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Hellraisers Journal – Friday February 20, 1914
Trinidad, Colorado – Mary Thomas Testifies Before Congressional Committee
Tuesday February 17, 1914 – Trinidad, Colorado
Mrs. Mary Thomas, a resident of the Ludlow Tent Colony, was called before the Investigating Committee, and gave this testimony regarding her 11 days of confinement by the military:
Mary Thomas, called as a witness and duly sworn, testified as follows:
Examination by Mr. Clark [Attorney for the Miners]:
Q. State your name. — A. My name is Mary Hannah Thomas.
Q. Where do you live? —A. What is that?
Q. Where do you five ? — A. Ludlow.
Q. In the tent colony ? — A. In the tent colony.
Q. Do you remember the date of the woman’s parade here in Trinidad ?— A. I do.
Q. That was about — were you in town the day of that parade ? — A. I was, sir.
Q. What time did you get to town? — A. About 15 minutes to 3, is the nearest I could think it was.
Q. Were you in the parade at all? — A. I was not, sir.
Q. State what happened to you that day. — A. I came down town to do some purchases that I wanted to — buy some things, and came down in an automobile, and I reached town, I guess, about 15 minutes to 3, and the parade and everything had passed over, and they were bringing the people back from the first block on West Main Street. I was about 20 yards farther away than the First National Bank. When I turned back — I saw a crowd coming back, and there was some militiamen pulling me over with a fixed bayonet, and told me to keep on moving, and I went on and reached Judge Bowers’s office here. I guess I walked about 30 or 40 yards when I went up three of the steps, and this militiaman said “Move on,” and I said, “I don’t have to.” He said, “You want to be pinched?” I said, “Please yourself,” and he pulled me down by my fur here and twisted me around until I nearly stumbled on my face. I didn’t know what he was trying to do, and he knocked again right back here [indicating her back with her right hand] until I stumbled on about 2 yards, and I stumbled, and then I tried to knock back on him until he knocked me again as if he was a pugilist, and he kept on knocking me and I tried to do the best I could with my muff, and some one came up and gave an order to have me arrested, and two soldiers took me a little farther down near the post office and kept me waiting there, I guess for about an hour, and Gen. Chase came along, and I heard one of them tell him that “there is Mrs. Thomas.” “Oh, that is her, is it,” he says, “from Ludlow, is it,” he says, and they marched me on with about 12 men up to the county jail. They kept me there 11 days, and I demanded to have my children with me, and they brought the children down.
Q. Your children are small, are they? — A. Very, very small; one about 3 and the other 4.
Q. How long did they keep you in there ? — A. Eleven days.
Q. In the upstairs part of the jail ? — A. Upstairs part of the jail.
Q. Was anyone else up there ? — A. Yes; there were other prisoners there.
Q. Men and women there? — A. There was an old man there when I was taken first, about 82 years of age, I guess.
Q. In the cell in which you were confined state whether there was any toilet there. — A. There was a toilet outside and I told him I wanted to go there, and there was a militiaman came up and gave me authority, and I went out to the toilet and then the militiaman came up and gave general orders to put me back in my cell.
Mr. Clark. That is all.By Capt. Danks [Representing the “military organization of the State of Colorado”]:
Q. You were confined upstairs in the county jail ? — A. Upstairs.
Q. All the time ?— A. All the time.
Q. Do you remember looking out the window and hollering to the soldiers when they were bringing women up ? — A. Hollering ?
Q. Yes. — A. I remember of singing the union song; that is all.Q. Didn’t call them any names? — A. No: I never called anybody any names.
Q. You saw the soldiers clearing the streets that day, didn’t you ? — A. I saw them clearing the streets.
Q. Quite a number of people on the street, wasn’t there ? — A. Yes; there were quite a number of people. They were coming back from the parade when I met them.
Q. When they first asked you to move on, did you obey them ? — A. I did.
Q. Get out of the way? — A. Yes; I went right on the way they were pushing me on.
Q. Your case was investigated and you were then turned loose, were you ? — A. Yes — I don’t know what they did, but they wouldn’t give me a newspaper and wouldn’t allow anyone to see me; and Mr. Clark came up one day to try to see me and two militiamen were there and they told him to go on out, and I didn’t know what I was in for and I didn’t know what was going on outside.By Mr. Byrnes [U. S. Representative, member of Investigating Committee]:
Q. Had you had any trouble before ? — A. No, sir.
Q. After that, Gen. Chase came down the street and some one said, “This is Mrs. Thomas,” and the general said then, “That is her, is it ?” — A. That is what he said.
