THRILLING SCENES DURING THE RIOTS--ATTACK ON THE STATE
MILITIA--SENSATIONAL ARREST OF ONE OF THE RIOT LEADERS.
In July, 1877, during the railroad strike on the Pennsylvania Railroad,
at Pittsburg, Pa., a riot was in progress on Sunday, the 21st, which had
started on the day previous. The rioters were led by the loosest
characters in and about Pittsburg. A great many of them were
rolling-mill employes and miners from mines and mills adjacent to
Pittsburg, who were in sympathy with the railway employes, who had gone
out upon a strike on all the lines operated by the Pennsylvania Company.
All of these lines were tied up. Not a car or locomotive had been moved
for several days prior to the breaking out of the riot. The police force
of Pittsburg was disorganized, many of them being in sympathy with the
strikers. The railroad company's officers then applied to the sheriff of
Allegheny County. The sheriff being unable to cope with the rioters or
to protect the company's property, called up Gov. Harttranft, then
governor of Pennsylvania. The state militia of Pennsylvania was ordered
to Pittsburg and placed under the command of Gen. Nagley. Many of the
militia were in sympathy with the strikers and laid down their arms and
joined the rioters, whereupon the Governor ordered re-enforcements from
Philadelphia. The re-enforcements consisted of two regiments, the first
and second regiments of state militia. They arrived in Pittsburg on
Saturday afternoon, July 20, from Philadelphia, and were in charge of
Brig. Gen. Brinton. These men left the passenger coaches at Union
Station at Pittsburg, and were marched north to the railroad yards,
which were full of freight and passenger cars, up to 28th Street. At
28th Street there was a mob from eight to ten thousand men, armed with
guns, pistols and clubs, who closed in on the Philadelphia troops,
opening fire upon them and disarming a number of them with their
overwhelming force. These troops displayed great coolness and nerve
under the circumstances, but the numbers were so overwhelming against
them that they were forced to take refuge in the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company's roundhouse at 28th Street. Here they held the position until a
late hour Saturday night. In the meantime the rioters had found a number
of carloads of crude petroleum oil, which were on a side track north of
the company's roundhouse, where the soldiers had taken refuge. The
roundhouse being on a lower spot of ground than the main grade of the
yards, the track where these cars were standing formed a down grade,
running directly into the roundhouse. The mob released the brakes on two
of the cars filled with oil, there being a number among them who knew
just how to operate the cars and switches. These cars were turned loose
down the grade, were set on fire, and ran into the roundhouse, where the
oil exploded, thereby setting fire to the roundhouse, and the troops who
had taken refuge there were compelled to flee for their lives, although
they retreated in fairly good order. Their line of retreat was through a
portion of Pittsburg then known as Pipe Town. The troops were assaulted
from windows and roofs of houses with bricks, guns and pistols. Many of
them were maimed and wounded. Thus they found their way to the
Sharpsburg Bridge, which crossed the Allegheny River north of Pittsburg.
The remainder of the Philadelphia troops formed a camp on the hills just
outside of Sharpsburg, on Sunday morning, where they remained until a
sufficient number of re-enforcements had assembled in Pittsburg to
control the situation, when the Philadelphians were again ordered back
to Pittsburg. Here they remained with the other troops until the trouble
was over. In the meantime, on Saturday night, after the annihilation of
the Philadelphia troops, the rioters went through the business portion
of Pittsburg, breaking into hardware stores, pawnshops and in fact any
other establishment they were liable to find firearms or ammunition. A
reign of terror existed in Pittsburg from the fatal Saturday until late
Sunday evening. During the forenoon of Sunday the rioters turned their
attention to the other cars in the railroad yards. The writer saw men
and women breaking into cars, and in many instances saw them leaving the
yards; some instances they would have a bolt of silk, fine laces, or
other fine dress goods in their arms, with possibly a ham or side of
bacon on top. They, being heavily laden with this loot, would attempt to
climb the abrupt bluffs which bordered the railroad yards on the east
side, would lose their foothold on the steep bluffs and come tumbling
down, and women and men, bacon and silk, would be found in a heap at the
bottom.
