The Cruel Death of Michael Conway by the Hands of the Butte Police --- And the Life they had afterwards!
MICHAEL CONWAY - Born November 7th, 1890 Died August 6th, 1916
As his headstone reads in the Holy Cross cemetery in Butte, Montana: Beloved son of Michael and Margaret Conway and Dear Brother of James Patrick Catherine and Owen. Laid to rest under a Montana Sky, May his soul find peace in Co Mayo
Michael Conway, along with his brothers, left their home in Co. Mayo, Ireland in 1910, finally ending up on the richest hill on Earth, the Devil may care diamond in the rough; Butte, Montana.
6 years later, at the age of 25, Michael was dead, a week after a beating by two of Butte's "finest" police with their billy clubs.
But according to eye witness reports, Michael Conway was already subdued when the two police officers beat him with their billy clubs. Michael apparently held on to a post after being dragged from the bar on North Main Street, where the crowd apparently was hostile to the two police officers.
But as happened in most cases in Butte, nobody saw nothing, except they did according to some testimonies.
The hostilities by the citizenry was due to a shooting and killing by a police officer at the same bar a few days before.
What started this whole event was apparently Michael, having a few drinks, as the men and women of Butte were known to do, dropped a glass accidentally and it, being a glass, it broke.
The bartender and Michael had words and the police officers were called.
The two officers involved were named Andrew Bernard Brady and George W. Carlson.
They both claimed they were called to the Con Peoples' Saloon on the corner of Main and Quartz to arrest two men and that Conway resisted arrest on the night of July 31st.
Also according to Officer Carlson, who was keeping the crowd at bay at the time, apparently,
Officer Brady was "subduing" Conway, the crowd was beyond hostile, stating they were ready to kill him and any officer who stood in their way.
Officer Brady was "subduing" Conway, the crowd was beyond hostile, stating they were ready to kill him and any officer who stood in their way.
A coroner's jury found that Conway had died from his injuries due to the severe beating and the onset of a nasal infection brought on by the blows.
You would think that such evidence would lead to the officers' prosecution or the very least a slight slap on the wrist but you would be wrong.
The judge in the case instructed the jury, which apparently was filled with miners and such, a good representation of the Butte community, to declare the two men innocent of what I read as blatant murder and as it happened, the jury agreed and the two officers walked free of the charges on May 4th, 1917.
And there ended the life of Michael Conway, not with riches, a perfect fairy tale, but murdered and justice not be dealt by the offenders.
And the officers, they went on to awesome lives, full of riches and changed their ways and lived good Christian lives, right?
Nope.
Here we shall dive into the lives of the two police officers.
Patrol man Andrew Bernard Brady born on May 16th, 1890 in Helena Montana. His father was pioneer railroad contractor John Brady and his mother was Anna Brady.
He married Josephine Gleason and they had a daughter named Aileen (born November 27th, 1912) and life was grand.
After the trial, Andrew had a few charges of police misconduct but like the murder charges, they all went down the tube and into the sewer.
Sometime before 1920, Josephine and Andrew divorced (I found the article that basically said Josephine was a bitch and Andrew was an asshole!! But can't find it again!)
In April 1920, Andrew found himself in another case of murder.
A robbery of $8000 in boot leg whiskey went wrong, Andrew had allegedly shown the persons involved in the shooting of the home owner the location of the house where the whiskey was stored.
On May 9th, even though the prosecution had made a strong case against Andrew in the case, he was found not guilty and soon after moved from Butte to San Francisco.
He died on May 1st, 1941 from a prolonged disease.
George W. Carlson was born on 1891 in Oregon. He was married to Catherine Miller. He joined the night patrol on July 15th, 1916.
He was a police officer in Portland, Oregon but was let go for non-disclosed reasons and an allegations were leveled that he hadn't been a resident of Butte long enough before he was made an officer, basically he was appointed by the mayor of Butte.
Like Officer Brady, he found himself with allegations of severe abuse and again like Brady, he slipped the noose of those allegations.
But not without something happening.
By July of 1920 he had filed to run as a Republican for sheriff.
In his ad found in the July 25th issue of the Butte Miner, he listed his occupation as “Manager Butte Merchant’s police Night watch” and he resided at 1811 Schley Avenue.
On August of 1920, G.W along with Sheriff John K. O’Rourke and others were arrested for posting cards on telephone poles. G.W. forfeited $5 for not appearing in court for the charge of posting bills on telephone poles.
G.W. won the Republican nomination for sheriff easily against Jack Stewart by nearly 300 votes.
G.W. was endorsed by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, something the opposition grabbed onto in their ads against him especially in reference to the beating and death of Michael Conway a few years before.
According to those same ads G.W. had “Drifted” in from Portland Oregon for his health, he was the brother in law of county commissioner Otto Simonsen.
Within a few days of his appointment to the Butte Police Force, he was involved in the clubbing and death of Michael Conway according to the ad ran by the opposition.
In defense against this attack, G.W. fired back, stating it was only in self defense that he and his partner clubbed Mr. Conway and that he had died from an infection and that G.W had been found not guilty by an unbiased jury including miners and that his opponent was a witness for the prosecution.
It was a nasty campaign on both sides, the opposition threw charges at G.W. stating he had tried intimidation and bribery, trying to bribe a newspaper boy for the Butte Daily Bulletin (who endorsed the opponent) $5 to dump his papers.
The Butte Miner endorsed G.W.
It became an outright war between the two sides and the Anaconda Company.
An apparent letter from the police chief in Portland in the Bulletin stated that G.W. was appointed as a police officer there in October 1st of 1914 and was released from service on November 17th, 1915, their records gave no reason why for the dismissal. (L.V. Jenkins, Chief of Police)
And after the smoke cleared and the election was over, G.W. stood defeated --- the final vote was Larry Duggan 9.192 votes to G.W. ‘s 9,045.
But allegations came from G.W. that votes intended for him were counted for Duggan and a recount was called for. G.W. declared he was deprived of 820 votes by judges’ count. But Duggan would go onto become sheriff, serving three terms as sheriff of Butte.
Duggan was also a prominent mortician in Butte (one of the first professional trained embalmers in Butte) Duggan opened a mortuary at 322 N. Main in 1895.
G.W. found himself as part of a conspiracy to try and oust Chief of Police Jere J. Murphy in 1921, Chief Murphy found himself on trial in 1921 for negligence and his defense called into question of a conspiracy involving G.W. all the way up to the mayor of Butte at the time to oust the chief.
As a final slap, G.W. was ordered to pay Duggan’s attorney fees stemming from the lawsuit he had filed after his lost in 1920. G.W. went back to his job at the Merchant police.
G.W. found himself as part of a conspiracy to try and oust Chief of Police Jere J. Murphy in 1921, Chief Murphy found himself on trial in 1921 for negligence and his defense called into question of a conspiracy involving G.W. all the way up to the mayor of Butte at the time to oust the chief.
As a final slap, G.W. was ordered to pay Duggan’s attorney fees stemming from the lawsuit he had filed after his lost in 1920. G.W. went back to his job at the Merchant police.
G.W. slipped into oblivion apparently, I found a George W. Carlson who passed away in 1950s in Butte but some of the details do not match, another passed away and buried in North Dakota but again, not verified.
George W. passed into oblivion from the media's eyes.
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