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Hellraisers Journal – Thursday July 10, 1902
Mother Jones News Round-Up of June 1902, Part II
Arrested at Clarksburg, West Virginia; Taken to Parkersburg
From West Virginia’s Clarksburg Telegram of June 13, 1902:
Organizers & Agitators Enjoined
———-Judge Mason Issues State Court Injunctions
and Judge Jackson Federal Injunctions.
Some Organizers Arrested.
Last Saturday [June 7] was the time fixed for a general strike among the miners in this state. In the Clarksburg and Fairmont regions but little attention has been paid to it. The day found nearly all the men at work as usual and the mines were in operation, as if there had been no order issued for a strike.
A small crowd of people composed of miners who have been idle for months, other miners, farmers, women and children, about 150 all told was addressed at Mines’ ford, by Mary Jones, known as “Mother Jones,” Saturday morning. The meeting did not result in any definite action or change the situation.
The first of the week the miners from Flemington, who obeyed the strike order, went over to Monongah and formed a marching party. For two or three days they continued to march to and fro between Monongah and Enterprise and some disorder resulted. The Fairmont Coal Company secured an injunction Tuesday [June 10] from Judge Mason at Fairmont against several of the organizers and agitators, restraining them from entering upon the company’s property or interfering with the company’s employes. Some of the organizers were arrested upon this injunction and taken to Fairmont, among whom was Thomas Hagerty and Bernard Rice, “Mother Jones” succeeded in evading arrest.
This was followed by a federal injunction Wednesday afternoon [June 11] issued by Judge John J. Jackson, at Parkersburg, restraining them from marching around or about the company’s grounds and on the roads leading to the mines. U. S. Marshall C. D. Elliott, of Parkersburg, went down the river Wednesday night with a number of deputies to serve the injunctions.
[Marshall Elliott] had summons for Thomas Hagerty, Edward McKay, Thomas Burk, Mary Jones, alias “Mother” Jones, William Morgan, Bernard Rice, J. D. Springer, John Noon, L. D. Murphy, Clyde Hawkins, Sam’l Rogers, James Lake, Charles Ashcraft, John W. Nester, Charles Henderson, Martin Henderson, Webb Poling, Jno. Marci, Edward House, Joe Bell, Orem Brown, John Edwards, Joe Paggoni, David Grace, and Gordon Rush…
[Photograph added.]
From the Danville Kentucky Advocate of June 16, 1902:
WEST VIRGINIA STRIKE.
———-
Effort Made to Enlist the Co-Operation
of the Railroad Men.
———-Clarksburg, W. Va., June 16.-An effort is being made to induce the railroad men to refuse to handle coal mined in this district. Success in this would mean a complete suspension of mining. There is some little uneasiness among the operators. Organizers left this field Monday on the West Virginia Central to induce a strike among the miners of the Davis Elkins syndicate. Mother Jones and others addressed 300 hundred men Sunday at Willow Tree school house, near Monongahela [Monongah]. The crowd was largely composed of women, children and farmers.
From the Parkersburg Daily Morning News of June 21, 1902:
[Mother Jones Arrested While Speaking
to Strikers at Clarksburg][Clarksburg, June 20]-Mother Jones’ address this afternoon was more than ordinarily bitter. She has good command of language and a powerful voice, which combined with her grey hair and commanding bearing and pleasant face give her undoubtedly much influence. She understands her power and how to use it, and while in private conversation shows a surprisingly cultivated manner and correct speech. Her language, when addressing a crowd of miners, is much after their common style and is thickly interspersed with slang and homely wit. In her speech today she denounced the mine operators as robbers, and defied Judge Jackson, placing him in the same class, and asserting that he, as well as the newspapers, and even the preachers, are in league with the interests of the mine owners against the mine workers. She was vigorously cheered at different times during her address, and especially at the close while the marshal and his deputies were making their arrests. She closed her address by urging the miners not to work, not to drink, to avoid all lawlessness and to stick together and continue to “agitate.”
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From the Akron Beacon Journal of June 21, 1902:
MOTHER JONES ARRESTED.