Q. Did he imply that he knew you ? — A. I guess he must have heard of me or something.
Q. Had you been doing anything? — A. I hadn’t been doing any thing that was wrong.
Q. How do you think he heard of you, then ? — A. I don’t know; they hear of everybody that is a striker, I guess.
Q. Were you a striker ? — A. I think I am as much of a striker as anybody.
Q. You think that he heard of you and that is what he meant when he said “That is her ?”— A. I don’t know what he heard, but I know he said that.
Q. You had had no trouble with him before? — A. I hadn’t had any trouble before.
Q. Were you doing anything on the street that day to cause them to move you on?— A. Nothing whatever. I just came down and I was going to Mrs. Hughart’s— I wanted to buy some things she had there — I had gone up three of the steps, and I met her and I said I wanted to buy a bottle of cream. She said, “Wait a minute and we will see those people pass on.” Mrs. Hughart is here as a witness.
Q. You lived here before this? — A. At Delagua.
Q. Did you go up to Ludlow, did you say?— A. No; down to Ludlow.
Q. When they came and told you to move on, what did you tell them? — A. I didn’t tell them anything— just moved on.
Q. Didn’t have any words at all? — A. Didn’t have any words at all; everybody was laughing and grinning there.
Q. You say somebody hit you in the back ? — A. Yes.
Q. What was it he hit you with his fist ? —A. He hit me with his fist — just as if he was using a gun.
Q. Did he bruise you at all ? — A. I felt myself quite sore at the back.
Q. Had you ever seen that man before?— A. No; I don’t know that I ever did.
Q. Have you ever seen the man since? — A. I don’t know if I would recognize him. They all seem the same to me.
Q. You don’t know who he was? — A. No; I don’t know who he was.
Q. Could you tell whether he was a private or an officer ? — A. I don’t know what he was.
Q. Where were your children when you were taken to jail ? —A. In Ludlow.
Q. Who with? — A. With my friends.
Q. How many children did you say you had ? — A. I have two.
Q. Were they left with your friends when you came up here that day ? They took care of them while you were A. I was intending to come back in the evening.
Q. How old are the children ? — A. One 3 and the other going on 5.
Q. You say they kept you there how long ? — A. Eleven days.
Q. Then were you called before any of them? — A. Yes; I was called before this gentleman here [indicating Capt. Banks] and Capt. Smith.
Q. And Capt. Smith ? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. What did they ask you ? — A. They asked me about the parade, and I told them I had nothing to do with the parade, and I hadn’t been near there, and I told him that I was going into Mrs. Hughart’s on business, and he advised me the next time I came to town and there was any parade that if I had any business to do I was not to do that business, but I was to walk on and come back later and do my business.
Q. How long after you were put in jail did these gentlemen come to talk to you ? — A. Did they come to talk to me ?
Q. Did they bring you before what they called a commission or just have you come before them? — A. They sent the soldiers to fetch me to the Columbian Hotel and released me.
Q. They fetched you to the hotel? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. How many were there when you went to talk to them at the Columbian Hotel? — A. Just two officers.
Q. That was 11 days after you were arrested ? — A. Eleven days. I was put in on Thursday and came out a week on the following Sunday.
Q. Were you born in this country ? — A. No, sir.
Q. Where were you born ? — A. In Wales.
Q. How long have you been in this country ? — A. I crossed over last July.
Q. Where is your husband now ? — A. He is at Ludlow.
Q. He was a striker ? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. He is at Ludlow now ? — A. He is at Ludlow now.
Q. You mean the tent colony ? — A. The tent colony.
Q. Did the soldiers give you any reason why they didn’t turn you loose before? — A. No.
Q. When you were there 11 days ? — A. No, sir.
Q. Did you ask them why they hadn’t turned you loose before? — A. I sent a letter to Gen. Chase to tell him — that was on Thursday, I think, or Friday, after I had been put in; the week after I had been put in — I had been in a week because my children were crying to get out of jail; they couldn’t make out what they were locked in there for, and I sent a letter to Gen. Chase and asked if he would let me out, and that if he would give me an interview that I could prove that I had not been in the parade at all.
