Skip Navigation


William Blizzard Trial Transcript
Ms97-24

Ed. Reynolds testimony
(transcriber may have made spelling and punctuation changes)


ED. REYNOLDS, a witness of lawful age, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: Questions by Mr. BELCHER

Q: What is your name?

A: Ed. Reynolds.

Q: Speak so these gentlemen can all hear you?

A: Ed. Reynolds

Q: Speak so these gentlemen can all hear you?

A: Ed Reynolds.

Q: Where do you live?

A: Live at Dana.

Q: Is that in Kanawha County?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Where were you living on or about the first of August, 1921?

A: I was making my home at Mamouth - working up there.

Q: What were you doing there?

A: Loading coal in the mine.

Q: Are you a member of the United Mine Workers of America?

A: Yes sir.

Q: To what Local did you belong?

A: 404 Mamouth.

Q: Is that in Kanawha County?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Did you attend a Mass Meeting of the miners at Charleston on or about the 7th day of August, 1921?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Do you know Frank Keeney?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Do you know Fred Mooney?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Do you know William Blizzard?

A: Yes sir.

Q: I will ask you if these gentlemen whose names I have called were present at that meeting on that occasion?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Where was it held?

A: The old State Capitol.

Q: Where in reference to the Governor's mansion?

A: Just opposite Capitol Street.

Q: Were any speeches made there on that occasion?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Who made them?

A: Frank Keeney was one I knowed made a speech.

Q: At the time Frank Keeney made his speech on that occasion, where was William Blizzard, if you know?

A: He was near about Mr. Keeney.

Q: Was he close enough to hear what Mr. Keeney was saying?

A: Yes.

Q: Was he as close to Mr. Keeney as you were?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Did you hear Mr. Keeney distinctly?

A: Yes sir.

Q: What, if anything, did you hear Mr. Keeney say on that occasion?

A: In connection with this march, he said - I heard him say he was going to keep sending men into Mingo county until they got the jails so full, they couldn't get any more in there.

Q: At that time was Martial Law in Mingo County?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Did you attend the local meetings, the meetings of the Local at Mamouth?

A: Yes sir.

Q: While you worked there?

A: Yes sir.

Q: How far is Mamouth from Marmet?

A: I would judge about 20 miles, between 15 and 20. That is my judgment on it.

Q: What creek is this town of Mamouth on?

A: Kelley's Creek.

Q: Is there a railroad leading from the mouth of Kelley's Creek to Mamouth?

A: Yes sir.

Q: How would you reach Marmet from Mamouth?

A: Reach it by railroad or automobile, either.

Q: You would come down Kelley's Creek?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Cross the Kanawha River?

A: Yes sir.

Q: And go down to Marmet?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Is Mamouth on the north or the south of the Kanawha River?

A: South side.

Q: Are you sure about that, is it north or south?

A: On the north side.

Q: Mr. Reynolds, I hand you a paper and ask you if you have seen a like circular, and if so, where?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Where did you see it?

A: Mamouth Local Union.

Q: How did the Local Union at Mamouth get a like circular - that is, like this paper?

A: The Financial Secretary brought it in as correspondence. I suppose he received it through the mail.

Q: What, if anything, was done by the Local Union in reference to the circular, a copy of which, this is?

A: We prepared to meet at Marmet on the 20th of August in general mass meeting - and from the mass meeting, we took other action.

Q: I will ask you whether you recall that the Local Union had possession of a circular (copy of this) before the mass meeting in the city of Charleston on the 7th of August?

A: No sir.

Q: I will ask you to look at this circular and state whose names are signed to it. Tell the jury whose names are signed to the paper?

Objection, because the paper has not been offered in evidence.

At this point, Counsel offers the circular in evidence.

Q. At the time the Financial Secretary presented this paper to the Local was it read?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Was the matter contained in this circular discussed among the members of the Local there?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Was anything said by any one of the members as to what was meant by the circular or how they interpreted it?

Objection.

Sustained, the circular speaks for itself.

At this point counsel for the State, read the circular to the Jury, and the same is introduced in evidence, and marked for identification "Prosecution's Exhibit Ed. Reynolds #2"

Q: After this circular was read in your Local, what action was taken in regard to it?

A: We taken action to meet in general mass meeting at Marmet on the 20th of August.

Q: What, if anything, did you have to do with that assembly there at Marmet?

A: I was appointed as Financial Committee to go back to my Local Union and get finances to finance the march.

Q: Who were you appointed by?

A: W. S. Holt.

Q: Who is W. S. Holt?

A: I don't know where is from. That is the way he gave me his name.

Q: Who were associated with W. S. Holt?

A: D. Munsey - Walter Allen.

Q: Who were D. Munsey and Walter Allen and Holt working with or under?

A: Working, according to their information to me, under the direction of Mr. Keeney and Mr. Mooney.

MOTION is made by counsel for the defence to strike out the last answer.

Sustained.

Q: Did you say you knew Mr. Blizzard, defendant?

A: Yes sir.

Q: What office did he hold in his organization?

A: President, Sub District 2, St. Albans.

Q: Was it your information from these men for whom you were working that Mr. Blizzard, the defendant, knew of the arrangement that was being made with you?

Objection.

Sustained.

Q: At any time while you were working under Holt, did you see them in conference with Blizzard, the defendant here?

A: No.

Q: Did you see them talking to him?

A: No sir, not that night.

Q: You say you were instructed to secure funds for this march?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Under your appointment, what did you do?

A: I went to my home on Saturday evening. Went back to Mamouth on Sunday evening, and held the meeting, and got a donation of $200.

Q: Do you know about what time in August that was?

A: 21st day of August.

Q: You held a meeting, what sort of a meeting did you hold?

A: I called a body of men together and told them what I was acting on - acting on an armed march through Logan and ______ [bottom of page 78]

Q: What body of men do you refer to that you got together and made that statement to?

A: Local Union 404.

Q: Then what was done - what did you do?

A: The President of the Local Union - the President and the Vice refused to fill the chair, they appointed me as chairman. I presented the argument, and they donated $200 to buy guns, ammunition, shoes, feed, anything they wanted.

Q: Then what did you do next?

A: The next day I took the money over to Marmet.

Q: Who did you see there?

A: I turned it over to Mr. Holt, D. Munsey and Walter Allen.

Q: Did you see Mr. Blizzard there on that occasion?

A: No sir, not that day.

Q: Then after you turned this money over to D. Munsey, Walter Allen and Savoy Holt, what did you next do?

A: We fooled around there until the 24th, we held another meeting on the 24th.

Q: Were any of the officers present at the meeting on the 24th?

A: Mother Jones she come up first and told of a telegram she had from President Harding. Later, Mr. Keeney, Mr. Mooney and Mr. Blizzard, they came up. Mr. Keeney told them it was a fake.