Clarksburg, W. Va., June 21.-“Mother” Jones, Thomas Haggerty, William Morgan, Bernard Rice, George Baron, Andrew Lascavish and William Blakely of the United Mine Workers from different parts of the country, who were arrested here last night, were taken to Parkersburg by four deputy marshals and lodged in jail.
The miners have leased a plot of ground at Clarksburg for the purpose of holding meetings, and will make the arrest their chief defense. The arrest was made under an injunction issued a few days ago by Judge J. Jackson of the United States circuit court. The amount of their bail has not been fixed, but the men were provided with sufficient funds to secure their own releases.
This is the first time that “Mother” Jones has been arrested, although she has been served with innumerable injunctions.
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From the Parkersburg Sentinel of June 21, 1902:
Mother Jones and a Dozen Strike Agitators Arrested
For Violating U. S. Court Injunction.
-Prisoners Brought Here and Lodged In Jail.
-And Will Answer For Contempt.
-The Agitators Were Arrested at Clarksburg.A dozen strike agitators were arrested at Clarksburg on Friday afternoon [June 20th] about 3 o’clock and were brought to Parkersburg on the train that arrived at 10:07 last night. The prisoners were taken to the county jail.
The arrests were made by Marshal C. D. Elliott and deputies D. R. Jackson, C. W. Law, and Chas. Hughes who have been in the Clarksburg and Fairmont region for several weeks.
The prisoners are Mary Jones, alias “Mother” Jones, Thos. Haggerty, Wm. Morgan, Bernard Rice, Peter Wilson, Wm. Blakeley, George Baron, Andrew Lascavash, Albert Roppoke, Joe Reossky, George Reossky, and Steve Tonike.
The prisoners were in charge of Deputy Marshals D. R. Jackson, C. W. Law, G. A. Elliott, deputy sheriff John Long and Ormon Randolph.
Deputy Marshal Jackson in discussing the arrest said that the miners had rented a lot about forty yards from the buildings of the Clarksburg Fuel Co. and were holding a meeting there which was addressed by several of those under arrest, the last speaker being Mother Jones. These parties had worked their base of operations from the Fairmont field to the Clarksburg region and were trying to incite the miners that were still at work and get them to join the ranks of strikers. Mother Jones, it is stated, was unsparing of her denunciation of the operators, the trusts, and capitalists, and severely criticized the action of Judge Jackson. Marshal Elliott, as soon as the address was concluded placed Mother Jones under arrest for a violation of the injunction of the U. S. Court…..
On the arrival here Marshal Jackson offered to secure quarters for Mrs. Jones at a hotel, which offer she refused, giving her reasons that she was a federal prisoner and would remain with the boys. She was then given a room in the residence part of the jail.
Mother Jones was visited by a reporter at the jail this morning and when asked as to what she had to say as to the arrest of herself and the men she replied:
Well, we are here to await the action of the United States court. We were arrested on our own ground which we had rented and which was entirely separate from the company’s premises. We were holding a meeting which the authorities claim was a violation of the blanket injunction of 1897 which they claim holds good in this movement.
[Mrs. Jones further remarked:]
This is a chivalric state, isn’t it? I have been in all kinds of movements in all parts of the country in which labor and capital were interested and this is the first time anybody had tried to molest me. I am the first woman ever to be arrested under a federal injunction in a labor movement.
When asked why she did not accept the offer of Deputy Marshal Jackson to take her to a hotel her answer was:
I am a federal prisoner, the same as the boys, and consider myself no better than they are. Had they been taken to a hotel I would have wanted to go with them, but I expect to stand by the boys and will go with them even to the penitentiary if needs be. We expect to fight this matter to the highest court to see whether it is a case of one man rule or the people ruling.
“Will the arrest of yourself and the boys affect the movement in any way?”
[She replied:]
No, organizers from other states will take our places and the fight will be carried on just the same.
The question was asked how long she had been interested in labor movements.
Nearly all my life and I expect to continue to stay in the work the balance of my life as I cannot stand idly by and see the suffering of mothers and babies without making some effort to help improve the condition of affairs.
At this point Mother Jones was informed that her breakfast was ready and in taking leave of the reporter she said:
Young man, remember this fight is for the future of you young men; it is against the capitalists who are nothing more than robbers, or to use the aristocratic pronunciation, they are kleptomaniacs.
