by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer

(2003) A few hours before dawn on June 9, 1886, Sarnia was rocked by a pair of terrorist attacks.

The first came around 2:30 a.m. when the home of J.G. McCrae was blown to pieces by dynamite. Two minutes later, an arsonist tried to burn down the residence of Thomas Houston.

The crimes came at a time when the community was badly torn by the prohibition issue. There was widespread talk of banning the sale of alcohol in the town and the debate was ugly. Public drunkenness had been a problem for decades. A few years before the attacks, The Observer reported downtown tavern owners were routinely breaking the law by selling liquor on Sundays. During one drunken brawl, a tavern owner and a prostitute were caught fighting on Front Street.

In a front page story on the day following the attacks, The Observer reported: “the town was startled yesterday morning by the report that a fiendish attempt had been made to blow up the residence of J.C. McCrae and to burn down that of Thomas Houston, both of whom have been conspicuous workers in the temperance cause.” The newspaper even found an eyewitness named Savoy, who had been alerted by his barking dog and by the sound of “heavy footsteps” on the sidewalk outside his home. He opened his door just in time to see the McCrae residence blasted to pieces. “He saw two men running away in a southerly direction,” the paper reported.

Two minutes later, members of a travelling theatre company on their way to the train station spotted fire on the porch of Houston’s home and moved quickly to put it out. Miraculously, no one was injured in either attack.

Mayor Arthur Poucette talked council into offering a $200 reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible and Lambton County council chipped in $250 more. It was an enormous sum of money in those days and a suspect, tavern-owner Charles A. Hand was soon arrested.

However, in a twist right out of the O.J. Simpson trial of another century, the alleged bomber was found not guilty after the credibility of the chief investigating officer was called into question. There were also rumours that the jury had been bribed.

There were no further bombings and the incident, which The Observer dubbed Sarnia’s night of “dynamite devilry” passed into history.