The Young Boy Who Started A Violent Riot By Spreading A Rumor About His Friend

A child nearly caused mass violence after making up a story about a friend he couldn’t find

“Out of the mouth of babes” is a saying that is frequently used to describe the precocious nature of children. While youngsters are apt to say just about anything, it’s usually absent of any severe consequences. A notable exception was the case of a young boy named Thomas Mersick, who caused a violent riot in Chicago in 1900 after spreading a rumor that a local clinic had kidnapped and was torturing his friend.

The June 1, 1900 issue of the San Francisco Examiner reported on the wild happenings at a clinic located at 510 West Eighteenth Street in Chicago. It was there that police had to be summoned to break up a surging riot of recently arrived immigrants who had stormed the building after young Thomas spread the word that he believed his friend John Dubeck had been seized by surgeons and was being tortured and cut up behind closed doors.

Thomas and John were near the clinic when Thomas asked his friend to wait there while he ran a quick errand.The facility had long been a source of local gossip and rumor, with children and a number of adults alike believing that regular violent and evil acts were perpetuated there by the doctors on staff.

When Thomas returned to collect his friend, he was immediately disturbed to find John nowhere to be seen. Given the notoriety of the clinic, it made sense to him that the only logical conclusion was that the other boy had been snatched by the doctors he had heard so many bad things about.

A terrified Thomas ran through the neighborhood, telling anyone, including the Dubecks, he could find that he believed John was being carved up at that very moment. He even said he could hear his friend moaning and putting up a fight against his supposed tormentors.

A group of people from the neighborhood, led by the Dubecks, rushed the clinic with rocks, clubs and sticks. They broke down the door and smashed in the windows. Two riot calls were sounded over the melee. By the time a group of police arrived, the incensed mob was searching the premises, looking for the missing boy. After great effort and four arrests, authorities were able to finally drive them from the building.

It turned out that the clinic was actually empty and was usually only staffed by a couple of doctors and some medical students. John had simply wandered away and was reunited with Thomas and his family in short order.

The clinic that found itself under attack from an incensed mob must have wondered exactly what they had done to deserve such treatment. Although scrutiny over their activity had percolated in the neighborhood for some time, things finally reached a head once a terrified child assumed the worst when he couldn’t find his friend. For as long as medical staff practiced there afterwards, there was sure to have been a good amount of awkwardness, if not fear, of the possibility things could get out of hand again.