Q: Did you hear Mr. Keeney's statement on that occasion after Mother Jones had completed her speech?

A: He asked her for the telegram, she couldn't give it. He told them it was a fake. I was supposed to stay there until 6 o'clock - him and Mooney went to investigate the matter. They throwed an armed guard across the hollow to keep anyone from getting out.

Q: Were there any other men who had preceded you, that had gone before the crowd Blizzard took and the crowd you took?

A: Not as I know of.

Q: Did you pass any others going up the Creek?

A: There were some miners up there, up there at Hernshaw - They lived at the head of the Creek. They joined in the bunch.

Q: Where did you go to?

A: Racine. We stopped there and got a train over the C and O went up by Danville.

Q: How did you get the train?

A: Taken it.

Q: The miners took it?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Did they pay any fare?

A: No sir.

Q: How many men got on this train?

A: All my bunch. I don't know about Mr. Blizzard's. I suppose his did to.

Q: Was Blizzard there at the time?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Tell the jury where Racine is?

A: On Big Coal River.

Q: What county?

A: Boone county.

Q: Now you say you were going through Logan county, was there any understanding among you and Holt and these other men, as to what you were going to do in Logan County?

A: We were going to kill Dan Chapin [Don Chafin] and that bunch and organize that place

Q: Who was Dan Chapin?

A: Sheriff of Logan County.

Q: What do you mean by that Dan Chapin and that bunch?

A: His deputy sheriffs.

Q: Were any pass words agreed upon at the time you started?

A: Yes sir.

Q: What were they - tell the jury?

A: Our pass word was: "We come creeping."

Q: Who selected that word, if you know?

A: Me and Mr. Holt and several others.

Q: Prior to this march, did you hear Mr. Holt make any speeches in reference to what they were going to Mingo county for?

A: No sir, I did not.

Q: You took a train at Racine?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Then what did you do?

A: Went down by Sproul, up to Danville, up pretty near to Madison, Mr. Keeney and Mr. Mooney over taken us there.

Q: Who else of the persons that you were associated with at that time were present at Danville - I mean at Madison, where you stopped?

A: Mr. Blizzard, Mr. Munsey, Savoy Holt, Walter Allen.

THE COURT.
I think he could state what his understanding was, and what they were reported to be doing there. Some under this witness and some under the defendants were going in two squads from Kanawha county into Logan and Mingo counties for the purposes he has stated. The defendant was there and Keeney and Mooney overtook them, so I think that fact is sufficient foundation for introducing evidence as to what the different members of the party did, and as to his understanding and the understanding of the different members of the parties as to the authority under which they were acting. I think the testimony would be admissible.

Q: What did Mr. Keeney do? Did he make a speech at Madison or where ever you stopped?

A: Yes.

Q: Where did you stop?

A: At Madison, where Keeney and Mooney overtook us. Keeney told us to return home; that he had an order from General Bandholtz to tell us to go back home.

Q: At the time Mr. Keeney made that speech, what, if anything, was said by Mr. D. Munsey and Savery Holt and Walter Allen?

A: They told us that id did not mean anything. That he had to say that to us.

Q: Did they tell you what they would do?

A: They said they would do ahead. That this message did not mean anything. That Mr. Keeney had to tell us that to same District seventeen.

Q: Do you mean District 17 of the United Mine Workers?

A: Yes.

Q: That is the district of which Keeney is President and Mooney secretary, is it not?

A: Yes.

Q: About how many men were that at Madison under arms?

A: Something like two or three thousand, and others had joined with us.

Q: What did Keeney and Mooney do after Keeney made that statement that Savery Holt told you he had to make to save District 17?

A: Went on home.

Q: What did you do?

A: I went on.

Q: What did Bill Blizzard do?

A: He went on.

Q: Where did you go?

A: To the Logan County Line.

Q: How did you go?

A: I walked there.

Q: How did you get from Madison to Logan County?

A: Marched there.

Q: Did you walk all the way?

A: Yes.

Q: What was the distance?

A: According to my feeling it was about eighteen miles.

Q: What day was it that Mr. Keeney made this speech after having been told to do so by General Bandholtz?

A: It was on the 27th of August, I think.

Q: When did you reach Logan County?

A: On the first day of September. I don't know when Blizzard go there.

Q: Was he ahead of you?

A: We parted at Jeffries.

Q: How far is Jeffries from the Battle line?

A: About ten miles to Hewitt's creek.

Q: At the time you separated and took your army from Blizzard, what did he do with his army?

A: He took it on up the main line toward Blair.

Q: Did you understand where he was going?

A: Mingo County was his destination.

Q: Is Blair in Logan County?

A: Yes.

Q: When you went to Hewitts Creek how far did you go?

A: It was three miles to the Logan County line. We asked if that was the Logan County line and then we took right up a big high point.

Q: Then what did you do?

A: We marched around the hill about five miles until we met the enemy and had a little battle.

Q: Were the enemy you were fighting on the Guyan side? toward Logan Court House?

A: Yes.

Q: How long did the battle last?

A: The first one lasted about three hours.

Q: How many shots were fired by your people on that occasion?

A: They could not be counted, I suppose.

Q: What kind of weapons did you have?

A: One Browning machine gun and a lot of rifles.

Q: Was the Browning machine gun in operation?

A: Yes.

Q: Who operated this machine gun?

A: A Quino boy. I don't know his first name.

Q: He was an Italian, was he not?

A: Yes.

Q: At the time you began to fire on the enemy what did they do?

A: They fired on us.

Q: Was anyone killed in the first battle?

A: No, no one was killed, but we had five men who were wounded on our side.

Q: Can you give the names of those who were wounded?

A: Three of them were unidentified. The other two were Romey Craighill of Smithers, West Virginia and

Q: Is Smithers in Fayette County?

A: Yes.

Q: Who was the other man who was wounded?

A: Jim White of Boomer.

Q: Is Boomer in Fayette County?

A: Yes.

Q: How far is Boomer from the firing line where you were?

A: About 150 miles in my estimation.

Q: Is Boomer a mining town?

A: Yes.

Q: Is Smithers a mining town?

A: Yes.

Q: Is there a local of the United Mine Workers in each location?

A: Craighill belonged to the Local Union at Marding. I don't know the name of it.

Q: When did you have the next battle?

A: We shot back and forth all the time until the Federal troops came.

Q: When did they come in?

A: On Friday night, Sept. 2nd.

Q: Prior to their coming in did this army on either side receive notice of the proclamation of the President of the United States?

A: Some things were dropped, but I did not know what they were.

Q: Did you understand what was in them?

A: No. They said they were a proclamation from the President.

Objection.

QUESTIONS BY THE COURT:

What was your understanding about them?

