Contents

Articles
90

The Spy Who Came in from the Coalfield: A British Spy in Illinois
Joseph Clark

107

The 1847 Harbor and River Convention at Chicago and the Politics of
Internal Improvement
Joel Stone

133

Image Makers, Picture Takers: Illinois Women Photographers, 1850-1900

Margaret Denny

Book Reviews
151

Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: The Observations if John G. Nicolay and John Hay, by
Bruce Tap

152

Dirck, Lincoln the LaU!J1er, by Roger D. BillingsJr.

154

Craughwell, Stealing lincoln's Body, by Beverly A. Smith

155

Masters, Governor Henry Horner, Chicago Politics, and the Great Depression, by Justin
P. Coffey

157

Warren, Tzed to the Great Packing Machine: The Midwest and Meatpacking, by
J;homas J. Jablonsky

158

Cayton and Gray, The Identity

by Vernon L. Volpe

159

Frost, I've Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale

Paul A. Shackel

160

Walker, Style & Status: Selling Beauty to African American J#Jmen, 1920-1975, by
Dennis B. Downey

162

Dodson, The Poet and the Sailor: The Story if A{y Friendship with Carl Sandburg, by
James Hurt

163

McCarter, Frank Lloyd

W~ht,

if the American Midwest: Essays on Regional History,

if the Underground Railroad, by

by Michael E. Long

Journal of Illinois History. Volume 10 Number 2 Summer 2007

The Spy Who Came in from the Coalfield

A British Spy in Illinois
JOSEPH CLARK

A furious storm raged as Henri Le Caron entered the witness box at the Royal
Courts of Justice in London on the fateful and cold morning of February 5, 1889.
What a fitting backdrop for his emergence from obscurity. For by the end of the
day even his long-abandoned given name of Thomas Miller Beach would be
resurrected and repeated on the news wires traveling around the world. He was
about to become an international object of fascination for the astounding
revelations he would make before a special English commission, commonly known
as the Parnell Commission, I which challenged the movement for Ireland's liberty.
His accusations against the Irish nationalist organizations and the men behind
them endangered lives and threatened to derail Ireland's quest for independence
from England, for the "Prince of Spies," as he was later dubbed,2 was spilling the
secrets of their organizations. The repercussions would reverberate on two
continents. His notoriety was instantaneous, and his testimony would shortly
trigger a chain of events in Chicago that culminated in a murder dubbed the
"Crime of the Century.,,3

john MacDonald, Diary qf the Parnell Commission: Revised.from "The Daily News" (London: T. Fisher
Unwin, 1890), 120.
~illiam O'Brien and Desmond Ryan, eds., Devoy's Post Bag, 1871-1928: Volume II, 1880-1928
{Dublin: C.]. Fallon, 1953),46.
3Henry M. Hunt, The Crime qf the Century; or, The Assassination qf Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin: A Complete
and Authentic History qf the Greatest qf Modern Conspiracies (Chicago: H. L. & D. H. Kochersperger, 1889),
473.
Joseph Clark was born in the historic Pullman community of Chicago and is a resident of Lockport,
Illinois. He is pursuing a degree in American history at the School for New Learning at DePaul
University.
90

HENRI LE CARO

The day after Le Caron's testimony, the foremost newspapers of the world
would trumpet in bold headlines that Le Caron had been a spy operating for the
British government inside the U nited States. Taken aback by the controversy were
residents of Braidwood, Wilmington, Lockport, J oliet, and Chicago, who knew
only of this "Prince of Spies" as Dr. H enri Le Caron.4 Le C aron had spent twentytwo years in Illinois living a dual life.
To many he was known as a resourceful country doctor who had spent the
better part of his time living in Will County in the wild Illinois mining town of
Braidwood. While immersed in the international intrigue of his spy calling, Le
Caron lived a laudable life serving as a community leader in Braidwood, where he
served as an elected supervisor of Reed Township, ran for a seat in the Illinois
General Assembly, participated in local Catholic church activities (although he was
not Catholic), and was engaged in local school-board issues and Board of H ealth
tasks. H e was an active member in good standing of the Will County M edical
Society. Representing the State of Illinois, Le Caron attended the 1883 National
Sanitary Convention in Jackson, Mississippi. H e operated pharmacies in

<
'The His/my qf Will County, Illinois (Chicago: Wm. Le BaronJr., 1878), 757.

