Warren Seymour, member of G.A.R. Post No. 207, was born Jan. 12, 1845, in Dexter, Michigan. His parents moved to Oconto to engage in farming when he was ten years old. He enlisted Dec. 5, 1861, in Company I 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry. His Company was to protect Union citizens, disperse… Read more

John Utter was born on August 4, 1844, in Canada. His family lived in Michigan, and he enlisted in the Company K 22nd Michigan Infantry on August 7, 1862. His regiment was in the Battle of Chickamauga where he was taken prisoner on September 29, 1863. He was confined to… Read more

This information was found in a binder in the Peshtigo Fire Museum The following reported by Thomas Williamson in 1871. Researched and contributed by Janet McNeil There were also two French families, whose names I do not know Bowdoin, Frank Bucklin, George, wife, and babe Coneya, wife and child of… Read more

Information found in a binder at the Peshtigo Fire Museum. The residents of Birch Creek are the last known victims of the Fire. Ames/Eames, Mrs. Phineas, age 42, and two children: Lincoln, age 7, and Mary, infant Mr. Ames, badly crippled in both hands and feet, and two daughters were… Read more

Information found in a binder at the Museum Bodot, Mrs. Louis was found in the woods eight days after the fire, crushed to death by a fallen tree Denis, Mary Delafosse, Matilda Dantoin, Mrs. Joseph, and three children Although burned to death herself, she had so well-protected an infant in… Read more

From information found in a binder in the Fire Museum. An estimated 800 lives were lost among the residents of Peshtigo Village alone, most unrecognizable. Alvord, John, wife, and one child Alwine/Elwert, Johann (nee Goeth) Baker, Augusta (Milwaukee Sentinel, October 16, 1871) Barton, Roger Died from effects of the fire… Read more

This content was found in a binder in the Fire Museum. List of the dead in the Sugar Bushes Alschwager, Mrs. John (Minnie) and one infant child Husband Charles and five children saved Auest, Fred (Aust, Friederick—November 22, 1822 – October 8, 1871 Mays Corners Cemetery, now Marinette County, Wisconsin;… Read more

George Coon married Martha Newberry and Grace Coon married Martha’s brother Charles Newberry (Martha and Charles were brother and sister; they were children of Henry Sr). George, Martha, their son, and Grace all survived the Peshtigo Fire. Charles Newberry and his and Grace’s two sons died. Grace survived by taking… Read more

Hoppe was four months old at the time of the fire. She lived with her parents and 18-month-old brother on a farm six miles from Peshtigo. Her father, Ezra Jackson, was bedridden with scarlet fever, and her uncle was on the farm at the time, assisting the family. “When the… Read more

Anna was only nine days old on the day of the fire. She was born in Peshtigo on Sept. 29, 1871, and was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lars Korstad. Her father came from Norway in 1864 and worked for the next three years to save enough money for… Read more

“Wake up! The end of the world is coming!” Mrs. Amelia “Stoney” Desrochers recalled her mother shouting when she was only five years old. The blaze reached their home at about 9 p.m. “There had been fires all along. The men had been fighting them,” Desrocher said. “One night a… Read more

Abram Place, originally from Vermont, was the second largest landowner in the area. He also worked at the Peshtigo Company. Yet people looked down him because he had married a Native American woman. He regularly welcomed Native Americans to his home—they warned him that fire was coming. To prepare, Abram… Read more

Many people thought plowed fields would provide protection from the fire, and they often do in a regular forest fire. This, however, was not a normal fire, and most who sought refuge in a clearing perished. An exception is the Bakeman family. Henry Bakeman lived with his wife and six… Read more

Some survivors suffered for hours or even days, agonizing over the unknown fate of their loved ones. Charles Albrecht lived with his wife and three children in a house on Emery Street, west of the Peshtigo River. He worked as a carpenter and at the time of the fire was employed… Read more

Fireballs rained and hot air rushed ahead of the main fire, detonating and exploding buildings—and people—faster than it took to describe the scenes. Women and girls were especially vulnerable. The combination of layers of clothing and higher fat content in their bodies intensified the heat, just as a covering wrapped… Read more

The Martin Joseph Villers family was traveling in October 1871. They were Wisconsin residents, but not from Peshtigo. How they ended up there that fateful evening is still a mystery. When the fires struck the town, Martin and his wife, Octavia, prepared to flee to the Peshtigo River. They put their… Read more