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“Sawdust War" in Williamsport Lumber Region Began July 10, 1872
July 18, 2025 | by Terry DienerFrederic A. Godcharles was a noted historian, author, and politician, and served as both the director of the State Library of Pennsylvania and the State Museum of Pennsylvania. Godcharles wrote numerous stories and books on Pennsylvania history.
Among them, Daily Stories of Pennsylvania covered each day of a calendar year and focused on events on that particular date.
His July 10 offering detailed the “Sawdust War in Lycoming County which began on that date in 1872.
“In the decade from 1870 to 1880, Williamsport was the largest lumbering center in the United States. Everywhere, Williamsport was known as "The Lumber City." It was customary to send gangs into the woods in winter to cut down the trees, saw them into logs and pile them on the banks of small streams and afterward, when the water was at flood height in the spring, to roll them into the streams whence they floated down the river to Williamsport, where they were caught in the big boom and rafted to the various mills to be sawed and manufactured into lumber.
“After the men were through with their work in the woods, it was customary to bring them to Williamsport and place them in the mills to help saw up the logs. As the season was short and it was important to clean up the work of sawing before the next winter, the mills operated twelve hours a day. The "sawdust war," as it was called, was a strike on the part of the workmen in the mills for a ten-hour day instead of twelve. There was no question of wages involved, and the principal advocates for the change were men who were not employed in the lumber industry but were simply labor agitators.
“The move for the ten-hour day began in June 1872 and was characterized by frequent public meetings at which the speakers urged the men to go on strike. This finally culminated in a large number of men walking out, July 1, 1872, and adopting as their slogan, "ten-hour day or no sawdust." The strike reached to Lock Haven, where the men followed the lead of their Williamsport fellow-workmen. Many of the mills were compelled to shut down on account of a depleted force until July 10, when an attempt was made to start up the mills, but without success. This precipitated the "Sawdust War."
“ Parades and marches were held every day, the strikers going to the several mills and endeavoring to induce the workers still on the job to quit. Meetings were held every night. Thomas H. Greevy, by reason of being secretary of the local union and secretary of the State Labor Organization, was a prominent figure and always addressed these meetings. After the strike had been in progress for a few weeks, some of the men were induced to go back to work, but others, who were not willing to return, interfered when a number of breaches of the peace took place.
“The marches to the mills finally resulted in assaults being made upon the loyal workmen, and several attacks were made on mill owners on the streets of the city. These assaults finally became so frequent and so serious that Mayor S. W. Starkweather and Samuel Van Buskirk, the sheriff of the county, called upon Governor John W. Geary for militia to be sent to Williamsport. This request was complied with, and on July 22, troops were ordered to the city. They arrived the next day, July 23, and consisted of the following units: City Grays, Harrisburg, Captain Thomas Maloney; City Zouaves, Harrisburg, Captain Robert V. Vaughn; Middletown Zouaves, Middletown, Captain James Stanley; Washington Zouaves, Lebanon, Captain B. Y. Hean; Coleman Guards, Lebanon, Captain J. P. S. Gobin; City Grays, Williamsport, Captain A. H. Stead; Taylor Guards, Williamsport, Captain John H. White. Williamsport was placed under martial law.
“On the same day, July 23, Thomas H. Greevy, James M. Birmingham, A. J. Whitten, Thomas F. Blake, Henry Crook and Alem Tate were arrested on the charge of inciting to riot and at a hearing on July 25, before the City Recorder, were held on $10,000 bail for their appearance at the September term of court. Bail was promptly furnished, but an hour later, Greevy was rearrested, and $15,000 additional bail was demanded. As other charges were pending, the men were taken to jail to await trial. On July 27 a motion was made for a writ of habeas corpus and reduction of the amount of bail, which, on July 29, was refused by the court.
“Subsequent arrests were made on the same charge and all held for the next term of court, but those above-mentioned were the principals. On July 31 all defendants were released on bail. On July 25, the troops on duty in the city went into camp at Herdic Park under the command of Brigadier General Jesse Merrill, of Lock Haven. On July 27, the troops were reinforced by the Packer Guards, Sunbury; Sanderson Guards, Mill Hall; Langlon Fencibles, Shamokin. On July 30, five companies on duty were relieved and sent home. The others were relieved a few days later.
“At the September term of court for Lycoming County, on September 7, all the twenty-nine defendants were brought to trial before Judge James Gamble. James M. Birmingham, Thomas H. Greevy, A. J. Whitten, Thomas H. Blake, Patrick Conlin, Jacob Wolf, Timothy Shannon, Jr., Henry Crook, Patrick Dugan, Louis Plant, Michael Eustice, John Benway, William lam, Daniel McMullen, David Deau champ, Thomas Hackett, Joseph Ludget, James Spulong, James Sladen, John Bezel and Joseph Shear were found guilty and sentenced to jail for periods of thirty, sixty and ninety days, pay a fine of one dollar and the costs of prosecution, except James M. Birmingham, A. J. Whitten, Thomas H. Greevy and Thomas F. Blake, who, because they were out siders and in no way connected with the lumber industry, were sentenced to one year in the penitentiary and costs of the prosecution. They were sentenced on September 14, and on September 16, Peter Herdic, who was then one of the leading and most influential men in the State, went to Harrisburg and induced Governor Geary to pardon them all.
“The parties soon after left Williamsport, and except for two of them, all other records are lost. James M. Birmingham became a prominent citizen of Kansas City, Mo., as did his son. Thomas H. Greevy moved to Altoona and became a prominent citizen of the State. Greevy was engaged in journalism and edited the Labor Reform Journal of Williamsport. He also held important offices in the local and State organizations. The first labor convention in Pennsylvania was held at Danville in 1871, and Greevy was elected secretary, a position he held at the time of the Sawdust War. John Siney, of Schuylkill County, was State president.
“After taking up his residence in Altoona, Greevy studied law, was admitted to the bar, and became one of the leading attorneys in the State. He served as a prominent adviser of the Democratic State Committee and was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor.