William H. Sylvis was born in 1828 in the borough of
Armagh, Pennsylvania, he did the second son of Nicholas and Maria Mott Sylvis, native-born Americans of
Irish extraction who each traced their American ancestry back to the pre-revolutionary period. Nicholas' father was a maker of canal boats and repairman of
wagons who found great difficulty earning enough money to support his family. During the
Panic of 1837 the family's financial situation became particularly grave and young William was sent to live on the homestead of a prosperous neighbor named Pawling, earning his keep there by helping with chores around the farm. In 1851 the 23-year-old Sylvis married 15-year-old Amelia A. Thomas. Sylvis found his way to
Philadelphia where he became active in the local
trade union movement, serving as secretary of the Philadelphia molders' union. A spontaneous October 1857 strike over a proposed wage cut in the shop at which he was working was the precipitating event in Sylvis' entry into the labor movement. The shop's workers met and chose William Sylvis as their Secretary, from which sprung the organization which later became Iron-Moulders Union no. 1. A provisional federation of local molders unions followed, culminating in 1860 with the establishment of the
National Union of Iron Molders. Early in the conflict Sylvis recruited a regiment on behalf of the Union Army, although he himself declined the offer of a
commission as a
1st Lieutenant due to his wife's vehement objection. Several months later he established a
militia company composed of Philadelphia iron molders, serving as a
Sergeant with the group for several months. a group which had virtually gone extinct during the wartime years. He subsequently traveled over 10,000 miles on behalf of the union, giving public speeches and organizing union locals. During the course of his 1863 travels, Sylvis single-handedly formed 19 new molders' locals, reorganized 16 others which had fallen by the wayside after the outbreak of the war in 1861, and helped to solidify 12 more locals. In recognition of his service Sylvis was re-elected head of the union in 1864.
Organizing the National Labor Union In February 1866 Sylvis set his sights on the establishment of an organization that was broader still — a
federation of unions which would be able to bring workers of different crafts together under a single organizational umbrella. Sylvis joined William Harding, president of the
Coach Makers' International Union and Jonathan Fincher, head of the
Machinists and Blacksmiths Union at a Philadelphia meeting to discuss the organization of such a national labor federation. The trio resolved to hold another planning session in
New York City, to which would be invited other prominent trade union leaders. This March 26, 1866 session was attended by a group of 11 delegates, who set in motion preparations for an August convention to be held in
Baltimore, Maryland under the auspices of the Baltimore Trades Assembly. While Sylvis carefully followed the work of the five-day convention, he was critical of its work, declaring that it had built a "splendid track, placed upon it a locomotive complete in all its parts; provided an engineer and numerous assistants, placed them upon the footboard, told them to go ahead and then suddenly adjourned without providing wood or water to get up steam..." During this interval Sylvis did not work as a trade union functionary, instead entering the world of journalism as co-editor of the Chicago broadsheet ''Workingman's Advocate,'' regarded as the most influential labor newspaper of the day. Thinking broadly about prospects for the labor movement as a vehicle to drive political policy, Sylvis came to see the NLU as a potential vehicle for social and economic reform, including the establishment of
producer cooperatives, the
8-hour work day, and currency reform. Sylvis was elected president of the NLU at its third convention, held in New York City in August 1868. He also authored the organization's platform adopted at that gathering. By this juncture Sylvis had become an advocate of international organization of the working class through the vehicle of the
International Workingmen's Association, the so-called "First International." He also declared that neither of the old political parties truly represented the interests of the
working class and sought to transform the NLU into a workingmen's political party. Death at an early age intervened, however, and Sylvis's vision of a broad and powerful National Labor Union and its associated
National Reform Party ultimately came to naught.
Death and legacy William Sylvis died in 1869. He was just 41 years old at the time of his death. In 1990 the state of
Pennsylvania honored Sylvis with the dedication of a historical marker at
Indiana University of Pennsylvania in
Indiana, Pennsylvania. The marker's text reads, American labor pioneer. Born in Indiana County. 1828. Founder. National Union of Iron Molders, 1859. President, National Labor Union, 1868-1869. Sylvis strove for unity among working men and women regardless of race or nationality. He died, "labor's champion," 1869. ==See also==