Tag: Company Gunthugs

Hellraisers Journal: Company Guards Open Fire on Miners at Virden, Illinois; Scene of Carnage Follows Fierce Battle

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Its a sad blow to us. Father was
the head of a family of nine of us.
I don’t know what we will do now.
It will break their hearts at home.
-Young Son of Abe Breneman
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Hellraisers Journal – Thursday October 13, 1898
Virden, Illinois – Striking Miners Shot Down by Company Guards

From Springfield’s Illinois State Journal of October 13, 1898:

Battle Virden, HdLn, Spgfld IL St Jr p1, Oct 13, 1898

(By J. E. Vaughn, Staff Correspondent.)

Virden. Oct. 12.-(Special.)-Mid-night.-Ten dead, one fatally wounded and twenty-five carrying gunshot injuries of a more or less serous character, is the result of Manager Fred Lukins’ determination to run the Chicago-Virden coal mine in his own way and the counter determination of the striking miners not to permit non-union men to operate the plant.

In battle, fierce and sharp and attended by an unusual number of casualties, the striking miners today came into contact with the men who are supporting the operator and drove them from the town, but at a cost which makes the victory a bitter one. Six of the strikers were killed by the superior weapons of the armed guards, while three of the guards, two on the train that conveyed them to the town, and one within the stockade, lost their lives…..

[…..]

SCENES AFTER THE BATTLE.
—–

Virden, Oct. 12-(Special.)-The scenes that attended the removal of the dead miners from the field east of the stockade were pathetic in the extreme as soon as the firing had ceased and while there was still the greatest danger of a resumption of the fire from the stockade, shrieking, bare-headed women, their hair flying in the air, ran from the houses in the vicinity and rushed for the place where the miners had fallen, looking for their husbands and fathers. As they run they shouted curses at the men in the stockade and shook defiant fists at the grim tower from which had come the shower of lead.

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WE NEVER FORGET: Lon Amos Millsap Who Lost His Life in Freedom’s Cause, Kansas City General Strike of 1918

Janet RayeWe Never Forget
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Pray for the dead
and fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WNF, Kansas City, MO, Lon Amos Millsap, March 29, 1918
———-

Lon Amos Millsap, Labor Martyr
Kansas City General Strike, March 29, 1918

On March 29, 1918, Lon Amos Millsap, striking laundry truck driver, gave up his life in Kansas City Research Hospital. He died of a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The kept press claims that the strikers had been rioting (throwing rocks) when fired upon by armed company guards at the Globe Laundry two days earlier, March 27th, the first day of the Kansas City General Strike.

Lon Amos Millsap was born October 28, 1885, in Platte County, Missouri. At the time of his death he was 32 years old, single and a striking laundry driver. He is buried at Mount Washington Cemetery at Independence, Missouri.

M. L. Millsap, address: 2728 Brooklyn, provided the personal information for the death certificate, and was most likely a relative.

Buried in the same cemetery is the mother of Lon Millsap, Nancy Belle Heller Millsap, who died on July 27, 1927, at age 76. His father was John S. Millsap, date of death not known.

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Hellraisers Journal: Oscar Ameringer on Three Kinds of Scabs: “by far the most important class is the union scab”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Professional scabs are few and efficient.
Amateur scabs are plentiful and inefficient,
and union scabs both numerous and capable.
-Oscar Ameringer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal: Thursday March 19, 1908
Oscar Ameringer on Scabs: Professionals, Amateurs, and Card Holding

From The Industrial Union Bulletin of March 14, 1908:

UNION SCABS
—–

By OSCAR AMERINGER

IWW Gen Adm Emblem, IUB, Mar 14, 1908

There are three kinds of scabs; the professional, the amateur and union scab.

The professional scab is usually a high-paid, high-skilled worker in the employ of strikebreaking and detective agencies. His position is that of a petty officer’s in the regular scab army.

The amateur scab brigade is composed of bums, riff-raff, slum dwellers, rubes, tramps, imbeciles, college students and other undesirable citizens.

The last, and by far the most important class is the union scab.

Professional scabs are few and efficient. Amateur scabs are plentiful and inefficient, and union scabs both numerous and capable.

The professional scab knows what he is doing, does it well and for the sake of the long green only.

The amateur scab, posing as a freeborn American citizen, who scorns to be fettered by union rules and regulations, gets much glory (?), little pay and when the strike is over he is given an honorable discharge in the region where Darwin searched for the missing link.

