Albert Parsons
Encyclopedia
Albert Richard Parsons (June 20, 1848 – November 11, 1887) was a pioneer American socialist and later anarchist newspaper editor, orator, and labor activist. Parsons is best remembered as one of four Chicago radical leaders convicted of conspiracy and hanged following a bomb attack on police remembered as the Haymarket affair
.
, one of the ten children of the proprietor of a shoe and leather factory who had originally hailed from Maine
.
Parsons claimed to be the sire of pioneer English
immigrants, with "the first Parsons family" arriving at Narragansett Bay
in what is now the state of Rhode Island
in 1632. One of the Tompkins on his mother's side was with George Washington
in the American Revolution
and fought at the Battle of Brandywine
. He was also a descendant of Major General Samuel Holden Parsons
of Massachusetts, another officer in the Revolution, as well as a Captain Parsons who received wounds at the Battle of Bunker Hill
.
Albert's parents both died when he was a small child, leaving the boy to be raised by his eldest brother, William Henry Parsons
(1826–1907), who was married and the proprietor of a small newspaper in Tyler, Texas
, the Tyler Telegraph. In the middle of the 1850s, the family moved from Tyler to Johnson County
, living on the frontier for three years. Thereafter, they moved again to the Texas Hill Country
, establishing a farm in the valley of the Brazos River
.
In 1859, at the age of 11, Albert left his brother's household to go live with a sister in Waco, Texas
. Parsons attended school for about a year before leaving to become an apprentice at the Galveston
Daily News
, a relationship that Parsons characterized as being "indenture
d" for seven years in order to learn the printers' trade.
The coming of the American Civil War
in 1861 — or "the slave-holders' Rebellion," as he later called it — gave Albert Parsons the chance to escape the mundane world of the "printer's devil
" and newsboy
to which he had been consigned. Although just 13 years old and slight of build, Parsons volunteered to fight for the forces of the rebellious Confederate States of America
in an irregular
unit known as the "Lone Star Greys." Parsons' first military exploit was aboard the passenger steamer Morgan which ventured into the Gulf of Mexico
to intercept and capture the forces of General David E. Twiggs
, who had evacuated Texas
en route to Washington, D.C.
.
Upon his return, Parsons sought to enlist in the regular Confederate States Army
, an idea ridiculed by his employer and guardian at the time, publisher Willard Richardson of the Galveston Daily News. Parsons ran away from his "home" at the paper, joining an artillery
company at a hastily-constructed fort at Sabine Pass, Texas
, where an elder brother was the captain of an infantry
company. For a year Parsons participated in military drill and served as a "powder monkey
" for the cannoneers. Upon the expiration of his first enlistment, Parsons left Fort Sabine to join the cavalry
unit of the brother who had previously brought him to Texas, the 12th Regiment of the Texas Cavalry, also known as "Parsons' Mounted Volunteers."
Albert Parsons was a member of the "McInoly Scouts" and saw battle during three separate campaigns.
After the war, Parsons returned to Waco, Texas and traded his mule for 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) of standing corn. He hired ex-slaves to help with the harvest and netted a sufficient sum from the sale of the crop to pay for six months' tuition at Waco University, today known as Baylor
, a private Baptist
college.
After his time in college, Parsons left to take up the printing trade, first working in a printing office before launching his own newspaper, the Waco Spectator, in 1868. In his paper Parsons took the unpopular position of accepting the terms of surrender and Reconstruction measures aimed at securing the political rights of former slaves. This proved to be a pivotal moment in the 20-year old's life, as he later recalled in his memoirs:
In this supercharged political atmosphere, Parsons' paper could not long survive and publication was soon terminated.
In 1869, Parsons got a job as a traveling correspondent and business agent for the Houston Daily Telegraph, during which time he met Lucy Ella Gonzales (or Waller), a woman of multi-ethnic heritage. The pair would marry in 1872 and Lucy Parsons
would later become famous in her own right as a radical political activist.
In 1870, Parsons was the beneficiary of political patronage when he was appointed Assistant Assessor of United States Internal Revenue under the administration of Ulysses S. Grant
. He also worked as a secretary of the Texas State Senate before being appointed Chief Deputy Collector of United States Internal Revenue at Austin, Texas
, a position which he held until 1873.
In the summer of 1873, Parsons travelled extensively through the Midwestern United States as a representative of the Texas Agriculturalist, getting a broader view of the country, deciding to settle with his wife in Chicago. With his move to the metropolis, a new chapter of Parsons' life was begun.
