When Mount Vernon lamplighter Gregoria De Silvo refused to join a strike in the summer of 1908, he continued reporting for work as usual.
That decision may have cost him his life.
While tending lamps along McLean Avenue in Yonkers, De Silvo was reportedly attacked by several fellow lamplighters and brutally beaten. Despite suffering broken ribs, internal injuries, and a concussion, he managed to escape, report the assault to police, and walk home to his wife and two children.
He collapsed soon afterward and died several days later, turning a bitter labor dispute into a homicide investigation.
Lamplighter Strike Objector is Dead
MOUNT VERNON, New York. — Gregoria De Silvo, who is alleged to have been beaten by striking lamplighters at Yonkers last Tuesday, died at his home here today. He was 50 years old and lived on South Terrace Avenue with his wife and two children.
Michele de Paolo, Pacifico de Marco, and Creacenza de Marck are under arrest at Yonkers.
According to the police, De Silvo and the prisoners were all lamplights. When a strike was declared, De Silvo refused to go out. On Tuesday morning he was attending to lamps on McLean Avenue, Yonkers. E was set upon by several men and brutally beaten.
He managed to get away from him assailants and after he had reported to the Yonkers police, walked to his home. He collapsed and a physician found he was suffering from concussion of the brain, internal injuries and broken ribs.
Source: The Evening World. New York, N.Y. September 4, 1908.
