1922 — June 21-22, Union Miners Murder Non-Union Miners/Guards ~Herrin, IL –>23

–25-40  Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Open Military Probe of Herrin Massacre.” 6-24-1922, 1.[1]

–20-40  NYT. “No Regret in Mine Field Over Massacre; Strikers Defend Attack…” 6-24-1922, 1

–26-30  Carbondale Free Press, IL.  “Peace After Night of Rioting – 30 Dead.” 6-22-1922, 1.

—     27  Des Moines Capital, IA.  “Urge New Probe of Herrin Murders.” 8-6-1922, 1.

—     26  Columbus Museum of Art. Labor Disputes, “Herrin Massacre by Paul Cadmus.”

—     26  Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Twenty-Six Dead in Herrin Mine War.” 6-22-1922, 1.

–20-25  Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Miners’ Prayer Has Been Answered…” 6-23-1922, 1.[2]

—     25  Chenery, William L.  “Herrin–The ‘Sore Spot’ of the Nation.” NYT, 9-14-1924.

–20-25  NYT. “No Regret in Mine Field Over Massacre; Strikers Defend Attack.” 6-24-1922, 1.[3]

—     25  New York Herald. “All is Quiet – and Shameful.” 7-4-1922, 4.

—     25  Robbins, William. “Loyalty Survives at Site of ’22 Massacre.” NYT. 3-13-1978.[4]

—     24  NYT. “Union Will Defend [5]Miners of Herrin….New Count of Victims.” 8-1-1922.

—     23  Angle, Paul M. Bloody Williamson: A Chapter in American Lawlessness. 1952, p. 42.

—     23  Carbondale Free Press. “Another Death Added to Herrin Riot…Now 23.” 10-3-1922, 1

—     23  Davenport, Paula M. “The Herrin Massacre,” The Southern Illinoisan. 1989. p. 92.

—     23  NYT. “Herrin Massacre Inquiry Under Way. Judge Charges Grand Jury…8-29-1922.

—     23  NYT. “Mining Resumed At Herrin…the Scene of the June Tragedy.” 1-7-1923.

—     23  NYT. “Saw Only Foreigners in Herrin Massacre…Death March.” 1-7-1923.

—     23  Wieck, David Thoreau. Woman From Spillertown. “Tragedy in Egypt.” 1992, p. 82.

—     23  Wikipedia.  “Herrin massacre.” 6-17-2012 modification.

—     22  Alton Evening Telegraph, IL. “Herrin Inquiry Report May be…Saturday.” 9-22-1922, 2.

—   >22  Carbondale Free Press. “Hold Operators to Blame and M’Dowell Guilty.” 6-26-1922, 1

—     22  Carbondale Free Press. “Third Union Miner Dies…Herrin Massacre…” 7-14-1922, 1.

—     22  Fliege. Tales & Trails of Illinois. Ch. 42, “`Butchery…Wrought in Madness’…” 180-85.

—     22  NYT. “First Indictment in Herrin Inquiry.” 8-31-1922.[6]

—     22  NYT. “Lays Herrin Riot to 86 Alien Reds. Miners’ Union Declares…” 9-12-1923.

—     22  NYT. To Efface Herrin Blot, President is Assured…” 8-19-1922, 3.

—  >22  NYT. “Union Will Defend Miners of Herrin….New Count of Victims.” 8-1-1922.

—     22  Shoe Workers’ Journal. “Truth About Herrin,” Vol. 23, No. 9, Sep 1922, 12-14.

—     21  Southern Illinois University, Department of Computer Science. “The Herrin Massacre.”

—     20  Carrier, Lois A. Illinois: Crossroads of a Continent. “The Herrin Massacre,” 202-204.[7]

—   ~20  Encyclopedia Britannica.  “Herrin.”

—     19  Hofstadter, R. American Violence: A Documentary Hist. “Herrin Massacre 1922.” 1970[8]

 

Books and Websites:

 

Carrier: “While the postwar years were prosperous and rollicking for many Illinoisans, they were not for Illinois coal miners.  In southern Illinois a labor dispute that ended in mob madness brought outcries from people all over the country.

 

“When William Lester opened a strip mine near Herrin in September 1921, he hired fifty men, all of whom belonged to the United Mine Workers.  An April 1 of the following year, soft coal miners all over the country went on strike, so the Herrin miners struck too.  Lester, who had gone into debt to buy equipment, met with local union leaders who agreed that he could extract coal while the strike was in progress so long as he did not load or ship it.

 

“Not satisfied with that arrangement, Lester fired the union miners and brought in fifty nonunion men, about half of whom were miners and the other half mine guards.  The guards, already hated because of their reputation as strikebreakers, behaved like arrogant bullies.  The union miners regarded Lester and his strikebreakers as a threat to all they had gained through unionism in the last twenty-five years.  Merchants and bankers in nearby towns sided with their customers, the union miners.

 

“Refusing to listen to warnings that there would be violence if any coal was shipped out, Lester arranged to have sixteen loaded railroad cars leave Herrin on June 16.  Retaliation was swift.  On June 21 union men ambushed a truck carrying another load of strikebreakers to Herrin.  Three strikebreakers were hospitalized.  Afterward several hundred angry miners met in the Herrin Cemetery, then marched to the mine.

 

“At 3:30 the mine supervisor called the sheriff to say that the mine was surrounded and that more than five hundred shots had been exchanged.  Lester, who had gone to Chicago, was called and agreed to close the mine.  A truce was to be arranged, one provision of which was that the strikebreakers would be guaranteed safe conduct out of Herrin.

 

“The next morning the strikebreakers surrendered.  A mob of miners in an ugly mood marched them toward Herrin, taunting them and beating them with rifle butts.  Then a burly roughneck spoke up and said, ‘The only way to free the county of strikebreakers is to kill them all off and stop the breed.’  Someone said that they should not kill anyone on a public road but should take them over to the woods and shoot them.  A thirst for vengeance overwhelmed the mob as men who probably would never have done so on their own got caught up in the frenzy and chased and shot twenty of the unarmed prisoners.  In some cases they mutilated the bodies.  A temporary morgue was set up, and townspeople were allowed to view the bodies and commit further acts of disrespect.

 

“When news of the Herrin massacre hit the front pages of newspapers all across the country, people were frightened and outraged and demanded that something be done.  However, a coroner’s jury concluded that all the dead had been killed by unknown assailants.  After further public outcry, 214 men were indicted, but local juries failed to convict any of them.  Williamson County became known as ‘Bloody Williamson,’ a title it is still trying to live down.”  (Carrier, Lois A. Illinois: Crossroads of a Continent. “The Herrin Massacre,” 1993, 202-204.

 

Columbus Museum of Art: “Cadmus was one of sixteen artists commissioned by Life magazine to illustrate significant moments in American history after 1915. Cadmus chose to depict the tragic events of a labor contract dispute which occurred in the mining town of Herrin, Illinois in 1925 [1923].

 

“The bloody riot that ensued left twenty-six dead strikebreakers, slain by labor union members. Cadmus situated the action in a town cemetery, and included the symbolic Christian image of the sacrificial lamb on a headstone, drenched in blood.

 

“However, Cadmus’s tempera painting was never published by Life, most likely because the magazine did not wish to offend organized labor just as the nation was gearing up for war production.” (Columbus Museum of Art. Labor Disputes, “Herrin Massacre by Paul Cadmus.”)

 

Davenport: “It remains one of the darkest moments in Williamson County’s history; a vengeful two-day attack against non-union coal miners.  By the time the gunpowder had cleared, 23 men had paid with their lives – the majority of them scabs or strikebreakers.

 

“Dubbed the Herrin Massacre, it was ‘the most brutal and horrifying crime that has ever stained the garments of organized labor,’ a St. Louis newspaper reporter wrote.

 

“The nation stood by in horror June 21, 1922, as 2,000 union men and their sympathizers faced off with some 50 strikebreakers working a strip mine southeast of Herren.

 

“Nine months before, mine owner William J. Lester began using steam shovels to uncover monstrous seams of coal, an innovative mining method at the time.

 

“When United Mine Workers of America called an April 1, 1922, strike because mine owners refused to set a wage scale, Lester dismissed his union help.  He turned to Chicago agencies to supply 50 nonunion men – firemen, commissary workers, locomotive engineers and guards – to keep his high-stakes business going.

 

“The guards ‘were not to be aggressors,’ according to a 1923 story titled ‘The So-Called Massacre’ published by city fathers in defense of Herrin’s civic-minded citizens after the smoke had settled.  ‘But these guards were a restless set and could not be controlled.  To sit on company property with guns on their knees was not exciting enough and before a day or two had passed they had started on a series of depredations.’

 

“Allegedly, mine guards began harassing innocent people.  Meanwhile, government officials and law enforcement officials warned Lester that he was flirting with danger.  But even the experts were shocked when things turned to murder.

 

“On June 21, 1922, a crowd of angry union men and sympathizers surrounded the Southern Illinois Coal Company mine halfway between Herrin and Marion.  A round of explosions rocked the mine after sunset, demolishing the company water plant.  A barrage of gunfire later forced strikebreakers to take cover in trenches and under steam shovels.

 

“Two days later, a newspaper reporter interviewed one of the few surviving strikebreakers from a hospital bed.

 

“Wounded commissary clerk James O’Rourke’s chilling account of the massacre was carried in the Carbondale Free Press on June we, 1922.

 

“Shortly after daybreak on June 22, 1922, the mob again opened fire on the workers, O’Rourke said.  Mine Superintendent C. K. McDowell ran up the white flag….”

 

(Davenport, Paula M. “The Herrin Massacre,” The Southern Illinoisan. Reprinted in Stan J. Hale and David Hurst, Williamson County Illinois Sesquicentennial History. Turner Limited, 1989. pp. 92-93.)

 

Encyclopedia Britannica: Herrin, city, Williamson county, southern Illinois, U.S. It lies about 15 miles (25 km) northeast of Carbondale. Settled in 1816, Herrin was a coal-mining centre from the 1890s to the 1930s. On June 22, 1922, the city was the scene of a tragic labour dispute known as the Herrin Massacre. The country’s coal fields were closed by strikes, and, when a mining company attempted to operate a strip mine with nonunion labour, several hundred striking union miners forced the nonunion workers to surrender and promised them safe conduct. After being marched to a point near Herrin, the captives were ordered to run for their lives under fire; some 20 people were killed, and others were wounded. Although a grand jury returned numerous indictments for murder and other offenses, all of the defendants were acquitted.” (Encyclopedia Britannica.  “Herrin.”)

 

Wieck: “For many years, strikes in Illinois had been strictly contests of will between miners who lost work and coal operators who lost profits, both groups acting collectively. The national coal strike beginning April 1, 1922, should have been no different.  For reasons never made clear, the Illinois district officers granted permission to a strip-mine owner.  William Lester of Cleveland, Ohio, to operate his steam shovels to uncover coal but not to move it.  By shipping that coal into a fuel-starved market, he could make a very neat profit; no one thought he would take that risk.  Lester’s mine was located in Williamson County.

 

“Once the overburden of earth was removed Lester fired the union miners and brought in a new steam-shovel crew (members of a strike-breaking ‘union’) and armed guards in equal numbers.  Lester’s workers never left the compound – afterwards, some told of having been recruited under false pretenses and of being held virtual prisoners.  Aggressively and provocatively, Lester’s superintendent and guards kept the surrounding area clear of inquirers but the miners in neighboring towns learned that a coal train had gone out.  Lester knew that the union miners would not sit by.  If he was making rational calculations, he was calculating that when his mine was attacked the National Guard would be sent to protect his operation.  Nobody wanted any of this – not the union miners of course, not Williamson County’s law or its business class, and not the coal companies on whom Lester was stealing a march.

 

“On the ninth day of Lester’s strikebreaking operation, hundreds of miners equipped with rifles and dynamite besieged the compound.  Firing commenced; three men on the union side were killed, none in Lester’s party.  The militia was not called.  Lester’s guards were vastly outnumbered; as more miners joined the siege, it became obvious that his operation was doomed.  From Chicago, under pressure, he agreed to close the mine, he had waited too long.  On the morning of the tenth day, June 22, guards and strikebreakers and the superintendent came out in surrender; the union men, their number augmented by new arrivals (there were women too in that crowd), began to march the prisoners toward Herrin, five miles away.  If anyone was in charge no one would admit it; the miners’ sub-district officials sheltered themselves from responsibility.  A mile toward Herrin, the superintendent, C. K. McDowell was killed.  Further along the procession stopped and the prisoners were lined up in front of a barbed-wire fence and told to made a run for it; they were hunted through the woods like rabbits.  The wounded were tracked down; those who died speedily were fortunate.  On the outskirts of Herrin a small group was dragged to a cemetery for execution, to the cheers of children from the neighborhood.  Most, some with help from union men, did make it to safety, but nineteen of Lester’s men besides McDowell never made it.  With the Herrin Massacre, Williamson County regained title to the epithet ‘Bloody Williamson.’  Lester did not made out badly after all:  to avoid costly lawsuits, the Illinois union bought his mine at a handsome price….

 

“Many held it to be God’s view that it was no sin to kill a scab.

 

“After two juries found no one to convict, the prosecution gave up….

 

“Nearly six months after the massacre, The Nation published Edward A. Wieck’s ‘Bloody Williamson County.’ The massacre is mentioned only in a prefatory note; connections are left to the reader.  The dominant theme is the co-presence, the virtual confusion, of unionism and fundamentalist Protestantism.  ‘Non-church-goers may be found in Williamson County but the non-believer is not there.  The old-time revival and doctrinal debates are still carried on with the zeal and fervor of pioneer times….The same emotionalism that binds these people to their religion drew them to the union.’  Culture, not unionism, was the root cause of the massacre.” (Wieck, David Thoreau. Woman From Spillertown: A Memoir of Agnew Burns Wieck. “Tragedy in Egypt.” 1982, pp. 82-84.)

 

Newspapers and Contemporary Periodicals:

 

June 16:  “By the Associated Press.

 

“Herrin, Ill., June 16. – Guarded by two lines of men armed with machine guns, sixty men began the production of coal at the Lester and Sherwood strip mine, six miles east of here today.[9]  It was the first coal mined in Illinois since the miners strike became effective April 1, and armed sentries guarded the roadways to the mine.

 

Crowds of striking miners gathered on corners, discussing the situation, while other crowds went from town to town, ‘feeling out sentiment.’  Miners’ officials cautioned against demonstrations, telling the strikers any outbreak would react to the discredit of the union.

 

“The men who began work today were said to have been imported from the Chicago district.  The camp is well stocked with provisions.  Surface miners were not directly connected with the miners strike but all in Illinois quit work April 1 in sympathy with the pit miners.

 

“Excitement was caused here early today when a bright fire illuminated the sky in the neighborhood of the Lester and Sherwood, residents of Herrin believing the camp had been fired to prevent operation of the mine.  An investigation however, revealed that the fire was in an abandoned building of a mine in the Carterville district, several miles east….” (San Antonio Light, TX. “Miners Start Work in Illinois Under Machine Gun Guard. Sixty Men Begin Production of Coal in Strip Pit Near Herrin.” 6-16-1922, 1.”

 

June 16: “Terre Haute, Ind., June 16 [AP]. – Disorders in the coal field near here broke out afresh today when a crowd estimated at 400 persons left Terre Haute in automobiles with the announced intention of closing two mines which have been operating with non-union employes.  Reports received here at noon stated the men had succeeded in closing two mines and were proceeding toward mines in the direction of Clinton and Masonville.” (San Antonio Express, TX. “Indiana Mob Shuts Mine. Non-union Pits at Terre Haute Forced to Stop. Strip Mine Near Herrin, Illinois Opens Under Guard of Men Armed With Machine Gun Crew From Chicago.” 6-17-1922, 1.”

 

June 17:  “Herrin, Ill., June 17. – Several thousand striking coal miners of Williamson county were expected to decide today upon a policy to be adopted toward the mining of coal at the strip mine of Lester and Sherwood near hen which started yesterday.

 

“Imported miners who say they are members of the Steam Shovel Men’s Union are working the mine.  Other members of the organization stand guard with rifles around the mine which seems like an armed camp, with machine guns placed in advantageous positions.”  (Bismarck Tribune, ND. “To Decide on Policy.” 6-19-1922, 2.)

 

June 17:  “Herrin, Ill., June 17 [AP]. – Striking miners of Williamson county, 19,000 strong, have adopted a policy of watchful waiting while armed watchmen patrol the Lester and Hamilton strip mines of the southern Illinois coal company.  The mine is being operated by employment of imported labor. Reports that machine guns guarded the entrance to the mine were found to be erroneous.” (Logansport Morning Press, IN. “Illinois Miners Adopt Watchful Waiting Policy.” 6-18-1922, p. 2.)

 

June 21:  “Six out of ten men who left here this morning in a truck for Herrin where they were to work at a strike mine being operated by the Southern Illinois Coal Co., are missing and three others in the hospital here as a result of a fusillade of gun shots from the highway, about six miles east of Carbondale, shortly before noon today.

 

“Chas. Boyd, in charge of the group, returned with the three injured men, one of whom is expected to die.  Boyd is the only one of the group either not injured or missing or accounted for.

 

“Some of the men, it is feared, in escaping over the fields and timber may have been wounded seriously or died as the result of bullet wounds.  It is said that the workmen on their way to Herrin are from Chicago.

 

“Boyd said in a statement at the hospital this afternoon to the Free Press he and nine other men were driving in a truck on the way to the mine which is being operated at Herrin.  Suddenly as they were passing along on the highway not far from the Big Muddy bridge, presumably near Blairville about nine miles northeast of here, rifle shots pulled at them from behind the undergrowth at the wayside. The men leaped from the truck, jumping fences and running through fields. Coming to the Big Muddy river, six of the ten men waded, swam and struggled through the water.

 

“On the side of the river those who got across and separated from the four who returned to Carbondale, were met with another volley of bullets from ambush.

 

“Sidney Morris, 25, is in a serious condition in the hospital here and with the two others less serious. Boyd gave his address 333 S. Clark Street, Chicago.”  (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Fire at Non-Union Miners. Six Missing; Three Injured; Fired on From the Ambush.” 6-21-1922, 1.)

 

June 22:  “Herrin, Ill., June 22 [AP]. A survey made by Associated Press today showed 26 known dead with indications that the total will be more than 30 in the hostilities between strikers and non-union employees of strip mine south of here.

 

“Bodies were spread over an area of 15 square miles, some riddled with bullets, others beaten to death with three of the dead hanged with ropes.

 

“An Associated Press correspondent, after several ineffectual efforts to hire a driver to take him to the scene of the fight, finally found out on the roadside from the mine six mangled bodies tied together under the scorching sun while scores of men and women gathered around laughing at the spectacle.

 

“They had apparently been dragged over the road behind an auto. Their clothes were torn and embedded in their mangled flesh.

 

“Fear of violence and a possible storm upon the city jail, the shifting of the scene of war which has been amuck in the Herrin coal fields to Carbondale, was halted today when the city officials declined the use of the jail there to harbor non-union men from the coal fields.

 

“Though brought here by the Carterville officers, one man brought here for his own good today was not admitted to the jail.  Safety from union sympathizers was being sought. Preparations were underway to bring more to Carbondale.

 

“Refugees from the riot stricken area brought to Carbondale would invite trouble and perhaps impress the union men that Carbondale was being used as a clearing house for the men to be imported to the coal section. The man brought here this morning was instructed to act as an ordinary citizen but better if he was being watched to leave the city at once.

 

“By Robt. W. Davis, co-editor of the Free Press.

 

“Herrin, Ill., June 21 – After a night of bloodshed and turmoil, unequalled in the annals of labor trouble in Southern Illinois, noon today found the dawn of peace upon the horizon of a horrible night of war.

 

“Estimates place the dead as high as 30.  Guards at the non-union mines and M. H. McDowell, superintendent of the mine, are included in the dead.

 

“Buildings, tracks and all the property about the mine have been burned, wrecked and blasted. The scene is like one of a battlefield, barren except the smouldering ruins of death and destruction, which ruthlessly raged during the night.

 

“Every indication points to peace, the non-union men having been killed, fled or taken prisoners.

 

“Bulletin.  All the slope and shaft mines east of Carbondale ceased operation today. Trouble resulting from Herrin and fear of violence caused them to close.  Coal has been mined at these places and hauled to Carbondale for shipment and local use.  An operator this morning stated the union would permit the mining of coal within a week or so perhaps, but no more coal would be shipped during the strike.

 

“Springfield, Ill., June 22 [AP] – Adjutant General Black at 10:30 this morning declared telephone information from Herrin was that the local authorities had the situation well in hand. The general had just concluded talking with Col. Hunter who has been in Herrin.  He said the Colonel had reported nothing regarding threats to hang three prisoners taken by the strikers.  Regarding the number reported killed the General commented that the “multiplication table is at work.” Colonel Hunter was talking from Marion, General Black said.  He reported that he had been unable to verify rumors that anybody had been killed. General Black said troops would not be sent to Herrin unless sent for by the local authorities.

 

“Herrin, Ill., June 22. — Nineteen are known to have been killed in the open warfare of the union men and sympathizers with the employes of the strip mine near here of the Southern Illinois Coal Company.  An incomplete check-up showed sixteen non-union and three, union men dead. One of the non-union men was found hanging to a tree, his body riddled with bullets.

 

“The bodies of the sixteen non-union men were found in the woods near the strip mine, six miles east of here.  A man named McDowell, foreman at the mine, was beaten to death and the fourteen, exclusive of the man hanged were shot to death.  It is stated that the men were massacred when they attempted to escape, after being taken prisoners by the union forces.  The dead non-union men were reported to have been among the forty-four prisoners captured at the strip mine.  Four others were riddled with bullets and are not expected to recover.  What became of the other twenty-four could not be learned.

 

“The union sympathizers stormed the camp before daybreak, but found none of the employes in the tents, and departed.  They returned after daybreak and found the men hiding behind steam shovels and other paraphernalia, the report said.  The mine employes thereupon were lined up and some were marched into the woods and lynched, according to reports.

 

“The three miners were killed in last night’s fighting.  The bodies of the nineteen were counted by an experienced and conservative newspaper man.  There were several thousand men and boys present when the sixteen non-union men were killed at 9 o’clock this morning.  The forty-four men were taken prisoners at the camp, herded in front of the union mob and, when it reached a point about half way between the mine and Herrin, where they passed into the woods, the killing began.  Strikers declared the prisoners, by an apparently pre-arranged signal made a dash to escape and that they were pursued and killed.  Four of the sixteen bodies of the strike breakers were found at the foot of the tree from which the body of the man hanged was suspended.  The bodies of the other eleven dead and four wounded were scattered through the woods.

 

“The man hunt was continuing over a wide area.  Six men later were captured and taken in the direction of the mine.

 

“The strip mine was surrounded during the night by strikers and sympathizers estimated at 2000.  All the roads leading to the mine are guarded today and no one is permitted to approach it.  Rumors are flying thickly.

 

“Sheriff Thaxton went to the mine this morning, but nothing has been heard from him.  He has not asked the Governor for troops.

 

“The fighting started yesterday after receipt of a telegram from John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America, terming the men working at the mine as ‘common strikebreakers.’

 

“Soon after a truck carrying tem men to work in the mine was subjected to a barrage from striking miners near Carbondale.  One of the group escaped uninjured but three were wounded, while the six others have not yet been accounted for.

 

“Following this skirmish excitement was at fever heat among miners, who crowded the streets, and then, as if the affair was prearranged, general pillaging of stores for arms and ammunition began.  With their new acquired arms men who were reinforced from other towns and cities of the district, started to march upon the mine.[10]  Reaching the surface pit the miners drew up around the camp and the firing commenced, the non-union men shooting from behind piles of coal caused by scraping of earth from the surface mine.  Thousands of shots were exchanged before darkness interfered with the miniature battle.

 

“Washington, D.C., June 22. (AP) – Reports of fighting between miners and non-union men at Herrin, Ill., brought to conference today between Secretaries Davis and Hoover, the two cabinet members who are watching the strike situation for President Harding.  It was announced action was decided on.

 

“Springfield, Ill., June 22 (AP).  Blame for the trouble between the union sympathizers and members of the steam shovelers union was laid at the door of W. P. Lester, of Chicago, president of the Southern Illinois Coal Company, in a statement issued by State Senator Sneed of Herrin, president of the Herrin district of the United Mine workers of America. Senator Sneed announced he would leave for Herrin at once to act as a peace maker….

 

“Sidney Morrison, 2325 North California Street, Chicago, one of the three men injured by shots from ambush when a truck load of men were on their way from Carbondale to work at the Herrin strip mine, is in a critical condition at the Holden Hospital today and according to physicians cannot live over 24 hours.  He is shot through the spine and is paralyzed from the neck down.

 

“Morrison, who is 23 years old, is the only son of a widow.  She arrived last night. Speaking this morning, Mrs. Morrison said her son left Chicago to get away from the worries of some personal troubles, coming to work in the Southern Illinois coal fields, where he was told there was no trouble.  The boy was in the army during the World War and served nearly three years in France.

 

“The other two in the hospital injured by bullets are not believed to be in a serious condition. They are John Jordan, 832S South State St., Chicago, and C. W. King, Allentown, Pa.

 

“According to M. F. Delaney, 1261 W. Madison street, Chicago, who was in charge of the group, the men were hired by the Bertrand Employment Agency of Chicago and were told ‘things were quiet’ in the mining section. These men arrived in Carbondale yesterday morning.  About 9 o’clock the ten imported laborers left here in a truck for the strip mine near Herrin where

they were to work. Delaney and Earl Mankins, also of Chicago, followed the truck in a Dodge car.  When they got about 8 miles east of here near the Crab Orchard bridge on the Marion and Herrin road, a volley of bullets suddenly showered upon the truck and the auto.  Men doing the shooting could not be seen.  The bullets were from the side of the highway flanked, by a heavy growth of bushes and undergrowth.  The firing grew in intensity.  The men laid down in the bottom of the truck, finally the firing grew so severe they jumped from the truck and began running across the fields.  Six of the ten leaped into the creek and four remained on this side.  Three of these four were wounded.

 

“The two men in the Dodge turned around after the firing was directed from them to the truck. From a farm house word for aid was sent to Carbondale.  This-morning the six-missing were yet unaccounted for and the fate of whom is uncertain, may be wounded, dead, or have fled to the country to the south of the scene of the shooting.

 

“Sheriff Melville Thaxton of Williamson county, the county of the shooting, and States Attorney L. A. Duty were here yesterday afternoon in conference with the wounded men, who declared none of them were armed when attacked.

 

“The officials together with States Attorney Searing and Assistant States Attorney Fletcher Lewis of this comity analyzed the situation and did not depreciate the gravity of the conditions, maintaining, however, that they would keep the situation under civil law.  They expressed the belief that martial law would aggravate the situation.

 

“Meantime, Major Robert W. Davis, of the 130th, was called to Marion last night for a conference with Col. Samuel N. Hunter and to investigate the situation. They are inclined to allow the civil officers of Williamson county to keep charge of the situation until military action is absolutely necessary.  They expressed the opinion that it was useless to attempt to apprehend those doing the shooting, presumably union sympathizers, indicating none of them could be identified for indictments.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Peace After Night of Rioting – 30 Dead.” 6-22-1922, 1.)

 

June 22: “Herrin, Ill., June 22 (AP)….The district is solidly unionized.”  (Decatur Daily Review, IL.  “Twenty-Six Dead in Herrin Mine War.” 6-22-1922, 1.)

 

“Waukegan, Ill., June 22. – Governor Len. Small said this afternoon he had no reports from Adjutant-General Carlos Black indicating the riots in the Herrin coal fields were serious or that the death list is large.

 

“When shown reports that the death toil exceeded 20, the governor said:  “I can’t believe that is possible in view of my reports from General Black, but if it is true then Attorney General Edward J. Brundage is the man responsible, for keeping me here at this time, away from my affairs as governor”.”[11]

Brundage Replies.

 

“Chicago, June 22. – Governor Len Small “is mistaken as to where the blame belongs,” Atty.-Gen. Edward J. Brundage said today when the governor’s statement that if reports from Herrin were true “Atty.-Gen. Edward J. Brundage is the man responsible” was read to him.

 

“”If he had not taken the interest on the public funds he would not be at Waukegan now.” Mr. Brundage said.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “`Brundage to Blame for Riot’ Claims Governor Small.” 6-22-1922, 1.)

 

June 22: “Springfield, June 22 (AP) — Blame for the open warfare between union miners and sympathizers and the steam-shovel workers in the Herrin district today was placed upon W. J. Lester of Chicago, president of the Southern Illinois Coal company in a statement issued by Senator William J. Sneed, president of the Herrin district of the United Mine Workers.

 

Lester violated an agreement made with state president, Frank Farrington, by firing union miners who engaged in stripping the coal…. He was given permission to work his mine with union miners as long as he did not ship any coal… But when he had between sixty thousand and seventy-file thousand tons of coal on the surface he discharged his union men, brought in steam shovelers, who have been kicked out of the American Federation of Labor, and placed armed guards over them.  Then he began shipping coal….

 

Lester’s statement is absolutely false.  He did not disarm the guards.  It is true that he took the arms and ammunition away from them. But the guns were hidden in the weeds near the shaft and the ammunition — about 3,000 rounds — was placed in the mine office.

 

(Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Blames Lester.” 6-22-1922, 1.)

 

June 22, Decatur Daily Review: “Springfield, June 22 – Sheriff Melvin Thaxton of Williamson county was called upon by Adjutant-General Black this afternoon to say what measures he had taken to protect life and property at Herrin.  The general called attention to press-reports of 26 killed, and to the further fact that no appeal for help had been received here.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Questions Sheriff.” 6-22-1922, 1.)

 

June 23: “Herrin, Ill., June 23 (AP) – An Associated Press correspondent, after ten ineffectual attempts today finally persuaded a taxi-cab driver to take him through the scene of the fight. The strip mine had been fired and a freight train on a siding also was burning while miners looted several cars of food supplies.

 

“Out in a road near the mine, six men tied together and terribly mangled by bullets and clubs lay in a scorching sun, while hundreds of men and women laughed at their pleas for water made in the name of God.  One of the men, his face bloody and one shoulder shot away apparently was within a few minutes of death.  ‘Please, boys, give me a drink’ he moaned. A laugh from the hundreds of spectators was the only reply.

 

“The correspondent rushed to a house for water and when he returned he was faced by a sword, quickly drawn pistols and told to keep away.  When the man begged again for water ‘for God’s sake’ a young woman with a baby in her arms placed her foot on the mangled body and said:  ‘I’ll see you in hell before you get any water.’

 

“The men apparently had been dragged down a rock road behind an automobile. Their clothes were torn and pieces of gravel were imbedded in their mangled flesh.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Inhuman Treatment.” 6-22-1922, 1.)

 

June 23: “Twenty-five scabs are dead, nine are in the hospital and the mine is closed. The striking miner’s prayer was answered.

 

“The above sign conspicuously posted in a Herrin barber shop located on the main, street a short distance from the temporary morgue that houses most of the victims of yesterday’s riot, typifies the feeling prevalent in this entire district.

 

“Not the slightest apprehension is felt that a day of punishment will come to those responsible for the deaths which now number twenty and the many injured in the hospital.  As a matter of fact the majority of the people of the entire county, including the law enforcing officials, look upon the matter as a closed incident, and outside of the morbid crowds coming into Herrin to gaze and sneer upon the victims in the morgue, everything is quiet and peaceful.

 

“The known casualty list now numbers twenty killed and eighteen seriously wounded. Of the number killed two are strikers – and eighteen workers at the mine. The injured list includes but three of the union men and while reports continue to come in of other dead lying in the surrounding fields hope was expressed that these were unfounded.

 

“The property loss will amount upwards in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The work of destruction continued unmolested during yesterday until everything that could be destroyed by dynamite and fire was gone.

 

“Acts of barbarism upon the bodies of the dead and dying which is testified to by the wounded in the hospital and borne out by the mutilated condition of the dead, has set a new mark for lawlessness in the county which has been known for twenty years as “Bloody Williamson County.”

 

“James O’Rourke, 4147 Lake Park avenue, commissary clerk for the Southern-Illinois Coal Co., who was shot six times and cut severely as he lay wounded on the ground, told the following story in his hospital to an Evening American representative while others wounded more seriously confirmed his story by nodding their heads from the adjoining beds.

 

I was sent to work here by the Esrtrand Commissionary Company of Chicago as commissary clerk.  There was nothing said to me about working at a mine on strike. Of course I had nothing to do with the operation of the mine anyway.  I simply supplied the needs of the men.

 

Supt. McDowell has bean expecting trouble and asked the local authorities for protection as early as Monday.  Yesterday additional guards  were expected after we learned the local authorities could not be counted on for help and when they were on their way the first trouble occurred.

 

The mine officials were notified that these guards were ambushed about eight miles out from Carbondale and McDowell notified the sheriff who went out to the seat of the trouble.  Shortly after men started to gather around the mine and the shooting began. We all protected ourselves behind the steam shovels and trenches and got thru the night without any serious casualties.

 

Shortly after six o’clock this morning the men started firing again and McDowell ran up the white flag of truce.  The men called upon us to march out in single file and as we did so an armed man was placed aside of each of us. There were I think fifty of us in all.

 

When the arrangement was completed we were ordered to march up the road in the direction of Herrin.  As we reached the railroad switch[12] just west of the mine McDowell, who the men seemed to feel most strongly against, was shot.  A little farther on one of the men called “Let’s go clean the scabs” and the men started to run.  We ran past the power house[13] through the woods to a point about one hundred yards in where a barbed wire fence stopped us.  While the men were tearing this down or trying to climb over there was a regular fusillade of shots after which only six of us remained.

 

This group was then tied together with a rope around our necks and ordered to march ahead.  We continued to a point near the graveyard when I was shot in the heel.  I fell, carrying some of the others with me and once more there was a volley which left us all on the ground wounded.  It was while we lay there that men came up and beat us.  The pleadings of the wounded was most pitiful.  I begged for water.  A woman with a child in her arms to whom I appealed in the name of Christianity gave me a kick instead and one of the men pulled out a knife and slashed my throat.  I then lay still and woke up in the hospital.

 

“The bullet scarred trees in the woods immediately north of the Coal Belt Power plant and the pools of blood alongside of the broken barbed wire fence evidenced the spot where the mine workers tried to escape in the woods.

 

“At various intervals on the road into Herrin a torn cap, bloody shirt marked the route taken.  When the bodies were carried into the town, Coroner William McCowan[14] ordered them brought into a vacant store.  Here they were dumped into heaps one on top of the other.

 

“While they were being laid out in rows a hurry call for caskets brought pine boxes upon which the men were laid, stripped of their clothing and washed.  A sheet was then thrown over them and the doors opened to the thousands of people which surrounded the building.

 

“Men, women with babes in their arms, and children marched past the eighteen bodies for hours during which time the flies began to gather and it was not long before the faces which were badly cut were covered with the insects.

 

“Among the effects of the dead man was found part of an honorable discharge from the army of a man by the name of Smith.  Another bore the name of James Sayglin, who was discharged at Camp Travis, Texas on July 23^rd, 1921. A third was marked G. Ward, Co. C, 1^st Infantry.  The body of Supt. McDowell was removed to Marion and the only other identification was that of a man supposed to be Emil John of Chicago. Practically no marks of identification were found on the clothing of the others and it may be impossible to identify them as all the records of the company were destroyed by fire.

 

“The question of who is responsible for the riot, is a matter that will probably not be settled until some outside investigating body gets into the district.  The union officials put the blame upon the mine owners for trying to operate in a 100 per cent union territory and for hiring guards that invited trouble.  They claim the trouble was started when a miner by the name of Guy Hudgins was shot by a guard while on his way to Herrin on a business tip.

 

“Their claims in a measure are borne out by Sheriff Melvin Thaxton who tells of a conference with W. J. Lester, owner of the mine, Delos L. Duty, states attorney, Supt. C. K. McDowell and Colonel Hunter in which he urged that the mine be shut down.  He says that Lester stated that he had bought and equipped the mine for the purpose of mining and shipping coal and that he proposed to do it.

 

“Colonel Hunter, who arrived in Marion on Sunday to look the situation over, has kept a chronological record.  He was induced by the American’s representative to make it public through his paper as it serves one of the best records of the important factors leading up to and including the riot.  ‘I came down here Sunday on my own initiative, Adj. Gen. Black was up at Camp Logan and when I got word of the trouble down her I decided to investigate as I knew this would be the Generals desire if he were here.  Let me say right here that I did not have the power to call out troops at any time.  The law compels me to wait until the local authorities announce the situation was beyond their control and ask for troops.  I kept in constant touch with the sheriff, but was always advised by him that he had the situation well in hand.  As a matter of fact I took a chance and exceeded my authority in a number of instances and the record I have here will prove this to be so.’

 

“This record is as follows:

 

Sunday, June 18^th. – Advised of possible trouble in the district around Herrin and Marion.  Notified States Attorney and Sheriff to arrange conference with all sides represented.  At this conference urged Lester to close down mine, stating it was a menace to the community to attempt to operate because of exiting conditions.  Lester refused.

 

Monday, June 19^th, and Tuesday, June 20^th. – Investigating.  Sees seriousness of situation and asked Sheriff if he needs help.  Sheriff states he feels competent with his deputies to handle situation.

 

Wednesday, June 21^st – 1:00 p.m.  Notified from Herrin that mob of fifty men raided Herrin Supply Co. of rifles and 3,000 rounds of ammunition.  Called manager and verified report; also learned that Turner’s Hardware store and Bracy Hardware Co. were visited and 2,500 round of shot gun and rifle ammunition taken.

 

1:05 p.m. – Notified Marion stores to remove guns and ammunition from premises.

 

1:30 p.m. – Notified that Mosely store in Marion visited and some fire arms taken.  Other stores entered but ammunition and guns had been removed.  Attempt made to secure guns and ammunitions from local chapters of American Legion but they had been removed.

 

2:00 p.m. – Notified crowd of 600 assembled at cemetery near Herrin.  Notified Sheriff’s office and deputy answered, stating Sheriff had gone to boundary line of county near Carbondale to investigate shooting….In absence of sheriff asked deputy what he was doing and he informed me that he was the only one there on duty but there was another at Herrin with extra men.

 

2:30 p.m. – Called Herrin to learn if possible if any deputies or police made any effort to look up picnic crowd.  Was informed that they had not.

 

3:15 p.m. – Supt. McDowell called me by phone.  Stated men were marching on mine. That they were firing and about 500 shots had been exchanged.  He asked for troops and I informed him that I had no authority under the statute to order them out.  Told him civil authority must make request and that they informed me they were able to take care of any emergency.

 

3:30 p.m. – McDowell called again.  Mob has now increased and has mine surrounded.  In dire distress.

 

3:50 – Assistant Supt. Shoemacher[15] phoned stating one of their men was shot.  McDowell got on phone and again asked for troops.  Tried to get sheriff.

 

4:15 p.m. – Called McDowell.  Told him couldn’t find sheriff.  Still out towards Carbondale.  He said ‘What shall I do?’  I suggested a flag of truce and asked him to see if further trouble could not be averted.  Asked him to withdraw men and arrange with miners to let his men leave the mine peaceable and they would shut down.  Said he would if I would get in touch with union officials to also run up a flag of truce.  I agreed.

 

4:30 p.m. – Notified by miners that George Henderson, one of their men was killed and two others wounded.

 

5:30 – Got Fox Hughes, vice president of United Mine Workers, on phone.  Advised him of what McDowell asked and he agreed to do it.  Said he, Willis and Secretary Davis would go to mine under flag of truce and endeavor to call off their men.

 

5:45 p.m. – Called McDowell and told him union officials agreed to terms.  He said firing had ceased.

 

6:00 p.m. – Called Hughes.  He had not started.  Suggested that he personally see flag put up:  Agreed to go at once.

 

6:00 p.m. – Called McDowell.  Advised him Hughes was on his way from Herrin with flag and ordered McDowell not to fire on Hughes and his men.  Called Hughes again and was gone.  Later learned officials went and shooting ceased until dawn.

 

10:30 – Advised that tracks were dynamited.

 

1:00 a.m. Quite and evidently trouble over for night.  Returned home.

 

7:00 a.m. Reports indicate little or no trouble.

 

8:00 a.m. – Went to mine with sheriff and learned that during the night the guards deserted the mine and that mine had been rushed, the workers taken prisoners.  Informed they were to be marched…[unclear – to or by] Herrin, put on trains and sent out of country.  Both Sheriff and I believed trouble over and went back to Marion so I could notify adjutant general.  On our arrival we are notified that the men were taken out in the road and shot.  Rushed to scene of shooting and find their bodies had been removed to Herrin.

 

“The check up on the dead in injured show that there are two union men dead, Henderson and Pitchovie [unclear, perhaps Pitchovle], in Odd Fellows hall.  Seventeen bodies are in the morgue at Herrin.  Body of McDowell taken to Marion.

 

“The injured list is made up of three injured guards in Carbondale.  Fourteen injured miners and mine workers in hospital at Herrin.

 

“Missing list – Out of the fifty-two who left the mine 18 remain unaccounted for.  Six guards who escaped from ambushed…[truck] still missing….

 

“Herrin, Ill., June 24 [?]. – Official investigation of the mine was which killed from 27 to 45 near here began today in response to insistent demands from Governor Len Small for action by local authorities when Coroner McGowan announced today an inquest would be held immediately and States Attorney Duty stated that a grand jury would be called following the inquest to investigate the massacre.

 

“The States Attorney expressed doubt that any definite result would be obtained through the investigation, saying that it was virtually impossible to obtain evidence.  He insisted, however, that every possible step would be taken and telegraphed Governor Small to that effect.

 

“Simultaneously Sheriff Thaxton telegraphed to Governor Small in response to the Governor’s demand for investigation on saying that the situation was well in hand and there was no danger of further outbreaks.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Miners’ Prayer Has Been Answered Says Herrin Placard After Bloodshed.” 6-23-1922, 1.)

 

June 23: “Cairo, Ill., June 23.  Company K. of the 130th Illinois National Guard is in uniform with all equipment, mobilized and in readiness to entrain any minute for the scene of the rioting at Herrin, responding to Gov. Small and Adjutant Black [orders?] issued last night.  Two coaches, dispatched from Carbondale are here to take the troops to Herrin over the Illinois Central. Other units of the guard ordered to mobilize, according to press dispatch are the Salem unit and the Carbondale Company.  It is likely, however, that only the Officers of the Carbondale company will be ordered to the coal fields as the unit here has just been organized and equipment has not arrived.

 

“Chicago, Ill., June 23. – The official order moving the troops is held by Gov. Small pending advices from Col. Hunter and Major Robt. W. Davis, who are the Governor’s personal representatives in the field of the trouble.  The Governor, however, announced that the troops would be sent on their way within five minutes after a request was made on him by these representatives.

 

“Waukegan, Ill., June 23 (AP) – Both Colonel Hunter of the Adjutant General’s staff and Sheriff Taxton  [Thaxton] today wired Governor Small that there was no need for troops in the Williamson county mine troubles at this time.  Reports are in circulation that Mr. Small had decided to remove Sheriff Taxton [Thaxton] for failure to preserve order.

 

“Springfield, Ill., June 23 (AP) – Mobilization of the Illinois National Guard Company in Chicago, Delavan, Mt. Vernon, Salem, Danville and Cairo on orders of Adjutant Gen. Black that they be ready to move on three hours’ notice, had been practically completed Gen. Black announced this morning.

 

“Washington, June 23 (AP) — Declaration that those responsible for the Southern Illinois mine disorders should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law was made today by Secretary of Labor Davis in a statement issued after consultation with President Harding.”  (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Troops Ready For Coal Field Action.” 6-23-1922, 1.)

 

June 23:  “Herrin, Ill., June 23 (Associated Press). – Local news stands were informed late last night that if they sold any out-of-town papers containing accounts of the fighting they would be ‘treated roughly.’  The news stands promptly closed up.  Local papers publish comparatively small accounts, and, in fact, nowhere in the county is less news of the massacre published than right here, five miles from the scene of it.

