Precious Blood Church fire

Precious Blood Church of Holyoke, Massachusetts burned on May 27, 1875 killing 78 people. The fire started at the front of the church as a candle flame ignited a curtain. 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.^[1]

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.

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 wooden church had been built in 1870 and was replaced in 1876 by a brick church. There is a monument for the dead at the cemetery. The parish priest was also reburied there.

The names have been taken directly from the monument. The names were determined from the Holyoke Deaths Register and from various newspaper articles. The accuracy is very high but there might still be small errors since there was a language barrier from the French immigrants to the English speaking officials and newspaper writers. Also the chaos of the days after the burning of the church was very high. One obvious correction that can be made in the future is seen in that French would use Marie and Celine and never Mary and Selina.^[2]

The church complex is located on the city block formed by Cabot, South East, Clemente, and Hamilton Streets. Only the convent and rectory remain today since the brick church and school were dismantled. Clemente Street was at the time of the fire called Park Street. 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. The cemetery is on Willimansett Street Extension near the intersection of Routes 33 and 202 in South Hadley. The black memorial ^[3] is in the center of the cemetery and the priest is buried behind that.^[4]

List of the Dead ^[5]

First Name	Last name	Age
Antoine	Auger	75
Helene	Blais	20
Marceline	Blanchard	22
Marcelline	Blanchard	22
Marie	Boisvert	15
Sophie	Boudreau	37
	Boulanger
Augustine	Brisson	17
Joseph	Chatelle	20
Delia	Coache	16
Delima	Cote	22
Mathilde	Daigneau	13
Pierre	Daigneau	10
Zoe	Daigneau	36
Rosalie	Daviau	21
Victoria	Deri	11
Alphonsine	Desjardin	22
Delia	Desjardin	23
Dometilde	Desjardin	44
Louis	Desjardin	59
Rosalie	Desjardin	21
Christine	Dion	37
Celina	Doucette	20
Merceline	Dufresne	17
Selina	Dufresne	52
Marceline	Dupont	44
Philomene	Dupont	15
Olive	Emond	55
Cora	Forgue	11
Zoe	Forgue	48
Benjamin	Fortier	20
Euphonzine	Fortier	11
Angelique	Fremont	17
Julie	Girard	16
Mary	Girard	41
Marie Louise	Goyette	50
Mary	Grandchamp	23
Philomene	Grandchamp	21
Almida	Hamel	20
Lucy	Hicks	21
Mary	Hicks	25
Marie Louise	Jetter	33
Cyrille	Lachance	19
Marcelline	Lachance	19
Adele	Lachapelle	16
Rose	Lachapelle	13
Exilda	Lacoste	16
Azilda	LaFrance	27
Rosalie	Lagasse	54
Exilde	Langdeau	10
Marie	Langdeau	20
Jean Baptiste	Langevin	40
Seline	Laplante	18
Celiste	Larive	50
	Lepreux
	Lepreux
Joseph	Messier	46
Ida	Meunier	19
Alphonsine	Moreau	15
Fabien	Moreau	54
Isaiah	Moreau	26
Armiac	Morin	12
Isaiah	Morin	22
Hermille	Paquin	20
Josephine	Paquin	14
Mary	Pare	20
Louise	Payette	17
Matilde	Payette	16
Gaspard	Pellerin	23
Mary	Pion	27
Onezine	Pion	55
Celine	Roberte	9
Edmund	Roberte	11
Delima	Roger	30
Fabien	St. Pierre	25
Louise	Tetreault	22
Jacob	Theriault	64
Josephine	Viger	40

References

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Precious Blood Church fire

List of the Dead [5]

References

List of the Dead ^[5]