The Fire of 1861

Cathedral of St. John and St. Finbar as seen in Harper's Weekly

Sketch (Reproduction) 28 December 1861

"The hand of God has fallen heavily upon our city and the calamity, with which she has been visited, is such that perhaps only one resembling has occurred since her foundation."

-Catholic Miscellany, 14 December 1861

"The past week will never be erased from the memory of Charlestonians. The terror! the misery & desolation which has swept like a hurricane over our once fair city will never be forgotten as long as it stands."

Emma Holmes, 16 December 1861

Extent of the Damage

Map (Reproduction) n.d.

On 11 December 1861 a small fire blazed out of control on Hassell Street, engulfing a large portion of the peninsula. A powerful wind contributed to the burning of many homes, businesses, churches and public halls along East Bay, State, Church, Meeting, and King Streets, leaving part of the city in ruins for many years. Among the destruction was the Cathedral of St. John and St. Finbar on the corner of Broad and Friend (Legare) Streets. Adjacent buildings destroyed on what the Charleston Mercury reported as a “night of terror and disaster” included the clergy and Bishop’s quarters; the St. John the Baptist Seminary library, which contained many of John England’s original manuscripts; the office of the United States Catholic Miscellany; the hall of the Catholic Institute; and St. Mary’s Free School For Girls, operated by the Sisters of Mercy. The stucco wall on Broad Street and the former gatehouse of the 1834 Ursuline Convent are all that remain today of the pre-1861 structures.

Bishop Patrick Lynch received numerous letters of condolence and donations from all over the country. A “Southern Relief Fund” was established to rebuild the city but it would be many years before restoration was completed. The Catholic population of South Carolina was devastated and it was not until after Bishop Patrick N. Lynch’s death in 1882 that construction began on the present Cathedral. No photographs of the Cathedral of St. John and St. Finbar exist prior to the 1861 fire, only a handful of haunting images taken in 1865 remain.

"The residence of the Bishops and clergy, adjoining the Cathedral, the Library of St. John the Baptist, and the Hall of the Catholic Institute in the rear of the Cathedral were also destroyed. Many books in the Library are known to be safe, thanks to the exertions of friends, whom may God reward a hundred fold; but alas! It is so known that some of them, and the most valuable, have perished in the flames...The whole contents of the Catholic Institute Library have been destroyed, comprising books to the value of several thousand dollars, among them the Library of the Catholic Miscellany, perfect up to date."

Catholic Miscellany, 14 December 1861

Bishop Patrick N. Lynch, 1817-1882

Photograph (Reproduction), 19th Century

Father James A. Corcoran, Professor at St. John the Baptist Seminary

Photograph (Reproduction), n.d.

Cathedral of St. John and St. Finbar Ruins

Stereograph (Reproduction), circa 1865

“The fire commenced in Charleston last night (December 11), at nine o’clock, in Ruzel &Co.’s sash factory, at the foot of Hazel Street and communicated to the opposite side of Hazel, to Cameron & Co.’s machine shops. Under the impulse thus given and a stiff breeze, with a small supply of water, the conflagration assumed a formidable character, nearly equaling most extensive conflagration on the American continent.”

-Harper’s Weekly, 27 December 1861




	"Rt. Rev. and Dear Brother, It was with profound grief that we learned of the awful fire in your city. Spreading so much destruction in its way, strengthened by the calamitous destruction of...our grand Cathedral." -Francis Lynch, 14 December 1864

*Letter of Condolence from Francis Lynch, Brother of Bishop Patrick N. Lynch* Manuscript (Reproduction), 14 December 1861


"My Dearest Brother, I did not think that you required so stern a lesson in holy indifference. Well! You are the very one to say, Fiat Voluntas Dei...[Let there be the will of God]" -Ellen Baptista Lynch, 14 December 1861

	*Letters of Condolence from Ellen Baptista Lynch, Sister of Bishop Patrick N. Lynch* Manuscript (Reproduction), 14 December 1861

“Human skill was paralyzed by its awful swiftness and had fuel not failed at last for its devouring jaws, its path of ruin would have extended for miles and leagues. It was only stopped at last when it could no further go, by the waters of the Ashley river.”

-Catholic Miscellany, 14 December 1861

“At five, the city was wrapped in a living wall of fire from the Cooper to the Ashley without a single gap to break its dread uniformity.”

-Emma Holmes, 16 December 1861

Southern Relief Fund

Manuscript (Reproduction), circa 1862

Southern Relief Fund

Manuscript (Reproduction), circa 1862

Southern Relief Fund

Manuscript (Reproduction), circa 1862

“Throughout that awful night, we watched the weary hours at the windows and still the flames leaped madly on with demonic fury, & now the spire of our beautiful Cathedral is wrapped in flames. There it towered above everything the grandest sight I’ve ever beheld: arch after arch fell in & still the cross glittered & burned high over all.”

-Emma Holmes, 16 December 1861