Most stories of the fire are about people desperately trying to save themselves and their families. The young man John Cox, however, courageously helped a stranger—a young woman named Kate Guillfoyle—find safety in the river. Even with the town burning around them, John noticed Kate was pretty. And Kate must have seen him as her knight in shining armor. Within a few weeks, the two were married.
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Human combustion
Fireballs rained and hot air rushed ahead of the main fire, detonating and exploding buildings—and people—faster than it took to describe the scenes. Women and girls were especially vulnerable. The combination of layers of clothing and higher fat content in their bodies intensified the heat, just as a covering wrapped around a lighted candle. People recalled the sight of sixteen-year-old Helga Rockstead running down the boardwalk, desperately trying to outrun the flames. Her waist-length hair streaming behind her caught fire, and her head burst into flame. She was immediately wrapped in a sheet of fire.
The Villers and Joseph LaCrosse
The Martin Joseph Villers family was traveling in October 1871. They were Wisconsin residents, but not from Peshtigo. How they ended up there that fateful evening is still a mystery.
When the fires struck the town, Martin and his wife, Octavia, prepared to flee to the Peshtigo River. They put their baby, Florence, in a basket, and turned to retrieve something from the house. A moment was all it took for the fire to separate them.
Joseph LaCrosse was a 14-year-old orphan who lived with the Villers. He was near Florence with the fire separated them from her parents. He grabbed the baby and climbed into a well, holding her as the flames raged above them. The next morning, he climbed out of the well with baby Florence and saw that nothing remained of the city of Peshtigo. As he wandered in search of the Villers and other survivors, he came across a cow that was partially burned but had survived the fire. He drew milk into his hand and fed the baby.
Miraculously, Martin and Octavia also survived.
To honor the young boy that saved Florence Cayemberg nee Villers’ life, her descendants bought a memorial stone. It was placed in the walkway outside Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Due to the courage and quick thinking of Joseph LaCrosse, there are now over 500 descendants of Florence and her husband, Eli Cayemberg.
To see the complete story written by one of Florence’s descendants, see The Worst Fire in American History Was Not in Chicago.