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Popalis Family History
The History of the Bloody First Ward - Part II: The Trials
by Jay Zane
When Schuylkill County Sheriff Rowland Beddall arrived in Shenandoah on the
evening of the riot, July 30, 1902, the huge crowd which had formed at the
corner of Main and Center Street was beginning to disperse. Despite this, the
Sheriff telegraphed Harrisburg and requested the Governor immediately call out
troops. Governor Stone indicated troops would be dispatched only if citizens
of Shenandoah petitioned for help. To the dismay of the Sheriff, the citizens
refused to sign the petition being circulated. But to Sheriffs Beddall's
delight, the Governor changed his mind before midnight and ordered the 4th,
8th and 12th Regiments and the Governor's Troop of Cavalry be sent to the
Anthracite region.
In my prior article on the Bloody First Ward, much was stated about the
senseless murder of Joseph Beddall, the Sheriff's brother. The violence was
not simply one powerless ethnic group against a more powerful ethnic group. By
1902, Lithuanians were assuming positions of authority in the Shenandoah area.
Joseph Lauraitis, one of the policemen wounded during the riot, was a
Lithuanian patrolman. Severely beaten by the mob, he lost the middle finger on
his left hand and his head wound required 45 stitches. Sadly, the violence was
perpetrated by fellow immigrants.
After the riot, a number of people were arrested. Peter Shomas and George
Somachis, who had both suffered gun shot wounds, were taken into custody at
Miners' Hospital while having their wounds tended. Others wounded and arrested
included: Anthony Luskus, John Wakavage, John Dumbroski, Anthony Pomewicz, and
George Savinkas. All had been shot and/or received wounds from rock-throwing.
Additional arrests included: Wladislaw Rovinsky, Anthony Klimowicz, Stanyslaw
Zukowski, William Stupowitz, Joseph Dumbroski, and Joseph Wenskunas.
Most of the publicity focused on Joseph Paliewicz, a local First Ward
butcher, and Matt Paulauskas (a/k/a Polowski), a one-armed saloon keeper. Both
were charged with capital homicide. These arrests came as a tremendous
surprise to the Lithuanian community and foreign mine workers. Polowski had
been their leader in many affairs and was financially secure. It was said he
was "the man" whom the politicians dealt with when interested in 'corralling'
the "Lithuanian vote." A respected citizen, his word was his bond. Until his
arrest, Polowski was looked upon as "one of the most civilized foreigners" by
the Press. He had been considered an exemplary Shenandoah citizen. His arrest,
rather then frightening the Lithuanian community, only accentuated the
bitterness towards those in authority. An arrest warrant for capital homicide
was also issued against Anthony 'Uncle Dan' Marcavage, a middle-aged
Lithuanian.
Because of the large number of Lithuanians accused of rioting, assault and
homicide, the Lithuanian Citizens Association D.K.L.A. of Shenandoah, a
well-respected local group, issued the following resolution:
"According to the public press, all blame and responsibility for
the recent disturbances in this borough seem laid at the door of the
Lithuanian People,
Whereas, it is known that recent trouble was caused by lawless elements
of many nationalities and the Lithuanian people of this section are as law
abiding as any other class of residents, and that there are no Anarchistic
tendencies tolerated among them and such reports are breeders of unwarranted
prejudices against the Lithuanian people as a whole,
Resolved, we condemn any violations of the law by any individuals but we
also condemn the methods of reporting the recent disturbances which couple
the recent disturbances with the Lithuanian People as a class."
The Lithuanian community was rightfully upset over the
stigma the rioting had given its people and the accompanying anti-Lithuanian
press coverage. Frank Yonickas had just been convicted for a murder he
committed earlier in the year at a Christening. This tragedy had been in the
news repeatedly. The Pottsville Republican featured front page coverage which
included statements that "the homicide was committed during the progress of a
Christening where it is a custom of the Lithuanians to dispose of considerable
amounts of beer . . ." Generally, The Pottsville paper reflected an
anti-Shenandoah slant. General headline coverage of criminal court news would
oft read something like, "Shenandoah AGAIN [or AS USUAL] leads
the area in the number of criminal offenses."
The rioting only increased the high level of prejudice prevalent in the
area. Many in the County believed the "foreigners" were directly and
indirectly involved in 'the state of unrest' which had infected the entire
Anthracite region. It was believed "those foreigners" were protracting the
strike and "it could have been settled had it not been for them." The
Pottsville Republican published an article which stated, "these foreigners
live in such squalor as a rule and this discredits the respectability and
deservedness of the mining class . . . yet by this (the squalor they are used
too) means that the foreigners are able to strike much longer than the
American miners without hard suffering." The general consensus was,
"Lithuanians and other Eastern Europeans are so used to the lowest of
lifestyles that they had nothing to lose by striking."
Within a few months after the rioting, Joseph Paliewicz's murder trial
began. Jury selection was time consuming and tedious. Many jurors were excused
for a myriad of reasons, including opposition to the death penalty being
sought by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or racial prejudice. Paliewicz
would attend the trial accompanied by his neatly dressed wife, born to a
prominent Lithuanian family. The defendant was described as a 23 year-old,
tall, lanky Lithuanian butcher with features that "denote moral and
intellectual strength." He "could speak and understand English fairly well and
he took a keen interest in the proceedings".
After a ten day trial, the jury, selected primarily from the other end of
Schuylkill County, returned its verdict. Would Joseph Paliewicz's defense of
"mistaken identity" be successful? The defendant's wife, who the newspapers
described as "an intelligent, tidy and fairly good-looking young woman", would
not be present to hear the outcome as she left daily on the evening train to
Shenandoah.