In 1874 Parsons became interested in the labor politics as a byproduct of grassroot efforts to force the Chicago "Relief and Aid Society" to account for millions of dollars of relief aid raised by the group on behalf of victims of the Great Chicago Fire
of October 1871. Commercial newspapers came to the aid of the Relief and Aid Society, denouncing its working class critics as, among other things, "Communists" — a term given new currency after the rise and fall of the Paris Commune
during the first half of 1871 — prompting Parsons to begin to study the essence of the charges. Parsons later recalled that this study had convinced him that "the complaints of the working people against the society were just and proper" and led him to draw parallels between the treatment of poor people in both the urban North and the Reconstruction South. "It satisfied me there was a great fundamental wrong at work in society and in existing social and industrial arrangements," he later declared.
In 1875, Parsons left the Republican Party's orbit and joined the fledgling Social Democratic Party of America. As an interested observer, Parsons attended the final convention of the National Labor Union
(NLU), held in Pittsburgh
in April 1876. At this convention the dying NLU divided, with its radical wing exiting to establish the Workingmen's Party of the United States
— a group which soon merged with the Social Democratic Party to which Parsons belonged. This organization would later rename itself the Socialist Labor Party of America
at its December 1877 convention in Newark, New Jersey
, which Parsons attended as a delegate.
Parsons was also involved with the Knights of Labor during its embryonic period. Parsons joined the Knights of Labor
, known then as "The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor," on July 4, 1876, after having been invited to speak at a mass meeting of workers. Parsons remained a member of the order until his death more than a decade later. Not long after joining the Knights of Labor, Parsons and his friend George Schilling co-founded the first Chicago order of the Knights, later dubbed the "Old 400".
In the fall of 1876, Parsons was nominated for Chicago City Alderman by the Workingmen's Party of the United States. He received an impressive one-sixth share of the vote.
In the spring of 1877, the Workingmen's Party ran a full slate of candidates in Cook County
, including Chicago. The organization elected three of its members to the Illinois State Legislature and one to the Illinois State Senate. In this election, Parsons ran for County Clerk of Cook County, polling nearly 8,000 votes. In the course of his life, Parsons ran three times for Chicago City Alderman, twice for Cook County Clerk, and once for United States Congress
.
Parsons was one of the foremost speakers in the English language on behalf of the socialist cause in Chicago in the 1870s. In 1877 a Great Railroad Strike
took place. On July 21, about a week after the beginning of the strike, Parsons was called upon to address a vast throng of perhaps 30,000 workers congregated at a mass meeting on Chicago's Market Street. Parsons gave a powerful speech to the assembled strikers and their friends on behalf of the Workingmen's Party — an action which cost Parsons his job at the Times the next day.
After being terminated in the morning, Parsons made his way to the offices of the leading German-language socialist newspaper, the Chicagoer Arbeiter Zeitung (Chicago Workers' News). He was found there and escorted to Chicago City Hall
, where he was ushered before the Chief of Police and about 30 of the city's "leading citizens." There Parsons was dressed down for about 2 hours, with the Chief of Police asking Parsons if he didn't "know better than to come here from Texas and incite the working people to insurrection." Parsons disclaimed any such notion, noting that he had urged the workers not to strike but to go to the polls to elect new representatives. With the agitated worthies present in the room audibly muttering such sentiments as "Hang him" and "Lynch him," the Chief of Police advised Parsons that his life was in danger and urged him to leave town. Parsons was allowed to leave, but he remained in Chicago despite the implied threat on his life.
The afternoon Chicago papers trumpeted that "strike leader" Albert Parsons had been "arrested" that day — neither of which things were true. The Chicago strike of 1877 was ultimately violently repressed by the action of the police and militia and order in the city was restored.
Parsons turned his activity to the growing movement to establish the 8-hour day. In January 1880, the Eight-Hour League of Chicago sent Parsons to a national conference in Washington, DC, a gathering which launched a national lobbying movement aimed at coordinating efforts of labor organizations to win and enforce the 8-hour workday.
In 1881, with the membership of the Socialist Labor Party in precipitous decline, a new organization was established, the International Revolutionary Socialists
. Parsons was a delegate to the founding convention of this group. Two years later he was also a delegate to the October 1883 convention in Pittsburgh
which established the anarchist International Working People's Association
, the organization to which he owed his political allegiance for the rest of his life.
In the fall of 1884, Parsons launched a weekly anarchist
newspaper in Chicago, The Alarm. The first issue was dated October 4, 1884, and was produced in a press run of 15,000 copies. The publication was a 4-page broadsheet
with a cover price of 5 cents. The Alarm listed the International Working People's Association as its publisher and touted itself as "A Socialistic Weekly" on its page 2 masthead
.
