One of twelve schoolgirls killed in a tragic fire at the St Francis Parochial School in Quincy.
"Birdie" was the daughter of Joseph and Mary Freund.
William.
Article from The Journal-Advance; Gentry, Arkansas. December 29, 1899; Page One.
"Eleven Little Ones Perish by Fire at Quincy, Ill.
While the school children of St. Francis parochial school were rehearsing for an entertainment, one of their dresses caught fire from a gas jet and ten minutes later four of them were burned to death, two died an hour later, and five others died before midnight. Half a dozen others were burned more or less severely.
The dead are: Irena Frieburg, May Wavering, Mary Althoff, Bernadina Freund, Colletta Middendorf, Olivia Timpe, Addied Futterer, Josephine Bohne and Margaret Warner.
All these were between 9 and 11 years of age. Helen Soebbing and several other teachers, Father Nicholas and Professor Mushold, were painfully burned in trying to save the children."
Bernadina was going to be a lamb in the manger scene. She also had a nightgown in her bag, along with a lamb cap her mother had sewn.
One of twelve schoolgirls killed in a tragic fire at the St Francis Parochial School in Quincy.
"Birdie" was the daughter of Joseph and Mary Freund.
William.
Article from The Journal-Advance; Gentry, Arkansas. December 29, 1899; Page One.
"Eleven Little Ones Perish by Fire at Quincy, Ill.
While the school children of St. Francis parochial school were rehearsing for an entertainment, one of their dresses caught fire from a gas jet and ten minutes later four of them were burned to death, two died an hour later, and five others died before midnight. Half a dozen others were burned more or less severely.
The dead are: Irena Frieburg, May Wavering, Mary Althoff, Bernadina Freund, Colletta Middendorf, Olivia Timpe, Addied Futterer, Josephine Bohne and Margaret Warner.
All these were between 9 and 11 years of age. Helen Soebbing and several other teachers, Father Nicholas and Professor Mushold, were painfully burned in trying to save the children."
Bernadina was going to be a lamb in the manger scene. She also had a nightgown in her bag, along with a lamb cap her mother had sewn.
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