 

“Occasionally a person can slip in the back way of a news stand – just as if he were seeking a drink – and by whispering softly to the vendor receive a small package, which is hastily slipped into one’s pocket.  Unfolded, it is that much-sought possession, an out-of-town paper with a complete story of the trouble here.  Needless to say the prices have risen in accordance with the law of supply and demand, and real bootlegger’s figures are asked.” (New York Times. “Bar Out-of-Town Papers; Herrin Seeks to Suppress Accounts of Massacre.” 6-24-1922.)

 

June 23:  “Herrin, Ill., June 23. – The Southern Illinois coal region, familiarly known as ‘Little Egypt,’ was placid enough today after the tornado of murderous passion which resulted in twenty to forty deaths in the last two days of bloodshed.

 

“No more non-union strikebreakers remained to be driven off the job, and the open strip mine which was the cause of the riots was closed.

 

“The morgue in Herrin was filled with victims and hospitals here and in Carbondale held fifteen and more of the injured.  Three more bodies were said to have been dragged out of a pond during the afternoon.  Others are supposed to be still in the woods that was the scene of yesterday morning’s massacre.

 

“The feeling in the region today seemed to be far from one of regret.  Groups congregated on street corners and in store fronts and elsewhere, and there was a tone of satisfaction.  It was in th air everywhere in Herrin, not only among the mine folk, but even in business circles. Street talk of the riots and the dead and wounded was shocking in its callousness.  The contents of the morgue were often treated as subjects for jests and gibes.

 

“Along the dusty roads long strings of automobiles were parked near the mine of the Southern Illinois company, while curiosity seekers swarmed to the neighborhood of the timberland, where occurred yesterday’s casualties.

 

“Nowhere it seems is much apprehension that punishment will be visited upon the participants.  The Coroner’s inquest may not be held until Sunday, on account of the difficulty of identifying some of the dead.  Sheriff Melvin Thaxton says full investigation will be had.  He is running for office as County Treasurer, and the labor vote is predominant in Williamson County.

 

“As to bringing in the State troops, that is not under consideration now by the authorities here.  The rioting is over, order has restored itself and no further outbreaks are looked for unless some one tries to open up a mine before the strike is settled.

 

“The miners insist that the provocation was on the other side.  They declare that the armed mine guards, who appear to have fired, started the hostilities.  They set forth that the men were restive because the Southern Illinois Coal Company, which had been given permission to dig off the top sail and uncover the vein by union labor, broke the agreement, discharged the union men and imported labor from Chicago, drummed up along West Madison Street by an employment agency, and started to dig up and load coal for the market.

 

“Remonstrances, they say, were all the men had in mind when they first approached the workings, but the guards opened fire and killed two union men, and this precipitated the wholesale killings the following day.  The guards, according to miners and townsfolk, mounted patrol on the public highway running around the mine and interrupted vehicles and pedestrians.  Also, according to business men in Marion, the mine superintendent, McDowell, on occasions drove into town during the last week or ten days for supplies with mine guards accompanying him and indulged in swagger and loud talk.  It all incited bad feeling, they say, apart from the attempt of the mine to resume operations in a district that is 100 per cent organized.

 

“It is difficult to get the other side’s story owing to deaths or flights.

 

“Union officials declare that the letter of John Lewis, head of the United Mine Workers, saying the strip mine workers were ‘strikebreakers,’ had nothing to do with inciting the bloodshed.  The trouble, they declare, was well started before the Lewis letter came.

 

“The armed mob that perpetrated yesterday’s murders was not composed of foreign elements alone, but was representative of the home-owning Herrin citizens.  There were Americans, Scotch, English, Italians, Lithuanians and representatives of the other varied nationalities that make up this city.

 

“Among business men as well as miners one hears a general sentiment that the strip mine should not have operated.

Colonel Advised Mine to Close.

 

“Colonel Sam N. Hunter, representing Adjutant General Carlos Black, of the Illinois militia, who arrived in Marion on Sunday, says that on Sunday night he went to the mine and after being intercepted a few feet off the public highway by an armed guard was enabled to talk with Superintendant McDowell, one of those beaten and shot to death yesterday.  He advised McDowell to close the mine because to operate it ‘constituted a menace to the public safety.’….

 

“According to the miners, many farmers were in the mob that rounded up the ‘strikebreakers’ and led them off in the direction of the dark woods.  They say the farmers participated because some of them had been abused by the armed guards and intercepted on the public road while going to town on their business….

Says Mine Broke Faith.

 

“An outline of the events that led up to the riots was given by Hugh Willis, the miners’ District Board member.

 

The Southern Illinois Coal Company has been operating for a year under an agreement between the district union and the company for strip mine operations.

 

When the suspension of work at the mines came on April 1 this company was operating under the same contracts as others were and our men suspended work.

 

Later on, through a decision of the Policy Committee of the mine and United Mine Workers, strip mine operation was allowed, to strip the dirt only, with a s specific understanding that the mine would not load coal for industrial purposes.

 

After the mines had stripped dirt for about six weeks the company notified me through a letter from W. J. Lester, General Manager, that it would no longer recognize the agreement entered into with the union and they intended to load coal and ship for industrial purposes, even if in violation of the agreement.

 

Some ten days and more ago Mr. Lester called me and asked that he be permitted to hold a conference.  I granted that.  He requested that we set aside the agreement and be allowed to load coal for the purpose of putting it into the market.  I said I would not repudiate the former agreement signed an entered into by him and me.  Mr. Lester informed me that unless I repudiated the agreement he intended to arrange to mine and ship coal, even if he had to repudiate the agreement.

 

I told Mr. Lester he would have to accept the responsibility of repudiating the contract with me.  Mr. Lester advised me that he did not intend to respect the agreement because his company was in bad financial straits and that he had an opportunity at this time because of suspension of work in others mines to accumulate a nice little fortune and he did not regard his contract as meaning anything when he had the opportunity to clean up and sell coal to the public at any price he desired, notwithstanding the Government itself had said it was opposed to any profiteering in coal prices.

 

This conference was held on June 7.  Then on June 15, I was informed that Mr. Lester had discharged all union miners employed in that mine and had substituted men he had imported from Chicago, including guards with guns and his intention was to mine and load coal.

 

I made a visit to the mine that afternoon.  I found men in charge with guns and they inquired my mission.  I asked for the superintendent and was told I could not see him.  I asked for Mr. Lester and was told he was not present.  I was told to vacate the premises; that I had no business there and was advised by the leader of the gunmen or guards that the sooner I vacated the property the better they would be satisfied.

 

Next Monday, June 19, other officers of the district union visited the mine.  They were told their presence was not desired and to vacate immediately.  Last Wednesday the mines began operating with non-union men as scheduled.  The miners resented this, as it repudiated an agreement.  They went in a body to visit the mines and asked for a conference with the company officials.  They were greeted with machine gun fire.  The results were two miners killed, George Henderson and Joe Petkeuiex.

 

All the miners in the community resented this.  They marched en masse on the place and demanded that the company cease operations.  They were ordered away during the night, and on Thursday morning the miners, incensed because of the two killed, rushed the place, taking charge.  They captured the men the company had imported, marched them down the road, and the result was some twenty or twenty-five were killed.

 

Morgue Visitors Vindictive.

 

“Herrin, Ill., June 23 (Associated Press). – Herrin’s un-honored dead lay pale and stark tonight in the vacant store building that has been pressed into service as a morgue since yesterday’s mine battle.  Past them filed an unending line of men and women, young and old, barefooted boys and little girls bright in their Summer clothes.

 

“The lifted muslin cloths and peered at the pale faces, and at the wounds left by pistol bullets, rifle balls and buckshot.  They lingered, then reluctantly pressed on to some adjoining horror, eager to miss nothing.

 

“Never a word of pity from the crowd.  These were the enemy, slain in a labor war.  These were the men who came to take away their jobs, outsiders, enemies.  ‘Well, it served them right.’ That was the attitude of the town as expressed by its men and women and its children.  Tears, none; sympathy, not much.  These were the enemy.

 

“The dead of half a dozen nationalities lay at peace, for all the crowds, the laughter and the sullen looks.  Bricks beneath their heads for pillows, pick boxes for their beds, they lay awaiting the call of friends and relatives who loved them once and have lost touch with them in the vicissitudes of transient labor.  Most of them, it is safe to say, will be forgotten in the Potter’s Fields, their meagre courses run, their stories finished.  They came here because they wanted a living and because other men wanted to make money.

 

“They died hunted across the fields, stoned, shot at, tied and dragged down dusty country roads because other thousands feared these men would take away their living.

 

“The trees are green in Herrin, and the birds are singing and the crops ripening in the midsummer sun.  From the morgue the crowds drift to the billboards in front of the picture show to see what the posters promise:  to the drug tore for soft drinks, then home for supper.  Only the outsiders show surprise and horror.  People here say:  ‘This is our business.  Sorry, but it’s done.  Let us alone.  We will handle this all right.  We’re good people to get along with – good as anybody if you mind your own business.  We’ll attend to ours.’

 

Two Reviews of the Trouble.

 

“Attempts to sift through the maize of rumors, reports, contradictions and facts of the mine war to obtain an uncolored account of the events leading up to it, tonight after everything was quiet, brought two authentic reviews of the affair, one from a union official and another from a State military official.

 

“Hugh Willis, district board member of the miners’ union, in the first statement from union officials concerning the massacre, told newspaper reporters that the blame lay squarely on the coal operators who imported strike-breakers.

 

“He declared that the first shots were fired by the strike-breakers and that these shots were without provocation and that one of the chief causes of the disaster was the high-handed manner in which the imported workers ‘held up private citizens and refused to let them traverse the public highway by the mine.’  He made no attempt to deny that the affair really was a massacre, but insisted that it was not started by miners.

 

“Colonel Samuel Hunter of the State Adjutant General’s office reviewed his official investigation of the disaster, the following being the salient points of his report:

 

“That Colonel Hunter on half a dozen occasions asked Sheriff Thaxton and other local county officials if they wanted troops sent here, but was told each time – even after the fighting started – that the local authorities could handle the matter.

 

“That he urged the mine officials to close the mine down to avert a disaster, but the request was refused.

 

“That an indignation meeting of 600 miners was held just outside Herrin the day before the fighting started.

 

“That he persuaded the besieged workers to run up a white flag and obtain consent from mine officials for a truce, but that this truce was broken, by whom he did not know.

 

“Both reports termed the armed guards at the mine ‘gunmen.’

 

“Mr. Willis insisted that John L. Lewis’s telegram that the imported men should be treated as ‘common strikebreakers’ did not incite the trouble.  He refused to discuss the Lewis telegram, saying that those received here came from Frank Farrington.  It was understood that he made this statement because of antipathy to Lewis, whom he does not mention when discussing mine unions.

 

“James Richie, another union official, said that the attack on the mine was made mostly by citizens of the community who were not miners and who were incensed over the actions of the guards.

 

“Colonel Hunter’s statement to the reporters said:

 

On June 17 we noticed newspaper stories that trouble was expected here.  We called State’s Attorney D. L. Duty here and he said the situation did not look favorable.  I informed him I would go to Marion, with Major Davis, and asked him to arrange a conference of mine owners, miners and local officials.

 

When I got to Marion, Sheriff Thaxton told me the mine was under armed guards and that there would be trouble unless the operators were persuaded to close it.  He said he did not want troops and that he had made no special arrangements to handle trouble, but that he was sure his office could take care of any emergency.

 

He told me of several instances of citizens being held up and searched by the company’s guards.  He said he and Mr. Duty and the Mayor of Marion had been halted in this way, but that when the guards took him to Superintendent C. K. McDowell of the mine, McDowell agreed to disarm the guards.

 

I drove to the mine later and was halted by four guards, two armed, but not until I was off the highway and on the mine property.  I told Mr. McDowell that feeling was high and that he should close the mine.  He said his company planned to operate.  Later I saw Mr. Lester and urged him to close, but he said he would run the mine.  He said he had twenty-two armed guards which were necessary in accordance with a clause in his insurance contract, and that he did not expect trouble serious enough to force a shutdown.

 

“Colonel Hunter then told of numerous other conferences with local officials in each of which they insisted that troops were not needed and that they could handle the situation.  He said that when he was at the mine he saw several rifles there, although the men did not seem to carry arms.

On the Tuesday before the fight, I was informed that 600 miners had gathered near Herrin in an indignation meeting.  I again asked the local authorities if they wanted troops and again they insisted that they could handle the situation.  Then we formed a citizen’s committee in Marion to try to effect a truce.

 

The next day I was told that many miners were gathering near Herrin and that they had raided three hardware stores there for arms and 5,000 rounds of ammunition.  I tried to reach the Sheriff, but was told he had gone to the scene of reported trouble near Carbondale.  I asked his deputy if he knew of any special preparations for such a situation as the one confronting us and he said no, but that the Sheriff’s office would handle the affair.  I asked the deputy to have the gathering dispersed and he said he would give it his immediate attention.

 

“At 3:15 P.M. McDowell telephoned from the mine that a crowd of miners had marched to the mine and about fifty shots had been exchanged.  I told the Sheriff’s office and asked that a force of men be sent to disperse the crowd.  A deputy said he would send them.  At 3:30 P.M. McDowell telephoned again and said he must have protection.  Later his assistant, Shoemaker, called and asked fro troops.  I explained that I could not call troops until requested to do so by local officials and that there were no troops in the county….

Patients in Hospital Uneasy.

 

“The quarter from which comes the greatest concern over possible results of the massacre was at the Herrin Hospital, where were taken the non-union workers who were so fortunate as to escape immediate death.  In the early morning crowds containing many union men gathered about the hospital.  There was no hint of hostility toward the wounded men, but the mere presence of the throngs caused an uneasiness to develop among the patients.

 

“Finally one man, Robert McLenon, 317 Stanley Terrace, Chicago, lying helpless with bullet wounds through his right shoulder, right leg and at least fourteen other buckshot wounds upon his body, begged leave to speak to Dr. John T. Black, Superintendent of the hospital.  ‘Doctor, I want to be removed to Chicago at once,’ he pleaded.  ‘You see, I noticed it was a wild young bunch that did all that shooting yesterday, and I’m afraid some of them will fill up on moonshine and storm the hospital.  If they get started they might drag us all out and hang us.’

 

“Dr. Black sought to sooth McLenon’s fears, but the uneasiness gradually crept throughout the hospital.  Dr. Black communicated with Sheriff Thaxton at Marion.  The Sheriff at once got into touch with union officials, who assured him the anxiety of the patient was utterly groundless.

 

“Nevertheless Sheriff Thaxton, accompanied by Deputy John A. Schafer, drove immediately to the hospital.  He was met there by Colonel Hunter and Mayor A. C. Pace of Herrin.  The officials made a complete inspection of the hospital, pausing to talk to each man.  The wounded were given every assurance that they were perfectly safe and that everything possible would be done for their welfare.

 

“Earlier a long conference was held between Colonel Hunter and the Sheriff in which plans were completed for meeting instantly any sign of further trouble.

 

“At the conclusion of their talk Colonel Hunter called State Adjutant General Carlos Black on long distance telephone.  Copies of telegrams sent by the sheriff to Governor Small at Waukegan yesterday were read to General Black, the Colonel reiterating the sheriff’s opinion that no further violence could be expected and that troops would be needless.  ‘Sheriff Thaxton wants me to say to you that he has begun a thorough investigation and hopes soon to have the guilty men in custody,’ Col. Hunter told General Black.

 

“Before leaving for the massacre zone, Col. Hunter dispatched a long confidential message to the Adjutant General detailing the situation and his views.

 

“According to Coroner McCown, the bodies of the following non-union workers massacred have been at least partially identified:  C. E. Davis, John Emil, Fred Lang, Arthur B. Miller, 1,260 West Madison Street; Antone Mulkovaicz, Allen C. Novine, all of Chicago; Nathan D. Novine of Poseyville, Ind., who may also be James Songhuzo, according to an army discharge paper found upon the body.

 

“One identification considered positive is that of Robert Shoemaker, said to be the son of the Mayor of Charlestown, Ill.  The body of Shoemaker, holder of two college degrees, was identified by his aged father….” (New York Times. “No Regret in Mine Field Over Massacre; Strikers Defend Attack, Blame Guards; District Quiet, Troops Ready to Move; Callous Crowd at Morgue. ‘They Got What They Deserved,’ Spectators Saying Viewing Bodies…” 6-24-1922, 1.)

 

June 24:  “Herrin, III., June 24 (AP) — A state military investigation of the Lester mine massacre, which took between 25 and 40 lives, was begun today by a board headed by Major General Milton Foreman of the state militia, acting under orders from Governor Len Small. The orders were issued when the chief executive became angry over failure of local officials to take any steps against the miners who captured and killed the majority of strike breakers working in the strip mine.

 

“General Foreman and his company reached here about 5 o’clock this morning, motoring from Carbondale after reaching there by train at four a. m. They were met by Colonel Samuel Hunter of the adjutant general’s office, who has been here since before the massacre.

 

“His orders to return to Springfield today were cancelled and he immediately became a guide for the military board.  General Foreman and the officers accompanying him proceeded immediately to Marion, the county seat, where conference with State’s attorney Delouis L. Duty and Sheriff Melvin Thaxton were planned.

 

“A tour of the area of the fight was made and it was expected that numerous persons believed to know something of the disorders would be called before the board.

 

“General Foreman had been instructed particularly to learn why the state’s attorney had not taken

steps toward convening a special grand jury, why the coroner’s inquest had not been held, and why those officials repeatedly refused to authorize Colonel Hunter to call for troops, even after an indignation meeting of miners was held the day before the lighting started.  Failure of the local officials to send out an adequate force of deputies the night the fighting began and during the following day, when almost unheard of deeds of cruelty and brutality were committed, also was a point to be investigated.  Another matter to be looked into was why numerous requests from the governor for information after the trouble started were ignored by county authorities and why, when he was receiving scores of telegrams from private citizens telling of the outrages, he was continually informed by the authorities that the situation “was well in hand” and that the troops were not needed.

 

“There was little doubt that General Foreman and his board will not receive a welcome of any particular cordiality from the county authorities as whole.  Persons on the street have been heard repeatedly to remark that if troops had been sent their guns would have been taken away from them.

 

“Mr. Willis and Colonel Hunter, assisted by the sheriff and the state’s attorney worked until early this morning to assure the mines of protection.  “The men have gone back to work and they will stay back under protection mine unions,” Mr. Willis said. “Threats made to them were by irresponsible individuals and not any union officially.”

 

“Search for bodies continued today at some points in the county, although the searching parties were few. Twenty-two bodies had been recovered and it was considered certain that many more still could be found.

 

“Concerning the property loss no definite estimate could be made. The buildings at the mine which were burned did not amount to much, but damage to one steam-shovel blown up, the pumping plant dynamited and two or three freight cars coal burned, probably ran close $100,000. Two freight cars of food supplies were taken.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Open Military Probe of Herrin Massacre. Seek to Settle Blame for Mine War That Exacted From 25 to 40 Lives as Toll.” 6-24-1922, 1.)

 

June 24:  “Waukegan, June 24. — Following receipt of a report from Major General Milton Foreman, at Herrin that troops are not needed there now, Governor Len Small announced at 2:30 this afternoon that he probably would order Adjutant General Black to demobilize the 1,000 men being held under arms at Chicago.  The order -will not go through for a few hours, the governor said.

 

“The guardsmen will be instructed, the governor said, to hold themselves in readiness to be called again if needed. General Foreman, who headed the investigation, sent to Herrin last night by the governor, reported through General Black that no further trouble is expected unless the mining companies try to resume operations.

 

Would Mean Trouble.

 

“General Foreman reported, that if the mine operators send men to look after their property and repair the machinery dynamited by the mob Thursday it will provoke further trouble and troops will be necessary.

Wants Drastic Action.

 

“Quincy, Ill., June 24. – Representative A. Otis Arnold of Quincy, today dispatched to Governor Len Small a message suggesting a special session of the legislature to enact an industrial court law designed to prevent disturbances similar of those of ‘Williamson county.  The Quincy legislator also suggested legislation to create a state police force to deal with such outrages.

 

‘No Free America.’

 

“Washington, June 24. — The southern Illinois mine disorders was held up by Senator Myers, Democrat, of Montana, in the senate today as ‘proof’ that there is no free America and a justification for the assertion that there can be ‘no free America so long as American citizens cannot work where, when, for whom and at whatever price they choose without seeking the consent of an invisible government — an organized minority’.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL.  “Small Demobilizes State Troops – Told To Await Recall.” 6-24-1922, 1.)

 

June 24:  “Chicago, June 24 (AP). — Legal action for the recovery of damages sustained by the Southern Illinois Coal company, the result of the mine riots at Herrin and the destruction of the company’s strip mine there, will be started, immediately against the United Mine Workers of America and Williamson county on behalf of the company, and the families of its dead employes, Follett W. Bull, attorney !or the coal company announced Friday night.

 

“The suit against the United Mine Workers, the attorney pointed out, will be the first suit under the Coronado decision by the supreme court holding labor organizations liable for damages. The suit against the United Mine Workers probably will be filed in the federal court at Indianapolis and that against Williamson county at Marion, Ill., the county seat.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL.  “Herrin Mine Suit to Test Coronado Court Decision.” 6-24-1922, 1.)

 

June 24:  “Herrin, Ill., June 24. — Scores of men employed at Williamson county coal mines to guard and keep the mines in shape during the strike quit work Friday night under threats from certain union miners, but shortly after midnight they returned to work when Hugh Wills, mine union district board member, personally promised them protection and placed union miners to guard them from any fresh outbreaks.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Scores Quit Work at Herrin but Get Union Protection.” 6-24-1922, 1.)

 

June 24:  “Chicago, June 24. — Details of the death march and massacre in the coal fields of southern Illinois were related yesterday by two of the four survivors who arrived in Chicago during the day.  Still shaken by the horrors they had witnessed by realizing that they were safe, the two men talked freely of their experiences.  Both the men, Fred Bernard, first cook, and Louis Bert, second cook, of the strike breakers’ camp who were sent down to the strip mine of the Southern Illinois Coal company by the Bertrand Commissary company, 561 West Madison street, attribute the fact that they were not murdered with the other men to miracles.

 

“Bernard escaped death after being captured by the fact that he found a brother fraternity member among his persecutors. Bert was also freed with him and told to get out of the county.  The strikers, according to both Bernard and Bert, were armed with every conceivable kind of weapon, carrying club, pitchforks, butcher knives, razors and firearms, including shotguns, rifles and revolvers.

Foreign Element.

 

“According to Bernard it was not the Americans or the colored men among the miners who caused the trouble.  The mob, augmented by the foreign elements of the various towns in the coal fields, got beyond the control of the conservative element, who possibly would have lived up to the safe conduct which they gave the mine officials.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “`Foreign Element To Blame’ Says Herrin Survivor.” 6-24-1922, 1.)

 

June 24:  “Chicago, June 24. – Approximately half of the thirty men sent to Herrin, Ill., to guard the property of the Southern Illinois Coal company are alive and have been accounted for, the Edward J. Hargrave Secret Service Agency, which furnished the men, announced Friday night.”  (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Account For Half.” 6-24-1922, 1.)

 

“Washington, June 24. – President Harding was reported Friday as regarding the southern Illinois mine disorders as deplorable, while Secretary Davis, in a statement issued after consultation with the President, declared those responsible for the outrages should be punished to

the full extent of the law.”  (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “`Deplorable’–Harding.” 6-24-1922, 1.)

 

June 24:  “Herrin, Ill., June 24 (AP) — In politics Williamson county, scene of the Lester mine massacre, presents a solid front — solidly Republican, solidly Len Small, solidly miners – in office.

Miners In Control.

 

“The county is ninety per cent miners, a large percentage of them being foreign born. West Frankfort, Johnson City, Herrin, Cartersville — all of these towns are made up largely of foreigners, most of whom are miners.  Marion, the county seat, is the one possible exception. Its population has a smaller percentage of foreigners than the other towns, but an equal percentage of miners.

 

“Politics in the county is controlled by the mine vote. Sheriff Melvin Thaxton is a former coal digger and is highly thought of by the miners.  ‘Mel.’ they call him in affectionate tone’s and he knows every miner in the county. Thaxton now is a candidate for county treasurer and the miners say he will be elected.

Duty Not Miner.

 

“State’s Attorney Duty is not a miner but comes from a mining family. He is about 35 years old and his cotton breeches held up by suspenders his lack of a coat and his panama hat make him a figure easily recognized.  Duty also is highly thought of by the mining population. Duty was elected by a population ninety per cent miners and none of them express regret over the vote.

 

His Honor Former Miner.

 

“Mayor Pace of Herrin also is a former miner. In fact, about 95 per cent of the county officials and the authorities in every town are miners, former miners and from a mining family.  From the state standpoint this is an unusual occurrence.

 

“The people of the county refer to the governor as “Len” and seem to approve of much of his administration.  They talk of his promises of good roads.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Herrin, Notorious for Mine Massacre, Unusual Place.” 6-24-1922, 1.)

 

June 24:  “Some me were working in a Southern Illinois mine, working according to the law and the Constitution.  Those are inferior sanctions.  Were they lawfully employed according to union law, the supreme authority?  State Senator Sneed, as President of the Herrin District of the United Mine Workers, consulted that supreme authority in this case, President Lewis.  The suspected miners were members of the Steam Shovelmen’s Union.  They claimed that an agreement by the American Federation of Labor gave them ‘the right’ to work the shovels and strip and load coal.  The supreme authority replied that the Steam Shovelmen’s Union had been suspended from the American Federation of Labor.  ‘Representatives of ‘our organization are justified in treating this crowd as an outlaw organization and in viewing its members in the same light as they would view any other common strike-breakers.’

 

“The vindicators of the higher law, sure of that law, proceeded to enforce it.  An armed mob assembled.  At the first attack the ‘outlaws’ surrendered.  The mob, composed mainly of ‘Americans,’ proceeded to punish the ‘outlaws’ with a gracious inventiveness worthy of Apache artists of cruelty in their prime.  They were tied up in convenient batches of from three to half a dozen and killed like rats.  They ran the gauntlet while the new Apaches shot them down.  They were cut and copped with knives, beaten to death with bludgeons.  Some of them were hanged, doubtless by conservative or humorous massacrers, parodying the methods of the superseded lower law.  To men wounded to death the last alms of a drink of water was denied.  The dying and the dead were insulted.  The dynamiting of the coal company’s property finished the glorious morning’s work.

 

“The Sheriff and other county officials owe allegiance to the United Mine Workers.  The Associated Press tells us that ‘many persons in the ‘county uphold the slaughter as a rightful act of judgment.’  Why not?  What right has a ‘scab,’ a ‘strike-breaker’?  He is an ‘outlaw.’  Kill him!’  Some citizens of Herrin, bubbling over with laughter at the rightful act of judgment, say that ‘some of these days people will realize that it doesn’t pay to try to break a strike in Williamson County.’

 

“It is for Americans outside of Williamson County and outside the sacred supra-legal circle of the union to ponder this arch-deed of savagery.  Is the law of the statute books or tumultuary[16] violence, executing the will of the labor union, to prevail?  At the moment when a strike to paralyze the communications of the country is blithely promoted, consideration of the rights of all as against the usurpations of a class, of law for all against the lawbreaking of a class, is especially needed.  ‘Ordered freedom under the law’ – what a fine, sonorous phrase!  In Williamson County and, from time to time, in many other parts of the country it is nothing but a phrase, an irony, a cruel joke.  It was fortunate that the United States didn’t accept a mandate for Armenia.  Our own massacres will keep us more than busy.” (New York Times. “The Massacre of ‘Scabs’ (Editorial).” 6-24-1922.)

 

June 24:  “Herrin, Ill., June 24. – Following a hasty but comprehensive survey of the situation with other members of the military investigating commission sent here today by Governor Small, Major Gen. Milton J. Foreman issued a statement n which he said the investigation seemed to indicate that there is no present need for sending troops….

 

“Mayor Pace of Herrin has promised that the eighteen wounded men in the hospital there would be given the best of care, and when they are finally discharged they will be escorted to safety….

 

General Criticizes Sheriff.

 

“Chicago, June 24….Asked by Adj. Gen. Black whether he thought the Sheriff of Williamson County had done his duty to the best of his ability, General Foreman replied: ‘I think the Sheriff has little ability and no nerve.’

 

“He added, however, that he had arranged with a responsible citizen to notify the Adjutant General at the first sign of further trouble.

 

“A telegram charging Williamson County authorities with failure to disarm the Herrin miners and asking that troops be sent into the blood-shattered massacre zone was sent to Adj. Gen. Black today by the Southern Illinois Coal Company.  The telegram read:

 

We were reliably informed at midnight on Friday, the 23^rd, that not a single officer of the law had been, or was then, guarding what little remained of the Southern Illinois Coal Company’s property.  On Friday afternoon the company’s safe, which until then was intact, was blown open and publicly rifled.  It would be sure death to send any representatives into Herrin to check up on our wounded or to remove the bodies of the slain.

 

The Red Cross and the press are trying to aid us in this, but the Sheriff of Williamson County is still wholly failing and refusing to perform his duty.  The arms and ammunition, taken forcibly from the stores by the mob, are still held by its members.  No attempt to disarm the mob has been made and none will be made until you send troops.

 

Such armed conditions, and the fact that still no authority is shown and no punishment is in sight, will lead to further outbreaks.  Mobilizing a regiment in Chicago has little effect on a mob in Williamson County.  Our information is reliable, and we again urge and request that troops be sent into Williamson County in adequate numbers.

 

“….None of the old and established coal companies favored attempting to open the mines at this time, the general declared….

 

“Arthur S. Lytton, of the firm of Bull, Lytton & Olson, attorneys for the company, returned today from an investigation trip to Herrin.  He said Sheriff Thaxton was dodging his duty, and there was danger of further outbreaks.

 

“Mr. Lytton conducted his investigation from Marion.  He said he was threatened with death if he proceeded further into the disordered region.  ‘County officials are entirely under control of the miners’ he said, ‘because the union labor vote determines elections.  The local authorities took no measures to protect property.  There was no guard provided at the mine yesterday, and some one blew open the company’s safe.  I don’t think we can look for an investigation unless it comes from the outside.’

 

“After travelling on foot and freight train since the night of the massacre one of the wounded strike-breakers, Michael Lelah, the steam shovel engineer, reached Chicago today.  His escape, he said, was due to his success in feigning death when the strikers were dispatching the wounded men after their first burst of fire had dropped the men being marched from the mine to Herrin. ‘One of them gave me a look and a kick and then passed on,’ Lelah said.  ‘When they were gone I crawled into the woods and covered myself with brush until night.  Then I walked eighteen miles to the railroad, and caught a freight.’

 

Get Report for Daugherty.

 

“Herrin, Ill., June 24 (Associated Press). – An investigator for the Department of Justice obtained a statement tonight from Hugh Willis, board member of the Herrin sub-district of the United Mine Workers of America in which he gave his version of the events leading up to the killing of the non-union mine workers and guards.

 

“It is understood that wounded men in the hospital here have given their version of the storming of the mine and of the slaughter and that the completed report will be transmitted direct to Attorney General Daugherty.  The agent told the Associated Press correspondent that he had completed an investigation of the tragedy from all angles.

 

“Howard Hoffmann, non-union man wounded in the mine massacre here died at the Herrin State Hospital this afternoon….

150 Miners Flee Inquiry.

 

“Carbondale, Ill., June 24 (Associated Press). – More than 150 miners from the Herrin district passed through here last night and early today, going out of the coal fields.  They were believed to be union men.  Those that could be approached would give no reason for this exodus and the names of the men were likewise not available.

 

“There was no noticeable number of transients from the coal mines in the two nights previous, and it was only after the announcement that the Governor’s commission would meet in Herrin today that the number increased to such an extent as to cause comment.

 

“The father and mother of C. K. McDowell, slain mine superintendent, arrived here early today and were met by a man from Herrin who advised them not to proceed to Herrin at this time.  The elder McDowell disregarded this advice, but his wife remained here to meet Superintendent’s widow, who is believed to be on the way here from St. Louis.

 

“A man giving the name of Adams and his home as Logansport, Ind., one of the wounded non-union men, reached here last night.  He had walked about twenty miles from Herrin to this railroad centre following the fight and while here refused medical attention in his haste to get a train out of the district.

Mob Leaders Still Exultant.

 

“Marion, Ill., June 24. – Slow dawning horror is striking ‘Little Egypt’[17] and other towns are beginning to call for an investigation of the massacre near Herrin for punishment of those responsible for the mob atrocities.  In Herrin itself the general attitude is still one of deep satisfaction over the wholesale murders.  While some of the labor leaders appear to be rather stunned by the ferocity of Thursday morning’s outburst, the miners in general and many of their lesser leaders are still exultant.  Hatred of the ‘strike-breakers’ is carried beyond death.  The intensity of feeling is gone, but unbelievable as it may sound, the massacre is still a cause for mirth and laughter.  The morgue with its sheeted victims is still the side-show.

 

“Marion and other cities in the region are aghast over the outbreak.  As the outside newspapers come in, giving further details and telling how the outside views the murders, the citizenry is asking “what can be done?’   ‘Nobody will be punished,’ is the general talk in Herrin.  So many participated in the outbreak and the mob was such a representative cross section of the population, that the view is it would be extremely difficult to hang responsibility on any individual.

 

“Politics is involved, for the mining vote casts the great bulk of the ballots.  So far as any real investigation goes it is well recognized that the local Government is a futility.

 

“At Marion, the county seat, the general talk is that any investigation worth the name would have to come from outside.  A. D. Rodenberg of Centralia and W. E. Trautmann of East St. Louis, are looking the ground over for Attorney General Brundage’s office.  As yet they have voiced no conclusions.  Delos Duty, States attorney, who got the conviction of the men who were executed for the killings at West Frankfort last year,[18] declares that he will push investigations.  But Mr. Duty has no force of investigators to round up evidence.  The County Board, which might give him a force in an emergency, has about thirty members and some two-thirds of this are miners.  Thus Mr. Duty’s hands are tied.

 

“Sheriff Thaxton talks of a ‘thorough investigation.’  Williamson County laughs over this, for the Sheriff is running for election as County Treasurer and the miners have the votes.  There is much criticism of the Sheriff for his insistence, prior to the outburst, that he had the situation well in hand.  For at least a week a demonstration had been looked for by the townspeople. In the two days of rioting the Sheriff apparently was not on the ground at any time while the outbursts were in progress.  There are reports that some deputy sheriffs witnessed the shootings, but made to effort to calm the mob.  Removal of the Sheriff by Governor Small has been rumored as a possibility.  The natives here say that would simply serve to make him County Treasurer by a landslide vote in November.

Say Troops Could Not Have Helped.

 

As to whether the calling out of State troops would have averted the murders, one view here among substantial citizens is that although the presence of troops might have delayed the outbreak it would have come eventually after withdrawal of the soldiers, if the mine continued to run.  And they argue that the effect would have been to stir the miners up still more by the idea that the State soldiers were being used to protect a ‘strikebreaking’ mine and the whole region with its more than 25,000 miners would have been up in resentment and turmoil.[19]

 

“As conservative townspeople and some mine operators here view it, although the stark brutality of the murders cannot be sufficiently deplored, yet the starter of the trouble was the Southern Illinois Coal Company. The mines of Illinois are 100 per cent unionized, and to attempt to run the strip mine at Crenshaw Crossing with non-union labor, protected by armed guards, was to invite mob outbursts….” (NYT. “Sheriff’s Timidity Blamed by General in Mine Massacre; Head of Governor’s Investigating Board Says Herrin Official Failed in Crisis.” 6-25-2012, 1.)

 

June 25:  “Herrin, Ill., June 25. – Entire responsibility for the murders of nineteen non-union workers and two union minters in the riots and massacre at a strip mine near here last Wednesday and Thursday was laid upon the officials of the Southern Illinois Coal Company, mentioned specifically by name, in the verdict rendered by a Coroner’s Jury here today.

 

“The portion of the verdict on this point reads:

 

We, the Jury, find from the deaths of the deceased that the deaths were due to the acts direct and indirect of the officials of the Southern Illinois Coal Company.  We recommend that investigation be conducted for the purpose of fixing the blame upon the individuals responsible.

 

“….McDowell was slain in Thursday’s disorders, the miners venting a special vengeance upon the superintendent.  The Coroner and jury directed O. A Jenkins, Herrin undertaker, who has had charge of caring for the dead, to make a notation on the Henderson death certificate to the effect that Henderson ‘came to his death from bullets fired by C. K. McDowell and that it was murder.’

 

“A verdict that the remaining slain, including Pitchiewicz, came to their death through gunshot wounds inflicted by unknown persons was returned.  Records of the undertaker placed the total number of dead at twenty-one.  This includes Henry Hoffman, non-union worker, who died from his wounds at Herrin Hospital yesterday.  His body has been claimed by relatives.

 

“Earlier in the day the burial of sixteen non-union workers, whose bodies have lain unclaimed by friends or relatives in an improvised morgue since Thursday’s massacre, took place under the supervision of Mayor A. T. Pace of Herrin.

 

“The sixteen were accorded a last resting place in paupers’ graves in an obscure corner of the Herrin cemetery.

Inquest is Perfunctory.

 

“The inquest conducted by Coroner McCown of Williamson County was perfunctory.  The jury, composed of three union miners and three business men, was headed by Joseph Boringer, one of the miners.

 

“Little besides establishment of the corpus delecti through undertakers who handled the bodies and the fact that the shooting actually occurred was brought out by the questioning of the dozen or more witnesses.

 

“After several witnesses had been examined the noise of a band playing a funeral dirge was heard.  It was the passing of the funeral procession of Joseph Pitchiewicz, union miner, who, with George Henderson, was shot down near the strip mine Wednesday night.  Coroner McCown immediately adjourned the hearing to give all an opportunity to witness the procession.  After the cortege had passed the questioning was resumed.

 

“The most important witness heard was Colonel Samuel N. Hunter, representative of State Adj. Gen. Carlos Black, who was hurried to the trouble zone last Sunday when the first news of rioting reached Springfield.  Colonel Hunter merely related visiting the mine to investigate the situation, and told of his attempts to get Superintendent McDowell to close down.  ‘As I approached the mine my car was halted by an armed guard, who forced me to alight,’ said Colonel Hunter. ‘When I was allowed to proceed I found Superintendent McDowell in his office.  I asked him about reports that traffic on the public highway had been held up by his guards.  He denied this was true, and said if his investigation revealed any such thing he would discharge the offenders.  ‘I said to him: ‘Don’t you know you are inciting trouble by trying to run this mine in the midst of this highly unionized county?’  ‘McDowell differed with me, and said they would keep right on operating.  I then got him to promise to confine his guards strictly to mine property, and suggested they walk their posts unarmed.  He agreed.’

 

“`Did you find any machine-gun nests?’ asked a juror.  ‘No,’ was the reply.  ‘I searched there three or four times for machine guns.  I found, however, quantities of pistols, Marlin rifles and ammunition.’

 

“Colonel Hunter said State’s Attorney Delos Duty of Marion, in a telephone conversation before he left Springfield, admitted the possibility of trouble.  He said that Sheriff Melvin Thaxton informed him that if trouble occurred it would result from the operation of the non-union mine in a highly unionized community and by the patrolling of public highways by armed guards who stopped all traffic and searched travelers.

 

“Policeman William Thornton of Marion said he visited the mine upon one occasion with Colonel Hunter and told the guards he thought it ‘unbecoming’ of them to stop traffic and slap passers-by.  He said he was informed by the guards that a deadline had been established around the mine.

 

“Claude Holmes, taxi driver, told of one man in an automobile party he drove to the mine being jerked from the car when he ‘did not move fast enough to suit the guards.’  A threat to kill his passengers was made, he said.

 

“Several employes of the power plant near where the massacre took place were witnesses, but none of them gave information of value.  They, one and all, testified they ‘heard shooting’ after seeing the mob with its captives pass, but none would admit he saw shots fired.  No witness gave any testimony whatsoever bearing on the identity of any persons firing shots.

 

“C. E. Anderson, former Mayor of Herrin, now arbiter of the Illinois Compensation Court, testified that the massacre, in his opinion, was precipitated through the killing of Henderson and Pitchewicz.  He saw no one intoxicated on the day of the murders, he said.

 

“Sheriff Thaxton was not present at the inquest.  He was not summoned as a witness, Coroner McCown said.  The Coroner added that he ‘probably should have summoned the Sheriff’ before the proceedings opened.

 

“Besides Joseph Boringer, the jury was composed of Robert Clem, Superintendent of the Herrin Water Works; Lewis Gibbons, miner of Carterville; John Arms, merchant, Johnson City; Philip Noakes, miner, Carterville; Thomas Thornton, electrician, Herrin.

“Colonel Hunter hurried from the inquest to make a new search for bodies reported to be in or about the woods and marshes close to the scene of the shootings.  Information was relayed from the Adjutant General’s office to the Colonel, he said, indicating that all the dead hadn’t been recovered…..

 

“At sun-up a squad of union men, under the supervision of State Senator W. J. Sneed, went to the cemetery to dig the sixteen graves.  They donated their services it was said.

 

“The bodies, in plain black coffins with a plate reading ‘at rest’ upon each, were loaded into hearses recruited from surrounding towns and hauled to the obscure spot in the Herrin cemetery.  The funeral services were brief.  Ministers from the four Protestant churches of the city officiated.  Officials, including Mayor Pace, Senator Sneed, who is head of the local miners’ organization; Colonel Hunter, the score or more of grave-diggers and several newspaper men made up the group that gathered about the graves.

 

“The interment was ‘decent,’ but there was no one present to shed a tear.  No wreaths were placed upon the mounds.  There was not a woman present….

 

Miners Are Leaving Field.

 

“`It will blow over in a week,’ seems to be the prevailing belief in Williamson County regarding Thursday’s massacre of strike breakers, but despite the skepticism that any will be punished, numbers of miners are leaving the nearby mining towns and putting distance between themselves and the scene of the slaughter.  The exodus began two nights ago when a dozen men are reported to have left in flivvers.  Last night three automobile loads of miners drove into Carbondale and the occupants departed on various trains.  The general impression is that they were part of the turbulent element which took the lead when the march of miners, its blood lust aroused, became an unreasoning mob.

 

“Today the hatred that for the last two days has displayed itself in a feeling of open satisfaction over the murders seemed to die down.

 

“As to investigation and punishment, the chances seem diminishing each day.  Court opens in Marion in July and a Grand Jury is to be called if asked for, but the jury lists are picked by the Board of Supervisors and most of them are union miners, so the conservative citizenry sees little in a Grand Jury except perhaps a set of resounding resolutions.  Sheriff Thaxton has said he will ‘investigate thoroughly,’ but the Sheriff is a union member and is running for election as County Treasurer.  States Attorney Duty has declared his readiness to prosecute, but he ahs not the staff of investigators to dig up the evidence and the only way he could get such a staff would be by action of the County Board, about two-thirds of whom are union members.

 

“All this probably will be laid before Attorney General Brundage by his investigators, but the Attorney General himself, it is pointed out here, has virtually no funds for any inquisitorial service due to the veto of one of his appropriations by Governor Small.

 

“Two investigators for Secretary of Labor Davis and Attorney General Daugherty have been on the ground looking into the situation.  What they are particularly interested in, however, is how the workers feel toward a conference with the operators, apparently with Western Pennsylvania and Southern Ohio absent.” (NYT. “Company Blamed for Mine Murders by Coroner’s Jury; Investigation to Fix Responsibility Personally on Officials is Recommended. Superintendent is Blamed.” 6-26-1922, 1.)

 

June 26: “Washington, D.C., June 26 (AP) – Government attempts of intervention of the coal strike were forced here today when Secretary Davis called in John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America for a series of conferences preliminary to looking to steps of settlement of strike.  Impressions are that conferences held with the calling in of operators and union officials of the industry looking to settlement.

 

“Herrin, Ill., June 26. — Williamson county buried the dead in her mine war yesterday, conducted an inquest to determine the cause of their death and today faced the responsibility of bringing the guilty to justice.

 

“With not a single arrest made since the massacre of last Thursday, when at least 19 men were killed after strike sympathizers stormed the Lester mine and with county officials making no visible effort to place the blame the investigation is being made by state and federal agents.

