Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday January 14, 1913 Charleston, West Virginia – Glasscock Pardons Miners Convicted by Military Court
From The Fairmont West Virginian of January 13, 1913:
GOV. GLASSCOCK PARDONS MANY MINERS —————
MEN CONVICTED BY MILITARY COURT ARE PARDONED BY THE GOVERNOR. —————
Dan Chain and S. F. Nantz Sent to Moundsville Prison on Nov 21, 1912
CHARLESTON, W. V., Jan. 13.-That Governor Glasscock has issued conditional pardons clearing the State penitentiary of all persons convicted by the military court during the recent occupation by martial law of part of Cabin and Paint Creek became known last night when 12 convicts having sentences ranging from one to seven one-half years, were allowed to take freedom from the walls of the State prison at Moundsvllle by the pardon board of January 3, but were for some reason held up until Saturday.
The greatest secrecy was maintained concerning the governor’s action. Not one of the 80 persons convicted under martial law remains in prison, many having been pardoned heretofore and a few having served their sentences. Of the 12 released Saturday 11 are miners convicted of conspiracy or similar crimes under the second occupation of martial law. Much rejoicing was occasioned in the strike zone Saturday night when it became known that the convicts had been pardoned. Troops were withdrawn from the strike zone December 12, and beginning the day after Christmas all guns taken from the residents of the martial law districts except high power rifles were ordered returned. Hundreds of miners have received their guns.
Last Wednesday night there was an outbreak of strikers on Paint creek when a freight train crew was fired upon and a mine set on fire. Farther trouble is expected in the strike zone.
Of those released Saturday, Shanklin was a mine guard and was sentenced during the first part of martial law rule. All the others were miners. Those released were the following: S. Frank Nance, five years; J. R. Shanklin, one year and $100; Dan Chain, five years; Charles Jarrel, two years; Newt Gump, five years; Rock Spinelli, five years; Angelo Billetlli, five years; Tony Stafford, five years; Grover Jarrell, three years; William Thompson, three years; Joe Raines, five years; Lawrence Cepreant, seven and one-half years.
George Book, serving a one-year sentence for malicious wounding in Logan county, was also pardoned.
[Photograph, emphasis and paragraph breaks added.]
Hellraisers Journal – Monday December 9, 1912
Charleston, West Virginia – Usurped Power of Martial Law Disgraces the State
From The Wheeling Majority of December 5, 1912
-Taken from the Charleston LaborArgus:
[Part II of II]
[Charleston, W. Va., Dec. 5.]-Just for an example of the high hand tyranny of [West Virginia’s] military court we will take the cases of Dan Chain, [Silas] Frank Nantz [Socialist marshal of Eskdale] and a few others of their victims. Dan Chain was arrested, taken to Pratt, tried and sentenced to five years in the penitentiary for holding up a train at Cabin Creek Junction with two car loads of transportations Friday, Nov. 14th. To our knowledge Dan Chain was a passenger on the train that was supposed to be held up and did not know the transportation was on the train until he got to Cabin Creek Junction and the railroad crew refused to pull it up the creek, but Dan Chain was not given a chance to introduce evidence in his defense and was railroaded to the penitentiary for five years.Frank Nantz was charged with interfering with an officer in discharge of his duty. This case happened two weeks before martial law was declared at that time the soldiers were doing private guard duty, yet Nantz was railroaded to the penitentiary for five years.
Dan Chain and S. F. Nantz Sent to Moundsville Prison on Nov 21, 1912
Another case is that of [Charles] Coon Jarrell who was brought before the court as witness against another man, and because he did not know anything about the case was accused of perjury and sent to the penitentiary for five years. These are just a few of the many cases where men have been tried by court martial and railroaded to the penitentiary.
Under martial the court martial are supposed only to try offenses committed under martial law. Any offense committed before martial law was declared was no violation of the martial law. If this court has the right to go back two days, two weeks or two months, it has a right to go back two years or ten years. Not satisfied with railroading the men to the penitentiary but the tools of the coal barons are trying to terrorize and intimidate the strikers by arresting and trying the women before Gov. Glasscock’s uniformed court.