92

JOURNAL OF ILLINOIS HISTORY

Braidwood and Braceville to serve the expanding mining area and later opened a
pharmacy in Chicago to serve the growing immigrant population. Skills earlier
honed while employed as a medical attendant at the Illinois State Penitentiary at
Joliet led to his eventual appointment as the fourth president of the Illinois
Pharmaceutical Association, an organization that he helped establish. 5 His actions
in the aftermath of the Diamond Mine Disaster-with seventy-four deaths, one of
the worst coal-mine disasters in Illinois history-were recorded as daring; his
efforts to promote relief for the families of the victims of the disaster through fundraising likewise fostered recognition. 6
To his British Home Office handler7 and Canadian intelligence officials8 he was
a source of information in an ongoing battle with the forces of Irish revolution in
the United States and Ireland who had declared war on Great Britain. Le Caron
curried favor with all the important figures connected with the American faction
of the Irish movement to free Ireland from British dominion. He was instrumental
in supplying information that thwarted invasions of Canada in 1866 and 1870 by
members of the Fenian Brotherhood, a revolutionary movement supporting
Ireland's independence. Intelligence supplied by Le Caron also derailed an 1871
raid into the western Canadian province of Manitoba by a Fenian party in support
of a local uprising. 9 Additionally, his information took on grave importance to the
British in the 1880s as a terror dynamite campaign was mounted by Irish
American agents in England. 10
While traveling in Paris in 1858 or 1859, Thomas Beach, always the adventurer,
became intrigued with the looming war in the United States. Leaving France after
the firing on Fort Sumter, Beach returned to England and took passage on the SS
Great Eastern for the voyage to America. Primarily out of curiosity, he wished to
experience the war firsthand. He adopted the name Henri Le Caron and joined
the Union Army. Wounded in battle, he recuperated in a hospital camp at

5Proceedings rif the 4th Annual Meeting rif the Illinois Pharmaceutical Association Held at Chicago (Chicago:
Marsh, 1883).
6For an account of the Diamond Mine, see John S. Lord, Statistics rif Coal Production in Illinois, 1883
(Springfield, Ill.: H. W. Rokker, 1883), 97-107. The Coal City Public Library Web site
(http://coalcity.lib.il. us/ coalmining/pages/ diamond/ diamondminevictims.html) lists seventy-four
deaths; other historical accounts have ranged from sixty-eight to eighty. For Le Caron at the mine,
see "The Spy is Dead," Joliet News, Apr. 3, 1894; Diamond Mine Wuiows' and Orphans Relief Committee:
Report and Proceedings {Braidwood, lli.: Braidwood Gazette, 1883),5.
7Robert Anderson, Sidelights on the Home Rule Movement {London: John Murray, 1906),5-6.
8Gilbert McMicken, June 8, 1868, Volume 241, Reel C1666, pp. 107057-60, Sir John A.
MacDonald Fonds (MG 26-A), Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
9See McMicken, The Abortive Fenian Raid on Manitoba: Account by One Who Knew Its Secret History: A
Paper Read bifore the Socie!J, May 11, 1888, Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba, Transaction
No. 32 (Winnipeg: Manitoba Free Press, 1888).
IOHenri Le Caron, Twen!J-jive Years in the Secret Service: The Recollections rif a Spy {London: William
Heinemann, 1892),217.

HENRI LE CARON

93

Johnsonville, Tennessee. There, Le Caron made the acquaintance of Charles

Bacon, the regimental surgeon for the 13th U.S. Colored Cavalry, for which Le
Caron was a lieutenant. Bacon had settled in Lockport, illinois, in 1858, initially
entering the Union army as a captain of Company C of the 1DOth illinois Infantry.
Le Caron also met Irish immigrant John O'Neill-an officer in a sister unit, the
17th U.S. Colored Cavalry-while in Tennessee. During the Union occupation,
Tennessee in general and Nashville in particular were hotbeds of Fenianism.
O'Neill and others contemplated war strategy toward British North America in
the postbellum period. O'Neill knew Le Caron as a European enlistee presumably
of French descent. Through O'Neill, Le Caron became an oath-bound member
of the brotherhood in 1865 and became privy to the Canadian invasion plans of
the Fenians. Le Caron wrote back to his father in Colchester, England, with details
of the conspiracy. Le Caron's father,JohnJoseph Billis Beach, communicated the
letters to the local Member of Parliament (MP). Relayed to the Home Office by
the MP, the information was revealing and important. Le Caron was mustered out
of the army on January 10, 1866. 11
Le Caron soon moved his wife NannieJ. Melvin, whom he had met outside of
Nashville while on a scouting excursion in 1862/ 2 and their first-born son Henry
Jr. to Lockport. Le Caron took ajob as a porter for $8 per week with Lockport's
largest employer, Norton and Company, a grain-related commercial enterprise
founded during the late 1830s by Canadian emigrant Hiram Norton. Le Caron
began studying medicine in 1867 with Bacon, and took formal classes at Chicago
Medical College in 1868 and 1869. 13
As early as four months before the first Canadian invasion, Harper's ffiek?JI was
trumpeting the Fenian excursion as being "baffled before it fairly begins.,,14 The
invasion of Canada onJune 1, 1866, at Ridgeway, Ontario, ended in defeat, but
had as its hero GeneralJohn O'Neill. O'Neill subsequently became the president
of the Fenian Brotherhood. 15 He used his contacts in the Chicago area to establish
his friend Le Caron among the local Fenians with the hope that Le Caron's
demonstrative personality would benefit the brotherhood. 16
Le Caron traveled back to England for the first time since his emigration to
America in the autumn of 1867. While there, the Colchester district MP, John
Gurdon Rebow, was interested in meeting the informant. Contentious tenant laws,
a rebellion against the established church in Ireland, and a desire for independence

IlSamuel Bates, History of the Pen1l.D'lvania Volunteers, 1861-5 (Harrisburg, Pa.: B. Singerly, 1869),
912.
12Le Caron, 19.
13"The Spy is Dead"; History of Will Coun!Jl, 757; Le Caron, 41.
14"Fenianism," Harper's Weekly 10 (1866): 82.
15William D'Arcy, The Fenian Movement in the United States: 1858-1886 (Washington, D.C.: Catholic
University of America Press, 1947),279.
16"The Spy is Dead."

