Eli Bates was born in Cornwall, New York on April 13, 1825 and moved to New York City in the fall of 1836. His trade was that of bricklayer. On April 29, 1846 he became a member of Guardian Engine 29 of the volunteer department. He was elected Assistant Foreman in 1853 and Foreman two years later. In 1862 he became an Assistant Engineer under Chief Engineer John Decker. At the conversion of the Department to a paid force in 1865, he was hired on September 6 as a District Engineer – what now would be a Battalion Chief. In 1871 he was promoted to Assistant Chief and on May 1, 1873 was appointed Chief of Department.
Even at the rank of Battalion Chief, Eli Bates was a consummate firefighter being cited by the Board of Merit for the ladder rescue of a mother and child from the fifth floor window at fire at 73 Montgomery Street on September 26, 1870. Perhaps it was based on that experience that he advocated the adoption of scaling ladders in the report he was asked to provide to the commissioners after the disastrous World Building fire of 1882. As a result, all ladder companies were outfitted with scaling, or pompier, ladders which remained in use by the FDNY until July 11, 1996. The first rescue that was accomplished with the use of a scaling ladder was on April 7, 1884 by then-Fireman John J. Binns of Ladder 3 at the St. George Flats fire. The last rescue using a scaling ladder was on December 15, 1967 by Firefighter Eugene Dowling of Ladder 25 at the Morgan Post Office fire. Both men earned the James Gordon Bennett Medal for their actions.
During his eleven-year tenure as Chief, the Department responded to numerous large-scale, as well as fatal fires, some times involving the Supreme Sacrifice of members. He had to deal with the large and fast expansion of the City particularly the first move across the Harlem River with annexation of a large section of the Bronx and Department's necessary growth with it. By 1872, the City's population hit the 1,000,000 mark and by 1880 it grew by over twenty percent more. Also among his accomplishments was the addition of the Corps Sappers and Miners, the first Water Tower, and the first full-time fireboat in the FDNY.
Chief Bates retired as of May 1, 1884 on a disability pension of $2,350 per year as the result of injuries sustained in the line of duty. He died at the age of eighty-seven on November 8, 1912 at his home in Jersey City, New Jersey. A Department funeral was held for him at the Veteran Fireman's Association Hall at 10 Greenwich Street in Manhattan after which he was buried at Trinity Church Cemetery in upper Manhattan.
Even at the rank of Battalion Chief, Eli Bates was a consummate firefighter being cited by the Board of Merit for the ladder rescue of a mother and child from the fifth floor window at fire at 73 Montgomery Street on September 26, 1870. Perhaps it was based on that experience that he advocated the adoption of scaling ladders in the report he was asked to provide to the commissioners after the disastrous World Building fire of 1882. As a result, all ladder companies were outfitted with scaling, or pompier, ladders which remained in use by the FDNY until July 11, 1996. The first rescue that was accomplished with the use of a scaling ladder was on April 7, 1884 by then-Fireman John J. Binns of Ladder 3 at the St. George Flats fire. The last rescue using a scaling ladder was on December 15, 1967 by Firefighter Eugene Dowling of Ladder 25 at the Morgan Post Office fire. Both men earned the James Gordon Bennett Medal for their actions.
During his eleven-year tenure as Chief, the Department responded to numerous large-scale, as well as fatal fires, some times involving the Supreme Sacrifice of members. He had to deal with the large and fast expansion of the City particularly the first move across the Harlem River with annexation of a large section of the Bronx and Department's necessary growth with it. By 1872, the City's population hit the 1,000,000 mark and by 1880 it grew by over twenty percent more. Also among his accomplishments was the addition of the Corps Sappers and Miners, the first Water Tower, and the first full-time fireboat in the FDNY.
Chief Bates retired as of May 1, 1884 on a disability pension of $2,350 per year as the result of injuries sustained in the line of duty. He died at the age of eighty-seven on November 8, 1912 at his home in Jersey City, New Jersey. A Department funeral was held for him at the Veteran Fireman's Association Hall at 10 Greenwich Street in Manhattan after which he was buried at Trinity Church Cemetery in upper Manhattan.
