As mentioned before, the Voces de la Frontera May Day
March ended at Milwaukee’s Pere Marquette Park.
As we left the park I pointed to Marquette’s statue and said to a
policeman, ”Officer, that man over there doesn’t have documents to prove he is
here legally.” “Sorry Sir,” the policeman replied, “I can’t move that
individual.”
The
Tale of the Historian and Magistrate
Tricia had invited two friends to lunch,
Douglas and Heather Wilson, who were very knowledgeable and especially
interested in local history. Douglas is
a retired solicitor for the city of Todmorden and Heather is a city magistrate.
The Wilsons were delighted to share their
knowledge of the Todmorden story with us.
Neither knew much about Sam Fielden of the Haymarket and welcomed the
opportunity to discuss his autobiography and the history of the Todmorden
Fielden family. Douglas Wilson is
described in a local historical pamphlet as a person with ‘inexhaustible
knowledge of local Parish Registers.’
We exchanged questions and information about
the Fielden family. Both Tricia and
Douglas had ancestors who were Fieldens.
Douglas noted that the first Fielden in the area was Nicholas Fielden of
Pendle who settled in Walsden near Todmorden in the late 1500’s. Douglas Wilson described Nicholas Fielden as
a Grindletonian or a pre-Quaker. Jeremy
Burgoine had told us the Fieldens were Quakers.
Joshua, founder of the Todmorden Cotton Mill and father of ‘Honest John’
was a Quaker, but Douglas Wilson makes a case the Joshua got his religious
principles from his grandfather Nicholas Fielden. According to Douglas Wilson, during the time
of Nicholas Fielden, “The whole Pendle area was a seedbed of non conformity.”
Grindleton is a small village north of Pendle Hill in the Todmorden area. The Grindletonians’ formulating principle was
family love which meant that, according to Douglas Wilson, “Christian
communities should respect no hierarchy either in religion or society. (which)
sounds like Quakerism and Anarchy in its principled form.”
George Fox is considered to be the founder
of the Quakers. He claimed his ‘illumination’
occurred at Pendle Hill. Does ‘illumination’
mean that he learned something talking to the Grindletonians? The Fielden’s
faith commitment is significant because Todmorden is considered a
non-conformist community. Can their
non-conformist reputation be attributed to their Grindletonian and Quaker
roots? Fieldens proudly bore given names
from the Hebrew Bible. Torah, The
Prophets and the Writings emphasize freedom from slavery and government
oppression.
Max Weber’s classic work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism, provides a useful guide in understanding the influence of
religion on the development of capitalism. According to the pioneer sociologist
Max Weber the Quaker insistence on respect for individual conscience, belief in
the ability of the individual to receive direct revelation from God was crucial
to capitalism overcoming mercantilism which was directed by the crown. Quakers also saw government service as
questionable and refused to pay taxes used to support the Church of
England. Strict Quaker moral principles
resulted in their acceptance and trust in the business community. Weber cites Calvinist Benjamin Franklin’s
advise, ‘honesty is the best policy’ as an example of Protestant ethics. Weber explains:
Now,
all Franklin’s moral attitudes are coloured with
Utilitarianism. Honesty is useful, because it assures credit;
so are punctuality, industry, frugality, and
that is the
reason they are virtues.
Do
such people stand above good and evil or are they missing the notion of the
common good and responsibility to future generations?
Sam Fielden was not the first Fielden to
serve time in prison. The Quaker Book of
Suffering dated 1688 reports, John Fielden and fellow Quaker John Whalley:
were both
taken from a Meeting of the People of God who
were mett to worship him at Padeham in
Lancashire and
sent to the house of correction at Preston
in the said county
where they remained eight weeks. (Shore in Stansfield
a Pennine Weaving Community 1660-1750, Worker’s Educational Association,
Todmorden, 1986, p. 48)
Quakers refused the ‘hat honor’ (the custom
of removing one’s hat to social superiors).
Sam related a story about his
brother who refused to doff his cap to a boss and left Mr. Fielden’s
employment.
Thus
must the proletariat bow the knee to the bourgeoisie
or starve, and some people call this liberty
of contract.
