User:Paris1127/Averbuch incident

Death of Lazarus Averbuch
DateMarch 2, 1908 (1908-03-02)
VenueHome of Chicago Police Superintendent George M. Shippy
Location31 North Lincoln Place (now 2131 North Hudson Avenue), Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates41°55′16″N 87°38′23″W / 41.921052°N 87.639812°W / 41.921052; -87.639812
ParticipantsGeorge M. Shippy
Harry Shippy, Shippy's son
James Foley, Shippy's driver
Lazarus Averbuch
OutcomeLazarus Averbuch shot and killed, George and Harry Shippy and James Foley wounded
BurialRidge Lawn Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois
InquestMarch 24, 1908 (March 24, 1908)
CoronerPeter M. Hoffman
Lazarus Averbuch
Лазарь Авербух
Born1889 (1889)
DiedMarch 2, 1908(1908-03-02) (aged 18–19)
Resting placeRidge Lawn Cemetery, Chicago, IL
NationalityRussian
RelativesOlga Averbuch (sister)
MotiveUnknown
Superintendent
George M. Shippy
Chicago Police Superintendent George M. Shippy
Born(1856-06-24)24 June 1856
Died13 April 1913(1913-04-13) (aged 56)
Chicago, Illinois
Resting placeOak Woods Cemetery, Chicago
Police career
DepartmentChicago Police Department
Rank
  • After 1886: appointed Patrolman at Harrison Street Station, later Desk Sergeant at Stanton Avenue/22nd Street Station
  • 19 June 1891: appointed Lieutenant, Harrison Street Station
  • 5 October 1891: appointed Captain
  • 1892: transferred to Woodlawn Station
  • 1893: resigned from Chicago Police, later returned, serving at Stock Yards Station
  • 1898: transferred to South Chicago Station
  • 1904: promoted to Police Inspector, Desplaines Street Station
  • 15 April 1907: appointed Superintendent by Mayor Fred A. Busse
  • 3 August 1909: steps down as Superintendent

The death of Lazarus Averbuch, also known as the Averbuch incident, occurred on March 2, 1908, at the home of the Chicago Police Department's Superintendent, George M. Shippy, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Averbuch called on the Superintendent at 9 AM; Shippy claimed that Averbuch was an anarchist who attempted to stab and shoot him, leading to Shippy and his driver, James Foley, shooting Averbuch to death. Shippy, his son Harry, and Foley were wounded in the melee.

Anarchy in Chicago

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The Great Chicago Fire of October 8, 1871 devastated Chicago, destroying the central business district (today's Loop). A construction boom followed as the city rebuilt; new arrivals flooded in via the network of railroads that converged on Chicago. The city expanded, and new factories and facilities opened. The new wealth in Chicago was not evenly distributed, and angry workers demanded better working conditions. On May 3, 1886, Chicago Police killed several workers protesting for an eight-hour workday. The next day, May 4, at a protest at the city's Haymarket (located at Randolph and DesPlaines), a bomb was thrown at the speaker's wagon---the ensuing explosion killed 7 police officers and 4 workers. A crackdown on unions by Chicago Police followed. After an investigation, 8 men were arrested, tried and convicted for the bombing. 4 were hanged, one committed suicide, and three were pardoned by Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld. The Haymarket incident is what attracted Emma Goldman to anarchism.

On September 6, 1901, anarchist Leon Czolgosz shot President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley died from his wounds on September 14, 8 days after being shot. Goldman, an acquaintance of Czolgosz, was initially a suspect in the assassination (she had previously, with her lover, Alexander Berkman, conspired to kill steel executive Henry Clay Frick). Chicago Police arrested her at her home on Sheffield Avenue, on the city's North Side, but had to release her on September 24 when it became clear she had not been involved in the assassination and had in fact had concerns about Czolgosz.

Averbuch

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Lazarus Averbuch (Russian: Лазарь Авербух, also referred to as Jeremiah or Harry), a recent arrival in the United States, lived on the city's Near West Side, sharing an apartment at 218 West Washburne Avenue (renumbered 1440 in 1909, now demolished) in the Jewish ghetto near Maxwell Street, with his sister Olga. The Averbuchs were natives of Kishinev, Russian Empire (now Chișinău, Moldova). Two pogroms in the early 20th Century forced their family to leave: in April 1903, the murder of a Christian child was spun into a blood libel against the Jewish community in Kishinev; the ensuing pogrom killed approximately 120 Jews; in October 1905, a protest against the Tsar turned into a second pogrom against the Jews, 20 dying in this one. After this second pogrom, the Averbuchs fled Kishinev for Chernovitsy, in Austria-Hungary (now part of Ukraine). Olga emigrated to Chicago while Averbuch worked as a bookkeeper in Austria. He joined Olga in Chicago in 1907. Unable to get work as a bookkeeper or clerk, he took a job packing eggs for W. H. Eichengreen at the South Water Street Market (now part of Illinois Center).

 
 
Shippy residence
 
Averbuch residence
Locations on a map of modern Chicago