Molly Maguire Historical Park

Molly Maguire Historical Park. . , This park is dedicated to the memory of those who suffered and died in the anthracite coal mining communities of eastern Pennsylvania during the 1862-1879 Molly Maguire era., This fragile period erupted into a multi-faceted socioeconomic conflict between mining labor and mining management, between justice and criminal conspiracy, between Irish American Catholics and English Protestant, Welsh and Germans, and between secret societies such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Free Masons., History depicts the Molly Maguires as either a band of Irish-American martyrs or criminals of a labor struggle. Regardless of how history portrays the men called the Molly Maguires, their story provides us with an example of mankind’s perseverance and sacrifice in the face of trial and tribulation. Thousands of immigrants pursued a better way of life in this corner of the United States, and thousands lost their lives working in and around the coal mines. Scores of others lost their lives as victims in a regional conflict fueled by prejudice, violence and retributive justice., This monument remembers the sacrifices and hardships borne by communities in Carbon, Columbia, Luzerne, Northumberland and Schuylkill counties conceived and developed by community leaders and volunteers in and around Mahanoy City and Schuylkill County. This memorial is designed to inspire a better understanding of the Molly Maquire story and its impact upon American history., MOLLY MAGUIRE CHRONOLOGY , 1857: After a decade of famine in Ireland, the Irish began migrating into the region which inspired a wave of anti-Catholic violence. The Molly Maguire name first appeared in the "Pottsville Miners Journal” newspaper., 1862-1865: Civil War draft resistance linked to the Democratic party in Carbon, Luzerne and Schuylkill counties, resulted in the Irish-American community being blamed for a wave of violence in the area. Mine superintendent Frank Langdon beaten to death near Audenreid in June 1862. Mine engineer George Smith shot and killed in November 1863., 1866-1868: Post Civil War recession led to highway robbery and murder. Coal company officials Henry Donne, William Littlehales, David Muir and Alexander Rea murdered. Only the Rea murder leads to an arrest and trial in Columbia county., 1868-1871: The Workingmen's Benevolent Association formed at Saint Clair with John Siney elected as the organization's first president. The union brokered mine safety and wage agreements with coal mine owners and operators. Franklin Gowen ascended to the presidency of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, and his company entered the coal and iron industry by purchasing coal lands in the region., 1870-1873: The coal mining industry endured a lengthy recession. Patrick Burns, a mine employee near Tuscarora, murdered in April 1870. Mine boss Morgan Powell murdered at Summit Hill in December 1871. In the summer of 1873, Edward Cosgrove, a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, shot and killed in Shenandoah by Welshman Gomer James., 1873-1876: James McParland, an operative for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency infiltrated the AOH (which he referred to as the Molly Maguires) in Schuylkill County under the alias of James McKenna. His mission was to uncover the crimes of the Molly Maguires., 1874: Violence erupted in the region beginning in February with the murder of Michael Lenahan in Centralia and later with the August shooting death of John L'velle, a known Hibernian. In October, Chief Burgess George Major shot and mortally wounded during a fight between two rival fire companies in Mahanoy City. Mine employee Frederick Hesser murdered at the Hickory Swamp Colliery near Shamokin in December., 1874-1875: John Kehoe elected as head of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Schuylkill County. Later that year seven Roman Catholic priests from the region denounced the Molly Maguires in Columbia, Northumberland and Schuylkill counties. The Miners Union and the Anthracite Board of Trade disagreed on wages for 1875 and "The Long Strike" began. During the strike, industrial sabotage against coal company property plagued the region. Franklin Gowen, of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, met with Allan Pinkerton, of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and resolved to protect the company's assets in the area., April-June 1875: Daniel Dougherty, the Hibernian charged for the fatal shooting of George Major, was tried and acquitted. According to detective McParland, Dougherty was attacked by three men including "Bully