Q. How long after that did these gentlemen come to you? — A. On the following Sunday.
Q. Do you know the name of the officer who was in charge of that jail? — A. I don’t know, sir; I knew nothing of the outside world. There was no one allowed to speak to me.
Q. Were the children ever brought to jail to you ? — A. Yes, sir; they were brought down on the second night?
Q. The second night ? — A. I was put in on Thursday and they brought them down on Friday night.
Q. How many days after you wrote this letter to Chase before you were called before this commission at the Columbian Hotel? You wrote on that date ? — A. I think it was Thursday.
Q. What day were you fetched to the Columbian Hotel ? — A. Sunday.
Q. On Sunday? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. Two days later? Did you tell them at any time — tell the officer in charge of that jail that you weren’t in that parade? — A. Yes, sir; I think I told every one of them. I seen one of them. I asked them if I could see a militiaman to state my case and they sent Capt. Smith up and I told him that I hadn’t been in the parade, so he just went like that [indicating by waving her hands] that he hadn’t time to talk.
Q. Did they tell you why they were holding you ? — A. They never tell me anything; I never knew what I was in for.
Q. Did anyone tell you that you were held because you incited people— made speeches to them? — A. No; but there was a prisoner in the jail that said she had seen in the paper —I hadn’t seen a paper at all — she had seen a paper in jail there whether she told the truth or not I don’t know —that I had taken the place of this Mrs. Williams, from Denver, in the parade, so that is the way I sent this letter to Gen. Chase and told him in the note that I hadn’t been in the parade at all.
Q. Was there anybody else in the room with you? — A. Yes, sir; there was another prisoner came in the room on Sunday night.
Q. Who was that? — A. She was not a military prisoner. She was in for another offense.
Q. Put her in the same room with you and your children ? — A. I guess they put her in because she was hysterical and she had to have some one look after her.
Q. They gave you the job of looking after her ? — A. She seemed not to know what to do with herself and kept on crying all the time, so they knew they had to have somebody, and they put her in with me.
Q. How many beds did you have in the room ? — A. Three beds in one cell.
Q. Was it a regular prisoner’s cell there, with iron bars ? — A. With iron bars.
Q. They were? -A. Yes, sir.
Q. You couldn’t get out?— A. The beds were that dirty that they wore not fit for a pig to lie on.
Q. Did you ask him to clean it up at all ; give you clean clothes ? – A. I gave them enough hints, but I don’t think it was done.
Q. It didn’t do any good?— A. No.
Q. What did he give you to eat? — A. Mexican beans and bacon.
Q. Chile con carne here? -A. I don’t know what you call it in American, but I know they call it Mexican beans in English.
Q. Did they give you enough to eat? — A. No; but I couldn’t eat the food that I had there.
Q. How about the children ? A. I asked them for milk for my children, and they sent a little glass of milk and some porridge, and I am sure that three-parts of it was water.
Q. Did they give you any water there to drink?— A. We had plenty of water; that is, all I could drink; the coffee – there was neither sugar nor milk, and I couldn’t drink that.
Q. After you got in there did you write letters to any of your people, or anybody at all, besides Gen. Chase ? A. No.
Q. You did not- did you try to communicate with any of them, with your husband — did you try to get in communication with them? — A. My husband came to the front of the jail and offered to see me, but they wouldn’t allow him to see me ; they sent my husband away from the front of the jail; I was trying to talk to him through the bars.
Q. You saw him? — A. He used to come to see me through the window.
Q. How did you get word to him to come? — A. I used to talk Welsh with him.
Q. And they didn’t know what you were talking about ? — A. We didn’t speak anything very important.
Q. They didn’t know how you got to talk to him? — A. We only
Q. How did he know you were there; didn’t you write him? — A. Didn’t I write him?
Q. Yes. — A. Because they allowed me to phone up to get my children down.
Q. They allowed you to telephone? — A. Yes; to get my children down. And they told me I was not to say anything only about getting the children down.
Q. Who did you phone to? — A. To my friend, Mrs. O’Dell.
Q. And you gave her the message ? — A. Yes, sir.By Capt. Danks:
Q. Do you remember telephoning to Louis, the Greek? — A. I telephoned up and Louis answered and I asked for Mrs. O’Dell.
Q. Do you remember saying anything else to Louis at that time ? — A. I told him I was under arrest.
Q. Did you tell him anything about coming down to help get you out ? — A. No; didn’t tell him anything about trying to get me out; I told him I was under arrest in the county jail; he asked me where I was, and I said I was in the county jail.
