We now return to Mr. Higinbotham’s narrative:
“At the time of the Chicago fire on October ninth, 1871, Higinbotham was in charge of the Insurance and Accounting Department of the business of Field, Leiter & Co., and was only an employe of the firm. Without waiting for instructions, he went to their barns and called out all the drivers with their teams; and he and they went at once to the store and commenced carting away the most valuable goods to a point south of the fire limit or belt. They continued this all night, and at the same time, by changing blankets in the windows and keeping them wet, they kept off the fire until it had passed them on the opposite side of State Street, gone north a mile or more and burned the city waterworks. This occurred at about seven in the morning of October tenth, Higinbotham’s thirty-third birthday.
“With their water supply thus cut off, they were helpless and had to abandon the store and its contents to the fire that slowly backed up from the north and drove them out. A later inventory showed that they had saved a little over six hundred thousand dollars’ worth of goods, their proofs of loss showed that a little over two million and a half had been burned, and their insurance amounted to nineteen hundred thousand dollars. This would indicate a loss of six hundred thousand dollars. It was, however, much greater for the reason that many of the insurance companies were unable to pay their obligations, a number not more than ten cents on the dollar. A portion of the saved goods were in the car barns at Twentieth and State Streets, some in a wooden church at Thirty-second Street and South Park Avenue. Higinbotham’s home was then on Prairie Avenue near Twenty-seventh Street.
“Higinbotham went from the fire directly to Mr. Leiter’s home, and told him of a plan he had formed for the re-establishment of the business. Mr. Leiter threw up both hands and exclaimed, ‘Oh, Higinbotham! It is too early to make plans—Chicago is gone!’ Mr. Higinbotham replied, ‘No, no—we have got to do these things anyway.’ His plan was for Mr. Field to give his attention to finding a place wherein to re-establish the business; Mr. Leiter was to take charge of the saved goods, and have them inventoried so that the inventory would show the contents of each case. Higinbotham had in mind the adjusting of the loss, as that was one of the first essentials. Mr. Willing, a junior partner, was to go to Valparaiso, Indiana, stop all goods coming from the east, and warehouse and insure them until the Company was ready to have them sent in. Mr. Higinbotham was to take his family and Mr. Leiter’s, and all the bookkeepers and books of account, cash and valuable papers, and go at once to Joliet and there remain until a place had been arranged for at least an office in the city. This plan, which was formulated while he was saving the goods, was carried out in every particular. In Joliet the office of Field, Leiter & Co. was for two weeks in his mother’s house, and she took care of a number of the bookkeepers during their stay. He then went with his wife and baby to Cincinnati, St. Louis and San Francisco to adjust and collect insurance. A number of the companies in these cities having no agencies in Chicago had failed. It was his business to ascertain how much their assets would pay, collect the money and return as quickly as possible.