John Peter Altgeld and the Haymarket Riot

Kelly Arthur
Unity Point School, Carbondale

Born on December 30, 1847, in a small town in southern Germany, John Peter Altgeld was destined to become many things. When he was three months of age he and his parents moved to Ohio. Peter did not get much of an education growing up. He served in the Civil War and became a teacher, mostly teaching in Missouri. During the war, he caught "Chickahominy fever," a condition that plagued him for the rest of his life. While teaching in Missouri, he was noticed by Judge David Rea, who helped him become interested in law. He studied and became a lawyer. He eventually had his own clients, not just the city's clientele. In 1874 Altgeld took a trip to Chicago. Shortly after that, he moved to Chicago.

Altgeld did not start out well in Chicago. He was unknown in Chicago. Among his early clients were poor people and laborers. Altgeld married a young woman from his youth, Emma Ford. Altgeld decided to invest in real estate. He became a master at real estate investment and earned a fortune. He made many friends through real estate, including William C. Goudy, a prominent corporation lawyer.

Altgeld worked his way up to being a judge of the state of Illinois. Altgeld was a highly respected judge and was fair as well. He ran for and was elected governor of Illinois in 1892. Then something happened that made John Peter Altgeld a prominent historic figure.

Throughout the country, the labor movement had begun after the Civil War, before Altgeld was governor. On May 4, 1886, a group of laborers and union organizers met at Haymarket Street in Chicago. Patrol officers surveyed the small crowd, and left the scene after they felt assured that the gathering posed no threat. A guest speaker, Fielden, told the group to challenge the law. A Chicago police inspector heard the remark and became angry. He sent 176 policemen to stop the meeting. "We are peaceful," the group told the police. A bomb was then thrown at the police, who started to fire their guns in all directions. A horrible riot broke out. Many people were injured and seven policemen were fatally wounded. The police

Broadsides advertised the Haymarket Square meeting, which ended in tragedy.

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Chaos and rioting broke out at the Haymarket meeting shortly after patrol officers had deemed the gathering a peaceable demonstration.

arrested Spies, Fielden, Schwab, and union organizers at the incident the day after the riot. Altogether, ten men were prosecuted for the death of Matthias Degan, who had been killed at the riot.

Joseph E. Gary was the judge of the case. Gary had Henry Ryce appoint the jury. Ryce was biased and wanted all ten to be hanged. He appointed jurors who were biased against the laborers so the defendants would not have a chance. Gary allowed Ryce to do this and also paid very little attention to the defense. The ten men were not only tried for murder, but for their views. These men were accused of anarchy and being radicals. It was brought to light that since the bomb thrower was unidentified, there was no connection to the men and they should be freed. One of the men, Oscar Neebe, did not have a relationship to any of the other defendants. Gary paid no heed to this fact, and he convinced the jury that they were planning to overthrow the law by force, and because of that, Matthias Degan died. The jury found the men guilty. Neebe was sentenced to fifteen years in prison and the rest were sentenced to death by hanging.

The ten men appealed to the state supreme court. Their appeal got them nowhere. One of the men, Louis Lingg, tried to kill himself by blowing himself up. He mortally wounded himself and died soon after. Parsons, Spies, Engel, and Fischer were executed on November 11. Fielden, Schwab, and Neebe were still in prison.

Meanwhile, Judge Altgeld was chosen as the Democratic candidate for the office of governor in the state of Illinois. He won and was inaugurated. He looked at the defendants' appeals claiming they had an unfair trial. Altgeld considered Judge Gary largely responsible for the unfair trial. Altgeld proved the defendants had an unfair trial and he pardoned them.

The media criticized Altgeld. They called him an anarchist for pardoning the three labor union activists. The conservatives of the country also began to hate Governor Altgeld. Even some of his closest friends, Clarence Darrow and Jane Addams, disagreed with his attack on Judge Gary.

Altgeld risked his political career to do what he thought was right. John Peter Altgeld fought for the underdog, won, and paid the price of what sometimes comes with justice. He was criticized and hated by many for what he did. "John P. Altgeld was a soldier in the everlasting struggle of the human race for liberty and justice on the earth," according to Clarence Darrow's eulogy.—[From Ray Ginger, Altgeld's America; Henry M. Christman, ed., The Mind and Spirit of John Peter Altgeld; Harry Barnard, Eagle Forgotten.]

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