Vincent Saint John

Vincent Saint John

Infobox Person
name = Vincent Saint John


image_size = 180px
caption =
birth_date = 1876
birth_place = Newport, Kentucky
death_date = 1929
death_place =
occupation = Labor leader
spouse =
parents = Silas St. John and "Mary" Cecilia Magee
children =

Vincent Saint John (1876 – 1929) was an American labor leader and a prominent Wobbly. He was born in Newport, Kentucky and was the only son of New York native Silas St. John and Irish immigrant Marian "Mary" Cecilia Magee. He had a sister two years younger named Helen.

The family moved frequently, Silas going wherever he could to find employment as a clerk or bookkeeper. St. John worked as a miner from the age of seventeen, moving to Telluride, Colorado in 1897. In 1900 St. John became president of the Western Federation of Miners' Union Local 63 at Telluride. He led the 1901 strike in that mining camp to a successful conclusion, gaining a standard minimum wage for the miners. Because of his success at organizing the miners, mine owners marked him as an "undesirable," and launched a campaign of persecution against him that lasted the rest of his life.

He was shadowed by Pinkertons hired by the Mine Operators' Association, stalked by gunmen, had a price on his head, was arrested and charged with crimes he never committed, and was condemned by the anti-labor press as a "murderer".

Bulkeley Wells, a Telluride mining company president and manager who was "born to privilege... [and was] convinced laborers were beneath him," was intent upon hanging St. John. Wells conspired with others, including Pinkerton manager James McParland, to accuse the head of the WFM local of conducting a "reign of terror" — and in particular, of murdering William J. Barney, a mine guard who had left his post. There was one significant complicating factor: Barney wasn't dead.The Corpse On Boomerang Road, Telluride's War On Labor 1899-1908, MaryJoy Martin, 2004, pages 11-24 and 231.

St. John was shot in Goldfield, Nevada by a "conservative" in the Western Federation of Miners. The two bullets in his right wrist shattered the bone, crippling his hand. St. John was an organizer for the I.W.W. and from 1908-1914 he led that union as the General Secretary. In January 1915 he retired to a small copper claim in New Mexico, but was later arrested in 1917 when the federal government brought sweeping indictments against I.W.W. members. St. John was not a member at that time, nor had he committed any crime, but the blanket indictments of hundreds of Wobblies brought blanket convictions, and St. John was sentenced to federal prison. He was freed by President Warren G. Harding in 1923. Vincent St. John died in 1929 and is buried in Oakland, California.

ee also

References

# Article includes text from "The Corpse on Boomerang Road: Telluride's War On Labor, 1899-1908". Copyright 2004 by MaryJoy Martin. Western Reflections Publishing Company. Material used under the GFDL.

Notes


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Saint John (Nouveau-Brunswick) — Saint Jean (Nouveau Brunswick) Pour les articles homonymes, voir Saint Jean. Saint Jean Vue de Saint Jean …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Saint John's University — • The legal title of a Catholic boarding school at Collegeville, Minnesota, conducted by the Benedictine Fathers of St. John s Abbey Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Saint John s University     St. John s Universit …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Saint John's Abbey — in Collegeville, Minnesota is a Benedictine monastery affiliated with the American Cassinese Congregation. The Abbey was established following the arrival in the area of monks from Saint Vincent Abbey of Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1856. Saint John… …   Wikipedia

  • Saint John's University, New York — Saint John s University (New York) Saint John s University Devise Educatio Christiana Animae Perfectio Informations Fondation 1870 Type Université privée Dotation 500 millions de $ Localisation New York, États Unis Campus …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Saint John's University (New York) — Saint John s University Devise Educatio Christiana Animae Perfectio Informations Fondation 1870 Type …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Saint John Hawke — Seriendaten Deutscher Titel: Airwolf Originaltitel: Airwolf Produktionsland: USA Produktion …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Saint John Sea Dogs — Hockey team |CAN eng=1 team = Saint John Sea Dogs city = Saint John, New Brunswick league = Q.M.J.H.L. division = Eastern founded = 2005–06 arena = Harbour Station colours = Royal Blue, Black, White Silver coach = Jacques Beaulieu GM = Jacques… …   Wikipedia

  • Saint John Figtree Parish — Geobox Region name = Saint John Figtree native name = other name = other name1 = category = Parish image size = image caption = flag size = symbol = symbol size = country = Saint Kitts and Nevis state = region = district = capital = Figtree… …   Wikipedia

  • Saint John's University — ▪ university, Jamaica, Queens, New York, United States       private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Jamaica, Queens, New York, U.S. It is sponsored by the Congregation of the Mission ( Vincentian) order of the Roman Catholic… …   Universalium

  • College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University — College of Saint Benedict Motto Sic Luceat Lux Vestra (so let your light shine) Established 1913 Type Private Religious affiliation …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”