1932 — June 7, Ellington Apartments Arson Explosion and Fire, Cleveland, OH — 13
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 1-16-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–13 Altoona Mirror, PA. “Four Arrested in Burning of Hotel.” 1-21-1933, p. 1.
–13 Duwe, Grant. Mass Murder in the United States: A History. McFarland, 2007, p. 28.
–13 NFPA. “Ellington Apartments Fire, Cleveland.” NFPA Quarterly, V. 26, No. 1, 1932, 62.
–13 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.
–13 Evening Gazette, Xenia, OH. “Believe Gasoline Caused Ellington Apartments Blast.” 6-11-1932, 1.
–12 Bellamy. They Died Crawling And Other Tales of Cleveland Woe… 1995, p. 111.
Narrative Information
Bellamy: “Arson is, perhaps, the most odious and repellent of crimes….The 1932 arson-for-hire torching of the Ellington Apartments complex at East 9th & Superior was just such a craven affair.[1] Before it was over it killed 12 people, injured more than 30, and sent one man to prison for life on the strength of predominantly – but overwhelming – circumstantial evidence….
“Built…in the 189s, the Ellington was actually two linked residential hotels. The ‘Old Ellington,’ built in 1893, was a six-story structure of 80 apartments, while the ‘New Ellington,’ a one-story building behind it with access to Superior, was erected in 1897 and comprised 24 suites. Built before the era of steel frames, both Ellingtons were constructed of brick, mortar, and wood and divided into suites of two to five rooms….” (Bellamy, John Stark II. They Died Crawling And Other Tales of Cleveland Woe: True Stories of the Foulest Crimes and Worst Disasters in Cleveland History. Cleveland, OH: Gray & Co., 1995, p. 111.)
NFPA: “Unprotected vertical openings and generally inferior construction were factors in the rapid spread of a fire which occurred shortly after midnight on June 7, 1932, in the Ellington Apartments in Cleveland, Ohio, as the result of an explosion supposedly of incendiary origin. Thirteen persons lost their lives and twenty-four occupants, the night watchman, and eight firemen were injured.
“Egress from the building was provided by interior stairways and outside fire escapes on three sides. Ladders raised by the fire department were also used by occupants in escaping from the fire. The building was so quickly enveloped with fire following the explosion that it seems remarkable that more occupants were not trapped.
“A single source sprinkler system covered the basement and first floor, and there was a supply of chemical extinguishers on the upper floors. The fire spread too fast, however, to make possible the use of the first aid equipment and the explosion which preceded the fire wrecked the sprinkler system.” (NFPA. “Ellington Apartments Fire.” NFPA Quarterly, V26, N.1, 1932, 62.)
Newspapers
June 7. Star Journal, Sandusky, OH. “Eight Die In Cleveland Apartment Blast.” 6-7-1932, p. 1:
“Aged Persons Trapped In Rooms Over Stores In Ellington Building.
“Many Carried Out in Blankets After Fire Followed Blast, Presumably of Gas, Which Lifted Roof; Bodies Being Recovered and Identified While Several Are Missing and Others Injured in Hospitals.
“Cleveland, June 7 – Firemen, grimy, wet and fatigued, today dug through the blackened debris left when an explosion and fire wrecked the Ellington building here, killing and injuring residents in apartments of the structure and doing damage of almost $1,000,000.
“Fire department officials said eight persons were known dead. Four bodies had been removed. Authorities had not been able to reach four other victims.
“Fire Warden Patrick Barrett led a group of men in excavating debris from which issued moans of buried victims.
“Thirty persons were injured, a few of them slightly, others seriously enough to remain in hospitals.
“There were about 150 persons in the combined business and apartment building when the explosion let go, followed by fire, shortly after midnight. It was believed a gas leak in a lower section of the building liberated explosive which was ignited to cause the disaster.
“Tottering walls were pulled down. Debris was piled three stories deep, smoldering and liberating a pungent steam that smelled of burned timbers and cloth. It will be several days before the ruins are cleared away.
“The identified dead were Mrs. Anna Mitchell, 70, burned and fatally injured in a leap from a third floor window.
“Conrad Werner, 55, a bank guard, suffocated in his sixth floor room.
“Miss Cora Stokes, 60, retired hotel employee, suffocated.