94

JOURNAL OF ILLINOIS HISTORY

based on the American model fueled the Fenian's threats against the English
government in Ireland and England. An explosion at Clerkenwell Prison triggered
by Fenians on December 13, 1867, created wide-scale panic in England and grave
concerns about the directions and motivations of Fenianism. Le Caron was
formally asked to operate as a secret agent of the British government. At heart, Le
Caron identified his decision as a patriotic act. 17 Robert Anderson, a veteran police
official of Irish background, was to become his exclusive contact and handler for
the British government.
Le Caron returned to found a Fenian circle in Lockport in late 1867 or early
1868. Privy to Fenian plans, Le Caron could report directly to the British officials
activities of the Irish nationalist O'Neill. He took on a dual role of gathering
recruiting information for the Fenian Brotherhood and, in turn, mailing the
information to Anderson. Le Caron would soon make important contacts in
Chicago, a stronghold of Fenian politics and the home of the "action" or war
party. A very powerful branch of the Fenian Brotherhood was established in
Chicago in 1861 by Michael Scanlan. It was a measure of Chicago Fenian
Brotherhood strength that its first national convention was held in Chicago in
1863. 18 The "action" party had promoted the invasion and conquest of Canada as
a bargaining chip for Ireland's freedom. By the middle of 1868 fresh plans were
made to invade Canada. Anderson passed on to Gilbert McMicken, chief of the
Canadian Western Frontier Constabulary, the name of Le Caron. Le Caron would
become McMicken's best agent, a secret agent for the Canadian government. 19
But Le Caron had to make a legitimate living. When Bacon became the hospital
physician at the Illinois State Penitentiary at Joliet in 1868, student Le Caron was
his choice as hospital steward. Bacon and Le Caron came into the prison as the
State of Illinois took sole possession of the property and administration of the
penitentiary. There had been previous hospital stewards, most of them prisoners,
but Le Caron was the first hospital steward at Joliet under the authority of the
State of illinois. 20 Although the State of illinois had been sending prisoners to the
penitentiary for years, a private group with strong ties to the Democratic Party had
been running the prison. With the change in political winds after the Civil War, the
private group was out of office and out of the penitentiary.

17Le Caron, 37-38. See also R. Storry Deans, Notable Trials: Romances of the Law Courts (London:
Cassell, 1906), 48-49.
18Michael P. Mallaney, "The Fenian Movement in Illinois during the Civil War Period,
1861-1868" (M.A. thesis, Eastern Illinois University, 1975),72-82.
l'McMicken,June 15, 1868, Volume 241, Reel C1666, pp. 107074-76, Sir John A. MacDonald
Fonds.
20Le Caron, 41.

95

HENRI LE CARON

Bacon decried the conditions found at the prison. The sewer system was
stagnant, with standing water in the cooper shop. A low slough located at the
southeast corner of the prison grounds compounded health problems. The BaconLe Caron medical staff started work at the penitentiary in the midst of a typhoid
epidemic with eight prisoners having already fatally succumbed to the disease. 21
In his autobiography, Twenty-five Years in the Secret Service, Le Caron tells how he
had to leave employment at the prison when O'Neill called for him to come to
New York. 22 The time for the next invasion of Canada was at hand, and his work
in preparation for the campaign was needed. Accounts published later stated that
he had been released from employment at the prison due to irregularities not
clearly defined. 23
In 1869, in the midst of war preparations, the Le Carons relocated from
Lockport to Wilmington, about thirty miles southwest along the Kankakee River.
With an expanding family that then included a daughter, Ida, the Le Carons took
up residence on Wilmington's main street, Water Street. Le Caron was receiving
pay from Canada for services, but the expense of a large family, continued medical
studies, and relocation to a new community, along with Fenian activities and spy
work, was taking a financial toll. Knowing fully of his involvement, his wife was his
greatest confidant and supporter throughout the difficult times. 24
Le Caron had a well-defined role in the second major invasion of Canada by
the Fenians. He was in charge of placing ordnance, "fifteen thousand stands of
arms and almost three million rounds of ammunition,,,25 along what was
designated as the eastern district of the front. The New York and Brooklyn
Brigades were placed under his command, and Le Caron purposely sidetracked
them from arriving to the front in time to assist O'Neill at Eccles Hill, Quebec. His
detailed reports to McMicken guaranteed that the impending invasion would be
frustrated. The Canadians had amassed a superior force, and the second invasion
was ended before it started. 26 After being debriefed in Canada by McMicken, Le
Caron trekked back to Illinois satisfied in his accomplishment.
While not a Catholic, Le Caron attended the Catholic church to better meld
with the Irish. He took part in services at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in
Wilmington, drawing particular delight in singing with the choir. In 1871
Wilmington's People's Advocate reported the events on St. Patrick Day as one of