Despite his use of the erstwhile Marxist slogan on the front page, "Workingmen of All Countries, Unite!", Parsons' paper was unmistakably anarchist in content. Parsons wrote on the theme in a November 1884 issue:
In the early months of 1886, the luck of the workers was rising as massive strikes were beginning to take place, crippling many industries into making concessions. Parsons called for a move to "Eight hours' work for ten hours' pay." Workers in some industries were even beginning to get this. As May approached, so did the day designated as the official day to strike for the eight-hour work day.
On May 1, 1886, Parsons, with his wife Lucy and two children, led 80,000 people down Michigan Avenue, in what is regarded as the first-ever May Day
Parade, in support of the eight-hour work day. Over the next few days 340,000 laborers joined the strike. Parsons, amidst the May Day Strike, found himself called to Cincinnati, where 300,000 workers had struck that Saturday afternoon. On that Sunday he addressed the rally in Cincinnati of the news from the "storm center" of the strike and participated in a second huge parade, led by 200 members of The Cincinnati Rifle Union, with certainty that victory was at hand.
The future looked bright, and many believed that they had finally accomplished what they had been trying to for so long.
Parsons addressed a rally at Haymarket Square on May 4. This rally was set up in protest of what happened a few days before. On May 1, 1886, the first May Day, a massive strike in support of the eight-hour work day occurred in Chicago. Two days later police fired on workers on strike at the huge McCormick Reaper Works, killing six. August Spies and others organized the rally at the Haymarket in protest of the police violence.
Parsons originally declined to speak at the Haymarket fearing it would cause violence by holding the rally outdoors, but would change his mind during the rally and eventually showed up while Spies was speaking. The mayor of Chicago was even there and noticed that it was a peaceful gathering, but he left when it started to rain. Worried about his children when the weather changed, Albert Parsons, Lizzie Holmes, his wife Lucy, and their children left for Zeph’s Hall on Lake Street and were followed by several of the protesters.
The event ended around 10 p.m. and at the end of the event, after Parsons had already left and as the audience was already drifting away, a large group of policemen came and forcefully told the crowd to disperse. At that point a bomb thrown into the square exploded, killing one policeman and wounding others. Gunfire erupted, resulting in 7 deaths and many others wounded.
No one knew who threw the bomb but chaos emerged as police began firing into the crowd. Numerous protestors and policemen died, with most of the police receiving wounds from friendly fire. Parsons was drinking a schooner of beer at Zeph’s Hall when he saw a flash and heard the explosion followed by gunfire.
Authorities apprehended seven men in the days after the events in the Haymarket. These men were ones that had connections to the anarchist movement and many people thought them to be promoters of radical ideas, meaning that they could have been involved in a conspiracy. Parsons avoided arrest and moved to Waukesha, Wisconsin, where he remained until June 21; afterward, he turned himself in to stand in solidarity with his comrades.
William Perkins Black, a corporate lawyer, led the defense, despite inevitably becoming ostracized from his peers and losing business for this choice. Witnesses testified that none of the eight threw the bomb. However, all were found guilty, and only Oscar Neebe
was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while the rest of them were sentenced to death. Samuel Fielden
and Michael Schwab
asked for clemency and their sentences were commuted to life in prison on November 10, 1887 by Governor Richard James Oglesby
, who would lose popularity for this decision. These three men received pardons from Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld
, securing their freedom from incarceration on June 26, 1893.
In the week before his execution, The Alarm was published again for the first time since the Haymarket events, with a page 2 letter by Albert Parsons written from Prison Cell 29 on death row. In his communique, Parsons named Dyer D. Lum as his editorial successor and offered final advice to his supporters:
On November 10, 1887, condemned prisoner Louis Lingg
killed himself in his cell with a blasting cap
hidden in a cigar. The next day, Albert Parsons, August Spies
, Adolph Fischer
, and George Engel
were hanged to death.
Parsons himself could have had his sentence commuted into life in prison rather than death, but he refused to write the letter asking the governor to do so, for this would be an admission of guilt.
Parsons' final words on the gallows
, recorded for posterity by Dyer D. Lum in The Alarm, were: "Will I be allowed to speak, oh men of America? Let me speak, Sheriff Matson! Let the voice of the people be heard! O—" But the signal was given and Parsons' words were cut short by the springing of the trap-door.
(now Forest Home Cemetery) in a plot marked since 1893 by the Haymarket Martyrs Monument, in Forest Park
, Chicago.