The arrests of the prisoners were not made under the blanket injunction of 1897 as stated by Mother Jones but under an injunction issued on Thursday by Judge Jackson upon the application of Clarksburg Fuel Co.
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From The Philadelphia Inquirer of June 22, 1902:
From the Parkersburg Daily Morning News of June 23, 1902:
IF MINERS, THEY Will GAIN
IS VIEW OF “MOTHER” JONES
———-
The Noted Labor Organizer
Talks to Reporter and
Advances Her Theories on
Strike MattersWhile in conversation Sunday [June 22nd] with a News reporter, “Mother” Jones, quoted as follows from “Ignatius Donnelly’s Caesar’s Column.”
The world, today, clamors for deeds not creeds; for bread, not dogma; for charity, not ceremony; for love, not intellect.
Society divides itself into two hostile camps; no white flags pass from one to the other. They wait only for the drumbeat to summon them to armed conflict.
The masses grow more intelligent as they grow more wretched; and more capable of cooperation as they become more desperate. The labor organizations of today would have been impossible fifty years ago. And what is to arrest the flow of effect from cause? What is to prevent the coming of the night if the earth continues to revolve on its axis? The fool may cry out: “There is no night!” But the feet of the hours march unrelentingly toward the darkness.
Believing, as I do, that I read the future aright, it would be criminal in me to remain silent. I plead for the higher and nobler thoughts in the souls of men; for wider love and ampler charity in their hearts; for a renewal of the bond of brotherhood between the classes; for a reign of justice on earth that shall obliterate the cruel hates and passions which now divide the world.
Mrs. Jones, after having furnished bond for her appearance at United States court Tuesday moved her quarters from a room in the county jail building to the Van Winkle hotel, where, she will remain until the trial of the agitators take place. She does not seem to be troubled in the least about the outcome of the proceedings as she says she does not believe that either she or the men who were arrested showed any contempt by their actions after the injunction issued a short time ago by Judge Jackson was served.
Mother Jones is an attentive student of human nature. While a woman, she has those observant qualities that give her an opinion on any subject. She has made a life-study of the lives and ways of working men, especially of the miners.
She stated that the agitators, among whom she is considered a member of high standing, have never countenanced the brutality connected with some labor troubles in the past. It is her opinion that fighting does not gain for them the desired end, and that it won’t be long until all troubles of the kind will be settled without compelling the men to overstep the boundaries of prudence.
[Mother Jones stated:]
It should not be necessary at this civilized age for men to battle and cause the loss of life. The time is near when wars will not be the means of settling differences of either nations or men.
It is a fact generally conceded that there are now two classes, each of which could work to the advantage of itself and to the other, but instead they cause agitations that grow and cause disturbances that are widely felt. To make those conditions different it is necessary for the working class to be educated to the realization of its standing, and not until that time comes will there be a a proper feeling between the employers and the employees.
In former years miners were considered a bad class. They came from different countries, and were of the kind that believed in settling all differences by force. Fighting was fun to them. They were not to be blamed for that, for they were educated to that point by those socially and officially their betters. Take for instance the troubles in Ireland years ago. The inhabitants of one county would fight those of the other until there was continual trouble. The same spirit was brought to this country, and, while the hardy miners could stand such hardship and rough treatment at the hands of their employers, they could not stand by and see themselves getting beaten for their wages.
At that time it was almost an impossibility for them to get any redress, for organization was not thought of. The workers in one mine even would not stand together and demand consideration for their rights. They were enemies to each other, and were always unsuccessful in their attempts to better themselves. The permanent populace of the entire country saw the miners as a people who should not be deigned any attention whatever. They were rough and uncouth and in a manner, not considered as being the product of the Hand that made us all.
That feeling is fast being lost, and well it may be. In a great part the miners are uneducated. They have never had the opportunities that have been afforded those in other walks of life. But, while they may not have refinement and learning, they have a sense of honor that may be envied by some other classes of people. They have begun to appreciate the beauties of life. They have begun to hold themselves in personal esteem, and are attempting to hide from the world the fact that they are untutored and have not the polish that would gain for them the esteem of the better classes.
