Next week is Fire Safety Week and John Tumility told me something I should have known but didn't (odd how often that happens to me). He said Fire Safety Week is next week because the great Chicago fire started Oct. 8, 1871 and burned until Oct. 10. It killed hundreds of people and destroyed four square miles in Chicago. It was one of the largest disasters of the 19th century. I also didn't know that on the municipal Chicago flag, the second star is for that fire.

The fire started about 9 p.m. near a shed behind a street named DeKoven Street. The Mrs. O'Leary's cow story isn't true. It was started by a reporter for the Chicago Republican who thought it made colorful copy (imagine that). Next week is a good time to show all of our firefighters that we appreciate them. I won't threaten to bake them cookies but maybe I can just say thank you to all of the firefighters in our county.

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The strangest thing happened when the trustees of the Union Presbyterian Cemetery was trying to decide if they should attempt to repair the awful split or just let the old historic church go. I've been to Union Presbyterian Church again to check out the repairs to the big split. It's hard to believe that someone actually pulled the two sides back together and made it a safe building again. Nolan “Buck” Allen of Westport did the work. John Milton Evans said Allen was the only one who looked at it and said he could fix it. Allen obviously has incredible know-how. He also rebuilt the round barn on Moscow Road and has built many of the large homes around here.

When I went for a look see after the church had been repaired Evans allowed me explore the inside. He said the church had been built like barns used to be built - penned together with wooden pens. They only discovered that when doing the repairs. It was a tragic sight outside but the inside was even worse. The plaster had been broken, the wallpaper was hanging from ceiling and walls in big shreds and the carpeting had to be removed. But the wooden floors are quite handsome, pews have been left just as the congregation left them when the church was closed, new windows were installed and the inside walls and ceiling have been painted.

When I checked it out earlier the crack seemed to be only on one side but Evans said the other side was just as bad, it just hadn't fallen. Evans told how items in the church were disposed of when it was closed. The two potbellied stoves are gone and the pump organ was sold. The alter table was sold but the alter is still there because they wouldn't sell it to a man who wanted to make a liquor cabinet out of it.

How the congregation and board of trustees paid for all the repairs is quite a story. Jim Splitt, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Greensburg, received a phone call from someone who said there was money that belonged to the Union Presbyterian Church or cemetery, deposited many years ago, and the caller didn't know who to contact. Norm Denny, treasurer of First took it from there and Evans soon had the check which took care of the church repairs and then some.

So when I say that you're invited to Union Presbyterian Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. so you can see what's been done you can believe me when I tell you that they aren't asking for money. The cemetery trustees, who have also taken care of the church, have stories to tell about this historic place.

The trustees of the cemetery are Greg Mattox, Charles Sanders, Jim and Jimmie Tomson, Ruben Kissel, Larry M. Evans, James W. Johnson, and John Milton Evans who has been president of the board and co-supervisor of the church and grounds since 1965. Every one of those trustees has an ancestor who served on the board or served in some manner. As Evans said, “There have been many people who have served as trustees of the association over the years. There have been many contributors and contributions of both time and money since the first organization of the association in the early 1920s.”

***I know that everyone hated to see the picture of the tree that fell on the Mt. Pleasant Church that was built around 1858. When talking with Ellen Callahan she said bids are now being accepted and the repair or rebuilding should commence soon. I'll keep you posted.

Next week we'll continue James M. Hart's Civil War diary.