Friendship Fire Company Collection

437 WFCHS

SCOPE AND CONTENT: This collection includes clippings, programs, documents, essays, and ledgers documenting the history of the Friendship Fire Company (Station 1) in Winchester, VA. Contents ranging from 1866-1970
(3 boxes) Last updated 01/16.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL: The Friendship Fire Company is, by court decision, the oldest fire company in Winchester, VA. It was officially chartered in 1831, though there is evidence of earlier operation dated as far back as 1771. During the Civil War, the Union Army took one of the pumping engines to Star Fort and kept it for the duration of the war; when it was returned, it was in such poor condition the fire company needed to rebuild it. The company was moved to a new brick building in 1892 on East Cork Street, and remains in operation today.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Morton, Frederic, The Story of Winchester in Virginia. Strasburg, VA: Shenandoah Publishing House, 1925, p. 110-11

Tinsman, Estelle, “The Friendship Fire Company of Winchester, Virginia,” 437 WFCHS

CITE AS: Friendship Fire Company Collection, 437 WFCHS, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA.

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1

Friendship Fire Company, Winchester, VA – News clippings– unnumbered, printed (photocopy)

The Evening Glance – 1 item, News article, July 19, 1895. Print and photocopy

Friendship Fire Company – Memorial Service Programs – 4 items, printed

1951

1952

1953

1957

 

Friendship Fire Company – Essay by Estelle Tinsman – 1 item, 4 leaves, typescript. ND

Correspondence – 4 items, typescript. Contains the following:

Telegram from Charles Rouss to J.E. Correll, Nov. 12, 1892

Telegram from Charles Rouss to J.E. Correll, Jan. 10, 1893

Postcard from Charles Rouss to J.E. Correll, March 3, 1894

Letter from J.H. Johnson to Friendship Fire Company, Jan. 26, 1920

Committee Minutes – 3 items, typescript. Contains the following:

Executive Committee Minutes, Jan. 2, 1936

Executive Committee Minutes, Jan 14, 1936

Building Committee Resolutions, April 7, 1955

Deeds and Agreements – 3 items, typescript & manuscript. Contains the following:

Agreement between Friendship Fire Co. and the City of Winchester, ND

Deed between Friendship Fire Co. and the City of Winchester, March 29, 1892

Lot Deed, October 21, 1935

Land Survey, December 1, 1969 (and May 13, 1970)

Invoices – 2 items, print, typescript, & manuscript. Contains the following:

“Proposal for Furnishing Fire Apparatus”, Nov. 14, 1891

Secretary’s Report, July 16, 1892

Loose Documents found in Ledgers. Unnumbered.

Constitution of the Friendship Fire Company and Roll Book, 1876-1882. 90 pages, manuscript.

            “The Act of Incorporation of Friendship Fire Co. No. 1”, Feb. 28, 1890

Roll Book and By-Laws, 1884-1897. 228 pages, manuscript

Roll Book, 1897-1903. 144 pages, manuscript

Roll Book, 1905. 200 pages, manuscript

Friendship Coronet Band Minutes, 1882-1885. 146 pages, manuscript

 

BOX 2

Friendship Hall meeting notes, June 1866-1878. Approx. 218 pages (some torn or missing), manuscript.

Book of Minutes, Nov. 1878-April 1883. 176 pages, manuscript

Book of Minutes, May 1883-Dec. 1888. 238 pages, manuscript

Book of Minutes, Jan. 1897-Dec. 1904. 392 pages, manuscript

Book of Minutes, Feb. 1889-Dec. 1896. 348 pages, manuscript

BOX 3

Friendship Fire Company No. 1 Thanksgiving Day 1901 ribbon from Chambersburg, PA—1 item, fabric with medal attached (very fragile)

Friendship Fire Company ceremonial ribbon—1 item, fabric, n.d.