Wesley Everest
Wesley Everest, a World War I veteran and member of the Industrial Workers of the World, was held in the Centralia city jail after the Armistice Day shootout. Sources say a mob that had been drinking at the Elks Club broke into the jail on the night of November 11, 1919, after the power was cut, took him from his cell, and hanged him from the Chehalis River bridge. One account says about 20 shots were fired at the body, and another says the jail's officers did not stop the men who took him. Claims that he was castrated were disputed by a coroner's report that found no such scars.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched (disputed). The Daily Worker and the IWW publicity committee say a mob took Everest from the Centralia jail, hanged him from a bridge and shot him, while the coroner's report found no castration scars despite witness claims of mutilation.
Reported by: William D. Haywood, writing in The Daily Worker (advocates); Archie Sinclair, Secretary of the I. W. W. Publicity Committee (advocates); Jean Vallejo, letter to the Daily Worker (advocates); Associated Press (reporters); Portland Central Labor Council (advocates); Lake County Times (reporters); the county coroner; witnesses.
Sources (10)
- Centralia Tragedy of 1919
- New-York Tribune, November 14, 1919, page 4
- Harrisburg Telegraph, November 14, 1919, page 1
- The Nome Nugget, November 15, 1919, page 5
- The Lake County Times, December 19, 1919, page 1
- Great Falls Daily Tribune, April 11, 1920, page 1
- The Daily Worker, September 3, 1927, page 2
- The Milwaukee Leader, September 27, 1927, page 12
- The Daily Worker, May 17, 1929, page 3
- Montana Labor News, October 5, 1939, page 6