Page 35 - The Westerner Magazine Halloween 2018

Cromwell Pearce was the local judge. and Catholic churches were burned
He was dependent on the horse during that riot. There were many cross-
company and the horse company was cultural rivalries here that carried over
dependent on him. from the old world.

BB: What exactly is a horse company? BB: I should have listened better in
history class.
WW: In charge of protecting horses
from theft. They could investigate a WW: They never taught this stuff. This
horse theft and wield justice against is the history that got white-washed.

someone who stole a horse. Cromwell
BB: What motivates you to finish this
Pearce was known to be “orange” Irish
project?
and would not have liked the competing

Catholic Irish in the neighborhood. WW: This is more than a hobby to me.
I’m Scottish and Irish in my ancestry
There was an incident in Philadelphia
and I know, if it weren’t for time and
the year before where the Irish had a
circumstances, that could have been me.
clash right out of Belfast. The Orange
My background is in Medieval History,
Irish wanted to have a parade through
and I’ve published in that area, but
Catholic streets and fire off a cannon.
since I’ve pursued Irish history, I simply
Catholics prevented them from
can’t give up because one lonesome
achieving their goal and the whole thing
alley takes me to another.
ended up in the courts.

In 1844, Philadelphia witnessed the

Bible Riots. Philadelphia wasn’t any
kind of Utopia, as some have written, at
the time. People were actually lynched