Essay: Remembering that tragic day in Palmyra
Bonnie Hays
Each year at the Palmyra Historical Museum, we are reminded of a tragedy which had its 46th anniversary. You already know that it is a tragedy, so it is not something that we look forward to each year, but a happening we dread.
It was a cold and windy December night in the village of Palmyra when flames were noticed as they shot up from a small house at 132 Market St. Mother Anna and the six Breeden children were all soundly sleeping when the smoke billowed through the entire house. The time was about 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 20, 1964, and the flames were so hot and high that there was no way of escape. The fire alarm sounded, and all the firemen from Palmyra, Macedon and Marion came to help.