Precious Blood Church of Holyoke, Massachusetts, burned on May 27, 1875, killing 78 people. There was a crush of people through the entrance at the back left and many people could not leave. It is one of the deadliest fires in American history, and was also known by newspapers domestic and foreign as "The Holyoke Disaster".http://www.holyokemass.com/pb_fire/corbiel.html
Event
The fire started at the front of the church as a candle flame ignited a curtain.
Panic caused people to rush from the upper levels to a front door. The door was made to open inward only, so many were trapped against the door. Reverend Andre Dufresne was the parish priest. He tried to calm the people and direct them as much as possible.
The event and its aftermath were also later depicted in some detail in the Franco-American novel Mirbah by Emma Port-Joli Dumas, originally published in Holyoke's La Justice.
Location
The church complex is located on the city block formed by Cabot, South East, Clemente, and Hamilton Streets. The wooden church had been built in 1870 and was replaced in 1876 by a brick church. The Park Street School was located on the other side of Hamilton Street between Park and South East Streets. The school was used as a temporary morgue for the fire victims. Only the convent and rectory remain today since the brick church and school were dismantled.
The cemetery is on Willimansett Street Extension near the intersection of Routes 33 and 202 in South Hadley. There is a monument for the dead at the church cemetery. The parish priest was also reburied there. The black memorial is in the center of the cemetery and the priest is buried behind that.
Fatalities Source:
A list of the dead is given below by first and last name and then age. Many were buried in a common grave on May 29 at the Precious Blood Cemetery in South Hadley. All were French Canadians.
The names have been taken directly from the monument. The list on the monument was compiled from the Holyoke Deaths Register and from various newspaper articles. Some French names may have been recorded incorrectly due to the use of English rather than French spelling conventions.
First Name Last name AgeAntoine Auger 75Helene Blais 20Marceline Blanchard 22Marcelline Blanchard 22Marie Boisvert 15Sophie Boudreau 37 Boulanger Augustine Brisson 17Joseph Chatelle 20Delia Coache 16Delima Cote 22Mathilde Daigneau 13Pierre Daigneau 10Zoe Daigneau 36Rosalie Daviau 21Victoria Deri 11Alphonsine Desjardin 22Delia Desjardin 23Dometilde Desjardin 44Louis Desjardin 59Rosalie Desjardin 21Christine Dion 37Celina Doucette 20Merceline Dufresne 17Selina Dufresne 52Marceline Dupont 44Philomene Dupont 15Olive Emond 55Cora Forgue 11Zoe Forgue 48Benjamin Fortier 20Euphonzine Fortier 11Angelique Fremont 17Julie Girard 16Mary Girard 41Marie Louise Goyette 50Mary Grandchamp 23Philomene Grandchamp 21Almida Hamel 20Lucy Hicks 21Mary Hicks 25Marie Louise Jetter 33Cyrille Lachance 19Marcelline Lachance 19Adele Lachapelle 16Rose Lachapelle 13Exilda Lacoste 16Azilda LaFrance 27Rosalie Lagasse 54Exilde Langdeau 10Marie Langdeau 20Jean Baptiste Langevin 40Seline Laplante 18Celiste Larive 50 Lepreux Lepreux Joseph Mercier 46Ida Meunier 19Alphonsine Moreau 15Fabien Moreau 54Isaiah Moreau 26Armiac Morin 12Isaiah Morin 22Hermille Paquin 20Josephine Paquin 14Mary Pare 20Louise Payette 17Matilde Payette 16Gaspard Pellerin 23Mary Pion 27Onezine Pion 55Celine Roberte 9Edmund Roberte 11Delima Roger 30Fabien St. Pierre 25Louise Tetreault 22Jacob Theriault 64Josephine Viger 40
Injuries
First Name Last name Age Injury Noted Adams Hurt in the crowd Theophile Blanchard Recovery doubtful Louise Brien Recovery doubtful Louis Bolvin Hand and head burned, will recover J. B. Benoit 24 Will recover Frank Boudreau Slightly burned Joseph Boudreau Arm broken Charles Brault Head and arms badly burned Sophie Chicoine 63 Will recover Prudent Choquette Recovery very doubtful Louis Clement Amy Deri 14 Hands burned Honora Deri 17 Head and arms badly burned Napoleon Deri 14 Badly burned Femi Dion Not severe Cyrille Dufresne 53 Doubtful [recovery] Josephine Dufresne 14 Will recover Charles Favreaux Face and hands burned Alex Fortier 23 Will recover Celina Hebert 40 Slightly burned Eveline Houde 9 Will recover Paul Jetter Face and hands badly burned Le Clerc Will recover Annie Lapointe 15 Badly burned John Longchamp Hands burned Phebe Longchamp Badly burned Lizzie Messier Will probably recover Lucie Regnier 18 Very doubtful [recovery] Agise Robert 14 Slightly burned Joseph Riel 29 Will recover Mary Riel 26 Will recover Mary Vachon 20 Leg broken Charles Vient Hand badly burned
See also List of disasters in Massachusetts by death toll
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