Fire company certificate containing vignettes depicting fire fighters rushing a steam engine marked with the company motto down a city street past the Odd Fellows Hall, Frankford; a steam engine parked at the company fire station on Church Street; and fire fighters surrounded by spectators battling a fire of the Frogmore Mills cotton factory, Frankford. Fire fighting equipment including a fire hose, a ladder, an axe, a trumpet and other tools are drawn bundled together to form decorative elements on both sides. A small oval portrait of Commodore Stephen Decatur in a laurel wreath frame above intertwined American flags and the company motto "Ever Prompt to a Call" adorns the top. Also contains eagles, the company number "21," and the institution and incorporation dates (1803 and 1842, respectively). Company named after the Naval hero Decatur whose father purportedly resided in Frankford., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 177, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Certificates - Fire Companies - Decatur, Duval and Hunter was a partnership between Stephen Orr Duval (P.S. Duval’s son) and Thomas Hunter that lasted from P.S. Duval’s retirement in 1869 until 1874.
Creator
Bosch, A. H., artist
Date
[ca. 1870]
Location
Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Certificates - Fire Companies - Decatur