20070430 Fire destroys barn on historic Whittaker Chambers farm

Fire destroys barn on historic Whittaker Chambers “Pumpkin Papers” farm

Monday evening, April 30, 2007 approximately 35 fire fighters from Carroll County, Maryland and Adams County, Pennsylvania responded to a fire which destroyed a barn that was over 150 years-old on the Whittaker Chambers’ “Pipe Creek Farm” (the old Thomas Farm) just north of Westminster, Maryland.

April 30^th, 2007 Kevin Dayhoff http://www.kevindayhoff.net/

References:

My Tentacle column for Wednesday, May 1^st, 2007 is on the “The Legacy of Whittaker Chambers:”

On Monday evening, a tragic fire destroyed a circa-1850 barn on the historic Whittaker Chambers "Pumpkin Patch" farm just north or Westminster in Carroll County.

Interestingly enough, most of those attending the fire were not aware of the significance of the farm, which made history in 1948.

More than 45 years after his death on July 9, 1961, Whittaker Chambers continues to have a profound impact on the conservative movement in the United States.

Mr. Chambers was an accomplished writer and editor, who had been a member of the Communist Party of the United States from 1925 to 1937. He renounced communism in 1937.

After he defected from the Communist Party and abandoned his role as a Soviet spy, he became a courageous and vocal critic of communism and acquired lasting fame for outing Alger Hiss "as a fellow member of his underground Communist cell in the 1930s," according to Dr. Lee Edwards.

Dr. Edwards, writing for the Heritage Foundation in April 2001, called Mr. Hiss "a golden boy of the liberal establishment."

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The site of the “Pumpkin Papers” has, over the years, come to be considered a national treasure by conservatives as many consider Whittaker Chambers to be a true American patriot of the first order.

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In recent months, the “Union Mills Reservoir” project, first suggested by the City of Westminster in the mid-1970s has been revived by the Carroll County Commissioners. Unfounded concerns immediately surfaced that the much-needed water project has threatened the site of the “Pumpkin Papers,” and the Chambers’ “Pipe Creek Farm,” that was granted “national landmark status” in 1988 by Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel.

Fortunately, I have been led to a clear understanding that the Carroll County Commissioners share the view of many that everything possible needs to be done to preserve the “Pumpkin Papers” site yet nevertheless, take care of the commissioners’ basic “health, safety, and welfare” responsibilities to greater Carroll County.

Read the rest of my Tentacle column here: “The Legacy of Whittaker Chambers.”

Penny Riordan, writing for the Carroll County Times also wrote about the fire:

“Fire causes damage at historic farm” A late afternoon fire burned a barn to the ground and severely damaged a shed at the historic Chambers Farm off Bachmans Valley Road in Westminster Monday. The farm, which is listed as a National Historic Landmark, was where former owner Whittaker Ch…

For other posts on Soundtrack about Whittaker Chambers please click: Chambers – Whittaker Chambers and the “Pumpkin Papers”

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Monday evening, April 30, 2007 approximately 35 fire fighters from Carroll County, Maryland and Adams County, Pennsylvania responded to a fire which destroyed a barn that was over 150 years-old on the Whittaker Chambers’ “Pipe Creek Farm” (the old Thomas Farm) just north of Westminster, Maryland.

The call for the fire went out at 4:40 pm and the fire was declared under control by 5:45 pm. (I arrived with the canteen crew at 6:15 and took these pictures of the scene after the fire had been gotten under control.

As I wrote in my Tentacle column which came out this morning, “The Legacy of Whittaker Chambers:” Interesting enough, most folks attending the fire were not aware of the history or the significance of the farm, which made history in 1948.

It was Whittaker Chambers (April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) who was called to testify on August 3^rd, 1948 in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC.) Mr. Chambers had been a member of the Communist Party of the United States from 1925 to 1937. He renounced communism in 1937.

In several sessions in front of HUAC, he identified Alger Hiss, “a golden boy of the liberal establishment, as a fellow member of his underground Communist cell in the 1930s,” but offered little in the way of corroborating evidence.

Subsequently, Mr. Hiss, who denied he was a communist spy, sued Mr. Chambers for libel on October 8^th, 1948. Under pressure to provide materials to support his claims, and in response to a subpoena from HUAC, it was in December 1948 that Mr. Chambers retrieved various materials he had secreted in a hollowed-out pumpkin on his Carroll County farm. The press immediately named them the “Pumpkin Papers.”

Although it was not confirmed, the destroyed barn is believed to be adjacent to the December 1948 pumpkin patch. And a nearby building also heavily damaged, is hypothecated to be the “steer building” where Mr. Chambers and HUAC member Richard Nixon, once met to review the pumpkin patch materials.

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When I turned in my copy for the Tentacle column, I had to cut it for word limit.

Pasted-in here are a few outtakes, juxtaposed in context:

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Over 45 years after his death on July 9, 1961, Whittaker Chambers continues to have a profound impact upon the conservative movement in the United States.

William F. Buckley Jr., who later became steadfast friends with Whittaker Chambers, called him “the most important American defector from Communism.”

Mr. Chambers was an accomplished writer and editor who had been a member of the Communist Party of the United States from 1925 to 1937. He renounced communism in 1937.

[…]

After he graduated from high school in 1919 he enrolled in Columbia University, where his classmates came to consider him to possess a first rate mind and a gifted writer.

His classmates included the celebrated “Objectivist” poet, Louis Zukofsky; art historian Meyer Schapiro; and author and literary critic, Lionel Trilling, whose 1947 novel about an affluent communist family, “The Middle of the Journey,” is said to have been based on a main character fashioned after Mr. Chambers.

In her 2002 book, “Red Spy Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth Bentley,” historian Kathryn Olmsted referred to Mr. Chambers as being “brilliant, disturbed, idealistic, - and dysfunctional.”

In his first brush with public controversy, he abruptly left Columbia after he wrote “A Play for Puppets” in October 1922, under the pseudonym, “John Kelly,” for “The Morningside,” a college magazine which had been brought back to life by John Erskine in 1920.

The New York press excoriated him as an “enfants terribles,” for being, what was considered at the time, sacrilegious, profane, and blasphemous. (Read today, it would be considered “mildly ribald,” according to July 2006 essay by Tim Woods, “Zukofsky at Columbia” in “Jacket Magazine.”)

It is suggested that Mr. Chambers left Columbia in January 1923 in anticipation of being expelled for his writings in “The Morningside,” a college magazine, which the New York press excoriated as sacrilegious, profane, and blasphemous.

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This is the Westminster Fire Department Public Information Officer Report:

At 16:39 (4:39 PM) Carroll County firefighters from Westminster, Pleasant Valley and Reese were dispatched for a barn fire on Saw Mill Road near Bachman’s Valley Road. The first units on the scene found a 40 x 60 barn well involved with smoke visible for several miles. Chief 3-1 arrived on the scene first and assumed command. He immediately requested a tanker task force for water supply. There were exposure problems and access was limited to certain areas around the fire. Water supply was established from a pond on Bachman’s Valley road.

Subsequent units responding in addition to those on the initial alarm were from Taneytown, Manchester, New Windsor, and Littlestown in Adams County, Pennsylvania. There were approximately 35 firefighters from the above department.

The fire was placed under control at 17:45 (5:45 PM) and the tanker task force was released at 18:45. Units stayed on the scene until 20:00 (8 PM) for overhaul.

The barn was over 100 years old and was on the farm known as the Whitaker Chambers Farm. Cause and determination of the fire is under investigation by Maryland State Fire Marshall.

April 30^th, 2007 Kevin Dayhoff http://www.kevindayhoff.net/