Hollywood actor Brendan Fraser recently discovered that his Irish great-great-grandfather once fired shots at a scab who was hired to replace him when he was fired for striking in 19th-century Pennsylvania.
Fraser, who won Best Actor at last year's Oscars for his performance in "The Whale, appeared on the PBS show "Finding Your Roots" to trace his family lineage.
Host Henry Louis Gates informed Fraser that his Irish great-great-grandfather Patrick Devine was fired from his job as a Pennsylvania mine engineer after going on strike for better pay in 1875.
He was subsequently replaced by a scab and took matters into his own hands.
Devine and James McBrearty, another worker who had been fired for striking, fired multiple shots at an engineer who had been hired as a replacement, according to records from the time.
"The night engineer of pumping engine was fired upon by two men from door of engine house but was not injured. The two former engineers, James McBrearty and Patrick Devine, had struck against a reduction of wages, and the man fired at had taken one of their places," Fraser read from a historical document during his appearance on the show.
"Okay, what just happened?" The actor added.
Gates responded that it appeared that Fraser's great-great-grandfather had been fired after striking for better pay and reacted by firing shots at his replacement.
"This mode of behavior — has it been passed down?" Gates asked Fraser, who laughed.
"Maybe acting out impulsively, but I try to contain that and do it in an imaginary way as an actor, that’s about the most I can do!" Fraser said.
Fraser added that he imagined his great-great-grandfather must have been a "strong-headed" and "opinionated" man.
"I mean look, it’s a different time, and I don’t believe you should fire guns at people to get what you need, but then again, it’s not 1875 right now. It makes me think, I dunno, did it really solve anything? Did it help? Did he feel like he succeeded?"
Fraser learned that no charges were brought against Devine, who was later rehired as a mine worker in Pennsylvania, according to the 1900 Census.
Devine, who was born in 1844 and emigrated to the US in 1853, was listed as having eight children with his wife Margaret.
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