The Great Railroad Strike of 1877

Terre Haute was the site of conflict and negotiation during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 -- 125 years ago -- and it is often referred to as the first national strike in American history.

An unprecedented reign of terror was initiated by lawless mobs in Baltimore on July 16, 1877.

The strike and the violence it spawned were the result of wage cuts imposed by railroads nationwide, which were still suffering from the impact of the Financial Panic of 1873.

The first outbreak occurred when firemen and brakemen working for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad refused to succumb to a 10-percent wage reduction, the second within a few months.

Forty Baltimore men walked off the job that morning, but the railroad promptly filled the positions with applicants who had been out of work for many months.

Upset by the hiring of strikebreakers, a group of striking employees assembled at Camden Junction -- three miles from Baltimore -- and prevented trains from proceeding any further. At Martinsburg, W.Va., more than 100 armed strikers forcibly prevented replacement employees from gaining access to trains.

Members of the Berkeley (W.Va.) Light Infantry Guards, with loaded muskets, were dispatched to the scene. A fracas ensued and at least one striker was killed.

When the state militia was unable to handle the strikers, West Virginia Gov. Matthews sought aid from the government. President Rutherford B. Hayes responded by ordering the strikers to disperse and directed 250 troops to Martinsburg to relieve the blockade.

In Terre Haute, a few businesses -- particularly Hulman & Fairbanks distillery -- were affected immediately.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen formed a "committee of strikers," which met each morning at the Vandalia Shops at 10th and Chestnut streets. Each night speeches supporting the strikers were presented at Court Square Park.

Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad president William Riley McKeen remained quiet. However, Josephus Collett, president of the Evansville, Terre Haute & Crawfordsville Railroad, attended several public meetings.

At least four other railroads with offices in Terre Haute were affected: The Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad, the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad, Illinois Midland Railroad and the Logansport, Crawfordsville & Southwestern Railroad.

Wages for services varied only slightly among the railroads serving Terre Haute. Generally, the Evansville, Terre Haute & Crawfordsville Railroad and the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad, commonly referred to as "The Vandalia Line," paid slightly more than the other three.

On July 21, the streets of Pittsburgh became a war zone and about 40 men were killed. Strikers destroyed 125 locomotives and set several building on fire. Other violence erupted in Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis and San Francisco.

At a Terre Haute City Council meeting on Thursday evening, July 26, Collett asked Mayor Henry Fairbanks -- his brother-in-law -- to be prepared to take action if necessary. On the motion of councilman Philip Schloss, the police board was directed to secretly select 100 to 200 men to be ready in the event of an emergency.

Col. William E. McLean served as mediator in disagreements between the local firemen and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers from Indianapolis. Strikers generally agreed to allow only one mail train to operate each day in and out of Terre Haute, barring all passenger and freight traffic. However, special exceptions were considered and occasionally declared exempt.

Criminal charges were filed in the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis against 15 members of Terre Haute strikers' committee. After a week-long trial, all but one -- William E. Sayers -- were sentenced on Aug. 3 to three months in jail.

Sayers, of Galion, Ohio, was secretary-treasurer of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. In 1880, Sayers was succeeded by Eugene V. Debs. Upon assuming the post, Debs discovered that Sayers had been stealing from the national union.

The 15 area men sentenced for interfering with interstate commerce included Frank Smith, John Brickly, David Crawford, Charles Githens, Pat Dean, Albert Outcault, B.J. Wentworth, George Lovejoy, E.N. Barnaby, Henry McIntire, Daniel Murphy, Charles Watson, John B. Watson, Squire Fidler and Frank Miller.

By Aug. 11, the strike had been suppressed by a combination of military force and court injunctions.

Debs, co-founder of the local chapter of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen in 1875, was not visible during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. His great respect for McKeen played a role in his decision to remain inactive. Moreover, Debs realized that the strike could not bear much fruit.

Though both railroads and the unions were damaged by the strike, McKeen gave Debs and the Terre Haute chapter of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen a substantial gift to prevent it from insolvency.

Mike McCormick is the Vigo County historian. His column appears each Sunday.