City Prison Burns

On last Thursday afternoon, Thomas Scates, a well known man of this place, became intoxicated and conducted himself in such a manner as to make it necessary for the city marshal to lock him up in the calaboose.

He was imprisoned and at the hour of 9 o’clock in the night an alarm of “fire” was heard.It was soon discovered that the fire was situated in the calaboose. Quite a number of people responded to the alarm; the marshal dragged the perishing man out, and with buckets of water the fire was extinguished; not however until the structure was almost consumed.

Mr. Scates died at 6 o’clock the next morning. The origin of the fire was unknown but there was straw on the floor for the inmates to lie upon, and it was therefore a very easy matter to start a fire.

As Scates had previously been in the calaboose, and as he had said that if he was ever put in again he would burn it up, it is surmised that he set the fire to the straw himself. This is one of the most distressing casualties our city has ever known.

Sam’s Notes: Thomas Scates was a large, crippled, African-American man who came with the Thorn family from Virginia in 1846. He was a blacksmith and worked at the old Stockton blacksmith shop, located on North Market Street.

(Extracted from articles in local papers compiled by Harry Boyd, posted on http://www.marionfire.us/ )