A: It was my understanding that it was the Government proclamation.

Q: How did you get the understanding?

A: It was talked through the bunch of men I was with.

Q: You did not read the proclamation yourself then?

A: No.

Q: Did you see them?

A: No.

Q: How were they dropped?

A: From an airplane.

Q: Were they generally read?

A: I saw some of the men reading them. It was my understanding that it was a Government proclamation with President Harding's name to it.

Q: Was that the general understanding among the men?

A: Yes.

THE COURT.
If there is evidence in the case to show joint action and joint purpose, the general rule admits the testimony of anything that was said or done by any of those interested in that purpose to aid in accomplishing it. I expect this would come within that. There were papers dropped from an air plane near the witness which he did not read himself; he saw some of the other reading them. It was his understanding from the surrounding circumstance and the general understanding of the men with him that these proclamations were signed by the President of the United States. What their purpose was does not appear at this time. It probably will appear later. I think it would come within the general rule, and so I overrule the objection.

Exception taken by Mr. Houston.

THE COURT.
If there was a proclamation of the President of the united States there that bore on this question at all, and they had the understanding of what it was, I think their whole conduct, and what their conduct and future actions were in connection with it would be pertinent. The purpose is not to prove the proclamation. I do not think it would be necessary to prove the proclamation was dropped. The idea is to prove what was in the mind of the men in this case. What they were acting for or against. Their mental attitude.

Q: (Mr. Belcher) Do you know what you were asked to do by this proclamation?

A: They said there was a proclamation from President Harding and that we were fighting the Federal Government. The men I got my understanding from said it was a proclamation from President Harding and that we were fighting against the Government.

Q: Now, after you had gotten that information about the President's proclamation, did you continue to fight?

A: Yes.

Q: At what point did you fight the next battle?

A: There was no general battled [sic] after the first, just general shooting.

Q: Was it continuous firing?

A: Yes.

Q: About how long did the firing keep up after you had heard of this proclamation?

A: We heard of the proclamation just after the men got shot, and we kept on firing until on Saturday when we came out of the woods, on September 3rd.

Q: During this fighting, was anyone killed in your army?

A: No.

Q: Where did you get the supplies for the army that you were leading in that fight?

A: I carried money on the ground to buy my part.

Q: Where was the base of supplies?

A: At the mouth of Jeffries creek, a little better than two miles up the creek.

Q: Did you have a headquarters back of the battle line where you went for directions?

A: No.

Q: How were these supplies or provisions brought in?

A: From the rear by men back behind us.

Q: What was your method of getting back behind the lines when you left the battle front?

A: We ran out of ammunition.

Q: Were there any guard lines behind the battle line?

A: Yes.

Q: How would you get through the lines?

A: Give the pass word.

Q: Whom did you get the pass word from?

A: A leader detailed for that purpose.

Q: Do you remember whether this pass was signed by anyone?

A: No, "just past this man through for ammunition."

Q: For ammunition, you say?

A: Yes.

Q: About what length of battle line your forces cover?

A: About a mile I suppose around the point.

Q: About how many men were in this battle line which you say was about a mile long?

A: A lot of men ran away and some of them stayed. I could not estimate the bunch of men in the woods.

Q: What instructions, if any, were given there on the grounds with reference to passing anyone who could not give the pass word?

A: I gave my men instruction if they could not give the pass word of "I come creeping", to kill them.

Q: Was that the general order from the others?

A: It was the general order to the whole bunch.

Q: Where was this order agreed upon? first?

A: At the mass meeting at Marmet.

Q: Who agreed upon it?

A: Mr. Holt, Mr. Allen, Mr. Munsey.

Q: Did Mr. Blizzard?

A: He was not with us at that time.

Q: Why did you stop fighting?

A: We came back for ammunition. We got a pass and came in from the hills and the Federal troops disarmed us.

Q: The you did not cease fighting until the Federal troops got behind you?

Objection.

Objection overruled by the Court.

Q: What was done with the ammunition?

A: I don't know.

Q: Did the miners all surrender their arms to the Federal troops?

A: We had to surrender them. We had no ammunition.

Q: I did not ask you what you had to do, but did all the miners turn over their guns that they had with them?

A: Yes, they did.

Q: Do you know anything about any stores being broken into along the line of march?

A: No.

Q: Do you know anything about a colored man being killed at the head of Lens creek?

A: I heard he got killed, but he was not with my bunch of men.

Q: Did you see him after he got killed?

A: No.

Q: Were you informed that the members of the army killed him?

A: No.

Objection.

Objection sustained by the Court.

Q: When did you next see Mr. Blizzard?

A: The next time was in District 17 headquarters office in the city of Charleston about eight days later, maybe later than that.

Q: Did you discuss at that time with Mr. Blizzard what part he had had in the war?

A: No.

Q: About how many shots per minute would a machine gun fire - I mean the one that was used on your line?

A: I don't know.

Q: What means, if any, did you have of discovering the enemy and finding out where they were?

A: We used field glasses.

Q: Where did you secure the field glasses?

A: Bought them at Montgomery.

Q: Is that in Fayette county?

A: Yes.

Q: Who provided funds to buy these field glasses?

A: The local commander.

Q: Give the jury some idea of the character of the ground over which you were fighting, whether it was mountainous or level?

A: It was pretty rough country. Up Hewitt creek is pretty rough. We went up and scattered about the mountain about five miles. It is rough country in there and the deputy sheriff of Logan County and his men were over in the hollow. It is hill side, all of it.

Q: Is it cleared or timber land?

A: It is timberland.

Q: Did you get any information from anyone on the ground or during the battle as to how long the battle line was between the miners and those defending Logan County?

A: No.

Q: You say there was no one killed in your army among those fighting under you - no one killed on your side?

A: No, no one was killed.

Q: What was done with the wounded?

A: They were brought off the hill and taken to the hospital at Jeffries, and later to Danville.

Q: Did this army of miners have doctors or nurses with them?

A: None was on the mountain. Some came into Jeffries - doctors, I think, who had been with the public works there.

Q: Where did the nurses come from at Jeffries?

A: They lived there I suppose.

Q: After they had secured this $200, from the Monmouth Local for the purposes you have stated, did you get any further amount from the Local?

A: Yes.

Q: How much?

A: The President brought $93.00 and turned it over to me, and later he brought $100 more.

Q: Where were you when these last sums were turned over?

A: On the march.

Q: Who was the president of the local?

A: L. E. Larrabee.

Q: Where did he come from?

A: I suppose from the town of Dunbar.

Q: Where did the Monmouth Local Union deposit its money?

A: In the Kanawha National bank.

Q: Was the first $200 in a check?

A: Yes.

Q: Drawn on the Kanawha National Bank of Charleston?

