The Hangman's Ropemaker: The Haymarket Riots

"Pittsburg: Jacob Bupp, of Woods Run, in this city, has written to Sheriff Matson, of Chicago, for the contract for making the ropes with which to hang the condemned Anarchists. Mr. Bupp had made the ropes used in every execution in this county since 1840 and nearly every one used in the State. He lives on Shady avenue, Allegheny, and is about 67 years old."

~ "Ready to Make Ropes," Daily Evening Bulletin (Maysville, Kentucky), 29 September 1887, page 4.  This was the syndicated news article that ran in newspapers across the country.

*This blog post is one in a series of blogs on my famous ancestor, Jacob Bupp, the Hangman's Ropemaker- click the page tab above labeled "The Hangman's Ropemaker" for more information and the blog series*

It was an era of budding unions and anarchy, of Nativism and cultures hating one another, of striking workers and riots.  This was the culture of the late nineteenth century.

Chicago was one of the fastest growing industrial centers of America, and many immigrants (including my husband's maternal ancestors) flocked to the city for jobs.  However, there was also a growing dissatisfaction between workers, as they worked very long hours for little pay and had nearly nothing to show for it.  As a result, many joined the fledgling labor movements and embraced the idea of anarchy, which unsettled many of those in power.

In Chicago in 1886, the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor, one of the first powerful unions in the United States, were involved in a strike at the McCormick Reaper Company that was organized in hopes of forcing the company to adopt an eight hour work day.  The strike began in March and looked to be a long one. On 3 May 1886, strikebreakers trying to get to work were attacked by a mob of striking workers, and the police and Pinkerton guards assigned to protect the strikebreakers answered the violence by opening fire, killing six people and injuring many more.

The next day, a rally was organized at Haymarket Square in Chicago, Illinois that protested the brutal actions taken by the police. Several thousand people showed up.  A bomb was thrown at police while they were arriving to disperse the crowd and killed 8 people, seven officers and one civilian.  One of the policemen killed was a man by the name of Matthias J. Degan

Headline from the first page of the New-York Tribune, New York, on 5 May 1886 
Source:Library of Congress, via Chronicling America

In the days after the riots, the government and the press, WASPs in particular, were looking for someone to blame.  Scores of foreign-born radicals and labor organizers were rounded up in the aftermath of the Riot and bombing, the result of a national wave of xenophobia.

Eight men ultimately were charged with the murder of Matthias J. Degan on 27 May 1886; Albert Parsons, August Spies, Michael Schwab, Oscar Neebe, Samuel Fielden, Adolph Fischer, George Engle and Louis Lingg.  These were the heads of the anarchy and labor movements in the Chicago area.

The trial opened 21 June 1886 and Judge Joseph E. Gary presided over the case.  Illinois state's attorney Julius S. Grinell was the prosecutor.  The men charged had a team of lawyers; Moses Salomon, Sigismund Zeisler, William P. Black and William A. Foster.  Jury selection took over three weeks, went through 981 potential jurors, and the final twelve were chose amidst accusations that the judge used his influence to make sure none of the jurors worked in a factory.

The state's evidence was that the men had conspired to commit anarchy and conspired to attack the police at the Haymarket riot, but had poor witnesses that testified to this conspiracy.  The defense argued that the bomb thrower was never identified, and that the men had the right to freedom of speech and assembly, as granted by the First Amendment.

However, Judge Gary's ruling in the case was the final blow.  He ruled that if the jury found the men guilty beyond all reasonable doubt of conspiracy to attack police officers and overthrow the government, that the jury could also find the men guilty beyond all reasonable dobt of murder, despite any evidence to the contrary.  On 20 August 1886 the jury did just that, having been extremely biased towards the men.  All men were found guilty of murder, and seven were sentenced to death by hanging.  Oscar Neebe was sentenced to 15 years.

Engraving from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper of the seven anarchists sentenced to die. An eighth defendant, Oscar Neebe, not shown here, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.  Created 1886.  Photo in the public domain, found on Wikipedia.

On 14 September 1887, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the sentence handed down by the Superior Court of Cook County, cutting off any jurisdictional reprieve for the seven from their execution, as the United States Supreme Court refused to intervene, citing that no principle of federal law was involved.

In late September of 1887, Jacob Bupp was named in an article that ran in syndication as having written the sheriff in regards to the ropes needed for the hangings, as the quote at the beginning of this blog stated.  No less than 30 newspapers across the country ran with that news article, although that number could be even higher, since not every newspaper has been digitized for reference.  However, according to an interview given in later years, Jacob stated:

"I had the contract to make the ropes to hang the Chicago Anarchists, but I was too afraid to do so and threw up the job.  It was stated that some old seaman did the work.  His name was never given.  I suppose it will never be known, and I guess it will be healthier for the man if it is not." ("Ropes for the Hangmen: The Art of Making Them Explained by an Expert," Passaic Daily Herald (Passaic, New Jersey), 4 February 1892, page 1)

It can be inferred that Jacob received death threats from some of the Anarchists' followers.  Given the volatile nature of the atmosphere in Chicago in that day and age, and the fact that the syndicated news article with his name and address in it ran throughout the county, it is not surprising that Jacob Bupp could have been receiving more than his fair share of threats.  However, a few newspaper accounts later in his life erroneously stated he did make the ropes.

