Hard To Be a Cop

                                          1928

                                         

           The Doaks family were well known in the town of Pembroke, known, unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons. When their names appeared in the papers it was never in the social columns but more often than not in the court news or having to do with some hi-jinx that caused a sensation among the more proper citizens of the community.

    In the early summer of 1892 one of the older Doaks boys was, along with a number of other men, brought up on charges of breaking a window in the store of Mrs. McNee, located on Pembroke Street opposite the Mackey House Hotel. When the case came up all the men involved vouched for each other and since it was their word against that of the store owners they managed to avoid either fines or jail time.

    In July of the same year one of the younger boys created something of a sensation when one Sunday, as church was, about to go in, he paraded along Renfrew Street in front of the Presbyterian Church with "a live skunk tied to his leg." It was reported that he was given a wide berth "by all who happened to get a sniff of either one or the other" and while he seemed to get great enjoyment out of the situation it was reported that neither the skunk nor the pedestrians shared in his enthusiasm.

      In the early days of 1893 Mr. Joe Doaks, the patriarch of the clan, was charged with failing to send two of his children to school and was summoned to appear before Police Magistrate Mitchell of the Pembroke judiciary.  Choosing not to attend the hearing he was fined five dollars and costs in absentia with a notice being sent to his home informing him of the judgement and his need to pay it. The home, said to be a rough dwelling on the banks of the Indian River, some of which was "partially an excavation in the hill,"  was eventually visited by Constable G.W. McMartin, truant officer for the town, who was either to collect the unpaid fine or, if he refused to pay, to take Mr. Doaks to jail.

    As may have been expected Mr. Doaks declined to pay, using, as the newspaper reported, "Language unfit for publication." and Mrs. Doaks, looking at the writ declared with a toss of her head, "Talk about this being the Queen's warrant. She never saw it in her life, no indeed." Not to be deterred Constable McMartin advanced to seize Mr. Doaks who picked up a nearby chair and attacked him. Mrs. Doaks then came at him with a poker, his sons set the dog upon him and as well attacked him with "formidable weapons"  including, it was reported, an axe.

    Under these circumstances the good constable was forced to retreat but returned later in the day with Constable Cook of the Pembroke police department as a reinforcement. Finding the door locked and barred Constable McMartin forced it open only to be attacked by the entire family, including the younger children. Receiving a blow to the face by the poker which "left a rather ugly mark" he non-the-less set out after Mr. Doaks who attempted to flee to the upper story of the home. Just as Mr. Doaks reached the top of the stairway Constable McMartin grabbed him by the leg but before he could secure him the constable had the trap door of the upper floor slammed on his head. 

    In the end Mr. Doaks was subdued and handed down to Constable Cook who had been spending his time fending off attacks from the rest of the family. On the way out the door the eldest boy, Joe junior. was apprehended for assaulting the police but he managed to escape from Constable Cook and remained at large. The elder Mr. Doaks was "conveyed to jail where he will be under Governor Wright's care for 30 days." 

       A week later Mr. G.C. Archer, a local retailer with a business on the main street, arrived at his store to find one of his front windows had a piece broken out of it. Examining the stock in the window display he found two items missing, a violin and an iron, toy train. Acting on information, he had a warrant made out to search the premises of the "notorious" Doaks family. The following morning, accompanied by Chief Constable Devlin he found, upon entering the home, the violin hanging on a wall and when pressed, Mrs. Doaks "hauled the toy train from underneath the bed." 

   That evening with a warrant being made out for Joe Doaks junior, aged 15 years, Constables Devlin and McMartin returned to the home, arrested him without difficulty and took him off to the cells to join his father.

   Upon interviewing him he confessed to the crime, also implicating his younger brother John Doaks, aged 12 years, who was subsequently arrested and incarcerated in the town jail.

   The next morning morning, at trial, Joe junior pled guilty and testified against his younger brother John, who had pled not guilty. Their lawyer, Mr. A.J. Fortier who had been hired by the boy's father, asked that they be sent to a reformatory where they "could have a chance to reform and learn a trade." Police Magistrate Mitchell said he would reserve judgement until 4 o'clock that afternoon, requesting the presence of both parents as well as the attendance of Mr. Flanagan, principal of the Separate School along with the boys of that school.

    That afternoon as court resumed the Magistrate ordered the parents be seated close to him so they could hear what he had to say. Issuing a severe rebuke to both parents, especially to Mrs. Doaks, the boy's step mother, for the manner in which they had raised their children saying they had all the advantages of "a good school where they would have received a good moral training" but instead the parents would not allow their boys to go to classes and indeed had encouraged other boys to stay away from school as well.

