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Author Archives: jpkenna
Panic on the Farm- Part Two
Late Summer, 1894: Jimmy Scanlon falls into the routine of working as hired-man on the Davis farm, a few miles east of Everett, Washington. Excerpted from Chapter 26, Beyond the Divide–Available from Village Books, Fairhaven (Wash., U.S.A.); and from Amazon. Curt … Continue reading
Posted in farming, history, labor, writing
Tagged American Protective Association (Know-nothings), election of 1896, Everett Land Co., Everett Wash., fall harvesting, Grover Cleveland, John D. Rockefeller, John W. Frame, Monte Cristo mine, People's Party (Populists), Pullman Strike, Snohomish Sun
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Panic on the Farm- Part One
Summer 1894: During the two years following his ride into Everett, picked up by an accommodating farm couple, Jimmy had run into the farm wife on a train–finally learning her and husband’s names. In spring of 1894, the nation … Continue reading
Posted in farming, history, labor, railroading, writing
Tagged American Federation of Labor, American Railway Union, Eugene V. Debs, Everett WA, Great Northern Railway, hay loaders, hay rakes, I.W.W., James J. Hill, John D. Rockefeller, mowing machines, Northern Pacific Railroad, Panic of 1894, Populists, Pullman Strike, Samuel Gompers, Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad, Snohomish WA, Tulalip Indians
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Hitching a Ride to Everett
Summer of 1892. Leaving behind Fairhaven, Washington–the railroad boom town gone bust–Jimmy Scanlon is returning to Everett, after unloading his Fairhaven lots at a disastrous loss. He will be signing on to work track construction as the Great Northern Railway … Continue reading
A Return to “Boomtown” Fairhaven, Washington
Summer of 1892. Two years have passed since Jimmy Scanlon’s July 4th beach-side idyll with Susie Taylor (see “Along Chuckanut’s Shore,” posted April 5, 2014). Sharing in the optimistic spirit of the time, Jimmy purchased three building lots in Fairhaven, the … Continue reading
“A Terrible Beauty Is Born”
General Sir John Maxwell’s decision to quash even the thought of rebellion in Ireland–by sending 16 men to the firing squad, mostly young men, among them poets and teachers–had the unintended consequence of shifting world opinion of the 1916 … Continue reading
Posted in Easter Rebellion, history, Ireland, Irish poetry, love, writing
Tagged Cathal Brugha, Countess Markeivicz, Eamon de Valera, Eoin MacNeill, Grace Gifford Plunkett, Irish Civil War, Irish Free State, Irish Republic, Michael Collins, Robert Montieth, Roger Casement, William Butler Yeats
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The Easter Rising, 1916. The Final Executions, May 12
Thursday, May 11 After visiting Connolly that afternoon, Father Aloysius prayed there would be no more executions. How could there be? Already there were voices—some mere murmurs, others growing strident—beginning to sound throughout Ireland, indicating a shift in … Continue reading
Aftermath of the Easter Rising, May 7-10, 1916
“If you were not so dense and so stupid, as some of you English people are, you could have had these men fighting for you…” -John Dillon, Irish Nationalist Party, British House of Commons Sunday, May 7, 1916 Eamonn … Continue reading
Posted in Easter Rebellion, history, Ireland, writing
Tagged 1916, Con Colbert, Eamon de Valera, Eamonn Kent, Easter Rising, Executions, George Bernard Shaw, Home Rule, House of Commons, Irish Nationalist Party, James Connolly, John Dillon, John Redmond, Michael Mallin, Prime Minister H. Asquith, Roger Casement, Sean Heuston, Sean McDermott, Skeffy Skeffington
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Aftermath of the Easter Rising–The Executions Continue
“When I’m finished, there’ll be no treason even whispered in Ireland for the next 100 years.” –General John Maxwell, British Army Thursday, May 4, 1916 Soon after midnight, Ned Daly received a visit in his cell from sisters Kattie … Continue reading
Posted in Easter Rebellion, history, Ireland, writing
Tagged Capuchin Friars, Cardinal James Gibbons, General John Maxwell, Joe Plunket, Kilmainham Jail, Major John MacBride, Maud Gonne, Michael O'Hanrahan, Ned Daly, Stonebreakers' Yard, William Butler Yeats, Willie Pearse, Woodrow Wilson
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Aftermath of the Easter Rising- Executions, May 3,1916
“Those in power write the history, while those who suffer write the songs, and, given our history, we have an awful lot of songs.” –Irish balladeer Frank Harte Tuesday, May 2, 1916 When informed of the shooting of “Skeffy” … Continue reading
Easter Rising, 1916- Days 5, 6, and 7
Mike Scanlon’s journal entries continue: Friday, April 28, 1916 It’s painfully plain that the rising is not spreading outside of Dublin. There is no Irish Brigade made up of German-held P.O.W.s, there are no German arms, and the majority … Continue reading
J.P. Kenna 