His wife, Lucy Parsons
, was noteworthy in her own right. She was a feminist, journalist, and labor leader, and one of the founders of the Industrial Workers of the World
.
Haymarket affair
The Haymarket affair was a demonstration and unrest that took place on Tuesday May 4, 1886, at the Haymarket Square in Chicago. It began as a rally in support of striking workers. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they dispersed the public meeting...
.
Early years
Albert Parsons was born June 20, 1848, in Montgomery, AlabamaMontgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, one of the ten children of the proprietor of a shoe and leather factory who had originally hailed from Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
.
Parsons claimed to be the sire of pioneer English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
immigrants, with "the first Parsons family" arriving at Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. Covering 147 mi2 , the Bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor, and includes a small archipelago...
in what is now the state of Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
in 1632. One of the Tompkins on his mother's side was with George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
in the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
and fought at the Battle of Brandywine
Battle of Brandywine
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of the Brandywine or the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American army of Major General George Washington and the British-Hessian army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777. The British defeated the Americans and...
. He was also a descendant of Major General Samuel Holden Parsons
Samuel Holden Parsons
Samuel Holden Parsons was an American lawyer, jurist, and military leader.Parsons was born in Lyme, Connecticut, the son of Jonathan Parsons and Phoebe Parsons...
of Massachusetts, another officer in the Revolution, as well as a Captain Parsons who received wounds at the Battle of Bunker Hill
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War...
.
Albert's parents both died when he was a small child, leaving the boy to be raised by his eldest brother, William Henry Parsons
William Henry Parsons
William Henry Parsons headed the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice from 1930 until his death. Previously he had served as the society's treasurer, from 1912-1930. Born in New York City he attended the Park Institute at Rye and then Yale University, graduating in 1882...
(1826–1907), who was married and the proprietor of a small newspaper in Tyler, Texas
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
, the Tyler Telegraph. In the middle of the 1850s, the family moved from Tyler to Johnson County
Johnson County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 126,811 people, 43,636 households, and 34,428 families residing in the county. The population density was 174 people per square mile . There were 46,269 housing units at an average density of 63 per square mile...
, living on the frontier for three years. Thereafter, they moved again to the Texas Hill Country
Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a vernacular term applied to a region of Central Texas featuring tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located...
, establishing a farm in the valley of the Brazos River
Brazos River
The Brazos River, called the Rio de los Brazos de Dios by early Spanish explorers , is the longest river in Texas and the 11th longest river in the United States at from its source at the head of Blackwater Draw, Curry County, New Mexico to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico with a drainage...
.
In 1859, at the age of 11, Albert left his brother's household to go live with a sister in Waco, Texas
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
. Parsons attended school for about a year before leaving to become an apprentice at the Galveston
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
Daily News
The Galveston County Daily News
The Daily News, formerly the Galveston County Daily News and Galveston Daily News, is a newspaper published in Galveston, Texas, United States. It was first published April 11, 1842, making it the oldest newspaper in the U.S. state of Texas. The newspaper founded The Dallas Morning News on October...
, a relationship that Parsons characterized as being "indenture
Indenture
An indenture is a legal contract reflecting a debt or purchase obligation, specifically referring to two types of practices: in historical usage, an indentured servant status, and in modern usage, an instrument used for commercial debt or real estate transaction.-Historical usage:An indenture is a...
d" for seven years in order to learn the printers' trade.
Civil War and Reconstruction
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
in 1861 — or "the slave-holders' Rebellion," as he later called it — gave Albert Parsons the chance to escape the mundane world of the "printer's devil
Printer's devil
A printer's devil was an apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type...
" and newsboy
Paperboy
A paperboy is the general name for a person employed by a newspaper, They are often used around the office to run low end errands. They make copies and distribute them. Paperboys traditionally were and are still often portrayed on television and movies as preteen boys, often on a bicycle...
to which he had been consigned. Although just 13 years old and slight of build, Parsons volunteered to fight for the forces of the rebellious Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
in an irregular
Irregular military
Irregular military refers to any non-standard military. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military organization, or to the type of tactics used....
unit known as the "Lone Star Greys." Parsons' first military exploit was aboard the passenger steamer Morgan which ventured into the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
to intercept and capture the forces of General David E. Twiggs
David E. Twiggs
David Emanuel Twiggs was a United States soldier during the War of 1812 and Mexican-American War and a general of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...
, who had evacuated Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
en route to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
.