A: Yes.

Q: Did you receive any money from any other local through Savery Holt?

A: No.

Q: Do you know how many local unions were represented by the men in your army?

A: No, I don't know.

Q: How old are you?

A: Twenty-five.

CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. HOUSTON.

Q: Where were you born?

A: On Campbell's creek.

Q: Are you married?

A: Yes, I have been married.

Q: Is you wife still living?

A: Yes, she is still living.

Q: Are you living with her?

A: No.

Q: Have you any children?

A: No.

Q: Where are you living now?

A: At Dana.

Q: Is that in Kanawha County?

A: Yes.

Q: It is about four or five miles from Charleston on the Kanawha River, is it not?

A: Yes.

Q: How long have you lived there?

A: I was raised there. I left there when I was about seventeen and went to Boomer and stayed there until I went to Harewood and last year I made several trips to Hansford.

Q: You say you lived at Boomer for the first seventeen years of your life?

A: Yes.

Q: Then where did you move?

A: I did not move. I went to Boomer to board.

Q: Boomer is in Fayette County?

A: Yes.

Q: Where did you go from Boomer?

A: I went back to Dana.

Q: Who were you living with at that time.

A: I was not living with anyone. I was staying with my father and mother.

Q: What was the first occupation at which you earned money?

A: As a miner. I was a coal loader.

Q: You worked as a coal loader at Dana?

A: No.

Q: What did you do at Boomer?

A: I loaded coal.

Q: Where did you go from Boomer?

A: To Dana.

Q: Where did you go from Dana?

A: I told you I made several trips to Hansford.

Q: Did you go there to work?

A: No. I went there to visit.

Q: You did not work there?

A: No.

Q: You say you made seven trips from Dana to Hansford?

A: No, I said I made several trips to Hansford.

Q: Have you had any other occupation except coal mining?

A: No.

Q: How long have you been a member of the United Mine Workers?

A: Ever since I went to Boomer.

Q: How many years ago?

A: A little better than eight years.

Q: When did you reach Charles Town?

A: Sunday morning.

Q: Where are you stopping?

A: At the Jefferson Hotel.

Q: Have you been there all this time?

A: Yes.

Q: You say you lived on Campbell's creek at one time?

A: Yes.

Q: What local did you belong to there?

A: There was no organization there at that time.

Q: Did you belong to an organization at that time?

A: No.

Q: How close to the town of Dana were you working on Campbell's creek?

A: I guess about a half a mile to Dana depot.

Q: While you were working in the coal mines at Dana you were expelled from the United Mine Workers were you not?

A: No.

Q: You were never thrown out of that organization?

A: No.

Q: Where did you come from when you came here?

A: From Dana.

Q: How long had you been in Dana at that time?

A: I came from Hansford to Dana on Friday and started here on Saturday.

Q: Have you been in Fayette recently?

A: Yes.

Q: What were you doing there?

A: I was in jail.

Q: What were you in jail for?

A: They swore out a warrant for me for collecting money under false pretences.

Q: Who did?

A: Mr. Mooney, and Mr. Tate, and is your name Houston?

Q: Yes.

A: Well you three are the ones who swore out the warrant.

Q: What money were you accused of taking?

A: I was accused to having collected money from Kings (bottom of page 96) and Weston for local unions.

Q: How long were you in the Fayette jail?

A: About three days.

Q: Who got you out?

A: A friend of mine went on my bond.

Q: What was his name?

A: Felix Romain.

Q: Have you been tried on these charges?

A: I was not indicted.

Q: And you had a preliminary hearing on that charge?

A: Yes sir.

Q: And you were committed to jail by the justice to await the action of the grand jury?

A: Yes sir.

Q: How much money did you collect from the various local unions?

A: The neighborhood of $600.

Q: Who told you to collect that money?

A: Mr. M. L. Heppenstall, acting president in Mr. Keeney's place.

Q: Did he give you any authority to do that?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Do you have that authority with you?

A: No sir.

Q: Did he give you that authority in writing?

A: No sir, he told me to collect it.

Q: Where did you have that conversation with Mr. Heppenstall?

A: In Mr. Keeney's office in Charleston.

Q: When was that, on what day of the month?

A: It was on Friday night, December 16th.

Q: What time of the day was it?

A: Along in the evening between 4 and 6 o'clock.

Q: Now when you went around to these local unions collecting this fund did you have any paper to show at these locals?

A: No.

Q: You had no written authority for collecting that money?

A: No.

Q: Do you know a man in Charleston by the name of Peter Camp?

A: P. W. Camp?

Q: P. H. Camp.

A: No.

Q: A very large man, weighing 200 pounds or more.

A: No, I don't know him.

Q: What local did you first go to?

A: No. 4488, Kingston.

Q: How much money did you get from the Kingston local?

A: $200.00.

Q: Did you tell them what you wanted that money for?

A: I told them what Mr. Heppenstall told me, to collect it under the head of the Benevolent Relief Fund.

Q: Did you relieve anyone but yourself?

A: Yes sir.

Q: And where was the next local.

A: Westerly local, No. 4663.

Q: How much money did you get there?

A: $200.

Q: What was the next local you went to?

A: Local 2018, Harrisondale.

Q: How much money did you get there?

A: $100.

Q: Making $500 in all up to that time?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Then what other local did you go to?

A: Carbondale.

Q: How much money did you get there?

A: $50.00.

Q: When did you do all this?

A: The latter part of December.

Q: Of last year?

A: Yes sir.

Q: You were not raising that money to buy ammunition to make an invasion into Logan county were you?

A: I was doing it to relieve the miners who were in debt.

Q: What was the total amount of money you collected?

A: About $600.

Q: What did you do with it?

A: I paid some debts.

Q: To whom?

A: To grocery debts.

Q: How much were these debts?

A: One was $180.00.

Q: And how much was the other?

A: $190.00.

Q: What did you do with the rest of the money?

A: I turned it over to Mr. Heppenstall.

Q: When did you do that?

A: In January.

Q: Did you get any receipt?

A: No sir.

Q: Are you in the habit of turning over money without taking a receipt?

A: Well he was in the habit of telling me to collect it, and I didn't take a receipt.

Q: Why didn't you give any information as to what you wanted it for?

A: He said he thought it would get us in trouble.

Q: And you told them you wanted it for benefit purposes, and the locals didn't ask any questions as to what the purposes were?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Didn't you state in all of these locals that you were instructed to call on them by Mr. P. H. Camp?

A: No.

Q: Didn't you make that statement to the Kingston local?

A: No.

Q: Didn't you make that statement to the Westerly local?

A: No.

Q: And that is the money you collected for which Mr. Mooney swore out a warrant for your arrest for embezzlement?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Did I understand you to say that you had never been expelled from the United Mine Workers?

