By: Elliott Murga
The holidays are a joyful time for most of us, but for the rest of us, it can get pretty stressful. Relaxation is lower, debt is higher, and the suspicious correlation between Auntie Whatsherface’s political choice and her growing concern over your extended single streak is starting to show. Yet despite it all, the only thing we all need to get through these tough times, is perspective. Just to gain that confidence that everything is going to be all right, we all need someone to remind us that things can always be worse. So here is a list of people for whom things inevitably got worse.
January 1, 1888, New Year's Day - The McCoy Family Massacre
There aren’t many pop culture feuds that stand the test of time, and even fewer that extend from the real world - but this isn’t about the great Pumkin/New York battle of 2006 - this is a story far graver; the story of The Hatfields and The McCoys. Now, ol’ William “Devil Anse” Hatfield and Randolph “Old Ranel” McCoy, along the rest of their ilk, have been at each other's throats since 1865 over the murder of Randolph’s brother, Asa Harmon McCoy. Many down south considered him a traitor, as he fought for the union army during The Civil War.
From then on, other scuffles ensued, including one in 1878, over stolen pigs, and another involving a love triangle, where Johnse Hatfield impregnated Rosanna McCoy, but later married her cousin, Nancy. But 1882 would hold the confrontation between three of McCoy’s sons, and two of Hatfield’s brothers, in which the unfortunate outcome left one of the brothers, Ellis Hatfield, murdered. The years, and events, after only fueled the hatred, until that New Year’s Day in 1888 when it all came to a head.
Cap Hatfield, Devil Anse’s son, lead a group to ambush the McCoy family home, eventually burning it. Randolph escaped injured, but his son and daughter - Calvin and Alifair - were both killed in the crossfire, while his wife - Sarah - was so badly beaten, they say her skull was crushed. In the end, eight Hatfields and their supporters, were sentenced to life in prison. Randolph McCoy died in 1914 at 88, while Devil Anse Hatfield died in 1921 at 81.
A marker was placed at the home's location to remember the event.
February 14, 1929, St. Valentine’s Day - The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Arguably our most notable entry comes from Chicago, Il in 1929. It was a time of prohibition and lawlessness. Chicago was a hotbed of gangland activity, with the most notorious gangster of them all right in the middle, Al “Scarface" Capone.
Capone had the love of the people, as he used a lot of money earned to reinvest right back into the neighborhood, but that good nature only extended so far. Since the people’s affection was ruled directly by the money he made, anyone foolish enough to interfere with that money was deemed a threat and taken out with extreme prejudice. Enter Irish gangster and longtime enemy, George “Bugs” Moran.
Moran had a pretty strong family around him, but Capone had gained most of his control by gunning down, or otherwise ruthlessly removing, any rival. So, as you can guess, things don’t have a happy ending. One chilly Chicago afternoon, in the middle of February, several cops show up to a garage on the North side and begin to question the seven men therein. After lining them up and facing the wall, the “cops” proceeded to gun down each and every one of them. Up to 70 rounds of ammunition were used. Bugs himself missed being there by mere minutes. By the time the actual police arrived, only one man - Frank Gusenberg - was left alive but refused to talk. He died a few minutes later.
When questioned, Moran responded, “Only Capone kills like that.” When asked for comment, Capone answered, “The only man who kills like that is Bugs Moran.”
March 17, 2000, St. Patrick’s Day - The Mass Cult Death
Formed in the late 80’s, the Movement for the Restoration of the 10 Commandments of God had a simple goal of praising the lord and avoiding the apocalypse. Now if you ask me, meeting number one should’ve been about changing the name, but I wasn’t there. Those who were there, we’re its founders: Credonia Mwerinde, Joseph Kibweteere, and Bee Tait; the former two claiming, and basing their church, on having seen and conversed with the holy mother, Mary.
Their congregation were limited to a very strict interpretation of the 10 commandments; even going as far as discouraging talking so to not “bear false witness against thy neighbor”. Fasts were regular, sex and soap were forbidden, property was given up, and sign language was taught to help with the ‘no talking’ rule. Needless to say, they were wound up pretty tight. So much so, that when their December 31, 1999 apocalypse expired, many members were rightfully upset. After consulting the other leaders - and visions - another date would be quoted; March 17.