--------------

Illinois State Penitentiary: Reports qf the Commissioners, Warden, Chaplain, and P1!Ysician for the Years
1867-8 (Springfield, Ill.: State Journal, 1869), 125-28.
22Le Caron, 53.
23"The Spy Le Caron," Joliet Daily Press, Feb. 8, 1889.
24Mrs. Nannie Le Caron, Jan. 19, 1869, Volume 242, Reel C1667, pp. 107821-22, Sir John A.
MacDonald Fonds.
25Le Caron, 74.
26"Le Caron Known in Brooklyn," Brooklyn Eagle (N.Y), Feb. 11, 1889, p. 6, col. 6.
21

96

JOURNAL OF ILLINOIS HISTORY

honoring former pastor Father John McMullen, later the first Bishop of
Davenport, Iowa. Of note in the article was mention of Le Caron as a doctor,
although he had not finished his formal training. The recognition by the press
reflected the position of prominence he had attained as a leader at St. Rose
Church and in the community.27 During that year, along with the celebration of
the birth of a second daughter, Gertrude, Le Caron would make one last foray into
military action. O'Neill planned a raid in support of Louis Riel and the metis
people of Manitoba, although O'Neill did not have the backing of the Fenian
Brotherhood. O'Neill once again recruited the assistance of Le Caron for
armament preparation, revealing the complete raid plan in the process.
McMicken, now head of the Canadian Dominion police, personally took charge
of the response to O'Neill's border excursion. With the knowledge of logistics
supplied by Le Caron, O'Neill was once again immediately disarmed at the
border.28
With the Fenian movement in shambles, Le Caron determined that it was time
to complete his medical degree. He resumed his studies at the Detroit Medical
College and shadowed suspected revolutionaries at the request of the Canadian
police. He received his diploma on March 10, 1872,29 and jumped into his practice
in Wilmington with verve, frequently advertising in the local newspaper. 30
With the expeditions behind them, Le Caron would entertain Fenian leader
O'Neill while he was on lecture tours. The Wilmington Advocate reported on one
such visit when O'Neill addressed the public at the Empire Hall in Wilmington on
the subject of the state of the Irish revolutionary movement in America and the
reasons for its recent defeats. Coincidently, on the same page directly across from
the announcement was an advertisement for the services of Henri Le Caron,
M.D.3J
By 1873 the next town to the south of Wilmington was flourishing. Braidwood
was robust with all the activity and attraction of a boomtown. A national recession
failed to hinder that progress as mining in the area along the edge of what is
known as the Colchester field was at a peak. Le Caron transplanted his expanding
practice, good reputation, and growing family (a new son, William, was born in

27"St. Patrick's Day," Peoples Advocate (Wilmington), Mar. 18, 1871. p. 2, co1s. 2-3.
28See McMicken, The Abortive Fenian Raid on Manitoba.
29Index, Physicians Register, Book 2, No. 1828, p. 6, Register of Licensed Physicians and
Surgeons (RG 208.028), Department of Registration and Education, illinois State Archives,
Springfield.
30Sidney Lee, ed., Dictionary qf National Biography (New York: Macmillan Company, 1901), 152.
31"Generaljohn O'Neill, of Fenian Note," Wilmington Advocate, Oct. 26, 1872, p. 2, col. 4; "H.
LeCaron, M.D.," ibid., col. 5.

HENRI LE CARON

97

1873). He soon transferred his medical office to a pharmacy set up next to the
entrance to Braidwood's main mine. The local press reported favorably of his
practice, with admiring coverage of a cancer operation, the treatment of mining
accident victims, and his life-saving action in a swimming mishap.32
On February 14, 1875, Le Caron was invited to become a charter member of
Phil Kearney Post Number 38 of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). Along
with Dan McLaughlin, the future mayor of Braidwood and later an American
Federation of Labor vice president under Samuel Gompers, and Robert Huston,
future Braidwood postmaster and sheriff of Will County, Le Caron would join
numerous other local dignitaries in establishing the GAR post. 33 But Huston, in
particular, would make Le Caron's life much more interesting in the future.
Le Caron's gregarious manner and community involvement led him to enter
the local political arena. In 1875, running on the Liberal Reform ticket, Le Caron
beat out the town's namesake, James Braidwood, for the position of Reed
Township supervisor. Trounced in the race at the bottom of the heap was
McLaughlin running on a "Bolters" ticket. Le Caron had advanced to a pinnacle
position in the community almost overnight. 34
Following a successful year in office, Le Caron found the press strongly
endorsing him for another turn, praising his performance throughout. 35 But the
closely contested 1876 election was mired in controversy. A riot had broken out
that involved the smashing of ballot boxes and brandishing of pistols by marshals.
The Wilmington Advocate declared that conflicting reports made pinpointing the
blame nearly impossible. The Advocate stated the causes of the election riot as
religious bigotry and political polarity.36 Later accounts written pinned the blame
on Le Caron for leading, organizing, and inciting the destruction of the ballots and
boxes. 37
Le Caron's family continued to grow with the birth of his daughter, May, in
1878. In November of the same year, he ran for state representative on the
Democratic ticket, only to have his ambitions derailed. Hailed by the Wilmington
Advocate as a "tried and true friend of labor" and "organized companies" and a
"true greenback man," Le Caron had strong support throughout the county. But
the "little doctor," as he was fondly referred to, could not pull off an election
victory. At a later date, a run for mayor against one of the officers of the Eureka
Coal Mining Company, Mr. Seeley, was frustrated by McLaughlin, who by that
time had become an area power broker. 38

32Ibid., Apr. 5, 1873, p. 3, col. 2, May 31, 1873, p. 3, col. 3, Aug. 22, 1873, p. 3, col. 2.
33"G.A.R.," ibid., Dec. 17, 1875, p. 3, col. 3.
34Ibid., Apr. 9, 1875, p. 2, cols. 5-6.
35Ibid., Mar. 31, 1876, p. 3, col. 4.
36"Mob Violence," ibid., Apr. 14, 1876, p. 2, col. 4.
37"The Spy is Dead."
38 Wilmington Advocate, Nov. 1, 1878.