 

“Representatives of the department of justice, department of labor and State Attorney General’s office and the Adjutant General are quietly delving into the cloak of secrecy, which so far has surrounded the identity of the five thousand men who marched from Herrin, took more than 50 unarmed men prisoners, marched them back down the road into a woods and there killed 19 and wounded nearly as many more.

 

“Yesterday six men of Williamson county – three miners, a merchant, an electrician and superintendent of the Herrin Water Works, were solemnly impaneled, listened to the evidence of witnesses called by Coroner McGowan, and returned their verdict.

 

“The found C. K. McDowell, murdered superintendent of the Lester mine, killed a union miner on Wednesday, the day before the massacre.  All the other dead, nineteen in all, including two other strikers, the jury found they came to their death by gun shot wounds inflicted by unknown persons.

 

“Yesterday morning sixteen unknown dead, all non-union workers and guards at the Lester mine, were buried by the county in potter’s field.

 

“The state and federal investigators worked far into the night following clues which they have found.  At 1 o’clock this morning they visited the Herrin hospital to question Allan Findley, timekeeper for the detective agency which furnished the twenty-six guards.”

….

“Herrin, Ill., June 26. – Investigators are seeking to fix the responsibility for the massacre in which at least 21 lost their lives and nine were wounded at the Lester strip mine.  Conferences with Sheriff Thaxton indicated that he could have prevented the massacre when the shooting occurred Wednesday and he told Col. Hunter of the Illinois National Guard that they had better stay away from the scene or they would get ‘bumped off.”  The sheriff said he had 12 deputies and three regulars for duty but none of them were sent to the mine until it had been burned, looted and dynamited and eighteen workers killed and a dozen wounded.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Hold Operators to Blame and M’Dowell Guilty.” 6-26-1922, 1.)

 

June 26: “Herrin, Ill., June 26 (AP)….In the afternoon Joe Picavish, a union miner killed in the attack on the mine, was buried.  Five thousand miners marched behind a band in his funeral cortege and 115 automobiles brought up the rear….

 

“The state and federal investigators worked far into the night following clues which have reached them.  At one o’clock this morning they visited the Herrin hospital to question Allen P. Findlay, Chicago, timekeeper for the detective agency which supplied the twenty-six mine guards. Findlay was in the front rank when the mob marched its victims into the death woods and fell at the first volley, with forty-six shot gun pellets in his side.  As he lay on the ground a miner with a revolver fired a shot through his foot.

 

“Findlay told the investigators and Colonel Samuel N. Hunter, Illinois National Guard, that he could recognize the leader of the execution squad and gave a partial description of an elderly, grey-haired man, who took Superintendent McDowell from the ranks before the wood was reached and killed him.

Told of M’Dowell Shot.

 

“Findlay testified at the coroner’s inquest that McDowell shot at two men on Wednesday, during the first attack on the mine, and that he saw one crumple up and the other throw up his arms and fall.  The coroner’s jury decided from his description that one of the two was a miner named Henderson, and so found McDowell responsible for his death.

 

“The timekeeper told the investigators that snipers attacked the mine about noon Wednesday and kept up a more or less steady fire until about 3 o’clock, when McDowell, seeing the two men on a hillside a quarter of a mile away, shot them with a high powered rifle.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Dirt Closes Over 16 Mine War Victims. Union Miners Bury Men Slain in Bloody Massacre in Williamson County.” 6-26-1922, 1.)

….

 

“Springfield, Ill., June 26 – Frank Farrington, president of the Illinois Federation of Miners, Sunday issued an appeal to each of the 340 unions in the state to prevent any outbreaks and to help protect the idle mines.  Violence, Mr. Farrington says, cannot possibly help the union cause.

‘Already,” he says, probably referring to Herrin, “we are in disrepute in the public mind and threatened with litigation which may cripple the union.”

 

Cooperate to Check Disorder.

 

This is an appeal to you and through you to our members that you and they cooperate to keep down disorder and violence.  Men who are employed at protecting mining property must not be molested in any manner whatever.  Repair work, as authorized by accredited representatives of our union, must be continued. Construction work, that docs not come under the jurisdiction of our union, must not be interfered with.  Mines that are operating under permit of the district executive board issued in harmony with international policy must not be disturbed.

 

Acts of disorder and violence only stir the public against us and make bitter enemies for us in places where we must have strong friends.  Acts of destruction may appease the inflamed and angered minded, but cannot win any permanent success and if victory depends upon violence our cause is hopelessly lost.

 

“”Already we are in disrepute in the public mind and threatened with litigation that, to say the least, will cripple our union for years to come, if, indeed, the weight of it does not

sink the United Mine Workers of America

 

Therefore I appeal to you to enlist the help of the sober thinking members in your local union and have them join you in maintaining order and obedience to the laws of our union and the land.”

 

(Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Farrington Urges Order.” 6-26-1922, 1.)

 

June 26: “Herrin, Ill., June 26 (AP) – Investigators for state officials, seeking to fix the responsibility for the rioting which cost at least 21 lives at the Lester Strip Mine last week, learned today from Sheriff Thaxton that neither he nor his deputies took any steps to prevent the massacre.

 

“When the shooting started last Wednesday night, the sheriff told investigators, he was advised by DeLos Duty, states attorney of Williamson county to stay away from the scene for fear he would ‘get bumped off’.” (Alton Evening Telegraph, IL. “Sheriff Took No Action To Prevent Herrin Mine Massacre.” 6-26-1922, 2.)

 

June 27:  “Herrin, Ill., June 27 [AP] — Removal from “bloody” Williamson county and the Southern Illinois coal fields of wounded non-union men now in the hospital is one of the problems coming in the wake of last Thursday’s mine massacres.

 

“Twelve wounded survivors of the forty-seven guards and workers who were sent on the ‘death march’ out of the Lester strip mine still are in danger, according to information reaching state and federal investigators.

 

“Lying on their hospital cots their wounds swathed in bandages, some of the wounded sensed that they still were in danger and expressed fear of further violence if they leave the hospital unprotected.

 

“Herrin’s law-respecting citizens believe a body of state troops would solve the problem and dispel any further danger to the imported guards and workers from the wrath of striking miners.

 

“Herrin was speculating today on the fate of the nineteen missing men who completed the gang of sixty-six in the bunk cars on Wednesday night.  Allen P. Findlay of Chicago, timekeeper, who is in the hospital with forty buckshot in his side and a bullet in his foot, is authority for the statement that there were 66 men in the cars when the attack was made.  Whether the missing 19 escaped or were killed in the cars and burned when attackers fired the train was still unknown today.

Other Towns Involved.

 

“Angered because their town has been blamed for the atrocities, Herrin citizens say Johnson City, Zeigler and other mining towns should bear part of the responsibility because many of the rioters came from other towns to join the riot mob which stormed the Lester mine.

 

“Sheriff Melvin Thaxton said he had been unable to get any information leading to the identity of any member of the mob.

Some Probes End.

 

“A number of separate investigations have been concluded by representatives of forces outside the county.  General Foreman, head of the special military board made his report to Governor Small. Two members of the staff of the attorney-general’s office questioned many and went back to Springfield.  A report to the federal department of justice is understood to have been prepared, and two investigators of the labor department got some facts for Secretary Davis.

 

‘Tell No Tales.’

 

“`Dead men tell no tales, and some of those wounded men know too much for the safety of members of the mob,’ one Herrin business man commented.  Hospital officials admitted Monday

night that some union men attempted to remove one of the wounded guards Saturday night, under promise of escorting him over the county line, but they were denied entrance.

 

Added Details.

 

“Allen P. Findlay, of Chicago, timekeeper for the mine guards, who is in the hospital with more than 40 buckshot wounds in the left side and a revolver bullet through his right foot, added more details to his previous accounts of the massacre.  Findlay said there were sixty-six non-union workers and guards in the mine bunk cars Wednesday night, and that only forty-seven were marched away by the mob.  Whether the missing nineteen fled during the night and escaped through the encircling mob, or whether they were killed in the cars and their bodies burned when the attackers fired the bunk train, Findlay does not know.

 

Some From Outside?

 

“Not all of the mob was from Williamson county, according to the story of the Christopher Progress, a labor paper of Christopher, Franklin county, a copy of which an Associated Press correspondent obtained at Marion Monday. The Progress account of the battle says men from Herrin, Marion, Zeigler, and Christopher, were among those present. The editor reports he is ‘positive that on Wednesday night at least 2,000 persons were near the scene of battle. He estimated the union men to number at least 500 who were well armed with high powered rifles, shot guns and pistols.  Ammunition was brought to the miners by the box full and distributed to those whose supply run out earlier in the day’.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Wounded Survivors of Mine Riot Endangered. Problem of Getting Them Out of ‘Bloody’ Williamson Alive, Confronts Officials.” 6-27-1922, 1.)

 

June 26:  “Washington, June 26. – The ruthless murder of the non-union miners at Herrin was denounced in the House this afternoon by Representative Goodykoontz of West Virginia, whose bitter words brought a suggestion from Representative Denison of Illinois, that the facts had been exaggerated and that the public might take a different view of the tragedy if better advised.  It was an interesting situation, for Mr. Goodykoontz’s district includes Mingo, the scene of many mine outrages, while Williamson County, where the Herrin crimes occurred, is in the heart of Mr. Denison’s district.

 

“`The so-called Coroner’s jury verdict pretending to exculpate those responsible for the destruction of human life indicates that these felons even have control of the law,’ said Representative Goodykoontz.  ‘The guilty authors of the atrocious felonies have been laughing in their sleeves and, if the public press is to be believed, their women folk, elated and gloating over the bloody work, gave palpable evidence of satisfaction and joy as they saw the more than forty pallid, mangled, silent victims lying dead.

 

“`Unless the directing heads of the United Mine Workers of America unite with the officials of the State of Illinois in successfully prosecuting and adequately punishing their members who mobbed and brutally killed the non-union working men at Herrin, then that organization will never be able to rise from the lowest state to which certain of its members have caused it to fall.

 

“`Many labor unions are being conducted upon the very highest plane by men of brains.  Members of such unions hate and detest the dynamiters of the structural bridge and iron workers, and the murderers at Herrin that have crept into the mine workers’ union.’

 

“Deploring the use of force and the resort to lawlessness at Herrin, Representative Denison of Illinois, said that nevertheless probably not more than one-fifth of the alleged facts reported were true.  I was a little bit surprised that the gentleman from West Virginia recited gruesome details without further verification,’ said Representative Denison.  ‘There is a great difference between the accounts in the papers from my home at Marion and the metropolitan papers.’

 

“`Does the gentleman mean to say that not more than one-fifth is true in the stories told of the assassination in cold blood of men who sought to exercise their right to work for wages?’ interrupted Representative White of Kansas.  Representative Denison replied that all revolting details told in the newspapers were not necessarily true, at the same time reiterating his disapproval of lawlessness.” (NYT. “Illinois Massacre Stirs Congressmen; Goodykoontz of West Virginia Declares Union Has Fallen to Low Level.” 6-27-1922, 4.)

 

June 28: “Washington, D. C., June 28 [AP] — Charging that the people of Williamson county apparently had given proof in the killing of the non-union men at Herrin, Senator Meyers (Dem.) of Montana, declared in the senate that they were ‘100 per cent disloyal to their country and constitution’.”  (Carbondale Free Press, IL. 6-28-1922, 1.)

 

June 28:  “Washington, June 28. – That the massacre of non-union miners in Herrin, Ill., last week, was anarchy, pure and simple, and a defiance of all constituted law and authority, was the statement made in the Senate today by Senator Myers, Democrat of Montana.  If the crime goes unpunished, he declared that the dereliction of the officers who will be responsible for the failure of justice will be a crime worse than the massacre itself.

 

When I made my remarks in connection with the subject on Saturday…I made the prediction that there would be nothing done about this horrible atrocity; that no punishment would be meted out to the perpetrators of it, and from the very strange and peculiar action of the Coroner’s jury that sat upon the bodies of the dead victims, it appears very probable that my predictions will come true.

 

That affair was one of the most atrocious assaults that has ever been committed in this country on constitutional government, on the constitutional guarantee to every resident of the United States of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; it is one of the worst acts of defiance to all law and government.  If that sort of thing is to continue, and to go unpunished, constitutional government cannot endure.  If the time has come when that sort of thing can exist without punishment, constitutional government in this country is nearing its end, and this Government is nearing its end.

 

That act was one of the most horrible and reprehensible that has ever disgraced this country; it is anarchy pure and simple; defiance of the Federal Government and the State Government; defiance of the Federal Constitution and the State Constitution, defiance of all constituted law and authority.  It substitutes for all law the individual will and judgment of the perpetrators of the atrocity.

 

What is worse than the commission of the crime itself is the fact that the populace of the county where it occurred seems to approve of it.  The populace of Williamson County, Ill., appears to be unitedly and 100 per cent disloyal to the Constitution of the United States.  We have an instance of an entire county being in rebellion against the Government of the United States and the Constitution, and against the Government of the State in which it is situate, and its constitution, of being disloyal to both Federal and State governments, with no prospect of anything being done to remedy it.

 

There has been a good deal said of late about the usurpation of the courts of the rights of the people, but there is no use to talk about other usurpations as long as usurpations of this sort can go unrebuked and unpunished.  There is little room to talk about lynch law in the South as long as this sort of thing is permitted to go unpunished in other sections of the country.  There is little use to talk about the atrocities of the Turks upon the Armenians as long as things of this kind can happen in this country without any apparent punishment for it.[20]

 

If this is to go unpunished, the dereliction of the officers who neglect to do their duty will be worse that the commission of the crime itself, and I see no indication of any intention on the part of officials on the county in which this occurred, or of the officials of the State of Illinois, to mete out any punishment to the perpetrators of this crime.

 

If that sort of thing can prevail in the United States our boasted liberties and freedom of the individual and his constitutional rights amount to nothing.  I predicted on Saturday the probability that there would be no punishment for this offence and I again predict it.  And if nothing is done to remedy this matter and vindicate the law, either by Federal or State officials; I predict that it is going to create one of the greatest and most powerful waves of indignation among law-abiding people that this country has ever known.  It the officials of the State of Illinois do nothing more that they have apparently done already to uphold the dignity of the law, if they do nothing to punish this atrocious assault upon constitutional government and upon the lives and persons of others, the State of Illinois will not be entitled to a place in the Union and will be a disgrace to the Union’.”

 

(New York Times. “Sees Government’s End If Herrin Is Unpunished; Senator Myers Calls Apparent Immunity of Assassins a Challenge to the Constitution.” 6-29-1922, p. 13.)

 

June 29:  “Marion, Ill., June 29 (Associated Press). – A special Grand Jury on July 10 will begin investigating the Herrin massacre at the strip mine.  Last week, Circuit Judge Hartwell announced today.

 

“Excavation of the Southern Illinois Coal Company’s strip mine, where the slain non-union men were employed, was begun this morning, following rumors that a number of bodies were buried at the mine.  The digging is under direction of Coroner McCown.

 

“In announcing the killings would be placed before the Grand Jury, Judge Hartwell explained that this date was the earliest a Grand Jury could be empanelled, as Court is not in session at present.  The Judge emphasized that he would admonish the jurors to inquire into every phase of the mine trouble in an effort to bring those responsible for the massacre to justice.” (NYT. “Herrin Grand Jury Called. Circuit Judge Announces Hearing Will Begin July 10.” 6-30-1922.)

 

June 29:  “The people at Herrin, Ill., are not sorry they did it, but they are sorry about the consequences to their town from the wholesale murders perpetrated there last week. If Herrin was sorry about what happened it would be different, but Herrin hasn’t shown the grace that East St. Louis did when that city murdered a lot of negroes.  East St. Louis showed signs of penitence and has gone a long way toward reform.  Herrin may repent in sackcloth and ashes but already it has become the thing to do to consign some one to Herrin instead of perdition, and most people think hell would be the better place to spend a term of sentence. We believe that Gen. Sherman would have substituted the word Herrin for Texas in his celebrated classical comparison of the attractions of two places.” (Alton Evening Telegraph, IL. “What Sherman Would Have Said” (Editorial). 6-29-1922, 6.)

 

June 30:  “If the score or more of men who were shot down like rabbits in Williamson county last week, had been killed in Mexico by Mexicans, this country would be up in arms and international war would threaten.  As it is, they are only passing the buck down in Herrin and  vicinity.” (Troy Call, IL. Editorial. 6-30-1922, 4.)

 

July 1:  “The body of Raymond C. C. Jacobs, York, who was killed in the Lester strip mine massacre at Herrin, Ill., last week, has arrived in York.  The remains were accompanied by William Jacobs, brother of the dead man, and his widow, who was formerly Miss Mabel Kauffman, East Berlin.[21]

 

“The funeral will be held at the home of the dead man’s mother at 9:30 o’clock Sunday morning with the Rev. J. A. Long, pastor of the First Church of the Brethren, York, officiating.  Concluding services will be held at Mummert’s Meeting House, East Berlin, where the body will be interred.  Mr. Jacobs was a brother of Archie Jacobs, Gettysburg.

 

Trouble to Find Body.

 

“An account of the difficulties surmounted in locating the body of Raymond Jacobs in the common grave dug for the sixteen victims, nine of whom were unidentified up to last Sunday, was told by the brother who made the trip to Herrin.  Mr. Jacobs and Mrs. Mabel Jacobs, widow of the dead man, after having dispatched several telegrams to Mayor Lewis, of Marion, Ill., county seat of Williamson county, where Herrin is located, and receiving no reply, left Saturday morning for the scene of the fight, to find something definite concerning the brother and husband.

Feeling of Populace

 

“At Altmont and Marion, where the Yorkers stopped over to make train connections, they were approached by strangers, who seemed to take great interest in informing them of the tragedy. No attempt was made to conceal the most gruesome details, and no efforts were made to hide personal opinions. The general feeling of the populace reflected in the statement accredited to one Williamson county official to the effect that ‘We can’t stand for such stuff, having strike breakers come out here and steal the bread from the miners’ mouths.’

 

Snubbed by Officials

 

“Arriving in Marion, about nine miles from Herrin, Sunday evening, Mr. Jacobs made inquiry of the coroner and sheriff concerning his brother.  He asked the coroner to accompany him to the mining town the following day, but the coroner put him off with the reply: ‘I must pull weeds from my garden and can’t go.’  The sheriff, who at the time of the fighting, saw no need for federal or state troops to be brought to the scene, also refused to accompany Mr. Jacobs, but advised him to hunt a deputy who lived in Herrin.

 

“On Monday the brother and Mrs. Jacobs went to Herrin and located the undertaker’s establishment where the bodies were prepared for burial. Several men in the establishment confirmed the fears that the man sought, was dead, when they declared they remembered ‘working on’ a man who closely resembled Mr. Jacobs.

 

Learn Story of His Death

 

“At the hospital where most of the wounded miners were taken, the York people found a man, who, even though Raymond Jacobs had been in Herrin only three days before the battle resulting

in his death occurred, had chummed with. When he was asked concerning the steam shovel operator he failed to remember the name but said he wore a blue polkadotted shirt.  With this information, it was practically certain that Jacobs, who was foreman of a steam shovel gang, was

dead.

Bound to Another When Shot

 

“An account of how Jacobs met his death was given by a man in the hospital, to whom the Yorker was bound on Thursday morning, after the strikebreakers had surrendered to the armed mob which stormed the mine. In marching through the woods, surrounded by thousands of angry men, Jacobs fell before gunfire.  His comrade was also badly wounded, but retained the presence of mind to sham death.  Late in the afternoon a citizen of Herrin who was going over the woods found the wounded man and at his side the body of Jacobs lay stretched on the ground.”  (Gettysburg Times, PA. “To Bury Herrin Victim in Adams.” 7-1-1922, 2.)

 

July 2:  “To the Editor of the News:  It looks rather inconsistent for the United States government to threaten foreign countries with dire calamity for their failure to protect American citizens when American citizens are not protected at home. The massacre at Herrin, Ill., is not the

first massacre that has taken place in this country and the federal government has taken no action in any of them to punish the perpetrators.  While the massacre at Herrin, Ill., was one of extreme brutality and cruelty and is a foul blot on organized labor, there have been massacres of negroes at Tulsa, East St. Louis, Chicago and other points and the federal government never took a hand to punish the perpetrators.  Then there was the massacre of Chinese at Rock Creek, Wyo., some years ago and none of the perpetrators were punished and the Chinese empire settled the incident by taking $500 for each man.  Then there was the massacre of women and children in the Colorado coal fields not many years back by the Colorado militia and the action was whitewashed by the Colorado authorities, and a Methodist minister who was chaplain of the militia disgraced the sacred calling by saying they should have exterminated the entire population of the camp…. [signed] Labor Unionist.” (News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. “Union Man Talks” (Letter to Editor). 7-2-1922, 4.)

 

July 2: “It is utterly impossible to characterize adequately the hideous orgy of violence and dastardly murder at the Lester coal pit, Herrin, Illinois. The outrage was a piece of horrible barbarism which reduces those who participated and those who looked on with approval to a level below that occupied even by the unspeakable Turk. It stands as an unpardonable offense against American civilization and against the people of the nation. The whole country has a right to demand punishment, swift and complete.

 

“If the local authorities do not act, the state authorities are bound to do so, and they are bound also to inquire into any negligence or cowardice by the local officials. If the state of Illinois finds itself powerless to proceed effectively, then the federal government should step in to the very limit of its power. In some way the fiends that stand laughing shamelessly and bragging of their crimes, and that openly and jeeringly defy the law must be brought to justice.  The honor and the safety of the country demand this.  The United States cannot afford to temporize or compromise with such outbreaks.

 

“Though they undoubtedly will do their best to disclaim all responsibility in the matter the Illinois miners’ organization and the United Mine Workers of America are both placed under a serious cloud by the Herrin outrage. Concerning that President Lewis of the latter organization never dreamed of exciting the massacre or any other sort of violence it still remains a fact that when he openly called the men who have been murdered “common strike breakers” he delivered an incendiary utterance and was guilty of gross carelessness. While so far as the state organization officers are concerned it was their duty to keep a secure check on the irresponsible elements in their organization, knowing as they must have known that its members included a. crowd of men in whom savagery lies very closely beneath the surface. Their failure to maintain control of lawless element makes them, to put it mildly, very blameworthy.

 

“For their own sake then, and for the sake of their organization if for no higher reason it behooves the leaders of the miners to condemn utterly and by fruitful act as well as by mere word the fearful thing that has happened at Herrin to repudiate utterly the monsters responsible, and in all ways possible to assist the authorities to bring about proper punishment of those men. If they fail in this, they will forfeit every bit of sympathy and support their organization may now be receiving from the American public. The United Mine Workers must thoroughly purge themselves or become objects of horror in the country.” (Detroit Free Press. “Blood That Calls for Vengeance” (Editorial). Reprinted in News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. 7-2-1922, 4.)

 

July 3:  “Herrin, 111., July 3 – Adj. Gen. C. E. Black, Sunday investigated the recent mine war, visited the scene of the massacre and the wreckage at the strip mine of the Southern Illinois Coal company and held conferences with local officials. He also interviewed wounded strike breakers

and wounded union miners at the hospital.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Black in Probe of Herrin Case.” 7-3-1922, 1.)

 

July 4: “The governor of Illinois has recalled the troops from the scene of the mine butchery because “law an order are restored.” What the phrase quoted really means is that the mob having killed or wounded every possible victim, stopped murdering.

 

“An investigator sent to Williamson county by the governor reported that “no further trouble is expected unless the mining companies try to resume operations.” This is putting upon the mine owners the responsibility for the peace. It is saying to the public that the mob, by its massacre of twenty-five unarmed men has won the day.

 

“It is very much as if the authorities of New York, after twenty-five citizens had been killed by bandits, should issue a statement saying that ‘no further trouble is expected unless citizens try to walk the streets or open their stores.’

 

“There seems to be a passion for peace in southern Illinois, now that the mob, sated with blood, has pocketed its pistols and knives.  But among the officials, local and state, there seems to be no passion for justice, no comprehension of the heinous crime that was committed.

 

“Is it a delusion, this evident notion among the Illinois officials that murder is not murder when it is done in the name of unionism?  Or is their spirit, as most of the outer world suspects, plain cowardice?

 

“Whatever the trouble with the men responsible for law and order in Illinois, this country is not going to forget the butchery….

 

“The local officials failed to do their duty before, during and after the horror.  The state officials, instead of taking and acting to the end of bringing the murderers to justice, are talking about how ‘trouble’ can be avoided.  If they fail in their duty, if even the people of Illinois should blink the state’s shame, the United States cannot close its eyes.

 

“For until the coal mine butchery is really avenged, how can America look another nation in the eye and speak the word ‘civilization?’” (New York Herald. “All is Quiet – and Shameful.” In News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, 7-4-1922, 4.)

 

July 5: “The Daily Mail’s Editorial Review.

 

“The Horror at Herrin: Williamson county, Illinois, is a sovereign state.  Its real government is the district branch of the United Mine workers.  It executes its own law, the higher the, union law, by summary process.  A coroner’s jury, composed of three union miners and three business men, subject to the union, brought in the inevitable verdict on the killing of two union miners and nineteen non-unionists last week. The officials of the coal company are the guilty men.  The murdered superintendent of a mine of the company is held responsible for the murder of one of the two union miners.  Each of the twenty other persons killed “came to his death by gunshot wounds at the hands of persons unknown.”  The ruling powers behaved handsomely.  The burial of the two union miners was marked by much pomp and circumstances and display of ‘union strength’ in the procession from the church to the burying ground…

 

“If there were only maimed funeral rites, it must be remembered that the non-union dead were pariahs, men justifiably dispatched according to the higher law of Williamson county. Yet the union allowed them to be buried in the potter’s field. There was no attempt to interfere with the few persons who attended the service.  At the head of each grave was placed the inscription: “Died June 22, 1922,” for the union would not tolerate any names or reference to the manner in which the sixteen (nameless dead) met death.  To this anonymous rest has the sovereign union reduced their unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Thus is justice established and domestic tranquility insured in Williamson county.

 

“This is the real end of the incident, no matter what virtuous declamations or fruitless inquiries may be made.  The county officials are creatures of the union. Juries are selected by a board of supervisors controlled by the union. Public sentiment of the region seems to justify the execution of the outcasts.  There is no disposition to find the murderers; nor could they be convicted if brought to trial.  Williamson county is one of the enclaves, the little islands of class rule and triumphant violence whose existence is disclosed from time to time in the United States. Mr. Farrington, president of the Illinois federation of miners, appeals to the miners’ unions in the state to keep down disorder and violence. This is not the first time that he has given wise counsel.  Disorder and violence “stir the public against us.”  “Already we are in disrepute in the public mind.”

 

“No doubt the strip mine murders are deplored by the majority of mine workers. But no proposal is made by the heads of the union to discipline the guilty members in Williamson county.  As for the politicians at Springfield, Colonel Hunter, the representative of-the adjutant general of the state at Herrin, says that a week ago he recommended that troops be sent there. Well, all is quiet in Herrin now. It was rather a wholesale bit of union justice, but it will soon be forgotten. The little state of Williamson county is secure in its supra-legal pre-eminence.  For a little while, perhaps, there will be more than the usual talk about ‘respecting the law,’ but the mass of the people will continue to be cowardly.  We shall continue to lick our chops with self-satisfaction at the form of our government, and pay scanty heed to the ugly facts that so often contradict it and are locally superior to it.  From the New York Times.”

 

“What Everybody Expected: …. The pleasure of the ghastly debauch is over.  But there is no repentance. So far as that mining region is concerned the outer world is permitted to believe that great precedent has been established.  It has been demonstrated that if a man takes a job, even if he does not know that he is a strike-breaker the striker may kill him; kill him openly, make a joyous festival of the murder, and be beyond and above the law.

 

“The motto of Illinois is “State Sovereignty—National Union.” But the state sees its sovereignty transferred to a mob and it will see itself separated morally from the rest of the nation unless it punishes the most shocking American crime of the century.— From the New York Herald.

 

“A Blow at Civilization: One point stands out above all others in consideration of the bloody mine riots in the southern Illinois coal fields. It is the immediate pressing necessity for restoration of peace and order; punishment of the murderers, and the maintenance of the normal processes of law and civilization.

 

“The innumerable other points involved in the riots arid massacre must shrink into insignificance compared to that necessity. The question of the rights, advantages, and abuses of union labor; the question of the moral or economic position of either th strikes, the operators, or the strike-breakers; the question of the propriety of the system of collective bargaining or of the freedom of the individual to sell his service where or at whatever price he desires; the question of capitalistic monopoly of the coal trade, or of wastefully expensive monopoly of mine labor, must be subordinate.

 

“These questions have been discussed at length with varying views, and will be discussed again. But the right or wrong of these questions can have no bearing upon the immediate situation.

 

“The situation is one of war. The news reports carrying all the usual details of the horrors of war, from the picture of the young woman with babe in arms denying water and giving a curse to the mangled man dying under a burning sun, to the picture of a striker completing a gang murder by slitting the throats of the bound, wounded and prostrate prisoners.  The fact that by contrast mob warfare makes ordinary warfare humane, Emphasizes but does not change the issue.

 

“We cannot submit to a private declaration of war by any aggregation of men in Illinois. That is a return to feudalism and the bloody and uncertain life of medieval days. The power of declaring war in this country lies solely with a congress responsible to all the people of the nation.  When that power is appropriated by any mob of angry men, whether their private cause be just or unjust, a blow is struck at government, civilization, and order. Such mob rule and violence must be immediately and absolutely crushed and destroyed by constituted authority. The rights or wrongs behind the outbreak are beside the point. They will be settled in their time.

 

“The one and only thing to be considered now is the immediate forcible restoration of peace, and assurance that it will be maintained.—From the Chicago Tribune.

 

 

“Is the Nation Dead? The most horrible part of this story of inhumanity is unbelievable! That not a man was shot in the “battle.” They surrendered and were then shot in cold blood. The press stories say that the union-miners do not deny this.

 

“But we do not believe it.  No men would do it—in cold blood. If this nation stands for this, without investigation and punishment of the guilty, it is dead from the heel up!  What is going on! Is this a law-abiding nation; or is it a land of black revolution and unchecked murder?  And “Blames president of mine company for killings!” Such impertinence!—From the Lewiston Journal.” (Charleston Daily Mail, WV. “Herrin Massacre is Continuing to Occupy Much Editorial Space. Such a Verdict as Was Returned by Coroner’s Jury Was Only to Have Been Expected, Newspapers Seem to Agree (Editorial).” 7-5-1922, p. 6.)

 

July 6:  “….The American Open Shop-association of Quincy is urging the governor to call an extra session of the legislature to amend the laws, and also to “use the power of this great state to the end that justice be done, and adequate punishment be awarded the murderers.”

 

“Newspapers all over the state have made demand that the Herrin murderers be punished, but it is unlikely that punishment will ever be inflicted. The people of Williamson country are terrorized, and no conviction could be had there, even if indictments could be secured.

 

“The fault is with the local and state authorities, who failed to provide protection to the men who went to work in the strip mine and whose willingness to fail in this particular was known to the miners. It was a willingness born of desire for political success, but it over-reached itself. President Harding, in his address July 4 to the people of Marion, said:

 

“The foremost thought in the Constitution is the right to freedom and the pursuit of happiness. Men must be free to live and achieve. Liberty is gone in America when any man is denied by anybody the right to work and live by that work. It does not matter who denies.

 

“A free American has the right to labor without any other’s leave. It would be no less an abridgement to deny men the right to bargain collectively.  Governments cannot tolerate any class or group domination through force. It will be a sorry day when group domination is reflected in our laws. Government, and the laws which government is charged with enforcing, must be for all the people ever aiming at the common good.”

 

“These are eternal truths.  They are the principles on which the government was founded, and they must be perpetuated.  It will be well for the miners, the railroad men, and every other group of men who believe that they can work their will by violence, to consider them carefully. The whole people must not suffer, because a few cannot have their way. The president has spoken, declaring that government “must be for all the people, ever aiming at the common good”.”  (Chicago Heights Star, IL. “Lawlessness.” 7-6-1922, 4.)

 

July 6:  “Washington, D.C., July 6. – ‘Bloody Williamson’ it is now – the county in which the Illinois tragedy of the coal strike occurred.  A year ago, or less, it was ‘Bloody Mingo’ or ‘Bloody Logan’ – the West Virginia counties where similar tragedies were enacted as appalling features of the controversy in the coal industry.

 

“Washington officials who are not partisans in this bitter labor fight but are primarily concerned over the public welfare aspect of the struggle, believe that the time has come to put an end to this

bloody business. In the opinion of these officials, labor and capital have demonstrated conclusively why they should not be permitted to work out their own problems or fight out their own battles without interference from the government or other outside agencies.  It is seen that sooner or later industrial warfare leads to disaster — to lawlessness, violence and the sacrifice of human lives. Inevitably a community or a state is disgraced by some such occurrence as the Herrin massacre.

 

“Both parties to industry— organized labor on the one side and the larger employing interests on the other — have opposed vociferously every proposal or measure to do away with strikes and lockouts and their accompanying evils.  In that they have had one thing in common.  Each has seemed to fear that the assertion of a state or federal authority to end and adjust controversies that jeopardize the public interest would minimize the economic power upon which each relies to

get the better of it in bargaining over wages and working conditions.

 

“It is not suggested that either side has wanted to be free to commit murder or lesser outrages on law and order. Neither ever intends to go that far. They merely insist that they have a right to settle their own differences in their own way, and at the outset they give every assurance that their methods and measures will be perfectly peaceful.  They talk much about the folly of attempting to interfere with ‘the free play of economic forces’ and ‘the natural processes of the law of supply and demand.’

Life And Death Struggle.

 

“Unfortunately a titanic conflict such as the one in the coal industry is certain to become in the end a life and death struggle.  Almost every chapter in the history of such conflicts has its bloody pages – Homestead, Coeur d’Alene, Paterson, Chicago, Colorado, San Francisco, Los Angeles, West Virginia and now Illinois.  The climax is always the same.  The lesson is not to be escaped.  Left to themselves, labor and capital will fight to the death, literally as well as figuratively, and it is to check this that measures are being considered at the capitol.

 

“Not the least significant phase of the Illinois tragedy is the evidence that the union miners and their sympathizers are largely if not completely in control of the official machinery of Williamson county.  This is especially interesting in view of the fact that it is the exact reverse of the situation that has obtained in Mingo county and Logan county, West Virginia.  In the West Virginia counties the antiunion coal operators are in the saddle politically and officially, and there has been abundant evidence that they ride just as hard and just as ruthlessly as the union miners in Illinois.

 

“The farcical coroner’s jury investigation and verdict in the Herrin affair has been very much condemned generally.  There has been much criticism of the apparent failure of the sheriff and other officials there to make any effort to prevent bloodshed, and the impotence of the forces of law and order has been attributed to political domination by tho union miners.

 

“There is no disposition on the part of official Washington to withhold condemnation of what has transpired in Illinois.  There is, however, insistence that the record of what has happened in West Virginia must not be forgotten in considering more recent events.  For example, the Keayon[22] committee investigation of the West Virginia controversy showed that the anti-union coal operators not only control Logan county politically, but that they actually pay the salaries of the deputy sheriffs who are supposed to enforce tho laws of the country. The operators themselves testified that they expended over $46,000 for this purpose in 1920 and over $61,000 during the first ten months of 1921, and they also asserted that they believed they had a right to prevent union meetings in Logan county, or even to bar from the county union organizers and sympathizers. The attorney general of West Virginia, Mr. England, told the committee that these deputies ‘very often beat up men in the fields, beat up men that are engaged there actively in order to defeat their ticket at the general election; they take charge of elections, they run voters away from the polls.’

 

“To date it has not been charged that the sheriff or his deputies in Williamson county, Illinois, are paid their salaries by the miners’ union.  In that respect at least the miners have not gone as far in Illinois as the operators have gone in West Virginia.

 

Evil In Both Situations.

 

“Senators and representatives who are seeking a solution of the strike problem see little but evil in both situations. Indeed, from the public viewpoint it is intolerable that either capital or labor should control the politics of a county or a state and use that power in relentless warfare on the other.  Both sides are entitled to the protection of the law.  But neither side should be the law in even the smallest political unit in the county.

 

“Carried to its logical conclusion this sort of thing would mean domination of the nation itself either by the labor group or by the employing group, and it may be said that this is a possibility that causes grave concern in Washington.  It is by no means regarded as a probability, but that such a thing could come to pass is nothing short of a stop, look and listen warning to those who believe in the institutions of free government and who are opposed to autocracy, whether it be an

autocracy of labor or an autocracy of capital.

 

“At a critical time during the war when it was vital that munition production should go forward without interruption it happened that the authority of the government was flouted by a group of workers and by a great corporation almost simultaneously.  Some five or six thousand striking machinists at Bridgeport declined to accept an award of the national war labor board and return to work under the conditions laid down by the board, while the owners of a small arms plant in Massachusetts also refused to abide by a decision of the board and discontinue its practice of discharging employees who had the temerity to join a union.

 

“It was a splendid opportunity to teach both sides a lesson, and it was not overlooked.  The president of the United States served notice on the Bridgeport men that they would return to work on the terms prescribed by the national war labor board or they would not be permitted to work anywhere in the United states on war production work and their exemptions from military service would be withdrawn.  At the same time the president directed the secretary of war to take over the Massachusetts plant and operate it for the period of the war.  After that there was no defiance of the government either by workers or by employers.

 

“Thus it may come about that the assumption of political power by capital in West Virginia and by labor in Illinois will result in the assertion of the authority of the public as a whole in a manner that will end class rule for all time.

 

“‘Blood Williamson’ and ‘Bloody Logan’ and ‘Bloody Mingo’ are object lessons that are not to be forgotten.” (Haskin, Frederic J. “Object Lessons of Industrial War.” Salt Lake Tribune, 7-9-1922, p. 26.)

 

July 7:  “It appears that the carnival held by the strikers at Herrin, Ill., in a park opposite the hospital where certain of their victims writhed and groaned was not only to celebrate their victory at the strip mine where they butchered over a score of men and terribly wounded twice as many more, but likewise to celebrate the founding in Herrin of an ‘International club.”  Just what an ‘International club’ is we do not know but it is easy to imagine that it is something bad and un-American! We may be sure the miners at Herrin would be joining no patriotic order and then there is that about an international organization which smacks strongly of the Russian soviet and communism.  The truth of the matter is that if the federal authorities were to go to Herrin they would find plenty of material for deportation, and now since it is perfectly manifest that the miners’ union, will take no steps to avenge a terrible wrong and clear its own skirts, the federal authorities should do that very thing.”  (News Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN.  Editorial.  7-7-1922, 4.)

 

July 8:  “Marion, Ill., July 8. – The special grand jury called to investigate the Herrin massacre, in which more than a score on non-union minters were slain by striking union miners, scheduled to be empanelled Monday [July 10], probably will not get underway before Wednesday, Circuit Judge Hartwell announced today.” (Ada Evening News, OK. “Grand Jury is Late.” 7-8-1922, 6.)

 

July 9:  “….We all ‘of us know that the great majority of the people of Illinois are worthy and law abiding and that they regret the Herrin incident beyond expression, blushing with shame to realize that they have a governor who is inclined to wink at the matter. In this respect, however, they themselves are at fault, for they elevated Small to office and did it knowingly.  Papers had shown him up for what he really was and leading citizens of the state had repudiated him.  Still with blind fatuity they went to the polls and voted the straight republican ticket. Their presentment against Woodrow Wilson was so great that they would have nothing to do with any man running on his ticket. So in thousands of instances over the country inferior men were elevated to official positions, who under ordinary circumstances would have been relegated to the discard….”  (News Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. “Myers’ Outburst.” (Editorial). 7-9-1922, p. 4.)

 

July 10:  “In no country—Russia or Germany or Ireland or the United States—is assassination or massacre the equivalent of argument.  Rather, it is the negation and the destruction. Yet there are fanatics or euphemists who would gloss over that awful substitution by parading some ‘cause’ or other as an apology.

 

“We have our few apologists in this country for what was perpetrated at Herrin. Some of them are union chieftains who professionally are predisposed to find nothing ever wrong if done by unionists against non-unionists—or the public.  Other are local public officials seeking to condone a supine surrender to organized lawlessness.  Another voice in congress—in pre-election lickspitting—seeks to extenuate in terms that doubly condemn the speaker.

 

“The representative of the Williamson County district can profer but two pliable palliatives,—the one false to common experience, the other violative of common Americanism. The press association reports, he declares must be lies because not substantiated by the local country papers.  In the second place, ‘Whenever non-union miners are taken into southern Illinois there has been tragedy.’

 

“The American public can form quick judgment on such statements. It knows that trained, impartial press association reporters do not invent such ghastly, wholesale horrors.  It reads the dying statements of the few victims who lingered, and the fears of the wounded to leave the hospitals.  It instantly suspects the intimidation of the little local journals. They, too, are under the tragedy shadow.

 

“That element of tragedy, declared to be inevitable it this citadel of ‘unionism’ is invaded, brings to the front luridly and grimly the whole central issue.  If there is any more illumination thereof required, it is contained in the unctuous statement that there will be no more trouble—no more slaying—unless there is attempt at non-union working.

 

“That is the situation which confronts the people of the United States. The United Mine Workers

won’t work; they won’t let anybody else work: apparently they are willing to kill anybody who attempts to work.  And the duly constituted authorities do practically nothing about it.

 

“It is, after all, a free country?  Have men engaged in business the right to transact business within the law without molestation?  Union men the right not to work if they see fit, and other men also the right to work if they see fit?  Or, if one set of men refuse to work, and another set are willing to work, those who refuse many interfere in any way – including killing – with those who are willing?

 

“Does the tragedy involve slain constitutions and statutes as well as shot and knifed and burned human bodies” (Boston News Bureau. “Tragedy.” Reprinted in Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, 7-10-1922, 3)

 

“July 10:  “In the adjoining column is an editorial from the Boston News Bureau.  It stated graphically the difference between a legal strike and a mob outrage, between peaceful picketing and assassination.  It is valuable as a lesson when contrasted with the present railroad strike as we come into contact with the latter in Madison.  It shows the difference between unassimilated foreigners living under depressing conditions in mining districts, and American workmen dwelling in enlightened communities and conducting their economic contests within the law. The difference between Herrin and Madison is not a difference in unionism. It is a difference in people.[23]  It is the difference between Americanism and Europeanism in the latter’s own down-trodden and illiterate social wallows.  Read the Boston editorial.  It is the truth, as far as it goes. It is not constructive, because it does not examine the disease and prescribe the remedy. Coal mine localities will continue to have their problems of law and order until, they solve their problems of civilization.  Government solved the problem of malaria and yellow fever in the Panama canal zone.  There is malaria of anarchy in our mining districts. No man should be permitted to induce or compel other men to live like beasts.  No man should be permitted to live like a beast, even if he desires.  For men who live like beasts will be beasts.  Officers of the law can put down mobs. Courts can punish mob murderers.  But that is like burying the victims of a deadly epidemic without attempting to conquer the disease.  It is about time for Uncle Sam to do some house cleaning in the mine zones. It took murder and civil war in Trinidad to awaken the country.  The Herrin butchery sends its challenge to the government.  Some first class hangings are needed, but they will not effect a cure unless they are followed by the application of a lot of American common sense.” (Wisconsin State Journal, Madison. “The Herrin Disease” (Editorial). 7-10-1922, 3.)

 

July 11:  “Reports that the Illinois Central had trouble in getting guards to remain at Herrin to guard the I. C. property there, prompted assistance from striking men and today the local federation of shopmen authorized one of the Herrin strikers to act as guard at the round house at Herrin with the consent of the company.  Guards had no liking for Herrin on account of the mine

massacre there a few weeks ago.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Strikers Volunteer to Guard Property at Herrin Yards.” 7-11-1922. 1.)

 

July 12:  “Chicago, July 12 — Attorney-General Edward J. Brundage today offered a reward of $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the persons who committed murder

and assault in connection with the strike of the coal miners in Williamson county.

 

Protect Informant.

