Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday October 5, 1920 Bogalusa, Louisiana – Widows of Four Murdered Trade Unionists Demand Justice
From the Duluth Labor World of October 2, 1920:
WIDOWS OF FOUR DEAD UNION MEN DEMAND JUSTICE ——- Murderers of Timber Workers, Although Known, Have Not Been Arrested. ——-
The New York Times November 23, 1919
BOGALUSA, La., Sept. 30.-Widows of four trade unionists who were murdered by a mob last November have asked Governor Parker to order the state attorney general to prosecute the murderers.
The petition states that the men were slain “without just cause or excuse by employes of the Great Southern Lumber company,” and that two grand juries have considered the killings without taking action, and that the district attorney has admitted under oath that he did not summon a state witness but did summon witnesses for the defendants, including the defendants themselves.
The murders, were the [result?] of attempts by the lumber company to destroy trade unionism. After failing to divide the workers on racial lines a lynching party started for the home of an estimable negro [Sol Dacus] who was influential among his fellows. The negro hid in the swamps and escaped. The mob then came to the headquarters of the trade unionists and demanded the negro. They were told that the man was not there, and they were invited to search the building. The lynchers replied with a volley from shotguns and revolvers, killing several workers .
[Note: four trade unionists were murdered by the mob: L. E. (Lum) Williams, President of Bogalusa Trades Council, and Carpenters Thomas Gaines, J. P. Bouchillon, and S. J. (Stanley) O’Rourke.]
The petition states that Robert Carson, armed with a shotgun, was present at the killings, and that this person is the same individual referred to by the supreme court as having killed two other citizens at Bogalusa, for which the court held the Great Southern Lumber company responsible.
“We further represent,” continues the petition, “that a suit has been filed by the citizens of Washington parish to remove the sheriff because of bribery in the primary election laws with money furnished him to perpetuate him in office for the purpose of serving the defendants.”
Red Summer The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America
-by Cameron McWhirter
Henry Holt and Company, Jul 19, 2011
(search: “late in november a bloody shootout”) https://books.google.com/books?id=2ogt4871j3sC
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