ALEXANDER SULLIVAN

Le Caron's spying career took on new importance with his association vvith
Chicagoan Alexander Sullivan, who helped Le Caron gain entry into the successor
organization of the Fenian Brotherhood, the Clan na Gael. The Clan na Gael was
a secret society founded in approximately 1868 in New York. Incorporating
elements of the Fenian Brotherhood with advanced tactical strategy, the Clan's
major way of achieving their ends was fund-raising in the United States and by a
new policy unifying Irish and American overt and covert activity.39
In Ireland, pro-British old establishment Irish political affairs were yielding to
calls for Irish self-rule, and Le Caron would interact with its leaders. That
movement centered on Charles Stewart Parnell, an Irish MP who was also a
Protestant and a landowner. 4o Parnell's work was strengthened by Michael Davitt,
a leader of the Land League, which was pushing for agrarian relief through the
ending of landlord domination .'~l A third influential member,John D evoy, worked

39William O 'Connor Morris, Ireland: 1798- 1898 (London: A. D. Innes, 1898), 264-65; John T
McEnnis, The Clan-Na-Gael and the Murder qf D): Cronin (Chicago: E]. Schulte and ]. W. Iliff, 1889).
'IOSee Robert M. McWade, The Uncrowned King: The Life and Public Services qf Han. Charles Stewart
ParneLL (Philadelphia: Edgewood, 1891).
'1IDavitt, The Fall qf Feudalism in Ireland, or, The St01Y qf the Land League Revolution (New York: Harper
& Brothers, 1904), 124-28.

HENRI LE CARON

99

behind the scenes. He was a revolutionary leader of the Clan na Gael who saw
merit in linking with Parnell and Davitt to increase the pressure on the British
presence in Ireland, with the goal of ending English rule in Ireland. 42 Together the
three established what became known as the New Departure, a movement that
employed overt and covert activity to achieve their ends, including a dynamite
terror campaign.
In 1880 Le Caron became the treasurer of the Braidwood branch number one
of the American Land League. 43 The Land League, active in both Ireland and
America, promoted the tenure of Irish lands by those who worked them, the Irish
farmer. As a political movement, it was viewed by the Clan na Gael as an
instrument for furthering revolutionary ends. The Clan na Gael issued a directive
that the leadership should join the Land League and infiltrate the organization,
which provided new opportunities for the spy Le Caron.
On August 4, 1880, Davitt, while promoting the Land League in the Midwest,
stopped at Braidwood. Exhausted, hoarse, and under the weather, Davitt was
befriended by Le Caron, who gave him treatment and medication for his
condition. 44 Davitt later commented at the Special Parnell Commission that "the
spy's medicine had done him good!,,45
By 1881 Le Caron had become president of the Braidwood Land League
branch. He was host to Devoy while Devoy was on a Land League lecture tour
through Braidwood. Devoy was considered the soul of the Irish revolutionary
movement throughout the last half of the nineteenth century. Devoy had supper
with Le Caron in Le Caron's apartment over his second Braidwood drugstore at
91 Main Street. In the course of conversation, Le Caron emphasized the most
radical revolutionary points to gain favor. Later, in comments to the press during
the Special Parnell Commission, Devoy highlighted Le Caron's extreme stance
and vocal attack on Parnell and accused him of being an agent provocateur.4{i
During the week of August 3, 1881, the Clan na Gael gathered at Chicago's
Palmer House. Moderation was shunned, and the vote was for dynamite. A terror
campaign that would catch the world by surprise was on the horizon. During the
convention Le Caron came under scrutiny about his loyalty for purportedly
revealing the meeting's activities to the press,47 but he managed to deflect the
accusations.

42Terry Golway, Irish Rebel. John Devoy and America's Fightfor Ireland's Freedom (New York: St. Martin's
Press, 1998), 104.
43,'A Traitor to the Cause," Chicago Tribune, Feb. 7, 1889, p. 1, cols. 1-2, p. 5, col. I.
Moody, Davitt and Irish Revolution, 1846-82 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1984), 402.
45F. Sheehy-Skeffington, Michael Davitt: Revolutionary, Agitator and Labour Leader (London: T. Fisher
Unwin, 1908), 113.
46"He Remembers Le Caron," Chicago Tribune, Feb. 7, 1889, p. 5, cols. 1-2.
47"He Got British Gold," Chicago Herald, Feb. 9, 1889. p. 6, cols. 4--5.

-r. w.

100

JOURNAL OF ILLINOIS HISTORY

Neighbors and friends noticed Le Caron's frequent absences from Braidwood.