About ten o'clock on Sunday morning the mob found a carload of tinware
in the yards, and about the same time they also discovered two carloads
of liquor nearby. They at once captured all of the tin cups and other
vessels that would hold liquor from the carload of tinware. They also
dumped out the barrels of liquor on the ground, turned the head up and
used coupling links to knock the head out of the barrels. They then
helped themselves to the liquor with the tin vessels which they had
taken from the carload. The liquor consisted of brandy, whiskey and
other strong liquors. Having been engaged in rioting the night before,
probably not having stopped long enough to get any breakfast, they drank
this liquor like thirsty people, and were soon overcome with the effects
of it. In a short space of time the more violent of the mob fell by the
wayside, stupefied with the overdose of liquor. The citizens learning of
the general drunk, got together all sorts of wagons, carts, and other
vehicles that could be found and commenced to gather up these drunken
people, who were utterly helpless, and conveyed them to the jail and
lock-ups. These places were filled with them in a short time. In fact,
this was the first and only time in which the excessive use of strong
drink was instrumental in quieting one of the most desperate and
destructive riots ever engaged in in Pittsburg, or any other city.
At about eleven o'clock on Sunday morning, a man by the name of James
Boyd, who hailed from Mansfield, Pa., which is a small place about seven
miles from Pittsburg, at which place his father kept a hotel, or what
was called in those days, a tavern (James Boyd had been in Pittsburg a
short time prior to the time of the railroad strike, working as a
barkeeper for Charlie DuChon, whose place of business was directly
across from the Union Station at Pittsburg), with a number of others was
seen by the writer to roll a barrel of refined petroleum oil into the
waiting room of the Union Station. There he turned the barrel up on end
and knocked out the head, then turned the barrel down again, letting the
oil run all over the floor of the waiting room. He then took a handful
of waste that he had secured from one of the engines, set fire to it and
threw it into the oil on the floor, which ignited instantly, enveloping
the entire inside of the Union Station in flames. The writer witnessed
this, and the direction taken by Mr. Boyd. That evening Boyd, with
others, set fire to a large grain elevator, which was situated just
south of the Union Station at that time. The roundhouse and general
offices of what was known as the Pan Handle Railroad were also burned in
the same manner. All this occurred on Sunday and before the carloads of
tinware and liquor had been discovered and the general drunk had
occurred.
Boyd left Pittsburg Sunday evening, after the citizens had summoned
courage and had begun to gather up the drunken rioters, as before
mentioned. He hurried to Mansfield to his father's house. The writer
quietly followed him to Mansfield, and after locating him at that place
returned to Pittsburg. After things had quieted down, and martial law
was being rigidly enforced, the following Wednesday I went to a livery
stable where I hired a pair of horses and a light spring wagon, with top
and side curtains, which would readily be taken for a country man's
huckster wagon, with a seat in front, and also a seat in the middle of
the wagon. The side curtains were drawn down. I called upon Sol. Colson,
who was a roundsman, or what is now called a sergeant of police. He was
big, strong and courageous. I told him that I had Boyd located, and
proposed to go down to Mansfield and arrest him on a charge of arson, as
I had witnessed his actions on the Sunday previous. I will say here that
at that time I was special agent for the Allegheny Valley Railroad,
which is now a part of the Pennsylvania System, as it was at that time,
but operated separately from the other Pennsylvania Lines. I also told
Colson that many of the parties who had taken part in the riots belong
in and around Mansfield (which is now known as Carnegie) and that they
would, doubtless, be making their headquarters at the Boyd hotel.
Whereupon Colson said that he would be glad to go with me to assist in
the arrest, but that we ought to have another man with us, and he
suggested a policeman by the name of John Moran. We found Moran. Both
Colson and Moran were dressed in citizens' clothes. We placed Moran on
the rear seat of the vehicle, Colson occupying the front seat with me,
and I did the driving. It was raining when we left Pittsburg, it being
about eleven o'clock on Wednesday. We drove down to Mansfield, a
distance of seven miles, and located on the bank of a creek.
