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 The Molly Maguires of Pennsylvania, or Ir 
 
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THE 
 
 MOLLY MAGUIEES 
 
 OF 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA, 
 
 IRELAND IN AMERICA; 
 
 TRUE NARRATIVE, 
 
 ERNEST W. LUCY, U.S.A., 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 C. E., England. 
 
 ABTA8 PAKBNTUM 1'E.TOK AVIS TUilT H03 NEftUIORES. — Hor. C. ill. 8.. 
 
 LONDON : 
 GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET, 
 
 COVEHT GAEDEW. 
 
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TO MY KEADEKS. 
 
 The facts related in this book were in part communicated 
 by my American friend and correspondent, now in England ; 
 in part they are taken from Major Allan Pinkerton's volume 
 (The Molly Maguires and the Detectives) and from the New 
 Pitavdl. As to myself,. I am not a political partisan, unless 
 it be partisanship to support the cause of Great Britain and 
 of civilisation ; for secret murder and lawless outrage are 
 crimes against civil society all the world over. My main 
 purpose is to place before my readers certain striking facts, 
 from which they can draw their own conclusions. These 
 may not always be the same as my own. I only hope they 
 will be always weighed as studiously and aB calmly as 
 mine. 
 
 C. E. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 p. 5, line 2 from foot: for "attrocious" read "atrocious.'' 
 p. 10a, line 7 : for "where" read "were." 
 
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CONTENTS. 
 
 p. 
 
 Narrative by Ernest W. Lucy 1 
 
 Reply from C. E 66 
 
 Appendix 73 
 
 Concluding "Words 149 
 
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THE MOLLY MAGUIRES. 
 
 introductory letter. 
 
 My Dear Friend, 
 
 When I visited England some years ago for the purpose 
 of- studying certain subjects in which I took a strong interest, 
 you were among those to whom I carried letters of introduc- 
 tion. Your kind reception of a stranger from beyond the 
 Atlantic was the first item in the debt of gratitude which I 
 owe you. It was followed up by information and assistance 
 of great value, and a happy community of feeling led us, I 
 may confidently say, to give and receive pleasure mutually 
 from the discussion of several important topics. Among 
 those topics the history of Ireland, the then existing state 
 and the future prospects of that ill-starred country, were to 
 me of the deepest interest. I had read and thought much 
 concerning them, for, on account of the immense influx of 
 Irish immigrants, and their obstinate isolation as a race 
 amongst us, all that relates to them is of serious moment to 
 the welfare of the United States. With the aid of your 
 impartial and judicious advice I made acquaintance with 
 other works of conflicting tendencies, and with new facts, which 
 modified many of the impressions previously received. In 
 your last letter you say that you have seen in a German 
 work a very interesting but cursory account of the troubles 
 created in the State of Pennsylvania by the lawless conduct 
 of the Irish population in some counties there ; adding that 
 you are desiring to obtain full particulars of those events. 
 I shall therefore endeavour in a few letters to comprise a 
 narrative which will at least go far to satisfy that desire, 
 though I may not be able to relate with minute exactness all 
 that happened in those terrible years. 
 
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■I THE MOLLY MAGUIRES IN PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 II. 
 
 THE MOLLY MAGUIKES IN PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 It is a trite saying, that the romance of real life is more 
 romantic than that of fiction. And, if we set aside those 
 fictions, which call in the supernatural to enhance their inte- 
 rest, that saying is not far from the truth. No sensational 
 novels (hardly excepting those of Wilkie Collins) contain 
 incidents more terribly mysterious than many of the facts 
 occurring in the records of human crime and calamity. 
 
 Among such facts there are few more notable in later 
 years than the long series of crimes committed in the State 
 of Pennsylvania by the secret association known there as 
 the Molly Maguires, with the circumstances which resulted 
 in its ultimate detection, and in the condign punishment of 
 the chief criminals. 
 
 The seat of this association, or rather of that branch of the 
 Ancient Hibernians which gained the special name of Molly 
 Maguires, was the anthracite coal district of Pennsylvania, 
 comprising the counties of Schuylkill, Carbon, Luzerne, with 
 part of Columbia and Northumberland. The number of 
 people is now not far short of 500,000. The mines of the 
 district yield a large quantity of coal, and the laboring popu- 
 lation whom they attract to work them live in towns of 
 various sizes, or in hamlets, patches as they are often called, 
 near the several mining works. The principal towns are, 
 in Schuylkill County, Pottsville and Tamaqua ; in Carbon, 
 Maueh-Ckunk ; in ' Luzerne, Wilkesbarre ; in Columbia, 
 Bloomsburg. Smaller towns, but not inconsiderable, are 
 Port-Clinton, Makanoy-City, Shenandoah, St. Clair and 
 others in Schuylkill. Hamlets are numerous, occupied almost 
 entirely by miners. The country is mountainous and woody, 
 with very little agriculture. In the largest towns the inha- 
 bitants are chiefly native Americans, who have banks, manu- 
 factories, railway and other offices. Inferior towns contain 
 large masses of immigrant labourers and traders of various 
 nations, Irish, Welsh, Germans, Swedes and others. In some 
 .the population is preponderantly Irish. Most of these are 
 / Bomari Catholics, who have brought with them to the New 
 World the habits and manners, the brogue, the feelings and 
 prejudices, the loves and hatreds of their native island; deadly 
 foes of land-owners and capitalists : despisers of all law and 
 
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THE MOLLY MAGUIRES IN PENNSYLVANIA. 3 
 
 authority not set up by themselves ;* men who hold human 
 life cheap, and are always prepared for any deed of 
 bloodshed or violence, which their angry passions or 
 interested motives prompt, and for any amount of per- 
 jury which may avail to save a confederate from the 
 punishment of 'his guilt. Their religion is to them a 
 very simple matter ; to pay their priest his dues, to com- 
 municate now and then, confessing and getting absolved ; 
 after which they return refreshed to the commission of crimes 
 planned in secret, meetings which are opened with prayer. 
 If their crimes are detected, and the gallows becomes their 
 doom, they confess at last, not to the public they have out- 
 raged, but to their priest in private, whose absolution they 
 regard as a passport- to heaven, when they die with a lie in 
 their mouths. A priest may sometimes dissuade from crime 
 or preach against it ; a bishop may excommunicate unlawful 
 societies. Such words and acts have no deterring effect on 
 the Irish population. They are regarded as mere, formalities 
 of clerical duty, which may be disobeyed without penal con- 
 sequences, the confessional being always open, and absolution 
 never refused to the penitent. 
 
 Tou will understand that I am now writing of the Irish 
 t male population on this side the Atlantic, and, specially, in 
 the State of Pennsylvania. Its mischievous action is indeed 
 sorely felt in some other States of the Union ; but my narra- 
 tive is confined to the regions watered by the Susquehanna, 
 Schuylkill and Lehigh rivers. How far the character and 
 habits of the Irish of the same classes in Ireland resemble 
 those of their kinsmen who appear in my narrative, I do not 
 venture to decide. That they are united in a common feeling 
 of hatred and hostility against Great -Britain as unhappily 
 notorious. The evidence taken here in 1876, with many 
 sad events that have happened since, and all' that we now 
 read with sickened feelings in the daily press, make it only 
 too clear that a conspiracy for purposes of treason, murder, 
 and all anti-social crime is seated in both countries, and that 
 funds are levied in both, which, if not avowedly destined for 
 those purposes, are, beyond all doubt, ancillary to the action 
 of their promoters. 
 
 * One of them, on landing at New York, is said to have asked, if there was a 
 government in his new country. Being told there was, " then I'm agen it," 
 he cried, 
 
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V 
 
 i THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE AXD EARLII 1 ' 11 CRIMES. 
 
 J 
 
 THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE AND EARU/ER CRIMES. 
 
 The name Molly Maguires, by which the clandestine 
 league of Irishmen was best known in Pennsylvania, is im- 
 ported from Ireland. It was there adopted by a branch of 
 the Eibbonmen, whose nightly. outrages were perpetrated in 
 female disguise* 
 
 But the name which they gave themselves and under 
 which they sought to veil their proceedings in Pennsylvania, 
 was — "The Ancient Order of Hibernian?,." This purports to 
 be a benevolent Society, and has for its motto, "Friendship, 
 Unity, and true Christian Charity." How it practised the 
 last of these virtues the following pages will show. The 
 constitution and by-laws of this Order are printed in the 
 Appendix, the tenth Article declaring that " No person shall 
 become a member who is not Irish or of Irish descent, a 
 Roman Catholic, and of Roman Catholic parents." It is a 
 secret society, with signs and passwords. Its branches extend 
 throughout the American Union, and in New York especially 
 its numbers are great, and its influence exceedingly powerful. 
 It supplied large sums of money for the defence of those 
 Molly Maguires who were tried for murder and other offences 
 in the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 The Molly Maguires made their first appearance in Penn- 
 sylvania about the year 1854. The existence of a secret 
 association for unlawful purposes in the counties of Schuylkill 
 and Carbon became highly probable to the officials there 
 within the few following years. But its action was more 
 apparent when the civil war broke out in 1861. The demand 
 for coal in the United States being much increased by that 
 event, the mining population of the district became larger 
 
 * In Trench's " Realities of Irish Life," p. 82, we find this account of its 
 origin. " The tenants kept a watchful eye upon all these preparations, which 
 soon became known through every part of the country, and they took their own 
 measures to frustrate them. To effect this object they established a system of 
 what they called ' Molly Maguires.' These Molly Maguires were generally 
 stout active youngmen, dressed up in women's clothes, with faces blackened 
 or otherwise disguised ; sometimes they wore crape over their countenances, 
 sometimes smeared themselves in the most fantastic manner with burnt cork 
 about their eyes, mouths and cheeks. In this state they used suddenly to 
 surprise the unfortunate grippers, keepers or process-servers, and either duck 
 them in bog-holes, or beat them in the most unmerciful manner, so that the 
 Molly Maguires became the terror of all officials^ At last neither grippers. - 
 process-servers, nor keepers could be got for love or money to perform any 
 duty, or to face the danger of these dreaded foes," 
 
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THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE AND EARLIER -CRIMES. 
 
 year after year, and of these new comers by far the greatest 
 part were Irish Roman Catholics, who naturally supplied 
 recruits to the order of Ancient Hibernians, alias the Molly 
 Maguires. It was now notorious that such an Order existed 
 in the coal district. But as its members were bound by an 
 oath to conceal from the uninitiated their own membership, 
 and all they knew of the Society and its affairs, while they 
 were known to each other by secret signs and passwords, 
 varied from time to time, and communicated from a central 
 authority to the local officers and by them (under the slang 
 term " goods ") to the other members, no information could 
 be obtained on any of these matters by people in authority. 
 The secrecy of the Molly Maguires seemed for a long time 
 secure and impenetrable. We have now to see what use they 
 made of their powerful situation. 
 
 v In the summer of 1862 President Lincoln published an 
 Ordinance for the general enlistment of troops in all States of 
 the Union, which remained faithful to the Government es- , 
 tablished at Washington. The Molly Maguires, fearing 
 probably that their Order would be broken up and its power 
 weakened or overthrown by the effects of this Ordinance, used 
 every effort to hinder its execution, and circulated anonymous 
 threats of violence against all who should enforce it. (TNor 
 did they confine themselves to mere menace. In Carbon 
 County government officers employed in the enlistment were 
 murdered, others assaulted and illused, houses and properties 
 were set on fire, mining .proprietors received thxeatening 
 letters, requiring them to desist from carrying on theirjrorks 
 till the enlistment was ended, on pain of death to themselves 
 and their overseers."] None of those who perpetrated these 
 criminal acts were detected, and public authority seemed to 
 1 be paralysed. 
 
