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Collections >> The First Century of the First State University >>
Primary document
Title:
Lemuel Benbury's Account of the Burning of the Belfry, [August
1856] : Electronic Edition.
Author: Benbury, Lemuel Creecy
Funding from the University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill supported the electronic publication of this title.
Text transcribed by
Bari Helms
Images scanned by
Caitlin R. Donnelly
Text encoded by
Caitlin R. Donnelly
First Edition, 2007
Size of electronic edition: ca. 12K
Publisher: The University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
2007
The electronic edition is a part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill digital library, Documenting the American South.
Languages used in the text:
English
Revision history:
2007-02-27, Caitlin R. Donnelly finished TEI/XML encoding.
Source(s):
Title of collection: University of North Carolina Papers (#40005),
University Archives, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Title of document: Lemuel Benbury's Account of the Burning of the
Belfry, [August 1856]
Author: L. C. Benbury
Description: 2 pages, 3 page images
Note:
Call number 40005 (University Archives, University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Editorial practices
The text has been encoded using the recommendations for Level 5 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines.
Originals are in the University Archives, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Original grammar, punctuation, and spelling have been preserved.
Page images can be viewed and compared in parallel with the text.
Any hyphens occurring in line breaks have been removed, and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line.
All quotation marks, em dashes and ampersand have been transcribed as entity references.
All double right and left quotation marks are encoded as ".
All single right and left quotation marks are encoded as '.
All em dashes are encoded as —.
Indentation in lines has not been preserved.
For more information about transcription and other editorial decisions, see the section Editorial Practices.
The text has been encoded using the recommendations for Level 5 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines.
Originals are in the University Archives, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Original grammar, punctuation, and spelling have been preserved.
Page images can be viewed and compared in parallel with the text.
Any hyphens occurring in line breaks have been removed, and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line.
All quotation marks, em dashes and ampersand have been transcribed as entity references.
All double right and left quotation marks are encoded as ".
All single right and left quotation marks are encoded as '.
All em dashes are encoded as —.
Indentation in lines has not been preserved.
For more information about transcription and other editorial decisions, see the section Editorial Practices.
Page [1]
The way by which I came to know that the belfry was on fire, was by seeing
sparks falling, but I supposed the sparks to proceed from the ball which had
lodged on the top. I left my room about half after ten to examine it; upon which
examination, I found there was a hole of 18 or 20 inches in circumfrence; I then
gave the alarm of fire, and there were many others who joined me; but after
repeated exclamations of fire, and seeing it attracted the attention of but few;
I gave it up as a bad job; I then proposed to some of the students that we
should extinguish it, but they seemed to hoot at the proposition; upon which I
returned to my room, and whilst coming up the steps I met a negro, and asked him
where he was going, to which, he said he had been sent by some of the young men
to put out the fire, I then told him to go on, and if he could not succeed to
inform Dr Mitchell
, I then came to my room but
finding no one in, returned almost immediately, where I found a larger
collection of students than when I left. I again came to my room and two young
gentlemen accompanied me, who remained in my room about 15 minutes, as soon as
they left, myself, roommate, and a gentleman who remained with us during the
night retired. We had not been in our beds long before some one ran in and said
the belfry is on fire. I got up and looked out, and if there was a blaze it was
so small as scarcely to be perceptible, for it was but very little lighter there
than in the moon-light. I immediately returned to bed and must have been sound
asleep in a very
Page [2]
short time, for it could not have
been more than half an hour afterwards, when I was awakened by my room-mate's
calling me, and saying the belfry was in a blaze, I got up and saw immediately
that his statement was undeniable, I then put my head out and cried fire in
quite a loud tone, upon which a good many below me said it was worthless to make
so much fuss yet, that they would all give the alarm in a short time; but by
this time there were several from the other side of the passage in my room, and
we gave the alarm, and those below immediately
joined, and in less than 5 minute, the upper part of the belfry was in one mass
of flame.
, I then came to my room but
finding no one in, returned almost immediately, where I found a larger
collection of students than when I left. I again came to my room and two young
gentlemen accompanied me, who remained in my room about 15 minutes, as soon as
they left, myself, roommate, and a gentleman who remained with us during the
night retired. We had not been in our beds long before some one ran in and said
the belfry is on fire. I got up and looked out, and if there was a blaze it was
so small as scarcely to be perceptible, for it was but very little lighter there
than in the moon-light. I immediately returned to bed and must have been sound
asleep in a veryPage [2]
L. C. Benbury
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