Upon his return, Parsons sought to enlist in the regular Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
, an idea ridiculed by his employer and guardian at the time, publisher Willard Richardson of the Galveston Daily News. Parsons ran away from his "home" at the paper, joining an artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
company at a hastily-constructed fort at Sabine Pass, Texas
Sabine Pass, Texas
Sabine Pass is a neighborhood of Port Arthur, Texas, United States. It lies on the west bank of Sabine Pass, near the Louisiana border.Originally known as Sabine City, the original date of settlement of Sabine Pass is unknown, but is estimated at 1836...
, where an elder brother was the captain of an infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
company. For a year Parsons participated in military drill and served as a "powder monkey
Powder monkey
Powder monkeys were a part of warships' crews during the Age of Sail that carried bags of gunpowder from the powder magazine in the ship's hold to the gun crews. Powder monkeys were usually boys or young teens selected for the job for their speed and height — they were short and would be...
" for the cannoneers. Upon the expiration of his first enlistment, Parsons left Fort Sabine to join the cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
unit of the brother who had previously brought him to Texas, the 12th Regiment of the Texas Cavalry, also known as "Parsons' Mounted Volunteers."
Albert Parsons was a member of the "McInoly Scouts" and saw battle during three separate campaigns.
After the war, Parsons returned to Waco, Texas and traded his mule for 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) of standing corn. He hired ex-slaves to help with the harvest and netted a sufficient sum from the sale of the crop to pay for six months' tuition at Waco University, today known as Baylor
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
, a private Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
college.
After his time in college, Parsons left to take up the printing trade, first working in a printing office before launching his own newspaper, the Waco Spectator, in 1868. In his paper Parsons took the unpopular position of accepting the terms of surrender and Reconstruction measures aimed at securing the political rights of former slaves. This proved to be a pivotal moment in the 20-year old's life, as he later recalled in his memoirs:
"I became a Republican, and, of course, had to go into politics. I incurred thereby the hate and contumely of many of my former army comrades, neighbors, and the Ku Klux KlanKu Klux KlanKu Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
. My political career was full of excitement and danger. I took the stump to vindicate my convictions. The lately enfranchised slaves over a large section of country came to know and idolize me as their friend and defender, while on the other hand I was regarded as a political heretic and traitor by many of my former associates."
In this supercharged political atmosphere, Parsons' paper could not long survive and publication was soon terminated.
In 1869, Parsons got a job as a traveling correspondent and business agent for the Houston Daily Telegraph, during which time he met Lucy Ella Gonzales (or Waller), a woman of multi-ethnic heritage. The pair would marry in 1872 and Lucy Parsons
Lucy Parsons
Lucy Eldine Gonzalez Parsons was an American labor organizer and radical socialist. She is remembered as a powerful orator.-Life:...
would later become famous in her own right as a radical political activist.
In 1870, Parsons was the beneficiary of political patronage when he was appointed Assistant Assessor of United States Internal Revenue under the administration of Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
. He also worked as a secretary of the Texas State Senate before being appointed Chief Deputy Collector of United States Internal Revenue at Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, a position which he held until 1873.
In the summer of 1873, Parsons travelled extensively through the Midwestern United States as a representative of the Texas Agriculturalist, getting a broader view of the country, deciding to settle with his wife in Chicago. With his move to the metropolis, a new chapter of Parsons' life was begun.
Socialist period (1874-1879)
In Chicago, Parsons obtained a job as a newspaper reporter for the Chicago Times.In 1874 Parsons became interested in the labor politics as a byproduct of grassroot efforts to force the Chicago "Relief and Aid Society" to account for millions of dollars of relief aid raised by the group on behalf of victims of the Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...
of October 1871. Commercial newspapers came to the aid of the Relief and Aid Society, denouncing its working class critics as, among other things, "Communists" — a term given new currency after the rise and fall of the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
during the first half of 1871 — prompting Parsons to begin to study the essence of the charges. Parsons later recalled that this study had convinced him that "the complaints of the working people against the society were just and proper" and led him to draw parallels between the treatment of poor people in both the urban North and the Reconstruction South. "It satisfied me there was a great fundamental wrong at work in society and in existing social and industrial arrangements," he later declared.
In 1875, Parsons left the Republican Party's orbit and joined the fledgling Social Democratic Party of America. As an interested observer, Parsons attended the final convention of the National Labor Union
National Labor Union
The National Labor Union was the first national labor federation in the United States. Founded in 1866 and dissolved in 1873, it paved the way for other organizations, such as the Knights of Labor and the AF of L . It was led by William H...
(NLU), held in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
in April 1876. At this convention the dying NLU divided, with its radical wing exiting to establish the Workingmen's Party of the United States
Workingmen's Party of the United States
The Workingmen's Party of the United States , established in 1876, was one of the first Marxist-influenced political parties in the United States...