 In July, 1863, F. S. W. Langdon, Superintendent of a 
 Colliery, was attacked in the night, mortally injured and 
 found next morning in a dying state near Auden. 
 
 G. K. Smith, a mining engineer, of Audenried, Carbon 
 County, was suspected by these conspirators of giving the 
 Government useful information during the enlistment of 
 troops. A body of Molly Maguires with blackened faces 
 broke into his house on Nov. 5, 1863, and brutally murdered 
 him in the midst of his family, j The particulars of this attro- 
 cious crime are thus given by G. W. Ulrich, Mr. Smith's clerk : 
 
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6 THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE AND EARLIER CRIMES. 
 
 " On the night of the murder I had just returned from Mauch 
 Chunk. I got home about 6.30 p.m. I was boarded in Smith's house. 
 When I went down to supper, I told Smith I thought something 
 serious was going to happen. He asked me why. I replied, 'because 
 of what George Allen had said about having heard that the night 
 of that day was to be the greatest ever known in Audenried, and 
 because, during the afternoon, several men were noticed prowling 
 around there, going about in different directions, and, on the even- 
 ing before, there were others in the store for powder.' Mr. Smith 
 laughed and said : ' Mr. Ulrich, they wont hurt you or me.' I 
 stayed at Smith's house that night, at the request of Mrs. Smith, 
 because her husband was unwell. About five minutes before eight 
 o'clock, hearing a rap at the door, I, upon opening it, found stand- 
 ing there a man whom I thought to be a Welshman, named Evan 
 Jones. Asking him to stay outside until I put the dog away, I 
 shut the door, took the animal by the collar and put him in the 
 parlour where Mrs. Smith was. Then I went back, opened the 
 door, and when I did so a tall man, with a soldier's overcoat on, 
 stepped in, and the one I took to be Evan Jones followed. As soon 
 as I saw his face I found it was not Evan Jones. The taller person 
 asked if Mr. Smith was in. I at first said ' no,' but afterwards told 
 him he was in, 'and very sick.' He professed to have a letter for 
 Smith, that a man had given him in Mauch Chunk the same after- 
 noon. I told him if he would give it to me I could hand it to Mr. 
 Smith. He would not do that, as he said he was instructed to de- 
 liver it personally. I then left the room and told Mrs. Smith. She 
 went up and saw the sick man, and he replied if the person could 
 not deliver the letter to her, he must wait until the next day. Mrs. 
 Smith and I returned to the room where the two men were sitting. 
 She told them what Smith had said. The man answered : ' If I 
 can't deliver it to him I must deliver it to you ! ' He quickly put 
 his hand to his back, and the first thing I saw was the butt-end of 
 a Colt's revolver. Before he got it out altogether it went off, and 
 his clothes caught fire, the ball penetrating the floor on which we 
 were standing. When the revolver was discharged Mrs. Smith 
 cried out : ' my God ! ' and ran precipitately into the library. 
 Then the tall man caught me around the neck and the smaller man 
 commenced beating me on my head and on the back of my shoulders 
 with a hilly. The tall man got his revolver out and put it to the 
 side of my head. I threw up my left hand and the pistol went off, 
 and the powder flew into my eyes and blinded me so that I could 
 not see for some time. By this some fifteen or twenty persons had 
 walked into the room where we were. The majority were disguised 
 in soldiers' overcoats and in miners' clothes. They crowded over 
 against the wall, and the tall man tried to shoot me again in the 
 head. Once more I threw up my arm and the pistol ball passed 
 over me. Another man stooped down behind me, on his knees, and 
 put his pistol to my person and shot me in one leg while I was held 
 
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THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE AND EARLIER CRIMES. / 
 
 by the other. I then broke away from the crowd, with the inten- 
 tion of going up stairs. They followed me too closely, however, 
 and I could not get clear. As I reached the foot of the stairs, Mr. 
 Smith came down and walked into the room where the men were. 
 I went to the hall door and they knocked me down and fired two 
 shots over me with the intention of hitting my body. After this, 
 I turned round to see if I could find anything, and saw Mr. Smith 
 standing by the crowd. A man came up behind him, put a pistol 
 to his head, and fired. He fell dead upon the carpet. After 
 •finishing this, they fired three or four shots, and I thought they 
 were shooting Mr. Smith's dead body, but they fired them at Mrs. 
 Smith's sister, who was in the room adjoining. This is all I know, 
 excepting that the others escaped." 
 
 Several men were suspected of this crime, and imprisoned 
 at Mauch Chunk ; but so daring had the association become, 
 that an armed band entered the town, overpowered the inha- 
 bitants, broke open the prison, and released all the persons 
 confined in it. 
 
 On August 25, 1865, David Muir, a colliery overseer, was 
 shot in Fraser township, within a hundred yards of his own 
 works, on the public road and in broad daylight. The shots 
 were heard by many, but the murderers were unseen and 
 undiscovered. It was believed that signal fires were lighted 
 on the hills to assist their escape. 
 
 On the 10th of January, 1866, Henry H. Dunne, of 
 Pottsville, superintendent of one of the largest mining com- 
 panies in Schuylkill County, was murdered on the public 
 highway, within two miles of Pottsville, while driving home 
 from one of the collieries. No arrests were made, nor any 
 information obtained tending to discover the perpetrators of 
 this daring cruelty, although the Company engaged the 
 services of several detectives for that purpose. 
 
 Another Superintendent, Graham Powell, was murdered 
 about this time in Carbon County, but the exact date is not 
 given. 
 
 The Miners' Journal of Pottsville, March 30, 1867, gives 
 the names of fifty persons murdered in Schuylkill County 
 from the 1st of January, 1863 ; of whom twenty-seven, 
 or more than one half, had fallen by hands unknown ; 
 and may safely be set down to the score of the Molly 
 Maguires. 
 
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8 THEIR OUTRAGES IN FULL CAREER. 
 
 IV. 
 
 THEIR OUTRAGES IN FULL CAREER. 
 
 For six years after 1867 this career of crime continued 
 unchecked, undetected, unpunished . Mr. - Franklin B. Growen, 
 in his speech hereafter cited, tells of a murderous attack on 
 one Claude "White — of Ferguson, who was beaten almost to 
 death — of Patrick Barry, who, living in the house by the 
 tunnel, and attacked by a band of assassins, placed his wife 
 and children in the centre of the house, sheltering them as 
 best he could with mattresses and blankets, and then kept at 
 bay a band of several hundred men till daylight, when they 
 fled, leaving long tracks of blood in proof of his successful 
 courage. 
 
 On the 17th of October, 1868, Alexander Rae, a mining 
 superintendent, was shot to death and robbed in the public road 
 near Centralia in Columbia County, while riding in his buggy. 
 Several persons were arrested on strong suspicion, and the 
 evidence of an accomplice was obtained, yet the first man 
 placed on his trial at Bloomsburg, Feb. 2, 1869, by name 
 Thomas Donahue, was acquitted by the jury, and the prose- 
 cution of the rest was, in consequence, abandoned. At a 
 later date (1877) three of the murderers were brought to 
 justice. 
 
 On the 15th of March, 1869, William H. Littlehales, 
 superintendent of the Glen Carbon Coal Company, was killed 
 upon the public road in Cass township, Schuylkill County, 
 while returning from Pottsville to his home. He was a 
 young man aged 31, clever and accomplished, very popular. 
 This audacious crime excited general horror ; public meetings 
 were held, and a high reward offered ; but, though many 
 persons witnessed the deed, no evidence could be obtained 
 leading to detect the assassins. 
 
 In 1870 a man named Burns was murdered near Pottsville, 
 and nothing was discovered of the perpetrators. 
 
 In the early evening of December 2, 1871, was murdered 
 Morgan Powell, assistant superintendent of the Lehigh and 
 "Willkesbarre Coal and Iron Company at Summit Hill, Carbon 
 County. One of three men, who had been seen by several 
 waiting in the street, came behind Mr. Powell, and fired a 
 pistol into his left breast, leaning over his shoulder for the 
 purpose. The wounded man was carried back to the store 
 
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THEIR OUTRAGES IN FULL CAREER. 9 
 
 near which he had been standing by some of his friends and 
 his son, Charles Powell, the latter then but fourteen years of 
 age, and there remained all night. The next day he was 
 removed to the residence of Morgan Price, where his death 
 occurred in two days. Hardly had the smoke from the mur- 
 derous pistol mingled with the air of that star-lit winter 
 evening, when the assas3ins were discovered rapidly making 
 their way from the scene of their savage deed toward the top 
 of Plane No. 1. They were met by Allan John Morton and 
 Lewis Richards, who were hurrying to the spot to learn what 
 had caused the firing. Mr. Morton asked, as they stopped 
 on the rigging-stand, what was the trouble, when one of the 
 three strangers answered : "I guess a man has been shot ! " 
 One of this trio was described as a short person, wearing a 
 soldier's overcoat, and the second also as being low in stature, 
 but the third seemed taller, and had on a long black coat. 
 Mr. Morton and his friend passed on, and the murderers 
 started forward, taking the direction in which Mr. Powell had 
 pointed when asked by Morrison which way the attacking 
 party had gone. They paused but a moment, when con- 
 fronted by Morton and Richards, and appeared to be surprised 
 to see any one there. Mr. Morton thought he might identify 
 the smaller individual should he see him again, as he was 
 only four or five yards from him when he spoke. " I'm 
 shot to death. My lower limbs have no feeling in them." 
 was the exclamation of Mr. Powell when Williamson raised 
 his head. Tet who had killed him no one could tell. They 
 were strangers evidently, but where they had come from was 
 an impenetrable mystery. One Patrick Kildea, however, 
 who was thought to resemble the shorter man, was arrested 
 and tried, but finally acquitted from lack of evidence to con- 
 vict. Five years later several were brought to justice for 
 this crime. 
 
