Letter Written by a War Department Clerk On the Day the Haymarket Anarchists Were Executed
[Washington, DC]: [1887].
Autograph letter signed from George W. Titcomb to his cousin, November 11, 1887, on United States War Department letterhead. 4pp, 4.75 x 7.5 inches, with original stamped and postmarked envelope. Fine but for an ink smear on the final page.
Titcomb worked in the office of Secretary of War William Endicott, where he witnessed the Cleveland administration's close monitoring of events in Chicago on the day the Haymarket rioters were executed. He writes: "The President and members of the Cabinet are receiving special telegrams every few minutes in regard to the anarchist execution at Chicago today. I see those that come to Mr. Endicott, but hardly find them pleasant reading. The last despatch has them eating their last lunch. They are behaving bravely and will die game. Poor wretches! Wrong and dangerous as their doctrines are, I cannot think they have quite merited the Death Penalty. I fear their ignorant followers will only regard them as martyrs and that anarchy in the land will increase rather than diminish, through this execution."
Item #19921
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