Anarchy and Anarchists: A History of the Red Terror and the Social Revolution in America and Europe; Communism, Socialism, and Nihilism in Doctrine and in Deed; The Chicago Haymarket Conspiracy and the Detection and Trial of the ConspiratorsSchaack, Michael J.
History
Anarchy and Anarchists: A History of the Red Terror and the Social Revolution in America and Europe; Communism, Socialism, and Nihilism in Doctrine and in Deed; The Chicago Haymarket Conspiracy and the Detection and Trial of the Conspirators
This notorious Anarchist came to Chicago when about twenty-one years
of age. He had learned the carpenter’s trade in Germany, and when not
engaged in spreading Anarchy’s doctrines, he pursued that calling to
liquidate his board bills and personal expenses. He was a tall, lithe,
well-built, handsome fellow, and, while not of a nervous disposition,
his nature was so active and aggressive that he never appeared at
rest. Sleeping or waking, Anarchy and the most effective methods of
establishing it were uppermost in his thoughts. By reason of his very
restlessness it was not difficult to trace him in Socialistic circles
when on his tours of agitation, and it was noticeable, too, that he
never remained at any one point for any regular length of time. His
make-up was a queer combination of nerve, energy and push. His mind
seemed always weighted with some great burden. Perhaps there was a
reason for this not alone in his radical beliefs, but in his blood and
birth.
[Illustration: LOUIS LINGG, THE BOMB-MAKER.
From a Photograph taken by the Police.]
Louis Lingg was born in Schwetzingen, Germany, on the 9th day of
September, 1864, and, while his childhood was spent pleasantly enough,
a cloud gradually gathered which overshadowed his life and embittered
him against society. His mother, at the age of eighteen or twenty, had
worked as a servant, and, possessing a very handsome face, a shapely
figure and attractive manners, had caught the eye of a Hessian soldier
in the dragoons. This man was young, dashing and handsome, and mutual
admiration soon ripened into undue intimacy. One day the soldier left
town on short notice—whether because of military orders or through
his own inclination is not known. It is certain, however, that she
never heard of him from that day, and that a son was born to her out of
wedlock. That son was Louis Lingg. The name of that dragoon has never
been made public, but it is believed with reason that Lingg was born of
royal blood.
Several years after her escapade the mother wedded a lumber-worker
named Link. Louis was then four years old. When young Lingg had
arrived at the age of twelve, his foster-father, while engaged in his
occupation of floating logs down the river Main, contracted heart
disease, through over-exposure, and died. The widow was left in poor
circumstances, and she was obliged to do washing and ironing in order
to support herself and family, a daughter named Elise having been born
since her marriage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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