 The murders thus selected for special notice are those of 
 persons holding prominent offices in the district. But the 
 following passage in the speech of Mr. Gowen before the 
 Court assembled for the trial of a murderer in the year 187(5, 
 proves on sufficient authority that these cases are but a few 
 samples taken from a long series of similar crimes. He 
 
 " These coal fields for twenty years, I may say, have been the 
 theatre for the commission of crimes such as our very nature revolts 
 at. This very organization that we are now, for the first time, 
 
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10 THEIR OUTRAGES IN FULL CAREER. 
 
 exposing to tlio light of day, has hung like a pall over the people 
 of this county. Before it terror fled cowering to homes which 
 afforded no sanctuary against the vengeance of their pursuers. 
 Behind it stalked darkness and despair, brooding like grim shadows 
 over the desolated hearth and the ruined homo ; and throughout 
 the length and breadth of this fair land there was heard the voice 
 of wailing and lamentation ; ' of Eachel weeping for her children 
 and refusing to be comforted, because they were not.' Nor is it 
 alone those whose names I have mentioned — not alone the promi- 
 nent, the upright and good artizan, whose remains have been in- 
 terred with pious care in ' the tombs of his fathers,' but it 
 is the hundreds of unknown victims whose bones lie mould- 
 ering over the face of this county. In hidden places and by silent 
 paths, in the dark ravines of the mountains, and in secret ledges of 
 the rocks, who shall say how many bodies of the victims of this 
 Order now await the final trump of God, — and from those lonely 
 sepulchres there will go up to the God who gave them the spirits 
 of these murdered victims, to take their places among the innumer- 
 able throng of witnesses at the last day, and to confront with their 
 presence the members of this ghastly tribunal, when their solemn 
 accusation is read from the plain command of the Decalogue, 
 •Thou shalt not kill.'" 
 
 Mr. Growen would surely not have ventured on such a 
 
 statement as this in a Court of Justice if he had felt that it 
 
 was capable of being contradicted. And no report of any 
 
 speech in defence of prisoners on trial indicates that it ever 
 
 -was contradicted. 
 
 It may be observed here that the prime movers in this 
 criminal conspiracy were prompted by several concurring 
 motives, personal, religious and political. By terrorising the 
 mining proprietors and companies of the coal district, and 
 putting out of the way gradually the superintendents and 
 overseers in their employment, they hoped to force themselves 
 into the vacant situations, and while they held lucrative 
 offices for their own part, to choose the labourers from the 
 same order and faith, and so to make Irish Romanism the 
 greatest, and, as far as possible, the exclusive political power 
 in Eastern Pennsylvania. Meanwhile they had to keep in 
 good humour the inferior and younger members, whose hot 
 heads and strong hands they needed for the prompt execution 
 of murderous and outrageous acts. With this view money 
 was often paid for the performance of what in their slang 
 was called " a clean job," and their private enmities were 
 adopted as public wrongs proper to be avenged by common 
 
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THE PLAN FOR THEIR DETECTION. 11 
 
 action. These enmities were not only personal, but also to a 
 great extent, national. Major Allan Pinkerton says : 
 
 "The Molly Maguircs were working in opposition to the "Welsh, 
 English and German miners. Their hatred of the English, espe- 
 cially, they had imbibed with their mother's milk.' : 
 
 Several of the murders recorded were, as will he seen, due 
 to this national antagonism. All the foreign immigrants, 
 except themselves, the Mollies called by the common hostile 
 title of " Modocs," and frays between them were frequent. 
 
 V. 
 
 THE PLAN FOR THEIR DETECTION. 
 
 It was in October, 1873, that the momentous step was 
 taken, which led to the detection of this wicked conspiracy, 
 and the punishment of its chief members. Mr. Growen, who, 
 as President of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Com- 
 pany and of the Philadelphia Coal and Iron Company, had a 
 deep interest in the question, sought an interview with Major 
 Allan Pinkerton, of Chicago, who was head of the Detective 
 Agency, established in that great city. The substance of 
 their conversation is given in Major Pinkerton's published 
 volume, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, which will 
 be occasionally quoted in my narrative. 
 
 After the opening courtesies, Mr. Gowen explained his 
 business object thus : — 
 
 "The eoal regions are infested by a desperate class of men, 
 banded together for the worst purposes — called by some the Buck- 
 shots, by others the Molly Maguircs — and they are doing sad 
 mischief in the country, it is a secret organization, has its meet- 
 ings in hidden and out-of-the-way places, and ever since my 
 residence in Pottsville and my connexion with the criminal courts 
 as District Attorney in the county of Schuylkill, I have felt sure 
 that its members are guilty of almost all the murders and other 
 deeds of outrage which, for many years, have been committed in 
 the neighbourhood. I wish you to get a hold on this mysterious 
 Order, find out its workings, expose its actions, and see if the laws 
 of the State cannot again succeed in bringing criminals to justice. 
 At present, whenever an assassination is perpetrated, and a trial 
 
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12 THE PLAN FOR THEIR DETECTION. 
 
 follows, a convenient alibi steps forward and secures the prisoner s 
 acquittal, laws thus fail of execution, sheriffs are powerless, and 
 detectives are of as little value as the open police of the cities. 
 Now, if you cannot disperse the murderous crew, or find us grounds 
 upon which to hase prosecutions, then I shall believe that my object 
 will never be effected." 
 
 Mr. Gowen proceeded to give the following history of the 
 Molly Maguires : — 
 
 "As far as we can learn, the society is of foreign birth, trans- 
 planted from Ireland to the United States some time within the last 
 twenty years. It existed in the old country considerably earlier. 
 Its members there were known sometimes as Ribbonmen and some- 
 times as Molly Maguires, but their modes of procedure were the 
 same as those now pursued in the coal regions. Men were then, 
 as now, killed — sometimes in broad daylight, sometimes at night, 
 and invariably by strangers — persons at least unknown to chance 
 spectators, or to the persons attacked. Suspected individuals would 
 be apprehended, but in the end nobody could be found to identify 
 the criminals. The Mollies rule our people with a rod of iron. 
 They do this and make no sign. The voice is unheard, but the 
 work is performed. Even the political action of the commonwealth 
 is moulded by them, and in their particular field they elect or 
 defeat whomsoever they please. They control in a measure the 
 finances of the State. Men without moral principle dictate the 
 principles of parties. In its ultimate results this mischief in Penn- 
 sylvania touches the interest of the whole State, nay of the -Union 
 itself. Wherever anthracite is used, the grip of this murderous 
 fraternity is felt. Wherever in the United States iron is wrought, from' 
 Maine to Georgia, from ocean to ocean, wherever hard coal is used for 
 fuel, there the Molly Maguire wields with deadly effect his two pow- 
 erful levers secrecy, and combination. Men having their capital locked 
 up in the coal-beds are obedient puppets in his hands. 1 hey have 
 for some time seen that they are fast losing hold of that which by 
 right should be their own to command. They think with some 
 show of reason, that their money would have profited them as much had 
 it been thrown to the fishes in the sea, or cast into the flames. Others, 
 wishing to engage in mining operations, and possessing the capital 
 and experience necessary, are driven away. They cannot entrust 
 their hard-earned property to a venture which will be at the mercy 
 of a fierce and sanguinary rabble and its wicked leaders. They 
 seek other and less hazardous uses for their talents and their money. 
 The whole population of the State feels the shock, and it is in due 
 season communicated to the most distant parts in which anthracite 
 is used and ores are reduced or smelted. "W hat we want and everybody 
 wants, is to get within this seemingly impenetrable ring ; to show 
 the hidden side of this cruel body, to probe to its core this festering 
 
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THE PLAN FOR THEIR DETECTION. 13 
 
 sore upon the body politic, which is rapidly gnawing into the vitals 
 and sapping the life of the community. Crime must be punishable 
 in the mountains of Pennsylvania, as it is in the agricultural parts, 
 and in all well-regulated countries. We want to work our mines 
 in peace, to run our passenger and freight trains without fear of 
 sudden loss of life and property through the malicious acts of the 
 Molly Maguires ; we want people to sleep unthreatened, unmolested, 
 in their beds, undisturbed by dread of midnight prowlers and cow- 
 ardly assassins ; we want the labouring men, of whatever creeds or 
 nationalities, protected in their right to secure sustenance for their 
 wives and little ones, unawed by menaces. We want the miner to 
 go forth cheerfully to the slope or the shaft, for labour in the 
 breast or in the gangway, without the fear that when he parts from his 
 wife at the cottage-gate in the morning, it may be their last fare- 
 well on earth, and that by evening his bullet-riddled corpse may be 
 taken back to his home as evidence that he has encountered the 
 murderous agents of those who would compel him to refuse all 
 employment unless the regulations of the Order are complied with. 
 The State cannot achieve these things ; she has repeatedly tried and 
 tried in vain. You can do it. I have seen you tested on other 
 occasions and in other matters, and know your ability to conduct 
 such business ; we are willing to supply everything within our 
 power to make your task successful." 
 
 To this forcible appeal Major Pinkerton replied as 
 follows : — 
 
 " I believe that it can be accomplished: but it is an arduous work. 
 It is no ordinary man that is needed in this matter. He must be 
 an Irishman and a Catholic, as none other can find admission to 
 the Molly Maguires. My detective should become, to all intents 
 and purposes, one of the Order, and continue so while he remains 
 here. He should be hardy, tough, and capable of labouring in 
 season and out of season, to accomplish, unknown to those about 
 him, one great object. Meanwhile I must have a pledge that, 
 whomsoever I may dispatch upon this errand, he shall not through 
 you become known to any person as a detective. This must be 
 strictly avoided. If possible, you should shut your eyes to the fact 
 that I have a man of my Agency working in the mining country. 
 If you can do so consistently, it might as well be given out to 
 everybody interested, that the idea of circumventing the Mollies 
 through detectives, if ever thought of, has been abandoned as hope- 
 less. Take the further precaution that my name, and the names of my 
 agents, do not appear upon any of your books. Keep my reports in 
 your own custody^ I must also ask, that no person in my employ 
 — unless the circumstances are greatly changed and I permit it — 
 shall ever be required to appear and give testimony upon the witness 
 stand.' 
 
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14 THE MAN FOR THE WORK IS CHOSEN AND SENT. 
 
 Mr. Q-owen replied : — 
 
 "To all this I willingly consent. I see how necessary it is. 
 As I said before, wc will do anything in our power, within the 
 bounds of reason, to aid you and protect your detectives." 
 
