William Henry Jacklyn was the first African American to join the Hartford Fire Department. He served from 1898 until his retirement in 1914, at Engine Company No. 7.
The photo above is from Google Books, Greater Hartford Firefighting by the Hartford Connecticut Fire Museum.In the introduction to the book, we read:
At the beginning of the 20th century, most vehicles, including fire equipment, were still horse drawn. The use of steam power in firefighting equipment was just dawning. The steam was used to operate the pump; the horses were used to transport this pump to the site….Traditionally, the only essential community service that has been provided solely by volunteers is firefighting. The pride in equipment was born with the early hand engines, used by these volunteer fire departments, that were lavish and elegant, often painted with gold leaf.
There is a lot more good reading and photos at Greater Hartford Firefighting
When I first became interested in exploring Hartford Connecticut history through it’s cemeteries, I searched online for information about Spring Grove Cemetery on North Main Street. I found the website, Hartford Connecticut Landmarks, and by navigating the page (Home–>Burial Grounds–>Spring Grove Cemetery) I saw “William Henry Jacklyn, Hartford’s First African American Firefighter.” By scrolling over that link, his photo appears to the right of the screen but no further information.
I tried to create a family tree for William H Jacklyn but was not successful. He first appears on the Census record for Hartford in 1900. The record gives us the following information: he was born Oct 4, 1872, he was age 27, married to Sarah, and the father of three children: Milton, Eloise, and Charlotte. He was employed as a porter. His birthplace is New York, his father was born in Virginia and his mother in New York. I was unable to locate his birth family with any certainty. It is possible he was born in Orange County, New York and, if his birth year is off a year or two, he may be the son of Edward and Hannah Jacklin of Warwick, Orange, NY. However, Edward Jacklyn is recorded as born in NY, not VA. So this is merely a working hypothesis as to William’s birth family.
By 1920, William owned his own home on Barbour Street in Hartford and his household included additional children Mildred, Mabel, Sadie, and Ada, as well as a daughter-in-law Permelia.
At Find a Grave, I was surprised to see that there was no photo of Mr Jacklyn’s burial site (and in fact not even a memorial page, although there was one for his wife, Sarah) and so, of course, I created a page and set off to find his grave marker. He and his wife Sarah are buried in Section 5:
Hartford History Rocks 