   The Magistrate said the reason he had asked the Separate School boys to be present was "to show them the evil effects of truancy" and warned the boys that the truancy act would be enforced as far as his powers lay in enforcing 

    it. He said the parents must have know the articles brought into the home had been stolen and they ought to have taken steps to return them to their rightful owner. In conclusion he stated he had the power to imprison the boys to fourteen years in the Kingston Penitentiary but he would "only sentence them to five years in the Penetanguishine Reformatory" which he did not consider a hardship but a blessing. He hoped at the end of their incarceration "if all parties lived" the boys would be in a position "to do by the parents better than the parents had done by them." However by 1897, a full year or more before the boys were due to be released, the elder Mr. Doaks was dead and it's unknown if he ever saw his sons prior to his death.

    It was brought up in court that the Doaks boys were probably to blame for many of the petty robberies that had taken place in Pembroke in the recent past and in fact they confess to "one or two of them." There was much scorn heaped upon the step mother by many in the court room who felt she "deserved a taste of imprisonment" for the callous manner with which she treated the boys and the position they were in. 

    Their father however, who had been brought up from the cells to attend the court case, was deeply affected by the proceedings and the paper reported "it was pitiable to see him bid good-bye to his lads, slipping an apple into each of their hands."

    That was all that was head from the Doaks family until April of 1895 when Mrs. Doaks herself was in court, charged with receiving stolen property after paying her son Wally, aged 11, and a friend for some pork she knew they had stolen from David Shepard's butcher shop. The boys got off with a stern lecture and a suspended sentence thanks to a new set of laws brought in the previous year that changed the way young offenders were dealt with. But Mrs Doaks, despite the best efforts of her lawyer, Mr. Lennox Irving, was sentenced to "one month's imprisonment in gaol."

    Around the first of May Mrs. Doaks perhaps had to miss a visit from Ezra, the eldest son of Mr. Doaks who  had been travelling throughout the United States and returned for a visit after an absence of some years. The younger Mr. Doaks exclaimed how much Pembroke had changed in his absence and how happy he was to be back for a visit.

        The Doaks house had a bit of a history as a home where people who would run afoul of the law would then fight the law when the police came calling. 

    In 1892 Constable Barrand of the Pembroke Police force visited the home of one one James Mc---, the location and description of which sounded much like the Doaks home. Mr. Mc---, better known as "the Gypsy,"  had a warrant issued for his arrest on a charge of beating his wife and in early January the good constable showed up at the house and informed Mr. Mc--- that he was a prisoner "in the Queen's name." The man seemed rather non-plussed by this, inviting the constable in before sitting at the table and telling him that "he might put the warrant wherever he liked, as he had no use for it" and with that opened four bottles of porter, poured them into a bowl and drank it down. 

    He then went about gathering weapons such as a manure fork, a large pair of shears and other things while politely telling Constable Barrand "using some language that would not appear very well in print" that he could go and tell the magistrate whatever he wanted but he wasn't going to jail. Seeing how "the gypsy" was armed to the teeth and was surrounded by his children who would have no doubt come to his aid the constable retreated to outside the house and "wisely took counsel from Mr. Jos. Biggs who happened to be on the scene," to send for reinforcements. Soon a group of men arrived, surrounded Mr. Mc--- who used all of his available weapons in an attempt to avoid arrest but in the end was overcome, arrested and taken off to the lock up. The next morning he appeared before Magistrate Mitchell and was sent to jail to await trial. 

    During the melee Constable Barrand received a "bad bruise and a cut on the hand" but was given great credit for "the pluck and determination he displayed in capturing the desperate man."

    Later in the week Mc--- was brought before Judge Deacon charged with resisting arrest and injuring Constable Barrand while arresting him. His two sons, James aged 13 and Thomas aged 11, were also brought  before the Judge, charged with assisting their father in resisting the arrest. The sons were let off on account of their youth and the father who was also charged with assaulting his wife was let off with a suspended sentence after posting a recognizance of $200. 

    The family must have left town sometime thereafter as by summer there was an item in the local papers referring to the Mc--- family, formerly of Pembroke, telling of the death their eldest boy, James, who was killed in a freak elevator accident while working as a bell boy at the Russell Hotel in Ottawa. He had jumped out of a moving elevator as it passed a floor, had slipped and was crushed to death as the elevator continued its decent.

    If being pummelled by the town miscreants wasn't enough to keep the officers of the law either busy or recovering, the town council, in June of 1892, decided to define the other roles the police should engage in. Mr. Devlin was named chief constable and as well his duties would entail the collection of taxes, enforce the by-laws and act as sanitary inspector. He was to be responsible for inspecting the streets and repairing the sidewalks in the east and west wards and every day but Sunday was to be at the Town Hall form 9 a.m. for an hour to answer any calls and to meet with citizens to hear their concerns or complaints. 

    Mr. McMartin was to be, besides a constable, the engineer of the fire engine, was to "take care of the fire appliances" and be caretaker of the Town Hall. He was also the truant officer and assistant by-law enforcer, collector of statute labour tax and messenger of the town council. He was, along with Mr. Devlin, to be at the town hall mornings until 10 a.m. and again from 1 to 3 p.m. to take calls and hear complaints from citizens. In his "spare hours"  he was to inspect and repair the streets and sidewalks of the centre ward. 