— a group which soon merged with the Social Democratic Party to which Parsons belonged. This organization would later rename itself the Socialist Labor Party of America
Socialist Labor Party of America
The Socialist Labor Party of America , established in 1876 as the Workingmen's Party, is the oldest socialist political party in the United States and the second oldest socialist party in the world. Originally known as the Workingmen's Party of America, the party changed its name in 1877 and has...
at its December 1877 convention in Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, which Parsons attended as a delegate.
Parsons was also involved with the Knights of Labor during its embryonic period. Parsons joined the Knights of Labor
Knights of Labor
The Knights of Labor was the largest and one of the most important American labor organizations of the 1880s. Its most important leader was Terence Powderly...
, known then as "The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor," on July 4, 1876, after having been invited to speak at a mass meeting of workers. Parsons remained a member of the order until his death more than a decade later. Not long after joining the Knights of Labor, Parsons and his friend George Schilling co-founded the first Chicago order of the Knights, later dubbed the "Old 400".
In the fall of 1876, Parsons was nominated for Chicago City Alderman by the Workingmen's Party of the United States. He received an impressive one-sixth share of the vote.
In the spring of 1877, the Workingmen's Party ran a full slate of candidates in Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
, including Chicago. The organization elected three of its members to the Illinois State Legislature and one to the Illinois State Senate. In this election, Parsons ran for County Clerk of Cook County, polling nearly 8,000 votes. In the course of his life, Parsons ran three times for Chicago City Alderman, twice for Cook County Clerk, and once for United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
.
Parsons was one of the foremost speakers in the English language on behalf of the socialist cause in Chicago in the 1870s. In 1877 a Great Railroad Strike
Great railroad strike of 1877
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 began on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, United States and ended some 45 days later after it was put down by local and state militias, and federal troops.-Economic conditions in the 1870s:...
took place. On July 21, about a week after the beginning of the strike, Parsons was called upon to address a vast throng of perhaps 30,000 workers congregated at a mass meeting on Chicago's Market Street. Parsons gave a powerful speech to the assembled strikers and their friends on behalf of the Workingmen's Party — an action which cost Parsons his job at the Times the next day.
After being terminated in the morning, Parsons made his way to the offices of the leading German-language socialist newspaper, the Chicagoer Arbeiter Zeitung (Chicago Workers' News). He was found there and escorted to Chicago City Hall
Chicago City Hall
Chicago City Hall is the official seat of government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. Adjacent to the Richard J. Daley Center and the James R...
, where he was ushered before the Chief of Police and about 30 of the city's "leading citizens." There Parsons was dressed down for about 2 hours, with the Chief of Police asking Parsons if he didn't "know better than to come here from Texas and incite the working people to insurrection." Parsons disclaimed any such notion, noting that he had urged the workers not to strike but to go to the polls to elect new representatives. With the agitated worthies present in the room audibly muttering such sentiments as "Hang him" and "Lynch him," the Chief of Police advised Parsons that his life was in danger and urged him to leave town. Parsons was allowed to leave, but he remained in Chicago despite the implied threat on his life.
The afternoon Chicago papers trumpeted that "strike leader" Albert Parsons had been "arrested" that day — neither of which things were true. The Chicago strike of 1877 was ultimately violently repressed by the action of the police and militia and order in the city was restored.
Anarchist period (1880-1887)
At the turn of the decade, Albert Parsons withdrew from all participation in electoral politics. He later recalled his rationale in his memoirs, written shortly before his execution in 1887:
"In 1880 I withdrew from all active participation in the political Labor Party, having been convinced that the number of hours per day that the wage-workers are compelled to work, together with the low wages they received, amounted to their practical disfranchisement as voters.... My experience in the Labor Party had also taught me that bribery, intimidation, duplicity, corruption, and bulldozing grew out of the conditions which made the working people poor and the idlers rich, and that consequently the ballot-box could not be made an index to record the popular will until the existing debasing, impoverishing, and enslaving industrial conditions were first altered."
Parsons turned his activity to the growing movement to establish the 8-hour day. In January 1880, the Eight-Hour League of Chicago sent Parsons to a national conference in Washington, DC, a gathering which launched a national lobbying movement aimed at coordinating efforts of labor organizations to win and enforce the 8-hour workday.
In 1881, with the membership of the Socialist Labor Party in precipitous decline, a new organization was established, the International Revolutionary Socialists
Revolutionary Socialist Labor Party
Revolutionary Socialist Labor Party, a radical split from the Socialist Labor Party in the United States. RSLP was formed in 1881 by anarchist-oriented elements of the SLP that had rallied around 'Revolutionary Clubs'....
