The Great Strike on the "Q"

1st. Is to unite and promote the general welfare and advance the interests, social, moral and intellectual, of its members. Benevolence, very needful in a calling as hazardous as ours, has led to the organization of this Association.

2d. Believing that it is for the best interests, both of our members and their employers, that a good understanding should at all times exist between them, it will be the constant endeavor of this Association to establish mutual confidence and create and maintain harmonious relations between employer and employe.

3d. Such are the aims and purposes of the Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association of North America.

Benevolence is its corner-stone,--to relieve the distress of disabled brothers, to care for their widows and orphans, and to see to the decent burial of deceased members.

The National Association, strong as it is in numbers, is but little over three years old.

The first Switchmen's Union was founded in Chicago, on August 18, 1877. That was a local society, and was chartered by the State of Illinois. The charter members were--Edward W. Jennings, Thos. Griffin, James Cullerton, Wm. Hopper, Thaddeus Boyd, Thos. Green, Edward Scanlon, John Kenny, Wm. Short, Chas. Richardson, Wm. Rosencranse and John Reily. The officers were--Wm. Hopper, President; Thaddeus Boyd, Vice-President; Thos. Griffin, James Cullerton and Edward Jennings, Trustees.

While for several years the Union made little headway, it succeeded in maintaining a nucleus for something better. In 1884, new life was instilled into it by the demands and spirit of the times, coupled with the selection of a set of officers with unusual energy, ability and determination. Rapid growth, and the creation and dissemination of sentiments of organization were the immediate results. Other cities followed Chicago's example, and very soon there were a number of flourishing Unions throughout the United States.

Then the necessity of a National organization became manifest. Several Unions, moved by the same spirit, took hold of this matter about the same time. A call for a meeting of delegates of the various local bodies, to meet at 112 East Randolph street, Chicago, on February 22, 1886, was issued, and in response thereto a large assemblage of representative switchmen met at the place on the day named. The meeting lasted eight days, and was quite harmonious and exceedingly enthusiastic. The Convention was called to order by Mr. John Drury, who stated that the object was to amalgamate the different organizations into one grand body, whose authority should extend throughout the United States. The Convention was duly organized by the election of Mr. John Drury as Chairman, Mr. James A. Healey, of Chicago, as Secretary, Mr. Joseph D. Hill, of Kansas City, Reading Clerk, and Mr. M. J. Keegan, Sergeant-at-Arms. A Constitution and By-Laws were adopted, and the following grand officers elected for the current year: Grand Master, James L. Monaghan; Vice-Grand Master and Instructor, John Drury; Grand Secretary and Treasurer, John Downey. Board of Directors, M. J. Keegan, of Chicago; James A. Kelly, of Chicago; W. A. Simmons, of Chicago; James A. Healey, of Chicago; Joseph D. Hill, of Kansas City; J. L. Hyer, of Rock Island, and W. R. Davison, of Joliet. A great deal of important business was transacted in secret session pertaining to the Order, after which the Grand Lodge resolved to aid Mr. C. R. Wooldridge in the publication of a monthly magazine devoted to the interests of the Order. A uniform pin was adopted, and an invitation to attend the second annual ball, given by local Lodge No. 1, in honor of the Grand Lodge, was accepted with thanks. The Convention then adjourned, to meet in Kansas City, Monday, September 20, 1886.

James L. Monaghan, the first Grand Master, graduated from the public schools of Philadelphia, and studied law for two years. Bad health, however, compelled him to abandon an indoor life, and he took to railroading. He first did duty as a clerk, but found that was little better for him than the law, and he then entered the service as a switchman on the P., W. & B. Ry. He came West in 1879, and has been prominently identified with the switchmen and their organizations until November, 1888, when he was elected to the lower house of the Illinois Legislature. He was succeeded in the office by Frank Sweeney, of Minneapolis.

John Drury, the first Vice-Grand Master, is an Englishman. He first entered upon railroad work as a brakeman on the Grand Trunk of Canada. As an organizer during the early days, John Drury was eminently successful, and the Association progressed in a surprising manner during the first year of its National existence. The First Annual Convention was held at Kansas City, September 20, 1886, and was composed of delegates from twenty-five Lodges. This represented the growth of the Order for one year.

The important business of the complete reconstruction of the Constitution and By-Laws to keep pace with the growing propensities of the Association, was the result of that body's deliberations.

The Second Annual Convention was held at Indianapolis, September 19, 1887. The result of this meeting was a still further revision of the laws, and the election of Wm. A. Simsrott as Grand Secretary and Treasurer.

At the Third Annual Convention at St. Louis, in September, 1888, Frank Sweeney, of Minneapolis, was elected Grand Master; John Downey, of Chicago, Vice-Grand Master; Geo. S. Bailey, Grand Organizer and Instructor. John W. Callahan, Chicago, Ill.; Edward Hutchinson, Chicago, Ill.; S. K. Hardin, St. Louis, Mo.; John M. Kelley, Fort Wayne, Ind.; Jas. F. Scullen, Omaha, Neb., Grand Board of Directors.

