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Denis Joseph "Denny" Swenie (1834-1903) served as a
firefighter for fifty years and was fire chief for
twenty-two
of those years. Appointed by Mayor John Roche, Swenie was the first fire chief to receive a paycheck from the city. Swenie would serve for
six mayors in all, three democrats and two
republicans.
It was said about him that his only hobby was fire
fighting, that he ate and slept fire."Persons could
tell by looking at the little house in Pierce
street, where the chief lived for thirty-five years,
whether there was a fire in the city. If the chief's
buggy and horse stood in front of the house there
was no fire. If it was gone, all who passed by knew
that Denis Swenie was away somewhere a fighting fire."
Swenie came to Chicago from Scotland at age fourteen.
While working in the harness trade, he served as a
volunteer fireman until 1849. He became hose boy
on No. 3, stationed at Wells & Kinzie streets.
He moved up through the ranks with numerous
commendations and in 1873 became Chicago's first
assistant fire marshal. Six years later Mayor Carter
Harrison Sr. promoted him chief, replacing Mathias Benner.
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In 1853 he married an Irish immigrant, Martha Toner,
who came to America the same year as Denis, 1846.
They had six children, three boys and three girls.
Martha lost her namesake the same year that Denis
died, 1903, and her youngest son, Joseph, in 1910.
Chief Swenie's death came eight months before he and Martha would have celebrated
their 50th wedding anniversary.
Swenie was credited with saving
five blocks of buildings in the Great Chicago Fire
in 1871.
He was respected and beloved by his men and the
citizens of Chicago.
A fire in 1879 brought together Swenie,
Musham and
Campion
Swenie and a team went into fight ground fire at the Empire warehouse
on Quincy street while Campion, then captain of No.
1, played water overhead. The large iron door
through which they entered the warehouse suddenly
blew shut, and they could not open it. Outside
Musham grabbed a sledgehammer and beat down the
door, freeing them in the nick of time.
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Children of fire chiefs
Children of Chicago fire chiefs Campion, Swenie and
Musham all became caught up in newspaper stories.
In an odd coincidence, all three men had a son named
Frank but only Frank Campion made the news.
Two of Denny's sons worked in the department. Frank
W. Swenie (1863-), his eldest, worked in the alarm
office. James J. Swenie (1869-), his second son,
worked as a clerk in the Fire Marshal's office.
Neither became involved in scandal other than during
the last days of their father's time as chief when
some asserted the department was packed with Swenie
relatives. "Packed" consisted of three of
Denny's relatives. Besides his two sons, his
wife's nephew was a fireman.
Frank eventually became chief operator of the fire
alarm and telegraph division in the department of
gas and electricity.
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