Eli Bates was born in Cornwall, New York on April 13, 1825 and moved to New York City in the fall of 1836. His trade was that of bricklayer. On April 29, 1846 he became a member of Guardian Engine 29 of the volunteer department. He was elected Assistant Foreman in 1853 and Foreman two years later. In 1862 he became an Assistant Engineer under Chief Engineer John Decker. At the conversion of the Department to a paid force in 1865, he was hired on September 6 as a District Engineer – what now would be a Battalion Chief. In 1871 he was promoted to Assistant Chief and on May 1, 1873 was appointed Chief of Department.
Even at the rank of Battalion Chief, Eli Bates was a consummate firefighter being cited by the Board of Merit for the ladder rescue of a mother and child from the fifth floor window at fire at 73 Montgomery Street on September 26, 1870. Perhaps it was based on that experience that he advocated the adoption of scaling ladders in the report he was asked to provide to the commissioners after the disastrous World Building fire of 1882. As a result, all ladder companies were outfitted with scaling, or pompier, ladders which remained in use by the FDNY until July 11, 1996. The first rescue that was accomplished with the use of a scaling ladder was on April 7, 1884 by then-Fireman John J. Binns of Ladder 3 at the St. George Flats fire. The last rescue using a scaling ladder was on December 15, 1967 by Firefighter Eugene Dowling of Ladder 25 at the Morgan Post Office fire. Both men earned the James Gordon Bennett Medal for their actions.
During his eleven-year tenure as Chief, the Department responded to numerous large-scale, as well as fatal fires, some times involving the Supreme Sacrifice of members. He had to deal with the large and fast expansion of the City particularly the first move across the Harlem River with annexation of a large section of the Bronx and Department's necessary growth with it. By 1872, the City's population hit the 1,000,000 mark and by 1880 it grew by over twenty percent more. Also among his accomplishments was the addition of the Corps Sappers and Miners, the first Water Tower, and the first full-time fireboat in the FDNY.
Chief Bates retired as of May 1, 1884 on a disability pension of $2,350 per year as the result of injuries sustained in the line of duty. He died at the age of eighty-seven on November 8, 1912 at his home in Jersey City, New Jersey. A Department funeral was held for him at the Veteran Fireman's Association Hall at 10 Greenwich Street in Manhattan after which he was buried at Trinity Church Cemetery in upper Manhattan.
Even at the rank of Battalion Chief, Eli Bates was a consummate firefighter being cited by the Board of Merit for the ladder rescue of a mother and child from the fifth floor window at fire at 73 Montgomery Street on September 26, 1870. Perhaps it was based on that experience that he advocated the adoption of scaling ladders in the report he was asked to provide to the commissioners after the disastrous World Building fire of 1882. As a result, all ladder companies were outfitted with scaling, or pompier, ladders which remained in use by the FDNY until July 11, 1996. The first rescue that was accomplished with the use of a scaling ladder was on April 7, 1884 by then-Fireman John J. Binns of Ladder 3 at the St. George Flats fire. The last rescue using a scaling ladder was on December 15, 1967 by Firefighter Eugene Dowling of Ladder 25 at the Morgan Post Office fire. Both men earned the James Gordon Bennett Medal for their actions.
During his eleven-year tenure as Chief, the Department responded to numerous large-scale, as well as fatal fires, some times involving the Supreme Sacrifice of members. He had to deal with the large and fast expansion of the City particularly the first move across the Harlem River with annexation of a large section of the Bronx and Department's necessary growth with it. By 1872, the City's population hit the 1,000,000 mark and by 1880 it grew by over twenty percent more. Also among his accomplishments was the addition of the Corps Sappers and Miners, the first Water Tower, and the first full-time fireboat in the FDNY.
Chief Bates retired as of May 1, 1884 on a disability pension of $2,350 per year as the result of injuries sustained in the line of duty. He died at the age of eighty-seven on November 8, 1912 at his home in Jersey City, New Jersey. A Department funeral was held for him at the Veteran Fireman's Association Hall at 10 Greenwich Street in Manhattan after which he was buried at Trinity Church Cemetery in upper Manhattan.
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