James O'Day, Obituary/Death NoticePorter County obituaries and death notices . . . .
James O'Day
ANOTHER HOMESTEAD VICTIM.
JAMES O'DAY, A PINKERTON DETECTIVE, SUICIDES.
Crazed by the Awful Scenes He Participated in He Jumps From a Lake Shore Limited and Throws Himself in Front of a Passing Freight.
A man in a dying condition was found on the Lake Shore road near Miller Saturday night between eight and nine o'clock, and taken to that station. There being no physician there he was brought to Chesterton on first train, and died here a few hours afterward. Mrs. S. A. Harper identified the man as James O'Day, who for years was her neighbor in Chicago, Coroner Coates viewed the remains Sunday, but did ot complete his examination, and could not until the witnesses could be brought together. Monday morning Daniel O'Day, a brother of the deceased came out here, and fully identified the remains as his brother, and had them shipped to Chicago for interment on th evening train. From him and the undertaker Lundberg we learned the following particulars of the case.
James O'Day was at the time of his death in the employ of the Pinkerton detective agency and was captain of a squad on duty at the Hammond labor troubles. On Tuesday July 5, O'Day had a battle with the strikers, and on Wednesday the 6th surrendered under a flag of truce to the strikers. After surrendering he was beaten by the strikers about the head and body so badly that after being rescued by the Pinkertons' he was sent to the hospital for treatment. He remained in the hospital Thursday, and on Friday was sent on a limited to Chicago. At Cleveland two ladies, his neighbors, saw him and they state he acted very strangely all the way, and seemed afraid that someone was after him. When near Whiting and on the Lake Shore limited which passes through here at 1:30, he jumped from the train and the supposition is that he fell into Salt Creek. The ladies on reaching Chicago, at once reported this fact to O'Day's relatives, and they at once began search for him. What happened to the man then and how he got out of the river no one knows, but the next heard of him was by C. F. Blank, a grocer at Millers. O'Day came into his store, all wet, and told Mr. Blank that he had tried to kill himself, and left with Mr. Blank the address of his Chicago relatives, with the request that if anything happened to let them know. He appeared to be out of his head, but did not appear to be injured beyond the black eye and bruises he got in the battle with the strikers. The next heard of him was when the hand car men found him a short distance from Millers. He had been struck by a freight train and had his skull crushed. The hand car men took him to Millers and from there he was sent to Chesterton as before stated.
James O'Day was a single man, 34 years of age, whose mother lives at 1022 west Jackson street, Chicago. For the past four or five years he has been working in the east, and part of the time for the Standard Oil company. He was a plumber by trade, and an enthusiastic sporting man. He was magnificently built, and had been a pugilist of no mean pretensions. His brother Daniel, said the excitement of those terrible times last week at the Homestead riots, together with the pounding his brother had got, had unbalanced his mind and was the cause of his awful end.
His remains were taken to Chicago Tuesday morning, being delayed here 24 hours awaiting for instructions from the Pinkerton agency. Monday night a telegram calling for $100 was sent out to pay expenses upon which the body was promptly shipped to them.
Newspaper: The Tribune
Date of Publication: July 15, 1892
Volume Number: 9
Issue Number: 14
Page: 1
Column(s): 1
Key to Newspaper Publication Locations:
Newspapers Published in Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana
Chesterton Tribune
The Tribune
Westchester Tribune
Newspapers Published in Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana
Porter County Vidette
Practical Observer
Valparaiso Practical Observer
Vidette and Republic
Western Ranger
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Obituary/death notice transcribed by Steven R. Shook