“An unidentified man found suffocated.
“Four other unidentified persons, three of whom firemen said were women…”
June 8: Evening Gazette, Xenia, OH. “Remove Fifth Body From Blast Ruins…” 6-8-1932, p. 1.
“Death Toll Mounts. Nine Others Still Missing; Firemen Search For Cause.
“Cleveland, O., June 8. – A woman’s body, the fifth victim found to date was recovered today from the fire-swept Ellington Apartment building as search continued for eight others believed still in the debris. The body was tentatively identified by Frank W. Fisher, custodian of the building, as that of Mrs. Clara Withers, 60, who lived in suite 25. Mrs. Withers’ husband, William, was among the missing and was believed to be in the ruins.
“Cause of the terrific explosion and fire that completely wrecked the six-story apartment and business building located in the heart of the downtown district, remained a mystery.…”
June 9: AP. “Former Salem Woman Hurt in Blaze Tragedy.” Salem News, OH. 6-9-1932, p.1:
“(By Associated Press) Cleveland, O., June 9. – The Ellington apartments fire was of incendiary origin, Assistant State Fire Marshal Val Hafner said today. His flat pronouncement was made after a 23-hour investigation of the blackened ruins from which eleven bodies have already been taken and in which it is believed at least three more lie buried. Hafner said he had not yet gathered sufficient evidence to warrant any arrests….
‘The eleventh body, that of an unidentified elderly woman, was taken from the debris early today. Firemen were kept digging in the ruins for the bodies of three women still listed as missing….”
June 9: Chronicle-Telegram, Elyria, OH. “Eleventh Body Recovered From Ruins of Blaze.” 6-9-1932, p. 1:
“Cleveland, June 9 – A woman’s body, tentatively identified as that of Miss Mary Gaughan, 22, was recovered today from the ruined Ellington apartment building – the 11th victim found…”
June 11: Evening Gazette, Xenia, OH. “Believe Gasoline Caused Ellington Apartments Blast.” 6-11-1932, p. 1:
“Cleveland, O., June 11 – Pursuing the theory that gasoline caused the disastrous Ellington Apartments explosion, investigators today centered their efforts on tracing the gasoline and determining how it was ignited….The revised list of dead and missing showed that thirteen persons lost their lives in the explosion and fire. Eleven bodies have been received to date and remnants of a body, believed to be the 12th, were recovered from the ruins.”
June 13: Sandusky Star Journal, OH. “Deaths and Funerals.” 6-13-1932, p. 7:
“….The Rev. Joseph Stein, of the First Congregational church, conducted services over the remains of the Misses Virginia and Cora Stokes at the Frey Funeral Home, W. Washington st., Monday afternoon at 2 o’clock. Interment was in a double grave in Oakland cemetery. The Misses Stokes, former Sanduskians, were victims of the Ellington apartment house fire in Cleveland last Wednesday…”
Jan 21, 1933: United Press. “Four Arrested in Burning of Hotel.
“Cleveland Business Man Taken for Questioning In Alleged Arson Plot That Cost Thirteen Lives.
“(By United Press.) Cleveland, Jan. 21. – Ray I. Turk, Cleveland business man, was arrested in Akron today for questioning by Cleveland police in connection with an alleged arson plot which authorities said resulted in the burning of the Ellington hotel here June 7 with a loss of thirteen lives. Three other men wanted in connection with the reputed plot were in custody and a fifth man was being sought. Warrants for the arrest of the five were signed late yesterday by Safety Director Frank J. Merrick after a seven-months’ secret investigation….
“Detectives who arrested Turk reported he refused to answer questions. In previous questionings since the tragic fire, Turk denied knowledge of how the blaze started in his store in the Ellington building. He was manager of a beauty and barber supply company.
“Merrick announced that the ‘inside story’ of the plot had been obtained from a former associate of the Pennsylvania men. He declared that the ‘warrants were issued on evidence tending to show that the purpose of the plot was to collect $15,000 insurance money’ and announced that ‘we have plenty of evidence and witnesses to prove our charges.’
“Indications of the alleged plot, Merrick said, first were uncovered by Prosecutor A. B. De Castrique of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, while prosecuting an inter-state arson ring in which fourteen men were convicted….”
Fatalities Identified in Press Accounts Above:
- Barnes, Mrs. Vera 60 [2]
- Corrigan, Bessie [3]
- Gaughan, Mary 22 Body recovered June 9.
- Malloy, Catherine 22 Funeral services June 11.[4]
- Mitchell, Mrs. Anna 70 Leaped from third floor window.
- Small, Della 24 Funeral services June 11.[5]
- Small, Kathleen 22 Funeral services June 11.[6]
- Stokes, Miss Cora 60 Suffocated
- Stokes, Miss Virginia
- Werner, William Conrad 55 Bank guard; suffocated in sixth floor room.
- Withers, Mrs. Clara 60 Lived in suite 25 with her husband, William.
- Withers, William 60 Funeral services held June 11.
- Unidentified roomer in Barnes suite.[7]
Sources
Altoona Mirror, PA. “Four Arrested in Burning of Hotel.” 1-21-1933, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/altoona-mirror/1933-01-21?tag=ellington+hotel&rtserp=tags/?pci=7&ndt=ex&py=1933&pep=ellington-hotel
Associated Press. “Former Salem Woman Hurt in Blaze Tragedy.” Salem News, OH. 6-9-1932, p.1. Accessed 1-16-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salem-news-jun-09-1932-p-1/
Bellamy, John Stark II. They Died Crawling And Other Tales of Cleveland Woe: True Stories of the Foulest Crimes and Worst Disasters in Cleveland History. Cleveland, OH: Gray & Co., Publishers, 1995. Partially Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=eQVspPWBtcEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Chronicle-Telegram, Elyria, OH. “Eleventh Body Recovered From Ruins of Blaze.” 6-9-1932, p. 1. Accessed 1-16-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/the-chronicle-telegram-jun-09-1932-p-1/
Duwe, Grant. Mass Murder in the United States: A History. McFarland, 2007.
Evening Gazette, Xenia, OH. “Believe Gasoline Caused Ellington Apartments Blast.” 6-11-1932, p. 1. Accessed 1-16-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/xenia-evening-gazette-jun-11-1932-p-1/
Evening Gazette, Xenia, OH. “Remove Fifth Body From Blast Ruins…” 6-8-1932, p. 1. Accessed 1-16-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/xenia-evening-gazette-jun-08-1932-p-1/
International News Service. “Funeral Rites Conducted For 6 Fire Victims.” Lima Sunday News, OH. 6-12-1932, p. 20. Accessed 1-16-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/the-lima-news-jun-12-1932-p-20/
National Fire Protection Association. “Ellington Apartments Fire, Cleveland.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 26, July 1932, p. 62.
National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996. Accessed 2010 at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1
Sandusky Star Journal, OH. “Deaths and Funerals.” 6-13-1932, p. 7. Accessed 1-16-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sandusky-star-journal-jun-13-1932-p-7/
Star Journal, Sandusky, OH. “Eight Die In Cleveland Apartment Blast.” 6-7-1932, p. 1. Accessed 1-16-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sandusky-star-journal-jun-07-1932-p-1/
United Press. “Revised List of Dead, Hurt in Ohio Fire.” Piqua Daily Call, OH. 6-8-1932, p. 1. Accessed 1-16-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/piqua-daily-call-jun-08-1932-p-1/
[1] For the insurance money. (Altoona Mirror, PA. “Four Arrested in Burning of Hotel.” 1-21-1933, p. 1.)
[2] United Press. “Revised List of Dead, Hurt in Ohio Fire.” Piqua Daily Call, OH. 6-8-1932, p. 1.
[3] United Press. “Revised List of Dead, Hurt in Ohio Fire.” Piqua Daily Call, OH. 6-8-1932, p. 1.
[4] Inter. News Service. “Funeral Rites Conducted For 6 Fire Victims.” Lima Sunday News, OH. 6-12-1932, p. 20.
[5] Inter. News Service. “Funeral Rites Conducted For 6 Fire Victims.” Lima Sunday News, OH. 6-12-1932, p. 20.
[6] Inter. News Service. “Funeral Rites Conducted For 6 Fire Victims.” Lima Sunday News, OH. 6-12-1932, p. 20.
[7] United Press. “Revised List of Dead, Hurt in Ohio Fire.” Piqua Daily Call, OH. 6-8-1932, p. 1.