Front page headlines at The Pottsville Republican proclaimed, "The coils
are tightening around Joseph Paliewicz, the young Lithuanian of Shenandoah,
who is being tried . . . for murder . . ." Before the jury entered the
Courtroom, the Court House corridors were cleared. Walking through the halls,
the jurors looked pale, anxious, sadly careworn. A veteran attorney could be
heard whispering to a colleague, "From the look on their faces it has to be a
death verdict for certain! If he doesn't hang on the scaffolds then it will be
life imprisonment!"
Outside the Court House, near the gallows, a hangman examined his noose,
waiting for the verdict, the opportunity to earn his paltry fee. Fate was
against him. It took the jury only two ballots to find the defendant not
guilty. On November 21, 1902, Joseph Paliewicz was, once again, a free
men.
With hundreds of witnesses to the event, only two individuals,
both of questionable reputation, could identify Paliewicz as the assailant.
Other witnesses testified the defendant was not even near the victim The State
was, therefore, unable to prove its case "beyond a reasonable doubt." When
Paliewicz's handcuffs were removed, a spontaneous round of applause erupted
throughout the Courthouse. The Judge immediately ordered that those "acting
up" be taken into custody by the deputies. Fortunately, only one individual
was to be punished, a young man who had placed his hat on his head after the
verdict was rendered!
Joseph Paliewicz testified on his own behalf, but his attestation was most
unusual: he denied any Lithuanian heritage. Under oath, he stated he was born
in Krajwincy, Suwalki, Russian Poland and had never heard the Lithuanian
language until he arrived in Shenandoah in 1898. "I cannot speak that language
and I do not understand that language," he defiantly stated. His strategy? He
was Polish, not Lithuanian! Since the attacker was identified as a Lithuanian,
he could not possibly be guilty as charged. And, he added, since he was 32
years of age and not the young man of 23 years reported by the newspapers, he
couldn't possibly be the murderer. The fact that he admitted being the only
one in the crowd with a club in his hands was mere coincidence. "I don't know
where that club came from," he told the jury. Case closed.
Several individuals arrested during the riots were tried and convicted. In
a few instances, a defendant would be found "not guilty", but ordered to pay
court costs. Shenandoah continued to ferment under the presence of the troops
sent to maintain order. When the coal miner's strike dragged into October,
hardship reared its ugly head. Bare-footed women would sneak into soldiers'
camps searching for food scraps thrown out of mess tents.
Observing the situation, Private Stewart Culin began to wrote "A Trooper's
Narrative of Service in the Anthracite Coal Strike, 1902", describing his
first glimpses of Shenandoah:
"The city of Shenandoah, brightly illuminated by electricity,
lay in the valley below, with the twin spires of the Lithuanian church
rising amid tall clouds of steam above the level of our hill top."
With insightful detail, he described young children of Lithuanian
and Polish miners who seemed ashamed to speak in their native tongues. The
Trooper received numerous reports of "foreign-born" miner violence and
disorder - that Lithuanians and Polish were "constantly drilling with arms" in
the streets of Shenandoah and forming secret militias. For the most part,
Trooper Culin found the Lithuanians of Shenandoah to be pleasant and
law-abiding. An astute observer of the differences between the various
nationalities, he noted certain styles and patterns in dress distinctively
Polish or Lithuanian, and that such style or pattern would never be purchased
or worn by the other nationality. He befriended the Lithuanian pastor, Father
Abromaitis, who explained Lithuanians of Shenandoah came from both Russian and
Prussian dominated territory, that they were children of small farmers who
emigrated to escape conscription or to better their fortune. Three different
Lithuanian dialects were spoken in Shenandoah and over two-thirds could read
and write in their native language.
With an election approaching, the influence of the Socialist Party gained
momentum in the Lithuanian community. On October 18, 1902, members of a large
Socialist Parade marched through the streets of Shenandoah. Approximately
1,000 men participated. J.W. Slater, candidate for Governor, and Adolph Tabor,
the local state representative candidate, were featured. The First Lithuanian
Band of Shenandoah greeted the candidates at the railroad station, escorting
them to Hotel Franey and Robbins' Hall. The chief marshal of the Socialist
parade was Anthony Sokaloski. The deputies were John Paskey, Anthony
Norkiewicz, Carl Bochis, Ben Rochkus, William Abromaitis, Lewis Matulewich,
and Enoch Rice. Most, if not all of the socialist party organizers, were
Lithuanian.
By the end of October, the bitter and violent strike ended and Shenandoah
erupted in jubilation. Again, a parade proceeded through town with the
Lithuanian Local supplying 2,600 of the 9,000 marching men. Leading the March
was the beloved, "First Lithuanian Band."
In the November election, the Lithuanian community voiced their disapproval
of a continued status quo. The Socialist candidate for governor did extremely
well in Shenandoah's First Ward and surrounding smaller mining communities.
Larger Lithuanian populations out-polled both the Republican and Democrat
candidates by wide margins.
The era of economic unrest, civil disobedience, and socialist beliefs was
short-lived. Shenandoah's Lithuanian community soon blended with the general
population The area would remain a strong Union and Democrat bastion but the
radical overtones were never repeated. In late 1903, the District Attorney
quietly dropped the homicide charges that remained pending against saloon
keeper Matt Polowski.
Suggested Web site: Chronology of the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902
For further reading, I suggest the following:
Donald Miller and Richard
Sharpless,
The
Kingdom Of Coal: Work, Enterprise, and Ethnic Communities in the Mine
Fields,
University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia,
1985
New $24.95
Copyright ? 1998 by Jay Zane, Attorney at Law and Pennsylvania Lithuanian Historian.
All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2000 - 2014 by Andrew J. Popalis
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