    Both men were to make a beat of the town in the evenings of one hour each, Monday to Saturday and for 2 hours on Sundays and when either one had a free moment they were to be at the town hall until 6 p.m.

    The infamous Doaks house made the news once more when on June 30th, 1898, acting on information the house was being used for immoral purposes, police constables Barr and Miller made a raid on "Mrs. Stone's establishment near the Indian River Bridge" and arrested four people. Two days later, on Saturday July 2nd, when brought up before Magistrate Mitchell the "two (unnamed) young men swore themselves through with the aid of the women, and were let off with a severs lecture by His Worship."  

    The two women, Mrs. Stone and Miss Emily J. Beaker, did not fare quite so lucky. Both were fined $10 and $6.25 in costs and were ordered to "leave the town immediately."  The fines of $16.25 might seem slight by today's standards but in those times it was a considerable amount when most fines for breaching the peace rarely amounted to more than $2 and costs. The only fines that regularly exceeded that was for the offence of selling liquor after hours and the men convicted were often repeat offenders and were otherwise respected hotel proprietors. Even the "crime" of being poor and homeless invariably resulted in a sentence of thirty days in jail at hard labour.

    There were undoubtedly other assaults on the police in performance of their duty but a most notable one occurred decades later in mid December of 1926. One evening, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, officer Kenny of the Pembroke police force was patrolling the main street and happened to see Mr. Hector D--- stagger into two women. Speaking to D--- he advised him to go home but later while talking with his wife near Woolworth's store Mr. D--- again staggered into a woman. This time it was Officer Kennedy's wife. The policeman again advised D--- to go home but the man became abusive, using foul language against the officer who then placed him under arrest and with some difficulty managed to get his prisoner around the corner and onto Prince Street. Here he tried to get him into a car in order to take him to the lock up at the town hall but D--- fought the policeman, kicking him in the stomach during the struggle. Eventually both the policeman and his prisoner got into the back seat of the car whereupon  D--- tried to open the opposite door and escape. Again a fight ensued between him and the officer with the policeman getting the worst of it. By this time, according to the paper, a crowd of about 500 people had gathered to watch the scene and among them was Frank D---, a cousin, who came to the aid of his relative and also set upon the policeman but eventually realizing what was happening, began assisting the constable in the arrest. By this time there was a general melee on the street. There were people helping the policeman, there were people helping the man arrested and there were spectators fighting among themselves. Presently Constables Jette and Carnegie arrived on the scene, got the man into the car and found a driver. By now D--- seemed to have quieted and  was pleading with the officers to allow him to go and see his sick mother before being taken off to jail and so the car with three policemen and two suspects drove to a home on Lake Street. 

     Two of the Constables accompanied D--- into the house but as officer Kenny entered the home D--- slammed the door behind him and in the hallway again attacked the officer. Hearing the ruckus inside Constable Carnegie pushed open the door, went to the aid of his fellow officer and succeeded in getting D--- off of Constable Kennedy. As this was happening D---'s brother George arrived home with his wife and seeing the fight occurring in the house went to the aid of his brother. He grabbed Officer Kenny by the throat, threw him to the ground and began choking him. Hearing his fellow officer being throttled, Constable Carnegie, who was struggling to get a pair of handcuffs on the prisoner, leapt to the aid of Officer Kennedy. As all this was happening a small boy ran to the waiting car where Constable Jette was still sitting and yelled out "they're killing a policeman." Hearing this Jette ran to the house and managed to pull George D--- off of Officer Kennedy who by now was "almost black in the face." At this point the policemen turned all their attention to officer Kennedy who was in some distress, taking him to the town hall where he was attended to by Dr. Delahey. Besides being badly choked he was also suffering from intense pain from the blow to the stomach and was badly bruised about the face and mouth. Constable Carnegie had also "suffered a pommeling" and Constable Jette had one eye blackened. 

    A summons was issued for the D--- boys and on the following Monday, appearing before County Magistrate Chown, they were all charged with a variety of crimes and were remanded to jail. 

    There was such an interest in the case that on the day of their sentencing a temporary courtroom was set up in the town hall to accommodate the spectators which the papers estimated to be about 500 people, including it was reported, "a scattering of women". 

    The first case was for Hector D--- who, for assaulting a police officer, was fined $140 and costs and for being intoxicated in a public place was fined $10 with costs on both sums.

     George D---, charged with assaulting a police officer, was sentenced next and due to extenuating circumstances and being of previous good character was fined $50 and costs with both men each having to post a $500 dollar bond and keep the peace for two years. 

    Frank D--- was charged with obstructing a police officer in execution of his duty and fined $10 and costs.

Note - all names of the accused in this tale have been changed.