A: That is what I said.

Q: Were you discharged by the Coal Company for which you worked on Campbell Creek?

A: No sir.

Q: Going back to this meeting in Charleston on the 7th day of August, 1921, who spoke at that meeting?

A: Mr. Keeney. I was only there a short time, and he was the only one I heard.

Q: How long did you stay there?

A: I was there 15 or 20 minutes.

Q: Why did you leave?

A: I had to go back to Mammoth.

Q: Did you hear after that that a number of people had spoken?

A: I didn't have to hear it, I heard Mr. Keen[e]y myself.

Q: Did you see Mr. Blizzard that day?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Where was that meeting held?

A: Held by the side of the old capitol.

Q: Which side?

A: On the North side of the Capitol.

Q: On which side of the cement walk to the main entrance?

A: There were both men on both sides.

Q: What kind of a platform did they have to stand on?

A: The platform that day was of ordinary plank.

Q: Did you hear the crowd calling for any speeches that day, asking people to address them?

A: No.

Q: How long did Mr. Keen[e]y talk?

A: About ten minutes, or maybe a little longer.

Q: What did he say?

A: There is one thing I remember he said, he said he was going to send a hundred men a day into Logan County until the jail was so full they could not feed the men.

Q: Are you positive Mr. Keen[e]y made a speech?

A: Yes sir.

Q: There is no doubt in your mind about that?

A: No.

Q: And you heard him there about ten minutes?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Did he begin after you got there?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Did he quit before you left?

A: Yes sir.

Q: And all you can remember he said is what you have just stated?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Did he say anything about any resolutions that have been introduced here in evidence?

A: No sir.

Q: Did he say anything about appointing a committee?

A: That committee was appointed after the addresses.

Q: And you stayed there ten minutes and all the men had finished?

A: Yes sir.

Q: And all this transpired within a period of ten minutes?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Were any resolutions passed while you were there?

A: There was nothing done but Mr. Keen[e]y's talk.

Q: What hour of the day did Mr. Keen[e]y speak?

A: In the evening about two o'clock.

Q: You are sure it was about two o'clock, are you?

A: Yes sir.

Q: And after you heard that speech about two o'clock you went to catch the train to go home?

A: Yes sir.

Q: What train did you take?

A: No. 2.

Q: On what railroad?

A: C. & O. to Montgomery and then back to Cedar Grove.

Q: What time does No. 2 leave?

A: At 6:40.

Q: And you left that meeting to catch that train?

A: Yes sir.

Q: How far did you have to go to the depot?

A: Not very far, but I had some other business to attend to.

Q: Did you attend to business all that afternoon?

A: Yes sir, and I was around town some.

Q: You could not have left there later than 2:30 could you?

A: No sir.

Q: Mr. Reynolds as a matter of fact don't you know that meeting was held at 8 o'clock that evening?

A: No.

Q: Didn't know that?

A: No sir.

Q: Don't you know as a matter of fact Mr. Keen[e]y never spoke there until after 8 o'clock?

A: No sir.

Q: Mr. Keen[e]y was there that day with the body of men, but he didn't make a speech, did he?

A: Yes sir he did.

Q: You didn't go there in the evening, did you?

A: No.

Q: And you are just as positive about that as you are about anything else you have testified to?

Objection.

Sustained.

Q: I wish you would tell the jury more definitely the kind of platform Mr. Keeney was standing on?

A: An ordinary plank platform.

Q: About how large?

A: I don't know.

Q: Was it composed of more than one plank?

A: Sure it was.

Q: How were they supported?

A: By heavy pieces under them.

Q: Where was it standing with reference to the main entrance?

A: On the left hand side.

Q: How close to the capitol steps?

A: About 5 or 10 steps maybe.

Q: Are you certain there was a platform there?

A: Yes sir.

Objection.

Overruled.

Q: And that platform was located about 5 or 10 steps from the capitol steps?

A: Yes sir.

Q: On the cement sidewalk?

A: No it was not on the pavement.

Q: Was it on the grass?

A: Yes sir standing back against the old capitol.

Q: Against the building?

A: I am not certain it was against the building.

Q: You know, Mr. Reynolds, where there is a cement walk around the capitol?

A: Yes sir.

Q: And there is a plot of ground between it and the building?

A: Yes sir.

Q: And that platform was on that plot of ground?

A: Yes sir.

Q: And right close up to the building?

A: Yes sir.

Q: And it was on that platform that Mr. Keen[e]y stood about 2 o'clock that afternoon and spoke about ten minutes?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Have you learned since there was no platform there that day?

A: No.

Q: You are still convinced that there was one there?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Mr. Reynolds you stated you started to Logan to kill Don Chapin. What did you have against him?

A: Well what did the rest of the United Mine Workers have against him?

Q: I am asking you what you had against him?

A: He is supposed to be a hard guard, and the District Officials of the United Mine Workers of America were going to get him. My reason for killing Don Chapin was to organize Logan County.

Q: But what did you want to kill the sheriff for?

A: Because the United Mine Workers thought if they could get Don Chapin they could then organize Logan County.

Q: Why was it necessary for you to do over there and kill Don Chapin in order to organize the county?

A: He believed if we could kill him his deputies would resign, and we could then organize the county.

Q: Did you have to kill the sheriff of Kanawha county to organize it?

Objection.

Sustained.

Q: What was Don Chapin doing over there that you wanted to stop him doing?

A: The Mine Works officials claimed, and I did too at that time, that Don Chapin had hired gunmen at the mines guarding them.

Q: And you wanted to kill him because he maintained a number of hired gunmen to guard the mines?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Were you ever in Logan county?

A: One time.

Q: How long ago was that?

A: Sometime ago.

Q: About how long ago?

A: I was never in Logan County but once, and that was before they was organized on the Kanawha River.

Q: Do you know Don Chapin?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Personally?

A: Yes sir.

Q: How you talked to him recently?

A: Yes sir.

Q: How long has it been since you talked to him?

A: I talked to him on the 16th day of March in Huntington.

Q: Did you talk to him about coming up here to testify?

A: No.

Q: Did he say anything about these cases?

A: No.

Q: What were you talking to him about?

A: I didn't know it was him until someone told me.

Q: Your purpose for wanting to go over there and kill Don Chapin was due to the fact and it was your understanding that no man could go into that county in the interest of the United Mine Workers without being killed or run out, was it not?

A: My intention was to kill Don Chapin because he would not allow the United Mine Workers of America to go into Logan County.

Q: And that he maintained a large number of gunmen to run them out?

A: He maintained gunmen at the coal mines.

Q: And did you know at that time the coal operators were paying Don Chapin over 45,000.00 a year to hire gunmen?

A: No.

