The Irish Railroad Riot in Vernon

Irish workers helping to construct railroads continued feuds from their homeland. Nationally, railroads, especially for steam-powered trains, increased in construction during the 1830s. For the state of Indiana as a whole, railroad construction peaked during the 1850s with most large cities having some sort of connection by 1860. The 1837 riot in Vernon occurred during the construction of Indiana’s first significant railroad that linked Madison to Indianapolis; the rail line was eventually completed in 1847.

The riot in Vernon consisted of a longstanding disagreement between the Corkonians and the Fardowns immigrants from Ireland. The Corkonians hailed from the province of Munster, especially County Cork, while the Fardowns are believed to have come from other southern counties in the province of Connaught and Leinster in Ireland. The two groups feuded on access to employment opportunities in America, protecting their region’s people’s jobs by intimidating the other region’s people. The majority of Irish immigrants working on the Madison and Indianapolis railroad identified as Fardowns, roughly 1,400 of the 1,700 workers. When more Corkonians arrived and secured jobs on the railroad and threatened the Fardowns’ majority, the Fardowns attacked the Corkonians killing one and wounding others. Two Fardowns, Martin Crotty and Michael Brennan, were tried for the murder of Corkonian Patrick Galuly. Both Crotty and Brennan were convicted and sentenced to death. The Governor of Indiana, Noah Noble, commuted their sentences and they instead served life terms. Crotty and Brennan reportedly were the first “life-time men” in Indiana. The riot in Vernon was just one example of the continuation of Irish traditions and beliefs from immigrant’s homeland to their new one.