Days before, one of the church leaders, Dominic Kataribabo, was seen buying 50 liters of sulfuric acid. That night, the church threw a party for all of their 530 members, adults and children, to celebrate the end of the world. Villagers, from miles away, say they were able to hear the explosion. Once inspected, investigators found the building had been boarded up from the outside to prevent any escape from the raging inferno. There were no survivors.
April 24-29, 1916, Easter - Easter Rising (The Easter Rebellion)
Since the 12th century, Ireland has always been under British rule. With the formation of the Act of Union in the 1800’s, Ireland and Great Britain formed what is officially known as The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. And, by the early 1900’s, many Irishmen considered that to be long enough. The people of Ireland grew restless with their current rule, and had grander ambitions; to form the Independent Irish Republic. But we, as Americans, know that the crown wouldn’t give up without a fight; and in that, an armed insurrection began to take root.
Planned by a 7-man military council, known as the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the rebellion that would be known as ‘Easter Rising’, started to gain traction with many Dubliners. Unfortunately, public opinion throughout the rest of Ireland painted the rebels as criminals and misfits, leaving the majority of fighting confined to the major city.
In the morning hours on that Monday, April 24, the attack began. One by one, more than 1600 rebel leaders and their followers - including, the Irish Citizens Army, the all-female Cumann na mBan, and individual volunteers - began taking over strategic locations throughout the city. All seemed to be falling into place for the Irish, that is, until the crown declared martial law. Six days later, when the fighting finally stopped, 450 Irish rebels would have lost their lives, with another 2,000 wounded; but it didn’t end there. The following May, 15 leaders would be tried and executed, an another 3,000 would be arrested as suspected of supporting, and an additional 1,800 deported to England to be imprisoned (without trial).
May 14, 1972, Mother’s Day - The Mother’s Day Massacre
On a day celebrating life, a preverbal “house of horrors” was being run by Kermit Gosnell. Gosnell, a former Philadelphian physician who specialized in abortions, had a hobby of testing new medical breakthroughs. One such breakthrough was the “super coil” - a tight ball of razors inserted into the woman’s uterus, causing late term abortions in the second trimester. Along with his collogue, psychologist Randy Hutchins, they invited 15 women to be part his experiment.
These women were not informed about what's to come.
What followed on that Sunday would be known as The Mother’s Day Massacre. In total, there were 15 illegal abortions, and nine women injured; including a needed hysterectomy, constant infections, and even portions of fetus still left inside. To make matters worse, he was never formally charged. In fact, it's what was allowed to continue for the next three decades that's the real tragedy. Gosnell was finally brought to charges in 2011 on three counts of first-degree murder of mothers, one count of involuntary manslaughter of a baby born during a procedure, and 21 counts of illegal late term abortions. Behind bars, he still maintains his innocence.
June 16, 1991, Father’s Day - The Father’s Day Bank Massacre
While many men celebrate Father's Day eating burnt toast in bed and wearing ties to short for them, another had something different in mind. That Sunday morning, an unknown man no one have ever seen before casually walked up to the side entrance of what used to be The United Bank Tower (now currently the Wells Fargo Bank Building). Addressing himself as the vice president, he asks the guard on duty to allow him access to the freight elevator. By 9:15 am, security officer, William McCullum, rides up from the basement office, and at his first moment, the unknown assailant holds McCullum at gunpoint and forces him down to the subbasement where he kills and hides his body.
Around 9:20, he takes the stairs up to the first-floor basement level, accidentally tripping the stairwell alarm. Quickly navigating to the guard area, he finds Phillip Mankoff and Scott McCarthy, forcing them into the battery room and dispatching them there. Once the final guard, Scott Wilson, approached to investigate, the suspect shoots and kills him as well.
By 9:48, he made his way into the vault using bank keys, forcing the six vault employees down, and making the manager stuff handfuls of bills into a sack. And by 9:56, he was gone, escaping with $200,000 in loose $50’s and $20’s, and enough of the security tapes and log book pages to hide his tracks.
Funny thing is: the robber didn’t fill up his bag. He didn’t empty out the vault, nor did he touch the vault cash bundles; which made out to be almost two million alone. He killed security, seemingly because he had to, but not the tellers or manager. These facts left investigators baffled and believed it to be an inside job, eventually arresting James W. King; a retired officer and former guard of the bank. The evidence against Mr. King wound up being too circumstantial to hold up, yet to coincidental to ignore; like King shaving his mustache after or purchasing a larger security deposit box after the time of the robbery. Ultimately, King was acquitted, and no other suspects could be found.
