Search for content in message boards

Mittie/Middy Ansel Price Kight's Home Destroyed by Fire [1931]

Mittie/Middy Ansel Price Kight's Home Destroyed by Fire [1931]

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 3:18PM GMT
Classification: Query
"TO REPLACE BURNED HOME"

"WIDOW WILL BE AIDED BY CORTEZ FOLK"

"Committee Named To Purchase Cottage And Furnish It"

The Cortez public which is largely made up of folks who engage in the fishing industry, will replace the home of Mrs. Middy Kight, a widow in their midst, which was recently destroyed by fire with a comfortable dwelling with all furniture and furnishings.

Decision to this effect was reached last night at a well attended meeting of the citizens of the thriving little village when arrangements were completed for the raising by subscription of approximately $600 for this purpose.

A committee was named, consisting of E. N. Green, chairman; William Guthrie, Raymond Guthrie, Jack Faltz and William Deffenbach to make a canvass for the necessary funds.

Plans call for either purchasing a four room cottage and moving it to Mrs. Kight's lot, or if no house is available at the price the committee can pay, a new dwelling will be erected and furnished.

The chairman of the committee stated this morning that the members will begin an energetic campaign for funds at once, as it is the plan of the citizens to rush the work to an early conclusion in order that the family may be housed in their home at the earliest possible moment.

All charity minded citizens of the county desirous of aiding a very worthy cause will confer a favor on the members of the committee by making their donations as early as possible.

Mr. Green says that the committee will also welcome information on any one having a four room cottage that they will sell reasonably, getting in touch with the committee at the earliest possible moment. Plans call for moving any such dwelling that may be bought, bodily to Mrs. Kight's lot in Cortez.

It will be recalled that Ben Johns, father-in-law of Mrs. Kight, dropped dead Saturday while aiding in fighting the flames that destroyed her home."

Bradenton Herald, Tuesday, March 24, 1931, Front Page
"CITIZEN STRICKEN FIGHTING FIRE"

"DEATH COMES AT SCENE OF BLAZE DURING SATURDAY"

"Widow's Home Burns To Ground When Stove Explodes"

"BOY SCOUTS HELP"

"Victim Of Excitement Was Father-In-Law Of Home Owner"

"Ben Johns, aged 63, died suddenly while combatting the flames that destroyed the home of Mrs. Middy (sic) Kight, his daughter-in-law, early yesterday afternoon, at Cortez.

Mr. Johns, with other citizens of the town, and a group of Boy Scouts, was fighting the flames, when he succumbed to a heart attack, dropping into a coma from which he died a few minutes later. Dr. Gates was summoned, but Mr. Johns died some time before he could get there.

While she was preparing the noonday meal, the kitchen stove in Mrs. Kight's home exploded, scattering the fire over the room, which was soon a mass of flame. The alarm was quickly given and the response of the citizens was rapid, they doing all in their power to save household goods and also to protect the adjoining houses.

Scouts Aid

Scout Executive Charles Wilson and a group of Boy Scouts from Bradenton, Manatee and Palmetto, who had been on a hiking expedition to an Indian mound on the Plaisted [sic] place near Cortez, were returning to Cortez for lunch, and were but a short distance away when they heard the alarm. They hurried to the scene and did heroic work in protecting nearby houses, many of the boys climbing to the roofs to scatter water over the scorching buildings. The Cortez troop of Scouts also were promptly on the job, the combined group doing valiant service in preventing the spread of the flames to other houses.

An alarm sent in to the city soon brought the Bradenton chemical truck, and the firemen, by their rapid work with the chemicals, succeeded in saving one of the endangered dwellings, that of Julius Mora, which caught on fire.

The Kight residence was a total loss, with practically all furniture and furnishings. It is said to have not been insured. Mrs. Kight is a widow and with her four children resided in the home. The dwelling was of one story, frame construction.

Many Burned

Many of the volunteer fire fighters received minor burns, cuts and abrasions, one of the men informing The Herald that he believed fully 10 people were slightly injured during the progress of the fire, which burned with great rapidity, the cozy little home in a short time being a furnace of flame and cinder.

Mr. Johns was a well known fisherman of Cortez. With his family he moved there about 10 years ago from Starke. He was widely known in that section and highly respected by all. Besides his wife, he is survived by a son, Curtis, of Cortez, and two daughters, Miss Hazel Johns and Mrs. Millman of New Orleans.

Last rites will be conducted by Rev. Edward Collins at the Wakeman funeral home Monday afternoon at three o'clock, with interment at the Fogartyville cemetery."

Bradenton Herald, Sunday, March 22, 1931, Front Page
per page

Find a board about a specific topic