It won’t be long until the working-men of the country will have the hand that controls affairs. That day is near, having been brought about partially by the state of commercial affairs. The trusts have done much to advance the masses. They are educators to which we should give great credit. While the masses are becoming educated they are rising, not only in their own estimation, but in that of the commercial oligarchists. They are rapidly coming out of the darkness in which they have previously existed. The natural trend of human affairs tends to their good and that to their uplifting.
It is not intended that one man or a few of them can successfully control the destinies of men. It is a fact, though, that such is very nearly the state in which affairs now rest. These conditions cannot last, and many of us will live to see the day when the masses are in control. We who have studied the conditions see plainly the result, and feel that it is almost in reach at this time.
“Mother,” Jones was asked what would be the result if the miners fail to succeed in gaining their ends in the present disturbance. She said:
If they were to lose today, the result would not hurt them. “Truth crushed to earth shall rise again.” They have lost before, and have been strengthened at that. Every attempt they make is to their advantage, whether or not they fail in their purpose. Labor organization becomes stronger each day and will continue to until they are composed of such members that the destinies of the nation will be controlled by their action.
The newspapers and even the clergy have misrepresented the facts in the miners’ troubles that are now being experienced. It seems that the public in general has not learned to appreciate the true conditions. People continue to allow themselves to be mislead.
It is necessary to only become acquainted with the conditions that surround the lives of the miners and their families to cause one to extend every sympathy, and if possible to lend assistance towards bringing about a change.
In addressing crowds of these miners, how can I help being deeply appealed to? Many of them with pinched looks and ragged clothing compose the meetings. Each one of them has his eye open in hope that he will be given aid. Each heart contains that ray of hope that the miners will be bettered.
Mother Jones tells a story of a young man who was sent to follow in her steps and learn of her every action during the trouble between the miners and operators a short time ago. He had been hired by the mine owners and while he did not relish the position he did as he was directed. He attended every meeting which was held. Mother Jones soon learned of his activities and became acquainted with him. She said he was but about eighteen years of age, and of excellent parentage. He was not strong and could not well stand to follow her to the many places she went. He always registered at the hotels were she stopped. One day after she had covered more territory than usual, she found him in a very tired condition. She called him to her room and requested him to rest, saying that she would tell him of every movement so he could make his reports to headquarters. She said she appreciated the requirements of his duties and his physical condition, as well, and would report to him of her every movement when he was unable to be present at the meetings.
It was “Mother” Jones who gained a great victory for working children in Scranton some years ago. She was successful in gaining for them the consideration rightly due them. She states that girls, some as young as eight or nine years, were required to work ten hours each day many of them lived outside of the city and would have to walk three or four miles to and from their work.
She said the mothers of some of the children would go to the factory owners, and, after making affidavit that her girl was thirteen years old, secure employment for her if she be even less than ten years of age…..
—————
Note: emphasis added throughout.
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SOURCES
Quote Mother Jones, Injunction Shroud, Bff Exp p7, Apr 24, 1909
https://www.newspapers.com/image/344471675/
The Clarksburg Telegram
(Clarksburg, West Virginia)
-June 13, 1902
https://www.newspapers.com/image/343223067/
Kentucky Advocate
(Danville, Kentucky)
-June 16, 1902
https://www.newspapers.com/image/237537504/
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday June 22, 1902
Clarksburg, West Virginia – Mother Jones Arrested by U. S. Marshals
Hellraisers Journal – Monday June 23, 1902
Mother Jones Interviewed in Jail at Parkersburg, West Virginia
Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday June 24, 1902
Parkersburg, West Virginia – Mother Jones Interviewed at Van Winkle Hotel
IMAGE
Mother Jones , Phl Inq p24, June 22, 1902
https://www.newspapers.com/image/168338244
See also:
Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for June 1902, Part I:
Strike Is On in West Virginia Coalfields; U. S. Judge Jackson Issues Injunction
For more information re Mother Jones at Parkersburg, West Virginia
check out links at “see also” section of Hellraisers Journal for:
Tag: West Virginia Coalfield Strike of 1902-1903
https://weneverforget.org/tag/west-virginia-coalfield-strike-of-1902-1903/
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She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain -Ken Carson and the Choraliers