The New Hampshire Gazette

Portsmouth, Thursday, Dec. 30, 1802.

Distressing Conflagration: Unparalleled in America! (OF LATE) For the size of the place.

At 4 o'clock on Sabbath morning last, a fire broke out in the back part of the building occupied as the New Hampshire Bank in Court-street, (which had gotten to a great height before discovered) the whole town was threatened with immediate destruction, and notwithstanding the great exertions of the citizens, it swept every building up to the corner of said street; then both sides of Daniel-street about one third of the way down—every building both sides and all through Market-street, and about half through Bow-street, nearly to the Church. Every building through Fore-street as far as Madam Whipple's large dwelling house & stores; every store and house (except one) through Ladd-street, and part of Congress-street, as far as the west corner of the State House; every building in Cross-street as far as Capt. Swansons. Here, and at several other places it was stopped by the great exertions of the inhabitants in pulling down buildings, &c. &c. So that by 3 o'clock on Sabbath afternoon, our hopes revived, that a part of the town would be preserved. But to attempt to describe the distress of the widow, the fatherless, the orphan, the old and respectable grey headed-owner and occupant; the young enterprising Merchant and Trader, and the poor tenants of the chambers and back buildings, language is insufficient; and we can only drop a tear over them, and pray Heaven to open the hearts of the rich to distribute of their abundance unto them, and let them bear in mind that "whoso hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him."

Let it be recorded to the honor of a great number of females, that after being burnt out of house and home, instead of fleeing from the fire in despair, they immediately joined themselves to the companies and lanes of the hardier sex, and stood and handed water, until they were on the point of fainting!—dying!-

Every European Goods store (2 or 3 only excepted) were destroyed. The whole beauty of the town is gone! is gone!!! We understand that the greater part of the West-India, English and India Goods, were saved: but the Hard-Ware Goods principally fell victims to the flames.

It is not yet ascertained in what manner it took fire. Tho' it is confidently asserted that no fire had been made in that part of the building where it caught, for several days.