 

“The appeal was particularly directed to the citizens of Williamson county who the attorney-general said would be protected in every way for any assistance they may give. ‘Citizens of Williamson county have a duty to the state and a personal duty to perform’ the attorney general said.

 

Communications will be deemed confidential and all who offer assistance will be protected by the state in every way. All persons who know the facts are required by the law to disclose them.  An opportunity is now given to these who are willing to perform their duty, and who all fail to make disclosures of their knowledge before August 1 1922, will upon discovery be prosecuted as accessories after the fact.

 

Every citizen who knows the fact that a crime has been committed and conceals it from a magistrate or who harbors, conceals, maintains or assists, any principal felon or any accessory before the fact, knowing him to be such, is an accessory after the fact and can be punished as such.

 

“Chicago, July 12. – Urging the punishment of the slayers of the non-union miners at Herrin, Ill., the Illinois Manufacturers’ association Tuesday night sent a statement to its members declaring that ‘justice cries for action by the authorities.’  Life and property and the right to work are unsafe in ‘Williamson county, Illinois, as evidence by the massacre of nineteen defenseless men at Herrin by a mob of unionized mine workers,’ the statement said.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Offer Reward For Murderers. Brundage Posts $1,000 to Bring Herrin Case to Justice.” 7-12-1922, 1.)

 

July 13:  “Atlantic City, N.J., July 13 [AP] – Justice must come to the guilty persons in the recent massacre of coal miners at Herrin, Ill., ‘regardless of affiliations,’ if the United States is to continue as a nation, Assistant Secretary of Navy Roosevelt[24] declared here today before the Elks lodge national convention.  ‘A blot, such as that at Herrin,’ the Assistant Secretary said, ‘cannot be wiped out by process of law. We are in the midst of turbulent times and there are more ahead, Mr. Roosevelt said. ‘By those ahead this will illustrate what I mean, but for the happening in So. Illinois is the most atrocious massacre that ever occurred in our annals…Men were killed, not cleanly killed, but brutally killed and for which there is not a single conviction of murder in sight. I don’t know who was to blame, whether the employe or the employer, perhaps both, but if the United States is to continue to stand justice must be meted out in this case regardless of affiliations’.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Justice at Herrin if U.S. is to Stand, Young T. R. Declares.” 7-13-1922, 1.)

 

July 14:  “Herrin, Ill., July 14. [AP] – The death toll in the Herrin mine war was brought to 22 last night when Guy Hudgens, a striking miner, died from wounds received in the fighting on the night proceeding the massacre June 22nd. He was the third union man to die.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Third Union Miner Dies After Herrin Massacre Affair.” 7-14-1922, 1.)

 

July 14:  “Marion, Ill., July 14. – Attorney General Brundage today took personal charge of the investigation into the Herrin mine massacre of June 21 and 22, in which twenty-two non-union workers at the Lester strip coal mine were killed by a mob of union sympathizers after they had surrendered under a white flag of truce..  Mr. Brundage appeared in the county seat of Williamson Country to discuss the case with the county officials and with private detectives whom he has had working for several days.

 

“Among those whom the investigators are trying hardest to identify are:

 

“1. An aviator who piloted an airplane over the mine at dusk on June 21.

 

“2. A heavy-set man who first led the mob and tried to restrain if from violating the word given to the surrendered non-union men that they would be protected if they gave up their arms.

 

“3. A second leader, called Tom or Bill, who aroused the mob’ passions by proposing that the non-union men be killed and who assaulted C. K. McDowell, the mine superintendent.

 

“4. A third leader, who suggested that the mob break the arms of the prisoners and later gave the order for the massacre.

 

“5. A man described as the ‘President of the miners’ local’ who appeared in an automobile, had a conference with the third leader, pointed to the woods where the prisoners were later massacred and then drove away.

 

“Statements gathered by Mr. Brundage’s office gave graphic descriptions of what occurred during the massacre.  There are witnesses to identify the participants in the riot if they are apprehended.

 

“One of the statements going into details of the events of June 21 and 22 was given by Robert Tracy of Chicago, formerly a railroad fireman.

 

“Marion, Ill., July 14 (Associated Press). – Attorney General Brundage of Illinois expressed himself as well satisfied with the co-operation promised him in the investigation to be held in the Herrin massacre, after a conference this afternoon with State’s Attorney Duty and Sheriff Thaxton.  The Attorney General said he found Mr. Duty anxious to prosecute inciters and participants in the riots to the fullest extent of the law, and that Sheriff Thaxton promised to assist as fully as possible.  The Grand Jury investigation will be deferred several weeks to gather more substantial evidence, Mr. Brundage said.

 

“Herrin, Ill., July 14 (Associated Press). – The death toll in the Herrin mine war was brought to twenty-two late last night when Guy Hudgens, a striking miner, died from wounds received in the fighting on the night preceding the massacre June 22.  He was the third union man to die.  Hudgens’s body quietly was removed to his home in Marion before many knew of his death.  Three wounded strikebreakers are still in the hospital here.” (NYT. “Prosecutor Begins Inquiry at Herrin. Illinois Attorney General Takes Personal Charge – Search for Five Witnesses.” 7-15-1922.)

 

July 15:  “….Williamson County, Illinois, evidently regards that atrocity as a closed incident. It is doubtless perfectly willing to forget, let bygones be, and go its “orderly” way, undisturbed by conscience. “Their blood be upon our heads”, say the union miners, of the nameless dead buried in the potter’s field. The authorities charged with enforcing the law and punishing the guilty appear quite willing to let matters stand thus.

 

“But public opinion, the mainspring of all justice—the calm, determined, unbiased sentiment of a Nation—is not so readily satisfied. Persistent voices at last are raised everywhere—outside the affected area—demanding retribution on the guilty. “Out, damned spot!” sounds a cry rising from the National consciousness; the feeling that until the Herrin murderers are punished by due process of law, a blot will rest upon a whole people’s honor. There is much cant spoken and written about “perils to country and to civilization”. Every high school boy has his own theory as to why Rome fell. But, reasonably, it cannot be denied that respect for the law is the very foundation-stone of free government and, in fact, of civilization.

 

“No patriot, no thinking man can view without deep concern the growing tendency to disrespect of established authority, in the present day. It is an insidious malady, slowly eating at society’s vitals—manifesting itself in many disturbing symptoms, of which the Herrin atrocity was most virulent. Mobs take the law into their own hands, mutilate and burn their victims—and what is done about it? A few protests from citizens shocked at their brutality, or who are concerned about this outrage against the State—then the degradation is forgotten. Another lynch murder occurs, and the wretched process is repeated—each time dulling the public conscience the more. As a natural outcome, even the Herrin atrocity failed to arouse immediate decisive action. In principle, of course, wholesale mob murder is no worse a law-violation than similar crime against an individual.

 

“Exceedingly dangerous is the tendency of organized groups to usurp law enforcement functions, or to set themselves up as above the law. Such pretensions are a direct challenge to government itself, and to all good citizens who believe in constitutional, orderly rule. If one special interest can defy authority thus successfully, and pose as law unto itself, another may do so equally reasonably and safely. The inevitable result is class war, anarchy—chaos.

 

“These are not fanciful, but real, positive dangers threatening the National stability today—and a still worse peril is public apathy, incredulity, refusal to awaken to those dangers. Theodore Roosevelt’s words, quoted above [see previous article], apply no less forcefully to the railroad-strike crisis. Violence, in whatever form, against the right of individuals to work when and where they choose; against property, against lives, are offenses— less flagrant, perhaps, but no more excusable in principle, than the Herrin murders—against the law and the Constitution.

 

“Only firm, level-headed leadership among the labor men; restraint everywhere exercised by the individual striker; powerful pressure from the general public; unyielding determination on the officials’ part, and the prompt use of either State or Federal troops wherever needed, will serve to prevent some deplorable outcome.” (San Antonio Express, TX. “‘If We Are to Exist as a Nation’.” 7-15-1922, p. 4.)

 

July 17:  “Carterville, Ill., July 17. — The driver of the big ‘black covered truck of ‘the Southern Illinois Coal Co., which was fired on from ambush between here and Carbondale several days ago while conveying men to the strip mine near Herrin, has left the hospital in Carbondale for his home in Chicago. He was seriously injured in the attack and is paralyzed below his shoulders. His mother feels confidant he will recover under the care of specialists, but Carbondale hospital attendants gave no hope for improvement in his condition.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Ambushed Truck Still Unclaimed.” 7-17-1922, p. 1.)

 

July 18:  “Washington, July 18. [UP] – President Harding and his cabinet met as a council of war today, determined to force the production of coal in the face of the strike of 600,000 miners and the refusal of their leaders and operator chieftains to submit to arbitration.

 

“Harding invited the bituminous operators late yesterday to reopen their mines when the owners accepted in part his arbitration proposal and offered to put their mines and services at the President’s disposal.

May Use Federal Troops.

 

“Keeping in mind the massacre of-mine guards arid non-union miners at Herrin, Illinois, and the fatal battle between deputy sheriffs and mine strikers in West Virginia yesterday, the President and his cabinet discussed; the advisability of placing federal troops on guard at all mines accepting the invitation to reopen.

 

“The situation is now regarded more serious than at any time since the coal strike began April 1.  The fear is openly expressed here that the nation faces one of the greatest industrial wars in its history.  The President is planning on co-operation between the state arid federal military forces to bring about coal production.  County and state authorities will be asked to give adequate protection to mines that attempt to reopen with strike breakers.  If the state forces cannot maintain order at the mines, federal troops will be used.

 

“Harding takes the view that the overshadowing need of the country now is the production of coal and that it must be brought about regardless of how it will affect either the operators or the striking miners.” (Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “Nation to Force Coal Production. President and Cabinet in War Council Determined to Have Bituminous Coal Mined. With Herrin Massacre in Mind, President and Advisers Discuss Plan of Federal Guards for all Mines Which Reopen.” 7-18-1922, 1.)

 

July 19:  “ Marion, Ill., July 19. – Six suits, aggregating $217,420, for damages resulting from the recent “war” between striking miners and nonunion workers at the strip of the Southern Illinois Coal company, six miles west of here, were filed against Williamson county Tuesday [18^th].”  (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Sue County for Herrin Damages.” 7-19-1922, p. 1.)

 

July 19:  “Kansas City, Mo., July 19 — An investigation of the Herrin, Ill., mine massacre is under way by national chiefs of the United Mine Workers and there will be no delay in completing it, according to a letter from John L. Lewis, president of the miners’ organization, received here Tuesday [July 18] by Judge Samuel A. Dew of the circuit court. The letter was in reply to a communication from Judge Dew, July 5, censuring the union leader for delay on his part in bringing the perpetrators to justice.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Union Investigating.” 7-19-1922, p. 1.)

 

July 19:  “Missoula, Mont., July 19 — Pleas that editors should uphold the slogan “law and order” in their various communities, was made before the opening session of the National Editorial association’s annual convention here today by J. C. Brimblecomb of Newton, Mass, president of the association.  He placed emphasis on enforcement of the prohibition laws.

 

Cites Examples.

 

“The Boston police strike in 1919 and the recent mob outrage at Herrin, Ill., were referred to by the speaker as examples of “how woefully thin is the shell of our civilization.” He also touched on the news print situation, matters of newspaper ethics, and plans for further organization of the

Association.”  (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Asks Newspapers to Support Laws.” 7-19-1922, 1.)

 

July 20:  “Boston Transcript: Neither the coal strike negotiations nor the increasing seriousness of the railroad strike has made New Englanders’ forget the scandal and disgrace of the Herrin massacre.  Nothing has yet been done by the town of Herrin, the County of Williamson or the State of Illinois to avenge that crime or even to ascertain the identity of the murderers.  Nothing has been done by the Republican Senate or the Republican House of Representatives at Washington to purge either the party in power or the Federal Government of the curse of silence that is surrender before the challenge involved in this outrage.  Nothing has been done, so far as the public knows, by the Republican President or the Republican Cabinet to induce their fellow Republicans who are in complete control throughout the Senate of Illinois to round up the members of the Herrin mob and bring them into a court of justice.

 

“And yet the Republicans are asking this year for a vote of confidence and a continuance in power for another two years.  It would serve them right if all the Republican candidates here and elsewhere were asked by every audience that they address:  What are you going to do about the Herrin massacre?  Questions from the crowd are seldom relished by the pussy-footing politician.  Every day that the crime of Herrin goes unavenged the silence of the party in power at Washington and throughout Illinois regarding the Herrin massacre becomes more an more inexplicable and indefensible.  Silence in regard to the crime of Herrin is surrender to its challenge.” (Oxford Mirror, Oxford Junction, IA. “Silence is Surrender.” 7-20-1922, p. 4.

 

July 21:  “Marion, Ill., July 21. – Additional claims were filed against Williamson county today, bringing the total of claims to $2,500,000 [see next article] growing out of the Herrin massacre. The first death claim was filed today by Mrs. Raymond C. Jacobs of York, Pa., who asks $3,000 for the death of her husband, who was among the non-union men killed.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Herrin Claims at $2,500,000.” 7-21-1922, p. 1.)

 

July 22:  “Marion, Ill., July 22. – Additional claims were filed against Williamson county yesterday, bringing the total of claims to $250,000 growing out of the Herrin massacre. The first death claim was filed yesterday by Mrs. Raymond C. Jacobs, of York, Pa., who asked $5,000 for the death of her husband, who was among the nonunion men killed.” (Linton Daily Citizen, IN. “Herrin Claims $25,000.” 7-22-1922, 1.)

 

July 23:  “Urgent demand for immediate governmental investigation of the recent “mine atrocity” at Herrin, Illinois, with a view to bringing to justice those responsible for it or who participated in the attack was voiced in a resolution adopted last week by the bituminous operators’ group.  A copy of the resolution received by Kanawha operators reads;

 

“Whereas, the conference between representatives of the Government, mine workers’ officials and bituminous coal operators has been held while there still ring in our ears the

shots of the attacking miners and agonized cries of their tortured and maimed victims at Herrin, Illinois, so treacherously betrayed after having surrendered; and

 

“Whereas, the public has been led to believe that sixteen or seventeen men were murdered, while our information is such as to force us to the belief that three times that many lives were sacrificed and that men whose only crime was their desire to earn a livelihood, had stones tied about their necks and were thrown into ponds; were shot down in their tracks or hunted like wild beasts, and

 

“Whereas, with one exception so far as we have seen in the public press, no expression of horror, detestation or disavowal of the atrocities committed at Herrin, Illinois, has been made on the part of the officials of the United Mine workers; and

 

“Whereas, no prompt, vigorous and far-reaching efforts, so far as we have been advised, have been made by the local and state authorities of Illinois to ascertain the true extent of the massacre and to apprehend and bring to justice the persons guilty of these atrocities; now, therefore, be it

 

“Resolved, that we, representing the bituminous coal operators of the United States, publicly express our horror and detestation of the outrages at Herrin, Illinois, and other innumerable acts of intimidation and violence which are being committed during the present strike in other parts of the country; and

 

“Be is further resolved, that we demand from the Government of the United States such prompt, vigorous and impartial investigation of the terrible crimes committed at Herrin, Illinois, as will inform the public of the true extent of the massacre and will bring to trial the guilty persons, whether actual participants or those who by incendiary writings or intemperate speech provoked the mob to the end that there may be guaranteed to each man his constitutional rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; and

 

“Be it further resolved, that for the purpose, if possible, of avoiding further acts of violence which would follow such expression on the part of individuals, this resolution proclaims the joint expression of the bituminous coal operators here assembled”.”

 

(Charleston Daily Mail, WV. “Urge Federal Probe of Herrin Massacre.” 7-23-1922, p. 9.)

 

July 26:  “Herrin, Ill., July 26 – Fifteen bodies of the victims of the recent coal mine war fought near this city, today were still unidentified, the number being reduced by one yesterday when one of the dead was identified as Robert Janderson of Sparta, Mich. The body was shipped to Michigan for burial.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Bodies of 15 Still Unknown.” 7-26-1922, 1.)

 

July 27:  “Herrin, ‘Illinois doe’s not want the mines opened on the basis proposed. The best thing

to do with Herrin is to take it off the map.” (Steubenville Herald, OH.  Editorial.  7-27-1922, 9.)

 

July 28:  “Chicago, July 28 — Another attempt to bring to justice those responsible for the “Herrin slaughter” was started today.  The Illinois industrial council has issued a call for mass meetings in every city and town in the state in an effort to arouse public sentiment to demand further investigation of the slaying of fourteen men during the recent mine war.” (Star Journal, Sandusky, OH. “Seek Justice in Herrin Slaughter.” 7-28-1922, p. 1.)

 

July 29:  “Chicago, July 29 [AP]. — What he termed “a pageant of savagery, still unrebuked” was condemned in the opening address at the Pageant of Progress here today by Postmaster-General Hubert Work.  Declaring he wished “as one who believes in the principles of unionism and collective bargaining” to warn “all organized labor that sanctions and commits violence.”  “The Pageant oil Savagery that recently stalked abroad by day in this fair state, still unrebuked, would have pallored the painted Indian,” he said….” (Cumberland Evening Times, MD. “Postmaster General Scores Mob Murder.” 7-29-1922, 1.)

 

July 30: “Detroit, July 30. – In granting an injunction yesterday restraining striking railway shopmen from trespassing on Pere Marquette property in and around Saginaw, Judge Arthur J. Tuttle, in the United States District Court, denounced the Herrin, Ill., coal mine massacre and other lawless acts attributed to labor. ‘Organized labor,’ he said, ‘cannot have the respect of honest men until it wipes out the disgrace of the Illinois massacre.  It must purge itself.  By acts such as that of Herrin, organized workers put themselves outside the protection of the courts.

 

“`Conditions at the Saginaw shops constitute a clear and convincing case.  The Government does not have to pay an army of Marshals to keep men from collaring other men off jobs.  Men have no right by violence, threats or intimidation to prevent operation of this railroad’.” (New York Times. “Judge Warns Labor on Herrin Massacre.” 7-31-1922.

 

July 31:  “Chicago, Ill., July 31. – The Illinois United Mine Workers will ‘finance the defense’ of every union member brought to trial for the Herrin massacre, said Frank Farrington, Illinois President today.  In a formal statement he said:

 

The United Mine Workers do not condone lawlessness.  We believe in the common law doctrine that every man is innocent until proved guilty, and consequently will finance the defense of every man who is brought to trial.

 

The very magnitude and sternness of the agitation creates danger for innocent men.  An overwrought public does not always exercise discrimination in selecting its victims and public officials to satisfy public clamor often convict innocent men when the culprits cannot be found.

 

“The official report of Colonel Samuel N. Hunter, given out today, puts direct responsibility for the failure to prevent the killing of the non-union miners at Herrin upon Sheriff Thaxton of Williamson County.  Colonel Hunter says that if Sheriff Thaxton had taken his advice and asked for troops the massacre would have been avoided.

 

“Meanwhile the figures of the actual slaughter there have been revised.  A check-up by various labor agencies and coal associations shows there were seventy-two men in the mine when it was attacked.  Of this number, sixty-four are dead, wounded or missing, while the total casualties on both sides numbered more than seventy.  The check-up shows:

 

Non-union miners and guards in the mine…              72

Bodies of massacred victims officially buried…       19

Non-union men wounded…                                       34

Non-union men missing and believed to be dead…  11

Total casualties on non-union side…                         64

Union men killed while attacking the mine…              2

Union men who died from wounds…                          1

Union men wounded (estimated)…                          4-8

Total casualties on union side…                              7-15

Total casualties on both sides…                            71-79

 

“Only eight of the seventy-two men in the mine are known to have escaped unhurt, or with minor injuries.

 

“Delos Duty, State’s attorney of Williamson County, in a statement at Marion today, took exception to the figures compiled by the coal associations and labor agencies.  He says the figures are falsified to enable relatives of massacre victims and the coal company to pile up damage suits against the county.  Suits aggregating more than a quarter million dollars have already been brought as a result of the killing of the non-union men and the subsequent wrecking of the mine property.  Mr. Duty said his report shows that twenty-one non-union men were killed, three union miners killed, and eighteen wounded, including both union and non-union.

 

Says Slayers Are Known.

 

“Pittsburgh, Pa., July 31. – The National coal Association, in a statement issued here tonight announcing completion of ‘a sweeping, impartial investigation’ of the Herrin massacre, declared that the leaders of the mob were known and that at least 500 ‘members of the mob can be arrested any time that Attorney General Brundage of Illinois gives the word.”

 

“The association ‘is laying its evidence and findings before the Governor of Illinois,’ the statement said.  ‘Particular emphasis should be laid on the point that survivors of the massacre are able to point out the official of the United Mine Workers of America who gave the word to take the unarmed prisoners off the road into the woods and shoot them down in the manner of an army squad executing spies or traitors,’ says the announcement.  It adds:

 

The National Coal Association report supports the contention of the Illinois Attorney General that the massacre was the result of a well-laid conspiracy and that the riot was not spontaneous.  The report deals comprehensively with such matters as the telegram sent to Herrin by John L. Lewis, President of the United Mine Workers, failure of the Sheriff to do his duty; organization of the mob as a military machine and the unkept truce pledges assumed jointly by the Sheriff and the ranking local officials of the United Mine Workers.

 

Lewis’s telegraphic instructions to treat the members of the Steam Shovelmen’s Union as ‘an outlaw organization and common strike-breakers’ was followed on successive days by a mass meeting, the attack on the mine and the massacre.  Lewis and State Senator W. J. Sneed, President of the Williamson County Sub-district of the United Mine Workers, must assume direct responsibility for throwing a match into the powder-box.

 

“The statement announces that its investigations corroborated stories ‘of barbarous treatment of wounded’ as reported by press associations and newspapers, and declared that some bodies were found to have been branded.” (NYT. “Union Will Defend Miners of Herrin….New Count of Victims. Total Casualties Exceed Seventy, Say Labor Agencies – Sheriff Officially Blamed.” 8-1-1922.)

 

Aug 1:  “….From Washington comes word that it is the belief there that the question raised at Herrin is too vital to be long forgotten, and that either Illinois or the United Stales Government must take some drastic action before the American people will allow the matter to rest.

 

“It is pointed out that the condemnation, horror, and indignation aroused by the killing of 18, the

wounding of 54, and. the disappearance of 11 workers, on June 22, is not confined to any one section of the country. The press of the United States is practically a unit in its anathemas upon the heads of those responsible, in disgust with the finding of the coroner’s jury, and in its demand that justice be done.  A significant fact, it is noted, is the absence of much of any comment from labor papers.

 

“That the cause of organized labor has been dealt a powerful blow is conceded on all sides; that the United States Government must act if the State o£ Illinois will not, is a demand which comes from leading journals in many States. If newspapers represent public opinion, then neither the murderers nor the attempts to minimize the affair have any sympathy from the great bulk of Americans. Editorials from leading papers in practically every State, and many Provinces in Canada, voice so vehement a sentiment for punishment for the guilty, that, as one senator put it, “the federal government could not ignore the matter if it would.”

 

“Nevertheless, when you think it over, you will fail to recall that Washington has taken any more definite notice of the Herrin massacre than did Springfield.”  (Davenport Democrat and Leader, IA. “Herrin Seems Forgotten” (Editorial). 8-1-1922, 6.)

 

Aug 2:  “It was anticipated that the United Mine Workers would rush to defend any of its members accused of complicity in the Herrin massacre. In their perfunctory statements ”deploring” the atrocity, this union’s spokesmen never have accepted any responsibility for it as resting upon the organization.

 

“The Illinois coal operators who persisted in attempting to run their mines, thus “defying” the strikers’ are, in the union’s opinion, wholly to blame!  This parallels the German reasoning which

laid culpability for the Lusitania slaughter at the door of the British Admiralty, that allowed liners to sail the high seas despite the Kaiser’s supreme orders.  So when Farrington, the Illinois mine-workers’ head, announces that the organization’s full resources will be employed to defend every union man brought to trial for the horrible murders, it occasions no surprise.

 

“Were these union leaders perfectly sincere in their pronouncements against violence and other lawlessness, they would be most determined in demanding that the Herrin butchers be brought to

justice. They would be painfully conscious of the blood spot on their organization and concerned about wiping it out — but that was not expected.  On the other hand, Farrington — alarmed at the persistent public demand that the guilty be punished — is exercised lest “innocent men” suffer. “The power and wealth of agencies crying for prosecution makes it clear that the litigation will be bitterly contested,” he says.  “The very magnitude and sternness of the agitation creates danger for innocent men.”

 

“Is it not somewhat late for Farrington to be alarmed over the possibility of “innocent” men’s suffering?  A steadying word from these labor leaders when mob passion was aflame at Herrin, might have averted the crime.  Sheriff Thaxton must bear his share of the blame; but a caution from the union chief would have been more effective than that officer’s guns.  It was not spoken. Sixty-four men, guilty of no worse offense than working for a living, are shot down in cold blood and subjected to tortures worthy only of savage Turk and modern or medieval Hun – 19 of them known dead, 11 missing and 34 wounded.

 

“”The innocent must be protected from the vindictive public which demands a victim,” according to Farrington.  Is that why the Williamson County coroner’s jury found operating officials “responsible” for the victim’s death?  This may explain why not a person in the county could be found who would tell the grand jury the murderers’ names – why everyone’s lips are sealed, in fear for his own life.  Innocence must not suffer in Williamson County — never!  Presumably there are no guilty.  Williamson County dripping with blood?  It is as a lamb prepared for the sacrifice!  Indeed, the innocent must be protected!” (San Antonio Express, TX. “Innocence Must Not Suffer in Williamson County” (Editorial) 8-2-1922, p. 6.)

 

Aug 3:  “The National Coal Association is putting it up to Attorney General Brundage of Illinois. It announces that it has positive evidence concerning the Herrin affair, evidence that makes it possible to arrest at least 500 members of the mob that slaughtered more than a dozen non-union workers there some weeks ago, and that is ready to produce this evidence for the benefit of the attorney general at any time he says he is ready for it.

 

“It is up to Mr. Brundage.  He is being told that survivors of the massacre will point out the official of the United Mine Workers of America who gave the word to take unarmed prisoners off the road and into the woods and shoot them down.

 

“The Coal Association announces that its investigations corroborate Associated Press stories of barbarous treatment of the wounded, and states that some bodies were found to have been branded.

 

“The people of Herrin doubtless will be against raking up all this “ancient history.” “What good will it do?” they will ask, and then they will probably repeat some of the things they said before about it being impossible to break a strike in Williamson county. For these people, it may be considered certain, are quite of the same mind as they were when the massacre took place — they believe that such things are too bad but sometimes can hardly be avoided. What has been done to disabuse their minds? ,

 

“It is up to Mr. Brundage. And if he fails, it is up to the governor of Illinois. And if he fails it is up to the president of the United States. Decent people have not changed their minds about the Herrin affair and have no notion that time already has outlawed murder trials for the culprits.”  (Joplin News Herald, MO. “Up To Mr. Brundage” (Editorial). 8-3-1922, p. 4.)

 

Aug 4:  “What should be done to the motorist who kills a pedestrian and runs away? Hanging is to good for him. From Toledo Blade.” (Iowa City Press-Citizen, IA. “Why Not Send Him to Herrin?” 8-4-1922, 9.)

 

Aug 5:  “….From the New York Herald….Governor Small has displayed no interest in the Herrin slaughter….”  (Charleston Daily Mail, WV. “A Blot That’s Sinking In.” 8-5-1922, p. 5.)

 

Aug 5:  “Chicago, Aug. 5. – Another attempt to launch an investigation of the “Herrin slaughter” in which twenty-seven men were killed, will be made here Monday.  A committee of three from the Illinois chamber of commerce will meet with Attorney General Brundage and consider the situation.

 

“More than 600 industrial and civic organizations in the state are urging state officials not to drop the matter.  It has even been suggested that a sum of $100,000 be appropriated.

 

“The committee is composed of George Woodruff, Joliet; Wayne Hummer, La Salle, and Gerald

Franks, Peoria.” (Des Moines Capital, IA. “Urge New Probe of Herrin Murders. Illinois Business Men Launch Movement.” 8-6-1922, p. 1.)

 

Aug 6:  “The miners’ association of Illinois announces that it will finance and direct the defense of every union miner who may he charged with participation in that brutal butchery at Herrin, Ill. Instead of condemning this vile outrage against civilization and the United States government, it declares that it will employ its financial and its moral power to screen and protect those guilty of the crime. Thus it aligns itself directly with the criminals and makes itself guilty of murder after the act. The miners’ association by repudiating the murder immediately upon its commission and by using its powers to ferret out and punish the guilty parties might have won a name for itself and a place in the heart of the American public. But nothing of the sort. It maintained a sullen silence for a season and now it openly arrays itself against the law and with the anarchists. There is about an action of this sort that which is positively shocking.  Here we have an organization claiming to be respectable and numbering thousands of such members bidding defiance to law and order and sanctioning murder in its most horrible form. Well, it’s just as well to have a cut-throat gang of this sort labeled by its own words and actions. We know exactly what to expect from it and we shall know how to handle it in future.  We think Governor McCray [IN] has the sentiments of this bund[25] well in mind and if it catches him napping we shall be surprised, indeed. At the first manifestation of trouble, let him rush troops into the mining districts.  And let them he equipped to render the anarchists just the sort of a welcome they merit and deserve.”  (News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. “A Damning Announcement” (Editorial). 8-6-1922, p. 4.)

 

Aug 7: “Washington, Aug. 7. – The State Department has received a protest from the Mexican Government against the alleged killing of two Mexican citizens and the ‘beating up’ of others in connection with the mine massacre at Herrin, Ill.

 

“The Department has acknowledged receipt of the representations and has given its assurance that the circumstances will be thoroughly investigated.  It is understood that representations have been made to the Governor of Illinois and that when the Illinois authorities have completed their investigations a further reply will be made to the Mexican Government.

 

“The representations from the Mexican Government are based upon the alleged formal acknowledgement of the Governor of Illinois that two Mexicans had been killed during the disorders at Herrin and others beaten up, and on depositions from the Resendiz brothers, Mexican subjects, who for some time have been undergoing treatment in St. Margaret’s Hospital, Kansas City, for injuries received at the hands of the mob.

 

“One of the Resendiz brothers received dangerous knife wounds about the head, and both suffered bruises and lacerations from stones and clubs.  In their depositions, the brothers stated that they set out from Chicago in company with two other Mexicans, whose names they do not know, in  search of work. About a day and a half out of Chicago the way train made a stop for food and the four Mexicans alighted to eat at the station restaurant.  While eating they were set upon by a mob armed with clubs, knives and stones and were badly beaten, it is alleged, but the Resendiz brothers managed to escape. The other two were left behind and were not seen afterward by them.

 

“The two wounded Mexicans, it is stated, were taken to Kansas City and placed in a hospital where they remained for some weeks.  Inquiry addressed to the railway upon which the Resendiz brothers were traveling developed the fact that the train upon which they took passage was routed through Herrin, Ill., and the time of about a day and a half specified by the two wounded men was thought to be about the time necessary for them to have reached that station.  The two brothers indicated in their depositions that they did not know the name of the place at which they were attacked.  It was reported immediately after the rioting at Herrin that two Mexicans had been killed and two others badly beaten….

 

“The Mexican Consul at Chicago, according to information in possession of the State Department, went to Herrin to make personal inquiries.  Upon asking for the Mayor of Herrin, it is said, he was told that official was not in town and when he asked to see the acting Mayor, was informed there was no such person.  The Consul then went to the Chief of Police, who is declared to have said he knew nothing about the matter.  The Consul did succeed, later, however, in getting a statement from the Governor of Illinois that two Mexicans had been killed at Herrin and two others injured.” (NYT. “Mexico Protests Herrin Massacre. Representations to the State Department Say Mexicans Were Killed and Beaten. An Inquiry is Promised.” 8-8-1922.)

 

Aug 8:  “Washington, Aug. 8. [AP] – As a result of representations made to the state department, Illinois state officials have been asked by the federal government to report whether any foreigners were among the victims of the Herrin mine battles and what steps are being taken to punish those responsible.  The step is taken, it is understood, after formal protests had been made to Washington by Mexico, which charged that two Mexican citizens were among those killed.”  (Oakland Tribune, CA. “U.S. Asks Probe of Herrin Massacre.” 8-8-1922, p. 14.)

 

Aug 8:  “Chicago, Ill., Aug. 8 [AP]. – Predictions that Governor Len Small would soon issue a proclamation directed to the authorities of Williamson county urging the punishment of those guilty of the Herrin mine slayings were made public today by members of a committee representing the Illinois Manufacturers’ association after a meeting with the governor.  After the conference the committee issued a statement declaring that the governor had been urged to:

 

1. Put Williamson county under martial law for the reason that six weeks have lapsed since the Herrin massacre and no arrests have been made and no indictments returned, and that there was every evidence that law and order had broken down in Williamson county and that there was no one left to enforce the law.

 

2. Urge the necessity of calling a special session of the legislature for the repeal of that portion of the state mining act which forbids the digging of coal in Illinois by any persons except those who have state mining certificates, which gives a monopoly of coal mining to union miners.

 

Governor Small admitted that the situation in Williamson county was serious enough to consider the sending of troops there and placing the county under martial law.  As a preliminary step, however, it was his opinion that it would be first desirable to issue a formal proclamation to the authorities of Williamson county giving them a final opportunity to indicate that their purpose was to punish the perpetrators of the Herrin outrage.

 

The governor held out no hope that he would call a special session of the legislature because he did not think he could get a quorum, altho he admitted the emergency in Illinois, asserting the coal supplies were exceedingly serious.”

 

(Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Believe Small Will Act on Herrin Crime.” 8-9-1922, p. 2.)

 

Aug. 8:  “Washington, D.C., Aug 8….It was said at the state department today that thus far the Illinois authorities had not responded to the request for information.” (Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Question About Foreigners.” 8-9-1922, p. 2.)

 

Aug 9:  “Detroit Free Press:  The state authorities of Illinois must in some way take heed of the statement on the Herrin mine massacre issued by the National Coal association….

 

“Admittedly it would be difficult to obtain a Herrin jury that would convict and the state cannot get a change of venue.

 

“Meanwhile, we haven’t observed any extraordinary activity on the part of organized labor to hasten the punishment of these cowardly slaughterers of defenseless men. Yet, union labor loses in public esteem and support every day it continues inaction, and thus seems to countenance the crime. Judge Arthur J. Tuttle in federal court here the other day hit the nail on the head when he said:  ‘Organized labor cannot have the respect of honest men until it wipes out the disgrace of Illinois.  It must  purge itself.

 

“Labor leaders, if they are not blind, will take such words as these to heart and drive home their truth to their followers. We marvel that that great exponent of morality and social justice, Mr. Samuel Gompers, does not undertake the task.” (Morning Herald, Uniontown, PA. “Herrin Dead Still Unavenged” (Editorial). 8-9-1922, p. 4.)

 

Aug 10:  “….A long period of time has elapsed since the affair at Herrin shocked the whole country, yet, so far as known, there have been no arrests, no indictments.  If the Illinois authorities believe that by waiting, “it will all blow over,” they are mistaken. Judging from the editorial comment in the newspapers published in many cities, the enormity of the Herrin outrage increases in public estimation as the days pass.  It will not “blow over” and no amount of shirking its duty on the part of the state of Illinois will bring about such a result….” (Bakersfield Californian. “Pressure on in Illinois” (Editorial). 8-10-1922, p. 20.)

 

Aug 11:  “Sioux City Journal. Thanks to the Mexican government’s protest against the killing of two of its nationals at Herrin, Ill., in the mine massacre several weeks ago, Washington may investigate the affair which has now brought this country into the limelight of international notoriety….The Journal recognizes it as a most fortunate interruption of the strong quiet that has followed the Herrin massacre.  If something tangible develops in connection with a probe of the slaughter at the Herrin mining camp, the American people who demand that the stain be wiped out will feel grateful to the government which brought it about.

 

“Gov. Small, of Illinois, has not been a credit to the state.  He has taken no action in regard to clearing up the Herrin affair and punishing the men responsible for one of the most outrageous lynchings ever perpetrated anywhere in the country.  With state troops under his command, he sent no armed body then to round up the murderers and bring them to justice.  On the face of what failed to happen afterward it is indicated that Illinois state officials are afraid to do anything. It looks as though they were eager to let time influence forgetfulness of the frightful incident. Perhaps they have joined the Herrin coroner in considering the massacre ‘a circumstance.’

 

“Washington has been asked by Mexico to investigate the killing of two Mexicans and the assault of several others.  The note received was courteous and diplomatic and deserves recognition. Let it be hoped that it also will be viewed as meriting some kind of action. It is plain

enough that Illinois will do nothing.  The Herrin assassins would be safe indeed as far as Gov. Small and his administration are concerned. The Mexican note, which politely asks an investigation, but which also firmly protests against that kind of treatment of its nationals, is a godsend if it takes the matter out of the hands of the state of Illinois and influences official recognition of the affair as a national duty. The Journal has maintained all along that something ought to be done about the Herrin massacre. Time will have great difficulty in healing this wound to national pride unless some action of account is taken without much more delay.”  (Atlantic News Telegraph, IA. “Mexico and Herrin” (Editorial). 8-11-1922, p. 2.)

 

Aug 12:  “A dispatch from Marion, county seat of Williamson County, Illinois — scene of the Herrin massacre on June 22 – reported that States Attorney Duty and Sheriff Thaxton “are quietly gathering evidence Against participants in the mine war.”….

 

“Prospects of that consummation are not encouraging. The grand jury that will meet regularly in September will hear such evidence as Duty and Thaxton have gathered. Apparently the offense is not considered sufficiently serious there to demand a special session. Meanwhile, most participants in the atrocity have left the county, it is reported.  Of course, Sheriff Thaxton is “tracing them,” but if he overtakes a single murderer he will have to move more rapidly than he moved on June 22.

 

“To Colonel Hunter’s repeated demand that troops be requested, the sheriff replied that they were not needed, as he “had the situation well in hand.” This assertion invariably was seconded by States Attorney Duty.  The night before the massacre he refused to accompany Colonel Hunter to the mine. The latter proposed that they go there at 5 or 6 o’clock the next morning; but the sheriff

said that 8 o’clock would do. At that hour, Colonel Hunter found the sheriff’s office locked; and at 8:30 o’clock ran across him walking the street leisurely.  When they reached the mine it was being pillaged by the mob, and the massacre was going on in the woods, two miles distant. Thaxton declined to interfere for fear he would be “bumped off.”

 

“Thus it is seen that the sheriff will have to work overtime on the case to square himself with his conscience and his duty. He is an ex-miner and was elected by miners’ votes, and is a candidate for county treasurer in the November election. State’s Attorney Duty also owes his office to the labor vote. He has expressed “serious doubt” of his ability to convict the murderers. “To get a jury not imbued with the ideas of the labor unions would be impossible,” he said recently, though admitting that “the killing was inhuman beyond words.”….

 

“Once indictments are returned, Attorney General Brundage’s duty will be even clearer than it is now. The cases should be taken out of Williamson County and wholly outside the mine union’s sphere of influence. Otherwise a travesty on justice will sidetrack an unspeakable crime and Illinois’ disgrace will be perpetuated.” (San Antonio Express, TX. “A Revolting Official Farce” (Editorial). 8-12-1922, p. 6.)

 

Aug 14:  “”What is the United States government going to do in the direction of vindicating the majesty of the law in the case of the murder of the miners?” (at Herrin, Ill.) asks a contemporary.

The United States government will hardly be able to do anything in this case for the very good and sufficient reason that it has no legal authority in the premises.  The prosecution of the perpetrators of this most cowardly wholesale murder, is a matter for the authorities in the county and district where the crime was committed and for the State of Illinois. Local sentiment being in

sympathy with the murderers, or those who feel otherwise, lacking the courage to assert themselves, it is doubtful if anybody will be punished. That is awful, of course, but we must remember that the Herrin incident, while worse, is on the same scale with the outrages sometimes perpetrated by mobs in the South, in which no action is taken for the same reason that none will be taken at Herrin.  We have the excuse in the South that that the victims of mobs are guilty of horrible crimes, which is true, but we are as much without the law when we kill and burn as was the Herrin mob. The feeling that the States will not enforce the law, especially where local sentiment is in sympathy with the lawless, is the excuse for the anti-lynching bill now pending in Congress,[26] which would, if enacted, apply to cases like that in Illinois the same as to lynchings in the South.  But the South is much opposed to the anti-lynching bill, claiming that it is in violation of the rights of the States, which it is; and that it is ‘an attack on the South,’ which is a confession of our guilt, as we see it.

 

“But all this is to remark that we can’t demand that the Federal government do something in the Illinois case the while we oppose giving the Federal government authority to take action in all such cases where the State governments fail to act.” (The Landmark, Statesville, NC.  “Can Do Nothing.” 8-14-1922, p. 14.)

 

Aug 15: “Chicago, Aug. 15. – An appeal for funds to enable Attorney General Brundage to continue and extend his investigation of the Herrin massacre was issued today by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.  It was sent to the 102 city organizations that constitute the State chamber, to each of which was assigned the quota that it was requested to raise.  The chamber set $25,000 as the minimum to be raised, but its officers hope that as much as $100,000 will be made available if needed.

 

“Attorney General Brundage has been conducting his investigation quietly for several weeks, but has been hampered by lack of funds for the employment of detectives and attorneys.  Governor Small’s veto of a large part of his appropriation left him barely enough for the routine duties of his office, which do not include criminal investigations and prosecutions.

 

“The letter sent out by John H. Camlin of Rockford, President of the Chamber of Commerce, reads in part as follows:

 

On June 22, 1922, in Williamson County, Ill., a score of men, unarmed and with their hands high above their heads, were slain in cold blood, their only offense being that they dared make an honest living by working in the strip coal mines situated between the towns of Marion and Herrin.  According to the best evidence obtainable, they were set upon by a well armed mob of more than 1,000 persons, to whom they unconditionally surrendered, and were tied together, insulted and subjected to physical torture before being shot.

 

Notwithstanding the heinousness of the offense in itself and the disrepute into which it has brought the State of Illinois, there is the additional circumstance that, although hundreds of persons were witnesses to the slaughter, not one single arrest has been made and, so far as the rest of the world has been able to find, no effort of any character has been made by the authorities of Williamson County to bring any recognized formula of justice to bear on the situation.

 

“The letter then states that as it is customary for chambers of commerce to take the lead in situations involving the welfare and good name of their respective States, it is desired to pave the way for a real inquiry into the massacre.  ‘In this emergency,’ the letter continues, ‘the State of Illinois is on trial.  Our citizens visiting elsewhere have been compelled to hang their heads in shame.  The world is asking us, ‘What are you going to do about it?’  We believe the only possible answer, is that the business men of this State will contribute of their funds to the utmost in order to prove to the world that justice still reigns and that human life is safe in Illinois’.”  (New York Times. “Seeks Private Fund for Herrin Inquiry. Illinois Commerce Chamber Asks for $25,000 to Aid Attorney General Brundage.” 8-16-1922.)

 

Aug 16:  “With the settlement of the coal strike yesterday at Cleveland, the country breathes a sigh of relief and turns its attention to the controversy between the rail shop-craft unions and the railway executives in the hopes this dispute may be ended immediately….

 

“It is time now for some definite, constructive action by the coal industry, the public and the government looking toward the eradication of the dangerous fundamental weaknesses which bring on strikes. How much better it would have been for all concerned, the miners and the public most of all, had conciliation taken the place of the strike last April. The Herrin and Clifton riots[27] would not have occurred. Industry in general throughout the country would have gone forward, unimpeded.  The strike would have been farther ahead in actual cash.

 

“The strike as a weapon against capital is all the worker has to defend his rights. It is time arbitration took its place. And in the final analysis, the government is the only agency which can make both capital and labor satisfied to submit their differences for arbitration, at the same time going forward with the industry in which the disputants are engaged.” (Daily Globe, Ironwood, MI.  “But –” (Editorial). 8-16-1922, p. 4.)

 

Aug 17: “Marion, Ill., Aug. 17 (Associated Press). – A summons for a special Grand Jury to investigate the recent mine massacre at Herrin was issued late this afternoon by Judge Hartwell of the Williamson County Circuit Court to convene here Monday, Aug. 28.  It was said the special Grand Jury was called at the request of Attorney General Brundage of Illinois.” (New York Times. “Grand Jury Called on Herrin Massacre.” 8-18-1922.)

