J. H. Beyer

AKA: J. H. Byers

Released

Date of birth:1874

Date of death:01. 01. 1942

Age:68^{† Deceased}

Gender:Male

Race:White

Era:1910s

State:Michigan

Support

Anti-Militarism Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

Biography

J. H. Beyer was convicted at the mass IWW trial in Chicago and served in Leavenworth Penitentiary. Beyer jumped bail pending the appeal of his conviction and became a fugitive from the law. He is said to have taken refuge in Soviet Russia.

Before the Chicago prosecution he was one of the 74 IWW members held in the Snohomish County jail and charged with murder after the Everett Massacre of November 5, 1916, when Sheriff Donald McRae and a posse of armed vigilantes opened fire on the steamer Verona at the Everett dock, killing at least five Wobblies. The charges against all 74 were dropped after Thomas H. Tracy’s acquittal on May 5, 1917. At the time of the massacre he was 56, a painter, born in Michigan.

Cases

Charges: Federal prosecution under the Espionage Act of 1917 and/or the Sedition Act of 1918 (mass IWW trial in Chicago).

Sentence: 10 years.

Snohomish County Jail

Charges: First-degree murder.

Arrested: Nov 5, 1916

Incarcerated: Nov 5, 1916

Released: May 1917

Sentence: Held in the Snohomish County jail from November 1916 until release in 1917 after the charges were dropped — about six months of pretrial detention. Verdict as recorded: No — charged and held for trial; after Thomas H. Tracy's acquittal on May 5, 1917, the charges against the remaining defendants were dropped. Charges as recorded: First-degree murder — for the deaths of deputies Jefferson Beard and Charles Curtis, killed in the gunfire during the November 5, 1916 Everett Massacre. One of 74 IWW members held for trial (IWW prisoner no. 4914).

Convicted: No — acquitted

Institution State: Washington

J. H. Beyer

Biography

Cases

Related Cases