John Chinnick
From birchyHistory
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The reference for Chatham, Ontario is a newspaper article from newspaper there saying that family members had been notified of his death in Miles City, Montana. | The reference for Chatham, Ontario is a newspaper article from newspaper there saying that family members had been notified of his death in Miles City, Montana. | ||
| − | [[File:LynchingStory1941.jpg]] | + | [[File:LynchingStory1941.jpg|thumb|850px|From a story printed in 1941 in the Roundup Record-Tribue & Winnett Times, by Wilchey]] |
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| + | '''Details from article to the left''': | ||
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| + | * Hangouts for toughs: | ||
| + | # Trailer Jack's dance hall and saloon | ||
| + | # John Chinnick's saloon on lower Main street | ||
| + | # John Chinnick's Cosmopolitan theatre on Main street | ||
| + | * Cosmopolitan was a variety theatre (contained a barroom and a room of boxes (booths? private rooms?) Girls worked the boxes on commission, getting drinks. | ||
| + | * Rigney was a bartender and worked that Friday night, was drunk when he left in morning | ||
| + | * Half-way home he passed a house that he knew contained two daughters | ||
| + | * Charley Brown lived across the street in the livery. | ||
| + | * He grabbed a spoke from a government wagon wheel. | ||
| + | * Rigney was unconscious when taken to jail. | ||
| + | * The jailer's name was Conley. | ||
| + | * The mob was quiet and non-violent. | ||
| + | * Lynching occurred on the eastern end of Main street where the railroad crossed a coulee on a tressle. | ||
| + | * Rope tied to RR tie on tressle, Rigney pushed off into space. | ||
| + | * Just before dawn, gunshots alerted the town to the fire. | ||
| + | * The fire destroyed a half block on the south side of Maine, from the corner of Park towards 6th, stopped by the only brick structure, Savage's 2-story Drug store. | ||
| + | * Businesses affected: | ||
| + | # Cosmopolitan | ||
| + | # Symond's gun store | ||
| + | # Bishop's restaurant | ||
| + | # Keogh and Matthew's saloon and gambling hall | ||
| + | # several other places | ||
| + | * a sign with the vigilante mark of "3.7.77" on it was found on Rigney's body when cut down, plus the doors of several other known bad characters. | ||
| + | * Chinnick "from that time lost his grip on Miles City and his reign ended a short while after" | ||
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| + | '''Differences from other accounts''': | ||
| + | * Incident started on the night of July 1 | ||
| + | * Rigney's first name (John vs Wm) | ||
| + | * No mention of a companion or Mr Campbell. | ||
| + | * Rigney tried to break into their room. They heard him and screamed, he told them to shut up and continued to force "an entrance" (door or window?) Their screams woke up Charley Brown. | ||
| + | * Implied that almost three weeks passed between the lynching and Chinnick's shooting. | ||
| + | * John owned vs leased vs just managed the Cosmopolitan | ||
