FIRE BOAT: Stories of Maritime Valor - Our Little Heroine


Our Little Heroine

Questions and mysteries surrounding the Edward M. Cotter have developed and circulated over the past century. One striking question has been tossed around for several years by Cotter enthusiasts, and that was the true identity of the little girl who christened the boat.

The dedication and launch ceremony for the boat was reported by the Buffalo Courier newspaper. The article names her as Lucia Virginia Grattan, the daughter of William S. Grattan for whom the boat was originally named. The New York Times listed her as Lucia Virginia Malone. Other sources listed her as Lucia Virginia Pierson. One would think that the Buffalo Courier, a Buffalo based newspaper would have gotten it right. The New York Times was known for its meticulous fact checking. Along with other sources The Times contributed to the conflict of information.  During research for this book, the question arose after having inserted one of these last names in the manuscript. This was in fact the correct name quite by accident. The “error” was caught, but with other documentation creating a conflict, the mystery had to be solved.

Consulting with Battalion Chief Ron Endle (Ret.) of the Buffalo Fire Department and a member of the Fireboat EM Cotter Conservancy, Chief Endle affirmed that the question has been kicked around for years with no clear resolution.  All they knew was her first and middle names were “Lucia Virginia”. The last names of Grattan, Pierson, and Malone were contenders, but there was no conclusive evidence to verify which name was correct. Grattan, Pierson and Malone all were present at the launch, and all were commissioners, so no matter who was referred to, the little girl was “the daughter of a commissioner”.

Current research methods had failed. The only references found on social media were repeats of what was already known, including a common phrase “smashed a bottle of wine across the nose” of the boat, which appears in almost every news reference as well as many websites containing fireboat information. An attempt to find William S. Grattan’s obituary, a birth or baptism record for the little girl, or even doing a cross check of the other commissioners for the same information found nothing. One website article listed her with both the last names of Grattan and Malone. A Wikipedia article got her name right, but Wikipedia isn’t considered a primary source without verification. None of the other news articles and website sources could be proven categorically correct.

Enter Robin Kashyap of The Waterfront Memories and More Museum of Buffalo. Waterfront Memories features exhibits and information regarding Buffalo’s Old First Ward and the contributions its residents have made to the city of Buffalo. Ms. Kashyap was consulted on the mystery, and in less than 24 hours we had an answer.

This little girl, the daughter of a Buffalo Fire Department Commissioner, who hefted a bottle of wine and made history in Elizabeth, New Jersey in the year 1900, was named Lucia Virginia Malone. She was the daughter of Fire Commissioner and future Senator John F. Malone and was born in 1889, making her 11 years old when she christened the Grattan, not 9. Two articles located by Ms. Kashyap, one detailing the launch without using the phrase “smashed a bottle of wine”, and a later article announcing her wedding to one Reginald Manchester Howe of Brooklyn on February 14th, 1920 verified her actions and her parentage, categorically solving a 125-year-old mystery. (You heard it here first).

Special thanks to Robin Kashyap.



 




 

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