There was no work to be had in the town, and
he was
compelled to go on the tramp. (The
Autobiographies of the Haymarket Martyrs, op. cite. P. 144)
Walsden
Cemetery – The Graves of Sam’s Parents
After lunch Douglas and Heather offered to
take us to Walsden were Sam’s father and mother are buried. Again as we drove
to the nearby cemetery we were treated to a view of the beautiful green
landscape of the Pennine Hills area. I
felt connected to the land and the people.
The cemetery grounds were on a hillside just
below the soot blackened Walsden Church of England. Douglas Wilson knew approximately where the
graves were and after a little searching we found the grave of Sam’s father Abraham
Fielden, Alice Fielden, Sam’s mother and Abraham Fielden’s second wife all
buried under the same headstone.
In his death row autobiography Sam wrote
about a visit to his mother’s grave when he returned to Todmorden in 1880.
My
uncle remarked, they have been selling graves between
the graves as the place has filled up, and
crowding the
bodies between the others. I remarked they have crowded us
while we live, and they are not satisfied
but they must follow
us to our graves, and make us move over
there also to satisfy
their greed.(ibid. p. 135)
Douglas Wilson informed us that the non-conformist
act passed shortly before Abraham Fielden’s death made it possible for
dissenters such as Abraham Fielden to be buried in a Church of England
cemetery. The brooding soot covered
Gothic Church of England looked down at the cemetery. The graveyard reminded me
of the Jewish cemetery in Prague where bodies are piled on bodies under a sea
of headstones.
The
Unitarian Church of Todmorden
I felt uncomfortable and alienated as we
headed back towards Todmorden to see the Unitarian Church and the grave of ‘Honest
John’ Fielden. The friendly conversation
of the Wilsons and the beautiful vista provided a cure. A gigantic rainbow appeared and we were
appreciative.
‘Honest John’ has a simple grave site and
marker; Douglas assured us that he wanted it that way. The nearby Unitarian church built by his sons
is another matter.
‘Honest John’ was originally a Quaker but
changed to Methodism, then Methodist Unitarianism. His sons, John, Joshua and Samuel were
Unitarians. In 1864 the three brothers,
wealthy from the textile business, decided to build a classical Gothic church reminiscent
of the great cathedrals of Europe.
Expense was not spared. John
Gibson of London, who designed the Dobroyd Castle and the town hall, was hired
as the architect.
The
church is located on a hill overlooking the town. Its steeple seems to penetrate the
heavens. Early Quakers characterized
such churches, usually Anglican, as ‘steeplehouses.’ The caretaker knew the Wilsons and opened the
building for us. We were amazed. The inside of the church, like the exterior,
looked like a cathedral. Marble pillars, a marble baptismal font, and
beautifully carved choir stalls are unusual in a Unitarian church. There were no symbols of the Trinity to be
seen but otherwise cannons from the Church of England would have felt
comfortable in the building.
The church closed in 1987 and is now owned
by the Historical Chapels Trust which, according to a pamphlet, “has been
established to take into care redundant chapels and other (non-Anglican) places
of worship in England of outstanding architectural and historic interest.”
We drove back to Todmorden and said goodbye
to the Wilsons at their home a short way from our hotel. We expressed our appreciation for their
hospitality, and our admiration for the rich cultural heritage of
Todmorden. Heather commented that Joanne
and I must have an interesting cultural heritage as well. We agreed, and we mentioned our immigrant
ancestors from Germany and Ireland. It
was then I realized that as American working people our heritage also included
Todmorden. The people of Todmorden were
non-conformists. They demanded sovereignty
as did the American revolutionaries.
They were working people that demanded justice as did those of the
American labor movement. I felt I could
claim Sam as one of our own.
(Why do we remember
and march on May Day? “A small percentage of Milwaukee’s fast food
workforce walked off the job this week demanding a greater than 100% increase
in the minimum wage – to $15.00 an hour from Wisconsin’s current $7.25 an hour.” “The striking Milwaukee workers might be well
intended, but they are only fighting the laws of economics – and that’s a fight
they can’t win.” ‘Fight for $15’ protest only fights the future, Michael Saltzman, “Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel,” May 17, 2013, p. 11A)
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