. Parsons was a delegate to the founding convention of this group. Two years later he was also a delegate to the October 1883 convention in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
which established the anarchist International Working People's Association
International Working People's Association
The International Working People's Association , sometimes known as the "Black International," was an international anarchist political organization established in 1881 at a convention held in London, England...
, the organization to which he owed his political allegiance for the rest of his life.
In the fall of 1884, Parsons launched a weekly anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
newspaper in Chicago, The Alarm. The first issue was dated October 4, 1884, and was produced in a press run of 15,000 copies. The publication was a 4-page broadsheet
Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
with a cover price of 5 cents. The Alarm listed the International Working People's Association as its publisher and touted itself as "A Socialistic Weekly" on its page 2 masthead
Masthead (publishing)
The masthead is a list, published in a newspaper or magazine, of its staff. In some publications it names only the most senior individuals; in others, it may name many or all...
.
Despite his use of the erstwhile Marxist slogan on the front page, "Workingmen of All Countries, Unite!", Parsons' paper was unmistakably anarchist in content. Parsons wrote on the theme in a November 1884 issue:
"The Anarchist believes in peace, but not at the expense of liberty. He believes that all political laws are enacted only to force men to do those things they would not naturally, or if left untrammeled. Therefore he considers all political laws as violations of the laws of nature, and the rights of men....
"He believes that all governments tend to more laws, instead of less, and that therefore all governments ultimately become despotisms."
In the early months of 1886, the luck of the workers was rising as massive strikes were beginning to take place, crippling many industries into making concessions. Parsons called for a move to "Eight hours' work for ten hours' pay." Workers in some industries were even beginning to get this. As May approached, so did the day designated as the official day to strike for the eight-hour work day.
On May 1, 1886, Parsons, with his wife Lucy and two children, led 80,000 people down Michigan Avenue, in what is regarded as the first-ever May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
Parade, in support of the eight-hour work day. Over the next few days 340,000 laborers joined the strike. Parsons, amidst the May Day Strike, found himself called to Cincinnati, where 300,000 workers had struck that Saturday afternoon. On that Sunday he addressed the rally in Cincinnati of the news from the "storm center" of the strike and participated in a second huge parade, led by 200 members of The Cincinnati Rifle Union, with certainty that victory was at hand.
The future looked bright, and many believed that they had finally accomplished what they had been trying to for so long.
The Haymarket Affair
Parsons originally declined to speak at the Haymarket fearing it would cause violence by holding the rally outdoors, but would change his mind during the rally and eventually showed up while Spies was speaking. The mayor of Chicago was even there and noticed that it was a peaceful gathering, but he left when it started to rain. Worried about his children when the weather changed, Albert Parsons, Lizzie Holmes, his wife Lucy, and their children left for Zeph’s Hall on Lake Street and were followed by several of the protesters.
The event ended around 10 p.m. and at the end of the event, after Parsons had already left and as the audience was already drifting away, a large group of policemen came and forcefully told the crowd to disperse. At that point a bomb thrown into the square exploded, killing one policeman and wounding others. Gunfire erupted, resulting in 7 deaths and many others wounded.
No one knew who threw the bomb but chaos emerged as police began firing into the crowd. Numerous protestors and policemen died, with most of the police receiving wounds from friendly fire. Parsons was drinking a schooner of beer at Zeph’s Hall when he saw a flash and heard the explosion followed by gunfire.
Authorities apprehended seven men in the days after the events in the Haymarket. These men were ones that had connections to the anarchist movement and many people thought them to be promoters of radical ideas, meaning that they could have been involved in a conspiracy. Parsons avoided arrest and moved to Waukesha, Wisconsin, where he remained until June 21; afterward, he turned himself in to stand in solidarity with his comrades.
William Perkins Black, a corporate lawyer, led the defense, despite inevitably becoming ostracized from his peers and losing business for this choice. Witnesses testified that none of the eight threw the bomb. However, all were found guilty, and only Oscar Neebe
Oscar Neebe
Oscar William Neebe I was an anarchist, labor activist and one of the defendants in the Haymarket bombing trial.-Early life:...
was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while the rest of them were sentenced to death. Samuel Fielden
Samuel Fielden
Samuel Fielden was a socialist, anarchist and labor activist who was one of eight convicted in the 1886 Haymarket bombing.-Early life:...
and Michael Schwab
Michael Schwab
Michael Schwab was a German-American labor organizer and one of the defendants in the Haymarket Square incident.-Early years:...
asked for clemency and their sentences were commuted to life in prison on November 10, 1887 by Governor Richard James Oglesby
Richard James Oglesby
Richard James Oglesby was an Illinois statesman and U.S. Army officer. He served in the Mexican-American War and was a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He also served Illinois in the legislature. Near the end of the civil war, he was elected the 14th Governor of...
