Chapter 6
The Main Players
 

The Picnic

The group having their picnic at the Shawsheen Grove on the day of the murder was the Harvard Lodge, 1542, G.U.O.O.F. of Cambridge. This specific lodge was instituted on July 14, 1873 and met the second and fourth Monday every month at 12 Western Avenue in Cambridge. "Several hundred" people attended the picnic that day.

Picnic guests began to arrive on the morning train from Boston. Others came in on the noon train. Most of the picnic guests brought their own lunches with them. However, the musicians who played for the crowd were provided with lunch. 

The Protaganists

Edward Janifer was a member of the Cambridge G.U.O.O.F. and on the picnic planning committee with three other men. Janifer was 35 years old, married and had two children. His family was with him at the picnic. Janifer was widely known in the Cambridge African American community. His employer, wood dealer George M. Smith, described Janifer as "a quiet, industrious, honest, sober and in every way a trustworthy man." The Townsman similarly described Janifer as intelligent, "cool and unexcited."

George "Smoky" or "Smoke" Davenport was a 30 year old resident of Boston. He was married and his wife was away in August of 1900 visiting her mother. Davenport was not a member of the Cambridge G.U.O.O.F. and may have arrived on a later train from Boston. Davenport was known to Janifer by his nickname only.

William "Shorty" Norris was wounded during the duel as he attempted to break up the fight. Also a resident of Boston and not Cambridge, it appears that Norris was a friend of Davenport. As his injury was treated on the scene and he was not held by the police, little is known about him.

Emblem buttons for fraternal organizations, such as those illustrated here, were sold through Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs. Among the orders represented are: the I.O.O.F., Independent Order of Foresters, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Elks Epworth League, Knights of Pythias, Eastern Star, Woodmen of America, Rathbone Sisters, and Daughters of Rebekkah. The G.U.O.O.F. was not included.

To be continued, next edition, Aug. 23, 2008