Hellraisers Journal, Saturday March 30, 1918
From The New York Call: A Letter from the Atlanta Pen
The New York Call on March 24th published a letter written by Ammon A. Hennesey who, having been convicted of distributing literature against the draft, is now serving a two-year sentence at the Atlanta Federal Prison. Hennesey began serving his sentence on July 31, 1917. He hales from Columbus, Ohio, and is described as an “Irish America Socialist.”
Imprisoned with Hennesey is John T. Dunn, a Socialist from Providence, Rhode Island, who was sentenced to twenty years having been convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917.
Described also is William V. McCoy, a “Virginia mountaineer” from big Stone Gap, West Virginia who was convicted of conspiring to seize U.S. property and oppose the government. McCoy was sentenced to five years in prison and began serving his sentence on August 17, 1917. Despite the fact that he is sixty-one years old Mr. McCoy was sent to “the hole” in January and remains there at this time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOURCE
American Political Prisoners:
Prosecutions Under the Espionage and Sedition Acts
-by Stephen Martin Kohn
Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994
https://books.google.com/books?id=-_xHbn9dtaAC
Page 106:
Ammon A. Hennesey, from Columbus, Ohio, was sentenced to nine months in prison for refusing to register for the draft. He served that prison term in a Delaware jail. He was also convicted of distributing literature against the draft and received a two-year prison sentence for this offense, serving between July 31, 1917, and February 18, 1919. He was an “Irish American Socialist.” Hennesey remained a radical activist throughout his life. [See also note 167 on page 146: Ammon Hennesey, The Book of Ammon]
Page 144 note 86:
Ammon A Hennesey, letter of March 24, 1918, on political prisoners in Atalanta, Georgia.
-re page 96:
John T Dunn, a Socialist from Providence, Rhode Island, was sentenced to twenty years in prison and served in Atlanta Penitentiary.
Page 149 note 258:
Letter from Hennesey to The Call, March 24, 1918, 26.
-re page 116:
William V. McCoy, a “Virginia mountaineer” from big Stone Gap, West Virginia was convicted of conspiring to seize U.S. property and oppose the government and was sentenced to five years in prison. He served in Atlanta Penitentiary from August 17, 1917, to April 24, 1921. Although sixty-one years old when he went to prison, McCoy was confined in “the hole” from January to May 1918.
IMAGE
New York Call, March 21, 1918
http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2014/New%20York%20NY%20Evening%20Call/New%20York%20NY%20Evening%20Call%201918%20a/New%20York%20NY%20Evening%20Call%201918%20a%20-%200287.pdf
See also:
Ammon Hennacy (1893-1970)
-with link to download Book of Ammon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammon_Hennacy
Note: different spelling of last name. Spelling above is from Kohn who uses prison records as his source. It would be nice to see how Ammon signed his letter to The Call. More research needed.
Autobiography of a Catholic Anarchist by Ammon Hennacy
-with Introduction by Dorothy Day
http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_archives/bright/hennacy/Autobiography.pdf
Note: See esp Page 9, Chapter 2: Anti-war Agitation. Ammon was able to communicate with Alexander Berkman who was also in Atlanta Pen at that time. It was during the time that Ammon spent in the hole (from June 21, 1918, to Feb 1919) that he became a Christian Anarchist.
Christian Anarchism
Christian Anarchism is based upon the answer of Jesus to the Pharisees when He said that he without sin was to cast the first stone; and upon the Sermon on the Mount which advises the return of good for evil and the turning of the other cheek. Therefore when we take any part in government by voting for legislative, judicial and executive officials we make these men our arm by which we cast a stone and deny the Sermon of the Mount.
The dictionary definition of a Christian is: one who follows Christ; kind, kindly, Christ-like. Anarchism is voluntary cooperation for good, with the right of secession. A Christian Anarchist is therefore one who turns the other cheek; overturns the tables of the money-changers, and who does not need a cop to tell him how to behave. A Christian Anarchist does not depend upon bullets or ballots to achieve his ideal; he achieves that ideal daily by the One Man Revolution with which he faces a decadent, confused and dying world.
(In this book this message is repeated many times. It is worthwhile repeating and studying. At the Catholic Worker in New York City in 1952 I met a Columbia graduate holding prospects of a fine job; and doing post graduate work. He praised my anti-tax articles. In conversation a few minutes later he said, why everyone pays taxes; they are withheld; you pay taxes; Dorothy [Day] pays taxes. He had read my non-taxpaying articles for years and still didn’t know what I was doing. Likewise in Phoenix an educated woman had read my leaflets and articles for years and did not know that I really paid no taxes. So, if I repeat myself time after time please remember that I think it is necessary. I have never paid a federal income tax.)
There are indirect taxes that everyone pays. As I raise nearly all that I need in my garden I do not need to buy much. As the saying goes I live in this man’s world and if I am going to travel and do propaganda I have to pay tax on the bus. Perhaps twice in ten years I have been the occasion of a friend paying my way to see a good movie and paying a tax. I do not use tobacco or liquor so pay no taxes. I buy Indian articles from the Indians rather than from stores and thus need not pay a tax. To not pay taxes is not my whole message but is part of the life of a rebel which I choose to act upon. For despite all talk you either pay taxes or you don’t.
The Book of Ammon
by Ammon Hennacy
WIPF and Stock Publishers, May 1, 2010
https://books.google.com/books?id=HldMAwAAQBAJ
“New York Evening Call” 1909-1923 (The New York Call)
Unfortunately posted in such a way as to be very difficult to search.
http://fultonhistory.com/my%20photo%20albums/Historical%20Newspapers%20United%20States%20and%20Canada/New%20York%20NY%20Evening%20Call/index.html
“New York Evening Call 1918” (The New York Call)
The New York Call Sunday March 24, 1918 edition begins with #297, and, sadly, is not complete for that date.
http://fultonhistory.com/my%20photo%20albums/Historical%20Newspapers%20United%20States%20and%20Canada/New%20York%20NY%20Evening%20Call/New%20York%20NY%20Evening%20Call%201918%20a/index.html
Ammon Hennacy talks about the Joe Hill House in Salt Lake City
A Peace of the Anarchy: Ammon Hennacy and Other Angelic Troublemakers
Democracy Now: Utah Phillips talks about Ammon Hennasy and non-violence
Utah Phillips on Ammon Hennacy and Joe Hill House of Hospitality
I Will Not Obey – Utah Phillips