clem and Addie were long term members of Zion Episcopal Church in Morris, both serving in a
variety of leadership roles in the parish. They had no children, but enjoy the company of their many
nieces and nephews and their families who came to spend the summer on the farm. Addie Carpenter’s
mother Lucetta had farmed the property, shipping produce, butter, and eggs to hotels in New York City.
Addie and Clem continued this business for some time in addition to Clem’s work as a printer. Family
letters indicate that Clem, in addition to serving as a volunteer firefighter, enjoying playing and, in his
later years, supporting the Morris baseball team.

Clem Carpenter and his wife Addie died within three years of each other and were buried in her parents’
plot in Hillington Cemetery in Morris.

An obituary from the Oneonta Daily Star is attached.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/97886277/clement-d-carpenter

From Ted Johnston's article here's a list of Morris Fire Chiefs which I will try to bring up to date soon.

Chiefs of the Merris
Fire Department
1885-1886 - J. McNitt
1887-1896 - Unknown
1897-1902 - William Southern
1900 1904 - H. Hoa
1904-1907 – G. Bedell
1907-1908 - Howard Sloan
1909-1910 - George Strait
1910-1914 - George Wood
1914-1922 - George Strait
1922-1923 - Lee Colburn
1923-1924 - Scott Gage
1934-1926 - George Mansfield
1926-1927 - Dean L. Davis
1927-1928 - Lewis K. Myers
1928-1929 - Viggo Klindt
1929-1937 - Bert Leska
1937-1946 - Ralph Aplin
1946-1953 - Charles Miller
1953-1958 - Dan Gassler
1958-1961 - Bert Birdsall
1961-1967 - Ralph Goodier
1967-1971 - Art Sherman
1971-1982 - Henry Rehrmann
1982-1985 - Ted Johnston
1985 - Stan Leonard