Q: Have you not heard that during the first nine months of last year the coal operators paid Don Chapin over $61,517.00 to maintain gunmen at the mines in Logan county?

Objection.

Sustained.

A: You didn't go over to Logan County to overthrow the Government did you?

Objection.

The Court: He can state what his purposes were, and the court and jury will have to determine whether that constituted a purpose to overthrow the government.

Q: Going back to the meeting at Hernshaw, what day of the month was that held?

A: The first meeting?

Q: The day Mother Jones spoke.

A: The 24th.

Q: Where was that meting held on Lens Creek with reference to the town of Hernshaw?

A: Up the hollow on the left hand side.

Q: How far from Hernshaw? Was that the first meeting you attended on Lens Creek?

A: No.

Q: When did you attend the first meeting there?

A: On Saturday.

Q: Where was that held?

A: Up about a mile from Marmet on the right hand side.

Q: So far as you know was that the first meeting held there?

A: Yes sir.

Q: How far is that from the corporation line of Marmet?

A: About a mile.

Q: Where did you hold the next meeting?

A: On up on the left.

Q: When was it held?

A: On the 24th.

Q: So as far as you know there were only two meetings held there?

A: Yes sir, two general mass meetings.

Q: And the first was held on Saturday?

A: Yes sir.

Q: And the next on the 24th?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Did you stay there all of that time?

A: No I travelled, I went to Mammoth, and then to my home at Dana and back. I went to my home on Saturday, and back to Mammoth on Sunday and held a meeting, and then went to Marmet, and stayed there until the 24th.

Q: What day of the week did the 24th come on?

A: Wednesday.

Q: Did you hold any meeting within the town of Marmet?

A: No sir.

Q: About how many attended the meeting on the 24th.

A: Six or seven hundred.

Q: How many of these people had arms?

A: There were practically none of them had arms at the meeting, but they had them where they could get them.

Q: Were there any women in the crowd that day?

A: Yes sir, one I personally know.

Q: Did you see any children in the crowd?

A: Several little children, yes sir.

Q: That crowd was composed largely of the people that lived there was it not?

A: I didn't know any of them.

Q: Are you well acquainted on Lens Creek?

A: No.

Q: Are you well acquainted around the town of Hernshaw?

A: No.

Q: What time in the day was that meeting held?

A: In the afternoon.

Q: About what time in the afternoon?

A: Along about 1:30 or 2 o'clock.

Q: Who spoke?

A: Mr. Keen[e]y, - Mother Jones was the first one spoke.

Q: What did Mother Jones say?

A: She said she had a telegram from President Harding for the men to return home and disarm, and she went on with her speech, and then she put the question to a vote, and it carried, and later Mr. Keen[e]y addressed us and said it was a fake.

Q: Was that all the telegram said?

A: That is all she told us it said.

Q: Give us the words of that telegram as near as you can.

A: She said the telegram said to advise the West Virginia boys to go back home and disarm.

Q: Did she read it?

A: No.

Q: You didn't see her have any telegram?

A: No.

Q: Didn't she say that the telegram said the Federal authorities would remove these men, these guards?

A: No, that was all I heard her say. There was such a general uproar in the crowd, and it was hard to hear.

Q: What day in the week was that?

A: Wednesday, the 24th.

Q: Are you positive about that?

A: Yes sir.

Q: You are certain that it was on Tuesday?

A: I said Wednesday.

Q: What day was it on?

A: Wednesday.

Q: I want you to be positive about that - now you know it was on Wednesday?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Did you hear Mother Jones speak there more than once?

A: No.

Q: And you say these men started away from there in two bodies?

A: Yes sir.

Q: How many did you have under your command?

A: I had about 300 or maybe better.

Q: How many of them had arms?

A: All of them had arms when they started away.

Q: How many men did Mr. Blizzard have?

A: In the neighborhood of 400, maybe not so many.

Q: What day did he leave there?

A: The same day I did.

Q: What day of the week was that?

A: Wednesday, the 24th.

Q: About what time did Mr. Blizzard leave with his men?

A: We left late in the evening.

Q: Can't you fix it nearer than that - about the hour?

A: After we got the word back from Charleston that that was a fake telegram. I cannot tell the exact hour.

Q: Tell is as near you can.

A: As near as I can it was between 4 and 6 o'clock.

Q: You saw Mr. Blizzard leave there with his men?

A: Yes sir.

Q: And they were armed?

A: They were not armed when they started, but they got arms after they got out a little ways.

Q: Do you know William Blizzard?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Is this the man sitting here?

A: Yes sir.

Q: How long have you known him?

A: Since 1919.

Q: You could not be mistaken as to his identity?

A: No.

Q: Where did you next see Blizzard?

A: All the way until we got to Jeffries.

Q: What was the next town you passed through?

A: Racine.

Q: How far is that from Hernshaw?

A: About three miles.

Q: Did you stop there?

A: Yes sir, we all stopped there.

Q: What did you stop there for?

A: Waiting for a train.

Q: And you saw Mr. Blizzard there?

A: Yes sir.

Q: Did you talk to him?

A: No, sir.

Q: What was Mr. Blizzard doing at that time?

A: He was doing like the rest of us.

Q: Did you see him talking to any one?

A: No.

Q: You never spoke a word to him then?

A: No.

Q: You say you got hold of a train at Racine?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: How did you get hold of that train?

A: I detailed the men and they got one of the C & O trains and eight flat cars.

Q: Where did that train come from?

A: From Sproul or somewhere. It backed up there and got us.

Q: Who went after it?

A: Two boys from Cannelton and one from Boomer.

Q: Do you know where they found it?

A: Yes, sir, somewhere between there and Sproul.

Q: It is quite a ways from Sproul to Racine, is it not?

A: I don't know.

Q: Twenty or twenty-five miles, is it not?

A: It is a pretty good ways, I suppose twelve or fifteen miles.

Q: How did these men go down there?

A: They walked.

Q: You say you had eight flat cars?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: What did you men do?

A: We got on the cars.

Q: What time was that?

A: That was along in the day about ten-thirty or eleven o'clock.

Q: The day after the meeting?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: And after you got on the train did you see William Blizzard?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did you see him have any weapon?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: What kind?

A: A pistol and a thirty-thirty rifle.

Q: Do you know what kind of pistol?

A: No.

Q: What kind of a rifle was it?

A: It was a thirty-thirty.

Q: Where did the train go?

A: To Sproul.

Q: On the way down did you see William Blizzard?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did he still have his weapons on him?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did you talk to him on the train?

A: No.

Q: Did you speak to him anywhere on the way down?

A: No, sir.

Q: Did you see him talk to any one?

A: No, sir.

Q: What was he doing on the train?

A: He was going with the rest of the men.

Q: Was he issuing commands?

A: No.