Some were related to lobbying for an Illinois pharmacy bill. Pharmacists were
increasingly under fire to police their profession. By codifying their practice,
pharmacists could legitimize their profession and guarantee more uniformity of
service and product. 48 Le Caron's lobbying for the bill was rewarded in 1883 when
he was chosen as the fourth president of the Illinois Pharmaceutical Association.
He had been vice president the previous year. During his tenure as president Le
Caron grappled with the legitimization of the profession, and such issues as the
sale of alcohol, the status of pharmacy staff, the responsibility of administering
pharmaceutical educational institutions, and the realities of a pharmacy as a
commercial enterprise. His advocacy of commercial freedom for licensed
pharmacists, while reining in the rogue medicine men, established a pattern that
was continued after his tenure.
Another reason for his absence from Braidwood was a European trip that took
him to Paris, London, and Ireland. With letters of introduction from Devoy,
infamous later as sealed packets of questionable information, Le Caron became
acquainted in Paris with Patrick Egan, then treasurer of the Irish Land League.
Mter a short stay in Paris, Le Caron received what would be the crowning
achievement of his secret work: Egan presented a letter of introduction for Le
Caron to meet MP Charles Stewart Parnell, the head of the Irish movement. The
spy Le Caron would meet the "Uncrowned King" of Ireland. 49
The 1881 interview with Parnell provided Le Caron with the impression that
Parnell, while projecting a public persona of constitutional, open, and legal
orthodoxy, was in actuality a revolutionary at heart. 50 Le Caron thought that
Parnell was secretly condoning the use of violence in the overthrow of the British
government in Ireland. Shortly after, an assassination of British officials in
Dublin's Phoenix Park shifted Parnell's political relationships away from the New
Departure.
Back in Braidwood, a new postmaster was assigned in 1882. Robert Huston was
a fellow GAR member and political rival of Le Caron. Huston discovered money
orders and bank drafts from the Bank of England addressed to Le Caron. Le
Caron explained that the money was from an estate, and he brushed off criticism
as the work of political enemies. 51 Le Caron could not allow himself to be visibly
rattled by the accusations. By then the Le Caron family was well established in
Braidwood, with friends and a flourishing social life. He had a new son, Charles,
to attend to. Along with Dr. Moon of Lockport, he was operating a third

Proceedings qf the 4th Annual Meeting qf the Illinois Pharmaceutical Association.

490'Brien and Ryan, 80--88; McWade.
50"The Special Commission," London TImes, Feb. 6, 1889, p. 7, cols. 1-6.
51"The Spy Le Caron."
48

HENRI LE CARON

101

pharmacy in the nearby mining community of Braceville. He also took another

doctor on as an associate: Dr. Wade, a graduate of Bellevue and a fellow
Englishman. 52
On February 9, 1883, the Wilmington Advocate announced the sale of the
Braceville drugstore to Dr. McMann of Gardner. 53 With money collected from the
sale, Le Caron took a trip to New York City. In his absence occurred the most
catastrophic disaster in Will County mining history and one of the worst in Illinois
history at the Diamond Coal Mine, just outside Braidwood at the Will-Grundy
County border. 54 Floodwaters unexpectedly poured into the mine, killing 74 of the
185 men below ground. 55
It would take thirty-eight days of relentless pumping of putrid sludge water
before the mine became accessible. The rubber-suited search party descended into
the mine, carrying lamps, and with coverings on their faces. Along with the smell
of decay, poisonous gases known as "black damp" were emanating from the pit.
The footings, walls, and ceiling were poised to cave in at any given moment. 56
Shifting of rock and ceiling beams made recovery dangerous, and the mission was
aborted after bringing only twenty-eight bodies to the surface. 57
The Joliet News reported that Le Caron was one of the members of the recovery
party. He was referred to as a daredevil for his disregard for personal safety. With
the precarious shifting infrastructure presenting a constant threat, the heroic
efforts of those who went into the creaking mine at the time were beyond any
doubt. 58 The Diamond Relief Committee, of which Le Caron was a member,
provided support to the families. 59
Le Caron's secret work took on new importance when the Clan na Gael
leadership shifted to his acquaintance Alexander Sullivan, who was now a lawyer
and head of a Chicago patronage machine that influenced city Democratic and
Republican politics. 60 Le Caron would accompany Egan and Sullivan on a trip to
Milwaukee regarding the name change of the American Land League to the Irish
National League on March 26, 1883. 61 The discussion centered on how the name
change would affect the strategy and tactics of that organization and the Clan na
Gael. By the end of 1883 the Clan na Gael had split into two factions, with the
"bolters" under Devoy challenging Sullivan's group. Sullivan's group was now
being referred to as the United Sons.

52"Braidwood," Wilmington Advocate, Oct. 13, 1882, p. 2, col. 3.

53Ibid., Feb. 9, 1883, p. 2, col. 3.
54"Shocking: 70 Miners Drowned Like Rats in a Hole," Brooklyn Eagle, Feb. 17, 1883.
55"The Mine Horror," Wilmington Advocate, Feb. 22, 1883, p. 2, cols. 3-4.
56,'A Sad Search," Chicago Tribune, Mar. 23, 1883, p. 9, col. 1.
57 "Light of Day," Joliet Daily Republican and Sun, Mar. 24,1883, p. 1, col. 7; "The Pit of Woe," ibid.,
Mar. 27, 1883, p. 1, cols. 6-7.
5s"The Spy is Dead."