 

Aug 18:  “Chicago, Aug. 18. – In reply to the implied charge by President Harding that Illinois had condoned the Herrin massacre, John H. Camlin, President of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, tonight sent this telegram to the White House:

 

Hon. Warren G. Harding, President

United States of America, Washington D.C.:

 

The Illinois Chamber of Commerce, representing 102 local Chambers of Commerce throughout Illinois, including over thirty-seven thousand business men, notes that the convection that lawlessness in Illinois is to go unpunished and unchecked has become so firmly fixed that the President of the United States expressed that conviction as a part of his message to Congress on the industrial situation today.

 

You, Mr. President, stated justice in Illinois has failed, and there would always be a blot on the nation because of Herrin.  We grant that justice has failed thus far – failed utterly and unpardonably – but we of Illinois do not intend that this failure of justice shall remain a blot on the nation.  The citizens of Illinois intend that the guilty shall be apprehended and punished, or that full responsibility for non-enforcement of the law be placed upon the heads of those who control public sentiment and administration of justice in Williamson County.

 

The Illinois Chamber of Commerce is raising a fund for investigation and prosecution, and will make certain that every effort humanly possible is put forth to remove this blot from our State.  Our Attorney General, E. J. Brundage, has volunteered to do al in his power to bring the guilty to justice, provided sufficient funds are furnished him for this undertaking.  We propose to furnish him with the necessary funds.  The business men of Illinois are confident that in this undertaking they have your sympathy and commendation.

 

John H. Camlin, President Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

 

“Attorney General Brundage said that his plans to expand his investigation in preparation for the meeting of the Williamson County Grand Jury on Aug. 28 depend largely upon the success fo the Chamber of Commerce in raising funds.

 

“Marion, Ill., Aug. 18 (Associated Press). – The Special Grand Jury investigation of the Herrin mine massacre, which will begin Aug. 28, will be a searching inquiry, and every phase of the miners’ war will be sifted in an effort to ‘clear the name of Williamson County,’ State’s Attorney Delos Duty told The Associated Press today.

 

“The summons for the Grand Jury was issued late yesterday by Circuit Judge Hartwell, and they will be served by a special deputy.  Nineteen non-union miners were slaughtered June 22, and in the riot of the previous day three striking union men were fatally wounded.” (NYT. “To Efface Herrin Blot, President is Assured: Illinois Chamber of Commerce Wires Harding That Guilty Will Be Punished.” 8-19-1922, 3.)

 

Aug 19:  “Belatedly, Justice’s wheels have started to move in Williamson County, Illinois.  Attorney General Brundage at last has taken the step that was obvious to every thinking person all along, and has asked a special grand jury to investigate the Herrin massacre.  This will convene in Marion, the county seat, August 28 – nine weeks after the world-infamous atrocity….

 

“The special jury, it is announced, ‘will be composed of representative citizens throughout Williamson County.”  If it be fully ‘representative,’ however, no true bill will be returned, as 85 per cent of the county’s 61,038 inhabitants are union miners, their families or relatives….

 

It is doubtful whether justice can be satisfied if the trial proceed in Williamson County.  Only the first indispensable step – the grand jury hearing – should be concluded there.  Then, if Illinois practice permit, venue should be changed to some county not under unionist domination.  That was done in the Blizzard treason trial in West Virginia, but at the defendant’s behest.  In any Herrin case, defendants doubtless would be perfectly willing to take their chances in the local jurisdiction.  If the trial must proceed there, not a union man or sympathizer would be qualified to sit on the jury.  It will require unusual courage to convict; but unless Williamson County is hopelessly lost, conviction will be forthcoming….” (San Antonio Express, TX. “Where Justice is Demanded, But A Farce is Feared” (Editorial). 8-19-1922, p. 6.)

 

Aug 20:  “Washington, D.C. [AP] — Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, expressed the opinion today that President Harding had added to the difficulties of the present industrial situation by his message of Friday [Aug 20], and likewise had chosen an unfortunate time for its delivery.

 

“The chief labor leader, in a critical discussion of the president’s message, announced that his organizations would oppose any legislation carrying out the suggestions that the railroad labor board be given power to enforce its decisions or to allow the federal government to punish crimes against aliens, such as those alleged to have been committed during the Herrin, Ill. massacre….

 

“Mr. Gompers said that while the Herrin massacre was a “nasty piece of business” which “nobody could justify,” there was no reason in it to override the constitution and set aside the rights of states, “by giving the federal government power to protect aliens.  ‘What is in the back of the heads of those who father this sort of legislation is that it might be used as a method of giving federal protection to aliens while using them as strikebreakers,” he asserted.

 

“Mr. Gompers also criticized the president’s statement that the coal strikes had shown the country “at the mercy of the United Mine Workers.”  “If high finance and big business can enforce wage reductions that destroy the buying power of the people,” he said, “that will be a greater menace to the public than any organization of labor.” (La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, WI. “Gompers Attacks Harding Message Called Untimely.” 8-20-1922, p. 13.)

 

Aug 21:  “Chicago, Aug. 21. – John H. Camlin, President of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, which is raising a fund to enable Attorney general Brundage to continue his investigation of the Herrin massacre and present his evidence to a special Grand Jury in Williamson County next week, received the following letter tonight from President Harding:

 

My Dear Mr. Camlin:

 

I have your telegram of Aug. 19, and note with genuine interest the activities of your association to see that justice is done in Williamson County.

 

I was not aware of the activities which are under way to establish justice in that community.  I had only the public view of a horrible crime which has thus far been ignored.  It is a gratifying thing to know that there is a determination that justice shall be done.  It was extremely necessary to refer to the affair in my address to Congress because the general public did not seem to know that the Federal Government was powerless to act in the matter, and it was unbearable to have a widespread impression that the Federal Government was willingly or purposely ignoring that inexcusable crime.

 

There is, of course, a conscience in Illinois which will not tolerate such a disgraceful thing.  It will be very pleasing to me and reassuring to the whole country to know that this conscience is finding expression.

 

Very truly yours, Warren G. Harding.

 

“Samuel M. Hasting will begin tomorrow the formation of a committee of twenty business men to conduct the campaign fund in co-operation with 102 similar organizations throughout the State.  He will serve as the Chairman of the Chicago body.” (NYT. “Harding Commends Action on Herrin Riot; Praises Efforts of Illinois Business Men to Raise Funds to Continue Inquiry.” 8-22-1922, 2.)

 

Aug 22:  “President Harding spoke before Congress perhaps better than he knew.  His utterances may have unforeseen results.  Judging by the Association Press dispatch yesterday from Marion (Illinois), at least his words relative to the Herrin atrocity have borne fruit. They have stirred Williamson County as it had not been aroused before; evidently they have stung it into action.

 

“The President spoke most plainly about the Herrin murders. He was perfectly frank in voicing a sense of National humiliation at “the mockery of local inquiry and the failure of justice” in, Illinois.” He regretted the Federal Government’s impotence to wipe out the stain: “It is deplorable that there are or can be American communities where there are even citizens, not to speak of public officials, who believe mob warfare is admissible to cure any situation.” Those are the words that apparently have gone home to Williamson County officials as has no previous denunciation.

 

“Ever since the terrible crime, voices have been raised insistently, the country over, crying for justice—until they have blended into one mighty shout, ”Shame!”  But even that has been less effective than an open rebuke before Congress, the Nation and the world, from the President. Perhaps it may be attributed to his position’s prestige.  It remains to be seen just how deeply the lesson has sunk….” (San Antonio Express, TX. “Shamed Into Action – Perhaps” (Editorial). 8-22-1922, p. 6.)

 

Aug 23:  “Springfield, Ill., Aug. 23. – Threats of death if he goes into Williamson County to conduct an investigation of the Herrin massacre have been received by Attorney General Brundage, he said tonight, while preparing for the Grand Jury investigation at Marion Monday.  A letter dated at Herrin and mailed at Pekin advises him to ‘keep out of Williamson if you know what’s good for you.’

 

“The Attorney General and United States District Attorney [28] will have personal charge of the Grand Jury inquiry.  Mr. Brundage started tonight for Chicago to make ready for the convening of the jury which has been summoned by special deputies appointed by him.  A large amount of evidence would be introduced, he said, but how long the inquiry would last he was unable to say.”  (New York Times. “Death Threat Made to Herrin Inquisitor. Illinois Attorney General Told to Keep Away From Scene of Mine Massacre.” 8-24-1922.)

 

Aug 24:  “Of course the protest of the Mexican government addressed to the American government and demanding an explanation of the murder of two Mexican subjects in the Herrin massacre, is but a bit of stage play. There is no serious intention on the part of the Mexican government to require indemnity for these two murders. The Mexican government probably does not care anything about these two deaths, but just the same the demand is an embarrassing one. America has made scores of representations to Mexico about the slaughter of American citizens in Mexico and now the gringo-haters are turning the tables. Supposing, though, instead of Mexicans a couple of loyal English subjects had been brutally murdered in this Herrin outrage, and England had made the demand that the American government punish the guilty or confess inability to do so and permit the English government to sent a punitive expedition into the very heart of the United States, to seize the town of Herrin and exact whatever retribution of a financial nature the English government was willing to accept. That’s international law. The United States has done the same thing with other countries. The Herrin massacre is not a local affair, but an international one.  It must be punished or the United States will rest forever under the stigma of failure to enforce its own laws against murder.  Williamson county assumes that what happens within her borders belongs solely to Williamson county, but that theory will not down.” (News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. Editorial [Mexican protest regarding Herrin murders.] 8-24-1922, p. 4.)

 

Aug 25:  “Springfield, Ill., Aug. 25 [AP] – Governor Small tonight announced that an answer to the complaint from the Mexican government that Mexicans were assaulted at Herrin, Ill., at the time of the recent mine riot, had been sent to Secretary Hughes at Washington for forwarding to the Mexican representatives.

 

“The investigation, the governor said, was made by Attorney General Brundage.  His report and the advice from Bruce Scott, chief counselor for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad, corroborated each other.  Mr. Scott, the governor wrote Secretary Hughes, would be glad to meet the Mexican representative and show him that it would have been ‘impossible’ for the assault to have taken place as alleged.  The Mexicans, who it is alleged were assaulted, Mr. Scott says, were not near Herrin at the time of the rioting.” (Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Denies Mexicans Killed in Herrin Massacre.” 8-26-1922, p. 5.)

 

Aug 25:  “Chicago, Aug. 25 [AP]. – C. W. , special assistant to Attorney General Daugherty, has been selected to take charge of the special grand jury which convenes next Monday at Marion, Ill., to investigate the Herrin massacre of nonunion miners last June, and will leave tomorrow for Marion, it was announced today.  The services of Middlekauff were especially requested of the United States attorney general by Attorney General Brundage, of Illinois, and the latter will accompany Middlekauff to Williamson county tomorrow.

 

“The preparations for a special grand jury investigation of the mine horror…where…a mob declared to have included nearly 2,000 union miners and sympathizers, have been under way for weeks….

 

“Middlekauff said today that he has before him a mass of information in connection with the Herrin affair which he has only begun to review.  The scope of, or length of time that may be required by the grand jury inquiry as yet is undetermined, Middlekauff said, and until he and Brundage get on the ground little can be said except that every effort will be made to get justice.”  (Waterloo Evening Courier, IA. “Daugherty Aide to Help Herrin Probe.” 8-25-1922, p. 1.)

 

Aug 26: “In the House, Thursday, Mr. Dunbar of Indiana asked the majority leader, Mr. Mondell of Wyoming, whether the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, if enacted, would reach those guilty of the Herrin massacre.  Representative Mondell replied that it would extend to all participants in mob violence; and therefore no special legislation will be presented pursuant to the President’s recommendation that Federal jurisdiction over all offenses against resident aliens be provided.”  (San Antonio Express, TX. “A Mob Is A Mob.” 8-26-1922, p. 4.)

 

Aug 27: “Marion, Ill., Aug. 27 (Associated Press.) – The Williamson County Grand Jury, which will investigate the Herrin massacre, has neither union coal miner nor operator among its members, said Attorney General Brundage who, accompanied by C. W. Middlekauff, assistant United States Attorney General, reached Carbondale Sunday morning and then made the trip to Marion by way of Herrin.

 

“Mr. Brundage spent the afternoon in conference with State’s Attorney Duty, comparing hi evidence with that obtained by Federal operatives, Sheriff Thaxton and the State’s Attorney’s office.

 

“Mr. Brundage announced that in his opinion the evidence was conclusive and should lead to the issuance of indictments.  County officials predicted that upward of 100 indictments would be voted.  The Grand Jury, it was announced this evening, had already been sworn in by Sheriff Thaxton, but the names of the jurors will not be made known until they are called into session tomorrow forenoon.

 

“The grand jurors, it was said by Attorney General Brundage, had been selected for their ability and neutrality to insure a fair investigation.  If arrests are made, the Grand Jury will take charge of the jail in which the prisoners will be confined.

 

“A. W. Kerr, chief counsel of the Illinois Mine Workers, has temporarily moved to this city.  ‘I will say nothing that will hinder the fullest and freest investigation of the Herrin affair,’ he said.”

(New York Times. “Predict 100 Warrants for Herrin Massacre. County Officials Ready for Grand Jury Investigation Which Begins Today.” 8-28-1922.)

 

Aug 28: “Marion, Ill., Aug. 28. – The State’s effort to re-establish the supremacy of law and order in Williamson County began this afternoon when the first witnesses were heard by the special Grand Jury impaneled to investigate the Herrin mine riots of June 21 and 22 and the slaughter of twenty-three men.  Attorney General Brundage personally opened the case for the State.  The utmost secrecy was thrown around all the proceedings.

 

“The Grand Jury consists of twenty-one farmers, one furniture and lumber dealer, and one man who is part time farmer and part time coal miner.  The foreman, John Stewart, of Corinth, is a former school teacher.  These men are all Americans of the normal back country type of Anglo-Saxon-Celtic descent through the Southern Mountains of New England. They went about the business grimly, as if taking up an unwelcome duty.

 

“The charge to the jury by the young Circuit Judge of this district, De Witt Talmadge Hartwell, was one of the most unusual ever delivered in a courtroom.  It was in apart a defense of this country and its law officers, a challenge to critics everywhere, an exposition of the law and an appeal to the jurors to do their duty in this case without fear or hope of favor.

 

“It was a job for real men, the Judge said, as he placed one foot on the witness box railing and leaned toward the jurors in a conversational way. He knew them all and could call them by their first names. He said that the proceedings in the jury room would be kept secret forever, and no odium or blame would attach to them and they need never apologize to any one for doing their duty.

 

“The Court made it plain that there are two sets of killings to be investigated.  The first is the shooting of three union miners by the strike guards at the Southern Illinois Coal Company plant on June 21.  The Coroner’s jury put the blame for this on the coal company officials.

 

“It is possible, he said, for this jury to return indictments against company officials as well as against union miner for the slaughter of the nineteen strike breakers that occurred on June 22.  This is the first intimation that this feature of the situation would be taken up.  It has not been called for in any of the pleas for justice sent out.  The union men were killed, it is said, when they approached the mine with a flag of truce.

 

“There were few spectators in the court room when the session began.  Jurors, reporters and lawyers made up most of the crowd.  The miners ignored it.  There were no unusual gatherings around town.

State and Federal Officials Acting.

 

“Marion, Ill., Aug. 28 (Associated Press). – More than two months after a score of non-union workers at the Lester strip pit which had been deserted by union bituminous coal diggers were killed, what has come to be  known as the ‘Herrin massacre’ today was the subject of official inquisition.  The men lost their lives in separate attacks on June 21 and 22, the greater number the second day, when they were herded from the pit and, according to eye witnesses, brutally shot, beaten and cut to death.

 

“That the investigation beginning today would be fair and far-reaching was indicated by the announcement of Edward J. Brundage, Illinois Attorney General, that neither miner nor coal operator had been put on the specially called Grand Jury.

 

“Mr. Brundage has been assisted in the preliminary work by C. W. Middlekauff, representing the Federal Department of Justice.

 

“Among witnesses summoned are Sheriff Thaxton, his deputies, and Coroner William McCown.  Colonel Samuel Hunter of the Illinois National Guard, who investigated the Herrin mine war at the request of Governor Len Small, arrived here last night, ready to testify before the Grand Jury.

 

“It was said here today that Attorney General Brundage had advanced $5,000 out of his personal funds to defray the expense of the investigation, for which many witnesses have been summoned from other States.

 

“Mr. Brundage said he had a force of investigators on the ground to take up new leads which he said the investigation would reveal, in addition to the mass of information already collected.

 

“With the convening of court, the names of the jurors were revealed for the first time.  Most of them are farmers, but a banker and a Baptist minister are among the members.” (NYT. “Herrin Massacre Inquiry Under Way. Judge Charges Grand Jury, Defends Local Officers and Challenges Critics.” 8-29-1922.)

 

Aug 29:  “Marion, Ill., Aug. 29. – Evidence leading directly to some of the men responsible for the Herrin mine massacre of June 22 was presented today to the special Grand Jury.  The names of men who did the killing and the names of the leaders of the mob were given in secret by a witness who cannot be named.

 

“In the sweltering inner room of the old Court House, with guards at the doors, men who sold guns to rioters and men who saw the march of death gave evidence which is expected to result in the indictment of at least 100 persons before the session is ended.  Attorney General Brundage expects to get some of the ‘big ones’ in this net.

 

“Allan P. Findlay, a consulting engineer of Chicago, former time keeper at the Southern Illinois Coal Company strip mine, gave the most graphic description of the attack on the mine, the march to Herrin under the white flag and the massacre at the barbed wire fence.  He was one who had a miraculous escape.  Left for dead on the field of battle with his hair entangled in the barbed wire, shot in the back and in the foot, he awoke, he told the jury, to see the Sheriff leaning over him.  ‘There’s that time keeper.  He’ll keep no more books,’ he heard the Sheriff say, and saw this officer pass on.  It was some one else who came to his aid.

 

“Findlay came to Marion from Chicago today under protection of two guards.  He had received a note slipped under the door of his home in Chicago threatening him with death if he appeared here. He still limps and suffers from his wounded foot, but hid his limp and the pain today in fear that some one would recognize him.  He was taken into the Grand Jury room after luncheon and departed at 5 o’clock, with several men to watch him, and he will be guarded from this time on.

 

“He is the only one of the survivors able to appreciate the significance of what went on at the mine and to picture the tragedy with telling effect.  He described men in the mob and said that at one point in the march away from the mine the rioters met an automobile and he heard men whisper that ‘those are union officials.’  It was after that that a new leader took charge of the situation and the murders took place.

 

“The phrase ‘nothing will come of it,’ referring to possible prosecutions for the Herrin massacre, is losing force in these parts.  Union leaders think indictments inevitable.  The union will throw its defense around those indicted, not on the theory that murder and lawlessness should be condoned and protected, but that these men may be innocent, and that anyway this is a ‘war’ and the National Coal Association is taking advantage of the situation to try to break the unions.

 

“Names of witnesses who appear before the Grand Jury are not made public, at the request of that body, on the ground that publication might interfere with the course of justice.  Everything is placid enough on the surface.

 

“The miners are at work and apparently paying no attention to the inquiry.  But underneath there is an element of fear on the part of witnesses.  Some have refused to give names of men they saw in the ammunition riots that preceded the mine riot.  One man today refused to testify at all.  He was told to stay around the Court House while the Judge looked into his case.

 

“Rioters who seized ammunition and rifles in hardware stores in many cases are known to the proprietors and clerks, but in some cases these proprietors and clerks have refused to identify their visitors. They are afraid of the effect upon business.” (NYT. “Herrin Murderers Revealed in Inquiry; Witnesses Tell Names Under Secrecy Pledge – One Hundred May Be Indicted.…” 8-30-1922, p. 4.)

 

Aug 30: “Marion, Ill., Aug. 30.–The Grand Jury today returned its first indictment in connection with the investigation of the Herrin massacre.  The charge is murder and the man named, a Marion citizen, is accused of having fired the shot which killed C. K. McDowell, Superintendent of the Southern Illinois Coal Mine, at dawn on June 22, during the march to Herrin, after McDowell and the other mine employes had surrendered under guarantee of safe conduct.

 

“A warrant for arrest was immediately given to one of the special Deputy Sheriffs appointed to work on this case under Attorney General Brundage.  The identity of the man is withheld until apprehension.

 

“This action of the Grand Jury at the close of only three days’ investigation came as a distinct surprise.  Mr. Brundage considers it a sure indication that the jury will ‘stand up,’ and that indictments will be voted wherever evidence justifies.  Indictments had not been expected for weeks.

 

“The explanation given of this quick action is that the prosecution learned that the accused man had been selling his stock and it was suspected he might have been preparing to flee.  The indictment was suggested by the prosecutors and acted on at once by the Grand Jury.

 

“This indictment came while the chiefs of the miners’ union, including President Frank Farrington and their attorneys, with A. W. Kerr, chief counsel, were in conference in an office building across the street from the jury room.  Mr. Farrington had just given an interview to the effect that the miners’ union would throw all its force around the men who might be accused in this case.  Five minutes later the news spread.  This is the first action of any kind toward fixing responsibility for the Herrin massacre in which twenty-two were killed and sixteen injured.

 

“The miners’ leaders regard it as the first gun in an industrial warfare which has on one side the great capitalistic forces of the nation and on the other the workers.  It has already become a ‘cause.’  They do not stand for the murders, they say, but they will protect the men accused in this case because they believe unionism in Illinois is at stake.

 

“Mr. Farrington issued the following statement on the subject:

 

The Illinois miners’ union has already pledged every means at its command to the defense of any and all of its members that may be indicted in connection with the trouble at the strip mine of the Southern Illinois Coal Mining Company. We intend to keep closely in touch with the trials of such of our men as may be indicted.

 

We have a popular appreciation of the magnitude of the forces that have combined to convict our members and we shall leave nothing undone that will enable us to combat these forces.  The very magnitude of the agitation, which is nation-wide for convictions in connection with this trouble, jeopardizes the lives and freedom of innocent men and makes it necessary that th State organization furnish every possible means of defense for our members, and that we shall do.

 

“Attorney General Brundage, in reply to Mr. Farrington, said:

 

I am rather surprised at Mr. Farrington’s statement that the union proposes to defend every one indicted.  I think he has a misapprehension of the purpose of this prosecution.  The prosecution, representing the people, is not assailing the miners’ union, but is solely concerned with the murder of a large number of men under circumstances which have aroused the entire nation.

 

“New names of men implicated in the riots were obtained today.  In many cases witnesses flatly refused at first to testify, or said that they had no knowledge of the matters they were asked about.  “Some did not even know their neighbors,’ said Attorney General Brundage.

 

“The State, however, was well prepared to deal with these witnesses and in some cases had to threaten perjury or contempt action.  Memories were revived during the session and much valuable information was given by reluctant men.” (New York Times. “First Indictment in Herrin Inquiry. Man Accused of Killing Mine Superintendent is Names by Grand Jury.” 8-31-1922.)

 

Aug 31:  “Marion, Ill., Aug. 31. — Evidence establishing the identity of a number of persons who took part in the Herrin massacre was laid before the Williamson county grand jury….

 

“The identity of the witnesses who testified was closely guarded.  “The witnesses are terror stricken,” said State’s Attorney Duty. “The fear sway will be the greatest stumbling block which we will encounter. The witnesses told us that if it became generally known they have testified they will leave the country rather than return to Herrin to live.”

 

“It was learned that of the dozen witnesses who testified, nearly all were hardware dealers of Herrin and Marion.  Their stores were looted of firearms by miners who later participated in the massacre, according to State’s Attorney Duty. Motormen and conductors on the Interurban trolley line running between Herrin and Marion were grilled by the grand jury. They are believed to know some of the men who fled from Herrin after the slaying of the miners….” (Fayette County Leader, IA. “Jury Gets Evidence. Witnesses Called in Herrin Massacre Are Terror-Stricken.” 9-7-1922, 2.)

 

Aug 31: “Marion, Ill. Aug. 31. – Otis Clark, President of the miners’ local union at Weaver, who was indicted yesterday by the Special Grand Jury investigating the Herrin Massacre, for the murder of C. K. McDowell, mine superintendent, was locked in a cell in the county jail this morning, and this afternoon preparations to free him on bonds were begun by attorneys of the miners’ union.  Clark surrendered in Marion while officers were out in the country looking for him.

 

“Few persons recognized in the little group of men that strolled across the court house square this morning toward the brick jail the most significant movement in the dramatic struggle that is being staged in Southern Illinois.  Only a few idlers watched them.  In the lead were the prisoner, Clark, a powerfully built, middle-aged man, wearing a light brown suit, a yellow shirt with no tie, a cap pulled down over his eyes, and his escort, George Vinson, Chief of Police of Marion, who is acting as a special deputy sheriff in this case.

 

“Following closely were President Farrington of the Illinois Mine Workers’ Union, Harry Fishwick, Vice President; Walter Nesbit, Secretary Treasurer; Hugh Willis, district board member from Herrin; A. W. Kerr, chief counsel, George R. Stome of Marion and A. C. Lewis of Benton, attorneys for the miners. ‘They have their first prisoner,’ was the only comment Mr. Farrington would make.

 

“State Senator William J. Sneed, President of Sub-district 10 of the miners’ union, was in town and later joined the Clark forces in the bond fight.  Union attorneys said they expected to have Clark released soon.

 

“Attorney General Brundage and State’s Attorney Duty refused this morning to agree to bail for the prisoner. They will contest the action before Judge D. T. Hartwell.  If the action proceeds, the State will be compelled to show enough evidence against Clark to lead the Court to a presumption of guild.  Otherwise the Court will grant the petition.

 

“Clark is well known in the community and his arrest was soon the subject of gossip.  There were no demonstrations during the day near the jail.  He is being guarded by special deputies.

 

“While all this was going on the Grand Jury continued its work.  Twenty or thirty witnesses were waiting to be heard.

Witnessed Display Fear.

 

“`The fear has touched many of them,’ said State’s Attorney Duty.  ‘I have just been trying to get an old man to talk,’ he said.  ‘His hair is white as snow and he saw things that day.  But the fear has hold of him.  He sits and swallows like a lizard on the sunny side of a fence.  It is rather pitiful to see it.’

 

“A woman witness described the march of the mob had how she felt when she saw the bleeding men staggering y along the road.  She telephoned the Herrin police three times, she said, and there was only the response of ‘No one in.’

 

“Marion, Ill., Aug. 31 (Associated Press). – Otis Clark, who surrendered and was placed in jail today following indictment for murder in the Herrin massacre, is about 35 years old and is the father of five children.  He is a coal miner but conducts a farm during the off-mining season.  He had been at McLeansboro visiting his mother, who is reported as seriously ill, and came here last night.  On hearing that he had been indicted he immediately began conferences with miners’ officials.  He appeared somewhat disappointed when he failed to obtain his freedom on bond, but made no statement.

 

“J. R. de la Rosa, representing the Mexican Consul at Chicago, arrived in Marion today and took up with Mr. Brundage the report that two Mexicans had been killed in the massacre.  Mr. Brundage informed him that as could be learned there were no Mexicans in the mine war, and that the Mexican Government apparently had in mind the suicide of a Mexican at West Frankfort on June 23, the day following the massacre.  This Mexican was one of four men chased by a mob at West Frankfort.  He climbed up a mine tipple and leaped to his death.  The other three escaped.  Mr. Brundage sent two representatives to West Frankfort to investigate the matter thoroughly.

Governor Reported Mexicans Killed.

 

[Aug 31] “Washington, Aug. 31. – In reference to press reports from Herrin that no conclusive evidence has yet been produced at the Grand Jury investigation now in progress of two Mexicans having been killed, it was stated at the Mexican Embassy today that the representations recently made to the State Department with regard to the reported killings were based on a communication from the Governor of Illinois. ‘The Governor, in reply to a letter of inquiry from this office,’ Charge d’ Affaires Tellez said, ‘informed us that two Mexicans had been killed in the so-called massacre, and added that his statement was based on the findings of the Coroner’s jury at Herrin. “Further evidence was sought by the Mexican Consul at Chicago upon receipt of this communication,’ Senor Tellez said, ‘but the Consul could find no responsible authorities at Herrin through whom to pursue his inquiries.  He was told that the Mayor was ‘out of town,’ that there was no Acting Mayor, that the Chief of Police was out of town and there seemed to be no Acting Chief.’

 

“Senor Tellez express the opinion that the Grand Jury was dong all in its power to investigate the matter conscientiously with regard both to Americans who were killed and to Mexicans believed to have been killed in the rioting.” (NYT. “Union Official Held as Herrin Slayer. Otis Clark, a Local President, Surrenders After…Indictment. Unions Rally to Defense…” 9-1-1922.)

 

Sep 1:  “Marion, Ill., Sept 1. – While the Grand Jury proceeded with its investigations of the Herrin massacre today, Attorney General Brundage let it be known that Federal agents are ‘at the back and front door’ of every man who will be made a defendant in the case, and that it would be useless for them to attempt to escape.

 

“Otis Clark, the first man in the net, remained in jail, declaring that he was ‘innocent as a lamb.’ It has developed that the hearing over his release on bail will be an extended legal battle in which evidence probably will be taken.  This will not tart for a week at least and probably not until the Grand Jury has heard all evidence.

 

“The decision in the Clark case will then be used as a precedent for the others.  If, as anticipated, a great number of men are indicted, it would mean a big bill to the county and an over-crowded jail, unless they were released on bonds.

 

“The Grand Jury struck several snags today.  Two men refused to testify on the ground that their answers might incriminate themselves.  Judge D. T. Hartwell has intimated that he would not force such witnesses to talk.  The miners’ lawyers were consulted by the reluctant witnesses and sessions were held with Mr. Brundage, Federal investigator  and Senator Glenn.

 

“One man decided that the Constitution did not stand in the way and told his story in the afternoon.  The other man is waiting around the court house by orders of the Grand Jury.  It is said that important evidence was obtained.

 

“State’s Attorney Duty said they were getting, ‘close to the real fellows’.” (NYT. “All Herrin Suspects Are Being Watched; Report Federal Agents to Prevent Escapes…” 9-2-1922.”

 

Sep 2:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 2. [International News Wire]….The long arm of the law had reached into the mine patches of ‘Bloody Williamson’ county today and was ready to snatch those responsible for the Herrin massacre.

 

“Following the ‘leak’ from the grand jury room on the indictment of Otis Clark, now arrested and charged with murder the United States department of justice has thrown enough secret operatives into the coal region to maintain a front and back door surveillance on those suspected of the killings.

 

“The grand jury may return scores of indictments, as the result of the slaying of 22 men near Herrin in the rioting of last June, and there will be officers sufficient to see to it that those indicted do not slip thru the net. ‘It is foolish for any one to talk about running away,’ said Attorney General Brundage.  ‘Let them run.  There is a government man at the front and back door of every suspected man’s home and he cannot make a move that is not reported.  There is no place on earth they can move without our knowledge.  This investigation is going on slowly but surely.  Those who are guilty of the massacre cannot hide or dodge the consequence.  They are as good as under arrest once the indictment is returned.’

 

“The announcement that the national government had taken an active hand in the proceedings came as a shock to the community.  It had been expected that special officers would be deputized to make a swift sortie into the mine patches in case wholesale indictments were returned.

 

“The wheels of the grand jury investigation continued to grind today.  Brundage seemingly has an endless line of witnesses who are passing thru the doors leading to the jury rooms….

 

After Lax Officials.

 

“Marion, Ill., Sept. 2. – The grand jury investigating the Herrin massacre in which 22 persons were killed also is making a thorough inquiry into the responsibility for the failure to call troops in time to prevent the slaughter, it became known today.  A number of prominent citizens have been called before the investigating body, and questions asked them along these lines, it was said.

 

“Should the grand jury find any traces of neglect of duty on the part of any officials, recommendations of impeachment likely will be made, it was said.  It also is expected that the failure to ask for troops after Col. Samuel Hunter, of the adjutant general’s office had recommended such steps, will be commented on.” (Evening Courier and Reporter, Waterloo, IA. “Federal Net Out for Herrin Death March Managers.” 9-2-1922, p. 2.)

 

Sep 2:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 2. [AP] – Concluding the first week of its work, the grand jury investigation in the Herrin massacre of June 22 and 23, resulting in the death of twenty-two men, adjourned today, not to re-convene until Tuesday morning.

 

“The record for the first week of deliberations showed that one man has been indicted for murder, arrested and lodged in jail; testimony, much of it said to be important, has been recorded from about 150 witnesses; three men refused to testify; and federal operatives have been set to watch a number of persons suspected of participation in the riot….

 

“While all Williamson, Jackson and Franklin counties, the three from which the mob was reported to have gathered to attack the Lester strip mine, tonight were preparing for the big celebrations Labor day, Clark remained in his cell in solitary confinement.

 

“No hearing has been given the two men who still refuse to testify before the grand jury. They are James Taylor, a coal miner of Marion, and Enoch Yates, a taxi driver. Their cases, according to Attorney General Brundage and State’s Attorney Duty, in charge of the Herrin riot prosecution, will not be heard for some time.

 

“The prediction that the grand jury will return a number of indictments for murder but that no petit jury will be found to vote conviction, is made in the scores of anonymous letters received by Mr. Brundage, Mr. Duty and Assistant Attorney General C. W. , the latter announced.

 

Abusive Letters.

 

“The general tone of the majority of letters Mr.  quoted as follows:

 

‘If you see a man stealing your property you have a right to kill him.  This non-union men were stealing the jobs of union miners. Therefore they had a right to kill them. You are here protecting thieves and you are no better than these thieves.’

 

“….this year’s Labor day will not be as joyful as those of the past, for the miners have just returned to work after a strike lasting 144 days and have not received a cent of pay since they went out. Their first check is due September 15….” (Decatur Sunday Review, IL. “Prosecution Wades Through Mass of Herrin Testimony.” 9-3-1922, p. 1.

 

Sep 4:  “Washington Post….The apparent powerlessness of the Illinois authorities…has been indicated, the difference being that in the latter case the powerlessness is due to a combination of intention to protect the Herrin murderers on the one hand and an absence of will to enforce the law and retrieve the state’s honor on the part of officials ‘higher up’.”  (Indianapolis Star, IN. “Saving the State’s Honor” (Editorial). 9-4-1922, p. 6.)

 

Sep 5: “Marion, Ill., Sept. 5. – Indictments for perjury, as well as for murder and participation in riots, may be expected from the Grand Jury, which resumed its investigations of the Herrin massacre today, Attorney General Brundage said tonight.  Several witnesses had sworn falsely in the jury room and the State was in possession of evidence to warrant perjury indictments, he asserted.  This is a different class of witnesses from those who have refused to talk. ‘This does not mean that the investigation has struck a snag,’ said Mr. Brundage.  ‘On the contrary, we are getting a great deal of evidence. The indictment of Otis Clark has resulted in bringing out a good deal of information form those who have become convinced that we intend to accomplish something here.  It has worked as a sort of mind cure. The information comes in an endless chain by every mail and we have enough witnesses to keep the Grand Jury busy for two weeks longer.’

 

“The Grand Jury is to vote soon on a number of indictments, possibly as high as fifteen to sixteen this week.  The first return may come tomorrow.

 

“Identification of the dead in the massacre is causing some trouble.  It is also necessary to fix the exact place where the killings occurred.  Only six or seven of the non-union men killed at the power house and in the Herrin Cemetery have been positively identified.

 

“While indictments are expected to be numerous, those charging murder will be a relatively small number.  Arraignment of the accused may take place September 25.

 

“In the meantime the County Board is to meet to consider the claims for damages which have been filed against the county.  These already total $245,000, with only one death claim of $5,000 included in this sum.  The chief claims are by the Southern Illinois Coal Company for damages to property and equipment.” (New York Times. “Perjury Indictments Expected Over Herrin; Prosecutor Says Many Witnessed Lied.” 9-6-1922.)

 

Sep 6:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 6 [AP]. – Delay of additional indictments for murder in connection with the Herrin riot of June 22 and the establishment of a riot court to handle the Herrin riot cases, were predicted when the grand jury reconvened today.

 

“Marion, Ill., Sept. 6. – The grand jury is to vote soon on a number of indictments, possibly as high as fifteen or sixteen this week.  The first return may come tomorrow.

 

“Identification of the dead in the massacre is causing some trouble. It is also necessary to fix the exact place where the killings occurred.  Only six or seven of the non-union men killed at the power house and in the Herrin cemetery have been positively identified.  The others were buried in the Herrin cemetery as unknown. They were Chicago drifters and floaters.

 

“Undertakers will be examined by the jury to see what examination and disposition was made of the bodies of the nineteen. If further identifications are not established some of the indictments may be of the Wanderer type in Chicago, where the man killed was nameless….

 

“The miners’ union officials expect that suits will be filed against the union under the Coronado decision and preparations are being made to fight this phase of the case.  Regardless of the outcome of the criminal indictments, the county and the union are facing a serious situation as a result of the riot. Williamson county will be in debt for years if the claims stand in court….”  (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “May Establish Riot Court to Try Massacre.” 9-6-1922, p. 1.)

 

Sep 7:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 6 [AP]. – The grand jury investigating the Herrin massacre spent most of Wednesday morning quizzing undertakers who buried the victims of the massacre in the potters field. It was brought out, through an investigation made by American Legion State officials, that one of the men buried in the potters field was a veteran of the World War, and his honorable discharge, found on his body at the time of the inquest was presented to the grand jury

as evidence.

 

“This man was Antonio Mulkavich of Erie, Pa., who served with honor in the Somme, St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives and escaped without any wounds.  He was a private first-class in the headquarters company of the 305th Signal Corps of the 80^th Division at the time of his discharge.

 

“The grand jury is now seeking to identify other-bodies, which with that of Mulkavich, still lie in the Potter’s Field.  Conflicting testimony was given today by the undertakers who buried some of the dead, and Coroner William McCown.  The coroner’s records, which he turned to the grand jury, showed that 20 nonunion men were killed, while the records of the undertakers, who appeared before the grand jury today showed only 19 dead.  The descriptions of the dead men kept by the undertakers and the coroner do not tally. Coroner McCown has been recalled to appear again Thursday….

Local Circuit Court Crowded.

 

“Because of the crowded condition of the local circuit court docket, it was stated that it would be almost impossible to try the riot cases before it.  The only alternative, it was stated, in order that justice might not be hindered, would be the establishment of a separate court devoted exclusively

to the trial of the Herrin riot cases.

 

“This, persons in authority pointed out, could be done with the consent of the three circuit judges in this district, Judge D. T. Hartwell of Marion; Judge T. M. Butler of Cairo, and Judge A. E. Summers of Harrisburg, and counsel for the miners and the prosecution.

 

“Neither the prosecution nor the defense, the person who gave this information said, would be ready to go to trial by September 25, the opening day of the September term of court and, should the cases be ready for trial before the end of the term, in all probability their calling would be materially delayed by the mass of cases already on the docket. The tentative plan, it was understood, provides the establishment of a temporary “temple of Justice” some place outside of the courthouse.  By agreement between the judges, one of their number would be appointed to sit on the bench of this court.

Changes of Venue Unlikely.

 

“It was regarded as unlikely that the court would be set up in another county as the State can not ask for a change of venue and the possibility of such a request from the defense was considered very small….”  (San Antonio Express, TX. “War Hero Victim at Herrin.” 9-7-1922, p. 1.)

 

Sep 8: “Marion, Ill., Sept. 8. Fifty-eight men, all but a few of whom are union miners of Williamson County, stand indicted tonight for murder or conspiracy to murder as the aftermath of the massacre of June 22 near Herrin.  After returning additional indictments naming twenty-one new defendants, the Grand Jury adjourned today until Sept. 18, when the investigation will be resumed.

 

“Foreman John Stewart made a statement after the session had ended.  In the presence of the twenty-two farmers, many of whom have let crops suffer to attend to this job, he said.

 

We wish to correct a sentiment prevalent throughout the country that our investigation will not be thorough, and that it will be swayed by political and other influences.  We will make an absolutely thorough investigation, and if any influence is attempted we will not listen to it and will positively disregard it.  We will be thorough in our work, regardless of the results, and there will be no phase of angle that we will not examine into.  We will investigate the deaths of union coal miners in the same thorough manner that we are now investigating the death of non-union men.  We will also investigate the actions of the Southern Illinois Coal Company and William J. Lester, and should we find them responsible in any manner will not hesitate to indict them any more than we shall hesitate to indict any other guilty party.

 

“The chief indictment returned today is a blanket charge naming 58 persons, alleging conspiracy to murder.  The victims of the massacre, including those unidentified, are named or described in this document.  The men now in jail and those for whom the Sheriff is looking have this new charge to face.

 

“In addition to the original thirty-seven defendants these are named:  General Bernard, Simon Hiller, Noble Bell, Lew Corlan, Charles Hancock, Ernie Craig, William Travelstead, V. R. Wilson, Henry Skeltcher, Bill Gulledge, Darby Babbington, One Brook house, Sam Catone, Jesse Childers, Orrie Kirby, Earl Baxter, Bill Clander, One Hastings, Fred Cooper, Lee Herron and William Sellars.

 

“The original thirty-seven and the twenty-one new defendants were also indicted today for rioting, which carries a penitentiary sentence.

 

“The twenty-seven men named in the John Shoemaker murder indictment yesterday are regrouped in twelve new instruments today.  This was done in order to get separate action against some of the men accused as leaders and most cruel members of the mob.

 

Five Arrested, Sheriffs Seek More.

 

“Marion, Ill., Sept. 8 (Associated Press). – With four additional men in jail here today charged with murder, Sheriff Melvin Thaxton and his special deputies were out searching for the rest of thirty-seven indicted yesterday in the true bills returned in the Grand Jury’ partial report on the Herrin mine war.

 

“With Otis Clark of Goresville, the first man indicted and arrested, the four new prisoners are Leva Mann, miner, of Herrin; Charles Rogers, miner, of Herrin; Philip Fontanetta, miner, of Marion; and James Brown, a negro deputy sheriff, of Colp, a small mining settlement northwest of Herrin.

 

“Less than fifteen minutes after the indictments had been read in open court Sheriff Thaxton was returning to the county jail with the first prisoner, Fontanetta.  The other three were brought in by the deputies later in the evening.

 

“Marion residents were unaware of the wholesale issuance of indictments, as only a few were in court when the Grand Jury’s report was read.  St. Louis papers that reached the city this morning brought the first general information of the indictments.

 

“The first indictment made known yesterday charged six men with the killing of Howard Hoffman of Huntington, Ind., one of the employes of the Lester strip mine who escaped the massacre at the barbed wire in the woods, but who were overtaken and brought back to the cemetery, where five were shot down.  Leva Mann is in this group.

 

“Nine men were named in connection with the hanging of Robert J. Anderson of Sparta, Mich.  This bill had two counts.

 

“Twenty-seven were made co-defendants in the third bill, charging them with murder in connection with the death of John Shoemaker of Charleston, Ill.  Charles Rogers, Fontanetta and James Brown, negro deputy sheriff, and Otis Clark are named in this bill.

 

“Shoemaker was a son of Mayor Shoemaker of Charleston, Ill., and the father of three small children.  He was a brother-in-law of W. J. Lester, owner of the ill-fated strip mine, and was acting as assistant Superintendent at the time of the massacre.

 

“Hubert Walker, who was also named in the third bill, is alone charged in the fourth indictment with the killing of Shoemaker.

 

“More indictments will be issued, it was stated by Attorney General E. J. Brundage, in charge of the Grand Jury investigation. These, it is understood, will be issued for larceny and perjury.  Following the massacre at the strip mine, much of the equipment was stolen and some of the stolen equipment has been recovered.

 

“Indictments for perjury, it was said, will be based on the testimony of some witnesses given before the Grand Jury.  Assistant United States Attorney General C. W. Middlekauff made known yesterday that no indictments would be issued against those members of the mob who were not armed and who are known not to have incited any attacks on the employes of the mine.

 

“It is understood that every precaution has been taken to prevent actual participants of the riot to appear before the Grand Jury as witnesses, who thereby would make themselves immune from prosecution on any charge growing out of the investigation.

