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."
A fire memoir by S.H. Kimball, who was a boy at the time, recollects that the south wall of the barn was still standing after the fire, and that when he and a friend came to look at it, "Mrs. O'Leary came out with a broom stick in her hand and drove us away. As I recall, she acted like an insane woman." Later he returned to the shed, "in hopes that I could find something." He continued, "As I was looking about, I noticed that one of the planks in the floor of the shed had been broken forming a V shaped space. This space was filled with burnt hay and a glitter [and] sparkle caught my eye. Leaning down I picked up the bottom of a small glass lamp." Kimball claimed that it was later stolen by an Irish servant of his family acting at the urging of friends "who wished her to get rid of this piece of evidence against them."