Q: Did he have his men in army formation?

A: No, sir.

Q: He was just circulating among his men?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: You did not hear him give any commands?

A: No, sir.

Q: Didn't hear him give any orders of any kinds?

A: No, I suppose he was giving his men orders just like I was giving orders to my men.

Q: Who were you taking your orders from?

A: Savoy Holt.

Q: You did not take any orders from Mr. Blizzard?

A: No, sir.

Q: After you got to Sproul, what did you do?

A: The train was held up, the man would not give us the block, and we held him up and made him give us the block.

Q: What time did you get there?

A: At one-thirty or two o'clock.

Q: How long did it take you to make the trip?

A: I guess about an hour or an hour and a half.

Q: Did I understand you to say you held up a train down at Sproul?

A: No, sir, we held up the operator and made him give us the block.

Q: What did you do to the operator?

A: Nothing only he would not give us the block and I sent two men in there and told him if he would not give it to us we would take him with us.

Q: You say you sent two men in there?

A: I did.

Q: And then they gave you the right of way?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Was the engine in front of the train going down from Racine?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Where did you turn your train around?

A: We backed it up Cold [Coal] River?

Q: And you then got on the line leading up to Madison?

A: Yes, sir. The next day Mr. Keeney and Mr. Mooney overtaken us at Madison.

Q: What time did you leave Sproul?

A: About three or four o'clock to the best of my knowledge.

Q: What day was that relative to the meeting held at Hernshaw?

A: That was the twenty-sixth.

Q: You held the meeting at Hernshaw on the twenty-fifth and you started from Sproul on the train on the twenty-sixth, is that right?

A: No, it was the twenty-fifth.

Q: What kind of train was it?

A: An out-law train.

Q: After you left Sproul did you see William Blizzard?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Where did you see him?

A: On a flat car.

Q: Which car was he on?

A: He was on the car next to the engine.

Q: And you had eight cars?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did he remain on that car all the way to Madison?

A: I don't know.

Q: How far did Mr. Blizzard go?

A: To Jeffreys.

Q: How far did that train go?

A: To Blair.

Q: You saw Mr. Blizzard all the way up that day?

A: I saw him off and on all the way, but I was not in his presence all the way.

Q: You knew he was on the train?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did you hear him give any commands to his men on that trip?

A: No, I never saw him acting in authority in my presence.

Q: Who told you to tell that story about Blizzard on that trip?

A: No one.

Q: Have you talked to Mr. George Williams?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: How long have you known him?

A: About two years.

Q: You know he is an attorney for the coal operators?

A: No, sir.

Q: Have you talked with him since you came here?

A: No, sir.

Q: Who have you talked to since you came here?

A: No one except Mr. Belcher, I talked to him.

Q: You saw Mr. Blizzard at the meeting at Hernshaw that day?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Now, didn't you see William Blizzard, get in an automobile and go back towards Charleston, and you didn't see him any more after that time?

A: No, I did not.

Q: Is not your story a pure fabrication?

Objection. Overruled.

A: No.

Q: But you do stick to your story that you saw William Blizzard on that trip a number of times?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: And you mean to tell the jury that is the absolute truth?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Tell the jury the best you can the hour of the day you reached Sproul?

A: Well, we arrived there about one-thirty or two o'clock in the day and left there an hour or an hour and a half later.

Q: If you arrived at Sproul about one-thirty or one o'clock on the afternoon of the twenty-fifth, the day after the Hernshaw meeting, then you must have left there about two or two-thirty in the afternoon.

A: Yes, sir.

Q: What time did you reach the town of Madison?

A: We were not long going up to Madison, we stayed between Danville and Madison that night.

Q: What time did you reach Madison?

A: About five or five-thirty.

Q: Danville and Madison are a short distance apart?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: About how far?

A: About two miles or a mile and a half.

Q: And where did you stay that night?

A: Between Danville and Madison.

Q: You say Mr. Blizzard was there that night?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: What time did you leave there?

A: Mr. Keeney and Mr. Mooney overtaken us the next day at Madison.

Q: When did you leave there?

A: The next evening.

Q: Then you stayed at or near Madison, between Madison and Danville, from about five o'clock in the evening of the twenty-fifth until the evening of the twenty-sixth?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: How did you leave there?

A: Walking.

Q: What hour did you leave there on the evening of the twenty-sixth?

A: In the afternoon about three o'clock or maybe earlier in the day.

Q: Was it as early as two o'clock?

A: Probably.

Q: Well, to the best of your judgment, it was between two and three o'clock?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: How many men did you have then?

A: Three thousand or better.

Q: Where was Mr. Blizzard when you left?

A: He was there with his men.

Q: Then you left Hernshaw with about three or four hundred men under your command. How many men were under your command when you left Madison?

A: Something over fifteen hundred.

Q: And Blizzard had a like number under his command?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Which body of men went ahead?

A: Mr. Blizzard and his men went ahead.

Q: Was Mr. Blizzard leading his men?

A: They were in a body, there was no special man in front.

Q: Did they march in military formation?

A: Some of them were in military formation.

Q: How many of the men were in military formation?

A: The ones that had been in service were, and the ones that had not been in service were not.

Q: And then a number of these men had served in the World War?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: And they marched in military formation?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: How were Mr. Blizzard's men marching?

A: I could not tell you there was so many in the bunch.

Q: After you left Madison between two and three o'clock in the afternoon of August twenty-sixth, what town did you first come to?

A: I don't know.

Q: Had you ever been over that country before?

A: No, sir.

Q: About how far was it to the first town?

A: Two or three miles.

Q: Did you afterwards learn what that town was?

A: No, sir.

Q: Do you know yet what town it was?

A: No, sir.

Q: Then what was the next town you came to?

A: Ramage.

Q: About how far was that from the town of Madison?

A: About five miles.

Q: What was the next town?

A: The next town was Jeffreys.

Q: How far was that from Madison?

A: About eight miles.

Q: Did you stop there?

A: We parted there.

Q: What time of the day did you get there?

A: About dark, good dark.

Q: What time did it get dark at that time of the year if you remember?

A: Something between six and seven o'clock I reckon.

Q: You say it was about eight miles from Jeffreys to Madison?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did you walk all the way?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did Blizzard walk with his men?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did you stop anywhere on the way?

A: No, sir.

Q: Did you stop to get something to eat?

A: No, sir.

Q: Was it dark when you reached Jeffresy [sic]?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: And when you left Jeffresy [sic] you led your body of men in one direction and Blizzard took his in another?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Where did you go with your men?

A: We went to the mess hall and got some supplies.

Q: What mess hall?

A: In Jeffreys.

Q: What did you do then?

A: We went up next to the Logan County line.

Q: That was on the evening of the twenty-sixth?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: How far up the creek did you go?