 So they parted. 
 
 Major Pinkerton confides to his readers the thoughts which 
 occupied his mind after accepting Mr. Growen's proposal. 
 Could he find among his staff a man uniting all the conditions 
 requisite for a mission of such delicacy, difficulty and peril ? 
 Could he find a Catholic Irishman, who, once initiated into 
 this oath-bound Order, would remain true to his heretic 
 employer ? one who could morally and physically make, as 
 it were, a new man of himself, carry his life in his hands, 
 pursue a course of action directed against those who were 
 bound to him by ties of nationality and religion ? place him- 
 self for months, perhaps for years, in antagonism to the 
 Church which he had been taught from infancy to revere ? 
 It was indeed understood, that secret societies fell under the 
 ban of the Church, and that Dr. Wood^jCa^oKc Archbishap- 
 of Philadelphia, had excommTmlcated the Molly Maguires. 
 StilHtrwurtflOW'n to Major Pinkerton, as he tells us, that the 
 priesthood, if they did not openly countenance that Order, 
 said little against it!) At the same time he says they were 
 unanimous in expressing abhorrence of the violent acts attri- 
 buted to its members. As to the attitude of the priests, I do 
 not doubt that most of them would dissuade from crime both 
 publicly and privately ; but a careful study of history, past and 
 present, forbids me to believe that any would be found 
 willing to assist in detecting Catholic criminals, and delivering 
 them to justice. 
 
 VI. 
 
 THE MAN FOR THE WORK IS CHOSEN AND SENT. 
 
 Major Pinkerton thus describes his chosen agent : — 
 James McParlan was bom in the province of Ulster,. Countv 
 Armagh, Parish of Mullabrack, Ireland, in 1 844 ; consequently at 
 the date mentioned he Avas in his twenty -ninth year. His father 
 
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THE MAN FOR THE WORK IS CHOSEN AND SENT. 15 
 
 and mother were living. Ho had been a member of the detective 
 force for about a year. He came to America in 1867, having pre- 
 viously been employed in chemical works at Gateshead, County 
 Durham, England, and subsequently, in the same capacity, at 
 "Wallsend, England. The first place he filled after landing at New 
 York, was that of second clerk in a small grocery house on Ninth 
 Avenue in that city. At a later time he became salesman for a 
 country dealer in drygoods, named Cummings, at Medina, Orleans 
 County, in the same State. His salary was small, and not punc- 
 tually paid ; so after a short experience, he resigned, and moved 
 westward. Beaching Buffalo, he staid there but a few days, and 
 then came to Chicago. After filling different situations, he applied 
 for and obtained employment in Major Pinkerton's force. 
 
 Of medium height, a slim but wiry figure, well knit together ; 
 a clear hazel eye ; hair of an auburn colour, inclining to ' sandy ; ' 
 a forehead high, full, and well rounded ; florid complexion, regular 
 features, with beard and moustache a little darker than his hair, 
 there was no mistaking McParlan's nativity, even had not a slight 
 accent betrayed his Irish origin. He was passably educated, and 
 had beheld and brushed against a considerable portion of the New 
 World during the short time he had been in it. At Chicago he had 
 gained a reputation for honesty, tact and industry in the perform- 
 ance of difficult duties, which made him a great favourite in the office. 
 
 McParlan, clad in his ordinary but cleanly citizen's attire, 
 entered the private offl.ee of the Agency, and was invited to take a 
 seat. The conference which immediately followed was long and 
 confidential, but particulars need not be given here. Suffice it that 
 in James McParlan was recognized the very person to whom could 
 safely be intrusted the campaign in Pennsylvania, f While he. was r 
 not left in the dark as to the clangers to be encountered, he made 
 known his desire to assume the part, and said he would experience 
 pleasure in being sent where he could be of use to the country A 
 
 His disguise and journey to the coal district are described 
 as follows : — 
 
 "When the young man glanced at his figure, as reflected in a 
 mirror, he found it difficult to believe he was really himself and not 
 some wild vagabond who had usurped his place. The transformation 
 was complete. He beheld in the glass a man about his height and 
 proportions, his head covered by an old, dilapidated and dirty 
 slouch hat, with plentiful space for his cutty-pipe in its narrow, 
 faded band ; a grayish coat of coarse materials, which had, from 
 appearances, seen service in a coal-bin, and, while never very fine 
 in make or fashion, was considerably the worse about the cuffs and 
 skirts, both being frayed out to raggedness, from rough usage 
 by its former owner. The vest was originally black, but the dye 
 was washed away, and with it had fled the surface of the cloth and 
 
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16 THE MAN TOR THE WORK IS CHOSEN AND SENT. 
 
 most of the worsted binding in the region of the pockets. The 
 pantaloons, of brown woollen stuff, were whole, but too large for 
 him in the body, and strapped tight at the waist with a leather 
 belt, which, from its yellowish and broken condition, might have 
 been a former bell-thong off some farmer's cow after exposure to 
 wear and weather for a series of years. The bosom of a heavy-gray 
 shirt was seen beneath the waistcoat, and exhibited no vestige of a 
 collar ; but a substitute was formed by a red yam cravat, or knitted 
 comforter, drawn closely around the wearer's neck and tied in a 
 sailor's knot. The under garment had that which ordinary shirts 
 are seldom supplied with— a pocket, at the left inner side, for 
 tobacco. His boots were of the hob-nailed, high-topped style, and 
 in their capacious legs easily rested the bottoms of the pantaloons. 
 With face unshaven for a week or ten days, and hair quite dry and 
 straggling, from want of proper attention, it is probable that 
 McParlan's mother, had she been present, would have refused him 
 recognition. He could only be convinced that he was himself by 
 reference to his voice, which sounded familiar to the ear. In 
 his satchels, ready packed, were supplies of writing paper, envelopes, 
 stamps, &c. ; also a suit of clothes a little better than that upon his 
 person, for occasional Sunday wear. Eazor and strop he had none. 
 Their absence was no loss, however, as he did not propose shaving 
 his face until circumstances might call for the resumption of his 
 natural character. 
 
 On Monday, the 27th of October, 1873, James McParlan, thus 
 attired and accoutred, his heart hopeful for the future, appeared at 
 the Callowhill street depot of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway, 
 and after purchasing a ticket for Port Clinton, depositing his two 
 valises — which bore every outward evidence of having seen much 
 tough usage and extended travel in domestic and foreign parts — 
 on the seat beside himself, in the smoking car of the afternoon train, 
 he set out upon his voyage of discovery to the stronghold of the Molly 
 Maguires. He was James, McParlan no longer — but James McKenna 
 — such being his newly assumed name. 
 
 ijor Pinkerton's volume details minutely, and in a lively 
 
 style, to suit public taste, the life and adventures of McParlan 
 
 during his residence of two years and a half among the Molly 
 
 Maguires, passing as one of their Society under the name of 
 
 , James McKenna. ^My purpose is to exhibit the material 
 
 • facts in the history of the Molly Maguires ; and these will 
 
 be found authentically detailed in McParlan's evidence given 
 
 «* when in 1876 he appeared as a witness on the trial of John 
 
 . Kehoe and others for a conspiracy to murder William M. 
 
 Thomas. 
 
 McParlan reached Schuylkill County at Port Clinton, 78 
 
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THE CAREER OF CRIME CONTINUED. 17 
 
 miles from Philadelphia ; and after examining carefully the 
 localities of the district, their relative positions, and means of 
 access to each other, finally took up his residence in the house 
 of one Cooney at Shenandoah, as the town which gave him 
 the best opportunities of becoming acquainted with the most 
 numerous and most active Molly Maguires, and of observing 
 the plans and movements of the Society. Here he was soon 
 initiated as a member of the Order of Ancient Hibernians in 
 due form by Michael (otherwise Muff) Lawlor, then Body- 
 Master of the Shenandoah division, in the presence of four 
 other members. He was afterwards elected Secretary of the 
 Shenandoah division, and in that capacity was enabled to 
 attend the various division and convention meetings, and so 
 to gain an intimate knowledge of the proceedings of the 
 Society in Pennsylvania. During his whole residence he 
 made daily reports, unless unavoidably prevented, to Super- 
 intendent Franklin, of Philadelphia, a confidential officer of 
 the Pinkerton agency. He gave n otice of intended crimes as 
 often as he coul d, with a'view to, ^h p - ir - .pravanfip n. sometimes 
 ^TrrrnnfTin,)' , 1 u 1 1, not always • f nr so me crimes were com mittecT 
 which he kne w nf b u t cojald not hinder with out exciting^sus-^ 
 
 pici65s* ruin0US to + hp prnppnnf, nf rlntflpfnTvh fl'^ rjfl/ngpT"" 11 ™"" 
 
 his ownjj jie.— ■— — — 
 
 The lawyers afterwards employed to defend the criminals 
 brought to trial urged as a strong point in the defence, that 
 McKenna {i.e. McParlan) fomented mischief, and caused 
 crimes to be perpetrated which led to the arrest and punish- 
 ment of his companions. But this imputation is false. He 
 (says Major Pinkerton) was always instructed to avoid 
 prompting outrage ; and he obeyed his orders faithfully. 
 The truth is, he entered the stronghold of a gang of assassins, 
 and, in spite of his presence, they succeeded in committing 
 some murders. He could not stop them. 
 
 VII. 
 
 THE CAREER OF CRIME CONTINUED. 
 
 In the course of the year 1874 many murders were per- 
 petrated by the confederacy, and often outrages hardly less 
 cruel. Some of these I will now relate : 
 
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18 THE CAREER OF CRIME CONTINUED. 
 
 A strike was going on in November of that year, and want 
 of work made the Mollies active. At Mahanoy city a broil 
 arose between them and the Modocs October 31, in the course 
 of which the Chief Burgess or Mayor, George Major, was 
 mortally wounded. A Molly named Dan Dougherty was 
 reported to have shot him. This person had himself received 
 a severe wound. 
 
 The Chief Burgess died on the 3rd of November, and 
 Dougherty was removed to Pottsville, where, on his recovery, 
 he was tried and acquitted. 
 
 The strike continued. Disaffection and desertion of works 
 spread over the anthracite region. It was the intention of 
 the Mollies and the Miners' and Labourers' Association that 
 work should entirely cease. To this end those men who 
 desired to labour for the support of their families were noti- 
 fied. If they failed to stop, they were beaten or assassinated, 
 and the hand that executed the deed was known only to the 
 Molly Maguires. 
 
 On the eighteenth of November McKenna obtained infor- 
 mation that a number of outrages had occurred the preceding 
 Saturday — denominated by the Miners' Journal, of Pottsville, 
 as " a horrible day." 
 