Grand Master Frank Sweeney was born in Zanesville, O., in 1855. His parents moved West in 1860, and located at Monroe, Wis. He received a common-school education, and for a time studied medicine. He disliked the profession, however, and soon abandoned it and entered the railway service. His first railroading was in the capacity of brakeman on the M. & St. P. After braking on several roads for the period of four years, he began switching in the yard of the Minneapolis & St. Louis in 1886. At that time there were but three switch engines in Minneapolis. He has been in the yard service in that city ever since, until elevated to the position of Grand Master of the Order. He was one of the active men that organized Lodge No. 30, and was elected a delegate to the Second Annual Convention, held in Indianapolis, in 1887. At that session he was elected Vice-Grand Master of the Association, and his recent elevation to the highest position in the Order speaks better than words as to what opinion the switchmen have of him. He was instrumental in organizing the Northwest, and won the admiration of the switchmen of the country by his intelligent and conservative handling of questions that arose in that locality.

Grand Secretary and Treasurer William A. Simsrott was born in Chicago in 1861, and has the hustle characteristic of the average Chicagoan. He received a common-school education, and began his railroading in 1878 as a clerk on the P., Ft. W. & C. Railway. In 1882 he entered the yards of the Chicago & Western Indiana Railway as a switchman. In 1883 he entered the service of the L., N. A. & C. Railway, and continued with that road until elected to the office of Grand Secretary and Treasurer. He was a yardmaster at the time of leaving the company's employ. He was accepted in Lodge No. 1 in 1883, and in a few months elected to the office of Financial Secretary. Mr. Simsrott was one of the thirteen that established the Association as a National organization, and was a delegate from Lodge No. 1 to the First Annual Convention at Kansas City in 1886. At this Convention he was chosen as one of the Grand Board of Directors, and at the Second Annual Convention, held in Indianapolis in 1887, he was elected Grand Secretary and Treasurer. None have shown a higher regard for the good of the Association than this officer.

Vice-Grand Master John Downey was born in Cleveland, Ohio, October 12, 1853, and came to Chicago in the fall of 1858. He received a common education, and in the winter of 1869-70 commenced railroading. He first began braking on the P., Ft. W. & C. road, but soon went to switching in the Ft. Wayne yards. He had not been there long, however, before he had his left thumb completely shot off by the accidental discharge of a shotgun he was handling. In September, 1871, he lost two fingers off of the right hand, after which he went to tending switches on the Ft. Wayne. In 1872 he had his right foot caught and lost part of it, and 1875 he had his left foot caught and so severely injured that it laid him up for six months. In 1876 he went braking on passenger on the Ft. Wayne, where he remained for nine months, when he went braking on freight, and 1879 went back switching in the Ft. Wayne yards, where he has remained ever since.

John Downey joined Lodge No. 1 in September, 1884, and was soon afterward elected Treasurer of the Lodge, a position he held continuously until October, 1887, when he resigned. He was elected Grand Secretary and Treasurer of the then Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association of the United States of America, at its first Convention, held in Chicago, February 22, 1886. He served for some time in this capacity, but was forced to resign, owing to ill health, and when W. S. Condon absconded with all the money of the Grand Lodge he was asked by the Board of Directors of the Grand Lodge to fill out the unexpired term as Grand Secretary and Treasurer, and straighten out the tangled financial affairs of the Grand Lodge. He responded with that patriotism he is noted for, and won encomiums from all connected with the Association for his work. He has represented Lodge No. 1 in the Grand Lodge twice--Kansas City in 1886 and St. Louis in 1888.

Grand Organizer and Instructor George S. Bailey was born in Edgar County, Illinois, in 1858. After receiving a common-school education, he studied law for some time, but had to abandon his studies on account of ill health. He commenced railroading in 1878 on the I. & St. L. Railway, braking on local freight. He was employed as a switchman in East St. Louis a number of years, and was prominent in the great railroad strike of 1886.

When the "Q" strike occurred, he was selected to go over a portion of the road and address the railroad men. He spoke at Kansas City, St. Joe, Council Bluffs and other western points. He was a delegate from Lodge No. 37 at the Convention of 1888, and was then elected to his present position. He was a member of the Illinois Legislature in 1886, and made a creditable record. He introduced, and had passed through the House, "House Bill No. 268," which provided for a State Board of Arbitration, but before it reached the Senate the General Assembly had adjourned. Mr. Bailey is full of energy and ability, yet does not allow his enthusiasm to overbalance his good judgment. He has the faculty of controlling men and at the same urging them on to a sense of the duty they owe to themselves and those dependent upon them, as well as to their employers.