Other names Cate Other name Cate | Spouse(s) Patrick O'Leary Children James Patrick O'Leary | |
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Full Name Catherine Donegan Born c. 1827 Ireland Died 3 July 1895, Chicago, Illinois, United States | ||
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Catherine O'Leary (also known as Cate O'Leary; ca. 1827 – 3 July 1895) was an Irish immigrant living in Chicago, Illinois who became famous when it was alleged that an accident involving her cow had started the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Catherine and her husband Patrick O'Leary had three children, one of whom, James Patrick O'Leary, ran a well-known Chicago saloon and gambling hall.
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Great Chicago Fire
On the evening of October 8, 1871, a fire consumed the O'Leary family's barn at 137 DeKoven Street. Due to a high wind and dry conditions it spread to burn a large percentage of the city, an event known as the Great Chicago Fire.
After the Great Fire, Chicago Tribune reporter Michael Ahern published a report that the fire had started when a cow kicked over a lantern while it was being milked. The woman was not named, but Catherine O'Leary was soon identified, as the fire had begun in her barn. Illustrations and caricatures soon appeared depicting Mrs. O'Leary with the cow. The idea took the popular imagination and is still widely circulated.
In 1893, however, Ahern admitted he had made the story up. The official report at the time stated: "whether it originated from a spark blown from a chimney on that windy night, or was set on fire by human agency, we are unable to determine". Mrs. O'Leary herself stated that she had been in bed when the fire started, and she had no idea what set it off. Daniel "Pegleg" Sullivan, the first person to raise the alarm, reported that on seeing a fire in the barn, he ran across the street to free the animals, which included a cow owned by Sullivan's mother. He then informed the O'Learys, who were at home.
Anti-Irish attitudes at the time encouraged scapegoating the O'Leary family. It was claimed that the supposed accident happened because she was drunk, or that she hid the evidence to avoid being blamed. Neighbors later claimed to have seen shards from the broken lamp, but none of these stories could be verified. One person stated that he had found the lamp, but it had been stolen by an Irishman to protect the O'Learys.
Other theories suggest that Daniel "Pegleg" Sullivan himself may have started the fire, or possibly Louis M. Cohn, who later claimed to have been gambling in the barn with the O'Learys' son and several others.
Death and aftermath
Catherine O'Leary died on July 3, 1895 of acute pneumonia, at her home at 5133 Halsted Street, and was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery. In the PBS documentary, Chicago: City of the Century, a descendant of O'Leary's stated that she spent the rest of her life in the public eye, and she was constantly blamed for starting the fire. Overcome with much sadness and regret, she "died heartbroken".
The last living relative of Catherine O'Leary's died in 1936. Amateur historian Richard Bales was able to gather enough evidence on Sullivan to convince the Chicago City Council to exonerate Mrs. O'Leary of any guilt in 1997.