In going from Pittsburg to Mansfield the ground is rolling and hilly,
and near Mansfield we came to the top of a hill, which is at least a
mile long and quite a steep grade from the top of this hill all the way
into Mansfield. The road being fairly straight, we could see a large
crowd of men assembled in front of and near the Boyd tavern. As we
neared the crowd I recognized many whom I had seen rioting in Pittsburg
on the Saturday and Sunday before. They were apparently prolonging the
spree that they had begun in that city, whooping, hollering, wrestling
and fighting. They were a motley crowd, and in fact what might be called
a dangerous looking crowd. We drove up to within a hundred feet of the
front of the Boyd tavern. Right here I want to say that Moran, the
patrolman we had brought with us, was not occupying the rear seat in the
wagon. He had been on duty continuously since the beginning of the
trouble, and was without doubt much fatigued. When we had gotten almost
to Mansfield I heard a thud in the rear of the wagon. Turning around I
noticed that Moran had gotten down from the seat he had been occupying
and was lying on the bottom of the wagon. Colson thought that he was
exhausted and had fallen from the seat. I went to arouse him, and to my
surprise found a pint bottle which had been filled with whiskey. Moran
had this bottle of whiskey with him and had doubtlessly drank copiously
of the contents. He was dead drunk, but on account of our close
proximity to Mansfield at the time of this discovery, it was too late
for either Colson or myself to change our plans, so we drove up to the
place before mentioned, and leaving Colson, after turning the team
around and facing them towards Pittsburg, I went into the Boyd tavern to
reconnoiter. In the barroom I found men standing at the bar three and
four deep, and trying to elbow up to get drinks. Old man Boyd (Jim's
father), Jim himself and two other barkeepers, sleeves rolled up and
perspiring--you will remember this was in July--were serving cheap
whiskey as rapidly as possible. I elbowed my way up to one corner of
the bar where Jim Boyd was working. I caught his eye and said to him in
an undertone that I had a friend in my wagon just outside in front of
the house, who had been suddenly stricken with the cramp colic, and
asked him if he would kindly fix me up a good big drink of brandy and
Jamaica ginger, and that I would appreciate it very much if he would. I
handed him a two dollar note, telling him to keep the change. He placed
the two dollar note in his white vest pocket and good naturedly said, "I
will fix something warm and bring it out right away." He fixed up a
drink, and in the meantime I went back to the wagon, and as the curtains
were all buttoned down, of course Moran was out of sight. Returning to
the wagon I hurriedly told Colson that when this man came out with the
drink I would be busily engaged fixing the harness and I would tell him
(Boyd) that the sick friend was in the wagon. When Boyd came out I told
him to hand the drink to Colson. Colson told him our friend was in the
bottom of the wagon, whereupon Boyd raised himself up on the front wheel
to see the sufferer. Colson caught him by the collar, and I boosted him
by the heels into the wagon at the same time. Colson released his hold
on the reins and I had hard work to grab the front end of the wagon, but
somehow managed to land on the front seat. Colson had dragged Boyd into
the wagon box and was holding him down on top of Moran, who was still
soundly sleeping. Colson had fallen into the wagon with Boyd and he let
the reins go down between the horses. By the time I got on the wagon the
horses were running away at full speed towards Pittsburg right through
the crowd that was standing around the tavern.
In the meantime, the drunken rioters on the outside, thinking the team
was running away, started in pursuit. It was all the way uphill,
therefore I had but very little trouble slowing the team down to a
natural pace, as they soon became winded.
As the team started old man Boyd and some of the soberer spectators had
noticed Boyd being pulled into the wagon, and immediately procured
horses and started in pursuit. Our team being winded on account of the
steep grade, the men on horseback were gaining on us rapidly. All this
time Colson was holding Boyd down on top of Moran, and Boyd was making a
desperate fight. He was a wiry young fellow, although no match for
Colson. However, it was just about all Colson could do to keep him in
the wagon. The writer had to do the driving and look after the team, and
was not prepared to engage with the pursuers, who were armed with
pistols and guns, but fortunately, by the time we had reached the grade,
half a mile up the hill, one of those terrible Pennsylvania thunder
showers burst forth with wind and rain, and it struck us fair in the
face; in fact, with such force that our horses stopped and would hardly
go against the storm. Of course, when this storm struck us it also
struck our pursuers, compelling them to go back. The result was that we
arrived in Pittsburg in due time with our prisoner and lodged him in
jail.
Moran had never once become cognizant of what had happened, and was
still in oblivion when Colson and I delivered him to his wife in
Pittsburg.
Colson was Moran's superior in rank, but in view of the fact that Moran
had always been faithful, and was overcome by fatigue through overwork
during the several days and nights preceding the occurrence just
related, did not prefer charges against him. Moran sobered up and did
many years of good service on the police force afterwards.
This, I think, was one of the most exciting arrests I ever participated
in. Boyd was tried in the courts of Pittsburg in due time, and was
sentenced to the penitentiary for fourteen years.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company brought suit against the county of
Allegheny and the city of Pittsburg for damages to their property
sustained during the riots in Pittsburg. This case was later tried in
Beaver County, Pa., and the railroad company was awarded a judgment
against the county of Allegheny and the city of Pittsburg for $2,000,000
damages.
The railroad company, needing ready cash at the time, sold this judgment
of two million dollars to a syndicate, which consisted of Wm. H. Thaw,
of Pittsburg, and nine other representative men of Pittsburg for
$1,600,000 ready cash. The city of Pittsburg and county of Allegheny
then issued bonds for the two million dollar judgment. These bonds were
to mature in twenty years, with legal interest payable annually, so that
the purchaser of these bonds made four hundred thousand dollars net on
the purchase, as well as the interest on the bonds, all of which has
long since been payed by the tax payers of the county of Allegheny and
the city of Pittsburg.