On 10 November 1887, on the eve of the hangings, Louis Lingg committed suicide in his jail cell by putting a detonator cap in his mouth and lighting the fuse.   It had been smuggled in to him.  The commotion that followed resulted in Fielden and Schwa having their executions commuted to life sentences that evening by Illinois governor Richard J. Oglesby. 

On 11 November 1887,  the four men still condemned, Spies, Parsons, Fischer and Engle, were hanged at the Cook County Jail yard on a scaffold that was recently enlarged to hang the four men.  A gaggle of the press were admitted the night before the hanging to report on the night proceedings.  The jail and surrounding Chicago streets and businesses were heavily armed by police and military companies, for fear of a last minute storming by labor groups to free the men.

The Times (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) reported the next day that:

"The Anarchists never quavered.  They breathed anarchy to the last.  Death apparently had no terrors for them."

Albert Parsons' wife, Lucy, made a stir by getting herself arrested as her husband was hanged by trying to break into the jail to witness his execution.

In June 1893, Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld pardoned Neebe, Fielden and Schwab, committing political suicide, as while sentiment of the common people was that the Anarchists did not get a fair shake at their trial, most of the political machine of Illinois saw it as a strike against them.

Sources Used and Referenced
"The Anarchists' Case," The Saint Paul Globe (Saint Paul, Minnesota), 29 September 1887, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 17 September 2017).

"Anarchists Hanged," The Times (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 12 November 1887, pages 1-2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 2 July 2019).

Bienen, Leigh. "The Haymarket Affair (1886)," Homicide in Chicago 1870-1930, 2012 (http://homicide.northwestern.edu/ : accessed 3 July 2019).

Christianson, Stephen G. "Haymarket Trial: 1886," Great American Trials (Canton, Michigan: Visible Ink Press, 2003), 194-198.

Davis, Kenneth C.  "What happened at Haymarket Square?", Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History But Never Learned (New York: HarperCollins, 2003), 274-275.

"Expert in Nooses," The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio), 10 April 1890, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 September 2017).

"Fabricant De Cordes Pour Pendaison," Le Petit Parisien (Paris, France), 17 October 1887, page 2; online images, Gallica (http://gallica.bnf.fr/accueil/ : accessed 21 September 2017), Presses et revues; citing National Library of France.

"Fated Seven: Appeal of the Chicago Anarchists Denied," The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California), 15 September 1887, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 July 2019).

Green, James. Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the Labor Movement, and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America (New York: Anchor Books, 2006).

"History of the Week," The Western Appeal (Saint Paul, Minnesota), 8 October 1887, page 3; online images, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ : accessed 21 September 2017), Historic American Newspapers; citing Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, Minnesota.

History.com Staff, "Haymarket Square Riot," History, 2009; A+E Networks, History.com (http://www.history.com/topics/haymarket-riot : accessed 11 October 2017).

"To Make Rope for the Anarchists," Harrisburg Daily Independent (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), 28 September 1887, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 September 2017).

"Only a Few Hours Away," The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), 2 April 1891, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 July 2019).

"Policemen Killed By Bombs," New-York Tribune (New York, New York), 5 May 1886, page 1; online images, Chronicling America (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 3 July 2019), Historic American Newspapers.

"Quartet Hanged Today: Bopp, the Expert Choker-Maker, Provides the Hemp," The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), 9 April 1890, page 7; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 July 2019).

"Ready to Make Ropes," Daily Evening Bulletin (Maysville, Kentucky), 29 September 1887, page 4; online images, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ : accessed 21 September 2017), Historic American Newspapers; citing University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.

"Rope for Anarchists," Carlisle Weekly Herald (Carlisle, Pennsylvania), 29 September 1887, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 September 2017).

"Rope to Hang the Anarchists," Buffalo Evening News (Buffalo, New York), 28 September 1887, page 5; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 September 2017).

"Ropes for the Hangmen: The Art of Making Them Explained by an Expert," Passaic Daily Herald (Passaic, New Jersey), 4 February 1892, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 8 June 2019).

"Wants to Make the Ropes," The Repository (Canton, Ohio), 29 September 1887, page 7; online images, Genealogy Bank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 21 September 2017).

"Una industria original," La Crónica (Huesca, Spain), 2 November 1887, p 4; online images, Bilioteca Nacional De Espana (http://www.bne.es/es/Inicio/ : accessed 21 September 2017), Hemeroteca Digital.