 

“The four prisoners who were brought in last night, like Clark, after his arrest, remained silent and declined to make any statement.

 

“Peoria, Ill., Sept. 8. – Illinois miners in executive session here today pledged 1 percent of their total earnings, or $250,000 a month, in defense of any members of the United Mine Workers who may be arrested for participating in the Herrin massacre.” (New York Times. “58 Now Indicted in Herrin Murders.” 9-9-1922, 11.)

 

Sep 9:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 9 [AP] — With the grand jury resting till September 18, attorneys for the union minors indicted in connection with the Herrin massacre of June 21 and 22 last, today were prepared to make an effort to have the eleven men who are in jail here on indictments for murder in connection with the riot released on bond.

 

“A motion for the release of Otis Clark, the first man indicted and arrested on a charge of murder, has been pending since the day of his arrest, and since the grand jury has suspended its work it is thought probable the hearing on this motion will soon be held before Circuit Judge D. T. Hartwell.

 

“Before the grand jury adjourned they came into open court before Circuit Judge D. T. Hartwell and returned 14 [unclear] bills.  The first of these bills indicted 58 men for conspiracy and for rioting on a second charge.  These men, according to Circuit Judge Hartwell were the 3 indicted on Thursday for murder and also Gerald Bernard, Simon Hiller, Noble Bell, Charles Hancock, Lrnlo [unclear] Craig, William Traestead, V. R. Wilson, Henry Sketcher, Bill Gulledge, Giles Holley, William Sellers, Darby Babbiagton, one Brookhouse, whose first name is unknown, Sam Cantone, Jessie Childers, Orrie Kirby, Earl Paxtor, Bill Clander, one Hastings, whose first name is unknown, Fred Cooper or Kuepper and Lee Herron.

 

“They are charged with conspiracy to kill Howard Hoffman, Robert Anderson, John Shoemaker, Thomas Fleming, Sherman Holdman, William Cairns, William O’Reilly, Earnest Renard, Frank Schmidt, Ray M, Lennon, Allen Findlay, Ed Rose, Ignas Rubins [unclear], Joseph O’Rourke and Claude K. McDowell.

 

“The number of persons in jail today as a result of the indictment was brought to thirteen by the surrender of Will Travelstead, one of the fifty-eight indicted.

 

“The grand jury called the Associated Press representative into the jury room alone and Foreman John Stewart, in the presence of the jury, dictated the following statement to the press:

 

We wish to correct a sentiment prevalent throughout the country that our investigation will not be thorough and that it will be swayed by political and other influences.  We will make an absolutely thorough investigation and if any influence is attempted we will not listen to it and will positively disregard it.  We will be thorough in our work regardless of the results and there will be no phase of angle that we will not examine into.”

 

(Decatur Daily Review. “Mine Union Seeks Release on Bond of Herrin Accused.” 9-9-1922, 1.

 

Sep 10:  “There is an honest difference of opinions as to whether or not newspapers should “play up” crime stories. There are those who argue that the revolting details of murders and hangings should not, under any circumstances, be blazoned before the public. Others contend that publication of crime stories serves as a preventative.  But candid editors all admit that the chief reason crime stories are published at length is because the public “loves ’em,” because the public “eats up” crime details and newspapers must give the public what it wants.

 

“But here is an instance where the publication of crime news serves a double purpose, that of giving the public something most interesting to read and, at the same time, enlightening and possibly arousing complacent citizens to a real danger that has long been threatening American institutions.  The crime story referred to is that of the Herrin massacre—the greatest and most revolting crime of recent years.

 

“For a long time now, certain groups have held themselves somewhat above the law and law courts of the country, exempt from the penalties that attach when others commit murder and arson.  They have proclaimed that they alone have the right to work and live and prosper, and the

sad part of it is they have been getting away with it, spineless local authorities remaining passive.

 

“Now a genuine effort is being made to bring the Herrin murderers to justice. It is the duty of every loyal newspaper to give its readers as much of the news of the investigation and subsequent trials as is possible to obtain, and it is likewise the duty of every good citizen, especially those misguided ones who thru prejudice or sympathy have permitted themselves to be imposed upon by radical spellbinders, to read every word obtainable regarding the efforts to teach these murderers and all others who may consider themselves above the law that the United

States government is still more powerful than any individual, group or organization.”  (Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Crime Publicity” (Editorial). 9-10-1922, p. 20.)

 

Sep 11:  “Marion. 111., Sept 11 [AP] — Sixteen of the 38 men indicted by the special grand jury on charges of murder in connection with the Herrin massacre, were still at liberty tonight. Eight surrendered to Sheriff Thaxton today, in addition to the 14 who have been in custody in the county jail.

 

“The eight new prisoners are Peter Hiller, Joseph Carneighi, Otis Maynard, Joseph Rogers, Joe Murray, Frank Adams, all of Herrin, and James Norris and Dallas McGree, both of Energy, a hamlet three miles south of Herrin.  Hiller, Rogers and Carneghi are charged with having participated in the killing of Howard Hoffman of Huntington, Indiana, an employe of the Lester strip mine around which the massacre took place, and the other five are jointly indicated on charges of having killed John Shoemaker of Carleston, Ill., assistant superintendent of the mine.

 

“One-half of the 20 indicted on charges of conspiracy and rioting have given bonds of $1,000 each; Darby Babbington and Fred Cooper, both of Johnston City, being the last two to surrender on these indictments today after they had returned from the miners’ state convention at Peoria.  Babbington is a member of the miners’ state executive board, and Cooper a state mine investigator.

 

“Sheriff Thaxton made known today that no special precaution had been taken to guard the jail, as he had received the assurance of the miners’ union officials that they would surrender all union miners indicted and that no trouble would be expected.”  (Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Herrin Massacre Suspects in Jail. Eight More of 389 Indicted Men Surrender – Sixteen Still at Liberty.” 9-12-1922, p. 1.)

 

Sep 11:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 11 [AP]. With the surrender of three more of the 58 indicted in connection with the Herrin massacre in which 22 persons were killed June 21 and 22, the number in jail was brought to 17.  James Norris, 70 years old, and Frank Adams, 18, and Dallas Mc-Cree were those who surrendered today.  All three are charged with murder.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Three More Surrender at Marion Today.” 9-11-1922, p. 1.)

 

Sep 12:  “Springfield, Mo., Sept. 12. — “The doom of organized labor is sealed unless the spirit of lawlessness, anarchy and bloodshed is stamped out by the unions,” R. R. Brewster of Kansas City, republican nominee for United States senator declared in an address here today before the Missouri republican convention.  “I yield to no man in my belief in and respect for organized labor,” Brewster said. “I believe that at heart the labor unions of this country are sound, law abiding and patriotic. But there are labor leaders in America today who are as anarchistic at heart as the ‘reds’ of Russia.”

 

“Referring to what he termed acts of outlawry and murder committed in industrial disputes, the senatorial nominee said:

 

“The general public is the greatest suffer in strikes and lock-outs involving the essential industries.  It follows that government must take a hand in industrial disputes that law and order may be maintained; that women and children may not starve; that the citizens who would engage in honest toll may be protected.”

 

“Characterizing the Herrin killing as “bloody and cruel a massacre and murder of helpless victims as ever disgraced a civilization,” Brewster declared:

 

“No one for a moment would contend that the majority of the members of labor unions or even a goodly number of them would condone or sympathize with these awful crimes. Wo do find, however, when an indictment is voted by a grand jury charging a member of the union with participation in these foul murders, that Frank Farrington, president of the Illinois miners’ union, has the effrontery to issue this statement:

 

“The Illinois minors union has already pledged every means at its command to the defense of any and all its members that may be indicted in connection with the trouble at the strip mine of the Southern Illinois Coal and Mining Company.

 

“Since when have we become accustomed to speak of wholesale murder as ‘trouble?’ Can it be possible that Mr. Farrington means that the Illinois miners union has pledged every means at its command to protect and acquit men guilty of willful, deliberate, premeditated and bloody murder?  Can it be that he or his associates can see in this foul massacre nothing but legitimate industrial warfare?

 

“Every man is presumed to be innocent until proved guilty and has a right to a fair and impartial trial.  This is a far different statement from the one made by the president of the Illinois miners union. His statement was an open defy to law and order, to constituted government.  It is a statement that might well issue from the mouth of anarchy and murder, but certainly not the statement that should be expected from one high in the councils of organized labor.”

 

(Joplin News Herald, MO. “Unions Doomed Unless Anarchy is Stamped Out, R. R. Brewster Declares.” 9-12-1922, p. 1.)

 

Sep 13:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 12. [AP] – Williamson county’s share of the expenses of trying the 58 men indicted by the grand jury in connection with the Herrin massacre, was approved at today’s meeting of the board of supervisors.  The county’s share is $700.  No action was taken on the $250,000 claims filed for alleged damage to property during the massacre, which occurred around the Lester strip mine.

 

“Three more of the 38 indicted on charges of murder in connection with the riots, were placed in jail today, bringing the number of prisoners to 25. The new prisoners are James Galligan, 32, of Herrin; Nava Canady and Herb Rushing, 18, both of Carterville.

 

“Galligan was brought here by his cousin, George Galligan, republican nominee for sheriff, who previously had brought his half brother, Percy Hall, to the county jail.

 

“It is generally believed that the petition for the release on bond of Otis Clark, first man indicted, will not be heard this week.” (Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “25 Indicted for Herrin Massacre Lodged in Jail.” 9-13-1922, 1.)

 

Sep 14:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 14. – Circuit Judge Hartwell announced last night he would hear the motion for release on bond of Otis Clark, the first man indicted and arrested on a charge of murder in connection with the Herrin massacre, some time next week, but did not fix the day.  The motion was filed on the day Clark was arrested on an indictment charging him with killing C. K. McDowell, superintendent of the Lester strip mine, near which twenty-two men were killed June 21 and 22.

 

“State’s Attorney Delos Duty has announced he would resist any legal action brought to free those on bond, who have been charged with murder in connection with the Herrin mine war.  Twenty-five of the 38 indicted for murder have been arrested and are being guarded in the county here by a special guard.” (Alton Evening Telegraph, IL. “To Hear Motion for Bond for Herrin Men.” 9-14-1922, 3.)

 

Sep 14:  “Chicago, Sept. 14. [AP] – That the Southern Illinois Coal company expected trouble at Herrin from the striking miners, and to meet such an eventuality, purchased fire arms in Chicago, was a point the fifteen applicants for compensation before the Illinois industrial commission attempted to prove when hearings were resumed.

 

“Jacob S. Cook, attorney for the applicants, had Lieutenant William Kennedy of detective headquarters, on the stand in an effort to prove this.  Kennedy, it is said, accompanied C. K. McDowell, late vice president of the company, while the latter purchased rifles and ammunition in this city, later shipping them to Herrin.

 

“Earlier a former guard at Herrin, named Finley, had testified to the rifles being received at the mining town.

 

“Thru their efforts to establish this point the plaintiffs are endeavoring to show the Southern Illinois Coal company should be held responsible for the injuries received by the men on June 22, when the killing took place.” (Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “Say Coal Company Had Arms Sent to Herrin.” 9-15-1922, 8.)

 

Sep 16:  “….Antonio Mulkavich, as his name indicates, was born in the Balkans. He first saw the light in a land of age-old oppressions, in turn trodden by invading Macedonian, Roman, Byzantine, Goth, Tartar, Ottoman, Magyar and Teuton….

 

“Born to this unhappy heritage his blood surging in revolt against the tyrant’s yoke, voices within crying against ancient ancestral wrongs, Antonio heard tidings of a wonderful ‘land of the free beyond the ocean – America, the refuge of the oppressed and downtrodden.’ There, he was told, ‘a man is a man who is willing to toil;’ the tyrant’s heel never is lifted to crush the helpless; the tax-gatherer does not take a tithe of one’s earnings, but every man is free to work and enjoy the fruits of his labor.

 

“Like thousands of his unfortunate fellow countrymen, Antonio resolved to make the new world his home. After many toilsome years, much scrimping and self-denial, the glad day came when money saved for the journey. Antonio bade the old land farewell.  He turned his back upon its evils and abuses and like the Argonauts, faced westward. Meeting the experiences of every seeker after a new life, Antonio suffered disillusions. The new world was not the Utopia he had hoped for, but bravely he withstood his disappointment and earnestly sought to become an American. The road was not easy; it was uphill all the way, and numerous obstacles blocked the path.

 

“Then the United States entered the world war – and Antonio’s opportunity came.  He joined his adopted Nation’s fighting forces and went overseas with the Eightieth division.  As a private in the signal corps, he was assigned to many a dangerous task on the Somme, in the St. Mihiel salient, and the Meuse-Argonne offensive.  Untouched by whining shell or sputtering machine-gun in all those terrific battles Antonio, grateful for heaven’s blessings, returned with his division.  His discharge paper was marked. ‘Served with honor.’

 

“Hard times came; jobs were none too plentiful and a brilliant war record was not always a pass to a square meal.  Antonio had heard that the republic gratefully remembered its defenders.  The opportunity to work in the Herrin mine could not be passed up – when a man was hungry.  And could not one work when and where one chose in ‘free America’?

 

“It was not long after Antonio took this job that he suffered his last disillusion concerning ‘the land of liberty.’  Fighting in the Argonne, Antonio was a hero – but toiling for his daily bread in the Herrin mine, he was a ‘common strikebreaker.’  He might have died for freedom and filled a her’s grave in France – but he rests, unhonored and unsung, in the potter’s field at Herrin.

 

“As Antonio lay wounded and dying under the burning June sun, his cries for water met only by jeers, did he reflect on the meaning of those sacred words, liberty, justice, right and country?  Doubtless, he did not even suspect that his deathblow came from the same enemy he fought in France – the foe he thought was vanquished – the spirit that sometimes is unleashed in America, too.  Probably there floated before his dimming eyes visions of his homeland in other days – of bleeding corpses, strewn in the ancient village street; of the Turk swooping down upon women and butchering men; of red flames lighting the scene of massacre and terror.  A. T.” (Waterloo Evening Courier, IA. “Antonio Mulkavich.” 9-16-1922, p. 4.)

 

Sep 17: “Marion, Ill., Sept. 17. – When the special Grand Jurors investigating the Herrin massacre convene tomorrow morning after a ten-day recess they will find twenty-six of the thirty-eight men indicted for murder in the County Jail awaiting trial and will find practically all of those indicted for rioting and conspiracy in jail or out on bond.  They also will find a changed sentiment throughout the community.  When the jury convened law-abiding citizens were skeptical, but now they expect more indictments before the end of the week.

 

“The attorneys have worked all during the recess and have allotted the work for each day and summoned witnesses accordingly, so that if no startling revelations are made the jury will complete its work this week.  There will be a few indictments for murder and the rest for plunder and conspiracy, but the indictments for plunder of mine property after the riot will be left to the regular Grand Jury which meets a week later.

 

“The Williamson County Miner, a weekly paper published at Johnson City and owned by the miners of Herrin and Johnson County, said editorially in its last issue that all those actually guilty of murder should be punished, but prefaced that with the assertion that the county ‘had as much right to of out and arm themselves against the common for as the participants of the Boston Tea Party’.” (New York Times. “Grand Jury Resumes Herrin Inquiry Today; More Indictments for Massacre Are Expected – 26 of 38 Indicted for Murder in Jail.” 9-18-1922, p. 4.)

 

Sep 18:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 18. – Marion, Ill., Sept. 18. – The prosecution in the Herrin mine killings will follow the procedure of the Chicago Haymarket trials, it was indicated today when attorneys began familiarizing themselves with the 122d volume of the Illinois supreme court decisions.  Attorneys for the state, it was learned will base their case on the contention that those who incited to riot are equally as guilty as those who actually fired the fatal bullets which took 22 lives on June 21 and 22 last…

 

“The 26 prisoners held in the county jail on indictments for murder issued by the grand jury are being kept at the expense of the union miners it was learned today.  The county is saving the expense of feeding the prisoners, it was said, as the union miners’ officials have told the prison authorities to place the orders thru a local restaurant and anything from fried eggs and potatoes to steak and mushrooms will be served at the expense of the miners’ union it was announced.”  (Davenport Democrat and Leader, IA. “Herrin Trials Follow Those of Haymarket.” 9-18-1922, 10.)

 

Sep 19:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 19 (Associated Press). – Failure to arrest all of the fifty-eight persons indicted as implicated in the killing of nineteen non-union workers of the Southern Illinois Coal Company’s strip mine at Herrin, near here, on June 21 and 22 last, is the latest phase of the inquiry being conducted by the Special Grand Jury.

 

“John Kelley of Zeigler, a constable, is still at liberty, although indicted twice for murder.  Eleven of the indicted men are still at large and when the jury investigates the reasons for the failure to apprehend Kelley, as it is expected to do, the other cases probably will be taken up.

 

“Roy Pennington of Marion is the only one of the eleven whose whereabouts are definitely known.  He is in a hospital and his father has guaranteed his delivery to the authorities as soon as he leaves the hospital.

 

“The remainder of the men are believed by the authorities to have fled the country when they heard of the investigation.  They are George Anderson of Marion, Louis Corbett of Johnson City, Lee Howard, Wesley McPharron, John Rushing, Floyd Stokes, William Stanley, Tony, an Italian, whose last name is not known, and Herbert Walker.” (NYT. “Flee When Indicted in Herrin Massacre. Eleven Believed to Have Left Country – Grand Jury to Investigate…” 9-20-1922.)

 

Sep 20:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 20 [AP]. – The Williamson County Board of Supervisors today was expected to take up consideration of bills asking approximately $275,000 for alleged damages committed in connection with the riots at the strip mine of the Southern Illinois Coal Company near here last June….The Board of Supervisors is expected to refuse the claims, and the next step for those seeking damages, according to attorneys, will be to file suit in the County Court for the amounts.  The damage bills include $240,000, asked by the Southern Illinois Coal Company, for damage done to its mining property during the rioting; $20,000 asked by the Hamilton Lester mine, an adjoining shaft, for property damage, and $15,000 asked by non-union workers who asked for the loss of personal effects.  The bills do not include claims for the deaths of 19 non-union workers who were killed.  These claims, it was explained, are to be filed directly in the county court.

 

“Investigation of the failure to apprehend 11 of the 58 men indicted in connection with the mine killings, was brought to the attention of the grand jury by the prosecution.  One of the indicted men still at large, John Kelley, of Zeigler, was reported to have been seen on the streets of Zeigler, boasting of his freedom.  It was said that no attempts have been made to arrest him.

 

“Dalbert Nelson was arrested today on information charging perjury before the special grand jury investigating the mine killings in June.  He was released oh $1,000 bond.  Nelson is alleged to have remarked before the grand jury convened that he had knowledge of the riot but on appearing before the jury stated he knew nothing of the killings.  Later he was recalled and admitted he falsified, according to State’s Attorney Duty….

 

“The Williamson county board of supervisors today, announced it would not allow claims of approximately $275,000 filed against the county as a result of the killings.” (Alton Evening Telegraph, IL. “$275,000 Asked For Damages in Herrin Rioting.” 9-20-1922, 2.)

 

Sep 21:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 21 [AP] — Speeding up its investigation the special grand jury inquiring into the Herrin mine killings today had on hand another large batch of witnesses, some of whom were expected to give first hand accounts of the killings.  The witnesses were summoned in a blanket subpoena for all residents living along the road running between the scene of the killing and the Herrin cemetery where some of the survivors of the riots later met death.

Kelley Arrested.

 

“Constable John Kelly of Zeigler, indicted two weeks ago for murder, today was arrested and lodged in the county jail here.  Kelly, an alleged leader of the mob, denies participation in the rioting.  He is specifically charged with the murder of John Shoemaker, one of the 19 non union men killed….” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Issue Blanket Subpoena For Massacre Witnesses.” 9-21-1922, 1.)

 

Sep 22: “Marion, Sept. 22 [AP] — Following a conference with Attorney General Brundage of Illinois and State’s Attorney Duty today, Circuit Judge Hartwell called Judge Somers of Harrisburg and Butler of Cairo, to Marion to confer on procedure of the trials of those indicted in connection with the killing of 22 men at the Lester strip mine June 21 and 22 last.  Thirty eight men have been indicted for murder and 20 for rioting. All the latter are at liberty on bond.

 

“In expectation that those indicted for murder would be allowed liberty on bond a committee of miners, headed by Mayor Peace of Herrin, has requested merchants of Marion, Herrin and Johnson City to furnish the bonds.  Seventy-five merchants already have promised assistance, it was said….

 

“Attorney General Brundage of Illinois and State’s Attorney Delos Duty appeared before the Williamson county board of supervisors yesterday and asked for a special appropriation for the purpose of paying the cost of the investigation. The board adjourned without taking any action on the requests.  Mr. Brundage declared that his office already had paid the costs of the inquiry.” (Alton Evening Telegraph, IL. “Herrin Inquiry Report May be Made Saturday.” 9-22-1922, 2.)

 

Sep 23:  “Marion, Ill., Sept, 23. [AP] — In a comprehensive report, the special grand jury which investigated the Herrin mine killings, arraigned Adjutant Black for failure to send troops, Sheriff Melvin Thaxton and local police for alleged failure to protect life and property, and returned a total of 314 indictments.

 

“The jury returned six more indictments for murder, bringing the total to forty-four, fifty-eight for conspiracy to commit murder, fifty-four for assault to murder, and previously had returned fifty-eight for conspiracy and rioting.

 

“Discussing the Southern Illinois Coal company’s action in reopening the strip mine while the strike was in effect, the report states that W. J. Lester, owner, “either was woefully ignorant of the danger” or “blindly determined to risk strife and conflict if profit could be made.”

 

“The report was made to Circuit Judge Hartwell.  Among those in the courtroom when it was presented were Col. Sam Hunter and Capt. Dan Dineen, of the Illinois National Guard, representing Gov. Len Small.

 

“The report stated that there was no law which forbade the adjutant general to call out troops unless request were made by the sheriff.  This, it was pointed out, was the explanation given by Adjutant-General Black for his failure to send troops to Herrin.

 

“Sheriff Melvin Thaxton is a member of the miners union, and also is a candidate for county treasurer and he failed to take adequate measures to preserve the peace, either because of his sympathy for the union, or through fear that it would hurt his candidacy, the report declared.  The attack on the strip mine had been planned several days, the report asserted, and Sheriff Thaxton had ample time to learn of the proposed movements on the non-union men.

 

“Ransacking of hardware stores for arms and ammunition just before the attack was the result of a telegram from John L, Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers, to state Senator William Sneed, declaring, the nonunion men to be strike breakers, the report said.  Senator Sneed is a sub-district president of the miners’ union, and the report stated the telegram was posted at various places and that the miners rifled the stores with the assurance that the United Mine Workers would, pay for the articles they took.

 

“The strip miners were ignorant of the fact that they were strike breakers, the report emphasized, they did not realize their danger until noon of June 21, when the first attack was made on the mine.

 

“Thirty more men were indicted Friday.  The grand Jury had planned to recess Friday night but delay in preparation of the findings of the body caused the recess to be deferred until after the jury delivers its final report in the case, which has been set to begin when the jury convenes Saturday morning.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Herrin Jury Scores Black and Thaxton. Officials Blamed For Failing to Act – Return 214 Indictments, 44 for Murder.” 9-23-1922, 1.)

 

Sep 23:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 23 [AP]…. The report declared the “state administration undoubtedly realized the acute situation at Herrin,” and asserted the “adjutant general’s office and the sheriff alternated in passing responsibility with neither taking decisive action to prevent disorders and protect property.”

 

“”The atrocities and cruelties of the murders,” the report emphasized, “are beyond the power of words to describe. A mob is always cowardly, but the savagery of this mob in its relentless brutality is almost unbelievable. The indignities heaped upon the dead did not end until their bodies were interred in unknown graves.”….

 

“Among those indicted today were Hugh Willis, district board member of the Illinois Mine Workers, charged with murder and assault to commit murder, and Will Davis, secretary of sub-district No, 10 of the miners’ union, charged with murder….” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “State Administration Lashed by Herrin Jury.” 9-24-1922, 1.

 

Sep 23:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 23 [AP]…. The jury recessed until October 23 after making its report….”  (Eau Claire Sunday Leader, WI. “State Blamed For Massacre.” 9-24-1922, p. 1.)

 

Sep 23:  “Marion, Sept. 23 — Declaring the “State administration undoubtedly realized the acute situation,” at Herrin before the outbreak in which 22 men were killed last June, the special grand jury which has been investigating the rioting today made a report arraigning Adj. Gen. Black of Illinois, Sheriff Melvin Thaxton of Williamson (this county) and the local police, and returned a total of 214 indictments….

 

“The test, in part, follows:

 

About the middle of June this year, after suspension of the coal industry as a result of a strike of the United Mine Workers of America, the Southern Illinois Coal Company decided to operate a strip mine owned by it and located about midway between Marion and Herrin. The Miners’ Union apparently raised objections to the uncovering of the coal by the use of steam shovels, but when the coal company began to ship coal there was bitter resentment on the part of the union miners.

 

The coal company aggravated this resentment by employing armed guards and closing for public use certain highways traversing the mine property and treating as trespassers citizens attempting to use the accustomed highway. The flaunting of arms in a community devoted almost exclusively to mining was conducive to strife. It was a challenge and certain to be accepted, and for four or five days preceding the tragedy it was known to the authorities that a conflict was inevitable…

 

The State administration undoubtedly realized the acute situation by sending to Williamson County Colonel Hunter of the Adjutant General’s staff.  This representative of the State government testified that he recognized upon his arrival in Marion an imminence of a conflict and immediately asked the Adjutant General to send State troops to protect the property and conserve the peace.  This request Colonel Hunter renewed several times before the actual conflict and was invariably asked by the Adjutant General

of Illinois if the sheriff of Williamson County had asked for the troops.  The Adjutant General denied his authority to order them into Williamson County, except upon the sheriff’s request, which, as your honor knows is not the law?”

 

“….Among those in the courtroom when the report was presented were attorneys, newspaper men, Col. Sam Hunter and Capt. Dan Dinneen of the Illinois National Guard, representing Governor Len Small; Mayor Pace of Herrin, a sub-district official of the Miners’ Union who is under indictment on a charge of rioting, but who is at liberty under $5,000 ball, and Deputy Sheriff Storme.

 

“The report emphatically stated that there was no law which forbade the adjutant general to call out troops unless requests were made by the sheriff….” (San Antonio Express, TX. “Sheriff and Illinois Officials Blamed for Herrin Mine Massacre. Political Aims Put Above Life Grand Jury Says.” 9-24-1922, 1.)

 

Sep 25:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 25 [AP]. — Thirty-six the 44 indicted for murder in connection with the Herrin mine killings will be given liberty on bond today, it was announced. The remaining eight will not be allowed bond because of alleged compelling evidence against them, it was added.  Should motions to dismiss the indictments be made they will not be granted, it was learned.

 

“Bankers and business men of Herrin and some merchants from Carterville were in court prepared to furnish the bonds, which will total $370,000.  Six will be allowed freedom on $20,000 bond each, twenty on $10,000 bond each, and ten on $5,000 bond each.  It previously had been announced that ten would be released on $10,000 bail and twenty on $5,000 but this was changed at the last minute.

 

“With the grand jury recessing for a month, the motives of Attorney General Brundage of Illinois, who is in charge of the prosecution, were assailed yesterday in a statement by A. W. . Kerr, chief counsel for the state miners organization, who charged that the jurors’ report censuring certain state and county officials for failure to prevent loss of life “bears all the ear-marks of having been drafted by the attorney-general in collaboration with officials of the Illinois chamber of commerce.”

 

“Declaring that “the attorney general is openly financed by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, an organization whose only record is that of an effort to destroy organized labor,” the statement charged that Mr. Brundage had given instructions to the grand jury through the press instead of delivering the instructions secretly.

 

“The miners union is said to be prepared to furnish the bonds. A committee of miners headed by Mayor Pace of Herrin, where the 22 killings occurred has been soliciting businessmen in this section for assistance and sufficient pledges are said to have been obtained to cover the amounts demanded in the bonds.

 

“Six of those to be denied ball are among the thirty in custody, while the other two have not been apprehended.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Free 36, Indicted For Herrin Murders, on Bail.” 9-25-1922, 1.)

 

Sep 25:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 25 [AP]. — Eighty-six business men from Herrin, Johnston City and Marion appeared before Circuit Judge D. T. Hartwell this afternoon, gave their names to the clerk and furnished bonds for $410,000, upon which the men indicted for murder in connection with the Herrin mine killings were released with eight exceptions, six of whom are in jail, held without bail and, the other two are yet to be apprehended.  Herrin had the largest representation among those furnishing bond….The six held without bail are Otis Clark, Bert Grace, James Brown, negro constable; Leva Mann, Phillip Fontanette and Peter Hiller, with Oscar Howard and Jesse Childers ordered held without bond as soon as they are apprehended.

 

“Those for whom bond was made for $20,000, are Percy Hall, Joseph Carnegh, Charles Rogers, John Kelley, James Galligan and James Norris.  Those released upon $10,000 bond are Hubert Walker, Nava Cannady, Herbert Rushing, Clyde Lee, Dallas McCree, William Stanley, John Rushing, Almus Lolless, Tom Wicks, William Travelstead, Louis Corbett, Harry Perdue; Enos Yates, James Taylor, William Davis, Hugh Willis, Alexa Ray, Charles Thomas, Joseph Rhodes and Alvin Stewart.

 

“The, men given freedom on $5,000 bond are Frank Adams, George Anderson, Fred Cooper, Frank Hicks, Ora Kirby, Joe Murray, Wesley McPharon, Fred McCough, Floyd Stokes, Roy Pennington, Henry Sketcher, Fred Travelstead, Toney, alias John Doe, Campbell Lively, Otis, Maynard, Dave Williams, Ed Williams and Rolla Gravens.

 

“This makes a total of fifty-two indictments for murder. Those held without bail are said to have been the leaders of the riots and all of them are indicted on more than one charge. Their trials will be held first under present plans.

 

“Counting the eleven men who have been released on bond for conspiracy and rioting, a total of twenty-eight persons are still at liberty, including seven charged with murder.

 

“The appearance of the indicted men in court was the occasion for a crowded court room. Spectators thronged the room, crowding the doors and sitting in the windows.  Many women, some of whom held babies in their arms, were among the spectators.

 

“Otis Clark, charged with being the mob leader and with having fired the first shots in the riot which ended the life of C. K. McDowell, superintendent of the Lester Strip mine, the scene of the killing of nineteen nonunion workers and three union miners, was the best dressed man to appear in court and plead not guilty.” (Joplin Globe, MO. “86 Business Men Put Up Bond for Indicted Miners.” 9-26-1922, 1.)

 

Sep 25: “The findings and presentment of the Illinois Grand Jury, after its thorough investigation of the Herrin massacre, ought to be thought of as ‘duty reading by all Americans.  Here they will find set down, as determined after hearing hundreds of witnesses, the causes, origin and successive steps of as lawless and bloody an affair as ever disgraced the annals of any country.  The Grand Jury seeks to hold the scales even.  It does not overlook the provocative action of the armed guards at the mine.  It denounces in fitting terms the indifference and criminal negligence of the Sheriff of Williamson County, who, in the face of repeated warnings, took no measures to safeguard the lives of the men working in the strip mines.  But the burden of the Grand Jury’s charges falls most heavily on the unionist assailants, who accepted the offer of the workers to surrender and then marched them off to cold-blooded and atrocious murder in a spirit of ruthlessness and ferocity that a Turk at Smyrna might envy as something beyond him.

“If the narrative thus officially set forth is enough to shame and sicken Americans, they many have at least the consolation of knowing that a fearless Judge and a resolute Grand Jury have done their best to uncover this awful crime and to punish the criminals.  Forty-eight indictments have been returned.  It is now for the prosecuting officers and the Illinois courts to show that they have the courage and vigor to bring the guilty men to justice.  The whole country, anxious to remove what must be in the eyes of sober-minded citizens as well as of foreigners a national reproach, will watch the procedure with the keenest interest.” (New York Times. “To Set Herrin Right (Editorial).” 9-25-1922.)

 

Sep 25: “Marion, Ill., Sept. 25. – A demonstration of the power of the miners’ union in Williamson County and the sympathy with men accused of murder in the Herrin massacre felt by a responsible community was staged in the Court House this afternoon, when thirty-five defendants were arraigned and their bonds guaranteed by the offer of sureties worth in the aggregate $10,000,000.

 

“For days a committee of miners, headed by Mayor A. T. Pace of Herrin, a member of the union, has been making the rounds of the merchants and bankers seeking sureties for the prisoners on the plea that this would show who stood with the union.  The response when the defendants were lined up before Judge D. T. Hartwell was impressive.

 

“Eighty-six men, including most of Herrin’s business community, stepped forward.  They offered bonds to the extent of $3,000,000.  Some of the sureties are worth little, others are millionaires.  An agreement was reached between attorneys, ratified by the court, in which eight men were held unbailable.  Six obtained freedom on $20,000 bonds, twenty more were bonded at $10,000 and eighteen at $5,000 each.  In addition, eleven men are out on bonds at $1,000 on rioting charges, making a total bail of $421,000.

 

“At the court today twenty-eight of seventy-four persons indicted were unaccounted for. These include seven indictments for murder.  Men known to be in Marion or in this county failed to come into court.  It is now promised by the attorneys for the miners that all who can be found will be surrendered at once, and the county officials promise to make more vigorous efforts from now on to get the ‘absentees’ into custody.  They have been allowed to drift in at their convenience.

 

“The question of the opening of the trial will be taken up tomorrow.  The prosecution will move to proceed to trial on Oct. 1.  The defense will seek to have trials put off until February, on the ground that there are 500 witnesses to interrogate.  The date probably will be set for the latter part of October, and a special court will be held.

 

“The eight men held without bail are Otis Clark, Bert Grace, James Brown, Leva Mann, Philip Fontanetta, Peter Hiller, Oscar Howard and Jess Childers.  These were the men found by the Grand Jury to be the leaders in the riots.  They were in court today, with the exception of Howard and Childers, who have not been apprehended.

 

“Clark is a serious-looking, middle-aged miner who wears glasses.  He was building a new home when he was arrested.  Since then carpenters have donated their services.  Brown is a negro who might lead in psalm singing.  Fontanetta is a badly frightened young Italian.  Hiller is a rough-looking youth with a bullet-shaped head.  Mann is a clean-looking, intellectual chap.  Grace is a prosperous-looking citizen who held a cigar in his mouth during the proceedings.

 

“As these men stood up half of the crowd in the courtroom surged forward.  The room was filled with a mixed assemblage, above which the crying of babies could be heard.  Many of the defendants who occupied the front row were mere boys, some of them of well-groomed appearance.  There was nothing of the ordinary criminals’ cage scene.  John Kelly of the green shirt and the sneering smile is said to have a record as a ‘six-notch man.’  He is constable at Zeigler.  There was John Rushing, of an old family of farmer-miners; Darby Babbington and Fred Cooper, officials of the union; Bill Ugle, citizen of Carterville; Fred and William Travelstead.  There was a family atmosphere about the whole thing.  The sureties were brought forward and their names taken by the Judge, who said it was ‘like taking the census.’  He had to call in a stenographer to help him.

 

“Many of the prisoners were known to the Court and he called them by their first names in friendly fashion.  Hugh Willis and Will Davis, high officials of the State union, were in court when the session opened.  They were indicted last Saturday but did not surrender until today.”  (New York Times. “Millions for Bail in Herrin Massacre. Eighty-six Business Men Tender Fortunes – Court Takes $421,000, Releases 36 Men.” 9-26-1922.)

 

Sep 26:  “Four weeks honest work! Thus the public, whose eyes have been fixed upon the Williamson County special grand jury in Marlon (Illinois), will be constrained to comment on that body’s report.  The mere figures — 214 indictments charging murder, conspiracy, assault and rioting — are eloquent.  They represent a sincere effort to bring the guilty to justice and so wipe out the foul blot of wholesale murder unrequited.

 

“The jurors deserve the thanks, not alone of Williamson County and Illinois, but of the entire Nation, for duty fearlessly done in the face of numerous powerful obstacles and under peculiarly trying circumstances. (San Antonio Express. “Politics and Murder” (Editorial). 9-26-1922, 6.)

 

Sep 27:  “The report of the grand jury investigating the Herrin mine massacre resulted in a number of murder indictments, but what was far more beneficial to the country was the severe arraignment by the court of the military and civil officials through whose laxness and cowardice the massacre was made possible….

 

“The Herrin mine massacre will be known to posterity as one of the darkest pages of American history.  But the record of that massacre, perpetrated by men of low intelligence, incited by radicals, is not nearly so black as the record of those alleged representatives of law who could have prevented the wholesale slaughter if they had shown sufficient courage and manhood.  They did nothing to prevent the mob from wreaking its bloody work upon men who were unable to protect themselves.  They supinely permitted men to be driven over the roads and slaughtered with horrible tortures, and still have effrontery to state they are representatives of the law.

 

“….but still the representatives of the law who were in Williamson county at the time of the massacre and made no apparent effort to prevent it are permitted to be at large and retain their official positions.”  (Brownsville Herald, TX. “Official Cowardice” (Editorial). 9-27-1922, 4.)

 

Sep 28:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 28 [AP]. – Attorneys for the defense in the Herrin mine killing brought in eight more of the 74. The bail was arranged at $5,000 for seven and $10,000 for the remaining one. Their bonds were filled by 96 merchants of Herrin.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “96 Merchants of Herron on Bonds.” 9-28-1922, p. 1.)

 

Sep 29:  “Herrin, Ill., Sept, 29 — Herrin is unrepentant. Herrin believes that the special grand jury sitting over at Marion, the county seat of “Bloody Williamson,” has “made a great mistake” in indicting seventy-four Williamson county men under more than two hundred true bills, and Herrin business men announced today that they are determined to fight to the last ditch against the conviction of the men charged with the sickening massacre at the Lester Strip Mine last June.

 

“Any idea the county may have gained that the return of the indictments meant a change of heart on the part of Herrin is all wrong.  The briefest visit here will prove that while some of the hot sentiment which said “to hell with the scabs” as men lay dying by the roadside has cooled, its tendency has not changed.

 

“The bellboy and the barber, who have monopolies in their respective lines at the principal hotel; the soda water boy at the corner drug store; the Justice of the peace often encountered in the same store; the bank officials and the leading merchant all will tell you that the grand jury was “hand picked” and “fixed” and that it has accused a lot of innocent men.  John Herrin, bank president, for whose great-great grandfather the town was named, said today:

 

“We have those bonds. We will be criticized for that. We know that when we did it.  But there are men indicted here who are not guilty, and we would rather see half a dozen guilty men go free than have one innocent man punished.”

 

“If anything the action of the grand jury has intensified the feeling of those who following the massacre blamed the mine owners for trying to work the mines rather than the men who marched there and shot the non-union minors down.

 

“It has heightened the loyalty of a union town to the unions. There is no one in Herrin openly to justify the massacre, and all will agree that persons guilty of murder should be punished.  But in this case they say that many innocent persons have been grouped with a handful who should be punished and it is better to let the handful go than to “persecute” the many.

 

“J. V. Walker, Jr., head of a string of department stores in Herrin and half a dozen other Illinois towns, illustrated the general sentiment today when he said:

 

“There are a lot of things in this besides right and wrong. You know that. There are various interests which would like to see a lot of convictions here. Well, answer me this: who is going to fight for Herrin if Herrin doesn’t fight for herself?  You know that if Herrin didn’t fight for her people every man who is indicted over there in Marion, guilty or innocent, would hang as sure as the sun rises in the morning,”

 

“William A. Sneed, district president of the miners union, who a few days before the massacre received a telegram from John L. Lewis, stating that the members of the shovelmen’s union working at the strip mine should be regarded “In the same light as any other common strike breaker” said today:  “The grand jury has indicted innocent men.  The union always has stood opposed to violence of any sort.”

 

“States Attorney Delos Duty, of Marion, who helped to place the cases before the grand jury, is almost alone in his view when he says:

 

‘I think every last one of them is guilty, and I mean to prosecute every last one of them to the limit. And I will say further that we probably haven’t got more than one-third or one-fourth of those who are guilty.  In a mob of more than 1500 men, it is impossible to lay hands on all who are guilty.’

 

(Jenkins, Henry W. “Herrin, Unrepentant, Is Solidly Behind Miners.” Decatur Daily Review, IL. 9-29-1922, p. 12.)

 

Sep 29:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 29 [AP] – The state of Illinois is prepared to go to trial next week in the cases of the 74 men indicted in connection with the Herrin killings last June, State’s Attorney Duty of Williamson county, declared tonight.

 

“The trials were set to begin November 13 by Judge Hartwell of Williamson County circuit court today after attorneys for the defense asked that they be postponed until next January.

 

“State’s Attorney Duty said the prosecution was confident of obtaining convictions with the large amount of evidence it has collected and for that reason was ready to open the trials as soon as possible. Judge Hartwell selected November 13 as a compromise.” (Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “State of Illinois is Ready for Herrin Trial.” 9-30-1922, p. 1.)

 

Sep 30:  “Des Moines, IA. – Denunciation of the ‘savage butchery’ of miners at Herrin, Ill., expressed in resolutions adopted, amid the most stormy scenes of the entire session, featured the official statements of the G.A.R.[29] in the closing hour of its fifty-sixth annual encampment here just before noon Friday.” (La Crosse Tribune, WI. “Civil War Veterans Score ‘Butchery’ of Herrin Miners.” 9-30-1922, 1.)

 

Sep: “A few weeks ago the nation was startled by the report that scores of men had been brutally massacred at a coal mine in Herrin, Ill.  First reports naturally were exaggerated.  We are glad of it, for the loss of hundreds of lives, even of the lives of strike breakers, who composed the scum of society, is lamentable.  Later reports stated that 22 men had been murdered in cold blood….

 

“The daily press had screamer lines shouting to the heavens the crimes of the residents of Herrin, in very issue stating most emphatically that the men who committed the crimes were union miners.

 

“The daily press has circulated stories born of inflamed brains and written only to excite the anger of the nation against the union workers.  The daily press, recognizing the ‘hands that feed them,’ will continue to play up the story, discrediting every official assertion emanating from county officials, and militia officers subservient to the will and whims of such officials.

 

“The daily press will assert now, as in the past, that Colonel This and General That has stated that all the trouble was because of defiance on the part of union workers.

 

“Let us analyze the Herrin situation and calmly try to judge who provoked the consummation of the massacre.

 

“It is frankly admitted by the Southern Illinois Coal company that they had agreed to do certain work during the coal strike with the consent of the union miners, and that they also agreed not to employ strike breakers or ship any coal from the mines.

 

“The very first act on the part of the owners was to employ strike breakers and strike breaking guards and sent them into a section of that state that was 100 per cent unionized.  The next act was to hire a ‘hard-boiled’ superintendent, who sought to introduce Colorado and West Virginia tactics in Illinois.  Strike breakers were put to work and coal was shipped.  Company guards were posted along the public highways, and without authority from county or state, stopped pedestrians and drivers of automobiles and teams alike and told them to keep off that section of public thoroughfares under penalty of death….

 

“No one knows even yet who fired the first gun.  It is absolutely immaterial….The attack was started, by whom no one knows.  Men were murdered and the mine closed because of these murders.  The daily press began yelping for vengeance.  If the daily press can carry weight, every union man in the state of Illinois will grace the limb of a tree….

 

“…at no time in the history of the country has the daily press suffered its columns to be used to tell the whole truth when large employers hired gunmen to kill and maim, but it has never overlooked a single opportunity to rip labor wide open whenever some ‘labor leader’ got in the toils by reason of arbitrary act or indiscreet conduct.

 

“The killing of 22 strike breakers at Herrin, Ill., by striking miners and their sympathizers is as regrettable as it was terrible.  It is easy and natural for public opinion to be aroused against such a crime as was committed, and yet it is remarkable how little the average man seems to be moved about it.

 

“The daily newspapers have condemned ‘the Herrin massacre,’ as one of them always unfriendly to labor terms it.  A few public officials have expressed their resentment in no uncertain terms, and a senator at Washington, representing the great state of Montana, has demanded that the ‘murderers be punished,’ although that senator never raised his voice in protest or demanded prosecution of the respectable citizens of Montana who some years ago strung Organizer Little to a bridge girder and murdered several others.[30]….

