The Terrible Calamity of 1857
The Fire and Gunpowder Explosion that Killed Francis North
Brownsville, Texas — October 31, 1857
In the autumn of 1857 the commercial district of Brownsville stood crowded along the river levee—warehouses, dry-goods stores, and commission houses packed tightly together in wooden frame buildings only a few yards apart. These structures formed the beating heart of the Rio Grande frontier economy.
Among the most prominent merchants was Charles Stillman, founder of the Brownsville trading empire that tied the Rio Grande to New Orleans, New York, and Europe. His warehouses and commission house handled enormous quantities of freight destined for both Texas and Mexico.
Working inside this commercial world was Francis “Frank” North, Stillman’s nephew. North had come south as part of the extended Stillman family network that helped operate the firm’s expanding trade. By 1857 he was working in Brownsville’s mercantile district alongside partners, clerks, and fellow merchants who handled everything from cotton and groceries to powder and hardware.
On the night of October 31, 1857, disaster struck.
The Fire Begins
Shortly before midnight an alarm of fire spread through Brownsville. Citizens rushed toward the levee district where flames had broken out in one of the commercial buildings.
The stores along the river were filled with goods recently landed from steamers arriving from New Orleans. Among these were large quantities of gunpowder stored in kegs inside a wholesale warehouse operated by the firm of J. Galvan & Co.
As firefighters and citizens rushed to save merchandise, they began removing kegs of powder from the building. Witnesses later reported that twenty kegs had already been carried out and thrown into the river in an effort to prevent a catastrophe.
But more powder remained inside.
The Explosion
Without warning, several remaining kegs ignited.
The resulting explosion was catastrophic.
The blast tore through the burning structure and hurled debris for blocks. Roofs, doors, bricks, and heavy timbers were thrown into the air. The shock wave shattered windows and tore shutters from buildings throughout the town.
Many citizens were literally knocked from their beds by the concussion.
Among those caught near the explosion were several merchants who had entered the building to retrieve papers and money.
Francis North, the nephew of Charles Stillman, survived fr two hours until expiring from his injuries.
Another victim was Mr. Alsbach (variously spelled in reports). A third man, Mr. Portillo, was badly wounded.
The Death of Francis North
North’s death shocked the Brownsville community.
He had been working in the commercial district alongside other merchants when the explosion occurred. According to later accounts, the blast hurled bodies through the structure with enormous force.
One survivor of the explosion was Henry Miller, a well-known Brownsville figure who later owned the Miller Hotel and had earlier rented a house to Charles Stillman when the merchant first established his family in the town.
A much later recollection, published in the Brownsville Herald in 1930, described the violence of the explosion in dramatic terms:
A Mr. Henry Miller was standing in the counting room of the Stillman building adjoining the burning store, and at the time of the explosion was hurled head first through an eighteen-inch brick wall.
Mr. Miller miraculously survived, but two other unfortunate citizens who were blown through the same wall were killed instantly.
“You may ask how I know he went head first,” William Neale said. “He must have gone through that way—no other part of him could have withstood the shock. Another proof was that if his head was not broken, the bricks were. Several brickbats were extracted from under his scalp in the weeks afterward by Dr. Watson.”
Though colorful, this later retelling reflects how deeply the disaster lingered in local memory.
North’s death also carried personal consequences for Charles Stillman. The merchant had already endured tensions within the extended family network that ran his frontier enterprise—particularly disagreements with the Woodhouse brothers, another key trading family on the Rio Grande.
The loss of his nephew in such a violent event struck at the heart of that fragile commercial and family structure.
The Fire Sweeps the Business District
The explosion worsened the fire already burning along the levee.
Flames spread through the tightly packed wooden buildings, destroying a large section of the business district between the river and Elizabeth Street.
Among the buildings lost were:
• A. Belden & Co.
• Kenedy & Co.
• J. F. Parker
• I. F. Rios
• A. Landolt
• R. King
• Nicholas Grisanti and Mrs. Peabody
• J. Moritz & Co.
• Vincent’s fancy goods store
• The Maxwell property
Large quantities of merchandise intended for the Mexican trade were destroyed, including goods recently unloaded from the New Orleans steamer.
The estimated loss reached about $200,000, an enormous sum for a frontier town in 1857.
The Citizens Fight the Flames
Despite the chaos, Brownsville’s residents organized quickly.
