Pray for the dead
And fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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:
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.