To this day it remains unsolved, and is officially labeled “cold”.
July 4, 1979, Independence Day - The Outlaw Biker Gang Massacre
The Outlaw Motorcycle Club was a gang that operated out of Charlotte, NC, and by the early 70’s they rose to have a respectable 20 members. The Outlaw Club was pretty accurately named as most their money earned was off of stolen goods and drugs, but the cops still had a hard time making charges stick. Street justice, on the other hand, turns out to be a lot easier.
On a humid July 4th, Outlaw leader, William “Chains” Flamon, returned to the club house to find a grisly scene: William “Water Head” Allen on the porch, Bridgette “Midget” Benfield lying on the couch, with Leonard “Terrible Terry” Henderson, William “Mouse” Dronenberg, and Randall Feazel in the living room - 5 Outlaw members had been shot dead.
For over 30 years, no one was able to find out who did it. Many suspected the Hell’s Angels, but there was no evidence linking them. Eventually, in 2015, police discovered the true killers and their motives, and it was never as complicated as it seemed. Prior to the killing, Gregory Lindaman and Randy Allen Pigg had an altercation with one of the victims. Which one in particular isn’t clear, but what is clear is the unfortunate fact that the other four were just in the wrong place at the wrong time; and in the case of 16-year-old Benfield, with the wrong friends.
As a final twist to the story, since Lindaman and Pigg are both already dead, no one could be brought to justice. All five cases were labeled “death by offender” and closed.
August 14-16, 1908, Victory Day - The Springfield Race Riot
About a month before that fateful night in August, an intruder broke into the home of Clergy Ballard. His daughter was allegedly sexually assaulted and, during the following scuffle, Ballard was “slashed to ribbons”, with the intruder escaping. Soon, following the attack, a black man by the name of Joe James, in town looking for work, was arrested on suspicion and taken to await trial.
Skipping ahead to the late-afternoon of August 14, a woman named Mabel Hallam complains that, two days prior, a black man came into her home, drug her out, and raped her. With not much detail to go on, local police begin scouring around town, eventually coming across a group of black men; including a well-off gentleman named George Richardson. Deciding that the attacker was “probably” among the group, they were gathered and, one by one, marched in front of Hallam, who eventually pointed out Richardson as her attacker. Richardson, a prominent member of the black community, whose grandfather was named as Abraham Lincoln’s barber, was taken and locked up alongside James.
That evening, a crowd of white folks gathered around the jail, demanding to lynch the two. Luckily for them, they were moved prior to the group's arrival, to an undisclosed location. Unluckily, for the rest of the town, that didn’t sit well with the unruly crowd. The National Guard was dispatched, and many of decided to blow off their anger with a drink. Hours later, the mob reconvened, first taking their anger on the volunteer servicemen, and then on the rest of the town. In the end, there were 18 deaths: eight black men by the mob, one black infant due to exposure, five mob participants from the military, and a white participant and witness to the mob, both by suicide; along with 117 indictments.
It was later reported, Richardson was wrongly identified.
September 2, 1991, Labor Day - Youngstown Labor Day Massacre
When the unfortunately named drug dealer William “Flip” Williams Jr., came home to Ohio from being years away, He found his neighborhood a very different place. During his absence, other dealers had moved into his old territory, leaving Williams the option of starting a normal life. Williams did not choose this option.
Instead he opted to go after the rival dealers.
On September 2, Alfonda Madison was at home when Flip’s accomplices, Jessica Cherry, her brother - Dominic - and Broderick Boone, made their way into his home and ambushed him. Signaling Flip through a walkie-talkie, they kidnapped Madison. When Madison's associate, Theodore Wynn Jr., showed up, they took and forced him to call a third rival, William Dent. Dent, arriving with Eric Howard, were quickly overpowered and taken hostage as well. It was then, Williams took it upon himself to strangle Madison and Wynn, shooting all four in the head.
After the bloodshed, Flip managed to escape and hide out. His three accomplices, however, were found, arrested, and taken to the juvenile detention center. Even while hunted, Williams had to option of laying low or running; once again choosing to ignore both of these reasonable options. Instead, he took the road less traveled: showing up to the detention center with the purpose of killing all three before they can testify. Arriving with two men dressed as cops, Flip was able to force his way into the center, taking a receptionist and sheriff’s deputy hostage. Luckily, he was talked out by his mother before anyone was hurt.
