Shelvy Daffron
1887 - 1934
Shelvy Daffron Memorial
From the book, History of the Seattle Waterfront
At the June 30 Joint Northwest Strike Committee meeting, Seattle delegate Shelvy Daffron reported, "There was Hell to pay out at Pier 41." Action had to be taken before hot-blooded pickets got themselves slaughtered attacking police positions.
The meeting temporarily adjourned while delegates hustled to Smith Cove.
That same evening Daffron accompanied striking sailors and longshoremen to Point Wells to check on a rumor that nonunion crews were about to sail two oil tankers. Thirty strikers rushed the main gate. On the other side guards waited with axe handles.
One of the guards yelled, "Let’s give it to them." As the two groups clashed, shots rang out from bushes behind the longshoremen.
Striker Shelvy Daffron cried out, "They got me boys! They got me!" Daffron died several hours later in a Seattle hospital of gunshot wounds in his back.
On July 6, 1,320 longshoremen and marine workers attended Daffron’s funeral in Eagles’ Hall. Forming a line four abreast, thousands marched behind the hearse and union banners to Lakeview Cemetery.
For over fifty-five years, Seattle longshoremen have placed a wreath on Daffron’s grave on July 5.
From the July 16, 1964 issue of the Local 19 newsletter The Hook;The Pensioner's express and "The Hook" wholeheartedly agrees, concerning the disappointment in the increasingly lack of interest in Bloody Thursday. Only a handful of members attended the ceremony at Shelvy Daffron's grave and there are probably only a few members left who knew the Brothers that were killed on that day in 1934. That makes no difference. These ceremonies are not for the old friends of these men.
These ceremonies are a recognition of the fact, that on that day, out of the bloodshed and tear gas and lumped heads, the West Coast Longshoremen found unity which gave birth to the ILWU. The editors feel it certainly wouldn't hurt all of us to take a little time out in remembrance. it probably would do us a hellava lot of good, in fact, to remember that longshoremen didn't have what we now enjoy and that it wasn't handed to us on a silver platter.
Longshoremen who Lost their Lives on the Seattle Waterfront
William Kade | 1886 | Magnus Ulxickson | 1922 |
Henry Jackson | 1886 | E. J. Sorenson | 1922 |
Pat Priestly | 1886 | H. W. Curtis | 1922 |
George Water | 1886 | Thomas McCarthy | 1923 |
Angus Johnson | 1886 | James Henry | 1925 |
Hans Hanson | 1886 | Robert A. Pelky | 1925 |
Milton McAuley | 1887 | Peter V. Larson | 1926 |
John C. Smith | 1890 | Arthur Saboc | 1927 |
Gus Wishman | 1908 | Hans Hanson | 1927 |
Orlando Pittman | 1908 | John Tangye | 1928 |
John Ryan | 1910 | Shelvy Daffron | 1934 |
Peter Kavenaugh | 1911 | Olaf Helland | 1934 |
Steven Peseta | 1913 | Axel Bruno Anderson | 1936 |
J. Milmoe | 1915 | Oscar D. Silow | 1937 |
Harry Ragan | 1916 | John M. Reilly | 1938 |
Joe Goldsby | 1916 | Percy F. Norris | 1939 |
A. G. Bryant | 1917 | Wales C. Fenton | 1943 |
Samuel Grover | 1918 | Tom Rawson | 1959 |
Charles Hallier | 1918 | Otto L. Blosi | 1960 |
T. Thompson | 1918 | Dallas Schachere | 1962 |
Gust Nelson | 1918 | John Josvold | 1962 |
Fred Jackson | 1918 | Donald Scribner | 1963 |
Harry Krise | 1918 | Dagfin Petterson | 1964 |
Gilbert Halverson | 1918 | Ralph Sharar | 1965 |
Stockton Rumsey | 1918 | LeRoy Parr | 1969 |
James G. Carlson | 1919 | Olimpio Leonardo | 1972 |
Martin Burns | 1919 | John W. Miskey | 1972 |
Edward C. Grampie | 1919 | Elmer Knutson | 1972 |
John Miller | 1920 | Douglas Farnan | 1976 |
Anatone Olson | 1921 | James R. Kennedy | 1984 |
Alfred C. Jack | 1921 | Joseph Aliseo | 2007 |
S. C. Sullivan | 1921 | Dan Miller | 2007 |
Fred W. Wilford | 1921 | Paul Stuart | 2012 |
Erling Johnson | 1922 | Michael G. Freeman | 2022 |