A 1929 Firefighter’s Heroic Rescue Still Connects Two Families Generations Later

Almost 100 years ago, a firefighter named Wesley A. Williams, the first Black officer in the New York City Fire Department, rescued people from a tenement building fire. One of the families Wesley saved was Rachel Coffino, an immigrant from Turkey, and her three children. Now, all these years later, Wesley and Rachel’s grandchildren meet for the first time in a special reunion.

It was June 20, 1929, when a fire broke out at 91 Allen Street on the Lower East Side of New York City. Wesley was one of the first firefighters on the scene. After the rescue, he had to be revived after he collapsed from smoke inhalation. It was through Ancestry.com that the two families found one another all these years later.

A Rescue From the 1920s Connects Two Families Today

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Rachelle Muraca, Cathy Guiga-Tubens, and Carmine Guiga, the grandchildren of Rachel, met Charles Williams, the grandson of Wesley, for the first time in New York City. Not too far from the site of the fire.

Wesley saved around 20 people that harrowing day, including Rachel and her three young children, Hyman, 6, Beckie, 4, and Sam, 2.

And that reunion was nothing but special. But how did this reunion come about after so many years? Through Ancestry.com. They found historical records that linked the two families.

A Genealogist Found Historical Records Connecting the Families

A genealogist with Ancestry, Nicka Sewell-Smith, found the families through very old newspapers. "The beauty of historical records is that sometimes the folks who are documented in them are related by blood, and then sometimes they're related by experience," she shares.

Cathy, 60, one of Rachel’s grandchildren, had provided her DNA to Ancestry in order to find other members of her extended family. But, was connected with Charles, and now considers him a new member of the family. Carmine, 77, shares that they actually didn’t know too much about their grandmother, and he was the only one of the grandchildren who knew her before she passed away. 

The Firefighter Saved Generations

Rachelle, 63, shares that hearing the story of the rescue, “just blew us away.”

Rachel, who immigrated to the United States from Turkey in 1920, had four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. All people who might not even be here if it wasn’t for Wesley’s brave actions that day back in 1929.

"People that came here, they struggled and they were just trying to get better lives," Cathy says, "Somebody literally saved their lives — and saved our whole generation of our kids and us and our grandkids."

Wesley Founded a Black Fraternal Organization

“I've always held him in a high state," Charles says of his grandfather. "Even though I didn't go into the fire service, I still felt that what he had done during his lifetime was so impressive."

Wesley went on to found the fire department’s Vulcan Society, a Black fraternal organization in 1940. "As a result of just doing that, a lot of firefighters held him in high regard as well and did as he did," Charles says. "He was very instrumental in improving other young firefighters coming up behind him ... and they likewise started emulating him."

To commemorate the firefighter, Ancestry commissioned a mural near where he once served, Engine 55. The four family members were able to take a photo in front of the mutual. “It’s beautiful. I hope it stays up there for a long time. Forever!” shares Carmine.

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Their reunion kicked off Ancestry’s “The Stories of Us” to celebrate America turning 250 years old. This series will highlight 250 stories of families who helped shape America.

“Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.” - Proverbs 17:6

WATCH: A Fire Rescue From 1929 Connects Two Families!

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h/t: PEOPLE

Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Ancestry

Julie Provost is a GodUpdates staff writer and editor. She lives in Tennessee with her husband, three boys, and little dog Max. She loves to read, go to the movies, and enjoy time with family and friends.