The Village of Depew Board of Trustees, at the August 30, 1897 meeting, was presented with a petition signed by Henry Dobbins and twenty- four others, asking for approval and granting of the formation of a hose company to be known as Cayuga Hose Company Number Three, to be located west of Transit Road and south of the Erie Railroad. The petition was read, accepted, and placed on the table.
On December 28, 1897, a resolution, “moved by Trustee William S. Bostwick, seconded by Trustee Edward Hennesey, that the Board of Trustees hereby give their consent for the incorporation of a hose company on Broadway, Southwest Section, as per a petition presented to this board, signed by Michael Dobbins, John Zurbrick, W.S. Bostwick, John M. Witherspoon, Maloney, John H.Roll, Corrigan and others.” The resolution was unanimously approved.
On January 3, 1898, meeting of the Village Board, the village attorney was authorized to draw up a petition to incorporate a hose company for the southwest section of the village.