The union scab receives less pay than the professional scab, works better than the amateur scab and don’t know that he is a scab.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for December 1917: Found in Indiana and West Virginia

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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The devil might possibly scare [Mother Jones],
but a machine gun can’t.
-Claude G. Bowers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Friday January 18, 1918
Mother Jones News for December 1917: Visits with Claude G. Bowers in Fort Wayne

Mother Jones, NY Sun, Dec 2, 1917

During the month of December of last year, Mother was found in Fort Wayne, Indiana, visiting with Claude G. Bowers who is writing a biography on the late Senator John W. Kern. Mother Jones has often praised Senator Kern for the role he played in freeing her from the Military Bastile of West Virginia during the Coal Mine strike there in 1912 and ’13. (See story below at Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette.)

We also found her praised for her patriotism due to her call to “lick the kaiser,” and, at the end of the month, we found her in Charleston, West Virginia, “taking part in the street car strike.”

An article by Peggy Dwyer in the United Mine Workers Journal reminds us that the gunthug who recently murdered a union miner is still at large. This is the same thug who pointed a gun at Mother Jones and threatened to blow her head off. Such is the life of a union organizer brave enough to work in the state of West Virginia.

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WE NEVER FORGET: Thomas Baldwin, Union Coal Miner, Murdered at Raleigh, West Virginia, November 13, 1917

