In Troy, New York, on March 6, 1894 during an election riot between pollwatchers and Catholic working-class minority voters who were suspected to be engaging in ballot stuffing, a young poll watcher, Robert Ross, was shot and killed.
"The row started when one of the Shea gangs sought to vote upon another citizen's name and in a twinkling clubs and revolvers were flourished.
[1] A New York Times report on the incident laid blame directly on former Troy Mayor Edward Murphy Jr., who had been elected to the United States Senate the previous year (he would serve one term), which included the following excerpt:[1] "The gun that shot Robert Ross has been loaded on election day in Troy ever since "Boss" Murphy's gang began their systematic frauds, a dozen years ago.
"McGough and Shea were arrested and an original suspect in the shootings, John Boland, was released from custody.
[2] The favorable name recognition he garnered propelled his successful candidacies for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1894, and governor of New York in 1896.