Diamond Mine Widows' and Orphans Reliif Committee.

59

6Michael F. Funchion, Chicago's Irish Nationalists, 1881-1890 (New York: Arno Press, 1976), 45.
61"Braidwood," Wilmington Advocate, Jun. 8, 1883, p. 2, col. 5.

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JOURNAL OF ILLINOIS HISTORY

By late September 1883 the secret dynamite war against England was in full
swing. The following December, William Mackay Lomasney, a bookseller and a
former editor of the T#1stern Catholic, would be blown to oblivion along with a crew
of "dynamitards" in an unsuccessful attempt to bring down the London Bridge.
Lomasney was the individual Le Caron had been shadowing in Detroit while he
was finishing his medical degree in the early 187 Os.
With the upswing in the secret dynamite war against England, scrutiny at
Braidwood concerning his activities and loyalties, the increase in the size of his
family, and the maturity of his children, Le Caron decided to move to Chicago,
closer to the growing intrigue of the competing Irish revolutionary factions. Le
Caron was busy with his drugstore at 378 Blue Island Avenue and with attempts
to gain entrance to the Chicago Democratic machine. 62 It appears he did not
advance much outside of ward politics. He also spied on his Irish revolutionary
neighbors, in particular Sullivan, Patrick Cronin, and William]. Clingen.
Clingen was a principal conduit of information to Le Caron. Clingen had been
deployed by the military during the 1863 draft riot in New York City as a National
Guard captain. Having been with O'Neill in 1866 at Ridgeway, Clingen's Fenian
credentials were impeccable. He had been appointed a Fenian organizer at the
same time as Le Caron in 1868. While Le Caron was in charge of ordnance
placement for the eastern front during the 1870 Canadian invasion, Clingen had
the same duty for the western district. That experience alone would cement their
relationship. It was through Clingen that Le Caron was informed of the existence
of the Clan na Gael. Clingen was a captain in the Clan na Gael guard. Arriving
in Chicago in the early 1870s, Clingen became steeped in Chicago politics and
knew all the behind-the-scenes leaders, in particular perhaps the strongest,
Sullivan.
Clingen had acted as a perfect cover for Le Caron. It was he who had
introduced Devoy to Le Caron in 1881, when Devoy presented an introduction to
Egan. Le Caron had hoped Clingen might assist his transition to the Chicago
political scene. Clingen's late troubles and early death put an end to that idea. He
was a Chicago Harrison Street police court official and second-ward political
operative during the 1870s and 1880s, but his career was spoiled by scandal at the
end of his life. The Chicago Tribune obituary maintained: "In his official capacity he
came in contact with the dive-keepers and used them in the interest of the
Democratic party. ,,63 Clingen was tried for swelling the registry in the 1884 election
but was acquitted. It was later discovered that he had embezzled money from the
court. The controversy at Clingen's passing-that he might have faked his deathwas addressed in a letter to the Chicago Tribune on September 16, 1886, by Le
Caron. His death was a great loss for Le Caron, personally and professionally.64

62"Dr. Le Caron as a Politician," Chicago Tribune, Feb. 7, 1889, p. 5, col. 1.

63"Death of William]. C1ingen," ibid., Sept. 9, 1886, p. 1, col. 6.
64"William]. Clingen Dead," ibid., Sept. 16, 1886, p. 2, col. 5.

HENRI LE CARON

103

Patrick Cronin was a member of Clan na Gael and the chief rival to Sullivan.
Cronin's knowledge of Sullivan's questionable use of funds made him a threat to
the Triangle, Sullivan's leadership committee. A large group of revolutionaries did
not appreciate Sullivan's amassing of power to create a patronage machine that
influenced both parties in Chicago politics at the expense of the movement. The
feud was compounded at higher levels in the organization where Devoy had sided
with Cronin, and Davitt defended Sullivan. The Irish revolutionary groups
continued to frustrate their own ends through discordant factionalism. 65 The worst
was yet to come for Cronin.
Sullivan, however, was riding high, with deep connections within the Catholic
Church, the Chicago police, press, politicians on a local and a national level,
business leaders, and the gamblers and crooks of the emerging Chicago
underworld. Born in Canada the son of a British soldier, Sullivan traveled to
Detroit in his youth where he had been arrested and acquitted of arson,
embezzlement, and one murder. Another murder would come later in Chicago.
Arriving in Chicago via New Mexico, he served a short stint as a reporter for the
Chicago Tribune before taking a public-works position for the city. One of the
founders of the American Land League, later renamed the National League,
Sullivan was now a high-powered lawyer who utilized all of his contacts toward
achieving the goals of the Clan na Gael. 66
But Le Caron's association with Irish nationalists was met with growing
suspicion. At aJuly 1888 convention intended to unite the divided Clan na Gael,
the Cronin faction successfully challenged the seating of Le Caron.
Soon after, Le Caron left his family in Chicago and returned to Braidwood,
reportedly to revive his medical practice. From London, word of the Special
Parnell Commission prosecution's slow start prompted Le Caron to request a part
in the proceedings that he believed would destroy the New Departure. In
December Le Caron left Braidwood for the last time and traveled to England. The
spy came in from the coalfield.
Le Caron played no small part in the events surrounding the establishment of
the Parnell Commission. Le Caron had supplied information for a March 1887
series of London Times articles, "Parnellism and Crime." The articles attempted to
associate the Irish nationalist movement with various criminal conspiracies in the
United States and abroad. Additionally, another London Times series, "Behind the
Scenes in America," was written by Robert Anderson, Le Caron's handler, based
on information forwarded by Le Caron. A number of complex legal maneuvers
produced the Special Parnell Commission of 1888. The commission was more
than just a trial concerning Parnell. The whole Irish movement, revolutionary and
otherwise, was on trial.