 In the first instance a man named Pat Padden was disco- 
 vered in the streets of Carbondale, dead, with two bullet holes 
 in his skull. 
 
 Secondly, Michael McNally was mysteriously murdered in 
 the same locality, and found with his throat cut from ear to 
 ear, and body otherwise mutilated. 
 
 In another part of the county a man, of name unknown, 
 was found by some farmers, nearly dead, in a painful pre- 
 dicament. It seems he had refused to give heed to the 
 notices of the Mollies. He was one night taken from his 
 home, carried to the mountains, and thence to a deep morass 
 surrounded with high trees and fallen timber. There the 
 inhuman monsters prepared to leave him to die a slow death 
 by starvation. Iron spikes were driven through his coat 
 sleeves, tight to the wrist, the man lying upon his back along 
 a solid pine log, the arms bent backward so as to form the 
 shape of a cross ; then his feet were similarly pinned to the 
 log with the strongest nails. Making sure, as they supposed, 
 that there was no possibility of escape, the Mollies deserted 
 
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THE CAREER OF CRIME CONTINUED. 19 
 
 the place, first having put a gag in his mouth, which they 
 thought he would be unable to remove. For nearly three 
 days and two nights their victim remained thus secured, 
 praying, at last, for death to relieve him from the tortures of 
 hunger and thirst and the dreaded attacks of stinging insects 
 and fierce wild animals. Happily he at last succeeded in 
 releasing the gag, the block of wood fell out, and he made 
 the air resound, about noon of the third day, with loud and 
 repeated shouts for aid, which were heard by two German 
 woodmen, who at once sought out the cause of the noise. 
 They soon found the man, relieved him, and gave him, 
 sparingly at first, food from their well-stored lunch pails. 
 Water was also procured, and in a few hours the victim of 
 the Mollies found himself strong enough to be removed. 
 For some weeks he was a raving maniac and could not tell 
 who he was, whenee he came, or the cause of his punishment. 
 When his senses returned he possessed no knowledge of the 
 parties who had perpetrated the outrage. He migrated 
 from the coal mines as soon as possible, and said he " would 
 rather starve in a civilized community than fare sumptuously 
 in a place inhabited by brutes in human form." 
 
 A mining boss, name not heard, but connected with the 
 Erie Breaker, was set upon, beaten, and left for dead, with 
 one of his arms broken. 
 
 One Michael Kenny, not a Molly Maguire, was murdered 
 at Scranton, Luzerne County, and his mangled remains 
 thrown down a steep embankment, where it was supposed 
 they would for ever remain undiscovered, but accident re- 
 vealed their hiding-place. The assassins were not known. 
 
 The men at Oarbondale were nearly all Irish and Welsh, the 
 former mostly Mollies, and there were no members of the 
 Sheet Irons supposed to be in the neighbourhood. 
 
 The miners still refused any reduction from the basis on 
 which they were labouring when the strike was inaugurated. 
 Some were working, but all expected to suspend by the 
 beginning of the new year. 
 
 An event which made the detective's very blood boil, and 
 still one in which he could not interfere, furnishes the cap 
 chief of this array of horrors. It occurred at Fowler's Patch, 
 east of Shenandoah, a little later in the month, and the actors 
 in it were members of McKenna's own division. They were 
 
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20 CRIMES PLANNED UNDER THE DETECTIVE^ EYE. 
 
 out on a spree until four in the morning, when they went to the 
 house of a poor old woman named Downey, who kept a sheheen 
 shop, roused her from her sleep, and, after drinking, rohbed 
 her of her money — which was but a small sum — and then 
 forced her to join them in finishing their orgies. They were 
 finally all very drunk, and Kelly took a pail and proceeded 
 to fill it from the landlady's whisky barrel, which sat in a 
 corner across two large rocks, and the woman interfered. 
 Kelly, at this, had his fiercest passions aroused, and, fired by 
 the liquor, was ready for anything. The woman still resist- 
 ing, he raised her in his arms, being a muscular and powerful 
 man, carried ber bodily to the almost red-hot stove and threw 
 her upon it, face downward, and was holding her there, 
 despite her frantic struggles and loud cries, to be roasted and 
 burned to death, when Hayes came to the rescue, struck 
 Kelly under the ear, knocked him down,- and liberated the 
 badly injured old woman. Her hands and face were' 
 shriveled, broiled in deep large patches, and there is no doubt 
 that had she not been taken off the stove by Hayes, she 
 would have been killed. As it was, she had to remain in 
 bed, and for weeks was not able to sit up. Still no arrests 
 were made. 
 
 ' VIII. 
 
 CRIMES PLANNED UNDER THE DETECTIVE'S EYE. 
 
 In April, 1875, the National Detective Agenc y placed a 
 police force in Schuylkill County to protect the mines. This 
 force was commanded by a shrewd and determined officer, 
 Captain Linden, acquainted with McParlan, and acting in 
 concerFwrth him, so far as it was safe to do so. Their com- 
 munications were conducted with the most careful secrecy, 
 and many artful devices were employed to elude suspicion, 
 nor did any arise before February, 1876. 
 
 The most influential Molly Maguire in Schuylkill County 
 was one JoJrn_Kehoe, a thriving publican of Girardville. In 
 this year he was elected High Constable of that borough, and 
 naturally made use of his position to favour bis fellow-con- 
 spirators and injure the Modocs in every way that he could, 
 
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CRIMES PLANNED UNDER THE DETECTITE's EYE. 21 
 
 I now proceed to relate a series of crimes projected and 
 partly committed by the Mollies, but happily resulting in 
 their own detection and destruction. 
 
 Among the Modocs of Shenandoah was a brave young 
 Welshman , named Gomer James , who had often been en- 
 gaged in frays with the Mollies, and had incurred their 
 deadly hatred. They were resolved to take his life, and 
 formed various plots for that purpose, which on several occa- 
 sions were only frustrated by lucky accidents. As the con- 
 versation of the Irish turned so often on this subject, with 
 complete unanimity and inveteracy, McKenna was compelled 
 to feign the utmost sympathy with their hostile feelings, and 
 a willingness to promote and share their murderous plans. 
 He managed however to convsyto James_a_ w aolice~«£-fcie 
 alcnger, , "W , Mc^induc^6r^he"y6Tingv mintoabsent himself for 
 "a ti me from" 'tEe^neighbourhb"oaT DnTiap^u^TiiF^dairihg 
 "temper Ted him ere long to return, by which act of rashness 
 he lost his life before any step could be taken to save it. 
 
 In my last letter I mentioned to you that a fray between 
 the Mollies and Modocs which occurred at Mahanoy City in 
 October, 1874, the Chief Burgess there, George Major, was 
 killed by a shot from an unknown hand, that suspicion fell 
 on a Molly named Dougherty, who was himself wounded in 
 the fray, and that on his recovery, Dougherty was tried and 
 acquitted at Pottsville. The brothers of the deceased seem 
 to have been assured of his guilt, and, having been fired at, 
 he went in fear of his life, and laid a complaint before John 
 Kehoe, the County Delegate of the Ancient Hibernians. 
 Accordingly, for this question among others, that person , 
 summoned a convention to meet on the 1st of June, 1875, at 
 the Emerald House, kept by Michael Clark, in Mahanoy City. 
 There at half- past ten in the forenoon seated around a large 
 table, were John Kehoe, County Delegate of Schuylkill 
 Chris. Donnelly, of Mt. Laffee, County treasurer; Wm. 
 Gavin, of Big Mine Run, County secretary ; John Donahue 
 alias " Yellow Jack," Bodymaster of Tuscarora ; Dennis F. 
 Canning, County delegate of Northumberland, residing at 
 Locust Gap ; Wm. Gomerly, Bodymaster of St. Nicholas ; 
 Jame3 Eoarity, Bodymaster of Coaldale ; Mike O'Brien, 
 Bodymaster at Mahanoy City, with his secretary, Francis 
 McHugh, and James McKenna, representing Shenandoah 
 division. In the bar below there were other Mollies, and 
 
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22 CRIMES PLANNED UNDER THE DETECTIVE'S EYE. 
 
 with them James Kerrigan, Bodymaster of Tamaqua division. 
 Kehoe sat in the place of authority, made the opening prayer, 
 and organized the meeting. He then delivered a brief speech, 
 saying that he supposed all were acquainted with the object 
 of the convention, and without further explanation, appointed 
 a committee of two to bring Dan Dougherty before the meet- 
 ing. This was done, and Dan came in. He was a well- 
 favoured young Irishman, with dark hair and moustache, eyes 
 of the same colour, nose straight, face rather full, and cheeks 
 red and healthful, despite the wounds he had received from 
 Major, and the dread he appeared to be in of the relatives of' 
 the deceased Chief Burgess, and of Bully Bill. Dougherty 
 was a miner by occupation, dressed well, and had the reputa- 
 tion of being ordinarily a sober man. Of about medium 
 height and weight, his physique did honour to his twenty- 
 four years. What followed I take from Major Pinkerton. 
 
 "Dan, show us your coat," said Kehoe. 
 
 Dougherty obeyed, and, removing the garment, exhibited bullet 
 holes perforating the cloth in two or three places. 
 
 " Who do ye think did it ?" queried the County Delegate. 
 
 "I belave it was Jesse Major, but I couldn't swear to him on 
 the book." 
 
 "Didn't the police try to catch him ? " 
 
 " ~No ! An' there was an officer not four yards from the man at 
 the time. I ax'd him why. ' Sure, and I'd be shot down in me 
 tracks if I raised a hand,' said he, an' he went off about his business 
 as if nothin' had happened." 
 
 This caused a buzz, evidently of anger, to pass around the table. 
 
 ' ' "What men do ye think are at the head of all the late troubles 
 in this city ?" asked Kehoe, who had remained standing from the 
 time that Dougherty entered the apartment. 
 
 "The which? "Who is it? Faith, an I can think of no one 
 exceptin' Jesse and James Major, an' Bully Bill. If the toes of 
 these three were turned up, there'd be peaceable times in Mahanoy." 
 
 " That'll do," said Kehoe. " Tou may retire." 
 
 Dougherty cast a searching glance around the board, seemed 
 satisfied, put on his coat, and left the chamber. 
 
 For a moment after the closing of the door silence reigned in the 
 inquisition-room, and the inquisitors said not a word. 
 
 Chris. Donnelly was the first to speak : 
 
 " These things are getting altogether too bad. Last night the 
 train coming from Pottsville, by way of Tamaqua, was searched by 
 
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CHIMES PLANNED UNDER THE DETECTIVE'S EYE. 23 
 
 Jesse and ¥m. Major, and a number of otters, all armed, and the 
 company allowed it without a word. I suppose it is because the 
 Majors hire a big vein. I think we must put a stop to such goings 
 on." 
 