Q. Were you in the parade that took place some months ago, while Mother Jones was here? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. Played quite a conspicuous part in that parade ? — A. I don’t know if I played quite a conspicuous part, but I did the same as anybody else did; we marched with them.
Q. You didn’t see your picture in the paper, did you? — A. No: I didn’t,
Q. While in the parade, along with the rest of them? — A. No; I didn’t see it.
Q. Didn’t you — do you remember telling Capt. Smith when he examined you at the Columbian Hotel about calling names — calling some of them a few names, because you thought they were deserving? — A. I said that — my patience was altogether exhausted, and I didn’t know what I was saying after they treated me so bad, and I think it would have tried the patience of Job.
Q. And you did call the soldiers some names ? — A. I got antagonistic after the way they treated me, but I didn’t call them any names.
Q. The jail is in charge of the sheriff, is it not; you received the same treatment that other prisoners did ? — A. I had the same that the others had.
Q. The soldiers had nothing to do with the jail or the meals, did they. — A. I didn’t see a soldier — not after the time Mr. Clark was there.By Mr. Byrnes:
Q. Have you ever been in jail before?— A. No, sir.
Q. This is the first time ? — A. First time.
Q. You were put there by the soldiers ? — A. By the soldiers.
Q. Was there any other women arrested at that time ? — A. There was two other women in the cell at the same time — before I went in; they were military prisoners, and they released them that night.
Q. Did they come in the same day you came in ? — A. Yes, sir.
Q. When did they turn them out ? — A. Thursday night.
Q. Who turned them out? — A. Gen. Chase.
Q. Who came to the cells to turn them out? — A. The jailer said that Gen. Chase wanted them.
Q. Did you ask him then to let you out? — A. The jailer told me that — he said, “You will be next.” and I got my things on, but my turn never came next.
Q. You thought you were, but you were not ? — A. I thought I was.By Mr. Sutherland [U. S. Representative, member of Investigating Committee]:
Q. Was this woman that was put in there with you a military prisoner? — A. Yes; she had been in the parade, too.
Q. How long was she kept there? — A. Just a few hours.By Mr. Byrnes:
Q. Did that man, the military — push you or hit you in the back? — A. He hit me until I felt sore where he hit me.
Q. How many times did he hit you ? — A. Three times and pulled me down from the steps until I nearly came to my face and I stumbled nearly to the pavement.
Q. Was there a man around there ? — A. Hundreds of men.
Q. And none of them tried to stop him from hitting you ? — A. They all shouted, “Shame.”
Q. But none of them tried to stop this fellow from clubbing you ?— A. I guess they would have had the bayonet if they did.By Mr. Sutherland:
Q. He used arms, didn’t he ? — A. Yes; he had a fixed bayonet.
(Witness excused.)[Emphasis added.]
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SOURCES & IMAGES
The Rocky Mountain News
(Denver, Colorado)
-Feb 18, 1914
https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2:12C601A5C4B97518@GB3NEWS-147964BB6A4C75F0@2420182-1477B8E992D14A90@11-1477B8E992D14A90
Conditions in the Coal Mines of Colorado.
Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Mines and Mining
House of Representatives, Sixty-Third Congress, Second Session
Pursuant to H. Res. 387, a Resolution Authorizing and Directing
the Committee on Mines and Mining to Make an Investigation of
Conditions in the Coal Mines of Colorado.
Washington, DC, Government Printing Office, 1914
-Hearings of Feb. 9-April 23, 1914, Martin D. Foster, Chairman.
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011159608
Part II: Feb 12-17 at Denver CO
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hj1e84&seq=401
List of Witnesses
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hj1e84&seq=403
Part III: Feb 17-20 at Trinidad CO
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hj1e84&seq=787
List of Witnesses
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hj1e84&seq=789
Testimony of Mary Thomas begins on page 794
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hj1e84&seq=808
See also:
Hellraisers Journal – February 6, 1914
Trinidad, Colorado – Mary Thomas Held in Filthy Cell
Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday February 19, 1914
Trinidad, Colorado – Mary Petrucci Testifies on “Insults” to Women
Tag: Mary Thomas
https://weneverforget.org/tag/mary-thomas/
Tag: Colorado Coalfield Strike of 1913-1914
https://weneverforget.org/tag/colorado-coalfield-strike-of-1913-1914/
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