Buckets were formed into lines stretching from the Rio Grande riverbank to the burning buildings, and a vessel known as the Grampus was brought alongside the levee to pump water onto the flames.
The soldiers of Fort Brown, under officers including Captain Dawson and Lieutenant Langdon, joined citizens in battling the fire.
Their efforts likely prevented the destruction of the entire town.
Had the wind risen even slightly, observers believed the whole settlement might have been lost.
Shockwaves Across the Rio Grande
The force of the explosion carried across the river into Mexico.
Residents of Matamoros, more than a quarter mile away, reported windows and doors blown open by the concussion.
The blast was powerful enough that people in Matamoros believed an earthquake had occurred.
A First for Brownsville
According to contemporary observers, this was the first major fire since Brownsville’s founding.
The disaster exposed a dangerous fact about frontier towns: warehouses storing combustible goods were often built close together with little fire protection.
The tragedy forced the community to recognize the risks created by gunpowder storage inside wooden commercial districts.
Transcription
Galveston News
November 5, 1857
“Great Fire at Brownsville — Several Lives Lost — $200,000 of Property Destroyed.”
(clean transcription)
The Brownsville Flag of the 2d ultimo comes to us this morning with the particulars of a terrible calamity which happened at that place on Friday the 31st ult. We copy the following from the Flag.
On last Friday night between twelve and one o’clock the alarm of fire was heard, which caused all our citizens who were awake to rush where it was supposed the fire was first discovered by Mr. W. W. Nelson in the wood store of Messrs. J. Galvan & Co. on the levee.
Immediately we perceived a large number of kegs of powder in the warehouse of Chas. Stillman & Co. About the time Mr. North, of the firm of Woodhouse & Co., was endeavoring to save their papers, which he partially succeeded in doing, when the explosion took place.
Mr. North and Mr. Alsbach were killed instantly and Mr. Portillo very badly wounded.
It is supposed the fire originated from a candle or matches near some crockery in Jerry Galvan & Co.’s wholesale store. There were ninety-five kegs of powder in the back part of the same building where the fire caught, which must have communicated at the same time to cause such a concussion.
The explosion created confusion for several miles around and wonderment in the minds of those aroused from their slumbers by the loud report and the quivering of their dwellings. Many were knocked from their beds; roofs, bricks, boards and pieces of timber falling in or on them—crashing window shutters and panes, and the tremendous force unloosing locks and bursting bars of iron from doors.
But quiet was soon restored and some of our gallant citizens went to work manfully. They worked faithfully, and their names will long be remembered for the voluntary services they rendered. Buckets were furnished and a line of men formed from the river to the fire.
Col. Taylor, Capt. Dawson and Lieut. Langdon, and the soldiers of the garrison, deserve the gratitude of all for the fearless manner in which they entered the scene of action.
Mr. Kennedy ordered the Grampus to be landed opposite the fire, where it played upon the buildings with its pumps for thirty-six hours.
Had it not been for these active operations the whole town doubtless would have been committed to the flames; and had there been any wind stirring it would have been almost impossible to save it from destruction. Fortunately it was unusually calm, and the frame buildings were pretty well wet with the rain that had fallen the night previous.
It would be difficult to estimate the amount each merchant has lost, every one having his goods, crockery, house, &c., more or less injured.
We will commence first on the levee and suppose the damages some of the merchants have sustained—
Chas. Stillman & Co., blown down, $10,000.
S. A. Belden & Co., burnt, $15,000.
J. F. Parker, wooden building, $20,000.
I. F. Rios, wooden building, occupied by O’Connor & Co. in tin shop, burnt.
A. Landolt, burnt, $5,000.
R. King, smashed.
Nicholas Grisanti and Mrs. Peabody’s wooden buildings, greatly injured.Along on both sides of 13th street from the levee to Elizabeth street, including the drug and book store, a great deal of damage was done.
Elizabeth street—J. Moritz & Co., destroyed, $25,000; Madame Vincent, fancy goods, greatly injured; Dominguez, Victur Sale and Magin Freres’ wooden houses sustained some loss. The north part of the Dillon building, owned by Marcos Rachich, protected the upper corner of Elizabeth street from the fire.