 

“The Associated Press reports relating incidents following the attack were highly colored.  Of this there is no doubt.  They were written to swing public opinion against the union miners.  That was patent….

 

“He [Lester] scoured the hell holes of Chicago and sent to Herrin its most dangerous outlaws, armed them with guns and ordered them to ‘shoot to kill.’  His superintendent, McDowell, a typical petty autocrat possessed of brutal instincts, was the first to kill.  He shot in cold blood a union miner doing picket duty on the edge of the company property.  He paid for that murder later with his own life.

 

“If the accepted rule is to be that owners of big corporations may hire and arm men with directions to ‘shoot to kill,’ under the pretense of protecting property, the workers might be pardoned if they resort to the same means ‘to protect their jobs,’ which is to them the right to life.’….

 

“There is little need for further comment on the regrettable and unfortunate affair, save to call public attention to the fact this is but another contribution to industrial history in America in which private armies and private police have been the first murderers and provokers of violence.  They sowed the wind and they reaped the whirlwind.  They played the game once too often.  The private police system must go in America.  It is a menace to life and liberty, to peace and order, and it should have no place in free government. – Steam Engineer.” (Shoe Workers’ Journal. “Truth About Herrin,” V23/N9, Sep 1922, 12-14.)

 

Oct 1: “Marion, Ill., Oct. 1. – When the special Grand Jury, which investigated the Herrin massacre, reconvenes Oct. 23 after a month’s recess, it may return an indictment against a Williamson County preacher.  Toward the closing days of the investigation an anonymous letter told about a certain preacher and coal miner who was present at the scene of the massacre and was said to have been giving directions to the mob.  On the last day of the investigation some evidence was introduced concerning this man, and it is understood that more is being gathered.”  (New York Times. “Preacher Herrin Suspect; Said to Have Aided in Directing Mob – May Be Indicted.” 10-2-1922, p. 36.)

 

Oct 2:  “Marion, Ill., Oct, 2. — That the state may nolle prosse some defendants in the first case of the Herrin mine killings trial scheduled to begin November 8, appears probable according to State’s Attorney Duty, who will direct the prosecution. Duty admitted that the state probably would be forced to such action in order to expedite the trials, which is estimated will consume about four months.

 

“Difficulty in selecting a jury, it is believed, is the cause of the probable nolle prossing.  It was said that 48 men, all charged with murder in one indictment in connection with the death of Howard Huffman of Huntington, Ind., are to go to trial first….” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “May Free Some Indicted to Speed Herrin Trial.” 10-2-1922, 1.)

 

Oct 2:  “Marion, Ill., Oct. 2. [AP]…. The law permits twenty preemptory challenges in a murder trial to each side for each defendant and in this case with forty-eight defendants the challenges would total nearly 2000.  In this manner it was explained that each side could excuse from jury service without cause 969… As the county has a population of only 60,000, it was declared to be virtually impossible to impanel a jury that would be satisfactory to both sides.

 

“Thirty-five of the forty-eight men named in the indictment scheduled to be tried first also are indicted for other murders, and, it was said, the state could drop all these thirty-five without jeopardizing seriously the cases against the men.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Many Herrin Cases May Be Dropped.” 10-3-1922, 1.)

 

Oct 2:  “Marion Ill., Oct. 2, (By Associated Press) — The regular grand jury of Williamson county, which today censored the special grand jury for criticizing state and county officials for alleged negligence of duty in connection with the Herrin mine killings, returned only two indictments after investigating the riots in which 18 [20] non-union workers and three union miners were killed. The indictments were returned against Luther Horsley and Oscar Greathouse, who are charged with larceny in connection with the theft of mine property.”[31] (Beatrice Daily Sun, Neb. “Grand Jury Censures Herrin Special Jury.” 10-4-1922, p. 3.)

 

Oct 2: “Marion, Ill., Oct. 2. [AP] – The criticism of the state and county officials made in the partial report of the special grand jury investigating the Herrin mine killings was not justified by the record of the special body, according to a report to Circuit Judge Hartwell today by the regular Williamson county grand jury.” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “May Free Some Indicted to Speed Herrin Trial.” 10-2-1922, 1.)

 

Oct 3:  “Herrin, Ill., Oct. 3 [AP]. – The deaths as a result of the Herrin mine riot on June 21 and 22, was brought to twenty-three last night with the death of Ignus Kubins, a man employed at the Lester strip mine. He suffered a gunshot wound in the right thigh and had been in a local hospital since.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Another Death Added to Herrin Riot; Is Now 23.” 10-3-1922, 1.)

 

Oct 6: “Marion, Ill., Oct. 6 [AP]. – The Calorie Coal Company has purchased the Lester Strip Mine, near here where the Herrin riots occurred last June, resulting in 23 deaths. According to incorporation papers filed today, Robert J. Nordhold and Charles O. Cunningham of Chicago, and Martin A. Olson, of Elmhurst, head the Caloric Company.” (Alton Evening Telegraph, IL. “Lester Strip Mine Sold.” 10-6-1922, p. 2.)

 

Oct 11:  “Two Grand Juries have been sitting in Williamson County, Illinois. Through earnest efforts to unearth the facts about the Herrin atrocity and bring the guilty to justice, one contributed full measure towards wiping out the foul blot, wholesale murder unpunished. For their strong work, these jurors have received the well-deserved commendation of the American press.  Now, the task they begun rests in other hands.  The well-nigh insuperable obstacles lie in the path to its completion may be inferred from the second (regular) grand jury’s report, just published. It goes out of its way to reprove the special investigating body for what it terms unjustifiable criticisms of State and county officials, “of which no good can come”. Although Governor Small’s name was not mentioned in the special report, the regular jury champions his cause; asserting that because he was on ‘trial in Waukegan, he should not be subjected to criticism.

 

“Its concluding statement congratulates the miners’ union on ‘providing food and comforts for members in jail, and saving the county that expense.  It refused to indict several persons charged with perjury before the special grand jury.  They body that has just reported was to have investigated the Herrin massacre!  Had not Attorney General Brundage, under Nation-wide criticism, thought better of his program and ordered a special jury empanelled, that duty would have fallen to these men….An unusual courage will be required to see the guilty punished.”  (San Antonio Evening News, TX.  “More Illinois Stinkweed” (Editorial). 10-11-1922, p. 4.)

 

Oct 17:  “Chicago; — Colonel Samuel H. Hunter of the Illinois National guard, testifying at a state industrial commission hearing blamed C. K. McDowell, mine superintendent, who was slain, for starting the trouble at Herrin last June.” (Bismarck Tribune. “News Briefs.” 10-17-1922, 2.)

 

Oct 18: “Chicago, Ill., Oct. 17 [AP].  — W. J. Lester, president of the Southern Illinois Coal Company at Herrin, Ill., scene of the mine riot last June in which more than a score of men were killed, had obtained secret permission from officials of tho coal miners’ union in Williamson County to operate his mine, according to the testimony here today before Daniel J. May of the State Industrial Commission. The hearing is being held in an effort to determine what insurance companies are liable for the loss of life.

 

“The Continental Casualty Company insured the Hargrave Secret Service Agency, which furnished men to operate and guard the mine, while the Aetna Insurance Company carries the policies of the Southern Illinois Coal Company. Edward J. Hargrave of the detective agency testified that T. K. McDowell, superintendent of the mine, who was killed during the rioting, had

told him the week before the killings that permission to operate the mine had been obtained by Mr. Lester from union officials.

 

Survivors of the riot described the actual killing today. Col. Sam N. Hunter, who represented Governor Small at the strip mine; yesterday placed blame for tho riot on Superintendent McDowell, asserting that the trouble would not have occurred if McDowell had closed the mine and arranged a truce as required by Col. Hunter. He also declared that Superintendent Mc-Dowell had shot two union miners on the day preceding the riot.” (San Antonio Express, TX. “Herrin Mine Opened by Secret Agreement with Union, Claimed.” 10-18-1922, p. 10.)

 

Oct 19:  “From the Literary Digest.  “No fancy charge of treason” comes as the result of the deliberations of the special grand jury over the killings at Herrin, Ill., but indictments for “just plain murder,” a consummation highly pleasing to the generality of the daily press. That the state’s attorney in charge of this jury should be one Delos Duty seems in appropriate coincidence to one editor, who agrees with many others in praising the jurors for having done simple justice, though it should not be forgotten that there are labor and radical writers who feel that the Herrin jury has distinctly failed to do justice in refusing to indict any mine owner or hired mine guard.

 

“”The grand jury’s report is a terrible recital,” says the Chicago Daily News, “but the facts, and the facts alone, make it terrible.”  The jury’s own statement is more graphic than the newspaper stories at the time of the murders. It recites how on June 21 there was an attack upon the men working at the mine, and the fire was returned by the guards. At the “break of day the following morning firing began in a severe volume.”  Finally the men at the mine, “surrounded by hundreds of men, most of them armed,” ran up a white flag and the “spokesman from the attacking party” promised “safe conduct” if arms were laid down. Forty-seven men surrendered.  The report then states:

“The captive men were marched down the road toward Herrin in double file. After they had marched about one mile, Superintendent McDonald, being crippled and unable to keep up with the procession, was taken by numbers of the mob and shot to death. The remainder of the captives were marched on the public road and were stopped at the powerhouse of the interurban railroad, about three miles from Herrin. Here change in the leadership took place, and the man who had guaranteed the safety of the men who had surrendered was deposed and another leader installed.

 

“The new commander ordered the captive men to march into the woods, adjacent to and around the powerhouse. Here the new leader directed that only those in the crowd who had guns should follow into the woods, and those who were unarmed should remain without.

 

“The surrendered men were then marched some 200 yards back of the powerhouse to the vicinity of a barbed-wire fence, where they, were told they would be given a chance to run for their lives under fire. The firing began immediately, and 13 of the 47 non-union men were killed and most of the others were severely wounded.

 

“The mob pursued those who had escaped and two were hung to trees, six were tied together with a rope about their necks and marched through the streets of Herrin to an adjacent cemetery, where they were shot by the mob, and the throats of three were cut. One of six survived.

 

“The indignities heaped upon the dead did not end until the bodies were interred into unknown graves.

 

“On the first day of attack upon the mine two union miners were killed by shots from the men in the strip mine and another so seriously injured as to die subsequently from his wounds.

 

“It has been difficult for this grand jury to determine who fired the shots from the strip mine which caused the deaths of the union miners.  When asked to present evidence to the grand “jury which would tend to fix responsibility, counsel for the miners’ union announced that they would lend no aid to the grand jury.”

 

“The jury returned 214 indictments, of which 44 are for murder, 58 for conspiracy to murder, 58 for rioting, and 54 for assault with intent to commit murder. The trials are to begin November 8. Among those indicted were local officials of the miners’ union. The sheriff of Williamson county, Illinois, where Herrin is located, and the adjutant general of the state were severely censured by the jury’s report for failure to prevent the murders. And among those held in part morally responsible are John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America, for his telegram, posted at the mine the day before the outbreak, declaring the members of a rival labor organization working as strikebreakers at Herrin were “outlaws” to “be treated as common strikebreakers”; and the president of the Southern Illinois Coal company, at whose mine the attack occurred, for “the flaunting of arms” in such manner that “it was a challenge certain to be accepted.” The grand jury’s report is graphic, and according to the Boston Herald “paints the tragedy in even blacker colors than did the news articles of the time. The stories wired out by the reporters were essentially true.”

 

“There was “no lack of courage or sense of duty” in this report says the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “The law of the land takes on a new dignity, and America is still America,” declares the New Haven Journal-Courier, and, “to Delos Duty—splendid name—state’s attorney of Williamson county, to the attorney-general of Illinois and to members of the grand jury, men and women of every state, wave thanks and appreciation.  The flag lifts its drooping folds.”

 

“”When the Herrin massacre was first reported it was generally assumed that the killing of the unarmed prisoners must have been done by aliens,” says the Kansas City Times. “Americans, people said, would never have been guilty of such atrocities.”  And the Jacksonville (Ill.) Courier calls attention to the fact that “practically every one of those indicted for the crime bears an American name.  These men are not foreigners.  Most of them came from the mountain regions of Tennessee and Kentucky.” “The list of the names of those involved shows practically 100 per cent American,” is the analysis of the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune. “They are men to the manner born, proudly declaring that they have no part or parcel with foreign radicalism. They defend their action on the ground of the company’s provocation in menacing first their families and their homes.” “There apparently is no repentance in Herrin,’ declares the New York Commercial.” (Carroll Times, IA. “The Herrin Massacre Indictment.” 10-19-1922, p. 2.)

 

Oct 19:  “Chicago, Oct. 19 [AP]. – Eric Miller, a nonunion worker, injured in the Herrin mine riots, today described the slaying of the 23 men who lost their lives there, in testifying before the Illinois Industrial Commission.  The Commission is endeavoring to determine whether the liability for the loss of life and injury rests upon insurance agents for the detective agency through which men sent to the mine were hired or on the Southern Illinois Coal Company whose employ they are said to have been killed.

 

“Miller told of intermittent fighting before the surrender, the lining up at a fence and the shooting of nonunion men and the cutting of the men’s throats when their bodies still held a spark of life.”

(San Antonio Express, TX. “Victim Describes Riot at Herrin Coal Mine.” 10-20-1922, p. 2.)

 

Oct 23:  “Marion, Ill., Oct., 23. — The special grand jury which today resumed its investigation of the Herrin mine killings after month’s recess, this afternoon returned an indictment for murder against forty-eight persons and announcing that the jury has about completed its work. This makes a total of 434 persons against whom indictments have been returned in connection with the rioting in which twenty-three persons were killed.

 

“Circuit Judge Hartwell, before whom the indictment was returned, expressed the opinion that the true bill is illegal because it was returned at the September term of court by a grand jury empanelled by the July term of court.

 

“States Attorney Duty, expressed an opposite opinion and stated that he would appeal to the state’s higher court if the indictment is declared illegal.

 

“Those indicted today are charged with the death of Ignace Kubinis, the last victim of the rioting to expire, who died since the grand jury temporarily adjourned thirty days ago.” (Bicknell Daily News, IN. “Forty-Eight More Persons are Indicted.” 10-26-1922, 1.)

 

Oct 23:  “Marlon, Ill., Oct. 22. — The body of Horatio Gosman, of Brooklyn, N. Y., was removed from the Herrin city cemetery, where it had lain since the Herrin massacre, and was shipped to Brooklyn last week.  The body was identified by A. P. Skinner, of Brooklyn, by means of photographs shown y Herrin undertakers.  Gosman was a guard at the Lester strip mine and was killed in the massacre, being buried as unidentified body No. 17.  He was an ex-service man and a photograph in uniform assisted in the identification.

 

“Despite the statement of Judge D. T. Hartwell that the proceedings of the Herrin massacre special grand jury, which reconvenes Monday, may be illegal, State’s Attorney Delos Duty has summoned witnesses and plans to push the work, with the return of additional indictments before the end of the week.  Judge Hartwell states that owing to the fact that the jury recessed during the July term and did not reconvene until in the September term there was a possibility of its actions this week not being considered legal.” (Sioux City Journal, IA. “Victim of Herrin Massacre Identified. Body of Man Buried as No. 17 Was that of Horatio Grosman, World War Veteran.” 10-23-1922, p. 1.)

 

Oct 24:  “Marion, Ills., Oct. 24. — A. P . — State’s Attorney Delos Duty, of Williamson county, today began assembling evidence with which he hopes to obtain convictions at the trials scheduled to begin November 8, of the 77 persons that are charged with murder rioting and assault in 434 indictments returned by the special grand jury which investigated the Herrin mine killings and adjourned yesterday.  Duty expressed the belief that he had sufficient evidence.

 

“The trial of forty-eight men charged with murder in connection with the death of one nonunion worker heads the docket.” (Steubenville Herald Star, OH. “Preparing for the Herrin Trials.” 10-24-1922, 1.)

 

Oct 25:  “The grand jury at Marion, Ill., this week returned 48 more indictments against parties implicated in the mine massacres at Herrin, making a total of 434 to date.  The grand jury has done fearless work in attempting to remove the stain from Herrin and Illinois.” (Adams County Union Republican, Corning, IA. “More Herrin Indictments” (Editorial). 10-25-1922, 7.)

 

Oct 25:  “Marion, Ill., Oct. 25 [AP] – An extra panel of 100 petit jurors was drown today for the trials of the men under indictment in connection with the Herrin mine killings, in which 23 men met death.  The trials will begin on November 8, and 243 indictments have been returned in connection with rioting.  To regular panel of 30 already has been drawn and it will be turned over to Sheriff Melvin Thaxton.  The extra panel, which was ordered by circuit judge Hartwell, will be delivered to special deputies for service.” (Alton Evening Telegraph, IL. “100 Jurors Called for Herrin Trials.” 10-25-1922, 1.)

 

Oct 25:  “Since the savage massacre there last June, Herrin (Illinois) has occupied an unenviable place in the limelight. Whatever happens there is exaggerated by the glare….

 

“In most respects, Herrin is no different from the average small American city.  It might even pass for Gopher Prairie.  It has its evangelistic meetings regularly every summer.  It amuses itself with weekly dances in the hall above the post office.  It boasts its bridge clubs and ladies’ aid societies.  The children have their birthday parties, and the young women their ‘coming-out’ receptions.  None of these things would class Herrin as a place apart….

 

“The State Industrial Commission lately undertook an investigation into the horror.  It has not yet filed a report; but testimony it adduced was that the ill-fated mine had been opened through secret agreement with Herrin labor-leaders!  If true, that wipes out the last vestige of an excuse for the murders….

 

“The Nation looks to the trial, which will open in Marion, November 8.  Few cases have attracted such wide attention; few have been so significant for the whole country  Not the indicted men alone; but the State’s and even the Nation’s good name will be before the bar….

 

“But there will loom up and predominate the scene that worst enemy to American democracy – that deadly foe to free government everywhere – the Mob Spirit.  Unless that be curbed, Freedom is a falsehood and justice a mockery….” (San Antonio Express, TX. “Democracy’s Worst Enemy.” 10-25-1922, 6.)

 

Oct 27:  “New York Herald:  The lawless crowd that thought it could kill and stay free when murder was committed in the name of a trade union must shiver as the number of indictments for the Herrin massacre mounts higher.  True bills have now been found against 434 persons for the great crime and 215 of these indictments charge murder. Steadily and courageously the State officers of Illinois, led by Attorney-General Brundage, have gone at the work of punishing the most shocking outrage in the history of industrial conflict.

 

“The trials of the indicted will be watched with interest by the whole country. Will the mob make good its boast that it was immune from punishment in Williamson county for the butchery of twenty innocent and unarmed men?  It seemed so at the time of the massacre, but it does not seem so now.” (Morning Herald, Uniontown, PA. “Herrin Massacre Indictments.” 7-27-2012, 4)

 

Oct 28: “Columbus – (United Press) – A total of 631 union miners stand indicted for murder and lesser charges in connection with mine wars throughout the country, according to information gathered by the United Press.

 

“Blanket charges of murder face 411 of the coal miners, all members of the United Mine Workers of America, the survey revealed.

 

“Charges of conspiracy to murder, manslaughter, insurrection and treason are lodged against the remainder of the indicted men.

 

“Cases against 554 of the mine workers are being prosecuted at present at St. Clairsville, Ohio, Wellsburg, W. Va., and Charleston, W. Va.  The trial of 77 additional miners for alleged participation in the ‘Herrin massacre’ at Marion, Ill., November 9, bring the total of indicted miners on trial to 631.

 

“Two convictions have been returned by the jury at St. Clairsville which is trying the case of 13 members of the United Mine Workers, held for the murder of John L. Major at the non-union strip mine near Lafferty, Ohio.

 

“Dominick Venturato, charged with first degree murder, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.  Dan Agosta, charged with manslaughter, was found guilty and will be sentenced later.” (Lima News, OH. “411 Face Charge of Murder. Total Number Accused in Mine Wars Thruout Country.” 10-28-1922, 1.)

 

Oct 30: “Marion, Ill., Oct. 30. — When the Herrin massacre trials start on November 8 the first move by the prosecution will be to nolle the charges against forty-two of the forty-eight men indicted for the murder of Howard Hoffman, of Huntington, Ind., according to the best information available today.

 

“Because of the large number of peremptory challenges given in an indictment with forty-eight defendants, the state expects to reduce that number to probably six defendants, which mill mean only 120 peremptory challenges for each side.

 

Jury to Cause Trouble.

 

“Anticipating the difficulty that is going to arise in the obtaining of a jury, Circuit Judge D. T. Hartwell has issued an order for the regular petit jury and for an extra panel of 100 jurors, making a total of 130 jurors called for the first day.  It is expected that several hundred more jurors will have to be called before a jury is selected.

 

“Fred Cooper and Hugh Willis, state officers in the miners’ union, will not be tried in the first trial, according to the general understanding.  Neither will Otis Clark, whose alleged killing of Supt. C. K. McDowell near the Lester strip mine was the start of the massacre.

 

Will Rearrest Them.

 

“All those against whom only one indictment is now pending and who would be released by the nolling of their cases on November 8 will be immediately rearrested on a new indictment returned last week and which has not been served as yet.  This indictment was returned for the death of Ignatz Kubenas, who died from massacre wounds in the Herrin hospital recently, and was the only indictment turned in by the grand jury when it made its final report.” (Linton Daily Citizen, IN. “State to Nolle True Bills in Herrin Trial. Difficulty is Anticipated in Securing Jury – Trials Start November 8.” 10-30-1922, 2.)

 

Oct 31:  “Springfield, Ill. [AP] – Threatening them with a boycott, because, they charge, the Springfield chamber of commerce solicited funds to aid in the Herrin mine slaying prosecutions, a committee representing the Springfield sub-district of the United Mine Workers today called on local retail merchants and demanded that they withdraw from the chamber.” (Daily Northwestern, Oshkosh, WI. “Mine Workers Act Against Merchants.” 10-31-1922, p. 3.)

 

Nov 1:  “By NEA Service.  Marion, Ill., Nov 1 – Subsurface excitement in Marion is at exploding point, though outwardly all is calm as the day of the “big trial” draws near.

 

“Trial of the first of those accused of murder during the bloody Herrin mine massacre last June, is set for Nov. 8.  Altogether nearly 100 union miners and sympathizers are scheduled to face the court to answer various charges in connection with the massacre.

 

“Charges of attempting to initiate a capital/labor war out of the trials flow freely. Each side accuses the other of trying to make this issue and each denies. “This should be a public prosecution by public officials with public funds, but it is a private prosecution by public officials with private funds,” declare the miners. They point to the fact that money for the prosecution was raised through the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

 

“”Governor Small vetoed half the necessary appropriations for the attorney general’s office,” retorts the prosecution. “Without the aid of the chamber of commerce, we couldn’t conduct the case. The defense is trying to raise a capital/labor dispute to becloud the real cause of the trials.”

 

“But back of the maze of industrial prejudice, charges and counter charges, intense local partisanship and other factors, the attorneys for both sides have been zealously at work, lining up their witnesses, preparing for one of the biggest court battles in the history of Illinois.

 

“So thoroughly is Williamson co. being winnowed for witnesses that there is hardily a resident who has not been approached as to his knowledge, or who has not been brought into a partisan frame of mind through hearing the case repeatedly discussed. Selection of a jury, it is conceded, will be a very long process owing to the widespread discussion of the case.

 

“While the trial will be held in Marion and the eight union men arrested are held in the county jail here, actual conduct of the case has passed beyond the boundaries of Williamson county. Procedure will be in the hands of outsiders.  State’s attorney Delos Duty of Williamson co. has a hand in the prosecution, but only as an assistant.  Attorney General Brundage has appointed C. W.  special assistant attorney general in charge of the case. He also secured the latter’s leave of absence from his duties as assistant to U. S. Attorney General Daugherty to conduct the prosecution.

 

“A. W. Kerr, chief counsel for the Illinois Miners’ Union, a district organization of the United Mine Workers of America, is here in charge of the defense of the miners.  Other attorneys for the miners’ union are assisting him.

 

“And Marion, 10 miles from the scene of the bloodiest rioting in the history of the coal fields of Little Egypt, as this territory is called, looks to the coming trials to vindicate the town’s good name. Every since the nation was shocked in June by the killing of three union miners and 20 strikebreakers, Marion has cringed beneath the real or fancied scorn and abhorrence of the rest of the country.  The official investigations of the Herrin tragedy were held here.  This swung attention this way from Herrin, until the editorials and reports of the press began fastening upon Marion the massacre itself.  Marion resents this.  A desire for vindication is dominant.  To prove it is not the lawless, rough town outsiders may believe it is, Marion has pledged itself to aid in every way the securing of a fair, impartial trial.

 

“And here is where the political angle comes in again.  The day before the trials start, Melvin Thaxton and S. G. Storm, sheriff and deputy during the massacre will be before the voters, Thaxton runs for treasurer and Storm for county clerk.  The Greater Marion Association insists their defeat is necessary to vindicate Marion.” (Sandusky Star-Journal, OH. “Feeling Tense as Date Nears for Herrin Massacre Trials.” 11-1-1922, 2.)

 

Nov 2:  “The annual meeting of the Illinois State Baptist Association is in progress this week at Herrin, and reports from that city indicate a large attendance from every section of Southern Illinois where the body has its membership. The address of welcome last evening was .delivered by Mayor A. T. Pace…” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Missionary Baptists Meet at Herrin.” 11-2-1922, 3.)

 

Nov 2:  “Marion, Ill., Nov. 2 — The greatest murder trial in recent history, from the standpoint of indictments, brutality and national prominence begins here on Wednesday of next week when those charged with participation in the “Herrin massacre” are brought before the bar of justice.  Forty-eight men, mostly union miners, all indicted for the murder of one man, will be tried first.  They are charged with killing Howard Hoffman, a non-union worker of Huntington, Ind.  Hoffman was one of six strikebreakers at the Lester strip mine who were roped together during the fatal clash last June 23 [22], marched to the Herrin cemetery and shot and stabbed.  He died in the Herrin hospital the following day….

 

“A. W. Kerr, chief counsel for the United Mine workers, today refused to outline in any way the plans of the defense. Local mine officials, however, intimated that the defense will contend and attempt to prove a counter conspiracy. It will probably attempt to show that the strikebreakers who were killed had conspired against those who are living and who are charged with the murders.

 

“The defense believes that State’s Attorney Delow [Delos] Duty and Attorney General Brundage will attempt to prove that the miners facing trial formed a conspiracy and went to the strip mine determined to kill the nonunion men who were mining coal during the strike.

 

“In all, 434 indictments were returned by the special grand jury which probed the massacre. Of these 205 were for murder, 116 for conspiracy and 103 for assault to commit murder. The indictments are against 77 individuals, 55 of whom face one or more charges of murder.”  (Decatur Daily Democrat, IN.  “Large Murder Trial Will Be Started Soon.” 11-2-1922, 1.)

 

Nov 2.  “St. Louis, Nov. 2. [AP] — W. K. Kavanaugh, president of like fifth and ninth district of the Illinois coal operators’ association, issued a statement in reply to the one at Marion made by Frank Farrington, head of the Illinois Miners’ Union in which he charged that the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs had contributed money for the prosecution of those indicted in the Herrin killings.  The statement of Mr. Farrington, “does not compare the amount raised with that which the Illinois Miners’ Union has spent, or stand ready to

spend in defense of those under indictment.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Says Fund Not Compared Wit That of Union.” 11-2-1922, 1.)

 

Nov 3:  “If the murderers of Herrin are not convicted and their own miserable necks finally encircled with the hangman’s noose, then law is a travesty and our courts are a joke. The fact that the charged with murder happen all to be members of a labor union is an incident, not a major factor. They are not to be prosecuted as union miners but as individuals who have grievously transgressed the law and butchered in cold blood law abiding human beings.  If organized labor as such, figures in these trials it will only be because organized labor voluntarily enters the list, announcing that its members may not be tried for murder.” (News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. Editorial.  11-3-1922, p. 4.)

 

Nov 8:  “Marion, Ill., Nov. 8. – Melvin Thaxton, sheriff of Williamson county at the time of the Herrin mine massacre, led the Republican county ticket, which was reelected by more than 2,000. Thaxton’s majority was 2,500, according to unofficial returns, but virtually complete. He was candidate for treasurer.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Massacre Sheriff Gets Confidence Vote.” 11-8-1922, 1.)

 

Nov 8:  “Marion, Nov. 8. [AP] — A. W. Kerr, counsel for -the United Miners, who is defending  the indicted asked that the cases be continued until next term of court but Judge Hartwell denied the request as the docket was set. Judge Hartwell then granted time for conference.  After the conference the state moved to drop the indictments against 43 of the 48 named in the first indictments announced and hold the indictments against five leaders who are held without bond.  The defense objected.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Trials Mine Massacre Men Reign Today.” 11-8-1922, 1.)

 

Nov 9:  “Marion, Ill., Nov. 9. [AP] – Jury in Herrin mine killing selecting was continued until next Monday and court adjourned to allow enlargement of the capacity of the Williamson county court house.  With Judge Hartwell presiding, A. W. Kerr, chief counsel for the defense, announced he was ready for trial following the nol prosse of 41 of 46 men indicted.

 

“Marion, Ill., Nov. 9. [AP] – By selecting Sheriff Melvin Thaxton treasurer and the entire republican ticket which was supported by the mine workers union, the people of Williamson county “have rendered a verdict, in favor of a fair trial for every miner indicted in connection with the Herrin mine killings,” declared Frank Farrington, president of the Illinois Miners Union in a statement here today.  “The returns overwhelming vindicate my position that the Illinois Mine Workers would defend every miner indicted for alleged participation in the riot,” said Mr. Farrington who is here for the trial which opened yesterday.

 

“’Despite the fact that Attorney General Brundage, himself a republican, urged the citizens of Williamson county to repudiate at the polls every republican who could be suspected of union sympathy, the voters have elected every candidate supported by the union,” the statement continued.

 

“When court reconvened this morning a motion by the defense to quash the indictments was taken up with arguments.  The defense maintained that the indictments were illegal because the special grand jury which returned them was served by special deputy sheriffs instead of Sheriff Thaxton. Judge Hartwell presiding denied the defense motion, ruling that the special deputies were appointed and acted legally in serving the grand jurors.

 

“He also dismissed a claim by the defense that Attorney General Brundage exercised undue influence upon the special grand jury.” (Carbondale Free Press, IL. “Judge Denies Move to Quash Indictments.” 11-9-1922, 1.)

 

Dec. 3:  “Marion, Ill., Dec. 3….The trial will be resumed Monday morning [Dec 4] at 10 o’clock.  Eight jurors have been accepted, and two are still tentatively held.”  (New York Times. “Herrin Invites Gilbert.”  12-4-1922.

 

Jan 6:  “Marion, Ill., Jan. 6. – An echo of the killing of twenty-three men in the Herrin riots of last June came today when the first coal mined since the tragedy poured down the red clay embankments into waiting cars.  Amid charred fragments of the burned mine office, and in sight of the twisted, rust-covered remains of three switch engines wrecked by the mob, groups of miners went unconcernedly about their tasks.

 

“From between two great mounds of earth a monster steam shovel uncovered the coal on the spot where the non-union workers had surrendered on June 22 and from which twenty of them had been led forth to their deaths.

 

“After months consumed in repairing the wreckage wrought during the riots, the mine, then the property of the Southern Illinois Coal Company but now known as the Carolic Coal Company, was again in full operation, little remaining to tell of the tragedy of which it has been the scene.”  (NYT. “Mining Resumed At Herrin.  First Coal is Taken From the Scene of the June Tragedy.” 1-7-1923.)

 

Jan 6: “Marion, Ill., Jan. 6 (Associated Press). – Attorneys for the defense, after introducing a score of witnesses to prove alibis for the five defendants in the Herrin riot trial, expressed confidence today that they would close their case before the end of next week.

 

“In the seven days of court sessions since the State rested and after putting thirty-nine witnesses on the stand, more than seventy-five witnesses have been called by the defense in carrying out its announced intention of seeking to prove ‘justification’ and ‘alibis’ for all of the accused.  The first testimony was designed to support the contention that acts of aggression on the part of the armed guards at the mine were responsible for the riots that culminated in the killing of three union miners and twenty non-union workers on June 21 and June 22.

 

“During the last two days twenty alibi witnesses have taken the stand, all of whom have asserted that they saw six of the non-union men who surrendered at the mine marched through the streets of Herrin to the cemetery on the outskirts of the town, where they were shot down, but that none of the defendants was in the crowd with the prisoners.

 

“While witnesses for the State testified that the crowd jeered the bleeding, pleading captives, struck them and made them crawl along on their hands and knees, the defense witnesses united in declaring that they did not see any abuse of the prisoners, and that only one of them was bleeding from a slight bruise on his forehead, as they marched along in an orderly manner.  They described the ten or fifteen men who had charge of the prisoners as dark, foreign-looking individuals, all of whom were strangers in the community.” (New York Times. “Saw Only Foreigners in Herrin Massacre. Defense Witnesses Assert That None of Five Murder Defendants Took Part in Death March.” 1-7-1923.)

 

Apr 7:  “Marion, Ill., April 7 (Associated Press). – All of the untried indictments growing out of the Herrin riot were nolle prossed[32] today following the acquittal by a jury last night of six defendants charged with murder in connection with the outbreak.

 

“The sudden ending of the prosecution was promptly followed by a public statement on behalf of the State’s Attorneys that they had dropped their efforts to punish the guilty because justice could not be had in Williamson County.

 

“Circuit Judge D. T. Hartwell, who presided at the trials, tonight issued a written reply to that charge, asserting that C. W. , Special Assistant Attorney General of Illinois, was attempting to ‘lay the blame on somebody for his failure to convict.’  Judge Hartwell’s statement in part follows:

 

I have just read Mr. Middlekauff’s statement.  The situation is about like this: ‘What he says will be accepted away from here, and by a very few in this vicinity.  The cases were nolled and he is going away, and he doesn’t care much what he says or whom he hurts, just so he can lay the blame on somebody for his failure to convict in the cases just tried.

 

Nobody knows better than I do of the prejudice that exists all the country growing out of these killings.  I have not condoned, justified or excused these killings.  I do not do so now.  I tried my best to give both sides a fair trial.  The prosecution were loud in the praise of the court until now.

 

“The request that the indictments be nolled was made by Delos Duty, State’s Attorney of Williamson County, after A. W. Kerr, chief counsel for the Illinois Mine Workers, had demanded an immediate trail for the twenty-four men still under indictment. ‘I am not going to try any more of these cases,’ Mr. Duty declared.  ‘Right or wrong does not make any difference.  I have done my duty and have done my best.’

 

“`We have done enough, but the Attorney General does not feel that these cases should be dropped until he has a chance to report to the Legislature,’ Mr.  told the Court.  ‘We do not join in the motion to nolle.’  ‘But you do not protest?’ Judge Hartwell asked.  ‘We do not,’ said Mr. .  Judge Hartwell then entered the order.

 

Brundage’s Position.

 

“The following statement then was given out by Mr.  at the request of Attorney General E. J. Brundage:

 

The prosecution is reluctantly obliged o admit justice cannot be obtained in Williamson County.  No impartial jury can be obtained to try the men responsible.  Witnesses, reliable and trustworthy, at great risk of personal violence, have courageously testified to what they beheld on that fatal day, only to be impeached by witnessed who plainly were interested in the defense and who clearly were testifying falsely.

 

Intimidation, prejudice or downright dishonesty actuated them.  Under the rulings of the trial court, any juryman who admitted he had an opinion whether the massacre of the disarmed and helpless strip miners was lawful or unlawful, was disqualified.  In my opinion this ruling is not the law of Illinois.  On the other hand, all men contributing to the defense fund, voluntarily or otherwise, have been held to be competent jurors, but in my view of the law, such men are not competent jurors and could not be impartial jurors.

 

Under my view of the law citizens having an opinion as to the right or wrong of the massacre, but with no opinion as to the guilt of any defendant on trial, are qualified to sit as jurors.  These obstacles, in my judgment, seem insurmountable and under the conditions it is my opinion that further trial would be useless, result only in acquittals and continue the check-ff from the wages of some ninety thousand industrious men, many of whom are strongly opposed to murder.  It would further jeopardize the lives of courageous and honest witnesses who have testified for the people of the State of Illinois, solely because of their respect for law and order.

 

At this time it seems that further trials would be but farcical.

 

Defense Attacks Witnesses.

 

“Lawyers for the defense in their own statement said that that of the Prosecutor ‘ignores the wanton slaughter of three unarmed union men on the day previous to the killing of the guards.  It wholly ignores the invasion of Williamson County by armed guards equipped with high-powered pistols and rifles, riot shotguns and machine guns and the daring challenge to the citizenship and law-enforcing officers of that county.  It fails to acknowledge that the personnel of the jurors trying the cases was of the best agricultural citizenship of the county, in large part composed of men not interested in the mining industry.’

 

“The lawyers went on to assert that there was ‘overwhelming’ evidence that two ‘imported gunmen’ who testified for the State were in jail at the time when they said they were eyewitnesses to the massacre.  The statement continued.

 

What right has been granted to those who prosecuted to say what motives actuated jurors?  Who gives them the right to supplant the constitutional triers of fact in this State?  Who gives them the right to impugn the motives of the constitutional officers of the court?

 

Surely the public by this time must be becoming suspicious.  Every time that a labor controversy is at issue in a lawsuit in this State impure motives are always charged to labor in the few cases which they are fortunate enough to win at the bar of justice.

 

The Attorney General intimates that the rank and file of members of the Illinois Mine Workers’ Union, for whose welfare he shows an unwonted solicitude, has contributed to the defense unwillingly through their check-off.  The public should understand that this check-off was approved by an open convention of the rank and file of the coal miners of Illinois.”

 

(New York Times. “All Herrin Cases Quashed By Court. State Asks Dismissal on Ground that Justice Cannot be Had in the County. Trial Judge Denies It.” 4-8-1923.)

 

[In a report to the Illinois Legislature it was written:

 

Forty-four persons were later indicted for murder, fifty-eight for conspiracy to commit murder, fifty-eight for rioting and fifty-four for assault to murder.  Two trials were held at Marion, lasting four months, each resulting in the acquittal of the defendants.  It appeared from the sentiment of the people in the community that it was impossible to convict anybody of these murders, no matter how strong the testimony.  The Attorney General thought it folly to proceed further and nolle prossed the other indictments.

 

(Chenery, William L.  “Herrin – The ‘Sore Spot’ of the Nation.” New York Times, 9-14-1924.)]

 

Sep 12:  “Eighty-six Lithuanian Bolsheviki led the Herrin massacre of non-union Illinois miners, the United Mine Workers of America charges in the third of its articles detailing alleged attempts by Moscow Communists to gain control of organized labor in the United States and Canada, stage a revolution and overthrow existing Government.

 

“The mob leaders – sixty-seven of them – were members at Herrin of the Bolshevist Lithuanian branch of the Communist Party of America, according to the miners’ article, and nineteen other members of the same party were imported as agents to foment the attack on the strip mine of the Southern Illinois Coal Company which culminated in the violent death of twenty-two men in June of last year.  ‘This revolting, inexcusable crime was fomented, promoted and caused solely by Communists,’ says the article.  ‘It was a carefully planned affair, schemed with all the diabolic cruelty and disregard for law that characterizes the Communist movement.’

 

“William Z. Foster, promoter of the ‘one big union’ idea in America, is alleged to have been the dominating figure in events preceding the massacre, numbering among his aids Jack Carney, Chicago editor of the radical Voice of Labor; Nick Dozenburg, Carney’s business manager; Arne Swabeck of the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of America; Oscar Larson of the Young Communist League, Gus Fraenckel, ‘red’ worker among rail employes; Charles Crumbein, District Communist official, and Nels Kjar, convicted in Chicago courts for conspiring against the Government during the war.

 

“The union’s story of the massacre follows:

 

Prepared Seven Weeks for Attack

 

For more than seven weeks preparation had been in progress in Franklin and Williamson Counties to bring about the attack upon strike-breakers and armed guards at the strip mine.  Violence and disorder were rampant in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Communist groups in New York, Cleveland and Chicago were active in their efforts to cause the strike in Southwestern Pennsylvania to expand into a great revolutionary movement in which the original causes for the cessation of work in the mines would be lost sight of and an armed insurrection, having for its purpose the establishment of a Bolshevist dictatorship in this country, and enforced recognition of the Russian dictatorship and the Communist International, would be brought about.

 

The plan was to have simultaneous uprisings in southern Illinois and, if possible, in the vicinity of Bellaire, Ohio, which also was a hotbed of Communist agitation and propaganda, and in the region surrounding Uniontown, Pa.

 

A telegram sent to local union officials at Herrin by John L. Lewis, President of the United Mine Workers, placing workers of the strip mines in the category of ‘strike-breakers’ was shrewdly twisted and distorted, according to the boasts of the Communist leaders at Chicago, into an ‘invitation’ to attack the strip mines and the workmen employed there.

 

Officials of the United Mine Workers had no intimation that an attack was contemplated or that a conspiracy within the Communist Party of America existed at the time to precipitate a tragedy such as took place the day after the telegram was received from President Lewis.

 

Agitation under the active efforts of the Communists continued during May and June.  The strike area, in Southern Illinois was carefully examined and the points where riot, violence of armed insurrection might be started were charted and catalogued.  In the list of these places were Christopher, Zeigler, Sesser and Herrin.

 

With the local Lithuanian miners as a nucleus, a Communist Party chapter was organized in Herrin, holding meetings secretly in the Lithuanian language, but taking instructions from agents of Dozenburg in the offices of Carney at Chicago.  Quietly and stealthily they worked among the idle miners at Herrin, preaching armed attack upon the strip mine.

 

“Union strikers at Herrin inquired of President Lewis the status of the non-union miners who continued working the strip mine while the national strike was in progress.  In a telegram on June 20 he classified them as strike-breakers.  ‘This telegram was pounced upon by the Communist agents and distorted into an excuse for an attack upon the strip mine,’ continues the narrative.  ‘The workers there were captured and, under the leadership of the nineteen Communist agents, who, according to Dozenburg, had been imported for the purpose of starting insurrection and revolution, the men were shot down.’

 

“Freshly encouraged by this success the Communists are said to have redoubled activity among railroad, marine-transport and farm workers.  The seamen already were organized as ‘one big union,’ so the minimum of effort was necessary in that direction.  The miners also were ‘one big union,’ ripe for capture by the Moscow agents.  But there were four big brotherhoods and sixteen unions on the railroads, so, ‘in order to control them as a unit and mobilize them into the Foster one-union scheme, the ‘Minnesota Plan’ for a single ‘departmental industrial union’ was evolved.’

 

“The railroads became the next objective.  The Herrin massacre had demonstrated what the miners would do if properly chaperoned.  The plan now was to bring about in some quarter, preferably a vital railroad centre like Chicago or Pittsburgh, a similar outbreak among rail workers.  The shop crafts were then on strike.

 

Bridgeman Plot for Big Uprising.

 

“`The convention of agents of the Communist International and leaders of the Communist Party of America at Bridgeman, Mich., last August constituted one of the greatest conspiracies in the history of the United States,’ the mine workers article continues.

 

Intent upon promoting the general uprising of all coal mine, railroad, marine transport and farm workers and carrying their aim to a successful realization before the coal and railroad strikes could be settled, their revolutionary sittings were cut hort by the appearance of the county Sheriff.

 

The raid upon that convention was one of the greatest blows the Communist organization in America ever received.  Its members were confined in jail and compelled to shift their activities from the promotion of industrial revolution to the raising of money for bail and preparing a defense in an effort to escape imprisonment under Michigan’s criminal syndicalism law.

 

“Since then, it is charged, the Communists tried unsuccessfully to foment a general strike among rail workers last November, and among coal miners last April 1, which also failed of execution.