65Le Caron, 225-26, 264-65.

66'~exander

Sullivan," Harper's Uiiekly 33 (1889): 5034.

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JOURNAL OF ILLINOIS HISTORY

The magnitude of the Special Parnell Commission is lost to the modern world,
but in its time it was a sensation that destroyed the credibility of the London TImes
for its part in the commission,67 fractured the Irish movement, led to the demise of
one of their greatest statesman, Parnell,68 and embarrassed the English
government. 69 It pitted conspiracy against conspiracy. The trial culminated in the
exposure of forgeries being used by the London TImes against Parnell. The man
behind the forgeries, Richard Pigott, fled to Spain in the midst of the trial, killing
himself in Madrid.
Piggott's exposure blunted the effects of Le Caron's damaging testimony against
Parnell. Le Caron was declared the most remarkable witness called. 70 Dressed
impeccably and wearing a medal recognizing his service in the Union army, Le
Caron revealed his career of spying on the Irish revolutionary movement in the
United States and abroad. Particularly damning was information from Le Caron's
conversation with Parnell. The implication of his testimony was that Parnell, who
would always proclaim fidelity to constitutional means, was and had been a silent
partner in the ongoing revolutionary conspiracy and terror campaign. While Le
Caron was never able to produce a direct link between specific incidents related to
Parnell, his testimony created doubts about Parnell's motives.
Mter Le Caron's testimony, dissension among the Irish revolutionary factions in
Chicago was never greater. Members in the Triangle faction saw the dissension as
an opportunity to settle an old score. During the trial, Le Caron had stated there
were other agents at work embedded within the Irish organizations in America.
Using his statement as a reason to act, a plot was hatched to assassinate Cronin,
the Triangle's chief challenger. Cronin's opposition to Sullivan and that he once
had an office below Le Caron's first Chicago residence was enough to brand
Cronin as a spy. He was gruesomely executed, his body dumped on the north side
of Chicago in a Lake View sewer. The murder trial was one of the most reported
court cases of the nineteenth century. 71
In the end, Le Caron's testimony helped bolster Parnell's standing with his
supporters, but damage had been done to the movement as a whole and Parnell
lost his position of power. In 1890 the commission vindicated Parnell of most of
the charges, but he died within a short time of the commission's findings. 72

67"Fall of the Times," Hornellsville T#ieklY Tribune (N.Y), Mar. 15, 1889, p. 1, cols. 4-5.
68Funchion, 104.
69"Editorial Page," Joliet DailY Press, Feb. 25, 1889.
7"For Twenty Years a Spy," Chicago Tribune, Feb. 7, 1889, p. 1, col. 1.
7lHunt, 115-19; McEnnis.
72T. D. Sullivan, Recollections of Troubled Tzmes in Irish Politics (Dublin: Sealy, Bryers & Walker, M. H.
Giull & Son, 1905),277.

CHARLES STEWART PARNELL

Le Caron never returned to America. During the trial the world press vilified
Le Caron as a traitor, an informer, and a viper. The Detroit News reported that Le
Caron, acting as "Doctor lVIorton," had a shadow career as a resurrectionist- a
body snatcher- and linked him to the 1878 theft of the body of John Scott
Harrison. 73 The story was never substantiated. Le Caron assumed the name
"Doctor Howard" and was accompanied by a Scotland Yard bodyguard detail
from then on.
Le Caron published his memoirs, Twenty-five Years in the SecreL Service) in 1892.
Because of his notoriety and threats against his life, he lived under a constant
stress. His health was in continuing decline, and Le Caron died on April 1, 1894.
He was buried at Norwood Cemetery, Kensington, in London. The press in
Britain noted he had kept secrets with "superhuman" power. 7+ The press inJoliet
lamented that his reputation had not helped Will County.75

73"Le Caron; Spy's Career in M ichigan," Detroit JournaL, Feb. 20, 1889. John Scott Harrison was
the so n of President William Henry H arrison, the fath er of President Benjamin Harrison, and the
uncle of Chicago Mayor Carter H. Harrison SI~
74"Obituary: Major Le Caron," London Times, Apr. 2, 1894, p. 6, col. 3.
7;"The Spy is D ead. "

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JOURNAL OF ILLINOIS HISTORY

Le Caron remains a mysterious figure. There are discrepancies about his trip to
France, his name, the date of his trip to America on the SS Great Eastern, the start
of his service record during the Civil War, his reasons for leaving Tennessee, the
amount of control exercised by his handlers, and the possibility that he was
scouting for England from the outset of his arrival in the U.S. What is clear is that
he was legitimately engaged in his roles as physician, pharmacist, family head, and
politician in every community that he lived in while in Illinois.