From Webb & Miller’s hotel to the bank the loss has been heavy; doors, windows and roofs, dry goods, liquors, hardware, &c., broken or injured in some way. Twelfth street has shared the same fate. Mr. Worbinski, Fernandez and others injured a good deal.
A large amount of the goods destroyed in the warehouses were on consignment for Mexico.
The non-arrival of the regular steamer from New Orleans on last Monday week was the cause of a large amount of silver and gold being on hand, but most of this is saved.
Henry Maltby of Corpus Christi lost about $2,000 worth of groceries which he had in Belden & Co.’s building.
The other losses of property, dry goods, &c., may be estimated at $200,000.
On last Sunday morning the leg of a man was found and soon afterwards his body in the river. He was a Mexican.
This is the first fire that has occurred in Brownsville since its existence. It has been fortunate that we have been able to save so much. The most of the houses are frame and very close to each other. The streets and alleys are narrow. It is now for our citizens to look to these things and better prepare for future accidents.
Yes — you are right. This version does not say Frank North was killed instantly. It says:
“Mr. Francis S. North expired about two hours after he was wounded.”
Below is a full verbatim transcription of the article as it appears in your image, with only a few [illegible] marks where the print is too faint to read confidently.
GALVESTON TEXAS—TUESDAY NOVEMBER 10, 1857
TERRIBLE CALAMITY!
GREAT FIRE AT BROWNSVILLE.
SEVERAL LIVES LOST.
$200,000 of Property Destroyed.
The Brownsville Flag, of the 29th ultimo, comes to us this morning with the particulars of a terrible calamity, which happened at that place on Friday the 23d. We give below the account furnished by the Flag:
On last Friday night between twelve and one o’clock, the alarm of fire was first discovered by Mr. W. W. Nelson in the wholesale establishment of Messrs Galvan & Co., on the Levee, when he immediately woke up three or four that were sleeping in the building. Very soon afterwards, notice was given to those approaching that powder was in the store, and an explosion of two or three kegs, a few minutes before the last concussion, gave a good many warnings.
In the meantime, Mr. Woodhouse and several citizens, succeeded in getting 20 kegs of powder into the river from the warehouse of Chas Stillman & Co. About the time this work was finished Mr. North, one of the firm of Woodhouse & Co., was endeavoring to save their papers, which he partially succeeded in doing, when the explosion took place—fatally wounding him, and seriously injuring Mr. Miller. During this time, Mr. Moritz, Mr. Alsbach and Mr. Portillo, were in Moritz & Co’s store on Elizabeth street, getting their papers and money. This store being just opposite the powder, the sudden concussion completely demolished the whole establishment, throwing the great body of the building into the street—killing Mr. J. Moritz and Mr. Alsbach, and wounding Mr. Portillo very badly.
Mr. J. Moritz’s body was found in the morning dreadfully mangled—some of his limbs being burned off. The remains of Mr. Alsbach was found on last Tuesday morning. Mr. Francis S. North expired about two hours after he was wounded.
It is supposed the fire originated from a candle or matches near crates of crockery, in J. Galvan & Co’s wholesale store. There were ninety-five kegs of powder in the back part of the same building where the fire caught, which must have communicated at the same time to cause such a concussion.
The explosion created confusion for miles around, and wonderment in the minds of those aroused from their slumbers by the loud report and the quivering of their dwellings. Many were knocked from their beds—roofs, bricks, boards and pieces of timber falling on them—crash of window shutters and panes, and the tremendous force unriveting locks and bursting bars of iron from doors, was truly alarming.
But quiet was soon restored and some of our gallant citizens went to work manfully. They worked faithfully, and their names will long be remembered for the voluntary services they rendered. Buckets were furnished and a line of men formed from the river to the fire.
Col. Taylor, Capt. Dawson, and Lt. Langdon; and the soldiers of the garrison, deserve the gratitude of all for the fearless manner in which they entered the scene of action.
Mr. Kennedy ordered the Grampus to be landed opposite the fire, where it played upon the buildings with its pumps for thirty-five hours.
Had it not been for these active operations the whole town, doubtless, would have been committed to the flames; and had there been any swift breeze stirring it would have been almost impossible to save it from destruction; but fortunately it was unusually calm, and the frame buildings were pretty well wet with the rain that had fallen the night previous.
It would be difficult to estimate the amount each merchant has lost—every one having his goods, crockery, house, &c., more or less injured.
