In 1934, onion workers in Hardin County organized to protest low wages and labor exploitation. 

In August, as McGuffey Mayor Ott and his wife slept, a bomb destroyed several windows and a wall of the house. No one was injured, but Union President Okey Odell was arrested for allegedly planning the attack, though he denied involvement. He was later dragged out of the jail by an anti-union mob who proceeded to beat him and threaten his life if the protests continued.