Palmyra, Wisconsin
Erricson Building Fire,
January 11, 1909
The Erickson building in Palmyra was burned
to the ground at an early hour Monday morning
and Capt. and Mrs. W. O. Hilborn, their son,
Capt. Hilborn's aged father, and Mr. and Mrs. F.
L. Ayers, all of the Union Gospel Brigade, who
are well known in this city, barely escaped with
their lives.
They were occupying the second floor of the
building, the lower floor of which was used as a
garage. The fire started with an explosion
at 4 o'clock Monday morning,
 and almost in a
moment the building was a mass of flames.
The Hilborn and Ayers families fled from their
beds in their night clothes. They lost all
their clothing and personal possessions and
carried no insurance.
Mrs.
Hilborn and Mrs. Ayers were in this city
Tuesday. "Perhaps it was the first
explosion that awakened us," said Mrs. Hilborn.
"There were two or three explosions, probably of
gasolene, after we got out. We found the
building a roaring mass of fire with the flames
bursting from the large front windows.
Luckily there was an outside stairway by which
we escaped to the street. We were
obliged to run a block or more in our bare feet
before finding shelter, and the thermometer was
below zero Monday morning.
We lost absolutely every thing, but the
ladies of Palmyra kindly came to our assistance
and provided us something to wear. Our
little son Herbert, aged 11, was with us, but
our daughter Edna
was luckily spending the night
with friends. She lost all her clothing except
what she had with her.
"We arrived at Palmyra only on Saturday and
had held our first meeting on Sunday evening in
the Methodist church. We shall continue
the meetings just as if nothing had happened and
expect to remain in Palmyra at least two weeks."
The lost of the building is complete and
three automobiles were destroyed in the garage.
The origin of the fire is unknown but it is
thought to have been caused by spontaneous
combustion among oiled rags or waste.
Palmyra has a chemical engine, and the efforts
of the volunteer fire company prevented the
spread of the fire to other buildings.
The Union Gospel Brigade has been station in
Waukeska for considerable periods during the
past two or three years and its members are well
known here. Capt. Hilborn was for some months a
student at Carroll college. Later he went
west and became interested in a Nevada mine.
Waukesha Freeman Waukesha, WI January
14,
1909
 The
Erricson building in Palmyra which burned
to the ground ten days ago, and from which
Capt.
and Mrs. Hilborn and other members of the Union
Gospel Brigade narrowly escaped with their
lives, was owned by Otte E. Scherer of that
village, who carried light insurance.
The building was valued at $5000 and contractors
say that it could not be built to-day for less
than $7000. Mr. Scherer's Buick auto was stored
in the building and was not insured. He
had been offered $1300 for it. Two other autos
were stored in the building and totally
destroyed. They belonged to
Christie
Carlin and Robert and Will Turner
and were a
total loss. There were valuable robes and
tools also in the building belonging to Mr.
Scherer.
The total loss caused by the fire is said to
be about $10,000. The members of the
Gospel Brigade were for some days entertained by
the hospitable families in Palmyra, and have now
secured other rooms and gone to house keeping.
Waukesha Freeman Waukesha, WI January 21,
1909
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