Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy: The "Pumper '1'" Story

It was an ordinary day. Saw a story in the local paper about a collection of vintage cars that had recently been purchased by Michael's Motor Cars. They were located at 922 N. Queen St. in Lancaster. Then I read the story again; 922 N. Queen St. Hum ........ Hey, that's right across from where lived in the late 50s and all of the 60s. Same building that my dad rented a space to keep his car out of the bad weather. Dad used to give me the car keys and I would move the car from his spot to the wash bay so I could wash the car so it would look great for church. Can't believe he did that not that I look back on it. I was only 15 at the time, no driver's license, and there were many other cars in the garage. Wow, he must have trusted me. Anyway, I saw that one of the vehicles in the collection that had been purchased was a fire engine. Not just any fire engine, but Lancaster city's first fire engine. It was a 1830 pumper; Pumper "1". Engine had been built by Lancaster native Martin Shreiner who was a clock maker until 1829 when he began manufacturing engines. Engine was painted by Jacob Eichholtz who also was a native of Lancaster. Jacob began his career as a coppersmith and in 1809 began painting portraiture painting. He had a studio in Lancaster that in 1822 became too small so he moved to Philadelphia. In 1833 he returned to Lancaster and was commissioned to paint the fire engine. Well, after work I headed to 922 N. Queen St. Pulled in next to a fantastic Packard, parked and headed into the garage. Memories flooded back as I saw a fellow washing a car in the bay to the left. Looked around the garage at all the classic and vintage cars and didn't see the engine. Then a guy asked if he could help me. After explaining about living across the street and all the rest of the story, he told me the engine is in another building next to Armstrong World Industries on Liberty Street. Told me he was headed down there and if I wanted, I could follow him to the building. Jumped back in the car and headed through the old alleys towards Liberty St. In 5 minutes I was standing in front of the 1930 pumper. Wow; Double Wow!! Bright red and yellow with a big #1 painted on the side of it. The detail work that Shreiner did on the engine was amazing. Directly under the #1 was an outlet for the hoses to be attached for water supply. The pumping was done by the firemen who grabbed hold of the metal handles on either side and pumped up and down. On the front of the engine was a connection for a long wooden handle that had metal loops for the firemen to grab hold so they could pull the pumper. The plaque on the front decried built by Martin Shreiner 1830 Lancaster Pa.; Rebuilt by Samuel Cox 1856. On either side of the ornamented plaque were two hand-carved birds. On the rear was another plaque which stated "When Duty Calls It Is Ours To Obey," This plaque is also surrounded with elaborate colorful carvings. The large wooden spoked wheels with metal runners completed the pumper. Found out that the engine is going to be auctioned October 8th at Bonhams Auction House in Philadelphia. What a historical day that will be. Would be nice to see the engine return to it's native city, but I'd have to re-mortgage the house to make that happen. it was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.