We will commence first on the Levee and suppose the damages some of the merchants have sustained—Chas Stillman & Co., blown, $10,000; S. A. Belden & Co., burnt, $15,000; loss of papers &c.; Kenedy & Co. freight stored; J. Galvan & Co. $20,000; J. F. Parker, wooden building, in the rear lumber; L. E’ Roca, wooden building occupied by H. O’Conor & Co., tin shop, burnt; A Landolt, burnt, $50,000; R. King, smashed in, wooden; Nicolas Grisanti and Mrs Peabody’s wooden buildings greatly injured. Along on both sides of 13th street from the Levee to Elizabeth street, including the drug and book store a great deal of damage was done.
Elizabeth street—J. Moritz & Co., destroyed $25,000; Madame Vincent fancy goods, greatly injured; Dominguez, Victor Salle and Magnin Freres, wooden houses, known as the Maxan property, as far round as the drug store were torn and shattered a good deal. The north part of the Dillon building, owned by Marcos Radich, protected the upper corner of Elizabeth street from the fire. From Webb & Miller’s hotel to the bank, the loss has been heavy; doors, windows and roofs, dry goods, liquors, hard-ware, &c., broken or injured in some way. Twelfth street has shared the same fate; Mr. Werbiski, Fernandez and others, injured a good deal. Weilsman & Rosenbaum, lately opened on Elizabeth street lost and damaged, $2,000.
A large amount of the goods destroyed in the warehouses were on consignment for Mexico.
The non-arrival of the regular steamer from New Orleans on last Monday week, was the cause of a large amount of silver and gold being on hand; but most all of this is saved.
Henry Maltby of Corpus Christi, lost about $2,000 worth of groceries, which he had in Belden & Co’s building.
The entire loss of property, dry goods, &c., may be estimated at $200,000.
On last Sunday morning the leg of a man was found and soon afterwards his body in the river. He was a Mexican.
We learn the Convent, which is over a quarter of a mile distant, had its windows and doors broken open. A good many doors in Matamoros were unbolted.
This is the first fire, that has occurred in Brownsville since its existence. It has been fortunate. We don’t suppose there is any town in the State that contains so much combustible matter as this. The most of the houses are frame and very close to each other. The streets and alleys narrow. It is now for our citizens to look to these things and better prepare for future accidents.
DEATH OF MR. J. MORITZ, MR. FRANCIS S. NORTH AND ISAAC ALSBACH.—
It will be seen in our report of the fire the fate of these lamented gentlemen. Many warm friends and dear relatives mourn their untimely death.
Mr. J. Moritz was born in Prague Bohemia—aged about 30 years. The last tribute was bestowed on his remains by the Masonic fraternity on last Saturday evening.
Mr. Francis Stillman North was born in Wetterfield, Conn.—aged 29 years. He leaves an affectionate wife to mourn his loss.
On Tuesday morning last the heart and bones of Mr. Isaac Alsbach was found in the ruins. He was a promising young man of about 22 years of age, and his native country was Bilefeld, Prussia.
Mr. John Alsbach, brother of the deceased, arrived on Monday last from Germany, to witness the destruction, and learn the sad fate of his brother.
FURTHER PARTICULARS.
We are indebted to our young friend, Chas. E. Caswell, formerly of this city, now of Brownsville, for further particulars of the great fire. Mr. Caswell was working at the fire, passing kegs of powder from one of the warehouses to the river, when the explosion of ninety-five kegs in the next building occurred, throwing him and others who were with him some distance, and slightly injuring all of them.
Mr. C. informs us that Budd H. Pry, County Clerk, was much burned while saving the books and papers of his office.
J. San Roman was injured badly by the falling of timbers at the time of the explosion.
Victor Darel, partner in the house of A. Sale, was also injured about the head and face from the same cause.
Geo. Dye, Mayor, had his foot dreadfully smashed by falling timbers.
B. F. Donaldson was asleep in a building adjoining the one in which the powder exploded, and although an immense mass of timber and brick fell over him, he escaped without material injury, by sinking through the floor, which was laid on piles and kept the weight of the rubbish from crushing him.
Mr. Caswell relates many interesting incidents and narrow escapes connected with this scene of destruction; but we have not now time or space to print them.