 Kehoe resumed his seat, placed his elbows on the table, rested 
 his hatchet-face on his two hands, and awaited developments. 
 
 "For one," resumed Donnelly, who had not left his chair while 
 speaking, "I'll get two good men, an' go myself, and have the 
 Majors' business at once attended to." 
 
 Here Jack Donahue — "Yellow Jack" — stood on his feet, and 
 remarked : 
 
 " We, of this side the mountain, are thankful to ye of the part 
 beyant the mountain ; but we can attend to the affair at present. 
 You, Donnelly, nade not move just yet. Afther Sunday, if wc 
 need you, I'll send word by a man to Pottsville, an' tell you what's 
 to be done." 
 
 Eehoe, after some more talk, appointed Mike O'Brien and James 
 McKenna a committee to see what should be done with Wm. M. 
 Thomas. 
 
 The detective brazened it out, and expressed a willingness to 
 attend to his duty, at the same time suggesting that counsel from 
 older heads would be in order. O'Brien tacitly deferred manage- 
 ment of this portion of the business to McKenna, which was satis- 
 factory to the agent, as it ran through his mind that, if permitted 
 to hold the helm all through, Bill Thomas would not be in any 
 especial danger of losing his life. 
 
 " I'm in favour of shootin' Bully Bill, bowldly right on the strate, 
 in open daylight," exclaimed Kehoe. 
 
 O'Brien hinted that such a course would be_sure to get the boys 
 into a scrape, and added : 
 
 "Bill can best be taken on the road home to Shoemaker's Patch. 
 Then he can be dropped, an' the men make sure their escape." 
 
 "Yes, that is the best plan," here put in Dennis Canning, the 
 Northumberland delegate, who had previously said little. He was 
 a gentlemanly-looking person, showing nothing in his face to 
 indicate a sanguinary disposition. Yet he took part in the cold- 
 blooded proceedings of the convention without a chill passing over 
 him, and seemed as much interested in the murder of Thomas 
 as the others. 
 
 "Let it be so, then," resumed the King of all the Mollies, in 
 Schuylkill, and he lifted his bearded chin from his thin hands, and 
 looked sharply over at McKenna. 
 
 "To you an' your division, Jim McKenna, I lave the picking out 
 of four or five good men, safe to be intrusted with such a difficult 
 
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24 
 
 ATTEMPTED MURDER OF \V. M. THOMAS. 
 
 matther. Jist notify the division to come together an' select 'cm, 
 an' have 'em come over an' report to Mike O'Brien, here, who will 
 find 'em a boardin' -place, payin' for their kapin' out of the county 
 fund. Let them not be later than Saturday afternoon. If they 
 can't make their point on Bully Bill in three days, you relave them 
 and sind over fresh fellows, an' kape it up until the work be done. 
 O'Brien will appoint those to lead the Shenandoah boys up to Bill, 
 an' ingiueer the business through. Fail they must not. If they 
 do, let them beware the power of the Order. If Shenandoah can't 
 succeed, Roarity must sind men, an' all the rest in turn, until the 
 Modoes cry enough." 
 
 The Shenandoah Secretary made known his acceptance of the 
 charge, and said he would sec the division notified and convened. 
 
 Canning inquired if any men were wanted from his part of the 
 State, but Donnelly replied : 
 
 " No, the job is a small one, and we can attend to it ourselves." 
 
 At first, and before the convention was called to order, the 
 presence of the young man, Frank McHugh, had been objected to, 
 but O'Brien said he was his Secretary, and insisted he should 
 remain. Subsequently McHugh, a tall, very juvenile personage, 
 with sandy hair and blue eyes — a mere boy in point of fact — was 
 directed to act as Secretary, and fabricate a record of proceedings 
 which would show to outsiders, should chance reveal the fact of a 
 meeting being held, transaction of business on some entirely differ- 
 ent matter than the murder of Thomas and the Majors. 
 
 Then, all having been arranged, the Mollies adjourned to dinner, 
 of which they partook in Clark's dining-room below. 
 
 Kchoe enjoyed his food, and remarked to McKenna, in a low 
 voice, "I think the reign of the Modoes is comin' to an end, and 
 Irishmen will soon have law in Mahanoy City as in other parts of 
 the State." 
 
 IX. 
 
 ATTEMPTED MURDER OF W. M. THOMAS. 
 
 McKenna consequently found himself chosen to be one of 
 four Mollies, for the murder of W. M. Thomas alias Bully 
 Bill. He contrived, however, after reaching Mahanoy City, 
 to convince his comrades, or rather to get them convinced 
 that the enterprise was too dangerons at that time, owing to 
 the number of soldiers in the city, and so it was deferred for 
 
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ATTEMPTED MUKDEE 0¥ W. M. THOMAS. 25 
 
 another opportunity, and the delegates returned to Shenan- 
 doah. This was on the fifth of June. Immediately after- 
 wards, McKenna sickened of intermittent fever, and was 
 under the care of a man nurse named Carey. During this 
 illness he found that the attack on Thomas was to be renewed, 
 and that his place was to be supplied by Gibbons, another 
 Molly. As his nurse refused to leave him, he was prevented 
 from writing any warning notice. 
 
 When McKenna saw the four on their return next morn- 
 ing, the following account was given : — 
 
 Tom Hurley was the first to talk of the murder. In 
 answer to McKenna's query, he said, in substance : 
 
 " Oh, Bully Bill's safe enough for the coroner by this time. 
 When we got to Mahanoy City we went direct to Mike O'Brien's 
 house, as told by Frank McAndrew, an' Mike took us to Mrs. 
 Costello's, where he got us some whisky and somcthin' to eat, and 
 a bottle of the raal stuff to take witl us, an' about daylight, with 
 his directions, wc started for the Patch, where Thomas lived. "We 
 went and sat by the drift-mouth, an' watched Thomas' house until 
 he came out and went up to the colliery stable, the big doors of 
 which were sprung wide open. After he had been in awhile, an' 
 talked wid the stable boss, an' the boss had left, wc jist walked 
 slowly up to the place. I stepped into the side door of the stable, 
 through the blacksmith's shop, an' Gibbons in the other, an' blazed 
 away at him, as he stood, wid one hand on a horse's mane. The 
 fellow was game to the last. He had no weapon, but he just threw 
 his black hat in my face, an' then, after bcin' hit three or four 
 times, ran behind the horses. I fired again, an' he was worse hit, 
 an' rather staggered. After that, Gibbons and Doyle sent him 
 three or four, an' he fell, so did wan of the horses, an' then John 
 Morris, he came up, put in his pistol, and fired the last shot. Bully 
 Bill never said wan word afther that, but lay quiet like, partly 
 under the horse that was down. I have an idea that Bill Thomas 
 won't shoot any more of us in this world. He's surely done for." 
 
 The conversation was continued by the other men. John 
 Morris said that Doyle put in his shots like a man, but 
 Gibbons turned as pale as a sheet of paper. In turn Hurley 
 and Doyle asserted that John Morris had shaken so with fear, 
 when aiming at Thomas, that he shot and severely injured 
 a second dumb beast. Each one made his statement, but the 
 several relations were to the same general effect, that Thomas 
 had been killed that morning at the colliery stable in Shoe- 
 maker's Patch. Thomas, however, though sorely wounded, was 
 not killed. He lived to give evidence against the criminals. 
 
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26 ATTEMPTED MUBDEB, OF W. M. THOMAS. 
 
 Captain Linden visiting Shoemaker's Patch, when informed 
 of the attempt upon the life of ¥m. M. Thomas, met the 
 injured man, ornamented with plasters and bolstered up in 
 bed, loudly proclaiming he was quite well enough to resume 
 his daily work, and that he should do so on the morrow, 
 despite the advance of an army of surgeons and nurses. 
 Considering that he had received four serious gunshot wounds, 
 one disabling the fingers of his right hand, two in the neck, 
 and one penetrating the chest, Linden thought this rather 
 rash talk, and andeavoured to curb him. It was no use. 
 The madcap said he would kill anybody who tried 
 to prevent his going out the next day. And, in 
 defiance of all the laws of surgery, he did walk 
 to the stables the second morning after the shooting. 
 One of tne bullets, hitting him in the neck, had passed 
 through muscular fibre and cuticle, missing by only half 
 an inch the inner jugular vein and carotid artery, and, 
 should the coats of any of these large blood- courses slough 
 away, his death would be certain and speedy. Without 
 awaiting this crisis, and with the first plasters still on the 
 hurts, the reckless man resumed his job in the stables. 
 Fortunately the injuries continued healthy, rapidly healed, 
 and in a few weeks Thomas was just as strong as ever. 
 
 Linden sought to learn all the particulars of the assault, 
 concealing the knowledge he had already received, and there- 
 fore questioned Thomas closely. In answer to the question : 
 
 " Do you know any of your assailants '? " 
 
 Thomas said " Uo, but 1 shall know some of them if ever I see 
 them again. A feller generally recollects the faces of them what 
 pulls a pistol and shoves it inter his face. Leastways, I do. There 
 was but four of 'em, I'm sure of that. I saw 'em before they got nigh 
 the stable, as they were sitting near the drift-mouth, but thought 
 nothing of it. It was no new thing to find men there, and even 
 strangers. I had been talkin' a bit with the stable boss, when 1 
 again saw the fellows, this time coming toward the stable. Still I 
 had no suspicion of their purpose. The next thing I recollect was 
 a youngster sticking a bright seven-shooter in my face. I went fur 
 him, and seized the pistol with my hand. It was discharged as I 
 caught it. I let go, and shied my hat in his face, and just after- 
 ward another of the party came up and fired at me. After that 
 two more came and followed suit, when I thought it time to get 
 shelter, so I went behind a horse, and they fired and hit 
 the horse, and he fell, and I wont down with one leg sorter 
 under him, an' they looked in an' saw me, as they thought 
 
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ATTEMPTED MURKER OF W. M. THOMAS. 27 
 
 dying — but I'll let them know I'm good for the lives of some 
 of them yet, — an' left the place. It was about half-past six 
 in the morning — just nigh sun-up, an' I could see them as 
 plain as I can see you. Of course I'd know the first one that shot, 
 and I believe I'd recognise the rest." 
 
 Linden tried to convince the wounded man that it was as 
 much as his life was worth to venture out until the reiult of 
 his hurts could he definitely ascertained, hut made no im- 
 pression upon the stubborn fellow. Seeing that this would 
 not succeed, the officer tried another tack, and found Bill 
 ready and willing to second his efforts in hunting up and 
 arresting the would-be assassins. 
 
