Norwich bulletin., 1915-04-16
MAN AND WIFE
BURNED TO DEATH
MIR. and Mrs. Charles w. Church Lost
Their Lives in Their Home at Pal
rnArkn,Mn

Charles W. Church and his wife.
Jennie E Church, met death shortly
after midnight on Wednesday in a
tenement house fire in the hamlet Of
brook from the Palmertown road. The
other section Of the double house was
occupied by Mr.. and Mrs. Peter Kit
sky and their five children, all asleep.
but they escaped the flames.
How the fire started nobody knows.
It was discovered by Tom Bebick. a
Polish mill hand. who boards in a
nearby house. Bebick woke up the
Kitsky family and tried to arouse the
Churches. They were not seen and
it is highly probable that both per-
tshed, suffocating, while they slept.
A line of hose from the big fire
pump at the Pequot mill, more than
200 feet away. was dragged out by
volunteers and the houses close to-
gether on a little knoll. on which the
burned house is situated, were saved
from destruction. The double tene-
ment occupied by the Kitskys on one
side and the Churches on the other.
was burned to the stills. The floor of
the second story bedroom in which
Mr.: and Mrs Church slept. fell to the
ground floor with charred iron bed
springs intact and the bodies of the
unfortunate man and wife on the en-
bers.
Bebick was coming home from work
AUOuI 4E-I0 1nuTSOdy morning when
he passed the house and smelled
smoke. On his way to the second
house beyond the burning dwelling,
where he has a room. he turned and
looked over his shoulder and saw the
window Of the bedroom occupied by
Mr.. and Mrs. Church filled with flame.
The fire was burning close to the win
dow. Bebick called as loudly as he
could and raped on the doors of both
parts Of the house.
Mrs. Kitsky One child slept with
them on the first floor. Four others
were asleep in bedrooms above. The
oldest is IS years 6 months of age;
the youngest Is years. Kitsky told
his wife to get the child with her out
and then he ran upstairs where he
reused the children and told them to
get out as fast as they could. Some
grabbed clothing. Others didn't have
the chance. The younger children
Kitsky carried out. The older ones
ran down the stairs
Within a few minutes the structure
was a mass of flames. The corner
bedroom in which Mr.. and Mrs. Church
slept was burned first and when the
floor fell the bodies were seen in the
seething furnace.
The bed fell and rested firmly on
the charred floor of the first story.
mattress and clothing being consumed
and bare springs showing among the
ruins. One of the bodies lay at the
head Of the bed and the other near the
foot.
Mr.. and Mrs. Church were about so
years old and both lived in the town
Of Montville all their lives. He was
a teamster by occpation but recently
had worked at the Bank mill. which
was burned a few months ago. Mrs.
Church was Jennie Hyland, a sister
of Thomas Hyland. who resides at
Palmertown
The house was insured. The con-
tents were not. it is said. The loss is
estimated at approximately $4,000.
Coroner Franklin H. Brown and
Medical Examiner Fox viewed the
bodies of Mr.. and Mrs. Church and
an undertaken was given permission
to remove them pending an investiga-
ton.
The couple are survived by three
daughters, Mrs. Joseph Miller of
Montville, Miss Florence Church of
California and Mrs. Anna Billiard of
New York state. 1t is not known that
Mr., Church had any immediate rela-
tives on his side. Both Mr.. and Mrs.
Church formerly resided in this city
and were. known to many people.
According to the statement of neigh
bors it seems probable that some ac-
cident arising through Incorporate
habits may have been the cause of