Seeberville Shootings III: Raleigh in his own Words

This last document regarding Thomas Raleigh and the farce that was his "escape" from prosecution for the Seeberville murders proves that some people just don't learn their lesson. Put simply, Raleigh was a thug. In this handwritten letter we get an idea of Raleigh's exploits in his own words. They are not complimentary to the man, Raleigh, or the people and company (Waddell Mahon and C&H) who hired him to wreak havoc on the Copper Country's striking population. It takes a while to get used to Raleigh's writing, but the letter is a cold look into the psyche of a paid thug. He plainly recounts his exploits while spying in New York and then begins to ask about his next move. Raleigh was a hired gun and seemingly willing to do whatever for the right price. Especially disturbing is Raleigh's willingness to use violence in New York in 1914, even as he is a wanted man for murder in the Copper Country for something he did less than 6 months ago.

For a little more context on Seeberville murders and Raleigh's violent part in them, we post some text from Community in Conflict:

In fact, C&H knowingly protected the whereabouts of Thomas Raleigh, even though he was wanted for murder. Not only did the company protect Raleigh, it used information obtained by him to spy on WFM activities in New York City. While four of the six shooters at Seeberville were found guilty of manslaughter, Harry James was acquitted under direction of the court, and Thomas Raleigh supposedly fled the Copper Country. Special Prosecutor George Nichols later wrote to the Houghton County Board of Supervisors that it was thought that Raleigh had indeed left the country, but labor spy correspondence reveals that Raleigh was in hiding in New York by January. In fact, he was spying on the WFM’s New York offices for C&H, providing the fruits of his work as a labor spy to Mr. Robinson, a lawyer in the firm of Rees, Robinson, and Petermann, which was on C&H’s payroll. Robinson then forwarded Raleigh’s correspondence to O. F. Bailey, a claim agent with C&H.

Raleigh’s letters to Robinson give further example of the character of men hired by the Waddell-Mahon agency and seem to indicate that while in New York, Raleigh continued to act violently. On one occasion after confronting a competing detective agency that was working with the WFM to get affidavits from former Ascher men, Raleigh wrote, “I raised hell in 80 Wall St. yesterday where I went [this following page of the letter is not digitized] looking for Martin, he was out and the four Jew detectives there would not fight.”

102 Anniversary of the Strike: Sharing Primary Documents

Community in Conflict brought to light new and sometimes controversial research on the study of the 1913-14 Strike. As historians we stumbled upon some new primary sources that added to the understanding of the event and we would now like to share some of these sources with the general public. Knowing that a primary source is a historical document produced at the time of the event in question, we think that the public might find these original documents interesting and of use in future research on the event. As the 102 anniversary of the strike rolls around we thought it might be a good time to share some of our research.

The first such document (image below) is really the first piece of primary evidence that let us as historians know that there was more to the story of the 1913-14 Strike than many had written about before. This telegraph between C&H management used coded language to describe events during the strike. There are hundreds of such documents in the C&H archival collection at the Copper Country Historical Collections at Michigan Tech. For most of these coded messages a translation of the telegram is located along with the original message. These coded messages led us to look deeper into the archival collection because we began to wonder, "Why might a company need to send coded messages...what intrigue was behind the messages and what intrigue might also be ahead?"

The short answer to this question: a lot! And, we'll share the other documents on this site in the coming weeks and months.

This document from C&H Superintendent James MacNaughton to C&H President Quincy Shaw demonstrates the use of a coded message to disguise the interests of the mining company during the strike. Original document housed at the Copper Country Historical Archive, Michigan Technological University. Scanned by Gary Kaunonen.

Be certain to check back for more primary documents as we document the documents we used in telling the sometimes controversial working-class history of the 1913-14 Strike. We will publish documents pertaining to the use of labor spies by mining companies to infiltrate the Western Federation of Miners, the tragedy at Italian Hall, and the search for the men who murdered the strikers at Seeberville.

Wanted for Murder...

This handwritten letter on Waddell-Mahon detective agency letterhead shows Raleigh's signature and that he was working as a labor spy for the company in 1914.

This memo-style letter from "D. L. Robinson" of the Rees, Robinson, and Petermann legal offices to O.F. Bailey, an official with C&H, shows that both the law firm and C&H knew the whereabouts of Thomas Raleigh and were employing him to spy against the WFM in New York City. 

For almost 100 years now people have wondered what happened to Thomas Raleigh, the man who was charged with murder in the deaths of Alois Tijan and Steven Putrich in the infamous Seeberville shootings. It was thought that he had fled the country, and even Houghton's Special Prosecuting Attorney brought in to expedite cases during the strike opined that he was unable to be found.

Where did Tom Raleigh go? Well we've "found" him almost 100 years later in the historic record, and what we have uncovered is damning evidence against the Calumet & Hecla (C&H) mining company officials, the legal firm of Rees, Robinson, and Petermann, and the Waddell-Mahon detective agency.

It seems that Thomas Raleigh was working for C&H through Waddell-Mahon to spy on the WFM mineworkers union in New York City. Correspondence between C&H agent O.F. Bailey and a lawyer from Rees, Robinson, and Petermann--a firm representing C&H throughout the strike--gives documentary proof that C&H knew of Raleigh's whereabouts and even employed him in subterfuge during the strike while he was wanted for murder in the Copper Country.

Handwritten letters from Raleigh on Waddell-Mahon stationary also prove that this so-called detective agency, employed by Houghton County Sheriff James Cruse to keep peace in the Copper Country, also knew the whereabouts and shielded Raleigh from being brought to justice in the Copper Country.

It seems that Raleigh had learned little in his brush with a murder charge in the Copper Country because while in New York he reported back to C&H and his handlers at Waddell-Mahon that he had busted into the offices of another rival detective agency and wanted to fight the men inside, but that the "four Jew detectives there would not fight."

Always classy, Raleigh's correspondence with C&H gives a good picture of a bad man, and also highlights the lengths and lowly depths C&H, their legal representatives Rees, Robinson, and Petermann, and Waddell-Mahon went to hid a murderer from justice.