 "Now, Thomas, if you will not obey me, or your friends and 
 the physician, I do hope you will bear in mind what I say in 
 another direction." 
 
 " "What is it ? " asked he, sullenly. 
 
 " I want a promise that, if any one asks who shot you, the 
 answer shall be, ' I don't know.' " 
 
 "Neither do I— so that'll be no lie." 
 
 "Well, if people inquire what the four' men were like, say 
 for the present, that there was so much smoke you could not dis- 
 tinguish their faces or figures." 
 
 "I'll do it, Captain," responded Bill, with an oath and a groan. 
 " I'll do it ; but what is it for ? That's what I want to know." 
 
 "I'll tell you. If these Mollies hear that you cannot recall 
 their appearance — in fact, would not know them if they were to 
 come before you — they will be emboldened to remain in the neigh- 
 bourhood. In the meantime I can be on the look-out, and you 
 may rest assured, if I once lay hands on them, they'll be put in a 
 safe place, where you can come and identify them. I have your 
 description of tbe parties, and do not think I will be long in 
 running them down, if I have your word." 
 
 " Yes, Captain ! I'll promise to be straight out in the business, 
 if you think it'll help in bringing them to jail. I do hope to see 
 the day when the scoundrels will suffer for the deed." 
 
 " They will be arrested, you may be sure, when found." 
 
 Once more impressing upon Thomas' mind the necessity 
 for silence and caution, Linden left the house and the same 
 day returned to Shenandoah. 
 
 Wm. M. Thomas was of Welsh descent, and his real name 
 was Willmad Frank, but he was generally known as Wm. 
 M. Thomas, or " Bully Bill." Why people persisted in 
 
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28 MURDER OF Y,. V. YOST, AT TAMAQUA. 
 
 calling him by the latter coarse title, he told Linden, he had 
 no knowledge. He did not particularly delight in the alias, 
 yet it was quite appropriate, in slang parlance, being founded 
 upon his daring and reckless personal character. His father s 
 name was Frank. That should have been his own, but he 
 was everywhere called Thomas. 
 
 When the Mollies heard that Bill was not dead, after all, 
 they were enraged. It Was not policy for them to vent their 
 wrathful feelings in the presence of strangers, but in their 
 own circle they were loud in their denunciations of Hurley, 
 Gibbons, Doyle, and Morris, as foolish bunglers, who had not 
 the nerve to face " Bully Bill." 
 
 X. 
 
 MURDER OF B. F. YOST, AT TAMAQUA. 
 
 It was now arranged that Gomer James should be shot on 
 the fifth of July, when a night pic-nic was to be held in the 
 neighbourhood of Shenandoah. This plan, however, as well 
 as a designed assassination of the two Majors, McKenna con- 
 trived to baffle, by the aid of Captain Linden. 
 
 But on that same Monday, the fifth of July, a cruel murder 
 was perpetrated in the City of Tamaqua. 
 
 The police, at that time, consisted of only two men, 
 Benjamin F. Yost and Barney McCarron, the former a 
 German, the latter of Irish descent, and they were expected, 
 in addition to regular patrol service, to light and extinguish 
 the gas lamps in the principal streets. Yost had experienced 
 considerable trouble with the Mollies, at the head of whom 
 was one James Kerrigan, the Bodymaster ; he had arrested 
 the latter for drunkenness on several occasions. McCarron 
 came in for his share of ill-will, but, from his German 
 parentage, Yost was peculiarly disliked. Several times had 
 he been threatened with violence, but, being a fearless man, 
 an old soldier, and veteran of many battles, the policeman 
 laughed at danger, and went on in the performance of his 
 duty. McCarron was also menaced. 
 
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MURDER OF B. 1?. YOST, AT TAMAQUA. 29 
 
 Soon after midnight of the 5th McCarron and Tost, passing 
 Carroll's saloon, noted that the place was still open, and went 
 into an hotel, where' they met and drank with Kerrigan, a 
 small, round-faced little Irishman, and a miner, but then out 
 of employment. Subsequently they moved to the westward, 
 on Broad Street, extinguishing the lamps . in their way. 
 Soon their task was almost done, and before two o'clock in 
 the morning, the policeman turned toward Yost's residence, 
 near the corner of Broad and Lehigh Streets, to take refresh- 
 ments. They had not put out all the lamps, but it was 
 customary to have some refreshment before ending the last 
 half of the patrol, during which the city would be in utter 
 darkness, unless the moon shone, which it did not. On this 
 occasion they opened Yost's front gate, passed to a rear door, 
 used a latoh key, went into the house, and found a simple 
 repast ready for them, Mrs. Yost having long since retired. 
 Having satisfied their appetites and taken some repose, they 
 went back to the street, prepared to turn off more lights. 
 Hearing the noise below, Mrs. Yost was awakened, arose, 
 the night being warm, and sat by an open front window, 
 sending a loving word and look to her husband, as he and 
 his companion advanced to perform their duty. It was a few 
 minutes after two o'clock when she saw Yost go toward the 
 lamp at the corner, place the ladder against its iron post, 
 lightly ascend two steps, extending his arm to shut off the 
 gas. But his hand never reached the base of the lamp. The 
 woman beheld two rapidly succeeding and alarming flashes 
 of light, instantly followed by two loud reports, and her 
 husband fell, his face still turned toward her, lighted up by 
 the rays slanting down from the still blazing gas jet. That 
 was all her eyes saw. That was enough. She ran madly 
 down the stairs, thinly clad as she was, and into the street, 
 through the front door, beyond the gate, and met the 
 wounded man, staggering and weak with loss of blood, cling- 
 ing to the fence, and looking toward his once happy home. 
 
 She ran very fast, but before it was possible to reach him 
 he came down upon the pavement, blood spurted from his 
 mouth, and he was, for a few minutes, unconscious. 
 
 " My God, Ben, what is it ? 
 
 The wounded policeman threw his arms forward to her and 
 said, faintly : " Sis, give me a kiss ; I'm shot, and I have to 
 die." 
 
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30 MURDER OF B. F. YOST, AT TAMAQUA. 
 
 Meantime where was Barney McOarron ? 
 
 Not hearing Yost's familiar footsteps, McCarron looked 
 backward over his shoulder, at the very second of time that 
 Mrs. Tost was gazing in the same direction. He heard the 
 two pistol shots, saw. the quick following flashes, and knew 
 that Tost was hit, as he dropped heavily to the earth. Two 
 dark figures had left the shadow cast by trees near the fence, 
 walked to within a few yards of the policemen, discharged 
 their weapons and started on a brisk run toward the cemetery. 
 McCarron immediately set out in pursuit. Graining somewhat 
 upon the assassins, when near a clump of bushes, he fired two 
 shots after them, and the men paused long enough to return 
 the fire without, effect, and in a second resumed their retreat. 
 He could merely see, as they stood in the lamp-light, that 
 one was a large man and the other somewhat smaller. It 
 was useless to go further alone. Hastening at once to his 
 wounded comrade, he aided some neighbours to convey him 
 into the house that they had so recently left. There Tost 
 was placed on a sofa and a surgeon sent for, who declared 
 that no human skill could avail anything. The end must 
 come. 
 
 Mrs. Tost heard the sentence, and burst into passionate 
 weeping, clasping the fast-paling face of her dying husband 
 in her two hands, and kissing his livid lips as if her caresses 
 might renew his short lease of life. 
 
 " Do you understand ? " said the surgeon. '' Tou are sure 
 to leave us in a very short time — possibly in one moment. 
 Tell me, before it is too late, all you know of your mur- 
 derers." He could only say he believed them to be Irish. 
 
 At a little past nine o'clock on the morning of the 6th of 
 June, 1875, seven hours subsequent to receiving his wound, 
 Benj. F. Tost breathed his last breath on earth, and one of 
 the most cruel murders of all the great number perpetrated 
 by the Molly Maguires was completed. It was even then 
 implicitly believed to have been the work of the order, as, 
 outside its blood-stained ring, Tost had not an enemy. The 
 fact, also commonly believed, that the assassins were strangers 
 in the borough, or at least not residents in it, gave colour to 
 this supposition. 
 
 B. F. Tost was 33 years of age, and universally respected 
 in Tamaqua, his widow being not the only one that shed 
 bitter tears over his untimely taking off. Hundreds of men 
 
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MUKDER OF B. F. YOST, AT TAMAQUA. 31 
 
 and women in the city, who knew his brave, frank, and 
 honest heart, and remembered the warm, firm grasp of his 
 strong hand, felt that they could mingle their tears with 
 those of the wife left wholly bereaved and desolate by the 
 bullet of the cowardly assassin. Some of these thought that 
 crime had now gone its length, and it was time its course 
 was ended. 
 
 McParlan now resolved to make every possible effort to 
 ascertain Yost's murderers, and to get evidence enough to 
 convict them. He went to Tamaqua, and availing himself 
 of his position as a known and trusted member of the Society, 
 he gradually learnt the names of the planners and perpetra- 
 tors, gaining materials sufficient to ensure conviction. The 
 persons implicated were Alexander Campbell of Storm Hill, 
 James Kerrigan and James Carroll of Tamaqua, James 
 Roarity of Coaldale, James Boyle; and Hugh McGreehan of 
 Summit Hill, the last-named being the man who fired the 
 fatal shot. McParlan afterwards had an account of the crime 
 from his own mouth : — 
 
 "Ye see, wo came to do the job in this way. Kerrigan an' 
 Campbell, they had a trade between them, an' I an' Boyle was to 
 go along, so was Roarity, who started on ahead. Kerrigan agreed 
 to get the pistols for us. When we — Boyle and I — got over to 
 Campbell's, we heard a messenger had been there before us, comin' 
 from Eoarity' s house, wid a word sayin' as how Roarity' s wife was 
 taken sick, an' for him to go straight for the doctor ; Roarity did 
 so, but sent forward his pistol to represent him, to Carroll's house, 
 where we were told to meet. When we reached Carroll's, sure an' 
 Roarity' s black pistol wor the only serviceable weapon in the whole 
 company, an' Jim Carroll, he gave us a little, old, breech-loading 
 single-barrel affair, which was of no account. I took the big 
 shooter, an' gave the other to Boyle, after Kerrigan had been out 
 to try an' borrow another, an' returned empty-handed. An' I told 
 Boyle, if he wakened, upon gettin' up to Yost, an' stirred a foot in 
 retrate, I'd shoot him down too. Kerrigan then went up Broad 
 Street an' put us in our places, near the fence, in the shadow of 
 some trees, an' after that went down town, saw the policemen 
 together, and took a sip o' whisky wid Yost — more'n I'd ha' done 
 in such a case — when he jist come back to us by a winding route, 
 sayin' all wor right, an' the men would be up by midnight, or a 
 little later. They had to put out two lamps near by. One would 
 be taken by Yost to outen, and the other by McCarron. It wor 
 nearly two o'clock when they came, both together, which wor very 
 different from our expectations. But they came. Kerrigan wanted 
 to be there, armed wid two rocks in his hands, to bate out Yost's 
 
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32 MURDERS OF GWYTHER AND GOMER JAMES. 
 
 trains, in case the pistols failed, but I ordered him away, and made 
 him stand fifty yards off, rightly thinkin' he wor too noticeable, 
 from his small size, an' if any one saw him he would be known an 
 remembered. Then the thing wor done : Koarity's pistol did it ! 
 It's all nonsense to say McCarron did not give chase, fur he did, 
 an' fired two shots- at us, which I returned, an' then we ran away, 
 Kerrigan, the rat, along wid us ! But I made him lave when we 
 came out at Broslin's White Bear tavern, an' I would have been 
 much better plazed had he remained away an' left us to find our 
 route by ourselves." 
 
