10/13/2009:
A young girl rescued her three little brothers and became a local heroine on this day in 1908 near Hansboro, North Dakota. The girl, Thurza Brown, was only fifteen years old, but acted courageously to save her siblings as adults looked on in horror.
The event began in the early morning hours, when the family's hired man arrived at the house and started a fire in the kitchen stove. Around 5 o'clock, the man left the kitchen to do chores in the barn. As the family slept, the fire somehow managed to set the entire kitchen ablaze. James Brown, the father, awoke first and found himself surrounded by thick smoke. Brown woke his wife and the couple made their way to the kitchen, but were confronted by the conflagration and were forced to escape with their lives. Luckily, some of the children were also able to escape on their own, and were waiting in the yard in their nightclothes. By this time, the roof of the house was ablaze and it looked as though the structure might come down at any minute. In horror, the Browns realized that the three youngest children were still inside the home. Without a second thought, young Thurza ran into the burning house. Her family waited tensely, peering into the bright inferno. Finally, Thurza came running from the blaze, carrying a young boy in her arms. She repeated this feat twice more, each time running through the burning kitchen to reach the children's room. Minutes after returning with the third boy, the entire house collapsed into a pile of burning rubble; it appeared that young Thurza not only possessed a great deal of bravery, but also a large amount of luck.
Amazingly, Thurza suffered only minor burns from the incident. The Hansboro Herald lauded the girl as a hero and suggested she be commended with a Carnegie medal for her valor. This recommendation was repeated across the state, as word of her brave deed spread.
Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job
Source:
The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, Thursday (Evening ed.), Oct. 15, 1908: p.2.