Haymarket Affair Digital Collection

Illinois vs. August Spies et al. trial transcript no. 1
Examination of Charles A. Ludwig (first appearance), 1886 July 2.

Volume D, 343-349, 7 p.
Ludwig, Charles A.
Bookkeeper and salesman for Charles L. Page.

Examination by Mr. Foster. Accepted as a juror in the case of Illinois vs. August Spies et al.


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CHARLES A. LUDWIG.

Mr. FOSTER (Q) What is your name?

A Charles A. Ludwig.

Q Where do you live?

A 4401 South State Street

Q What business are you engaged in?

A Wood mentles.

Q Where is your place of business?

A Charles L. Page, 337 Wabash Avenue.

Q How long have you resided in Cook County?

A About two years.

Q Where did you live before that?

A Leadville, Colorado.

Q You have, I presume, heard and read newspaper accounts of the Haymarket meeting?

A I have.

Q From what you heard and read did you form and express an opinion upon the question of the guilt or innocence of any of these defendants, or of all of them, of the crime of the murder of Matthias J. Degan?

A No, sir, I have not.

Q What papers did you read?

A The Daily News.

Q Is your information derived principally from reading or from conversation?

A All from reading.


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Q You have had no conversation with any one that pretended to know.

A No, sir, I have not.

Q And from what you read you say you did not make up your mind or come to a conclusion upon the question of their guilt of the offense committed at the Haymarket?

A I have not come to any conclusion upon that question

Q Do you know anything about the principles of communism, socialism and anarchism?

A Nothing, no, sir, only what I have read in the Daily News.

Q From what you have read in the News have you formed any prejudice against the class to which I have referred?

A Well, it would seem to me to be a very bad kind of a thing to have around.

Q According to the way the Daily News puts it?

A Yes.

Q Considering that it would be a very bad thing to have around, and considering everything else that you can imagine and think of, do you know of anything that would cause a prejudice in your mind which would prevent you from rendering an impartial verdict in the case under the evidence that was introduced and the charge of the Court?

A I don't know of anything.


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Q How long did you live in Leadville?

A I lived there three years.

Q Where were you raised?

A Chicago.

Q Were you in Chicago until you went to Leadville?

A I was in Chicago four years before I went to Leadville. I was born in Milwaukee.

Q What was your business before you went to Leadville?

A I was at school.

Q What is your age?

A 27.

Q What was your business in Leadville?

A Hardware and dry goods.

Q Working in a store for somebody else?

A Yes.

Q You did not become a practical miner while you were out there?

A Yes, somewhat.

Q You went prospecting?

A I have prospected, yes.

Q Have you sat on a jury?

A Yes.

Q Where?

A In Buena Vista, Colorado.

Q Was it a criminal case that you sat on?

A As I remember it was a case where a lawyer desired to get his fees from a woman whose case he tried.

Q It was in a regular court--a legitimate judge that had been elected on a bench?

A Yes.


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Q Did you ever belong to any labor union?

A No sir.

Q Have you any feeling against the organization of labor unions?

Q No; I don't know that I have.

Q You have no objection to it?

A No sir.

Q That is, in so far I mean as they are legally organized and have not for their object the violation of the law?

A Yes.

Q Then you certainly would not object to them?

A I certainly would not.

Q You do not condemn a principle or a man because you do not concur in his ideas; provided he is not contending for the violation of the law?

A Certainly not.

Q Are you a man of family?

A No sir.

Q You are not a married man?

A No sir.

Q Do you reside with your parents?

A I keep house with my mother.

Q Have you any religious affiliations?

A Yes, I am a member of the Immanuel Baptist Church.

Q How long have you been a member of that church?

A I have been a member for about eight months.


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Q I believe you said you were not acquainted with any of the police force of the city?

A I am not acquainted with any of them.

Q Or of any of the city officials in the police department?

A No sir.

Q Or any of the detective force of the city of Chicago that you know of?

A No, not that I know of.

Q What did you say you were doing in Chicago before you went to Leadville?

A I was off at school. My folks lived here and I was at Beloit.

Q Since you have been a man of years you have either been in Leadville or here in your present business?

A I have been in the western country at different points and in Chicago.

Q You were west for three years?

A I was west for six years.

Q You were at Leadville three years?

A I was at Leadville three years and the rest of the time I was at Colorado Springs and Buena Vista.

Q Who do you work for on Wabash Avenue?

A Charles L. Page.

Q What did you say was his business?

A Wood mantles.


[Image, Volume D, Page 348]

Q Are you a salesman for him or are you a workman?

A I am book keeper and salesman.

Q You don't put the mantles in place?

A No sir.

Q How many employes does Mr. Page have?

A Well, he usually has about ten or twelve.

Q Did you ever have any experience with strikes?

A Not until this year. We had experience with this last strike.

Q In what way have you been affected?

A I have been affected in this way, that the strikes have shut up the factories and we were unable to get any work out of them.

Q Unable to get lumber?

A Unable to produce any wood designs.

Q Your men were not striking?

A Our men were not, but others that furnished the supplies.

Q But your employer, as I understand, does not carry on in these factories?

A No sir, he does not.

Q He simply manufactures the mantels after he receives the supplies?

A The mantles are manufactured and we place them in the houses.


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Q You have nothing to do with the manufacture of them?

A Nothing whatever.

Q You buy them, re-sell them and place them?

A Yes.


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