Bill" Thomas, along with Jesse and William Major. McParland testified that a group of Mollies tried to murder Thomas as retribution for the attack on Dougherty., July-August 1875: Police Officer Benjamin Yost shot and killed in Tamaqua. McParland's investigation revealed that two Mollies, Hugh McGeehan and James Boyle of Summit Hill were responsible for the killing. Justice of the Peace William Gwyther was gunned down in Girardville by William Love, and Gomer James was shot and killed near Shenandoah, reportedly by former Hibernian, Thomas Hurley., September 1875: Mine Boss Thomas Sanger and miner William Uren shot and killed by a group of five men while on their way to work at Raven Run. McParland testified that the killers were Michael Doyle, James McAllister, Thomas Munley, Charles O'Donnell and James O'Donnell. Two days later mine superintendent John P. Jones shot and killed at Lansford. Michael Doyle, Edward Kelly, James Kerrigan, and Alexander Campbell arrested and charged with the murder., October-December 1875: Pinkerton detective Robert Linden traveled through the region circulating a list of the suspected murderers of Yost, Sanger and Uren. In December, a group of masked men entered the home of Margaret O'Donnell at Wiggans Patch. Her son Charles and her pregnant daughter Ellen McAllister shot and killed in the attack. James O'Donnell was shot but escaped. The killers were never brought to justice., 1876: The Jones, Powell and Yost trials result in guilty verdicts for several accused Molly Maguires. Michael Doyle, Edward Kelly, and Alexander Campbell found guilty of the murder of John Jones. James Boyle, James Carroll, Thomas Duffy, Hugh McGeehan and James Roarty found guilty of murdering Benjamin Yost. Thomas Fisher found guilty of the murder of Morgan Powell. James McParland and James Kerrigan provided critical testimony in several trials., 1876-1877: Patrick Hester, Peter McHugh and Patrick Tully arrested and found guilty of the murder of Alexander Rea. Daniel Kelly admitted to participating in the murder, but saved his own life by turning state's evidence at the trial in Bloomsburg. Neil Dougherty and John Campbell found guilty of the murder of Frank Langdon., 1877: At Pottsville, John Kehoe tried and found guilty of the murder of Frank Langdon. Dennis Donnelly found guilty of murder in the case of Sanger and Uren. Alexander Campbell and John Donahue found guilty of the 1871 murder of Morgan Powell., June 1877: Ten Molly Maguires hanged by neck until dead. James Boyle, James Carroll, Thomas Duffy, Hugh McGeehan, Thomas Munley and James Roarty are executed at Pottsville. Alexander Campbell, John Donahue, Michael Doyle and Edward Kelly were executed at Mauch Chunk., 1878-1879: Ten more Molly Maguires hanged at area prisons. Pat Hester, Peter McHugh and Patrick Tully hanged at Bloomsburg; Thomas Fisher, James McDonnell and Charles Sharpe hanged at Mauch Chunk; Martin Bergan, Dennis Donnelly and John Kehoe hanged at Pottsville; and Peter McManus hanged at Sunbury., EPILOGUE: Franklin Gowen lost control of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and in 1889, took his own life in a hotel room in Washington, DC. Informants James Kerrigan and Daniel Kelly disappeared from the region. Kerrigan died under an assumed name near Richmond, Virginia. James McParland continued to serve the Pinkerton Detective Agency. He died at Denver, Colorado in 1919., From 1862 until 1879, the anthracite mining districts in eastern Pennsylvania experienced a wave of violence attributed to the conflict between the Molly Maguires, the coal mine owners, the [Roman] Catholic Church, the Pinkerton Agency, the court system and the residents of the region. Over that period, scores of men and women lost their lives in the midst of that conflict. Some of the victims met their fate from the bullet of a gun, while others at the end of a rope. Many of those victims are named here:, Martin Bergan · James Boyle · Christian Brenhower , Patrick Burns · Alexander Campbell · James Carroll , Edward Cosgrove · Thomas Devine · "Long Long" Donahue , "Yellow Jack" Donahue · Dennis Donnelly · Michael J. Doyle , Thomas Duffy · Henry Dunne · Thomas Fisher , John Gunning · Thomas Gwyther · Frederick Hesser , Patrick Hester · Gomer James · John P. Jones , John Kehoe · Edward Kelly · Frank Langdon , Michael Lenahan · William Littlehales · John L'velle , George Major · James McDonnell · Hugh McGeehan , Peter McHugh · Peter McManus · David Muir , Thomas Munley · Charles O'Donnell · Ellen O'Donnell McAllister , Morgan Powell · Alexander Rea · James Roarty , Thomas Sanger · Charles Sharpe · George K. Smith , Patrick Tully · William Uren · Benjamin Frank Yost.