NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7731
SPONSOR: Fahy TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public buildings law, in relation
to directing the office of general services to install and maintain a
commemorative plaque in the Capitol honoring Samuel J. Abbott
PURPOSE:
To provide for the installation of a commemorative plaque memorializing
Samuel J. Abbott, the watchman who lost his life in the 1911 New York
State Capitol fire.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Provides the history of Samuel Abbott's life of distinguished
public service and the legislative intent to memorialize Samuel Abbott's
life and his loss of life while serving the people of the state of New
York in that Mr. Abbott's life and service has not previously been fully
recognized.
Section 2. Provides that a Samuel J. Abbott commemorative plaque honor-
ing Samuel J. Abbott, bearing his likeness and describing his service
and sacrifice to the people of New York, be designed and placed in the
Capitol in a manner as determined jointly by the Commissioner of General
Services and the Commission on Restructuring of the Capitol.
Section 3. Provides for an immediate effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
At 2:42 a.m., on March 29, 1911, Fire Box 324 was pulled, notifying the
City of Albany Fire Department of a fire at the state Capitol. Fire-
fighters, operating with horse-drawn pumpers, arrived at the Capitol to
find a roaring inferno. Investigators would later determine that the
fire originated in the third-floor Assembly Library, spreading quickly
to the adjacent State Library, before engulfing the building's fourth
and fifth floors. According to reports at the time, the building, known
as "one of the most costly and celebrated buildings constructed in
19th-century America," had been burning without impediment for at least
thirty minutes prior to the alarm.
According to the March 29, 1911 edition of the Albany Evening Journal,
at approximately 3 a.m., shortly after the fire alarm sounded at the
Capitol, Mr. Samuel J. Abbott, a 78-year-old Night Watchman in the
building, "was seen by an orderly opening some windows." Mr. Abbott, a
Civil War hero and devoted public servant, had worked at the Capitol
since 1895, his territory comprised of three floors of the State
Library. He would leave home about 9 o'clock each night, go to the
library, lock himself in and remain until 6 a.m. when he returned home.
When friends heard the alarm and realized that the Capitol was on fire,
they immediately thought of the safety of Mr. Abbott. After first being
told by another watchman that Mr. Abbott had been seen and was "all
right," they became concerned as hour after hour went by and he failed
to appear. Two days later, on March 31, Mr. Abbott's partially burned
body was found in a narrow passageway on the fourth floor. His silver-
handled cane was discovered a short distance away, and in his pocket
remained a key to a locked door just a few paces further, through which
he might have escaped.
Samuel Abbott had served in Company E of the 12th New York State Volun-
teer Infantry, also was known as the Onondaga County Regiment, the Inde-
pendence Guard, and The Dozen. Mr. Abbott was recorded as holding the
ranks of Ensign, Second Lieutenant (May 13, 1861-August 3, 1861), and
First Lieutenant (August 2, 1861-September 19, 1861) and he was later
described in the Albany Evening Journal as having "an enviable war
record."
His funeral service was held at St. Peter's Church in Albany on April 1,
and was described in the Times Union as "one of the most largely
attended funerals ever held in this church." The commanders of Albany's
four Grand Army of the Republic posts served as pallbearers, and Gov.
John A. Dix was in attendance, along with "representatives from every
department in the Capitol." In August 1912, the Legislature allocated
$280.16 for "George W. Abbott, son of the late Samuel J. Abbott, an
employee of the department of education, who lost his life in the Capi-
tol fire, for funeral and burial expenses, and other expenses incidental
to the finding of the body.
Regrettably, this remains the extent of the state's appreciation for Mr.
Abbott's service and sacrifice.
The Capitol fire was the second catastrophic fire within one week in the
state. Just four days prior, on March 25, 1911, 600 workers, the vast
majority of whom were women, were working at the Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory in New York City when a fire began in a rag bin. The factory
had a history of notorious anti-worker policies and violations, and
attempts to use a factory fire hose to extinguish the initial blaze were
unsuccessful, as the hose was rotted and its valve was rusted shut.
Many young workers tried to exit the building using the elevator, but it
had space only for 12 people and the operator was only able to make four
trips up and down. Girls who fled via the stairwells found 4 locked door
at the bottom, resulting in many being burned alive and workers above
the fire, including the factory's owners, escaped via the roof. Those
who did not make it to the stairwells or the elevator began to jump from
the windows, but their bodies fell on the hoses, complicating efforts to
extinguish the blaze. Efforts were further complicated because fire-
fighters' ladders reached only seven floors high, and the fire was on
the eighth floor. Several life nets tore when multiple girls jumped at
once, and the remaining nets proved mostly ineffective; within 18
minutes, the fire had claimed the lives of 145 workers.
Samuel Abbott lost his life in service to the people of New York State,
yet his sacrifice has never been fully recognized at the Capitol. His
tragic passing, along with the lives lost in the Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory fire, together spurred a wave of workplace safety laws, includ-
ing the Sullivan-Hoey Fire Prevention Law.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