A: About three miles that night before we took to the mountain.

Q: What is the name of that creek?

A: Hewitt's Creek.

Q: After you arrived there what did you do?

A: We asked the men that were on guard duty where the Logan County line was and they showed us and told us which way to go to get in the mountain before daylight.

Q: What mountain did you go to?

A: The right-hand side.

Q: What mountain is it?

A: I don't know.

Q: How did you place your men up there?

A: By daylight the next morning we placed them two abreast and marched around the hill.

Q: I understand you reached Jeffreys and went up Hewitt's Creek the evening and the night of August the twenty-sixth?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did you see any aeroplanes?

A: No, I seen some on the road, but they were high up in the air.

Q: Did Don Chapin drop any bombs on you?

A: He dropped several, but none near to us.

Q: Did they explode?

A: They dropped seven out of aeroplanes and five went off.

Q: Did they make lour [loud] reports?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did you ever see any that did not explode?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: How were they made?

A: Like big iron pipe with threads on each end and caps like gun caps on each end, and a wire running through. They had a wind shield on them to hold them down, but the wind shield on these were two light and they turned and never went off.

Q: You say you had one Browning machine gun with you?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Who was operating that machine gun?

A: A Queeno boy of Smithers.

Q: Did you take that machine gun with your body of men?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: When was the next time you saw Bill Blizzard?

A: I never saw him any more after that.

Q: So Blizzard dropped from your sight after you left Jeffreys?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did you see Blizzard at Jeffreys?

A: Yes, sir. He took his men up along the line of the C & O towards Blair.

Q: You saw you saw him at Jeffreys?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did you talk to him?

A: No, sir.

Q: You were around where he was all of that time?

A: Yes, sir, round near about him at different times.

Q: While you were leading one body and Blizzard was leading another during the entire march you never spoke a word to him did you?

A: No, sir.

Q: And he never said a word to you?

A: No, sir.

Q: You say you took your orders from Savoy Holt?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did Blizzard take his orders from Savoy Holt?

A: I don't know.

Q: Was D. Munsey in that march too?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: You saw him leave Lens Creek on the afternoon of the twenty-fourth?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: What body of men was he in?

A: Blizzard's body.

Q: And you saw Walter Allen leave Lens Creek on the twenty-fourth?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: And you saw him on all that trip?

A: I didn't see him all the way, but I know he was there.

Q: You know he went down to Sproul and up to Madison?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: And you also saw Walter Allen at Jeffreys with Blizzard?

A: No, I didn't say that.

Q: Did you see him there?

A: No, sir.

Q: Did you see him after you got to Jeffreys?

A: No, sir.

Q: You don't know when you last saw Walter Allen, do you?

A: No, sir.

Q: You say you had a meeting at Madison at which Mr. Keeney spoke?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: What day was that?

A: I don't recollect what day it was.

Q: Do you know the day of the week?

A: It was on Friday.

Q: Do you know the day of the month?

A: No, I do not.

Q: What time of the day did Keeney speak?

A: Late in the afternoon.

Q: Can't you be a little more specific, can't you fix the hour?

A: To the best of my knowledge it was between two and four o'clock.

Q: Do you remember hearing Mr. Mooney speak?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: You were personally acquainted with both of them, were you not?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Where was that meeting held?

A: At the Ball Park.

Q: Where is that ball park located relative to the courthouse?

A: It is on the south side of the river.

Q: What river is that?

A: Coal River.

Q: How did you reach the ball park?

A: By going down the river.

Q: That meeting was held between two and four o'clock?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Who else spoke there?

A: I never heard anyone else.

Re-Direct Examination. By Mr. Belcher.

Q: You stated in answer to Mr. Houston's question that the officials had been for years trying to get rid of Don Chapin. I will ask you if Frank Keeney and Fred Mooney were officers of District 17 in the year 1919?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: I will ask you what you know about the invasion or attempted invasion of an army of miners into Logan County in 1919 when they were stopped by the president of the United States sending troops?

Objection.

Sustained.

Q: Mr. Reynolds, you say that Mr. Heptenstall who was acting in Mr. Keeney's place gave you orders to collect your money?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Where was Mr. Keeney at that time?

A: In the Logan County jail.

Q: Where is Mr. Heptenstall now and what is he doing?

A: The last information I had of him he was acting president in Mr. Keeney's place.

Q: And you say Mr. Keeney, Mooney and Heppenstall caused you to be arrested and charged with collecting money under false pretenses?

A: That is what the local union of 4488 told me.

Q: At the time you were arrested do you know whether Mr. Keeney, Mooney and Houston knew you were going to tell the facts in this case?

A: I do not.

Q: Were you indicted by the grand jury in Fayett[e] County?

A: No, sir.

Q: Has there been a session of the grand jury since you were arrested?

A: Yes, sir, and I appeared there in answer to my bond, and there was no indictment.

Q: Was Mr. Houston present at the meeting in Charleston on August the seventh, 1921?

A: I didn't see him.

Q: Do you know who prepared the resolutions that were adopted there?

A: The committee.

Q: Who was that committee composed of, miners or lawyers?

A: United Mine Workers.

Q: Do you know who prepared this circular at Mammoth Local?

A: It came from the officers of District No. 17

Q: At the time Mr. Keeney and Mr. Mooney came to Mammoth and made a speech were they not accompanied by General Banholtz of the United States army?

A: He was along.

Q: Was he in the crowd when Keeney was making the speech?

A: Yes, sir, he was.

Q: How did you get in that ball park?

A: At the gate.

Q: Did you have to give a number or any other pass word or sign?

A: We gave the local union number.

Q: Was any one prevented from going in when he did not give his local number?

A: I never seen any one.

Q: What did you wear on your persons at the time you were engaged in these battles in order to distinguish you from the enemy?

A: We wore red calico around our neck.

Q: Did you use anything except a red color?

A: No, sir.

Re-Cross Examination. By Mr. Houston.

Q: Mr. Reynolds, you met Mr. Banholtz, didn't you?

A: Sure, yes, sir.

Q: About what age gentleman is he?

A: Well, sir I would judge his age to be about fifty to the best of my judgment.

Q: And Mr. Keeney and Mr. Mooney came up there with General Banholtz?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Were they in the same car?

A: I did not see them get out of the car.

Q: You saw them together?

A: Yes, sir. I saw them. Keeney and Mooney up there.

Q: And General Banholtz was with them?

A: Yes, sir, he was there.

Q: Did he make a speech that day?

A: I didn't hear him.

Q: Did you hear him say anything?

A: No.

Q: Did you hear him talk with any one?

A: No, but I understood later he told some of the boys that it was the worst thing they had ever attempted.


William Blizzard Trial Transcript

West Virginia Archives and History