Willie Williams was put to death by lethal injection October 25 2005.
October 31, 1993, Halloween - Pasadena Halloween Massacre
When Edgar Evans and his friends, Stephen Coats and Reggie Crawford, went out that Halloween night, they never knew they were going to be the victims of someone else’s mistaken identity.
Several hours before their return from classic trick-or-treating fun, a member from a local gang was left shot. Three fellow members - Lorenzo Newborn, Karl Holmes, and Charles McClain - began riding around with revenge on their minds. The fear of local gang violence had already begun creeping into the minds of the residents within this normally quiet Pasadena neighborhood, but this didn’t stop many children - including Edgar and his friends - from celebrating. While on their way back, Newborn and his cohorts discovered the three kids, among a group, and began firing blindly at them. There was no way to defend themselves.
During the trial, the three offenders were noted flashing gang signs and cursing, having shown no remorse for their mistake. Each of them was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder. McClain was additionally found guilty for the attempted murder of one Robert Price, three days earlier.
Coincidentally, Edgar’s sister, Angel, was stabbed to death October 10, 2015; just 3 weeks shy of the 22-year anniversary.
November 2, 1920, Election Day - Ocoee Massacre
More than just another race riot, the Ocoee massacre was twice as sad by how successful it was. Described as the “single bloodiest day in modern American history”, this one extends from the systematic suppression of black voters by, not the politicians themselves, but the rest of the white constituents.
Race relations has always been tense in the U.S., but frustrations definitely started to rise the three weeks before the election in the small Floridian town. The local KKK took it upon themselves to publicly announce a warning to any black townsfolk planning to vote, and to any white folks caught helping. Prominent black landowners, such as Mose Norman and Julius “July” Perry stepped up to offer assistance to anyone scared to do so. They held voter registration drives, paid poll taxes for anyone who couldn’t, and even managed to publicly get help from Judge John Cheney, who was running for a senate seat. The Klan sent warnings out to them all.
Skipping ahead to election day, and the black turnout Norman and Perry pushed for panned out. Sadly, that’s when the day took a turn for the worst. What started out as simply questioning the credentials of the registered black voters, turned into many being turned, or even pushed, away from the polls. The threat of violence wasn’t worth it, for some, as large groups began getting out of line and going home. Drunk off their "victory", the mob of people began marching up and down the streets, getting more disorderly over time. Finally reaching a boiling point, they decided to go after Norman, before turning their aggression to Perry, and finally the rest of the black community. A fire fight lasted until 4:45 am the next morning, when the last of the black population was driven away. The town members left openly regaled in the victory of their all-white town, and no one of color settled there again until 1981, 61 years later.
December 25, 1929, Christmas Day - The Lawson Family Massacre
A few days before Christmas, somewhere deep in Germanton, NC, a middle-aged sharecropper by the name Charles Lawson decided to dote upon his family. This was a seemingly odd gesture that came out of nowhere, particularly since spending money was quite uncommon for a working-class family during the very start of the great depression, but it WAS right before Christmas. Along with his wife Fannie, and his children - Marie, Arthur, Carrie, Maybell, James, Raymond, and baby Mary Lou - he purchased all new outfits, and posed with them for what would be their final family portrait; each completely unaware of it. All, except Charlie.
On the day of Christmas, he sent his oldest son, Arthur, on an errand, speculating that he would’ve been the one who could’ve fought back against the upcoming horror. Once his teen son was gone, Charlie waited out by the barn, until Carrie and May made their way close enough in range to be shot dead. Strolling up to the home, he shoots his wife as she sits on the front porch, before entering. Marie witnesses all of this and screams for the young boys to hide before being shot herself. lastly, after tracking down James and Ray’s hiding spot, he kills the baby, bludgeoning her. Leaving each of the bodies with their arms crossed, and rocks under their heads, he finally escaped into the woods.
Several hours later, those investigating the scene would hear his last gun shot. Leaning up against a tree, Charlie only had his shotgun and a letter he wrote to his parents on his person. The footprints around the tree indicated that he paced for a while before making his decision.
Motive theories range from a head injury he sustained a month prior, to an alleged incestual relationship between Charlie and Marie. A claim possibly substantiated by Fannie, although no one knows for sure.