When before in the history of this nation have our women been hauled up before a drum head court? Gov. Glasscock made his loyalty to the barons clear when he declared the miners would remember it the longest day they lived. Gen. Elliott, the progressive Bull Mooser, is quoted as saying if he heard of any one alluding to a soldier as a ‘tin horn” he would see that they went to the penitentiary for a year.
Are we living under a despotic monarchy that the citizens should be imprisoned for “Les Majeste?”
And all of this in America, “the land of the free and the home the brave.” In a land where our fathers fought and bled that we might be left a heritage of liberty and be freemen. Have we sunk to the level of Mexican peons that we must submit to the despotism of a dictator, as becomes the cringing subject of a tyrannical czar? The miners of West Virginia are demanding only their constitutional rights as citizens of this great commonwealth, the Czar of Russia nor Diaz of Mexico, would never use any more barbarous or brutal methods than are being used by the state officials to deprive people of these priceless heritages.
Liberty is a sacred thing, more sacred than life itself. A man’s liberty is too sacred to be snatched from him by the arbitrary ruling of a [besmeared?] court, the laws made by the people say that the punishment shall be in accord with the crime committed, so what right has this military court to deprive men of their rights and liberty that a few bloated, foreign stock holders may reap dividends and profits by enslaving the working class?
The miners on Paint and Cabin Creek are fighting for the poorly clad, care-worn women. They are fighting for those bare footed, ragged children, that are shivering in tents these cold winter nights and though every man be locked in prison cells the fight will go on, for the women will take up the fight where the men left off. The working class will stand for just so much persecution before they rebel. Don’t push them too hard or West Virginia’s hills will be painted red with the blood of her sons.
The miners are fighting for freedom with a determination that knows no defeat. Undaunted they look into the muzzle of the soldier’s rifle or face that mockery on justice, the usurped power of a military court. The prison cell is no worse than the midnight darkness of the coal barons slave pen and even death is preferable to a life of slavery.—Labor Argus.
[Photographs, emphasis and paragraph breaks added.]
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday December 8, 1912
Charleston, West Virginia – Usurped Power of Martial Law Disgraces the State
From The Wheeling Majority of December 5, 1912
-taken from the Charleston LaborArgus:
[Part I of II]
Cincinnati Enquirer November 22, 1912
Charleston, W. Va., Dec. 5.—Never before in the history of America has the rights and liberties of the sovereign citizens been trampled beneath the feet of a military despotism as is now being done in the strike zone of Kanawha county. In the military court now setting at Pratt we have an example of mental pigmies drunk with power, usurping every right of citizenship. Justice blinded and bound is being raped by the venal uniformed tools of the “invisible government” while women shiver in snow covered tents and-little children suffer the sting of the biting frost. Gov. Glasscock’s military court has demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt the truth of that historical fact, a fool given authority becomes a despot; give a coward power and you have a tyrant.
The martial law administered by tools of the coal baron has about as much respect for the law and the constitutional rights of the citizens as the Baldwin thug system that preceded it and is just as illegal, despotic brutal and tyrannous. Under its administration every right of citizenship has been suspended, the right of peaceable assemblage denied and even a censor has been placed on the lips of men and women, forced to endure this infamous usurpation of power. Men have been railroaded to the penitentiary for daring to take an open stand for their rights as American citizens.
Realizing that the strike was going against them, the coal operators through their subsidized, press and venal tools in public office brought about this last declaration of martial law for the purpose of railroading to the prison all of the active union leaders. These men had struck terror to the cowardly hearts of the coal barons by their courage and bravery and had to be removed. The militia was used as a cat’s paw to pull these chestnuts out of the fire and Gen. Elliott and his entire aggregation of strike breakers became the servile tools of the coal barons for this purpose. Despotism and tyranny were resorted to and justice was publicly outraged. Men were arrested on trumped up charges and sent to the penitentiary from two to five years without being given a chance to defend themselves. All laws and precedents were set aside and the will of the military was supreme.
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