The fire commenced in, and entirely destroyed the building occupied as the New-Hampshire Bank, Insurance Office and as a dwelling house, by Mrs. Hart; the new Brick Market: a small house back of it owned by the late Dea. Bowles, and occupied by Mr. Enoch Thompson; a new store owned & occupied by Stephen Pearce; a store owned by Peter Peirce, jr. & occupied by Wm. & Dan'l Treadwell, as a Book-store, Printing-office and Book-binder's shop; Peter Peirce, senior's dwelling-house; the dwelling-house of the widow of the late Dan'l Peirce, occupied by herself and family, & by Mr. Sam'l Sprague, barber; a dwelling-house owned and occupied by the widow and family of the late Dea. Sam'l Bowles: the dwelling-house & bookstore of Charles Peirce and the building back, lately occupied by him as a Printing office; a dwelling-house owned by Wm. Hart, and occupied by Capt. Sam'l Pearce; a store owned by Mrs. Hart, and occupied by Cazneau Bayley; a shop occupied by Wm. Hart; the dwelling-house and a store back owned and occupied by Jacob Walden; a store of Capt. Elijah Hall's; a large old house owned by Capt. Keyron Walsh and occupied by Geo. Dame; a new handsome house owned and occupied by John Frostingham; a dwelling-house & bakehouse owned by Samuel Elliot, and occupied by Mr. Folsom, baker, Mr. Newhall as a shoe store, and Mrs. Seavey as a dwelling-house; a shop occupied by John Badger, tinsmith; an elegant dwelling-house and barn owned by Jacob Sheafe, Esq. and occupied by Daniel R. Rogers; a row of stores owned by Jacob Sheafe, Esq. and occupied by Rich'd Evans, James Rundlet, Sam'l Haven, jr. Oliver Briard, Nath'l Dean, merchants; the dwelling-house and out houses owned and occupied by Henry Haven; Judge Pickering's dwelling-house; the dwelling and out houses owned and occupied by John Penhallow, Esq. a new store full of Hard-Ware Goods. owned by H.&B. Penhallow; a store & large dwelling house and barn owned by Wm. Boyd, and occupied by James Henderson, J. B. Sewall. and Nathan B. Folsom, as English and W.I. Goods stores, & as a dwelling-house by Wm. and Dan'l Treadwell; a large dwelling-house owned and occupied by Dan'l Austin; two row of stores owned by the late Geo. Jeffrey, Esq. and occupied by Dan'l Eaton, Stephen Little, Benj'n Leverett, Clem't Jackson, Mr. Noble. Ebenezer Chadwick, Robert Mendum, Nutter, Coleman, Ball, Jenkins, Beck, &c. &c. the store owned by the underwriters in Mr. Peirce's insurance office & occupied by Wm. Seavey; a number of stores above owned and occupied by various persons; a row of small houses owned by the late Geo. Jeffrey, back of his stores, and occupied by a number of poor families; Mr. J. Day's pot ash store; Mr. Rymes's shop; a store owned by Mr. Thompson of Durham; a store owned by Isaac Rindge, Esq.; the Fish Market; the large brick stores owned by Joseph Haven, James Sheafe, and Keyron Welsh, & occupied by Peter Coffin, Jo. seph & Joshua Haven, Henry Ladd, N. A. & J. Haven, Sam'l Jones, Wm. Jones, Theodore Furber, Nath'l Dearborn, and part of the middle story as the Custom-House, &c. the stores owned by Sam'l Hill, and occupied by himself, Jona. Clark, Alex. Ewen, Joseph Gavet, & Nathaniel White; the stores owned by the heirs of the late Jona. Hamilton, and occupied by James Shapley, and Long & Hamilton; a store owned and occupied by Geo. Cutts; a store owned by Woodbury Langdon, & occupied by Abel Harris; a store owned by Mrs. Ann Alcott and occupied by Geo. Cate & others; a house owned by Col: John Langdon and occupied by Capt. Will'm Rice; the elegant house of the late Sam'l Cutts, Esq. and occupied by his widow & family; the large dwelling-house and store owned and occupied by Neil M'Intire, and 3 adjacent buildings belonging to him; a dwelling-house with a shop in front, owned by Col. John Langdon, and occupied by E. Chadwick as a dwelling-house: and Rowe & Sleeper as a store; a dwelling-house and store belonging to the estate of the late Capt. Martin Parry, and occupied as a dwelling-house by Capt. Henry M'Clintock, and store by Capt. S. Larkin; the dwelling-house owned and occupied by A. Ewen: 2 small houses back of Mr Ewen's; a house owned by Nich's Rouseslet, and occupied by James L. Giles, Mr. Hooper & Mrs. Carter; a dwelling-house owned by Mrs. Furness and occupied by herself, and by Nathaniel S. & W. Peirce as a dwelling-house; a large store owned by Joseph Whipple, Esq. & occupied by Benj. Brierley; a large dwelling-house with two Shops in front, owned by Col. Clement Storer, and occupied by Col. Nathaniel Folsom as a dwelling-house, and one of the shops by Benj. Sweeter, the other was unoccupied; the dwelling-house with 2 shops in front and out houses back, belonging to the heirs of the late widow Simes, and occupied by Wm. Simes, goldsmith, and 2 of his sisters: the dwelling-house, with 2 shops in front, and barn back, belonging to the heirs of the late Dea. John Noble, and occupied as a dwelling-house by Oliver Briard, and the shops, one by a widowed daughter of the late Dea. Noble, and the other by Dr. Josiah Dwight; a large store with 2 shops in front, owned by Edw'd Parry, one occupied by himself, and the other by Joshua Blake; a large brick store owned by John Goddard, Esq. and occupied by his brother, Jonathan Goddard, as a commodious hard-ware store; a large row of 3 story brick stores, owned by Col. Eliph't Ladd, and occupied by himself. James Foster, Sam'l Thompson, N. Wire, Mr. Haty, widow Hardy, Mr. Gordon, Richard Perry, Mrs. Winkley, and others; a house owned and occupied by Isaac Smith; a work-Shop occupied by Geo. Simes; a store owned and occupied by Jere'h Libbey, Esq. and Wm. Walker; a dwelling house and very large store, with six shops in front, owned by John Melcher (late printer) and occupied by himself as a dwelling house, and Henry Burley, Wm. Garland, Robert M'Cleary, N. S. and W. Peirce as a Book-store and Printing-Office, John Gains, and Isaac Stanwood; a store with two shops in front, owned by Widow Nelson, Mrs. Harris & Miss Mehitable Mann. and occupied by John Nelson and Job Harris, also the dwelling house back owned and occupied by Widow Nelson, a dwelling house with a shop in front, owned by John Peirce, Esq. and occupied by Benj. Swett and Henry Burley as a dwelling house, and John Mann for a shop: an old house with a shop in front, owned by the Widow Warner: and occupied by herself and children: besides various others we do not recollect.