Louis Cohn The Great Chicago Fire

One quiet night, Cohn was heading over to the O’Leary barn for a famous gambling game. Legend has it that Mrs.O’Leary’s cow knocked over a kerosene lamp and that started the fire. Others believe that “Pegleg” Sullivan started it, or Bella’s comet did it. But in reality, Louis M. Cohn was the one who started the Great Chicago fire. Louis Cohn started the fire during his famous gambling night. He was the only culprit who admitted to starting the fire. So, if he didn't do it, who did? Louis M. Cohn wrote in his will, a public announcement that he had started The Great Chicago Fire. According to Stories and Legends from the fire, Cohn only told about his crime to his family and friends. Cohn waited to tell the public until he was long and
One of the clues is a broken kerosene lamp that they found in the O’Leary barn. This would back up Cohn's claim that he and his friends were gambling in the O’Leary barn by the light of a kerosene lamp. Cohn claimed that one of his friends that he was gambling with accidentally knocked over the kerosene lamp. “Pegleg” Sullivan was a neighbor of the O’Learys. He also stated that he had witnessed when the O’Leary barn had went up in flames. “Simple objects connected (or even supposedly connected) to the fire's origin took on a special value. In his History of Chicago, A.T. Andreas supplied this sketch of a broken lamp that was reportedly found in the ashes. Andreas quotes an O'Leary neighbor, Joseph Dushek, "Just after the fire, while looking through the ruins of the O'Leary barn, I found an oil lamp, of the usual pattern, with a foundation-piece, about five and a half inches square, of brown stone or marble. The upright piece which set into it, and upon which rested the oil-holder, was of brass. The foundation piece, the upright, and the oil-reservoir or holder, were all together. The oil-holder, however, had been broken. The globe and chimney were gone." Since the part that the flame would be in was broken, this would show that it had been knocked over. It is possible that it is just a coincidence but, who
Cohn was a known gambler and there is proof that there were a couple other Cohn families living near the O’Learys. Louis Cohn was gambling with the O’Learys son, James. James was only nine at the time, while Louis was eighteen. James O’Leary later in life became a notorious gambler. “James Patrick O'Leary (1869 - January 23, 1925) was a gambling boss and saloon owner in Chicago. His parents were Patrick and Catherine O'Leary, in whose barn the Great Chicago Fire is alleged to have begun.” Did Mrs.O’Leary’s cow actually start the fire? Or did a comet or “pegleg” Sullivan? None of these did. The real cause was Louis M. Cohn. Why else would he admit to it? Why would he take the blame if the blame did not belong to him? So, the next time you consider that it may have been different cause, remember Louis M.