, who would lose popularity for this decision. These three men received pardons from Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld
John Peter Altgeld
John Peter Altgeld was the 20th Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois from 1893 until 1897. He was the first Democratic governor of that state since the 1850s...
, securing their freedom from incarceration on June 26, 1893.
In the week before his execution, The Alarm was published again for the first time since the Haymarket events, with a page 2 letter by Albert Parsons written from Prison Cell 29 on death row. In his communique, Parsons named Dyer D. Lum as his editorial successor and offered final advice to his supporters:
"To other hands are now committed that task which was mine, in the work and duty, as editor of this paper. Though fallen, wounded perhaps unto death, in the battle for liberty, the standard — the press — which my hands bore aloft in the midst of the struggle is caught up by other hands, and will be again and again, if needs, till the crimson banner waves in triumph over the enemies of peace, brotherhood, and happiness. * * *
"And now to all I say: Falter not. Lay bare the inequities of capitalism; expose the slavery of law; proclaim the tyranny of government; denounce the greed, cruelty, abominations of the privileged class who riot and revel on the labor of their wage-slaves.
"Farewell."
On November 10, 1887, condemned prisoner Louis Lingg
Louis Lingg
Louis Lingg was a German anarchist who committed suicide while in jail, after being arrested as an agitator during the Haymarket Square bombing.-Birth:...
killed himself in his cell with a blasting cap
Blasting cap
A blasting cap is a small sensitive primary explosive device generally used to detonate a larger, more powerful and less sensitive secondary explosive such as TNT, dynamite, or plastic explosive....
hidden in a cigar. The next day, Albert Parsons, August Spies
August Spies
August Vincent Theodore Spies was an anarchist labor activist who was found guilty of conspiracy and hanged following a bomb attack on police at the Haymarket affair.-Background:...
, Adolph Fischer
Adolph Fischer
Adolph Fischer was an anarchist and labor union activist tried and executed after the Haymarket Riot.-Early life:...
, and George Engel
George Engel
George Engel was an anarchist and labor union activist executed after the Haymarket riot, along with Albert Parsons, August Spies, and Adolph Fischer.-Early life:...
were hanged to death.
Parsons himself could have had his sentence commuted into life in prison rather than death, but he refused to write the letter asking the governor to do so, for this would be an admission of guilt.
Parsons' final words on the gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
, recorded for posterity by Dyer D. Lum in The Alarm, were: "Will I be allowed to speak, oh men of America? Let me speak, Sheriff Matson! Let the voice of the people be heard! O—" But the signal was given and Parsons' words were cut short by the springing of the trap-door.
Legacy
Parsons was buried in the Waldheim CemeteryGerman Waldheim Cemetery
German Waldheim Cemetery, also known as Waldheim Cemetery, was a cemetery in Forest Park, a suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. It was originally founded in 1873 as a non-religion specific cemetery, where Freemasons, Roma, and German-speaking immigrants to Chicago could be buried without...
(now Forest Home Cemetery) in a plot marked since 1893 by the Haymarket Martyrs Monument, in Forest Park
Forest Park, Illinois
Forest Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in the United States. The population was 15,688 at the 2000 census...
, Chicago.
His wife, Lucy Parsons
Lucy Parsons
Lucy Eldine Gonzalez Parsons was an American labor organizer and radical socialist. She is remembered as a powerful orator.-Life:...
, was noteworthy in her own right. She was a feminist, journalist, and labor leader, and one of the founders of the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
.
Works
- Anarchism: Its Philosophy and Scientific Basis as Defined by Some of its Apostles. Chicago: Mrs. A.R. Parsons, 1887.
- Life of Albert R. Parsons, with Brief History of the Labor Movement in America. Chicago: Lucy E. Parsons, 1889.
Additional reading
- Alan Calmer, Labor Agitator: The Story of Albert R. Parsons. New York: International Publishers, 1937.
- James Green, Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement and the Bombing that Divided Gilded Age America New York: Anchor Books, 2006.
External links
- Autobiography of Albert Parsons, html format.
- "Albert Parsons," Spartacus Schoolnet.com.
- Luke Tan, "A Song for Albert Parsons."
- "Meet the Haymarket Defendants."