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

18th January 201822nd October 2022 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

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

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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

4th December 201722nd October 2022 Janet RayeMother Mary Harris Jones

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

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

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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: From the United Mine Workers Journal: Gunthug Murders Miner in Raleigh, West Virginia

3rd December 201722nd October 2022 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

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

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

Hellraisers Journal, Monday December 3, 1917
Raleigh, West Virginia – Union Miner Murdered by Gunthug

Reported by U. M. W. Executive Board Member, Lawrence Dwyer:

On last Wednesday night one of our members, Brother W. P. [Thomas] Baldwin, was brutally murdered at Raleigh, W. Va., by one of the professional gunmen of that camp. His name is Sam Crews. He sneaked up behind Brother Caseybolt, who was on his way home, and slugged him with a blackjack. Thirty minutes afterward he sneaked up behind Brother Baldwin and struck him over the head with a blackjack, crushing his skull. He died one hour and thirty minutes afterward. Brother Baldwin leaves a widow and four small children, who were dependent upon him. The thug walked away and has not been arrested.

During last week four of our members were assaulted and beat up by the thugs.

From the United Mine Workers Journal of November of 29, 1917:

FROM WEST VIRGINIA
Agreement Satisfactory—The Thugs Again

[By Lawrence Dwyer,
International Board Member,
District 29 of Beckley, W. Va.]

Beckley, W. Va., November 22. — Doctor Garfield on November 12 O.K.d and approved the penalty clause adopted by the representatives of the operatives and our district officials, and beginning on November 1, 1917, every member will receive the same advance as was granted in the four competitive states. I feel that the penalty clause adopted meets with the approval of the rank and file, as I have not heard of one member criticising it. I wish to advise, from several reports that came into our district office, that there are some operators who are putting a wrong interpretation as to the meaning of the penalty clause, as they are telling the men that in the future should any of them remain from their work one day they will be fined, so I will take this method to inform our members that such statements are wrong. By adopting the penalty clause we promised and assured our government that in the future there would be no stoppage of any mine contrary to the provisions of the present existing contract between the miners and operators of this district; therefore, section 2 of our agreement reads: Should any employe, without the consent of the mine foreman, absent himself from his work for two continuous days, or should an employe, unless due to sickness, persist in working irregularly, it shall be construed as sufficient cause for discharge.

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