 

“Another ‘one big union’ movement was launched among transportation workers, however, from an office in St. Paul, Minn.  This campaign is alleged to be still in progress, under the directorship of G. H. Kennedy, head of the organization, and O. H. Wangerin, Secretary-Treasurer.” (New York Times. “Lays Herrin Riot to 86 Alien Reds. Miners’ Union Declares Lithuanian Bolsheviki Led Strip Mine Massacre. Plotted for Seven Weeks.” 9-12-1923.)

 

Sep 16, 1923: “John C. Brydon, President of the National Coal Association and Chairman of the Bituminous Operators’ Special Committee, in a statement issued yesterday, declared that the massacre of workmen in the Herrin strip mines was not due to the machinations of Communists, as claimed by Ellis Searles, editor of the United Mine Workers’ Journal, but asserted that the policy of the leaders of the United Mine Workers was responsible for the murders.

 

The Herrin massacre has achieved wide publicity and is therefore one of the counts on which the united Mine Workers of America seeks to defend itself…Herrin was no worse in principle than the killings which followed it five days later in Ohio or than the scores of other instances of violence which accompanied the strike of 1922.

 

But Herrin, like all the others, is a perfect example of the flat untruth of the contention that any reason other than the iniquitous policy of the leaders of the United Mine Workers of America is the moving force that stirs, not foreigners, but Americans, to unspeakable crimes against their fellowmen and against all those ideals which we think of as proper to American life.

 

The strip operation at Herrin, when events took place which have become a nemesis to John L. Lewis and his aids, was not even a mining operation in the ordinary sense of the word.  The country was in dire need of coal, and the man who owned the mine thought he was within his rights as an American in continuing the steam-shovel operation which removed for shipment what was almost a surface vein of coal.

 

It was no Lithuanian, it was Mr. John L. Lewis, who telegraphed concerning the Steam Shovel Union.  Representatives of our organization are justified in treating this crowd as an outlaw organization and in viewing its members in the same light as they do any other common strike breakers.  This telegram of Mr. Lewis was read to the meeting of the union which preceded the barbarian march, ending in the massacre of helpless men who had surrendered.

 

“The names of the indicted men in the Herrin affair were such names as Otis Clark, Leva Mann, Peter Hiller and Burt Grace.  The United States Coal Commission has said that Williamson County, Illinois, ‘is intensely patriotic and had a fine record during the World War,’ and that its people would resent any suggestion that they were not good, patriotic American citizens.’

 

Something closer to home than propaganda from far-off Moscow is the force which invades such American communities and transforms their inhabitants into men who indeed might have been fitting members of the gallant squad that executed the Czar and his family.  This something is the deliberate policy of teaching men that might is right in labor disputes and that there are no rights except the rights of the organization which claims a super-loyalty and displaces all normal and natural loyalties.  The $17,000,000 a year which the United Mine Workers of America raise through the ‘check-off’ has a great deal more to do with the maintenance and growth of violence in the coal fields than has the mythical $1,100,000 from the treasuries of the Soviet.

 

The United Mine Workers of America raised a defense fund of $800,000 to secure the acquittal of the indicted men.  According to the United States Coal Commission the miners’ union paid $750,000 for the destroyed mine, which was worth about one-third much.  Surely it would not have done this to prevent civil case which might have brought out the heinous facts of how the plotting Lithuanians misled the mine workers’ officials.

 

The United States Coal Commission, in a report dated Sept. 8, said of the Herrin massacre:

 

It has been suggested that this was a communistic movement.  It is true that Communists have made efforts to establish organizations in that county and that a few foreigners were induced to join; but there is no evidence that this had any relation to this lamentable and horrible occurrence.  The voters are intensely partisan and divide along normal party lines with a negligible Socialist vote.”

 

(NYT. “Denies Reds Caused Herrin Massacre. Head of Operators’ Organization Places Blame on Leaders of Mine Union.” 9-16-1923.)

 

Sep 14, 1924, Chenery (NYT): “….The riot occurred because of the laxity of the law enforcement officers.  Nobody was punished….

 

“In the election that followed the massacre the issue of unionism was the test of all candidates.  One old resident described the situation in this wise:

 

People forgot all about parties.  There was a mess to clean up, and men were elected for the purpose of preventing any one from being punished.  The candidates who might, if chosen, have helped to bring the guilty to justice were defeated with the statement that they were at heart anti-union.  If they were elected, a fight to the finish ‘against unionism’ was foreseen.  Consequently, regardless of the crimes, men were chosen who were known to be sympathetic to labor.  They accomplished the purpose for which they were elected, but they were unfit to cope with the other problems of their offices.”

 

(Chenery, William L.  “Herrin – The ‘Sore Spot’ of the Nation.” New York Times, 9-14-1924.)

 

Sep 27, 1925:  “Marion, Ill., Sept. 27. – Two more men who were indicted for participation in the Herrin mine massacre of 1922 died tragically in Herrin last night and this morning.

 

“James Galligan, who never was tried, was killed in a mine explosion in Herrin yesterday.

 

“Early this morning Otis Clark was found, shot to death in front of his home near Herrin.  Clark was tried twice for the mine murders and twice acquitted, despite the State’s evidence that he was the man who took control of the mob after it left the mine, led Superintendent McDowell down a side road and fired the first shot that killed the non-union workers.  Clark was the first man indicted for the massacre and was arrested as he attempted to flee from the county.

 

“Since the trial Clark has been operating a soft-drink establishment.  When his body was found this morning a revolver was clutched in one hand.”  (New York Times. “Two Herrin Suspects Meet Tragic Deaths; Clark, Twice Acquitted, Is Shot, and Galligan, Who Was Not Tried, Is Killed in a Mine.” 9-28-1925, p. 23.)

 

March 12, 1978, NYT (Robbins): “Herrin, Ill., March 12 – Unmarked graves in Potters Field, a corner of the city cemetery her, offer silent testimony to a long history of fierce union loyalty among miners in this southern Illinois community.  There lie the remains of 16 of the 23 strikebreakers slain more than 50 years ago in an ill-conceived attempt to reopen a struck mine.

 

“So loyal was this community to the striking miners and their union that, despite eyewitness testimony, two juries refused to convict the accused slayers.  The episode, which came to be know as the Herrin Massacre and which many here would like to forget, helped engrave on the surrounding county the name ‘Bloody Williamson.’

 

“Now, published reports of so-called secret Carter Administration strategy say that this region, where a proposed contract settlement was soundly defeated by striking miners last week, is one of the key areas in which the Government hopes to break the nearly solid front of the United Mine Workers.

 

“‘Some people may try to go to work, but I don’t think they’ll make it,’ said one young miner today.  But Tom Shoemaker, one of the leaders of the union’s District 12, scoffs at the idea that the kind of violence that erupted 56 years ago might happen again.  ‘I’ve told them to obey the law,’ he said.  ‘I hope they will.’

 

“Despite such assurances, however, some threats have been made against at least one local union president who, as the law requires, ordered his members back to work and against examiners who must make safety inspections of the mines before they are reopened.

 

“Residents of this community resent any implication that they possess a tendency toward violence of the kind seen in June 1922.  But in the spring of 1922, Herrin was as quiet as it is today.  Then as now, nobody bothered to picket because nobody, it seemed safe to believe, would dare to try to remove coal from a struck mine.

 

“The area had been loyal to the United Mine Workers for 20 years before that.  As the historian Paul M. Angle recounted in his 1969 book, ‘Bloody Williamson,’ the miners could still remember when they worked for little more than a dollar a day, knee-deep in water, breathing foul air and under other conditions that could break a man’s health and shorten his life.

 

“In June 1922, both miners and townspeople credited the union with having greatly improved wages and working conditions.  Nevertheless, in the face of urgent warnings, an operator using the recently developed technique of strip mining, a man reported to be heavily in debt, decided to ship coal and reap good profits because of strike-induced scarcity.

 

“The owner, William J. Lester of Cleveland, imported about 50 guards and nonunion workers from Chicago.  At first, the miners were stunned by his audacity.  Resentment grew to anger.  If Mr. Lester succeeded, others might try the same thing.  Their strike as well as their union seemed threatened.

 

“Among the strikebreakers were a few members of the Steam Shovelers Union, an organization that had withdrawn from the American Federation of Labor.  An ‘explosive element’ was injected into the area’s tension, Mr. Angle wrote, with a telegram from John L. Lewis, the president of the United Mine Workers and a native of southern Illinois, advising miners they would be ‘justified’ in treating the steam shovelers like ‘common strike-breakers.’

 

“As the crisis grew, local law enforcement officers were difficult to find. On June 21, a truck carrying a new contingent of strikebreakers was ambushed and three men were wounded.  A mob looted local hardware stores for weapons.

 

“All that night, the mob, hidden behind mounds of earth ringing the mine, exchanging gunfire with the guards and strikebreakers, who were pinned down under coal cars and behind railroad ties.  The strikebreakers’ return fire fatally wounded two of the attackers.

 

“Eventually someone located the sheriff, Melvin Thaxton, who promised to investigate but said he could not go to the mine until the next morning because he needed sleep.  By the time he arrived, it was too late….” (Robbins, William. “Loyalty Survives at Site of ’22 Massacre.” New York Times. 3-13-1978.)

 

March 27, 1978, NYT (Robbins): “….Some of the town’s [Herrin] oldest citizens still recall that day in June when two miners and 23 nonunion workers were slain.  ‘The mob marched five of the scabs right past my house,’ recalled Richard Yates, a tall, white-haired man. ‘They cut the rope off Slim Morgan’s well and strung one of them up, and they shot four of them down right in front of me.’  ‘I was 11 years old,’ he concluded, ‘but that will live with me all my god-damned life’.”  (Robbins, William. “Reporter’s Notebook: Mines Still Bristle With Mistrust,” New York Times, 3-27-1978, p. A14.)

 

Melvin Thaxton was Sheriff 1918-1922. (Hale, Stan J. and David Hurst. Williamson County Illinois Sesquicentennial History. “Williamson County Officers 1839-1992. Williamson County Sheriffs,” 1989, p. 48.)

 

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Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Blames Lester.” 6-22-1922, 1. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1274193

 

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Decatur Daily Review, IL. “`Brundage to Blame for Riot’ Claims Governor Small.” 6-22-1922, 1. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1274193

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Charleston Victim [Herrin Massacre].” 7-7-2012, 1. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1274705

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “`Deplorable’–Harding..” 6-24-1922, 1. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1274705

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Dirt Closes Over 16 Mine War Victims. Union Miners Bury Men Slain in Bloody Massacre in Williamson County.” 6-26-1922, 1. Accessed 7-8-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1275280

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Farrington Urges Order.” 6-26-1922, 1. Accessed 7-8-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1275280

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “`Foreign Element To Blame’ Says Herrin Survivor.” 6-24-1922, 1. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1274705

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Free 36, Indicted For Herrin Murders, on Bail.” 9-25-1922, 1. Accessed 7-19-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=8317840

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Governor Small Is Not Guilty.” 6-24-1922, 1. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1274705

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Herrin Claims at $2,500,000.” 7-21-1922, p. 1. Accessed 7-15-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1281432

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Herrin Jury Scores Black and Thaxton. Officials Blamed For Failing to Act – Return 214 Indictments, 44 for Murder.” 9-23-1922, 1. Accessed 7-19-2012 at:  http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=8317291

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Herrin Mine Suit to Test Coronado Court Decision.” 6-24-1922, 1. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1274705

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Herrin, Notorious for Mine Massacre, Unusual Place.” 6-24-1922, 1. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1274705

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Inhuman Treatment.” 6-22-1922, 1. Accessed 7-7-20121 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1274193

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Issue Blanket Subpoena For Massacre Witnesses.” 9-21-1922, 1. Accessed 7-19-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=8316740

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “May Free Some Indicted to Speed Herrin Trial.” 10-2-1922, p. 1. Accessed 7-19-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=8319542

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Mine Union Seeks Release on Bond of Herrin Accused.” 9-9-1922, p. 1. Accessed 7-18-2012: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=8314192

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Offer Reward For Murderers. Brundage Posts $1,000 to Bring Herrin Case to Justice.” 7-12-1922, 1. http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1279188

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Open Military Probe of Herrin Massacre. Seek to Settle Blame for Mine War That Exacted From 25 to 40 Lives as Toll.” 6-24-1922, 1. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1274705

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “President Harding Issues Statement,”  Jan 30, 1922, p.1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1245857

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Scores Quit Work at Herrin but Get Union Protection.” 6-24-1922, 1. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1274705

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Small Demobilizes State Troops – Told To Await Recall.” 6-24-1922, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1274705

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “State Administration Lashed by Herrin Jury.” 9-24-1922, p. 1. Accessed 7-19-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=8317490

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Sue County for Herrin Damages.” 7-19-1922, p. 1. Accessed 7-15-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1281027

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Twenty-Six Dead in Herrin Mine War.” 6-22-1922, 1. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1274193

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Union Investigating.” 7-19-1922, p. 1. Accessed 7-15-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1281027

 

Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Wounded Survivors of Mine Riot Endangered. Problem of Getting Them Out of ‘Bloody’ Williamson Alive, Confronts Officials.” 6-27-1922, 1. Accessed 7-8-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=1275522

 

Decatur Sunday Review, IL. “Prosecution Wades Through Mass of Herrin Testimony.” 9-3-1922, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=8312890

 

Des Moines Capital, IA. “Urge New Probe of Herrin Murders. Illinois Business Men Launch Movement.” 8-6-1922, 1. http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=75869506

New York Herald. “All is Quiet – and Shameful.” In News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, 7-4-1922, 4. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=41005458

 

Detroit Free Press. “Blood That Calls for Vengeance” (Editorial). Reprinted in News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. 7-2-1922, 4. http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img

 

Eau Claire Sunday Leader, WI. “State Blamed For Massacre.” 9-24-1922, p. 1. Accessed 7-19-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=100696481

 

Encyclopedia Britannica. “Herrin.” Accessed 7-5-2012 at:  http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/263745/Herrin

 

Evening Courier and Reporter, Waterloo, IA. “Federal Net Out for Herrin Death March Managers.” 9-2-1922, p. 2. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=87205852

 

Fayette County Leader, IA. “Jury Gets Evidence. Witnesses Called in Herrin Massacre Are Terror-Stricken.” 9-7-1922, 2. http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=143253820

 

Fliege, Stuart R. Tales & Trails of Illinois. Ch. 42, “`Butchery…Wrought in Madness.’ The 1922 Herrin Massacre.” University of Illinois Press, 2002, pp. 180-85. Partially Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=OEfzotDioLQC&printsec=frontcover&vq=herrin#v=onepage&q=herrin&f=false

 

Galveston Daily News, TX. “The Heart of Herrin” (Editorial). 10-9-1922, p. 4. Accessed 7-19-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=42459414

 

Gettysburg Times, PA. “County Farmer Killed at York.” 8-4-1922, p. 1. Accessed 7-16-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=4123796

 

Gettysburg Times, PA. “To Bury Herrin Victim in Adams.” 7-1-1922, 2. Accessed 7-8-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=4109613

 

Hale, Stan J. and David Hurst. Williamson County Illinois Sesquicentennial History. “Williamson County Officers 1839-1992. Williamson County Sheriffs,” 1989, p. 48. Google preview accessed 1-11-2016 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=oswtI2SVerIC&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=Williamson+County+Illinois+Sesquicentennial+History&source=bl&ots=yAbwWe5ZUh&sig=U6tAicFnvFi5vNG0eeJ2uvftlaw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj6raORx6LKAhXFMyYKHXY1Di4Q6AEIIzAB#v=onepage&q=Williamson%20County%20Illinois%20Sesquicentennial%20History&f=true

 

Haskin, Frederic J. “Object Lessons of Industrial War.” Salt Lake Tribune, 7-9-1922, p. 26. Accessed 7-14-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=94634737

 

Hofstadter, Richard and Michael Wallace. American Violence: A Documentary History. “Herrin Massacre 1922.” Borzoi Books, Alfred A. Knoph, Inc., 1970. Partially Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=BRVbcJGS_BUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Hofstadter, Richard and Michael Wallace (Eds.). American Violence: A Documentary History. Vintage Books, 1970.

 

Illinois State Bar Association. Annual Report of the Illinois State Bar Association, Forty-Fourth Annual Meeting at Chicago, May 27 and 28, 1920. Danville: Interstate Printing C., 1920. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=8Mk8AAAAIAAJ&dq=C.+W.+Middlekauff&q=middlekauff#

 

Iowa City Press-Citizen, IA. “Why Not Send Him to Herrin?” 8-4-1922, 9. Accessed 7-16-2012 at:  http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=10507095

 

Jenkins, Henry W. “Herrin, Unrepentant, Is Solidly Behind Miners.” Decatur Daily Review, IL. 9-29-1922, p. 12. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=8318790

 

Joplin Globe, MO. “86 Business Men Put Up Bond for Indicted Miners.” 9-26-1922, p. 1. Accessed 7-19-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=166860261

 

Joplin News Herald, MO. “Unions Doomed Unless Anarchy is Stamped Out, R. R. Brewster Declares.” 9-12-1922, p. 1. http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=166770856

 

Joplin News Herald, MO. “Up To Mr. Brundage” (Editorial). 8-3-1922, p. 4. Accessed 7-16-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=147159367

 

La Crosse Tribune, WI. “Civil War Veterans Score ‘Butchery’ of Herrin Miners.” 9-30-1922, 1. Accessed 7-19-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=52829941

 

La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press, WI. “Gompers Attacks Harding Message Called Untimely.” 8-20-1922, p. 13. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=52829369

 

Lima News, OH. “411 Face Charge of Murder. Total Number Accused in Mine Wars Thruout Country.” 10-28-1922, 1. http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=16020608

 

Linton Daily Citizen, IN. “Herrin Claims $25,000.” 7-22-1922, 1. Accessed 7-15-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=165178532

 

Linton Daily Citizen, IN. “State to Nolle True Bills in Herrin Trial. Difficulty is Anticipated in Securing Jury – Trials Start November 8.” 10-30-1922, 2. Accessed 7-23-1922 at:  http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=131214794

 

Logansport Morning Press, IN. “Illinois Miners Adopt Watchful Waiting Policy.” 6-18-1922, 2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=83978837

 

Morning Herald, Uniontown, PA. “Herrin Dead Still Unavenged” (Editorial). 8-9-1922, p. 4. Accessed 7-16-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=73101286

 

Morning Herald, Uniontown, PA. “Herrin Massacre Indictments.” 7-27-2012, 4. Accessed 7-23-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=73102053

 

New York Herald. “All is Quiet – and Shameful.” In News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN, 7-4-1922, 4. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=41005458

 

New York Times. “58 Now Indicted in Herrin Murders.” 9-9-1922, 11. Accessed 7-10-2012 at: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20B10F93B5D1A7A93CBA91782D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “All Herrin Cases Quashed By Court. State Asks Dismissal on Ground that Justice Cannot be Had in the County. Trial Judge Denies It.” 4-8-1923. Accessed 7-12-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FB0D17FE345416738DDDA10894DC405B838EF1D3

 

New York Times. “All Herrin Suspects Are Being Watched; Report Federal Agents to Prevent Escapes – Witnesses Fear Incriminating Themselves.” 9-2-1922. Accessed 7-10-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F30C15FD3B5D1A7A93C0A91782D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Bar Out-of-Town Papers; Herrin Seeks to Suppress Accounts of Massacre.” 6-24-1922. At: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F70913FF3B5D14738DDDAD0A94DE405B828EF1D3

 

New York Times. “Company Blamed for Mine Murders by Coroner’s Jury; Investigation to Fix Responsibility Personally on Officials is Recommended. Superintendent is Blamed.” 6-26-1922, 1. At: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FB0F11F839551A738DDDAF0A94DE405B828EF1D3

 

New York Times. “Death Threat Made to Herrin Inquisitor. Illinois Attorney General Told to Keep Away From Scene of Mine Massacre.” 8-24-1922. Accessed 7-12-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FA0D1FF7385D1A7A93C6AB1783D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Denies Reds Caused Herrin Massacre. Head of Operators’ Organization Places Blame on Leaders of Mine Union.” 9-16-1923. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F50C15F93D5D15738DDDAF0994D1405B838EF1D3

 

New York Times. “First Indictment in Herrin Inquiry. Man Accused of Killing Mine Superintendent is Names by Grand Jury.” 8-31-1922. Accessed 7-6-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F00B1EFC3B5D1A7A93C3AA1783D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Flee When Indicted in Herrin Massacre. Eleven Believed to Have Left Country – Grand Jury to Investigate Their Escape.” 9-20-1922. Accessed 7-5-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F00F17FB3A5D1A7A93C2AB1782D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Grand Jury Called on Herrin Massacre.” 8-18-1922. Accessed 7-5-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F5061FF93B5D14738DDDA10994D0405B828EF1D3

 

New York Times. “Grand Jury Resumes Herrin Inquiry Today; More Indictments for Massacre Are Expected – 26 of 38 Indicted for Murder in Jail.” 9-18-1922, p. 4. Accessed 7-12-2012 at: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10611FD3A5D1A7A93CAA81782D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Harding Commends Action on Herrin Riot; Praises Efforts of Illinois Business Men to Raise Funds to Continue Inquiry.” 8-22-1922, 2. Accessed 7-19-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F40810F6385D1A7A93C0AB1783D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Herrin Grand Jury Called. Circuit Judge Announces Hearing Will Begin July 10.” 6-30-1922. At: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F50617F63E5E1A738DDDA90B94DE405B828EF1D3

 

New York Times. “Herrin Invites Gilbert.”  12-4-1922. Accessed 7-12-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F3061EFC345A1B7A93C6A91789D95F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Herrin Massacre Inquiry Under Way. Judge Charges Grand Jury, Defends Local Officers and Challenges Critics. Farmers on Grand Jury.” 8-29-1922. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F00C1EFF3B5D1A7A93CBAB1783D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Herrin Murderers Revealed in Inquiry; Witnesses Tell Names Under Secrecy Pledge – One Hundred May Be Indicted.  Some Shield the Rioters. Several Witnesses Fear to Tell All They Know and One Refuses Any Testimony.” 8-30-1922, p. 4. Accessed 7-12-2012 at: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50B15FC3B5D1A7A93C2AA1783D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Illinois Massacre Stirs Congressmen; Goodykoontz of West Virginia Declares Union Has Fallen to Low Level.” 6-27-1922, 4. Accessed 7-12-2012 at: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50D14F939551A738DDDAE0A94DE405B828EF1D3

 

New York Times. “Judge Warns Labor on Herrin Massacre.” 7-31-1922. Accessed 7-5-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F30715F9395D1A7A93C3AA178CD85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Lays Herrin Riot to 86 Alien Reds. Miners’ Union Declares Lithuanian Bolsheviki Led Strip Mine Massacre. Plotted for Seven Weeks.” 9-12-1923. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F70910F83D5D15738DDDAB0994D1405B838EF1D3

 

New York Times. “Mexico Protests Herrin Massacre. Representations to the State Department Say Mexicans Were Killed and Beaten. An Inquiry is Promised.” 8-8-1922. Accessed at:  http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F60612FD385D1A7A93CAA91783D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Millions for Bail in Herrin Massacre. Eighty-six Business Men Tender Fortunes – Court Takes $421,000, Releases 36 Men.” 9-26-1922. Accessed at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F40F13F73A5D1A7A93C4AB1782D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Mining Resumed At Herrin.  First Coal is Taken From the Scene of the June Tragedy.” 1-7-1923. At: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10811F83C5513738DDDAE0894D9405B838EF1D3

 

New York Times. “No Regret in Mine Field Over Massacre; Strikers Defend Attack, Blame Guards; District Quiet, Troops Ready to Move. Callous Crowd at Morgue. ‘They Got What They Deserved,’ Spectators Saying Viewing Bodies…” 6-24-1922, 1. Accessed 7-11-2012 at: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50913FF3B5D14738DDDAD0A94DE405B828EF1D3

 

New York Times. “Perjury Indictments Expected Over Herrin; Prosecutor Says Many Witnessed Lied.” 9-6-1922. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F10A17FB3B5D1A7A93C4A91782D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Preacher Herrin Suspect; Said to Have Aided in Directing Mob – May Be Indicted.” 10-2-1922, p. 36. Accessed 7-12-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F10C14FD355D1A7A93C0A9178BD95F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Predict 100 Warrants for Herrin Massacre. County Officials Ready for Grand Jury Investigation Which Begins Today.” 8-28-1922. Accessed 7-5-2012 at:  http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F70E12FF3B5D1A7A93CAAB1783D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Prosecutor Begins Inquiry at Herrin. Illinois Attorney General Takes Personal Charge – Search for Five Witnesses.” 7-15-1922. Accessed 7-6-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F60615FE395D1A7A93C7A8178CD85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Saw Only Foreigners in Herrin Massacre. Defense Witnesses Assert That None of Five Murder Defendants Took Part in Death March.” 1-7-1923. (Pay article.)

 

New York Times. “Sees Government’s End If Herrin Is Unpunished; Senator Myers Calls Apparent Immunity of Assassins a Challenge to the Constitution.” 6-29-1922, 13. Accessed 7-12-2012: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70710F639551A738DDDA00A94DE405B828EF1D3

 

New York Times. “Seeks Private Fund for Herrin Inquiry. Illinois Commerce Chamber Asks for $25,000 to Aid Attorney General Brundage.” 8-16-1922. Accessed 7-6-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F40C11F8385D1A7A93C4A81783D85F468285F9

 

New York Times. “Sheriff’s Timidity Blamed by General in Mine Massacre; Head of Governor’s Investigating Board Says Herrin Official Failed in Crisis.” 6-25-2012, 1. Accessed 7-11-2012 at: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40E10FF355B11728DDDAC0A94DE405B828EF1D3

 

New York Times. “The Massacre of ‘Scabs’ [Editorial].” 6-24-1922. Accessed 7-11-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F20F1FFF3B5D14738DDDAD0A94DE405B828EF1D3

 

New York Times. “To Efface Herrin Blot, President is Assured: Illinois Chamber of Commerce Wires Harding That Guilty Will Be Punished.” 8-19-1922, 3. Accessed 7-10-2012 at: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40B13F63B5D14738DDDA00994D0405B828EF1D3

 

New York Times. “To Set Herrin Right (Editorial).” 9-25-1922. Accessed 7-10-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FB0E11FF38551A738DDDAC0A94D1405B828EF1D3

 

New York Times. “Two Herrin Suspects Meet Tragic Deaths; Clark, Twice Acquitted, Is Shot, and Galligan, Who Was Not Tried, Is Killed in a Mine.” 9-28-1925, p. 23. Accessed 7-13-2012: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60C12F6355C17738DDDA10A94D1405B858EF1D3

 

New York Times. “Union Official Held as Herrin Slayer. Otis Clark, a Local President, Surrenders After Grand Jury Indictment. Unions Rally to Defense.” 9-1-1922. Accessed 7-9-2012 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FB0614FF38551A738DDDA80894D1405B828EF1D3

 

New York Times. “Union Will Defend Miners of Herrin….New Count of Victims. Total Casualties Exceed Seventy, Say Labor Agencies – Sheriff Officially Blamed.” 8-1-1922. At: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F20611F9395D1A7A93C3A91783D85F468285F9

 

News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. “A Damning Announcement” (Editorial). 8-6-1922, p. 4. Accessed 7-16-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=43471269

 

News Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. Editorial [Herrin massacre].  7-7-1922, 4. Accessed 7-13-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=41005483

 

News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. Editorial [Herrin massacre trial].  11-3-1922, p. 4. Accessed 7-24-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=41014442

 

News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. Editorial [Mexican protest regarding Herrin murders.], 8-24-1922, p. 4. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=41005957

 

News Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. “Myers’ Outburst” [Herrin Massacre Editorial], 7-9-1922, p. 4. Accessed 7-14-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=41005504

 

News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. “Union Man Talks” (Letter to Editor), 7-2-1922, 4. Accessed 7-8-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=41005438

 

Oakland Tribune, CA. “U.S. Asks Probe of Herrin Massacre.” 8-8-1922, p. 14. Accessed 7-16-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=31488818

 

Oxford Mirror, Oxford Junction, IA. “Silence is Surrender.” 7-20-1922, p. 4. Accessed 7-15-2012 at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com

 

Robbins, William. “Loyalty Survives at Site of ’22 Massacre.” New York Times. 3-13-1978. At: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F50D1EFC3D5513728DDDAA0994DB405B888BF1D3

 

Robbins, William. “Reporter’s Notebook: Mines Still Bristle With Mistrust.” New York Times, 3-27-1978, p. A14. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10D13F83C5513728DDDAE0A94DB405B888BF1D3

 

San Antonio Express, TX. “A Mob Is A Mob.” 8-26-1922, p. 4. Accessed 7-17-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=67908223

 

San Antonio Express, TX. “A Revolting Official Farce” (Editorial). 8-12-1922, p. 6. Accessed 7-17-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=67907880

 

San Antonio Express, TX. “Democracy’s Worst Enemy.” 10-25-1922, 6. Accessed 7-23-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=67909756

 

San Antonio Express, TX. “Herrin Mine Opened by Secret Agreement with Union, Claimed.” 10-18-1922, p. 10. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=67909569

 

San Antonio Express, TX. “‘If We Are to Exist as a Nation’.” 7-15-1922, p. 4. Accessed 7-14-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=67904554

 

San Antonio Express, TX. “Indiana Mob Shuts Mine. Non-union Pits at Terre Haute Forced to Stop. Strip Mine Near Herrin, Illinois Opens Under Guard of Men Armed With Machine Gun Crew From Chicago.” 6-17-1922, 1. http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=67665332

 

San Antonio Express, TX. “Innocence Must Not Suffer in Williamson County” (Editorial) 8-2-1922, p. 6. Accessed 7-16-2012: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=67907652

 

San Antonio Evening News, TX. “More Illinois Stinkweed” (Editorial). 10-11-1922, p. 4. Accessed 7-19-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=69299887

 

San Antonio Express, TX. “Politics and Murder” (Editorial). 9-26-1922, p. 6. Accessed 7-19-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=67909008

 

San Antonio Express, TX. “Shamed Into Action – Perhaps” (Editorial). 8-22-1922, p. 6. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/san-antonio-express/1922-08-22/page-6?tag=herrin&rtserp=tags/?pd=22&py=1922&pm=08&pep=herrin

 

San Antonio Express, TX. “Sheriff and Illinois Officials Blamed for Herrin Mine Massacre. Political Aims Put Above Life Grand Jury Says.” 9-24-1922, 1. Accessed 7-19-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=67908940

 

San Antonio Express, TX. “Victim Describes Riot at Herrin Coal Mine.” 10-20-1922, p. 2. Accessed 7-21-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=67909605

 

San Antonio Express, TX. “War Hero Victim at Herrin.” 9-7-1922, p. 1. Accessed 7-18-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=67908522

 

San Antonio Express, TX. “Where Justice is Demanded, But A Farce is Feared” (Editorial). 8-19-1922, p. 6. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=67908056

 

San Antonio Light, TX. “Miners Start Work in Illinois Under Machine Gun Guard. Sixty Men Begin Production of Coal in Strip Pit Near Herrin.” 6-16-1922, 1. Accessed 7-7-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=78974839

 

Sandusky Star-Journal, OH. “Feeling Tense as Date Nears for Herrin Massacre Trials.” 11-1-1922, 2. Accessed 7-24-2012:  http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=134872752

 

Shoe Workers’ Journal. “Truth About Herrin,” V23/N9, Sep 1922, 12-14. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=4G5VAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Sioux City Journal, IA. “Victim of Herrin Massacre Identified. Body of Man Buried as No. 17 Was that of Horatio Grosman, World War Veteran.” 10-23-1922, p. 1. Accessed 7-23-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=125852998

 

Southern Illinois University, Department of Computer Science. “The Herrin Massacre.” Accessed 7-5-2012 at: http://www.cs.siu.edu/csday/2009_1/herrin_massacre.htm

 

Star Journal, Sandusky, OH. “Seek Justice in Herrin Slaughter.” 7-28-1922, p. 1. Accessed 7-16-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=134871833

 

Steubenville Herald, OH. Editorial [Herrin, IL]. 7-27-1922, 9. Accessed 7-16-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=134438238

 

Steubenville Herald Star, OH.  “Preparing for the Herrin Trials.” 10-24-1922, 1. Accessed 7-23-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=152165799

 

The Landmark, Statesville, NC. “Can Do Nothing.” 8-14-1922, p. 14. Accessed 7-17-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=142879009

 

Tripodi, Teresa. “The Cliftonville Riot. A Forgotten Panhandle Mine War.” Accessed 7-17-2012 at: http://www.brookecountywvgenealogy.org/cliftonmine.html

 

Troy Call, IL.  Editorial [Herrin Massacre]. 6-30-1922, 4. Accessed 7-8-1922 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=145264498

 

Waterloo Evening Courier, IA. “Antonio Mulkavich.” 9-16-1922, p. 4. Accessed 7-18-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=87205930

 

Waterloo Evening Courier, IA. “Daugherty Aide to Help Herrin Probe.” 8-25-1922, p. 1. Accessed 7-17-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=93289090

 

Wieck, David Thoreau. Woman From Spillertown: A Memoir of Agnew Burns Wieck. “Tragedy in Egypt.” Board of Trustees, Southern Illinois University, 1992. Partially Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=L6v8IHl-XjIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Wikipedia. “Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill.” 5-16-2012 modification. Accessed 7-17-2012 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyer_Anti-Lynching_Bill

 

Wikipedia. “Herrin massacre.” 6-17-2012 modification. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herrin_massacre

 

Wisconsin State Journal, Madison. “The Herrin Disease” (Editorial). 7-10-1922, 3. Accessed 7-14-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=62926112

[1] The 25-40 range estimate is in the article’s subtitle and in the first paragraph.  Within the article it is stated that “Twenty-two bodies had been recovered…”

[2] The number 20 is the number of “known”  fatalities – made up of 18 non-union workers and two union strikers. The number 25 is from a placard in a store front in Herrin stating that “Twenty-five scabs are dead.”

[3] Estimate of Hugh Willis, miners’ District Board member, of the number of non-mine union men killed on the 22^nd.

[4] Robbins writes that “23 strikebreakers slain” and two of the attacking mob on the 21^st “fatally wounded.”  All that can be confirmed is nineteen non-union men murdered.  A union miner in the attacking mob on the 21^st later died of his wounds, bring this total to three – for a total of 22 confirmed deaths.

[5] This is the count of Delos Duty, State’s attorney of Williamson County.

[6] The impression given is that the number “22” refers to the non-union men on June 22, but this is not certain.

[7] Non-union men killed.

[8] Non-union men killed.

[9] The mine headquarters were in Marion, the capital of Williamson County, several miles away.  (Chenery, William L.  “Herrin – The ‘Sore Spot’ of the Nation.” New York Times, 9-14-1924.)

[10] From the Christopher, IL Progress, of June 22:  “We have talked to several who were near the scene of the rioting, and many have reported to us that no city in the community showed their colors as much as the City of Zeigler, which is located in Franklin County.  At least 300 strong journeyed from Zeigler on Wednesday evening, and almost every car was loaded with men, guns and ammunition.”  (Quoted in Chenery, William L.  “Herrin – The ‘Sore Spot’ of the Nation.” NYT, 9-14-1924.)  Chenery notes that “Some came as far away as Kentucky.”

[11] The Governor was on trial in Waukegan, IL, for financial irregularities in 1917.  He was found not guilty on June 24.  (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Governor Small Is Not Guilty.” 6-24-1922, 1.)

[12] Big Muddy, according to: Davenport, Paula M. “The Herrin Massacre,” The Southern Illinoisan. 1989. p. 93.

[13] Coal Belt power plant.  (Davenport, Paula M. “The Herrin Massacre,” The Southern Illinoisan. 1989. p. 93.)

[14] “…also…a union miner…” (San Antonio Express, TX. “Where Justice is Demanded, But A Farce is Feared” (Editorial). 8-19-1922, p. 6.)

[15] John Shoemaker, son of Mr. and Mrs. T. T. Shoemaker, of Charleston, IL.  “John Shoemaker was employed as a mining engineer at the Herrin mine and was one of those taken prisoner by the enraged mob of union miners.  His dead body was found later in a place where the mob had left it.  Shoemaker was a brother-in-law of one of the head officials of the Herrin mine and had been employed there for some time.  He was married and has several children….” (Decatur Daily Review, IL. “Charleston Victim.” 6-24-1922, 1.)

[16] “…attended or marked by tumult, riot, lawlessness, confusion, or impetuosity.” (Merriam-Webster Encyclopaedia)

[17] A “Southern Illinois” Wikipedia article (7-3-2012 modification) subtitled “Origin of ‘Little Egypt’ name,” notes: “The nickname “Egypt” may have arisen in the 1830s, when poor harvests in the north of the state drove people to Southern Illinois to buy grain. Others say it was because the land of the great Mississippi and Ohio River valleys were like that of Egypt’s Nile delta. According to Hubbs, the nickname may date back to 1818, when a huge tract of land was purchased at the confluence of the rivers and its developers named it Cairo.”

[18] This, we believe, is a reference to the hanging of Settimi De Santis, accused and convicted, along with Frank Bianco of the murders of “two boys, Amel Calcaterra age 6 and Tony Hemphill age 19…”  Bianco hung himself in the Williamson County jail. The backdrop, according to the City of West Frankfort website, was anti-Italian (supposed to be Sicilian mafia), and other foreigners.  According o the website:  “During the night of August 5, 1920, a mob of more than 3000 took over the town of West Frankfort threatening to drive out the foreign population. It had been fueled in part by factions and elements of the Sicilian mafia immigrating to the Egyptian Coal fields. A committee of citizens announced that a Black Hand Society of more than 200 members, with headquarters in West Frankfort, had been discovered….The riot was attributed to thousands of idle coal miners who were on strike and a series of bank robberies, supposedly by a band of Italian bank robbers called the Black Hand Society. It escalated when two boys, Amel Calcaterra age 16 and Tony Hemphill age 19, were kidnapped and murdered.

“The mutilated bodies were found buried in a woods south of Royalton by a hunter. Both were shot in the head and their throats cut from ear to ear. The discovery of their bodies touched off the civic explosion.

“The rioting started after Settimi De Santis was arrested in conjunction with the murder and taken to the Marion jail. The mob stormed the jail, demanding the prisoner. After authorities refused their demand, the prisoner was hastily moved out of the city. The mob then divided and started searching nearby city jails. As a result of a telegram sent by Frank Bianco to Settimi DeSantis, Bianco was arrested at Columbus Ohio and also brought back to Marion.

“Automobiles loaded with armed parties arrived in great numbers. The mob, determined to rid every foreigner from the area, surged through the streets beating any foreigner on sight, although the Italian population was the chief objective. Scores of armed rioters burst into the Italian district, dragging people of all ages and both sexes from their homes, clubbing and stoning them, and then setting fire to their dwellings. Some were taken into the woods, beaten and left on the ground. In some cases shots were fired. The Italians tried to fight back as best as they could, turning West Frankfort into a battleground.

“Mayor Lon Fox and Sherriff Robert Watkins appealed to Governor Frank O. Lowden for troops, declaring the actions of the mob were beyond control of the local officials. Governor Lowden ordered 5 companies of the 9th Illinois Infantry to proceed at once to West Frankfort under the command of Major E. Satterfield of Mount Vernon. “When Major Satterfield and the troops arrived they were notified by the sheriff that they were not needed. The 500 troops then withdrew from the city and camped in a school yard on the outskirts. Peace was restored for a short time that morning, but mob violence broke out again in the afternoon. Major Satterfield took charge but only had enough men to control the main street, leaving the outlying sections unprotected. This resulted in Major Wilbur Satterfield wiring to Governor Lowden for 500 additional soldiers because the situation was very critical. Not only were the foreigners being attacked by the rioters, but also his soldiers.

“To quell the riot, Adjutant General Dickson had ordered nine companies of 10th Infantry and four companies of the 7th Reserve to board a train for West Frankfort. Brigadier General Wells from Springfield had been ordered to take charge of the chaotic situation.

“The Italian residences were warned to leave town within 24 hours or suffer the consequence. The rioters, according to the Italians, stole many of their belongings and did a considerable amount of damage while going from house to house with the warning…. The story of that night was one of anarchy. The mob disarmed the police and Deputy Sheriffs. Mayor Fox, Sheriff Watson and state’s Attorney Martin pleaded in vain for order. Communication with the outside world was almost nonexistent because of a telephone operators strike and the telegraph service being swamped….An Italian living in Zeigler was caught by a crowd on the street. It was reported that he had been there the night before to attend a meeting of an Italian society. The mob beat him and left him for dead. Another Italian was shot and his body left in the street.  A photographer from Valier, who attempted to take pictures of the riot, was knocked down, his camera smashed and then beaten to death, according to a message received at the Illinois Central office in Carbondale from the company’s telegraph station at West Frankfort.  The chaos went on for three days. When it was over hundreds of Italian- Americans were homeless, scores were injured and some killed. The loss from fire was estimated at tens of thousands of dollars.” (City of West Frankfort. Riot of 1920.)

 

 

[19] This is a big “if.”  It assumes that the presence of troops could not have served as a game-changer – changed conditions on the ground, such as bringing additional pressure on mine owner Lester to go back to his agreement with the union.

[20] Reference to the Turkish-Armenian conflict, including a war from September 24-December 2, 1920, within the broader context of atrocities and genocide of Armenian civilians within the Ottoman Empire from 1915-1923. See, Wikipedia, “Armenian Genocide,” 7-10-2012 modification, and “Turkish-Armenian War,” 6-23-2012 modification.

[21] William B. Jacobs would himself be killed several weeks later, on August 4, when his truck was hit by a train at a crossing.  The 75 year-old Jacobs and his wife had been visiting the widow of his brother, Mrs. Fiorella Jacobs.  (Gettysburg Times, PA. “County Farmer Killed at York.” 8-4-1922, p. 1.)

[22] U.S. Senator, Republican, of Iowa.

[23] A look at the names of those indicted might bring this conclusion into question.

[24] Theodore D. “Teddy” Roosevelt, Jr., eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt.

[25] “An association, especially a political association.” (American Heritage Dictionary of th English Language (4^th Edition). Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.

[26] “The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, introduced by Representative Leonidas C. Dyer, a Republican from Saint Louis, Missouri, in the US House of Representatives in 1918, was directed at punishing lynchings and mob violence….In 1917, white ethnic mobs had attacked blacks in Saint Louis and East St. Louis…over competition for work and punishment for strikebreakers. Representing a majority African-American district, Dyer was outraged by the violence and disregard for law in such riots….Republican President Warren G. Harding announced his support for Dyer’s bill during a speaking engagement in Birmingham, Alabama. Although the bill was quickly passed by a large majority in the House of Representatives, it was prevented from coming to a vote in 1922, in 1923 and once more in 1924 in the Senate, due to filibusters by the white Southern Democratic block….” (Wikipedia. “Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill.” 5-16-2012 modification.)

[27] Reference to the attack by striking miners on law enforcement officers led by Sheriff Harding Duvall at the Richland Coal Company Clifton mine at Cliftonville, WV. The sheriff and at least eight attackers were killed.  (Teresa Tripodi. “The Cliftonville Riot. A Forgotten Panhandle Mine War.”)

[28] C. W.  of Springfield. (Illinois State Bar Association. Annual Report of the Illinois State Bar Association, Forty-Fourth Annual Meeting at Chicago, May 27 and 28, 1920. Danville: Interstate Printing C., 1920, p. 232.)

[29] Grand Army of the Republic – a fraternal organization of Union veterans of the Civil War.

[30] On the morning of August 1, 1917, Frank Miller, a young organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World union was taken by six men from his boarding house in Butte, Montana, beaten and hung off a railroad trestle near Butte.  (United Food and Commercial  Workers. “Frank Little: A Murder in Butte.”)

[31] In addition, the regular grand jury “congratulates the members of the miners’ union for providing ‘food and comforts for their members now in jail, therefore taking this expense from the taxpayers of the county.” (Galveston Daily News, TX. “The Heart of Herrin” (Editorial). 10-9-1922, p. 4.) And, “It refused to indict several persons charged with perjury before the special grand jury.” (San Antonio Evening News, TX. “More Illinois Stinkweed” (Editorial). 10-11-1922, p. 4.)

[32] Prosecution dropped.