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In addition to aiding the ill, the old, and the infirm who were unable to apply for aid in
person, Special Relief was extended to those among the "better" classes who, the Society
assumed, "were not accustomed to exposures and hardships which were easily borne by
the laboring people [who had to wait in lines at the relief centers], and at the same time the
change in their condition and circumstances was greater and more disastrous." The order
above for the purchase of a Singer sewing machine involved another area of special relief,
one aimed at assisting "destitute sewing women" who lost their machines, and their "means
of subsistence," to the fire. At the same time, this program helped clothe the burnt-out.
Sewing machine companies arranged a special discount, and the applicant herself usually
paid part of the cost. In similar ways Special Relief was extended to "carpenters, masons,
tinners, bookbinders, locksmiths, tailors, shoemakers, and workers in almost every branch
of mechanical industry" to help restore to them the tools of their trades. As in all other
areas of its endeavors, the aim of the Society was to enable the applicant, "at the earliest
possible period, to obtain a support, and relieve him from the necessity of any further
application for assistance." The Society disbursed almost $140,000 on 5300 sewing
machines, close to $11,000 on other tools.
Some of the fire narratives indicate that taking alms was a sensitive issue among the
wealthy who had been made homeless. Ellis Chesbrough confided to his son, "Do not say
anything about it to Dyer, but we hear that his sister Mrs. Loving has actually been to the
'Relief' for clothing.--However a good many other ladies as respectable as she have done
the same thing.--I fear that in some cases, respectable people have gone for aid, who ought
to wait a little while for their friends to come forward; but some folks seem to give way to
despair almost immediately." In the same letter in which she described the barracks
opposite the Ogden mansion, Anna Higginson told her correspondent of how standing in
line for relief could be far from embarrassing to some in her circle: "You may imagine how
I felt on meeting Mrs. Arnold coming from the Relief Society with a bundle of clothing for
Mr. Arnold; though I think she felt rather uplifted by the necessity, appearing somewhat in
the character of a martyr--& when Dr. Rylance [the retired minister of St. James Episcopal
Church] went to see her & seizing her hands with one of his characteristic gushes,
exclaimed, 'You noble woman.' I am sure she felt abundantly repaid for all she had
undergone."
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The Relief and Aid Society 