Janet RayeMother Mary Harris Jones
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Pray for the dead
And fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WNF Thomas Baldwin, UMW, Raleigh WV, Nov 13, 1917

~~~~~~~~~~~

Brother Thomas Baldwin
of the United Mine Workers of America
Murdered by Company Gunthug
November 13, 1917
Raleigh, West Virginia

Brother Thomas Baldwin, union miner, was going about his business in Raleigh, West Virginia on the evening of Tuesday November 13, 1917, when company gunthug, Sam Crews, snuck up behind him and slugged him over the head with a blackjack. He died three hours later. He left a widow and three small children to survive as best they could without a husband and father. Brother Baldwin’s grave can be found marked by a simple stone at Raleigh Cemetery, Glen Morgan, Raleigh County, West Virginia.

“Raleigh Cemetery Watcher” at Topix has posted an article from the Raleigh Register Herald of November 1917 (exact date not given) which describes Brother Baldwin:

Baldwin, say his neighbors at Raleigh, was a good, reliable man, a steady worker, and provided well for his wife and three children. He was a member of the United Mine Worker’s local that had been organized there some time ago, but was not inclined to give trouble. It appears that there was no reason whatever for his assailant’s attack upon him.

He lived with his family about 200 yards from the company store at Raleigh. After supper, on the night of the murder he had gone to the store for some purpose. As he started for his home he noticed that Crews was following him. He stopped and spoke in a friendly manner to the guard, who replied in kind and then suddenly dealt him a heavy blow on the head with some blunt weapon, presumably a blackjack. Badly wounded, Baldwin made his way to his home and dropped upon a bed. Two physicians were called. They found his skull fractured and an artery severed. In about three hours he died.

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Hellraisers Journal: Striking Miners Cannot March on Labor Day; Imported Workers Imprisoned by Company Guards

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday September 4, 1907
From the Duluth Labor World: News from Mesabi Miners’ Strike

The August 31st edition of The Labor World provides much news from the Mesabi Range concerning the ongoing strike of the iron ore miners led by the Western Federation of Miners.

Miners Not Allowed to March on Labor Day.

Mesabi Iron Miners Strike of 1907, Labor Day, Lbr Wld Aug 31, 1907

Strike Continues.

Mesabi Iron Miners Strike of 1907, Liberty, Petriella, Lbr Wld Aug 31, 1907

[Note: Photograph with caption added is from the Duluth News Tribune, the voice of the mine owners’ interests in Minnesota.]

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Hellraisers Journal: From the International Socialist Review: Poem for Frank Little, “The Man That Was Hung”

Janet RayeFrank Little
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We’ll remember you, Frank Little!
…We’ll repeat your name
And remember that you died for us.
The red flag that you dropped
A million hands will carry on.
-Phillips Russell

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Hellraisers Journal, Monday September 3, 1917
Butte, Montana – Organizer Frank Little Remembered

From the International Socialist Review of September 1917:

“To Frank Little” by Phillips Russell

To Frank Little by Phillips Russell, ISR Sept 1917

—–

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Hellraisers Journal: Butte Strikers’ Bulletin Blames Company Gunthugs for Murder of Fellow Worker Frank Little

Janet RayeFrank Little
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Don’t worry, fellow-worker,
all we’re going to need from now on is guts.
-Frank Little

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Hellraisers Journal, Saturday August 4, 1917
Butte, Montana – Strikers’ Bulletin Names Names

Frank Little Martyr, Truth Butte Tompkins, 1917, crpd

The Butte Bulletin, voice of the striking metal miners in that city, devoted its entire edition of August 2nd to the lynching of Fellow Worker Frank Little.

One article was entitled: “Frank Little Murdered by Gunmen, Companies in Desperation Resort to Deadly Violence.” William F. Dunn, editor, stated that there is “sufficient evidence to indicate the names of five men who took part, every one of whom is a company stool pigeon. Two of these men are in business, two are gunmen, and one is connected with law enforcement… Every man, woman, and child in this country knows that company agents perpetrated this foulest of all crimes.” The Bulletin went on to name names: “William Oates, Herman Gilles, Pete Beaudin, a rat named Middleton and two dozen others working under a chief gunman named Ryan.”

Funeral to be Held in Butte

From the Seattle Star of August 3, 1917:

HAYWOOD IN CHARGE OF
I. W. W. FUNERAL

By United Press Leased Wire

CHICAGO, Aug. 3.-The funeral of Frank Little, I. W. W. leader, lynched in Butte, probably will be held in Butte tomorrow, Wm. D. Haywood, secretary of the national organization, said today. He received a message from Little’s sister [sister-in-law], Emma Little, of Fresno, Cal., placing arrangements for the funeral in his hands.

—–

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WE NEVER FORGET Frank Thornton Who Gave His Life in Freedom’s Cause at Troy, Montana During July of 1917

Janet RayeWe Never Forget
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Pray for the dead
And fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WE NEVER FORGET, Frank Thornton, Troy MT, July 1917


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fellow Worker Frank Thornton

Organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World

Fellow Worker James Rowan, in his work entitled “The I. W. W. in the Lumber Industry,” described the death of Frank Thornton:

LWIU, IWW Label, Lumber Rowan, ab 1920

Near the end of July there occurred at Troy, Montana, an incident of shocking barbarity. A man named Frank Thornton was arrested in a saloon after a quarrel with the bartender, and the constable took him to the jail, a small wooden structure. According to the statements of by-standers who witnessed the arrest, two Lumber Trust gunmen followed them, and the sound of blows was heard coming from the jail, as if they were giving Thornton a terrible beating. That night the jail was burned down and Thornton, the only prisoner, was burned in it. It is thought by some that Thornton was beaten to death by the constable and gunmen on the afternoon of his arrest, and that the jail was purposely set on fire to cover up the crime. Others claimed that while the jail was burning, they could see Thornton writhing in agony among the flames. This much is certain: the jail burned and either Thornton or his dead body was burned with it. Thornton was beaten to death or burned alive in the jail, and the authorities who arrested him and put him in that jail are responsible for his death.

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones: “The United States has become the home of a race of dollar hogs.”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Recently in New York, there was held a banquet
at which $15,000,000 was represented.
Not one of the men present at that banquet
ever produced one dollar’s worth.
All that they posses was taken
away from the toilers.

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Hellraisers Journal, Thursday October 19, 1916
Moline, Illinois – Mother Jones Speaks and Encourages Illegal Street Music

From The Monmouth Daily Atlas of October 17, 1916:

Mother Jones, UMWJ, Feb 10, 1916

MOTHER JONES HAS A GOOD TIME
IN MOLINE
—–

Moline, Oct. 17. – “Mother” Jones needs music to start off her meetings.

Mayor Martin T. Carlson of Moline Saturday refused to issue a permit for a band to play Sunday afternoon on the streets but “Mother” Jones told the boys to go ahead. There was a musical program on the streets before the meeting and at a late hour this afternoon, city officials had taken no notice of the disregard to the mayor’s order.

The meeting at the Moline theater was a monster one and “Mother” Jones delivered one of her dynamic talks touching on several phases of modern life, touching political religious, civic and individual questions of the hour.

—–

[Photograph added.]

Mother Jones Interviewed by The Davenport News:

LABOR LEADER SCORES HUGHES, BOOSTS WILSON
—–
‘Mother’ Jones, National Celebrity,
in Davenport for Short Time.
Decries Past Conditions.
—–
Says U. S. Home of Nation of ‘Dollar Hogs’
Holding Down Toilers.
—–

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