Mr. C. came up to this city in the schooner Susan, Capt. Russell, arriving here about 8 o’clock last evening, in forty-eight hours from the Rio Grande. The Susan also brought up Judge Watrous, (who has just finished a term of the U. S. District Court at Brownsville,) Mr. J. A. H. Cleveland, Deputy Marshal, and most of the jurors from this city. Mr. Cleveland has favored us with a written account of the fire and explosion, agreeing in the main particulars with what we have already given above. Mr. C says there were 150 barrels of liquor in the same building with the powder, which of course added force to the explosion, and intensity to the flames. He further says:
The concussion levelled all the brick buildings situated on the half block and uprooted and other wise damaged almost every house within 600 yards round. Doors, windows, &c., throughout the town, were blown off the hinges and smashed—many rifled [rifted?] were broken in Matamoros, one and a half mile distance. Pieces of timber and a half brick and other missiles were sent like bullets in every direction through the sky; and the only way one can account it is that the loss of life was so fortunate, and only supposed to amount to less than that stated, some 6 or 8 was it? [illegible] the six of whom we read of, from the fact that many getting out from a loft, [illegible] were even [illegible] to a [illegible], four persons were still in [illegible] have been found, though it is supposed that are others yet lying under the ruins.
Mr. North, of the firm of Charles Stillman & Co. lost his life in attempting to save the books papers and money of the firm! He was a young man much respected by all who knew him, had not been long married, and every prospect for future advancement before him. His loss will be severely felt, and especially by the firm of which he was the leading member Mr Moritz and Wallack [or Wallock?] of the firm of Moritz & Co., were also killed in the attempt to save their books, papers &c.—Poor Moritz had his head and arms blown out, and Wallack’s skeleton was found some four days after under ruin of their own store house. A Mexican not known was found in the river, with his leg blown off. Several were wounded and some of them severely; among the number was Mr Miller, the owner and proprietor of the far famed hotel of Webb & Miller’s House, along side of Mr. North at the time he was killed, was buried under the pile of brick four feet high; but being a stout athletic man, succeeded in getting out, but severely wounded; at the time we left, he was out of danger. Mr. Pry, clerk of the County Court, was severely burned in saving his records, and succeeded so far that only a small portion of them are missing. Geo. Dye, Deputy Marshal was also badly hurt in the foot. San Roman had a narrow escape, being caught under a heavy shed that fell from the concussion; several others, not now remembered were more or less hurt.
The building in which Mr. Hale and myself lodged, was the only brick house left standing on the half block. We occupied the upper story in which we were at the moment of the explosion and about 150 feet distance. Dr. Webb owns the house and has a large quantity of drugs in the lower part—the doors and windows were smashed.
It may not be proper to give the true cause of this disaster, but I will tell you—it was drunkenness. Galvan and one or more associates were so much intoxicated that they went to sleep leaving a candle burning near some straw brooms—and hence the fire. He has lost his last dollar.
Truly yours,
J. A. H. CLEVELAND
Sidebar: How Did Henry Miller Survive?
One of the most dramatic stories from the 1857 Brownsville powder explosion concerns a man named Henry Miller, who was said to have been blown “head-first through a fifteen-inch brick wall” and somehow survived.
Like many frontier stories, the basic event appears to be true — but the details were almost certainly exaggerated as the tale was retold in later years.
Contemporary reports indicate that Miller was thrown violently by the blast when the gunpowder exploded in the warehouse district near the Rio Grande levee. The shockwave from a large black-powder explosion can hurl debris and people dozens of feet. In Miller’s case, the blast likely struck the rear of a building where wood sheds and storage structures stood behind the main brick warehouses.
When black powder detonates, the pressure wave often breaks masonry walls first, loosening bricks and mortar before the full force of the blast arrives. It is therefore very possible that Miller was thrown through a wall that was already collapsing, rather than penetrating a solid brick barrier.
Early Brownsville buildings also used lime mortar and relatively thin masonry, which could fail suddenly under explosive pressure. By the time Miller struck the wall, it may have already been breaking apart.
In other words, Miller may not have passed through a solid wall — he was likely carried through a collapsing one, along with bricks, boards, and debris.
That distinction mattered little to later storytellers. By the 1890s the tale had grown into a local legend:
“The man who went through a brick wall and lived.”
Even so, surviving such a blast was extraordinary. Miller’s survival remains one of the most remarkable human stories connected to the Great Brownsville Fire of 1857.
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