 XI. 
 
 MURDERS OF GWYTHER AND GOMER JAMES. 
 
 During MoParlan's visit to Tamaqua two crimes were 
 committed. The first was at Girardville, Saturday, August 
 14th, where Hoary, at the head of a gang of ruffians, struck 
 and maltreated Mr. Sheisler. Justice Gwyther was sitting 
 in the room at the time, and to him Sheisler applied for a 
 warrant. Wendel put Hoary and party out, and then let 
 the Justice and the complainant out by the hack way. They 
 went to the office, and he had begun to write out a warrant 
 for Hoary's arrest, when that fellow and his gang entered 
 the office, threatening to kill hoth the Justice and the plaintiff 
 if the warrant should he issued. They were got out and the 
 door locked. The warrant was prepared, and the Squire 
 stepped out to look for Hoary. He was standing near his 
 own door at the corner, when he saw a man a few yards off 
 with a levelled gun. His daughter saw the same man, and 
 cried out, "For Grod's sake, don't shoot father." Almost 
 immediately the gun was fired, the contents taking effect in 
 the breast of the Justice, and in a short while causing death. 
 The assassin fled and escaped. A man named Thos. Love 
 was arrested on suspicion, hut he proved an alibi and was 
 released. Subsequently it was ascertained that the assassin 
 was Wm. Love, who is missing. 
 
 At Shenandoah a cool and premeditated murder was com- 
 mitted the same night. The motive of this assassination is 
 to be sought in the past. In 1873 a Welshman, named Tom 
 
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MURDERS OF GWYTHER AND GOMER JAMES. 33 
 
 Jones, was assaulted, knocked down and beaten by one 
 Edward Cosgrove, in Sbenandoah. Jones' friends ran to bis 
 rescue, and among tbem a young fellow called Gomer James, 
 a Welsh miner. In tbe trouble wbicb followed, Cosgrove 
 was sbot and killed. James was accused of bis murder, 
 arrested and tried. Tbe testimony at tbe trial was not suffi- 
 cient to convict bim, and be was acquitted. His escape in- 
 oensed Cosgrove's friends, wbo believed James guilty, and 
 tbreats were uttered to take bis life. Saturday, Aug. 14, tbe 
 Rescue Hook and Ladder Company of Sbenandoab beld a pic- 
 nic, wbicb, being well attended, continued far into tbe nigbt. 
 Gomer James, somewbere about eleven o'clock, was inside a 
 bar at tbis pic-nic, waiting upon its patrons, wben a number 
 of men came up. Tbey asked for beer, and while James was 
 drawing it be was sbot and killed. In the darkness and 
 confusion the assassin escaped. 
 
 McKenna had not been long in Shenandoah when he 
 learned through Muff Lawlor that there was little doubt who 
 bad done for tbe young Welshman. Mike Carey, who was 
 present, with Lawlor, McAndrew, Morris, and other Mollies, 
 said in an impressive whisper : 
 
 ' ' Hurley reached forward over the counter and fired, the bullet 
 striking Gomer James full in his heart, an' he fell. Before any 
 one could go to his assistance he iror dead. I saw the thing done 
 myself." 
 
 It seems that the Shenandoah -division was in session at tbe 
 time of the assassination — eleven o'clock at night of the 
 fourteenth — when Carey rushed in before tbe members, and 
 announced, " Tom Hurley has shot Gomer James." He was 
 quickly stopped by McAndrew, and subsequently repri- 
 manded for bis thoughtlessness in making such a statement 
 before all the members. But it was doubtless true that Tom 
 Hurley had done tbe deed. 
 
 Hurley claimed five hundred dollars for this " clean job," 
 and it was adjudged to him by John Kehoe, but probably he 
 never received the blood-money. 
 
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34 M1 T RDER OF SANGER AND UREN. / 
 
 XII. 
 
 MURDER OF SANGER AND UREN. 
 
 The next deed of blood was committed at Baven-run, near 
 Ashland, on Wednesday, the 1st of September, 1^75, more 
 than a fortnight after the murders of Gwyther and Gomer 
 James. The victims were a mining boss named Thomas 
 Sanger, and a miner in the same works, "W. Uren. The 
 cowardly murderers were five in number, the two McDonnells, 
 Michael Doyle, Charles McAllister, and Thomas Munley. 
 The details may be omitted here, as they appear at full in 
 Mr. Gowen's speech on the trial of Munley for that crime, 
 quoted in the Appendix. Major Pinkerton says of the two 
 murdered men : 
 
 ' ' A fraternal feeling had existed between the two men murdered 
 on the 1st of September at Kaven-run, Win. Uren having been a 
 native of the parish of Germoe, Cornwall, England, but a short 
 distance from Sanger's birthplace. He entered the Greatwork tin 
 mines at the early age of ten years, with his father, and remained 
 until about nineteen, when he bade his relatives adieu and sailed for 
 this country, landing at Kew York in the fall of 1872. After 
 working nearly a year at Dover, IV ew Jersey, he removed to Schuyl- 
 kill County, and was employed by the Messrs. Heaton as a coal 
 miner. While in England "Uren was a regular attendant at church 
 and Sabbath-school. In Pennsylvania he kept up the same course, 
 early enlisting as teacher in a Sunday-school, which place he held 
 at the time of his death. Uren, with other bosses and miners, in- 
 cluding Sanger, was coffin-noticed by the Mollies as early as 1874. 
 and in consequence Sanger invited the young man to board at his 
 house. They soon formed an intimate and enduring friendship. 
 The winter of 1875 and following summer, to the day of the assas- 
 sination, passing peaceably and without any apparent attempt to 
 carry out the threats of the organization, as far as he and Sanger 
 were concerned, Uren began to believe all danger gone or blown 
 over. They thought nothing would actually be done. Thus had it 
 always been : no sooner did a threatened man come to the under- 
 standing that his life was perfectly safe, than, in this very peculiar 
 country, and with this very peculiar class of people, he was, as too 
 many cases proved, in the exact position to prepare for leaving this 
 world, for the fiends incarnate causing all the trouble in the coal 
 region were abundantly capable of waiting for any length of time, 
 keeping their wrath warm and pouring it, at any unsuspected 
 moment, upon the devoted heads of their victims. Therefore Uren, 
 when set upon, was no better prepared to defend himself against the 
 power of his enemies than his friend Sanger. There was nothing 
 
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MURDER OF SANGER AND UREN. 35 
 
 that either could possibly do but to stand up like men before the 
 deadly pistols and be shot cruelly down. 
 
 " A more sorrowful scene than that enacted around the couch of 
 the dying Uren was never witnessed. His fellow-countryman, 
 Sanger, was already gone. It was not long before he followed. 
 The funeral of the two men, like their murder, was a double one, 
 and both were buried in the same grave. The parents of Wni. Uren 
 are yet living in England, with four sisters and five brothers. They 
 receive no more assistance from their dutiful son and brother. They 
 know their main help on this side of the Atlantic has been cut off 
 by the bullet of the assassin." 
 
 At Lawlor's house in Shenandoah McParlan learned all 
 the details of this horrid expedition by Friday O'Donnell and 
 his crew. They regained the outskirts of Shenandoah at 
 about eight o'clock the morning of the murder, and the crowd, 
 consisting of Mike Doyle, Friday and Charles O'Donnell, 
 Thos. Munley, and Chas. McAllister, entered the house, one 
 by one, and each was made quickly comfortable. 
 
 Chas. McAllister lived with the O'Donnells at Wiggan's 
 Patch, and was married to their sister. 
 
 The entire company were covered with dust and perspira- 
 tion, and declared themselves very thirsty. They certainly 
 drank a great quantity of water for men whose usual beverage 
 was something stronger, and seemed recently to have tra- 
 velled far and fast. Friday O'Donnell made no secret of the 
 scene all were freshly from, and boasted that they had made 
 a clean sweep of it, and, while it was the intention only to 
 take off Sanger, they had killed another man, supposed to be 
 a miner. He did not know but they had hurt others. 
 
 Chas. McAllister exhibited to McKenna a navy revolver, 
 and said that Chas. O'Donnell carried one of the same size ; 
 Doyle wore the Smith and Wesson he had previously shown, 
 and Friday O'Donnell had two pistols. In Lawlor's back 
 kitchen, that' morning, they talked over the murder for an 
 hour, saying they had all traded clothing before the shooting, 
 and, after finishing, swapped back again. Each murderer 
 took part in the dialogue, and related, in his own way, 
 the share he had taken in the assassination. 
 
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36 MURDER OF JONES. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 RETALIATION BEGINS. MURDER OF J. P. JONES, AND CAPTURE 
 OF THE ASSASSINS. 
 
 , Vigilan ce Comjg^fce£s_no w began to be formed, a nd to 
 
 -nreatenl^xis.^ 
 /among nSte-Moflies,, and Linden let him know thatTielJtood 
 ingieat-iiak... Yet he would not desert his post , until he^ad 
 -procured testimony full "enough "to bring the criminals to 
 justice. 
 
 One of these Committees, in masks, forced an entrance 
 into the house of the O'Donnells at -Wiggan's Patch, dragged 
 Charles O'Donnell into the street, and shot him to death. A 
 woman, Mrs. McAllister, his sister, lost her life in the affray 
 by a chance shot. Thus the work of reprisal was begun, and 
 MoKenna's life was endangered on two sides ; for ere long 
 he fell under the suspicion of John Kehoe and the other 
 Mollies, who conspired, as will be seen, to kill him. 
 
 John P. Jones was added to the long list of victims on 
 September 3rd, 1875. 
 
 He left his house, which was in Lansford, and contained 
 his wife and seven children, at about seven o'clock in the 
 morning, bound for the breaker where he was employed, car- 
 rying his dinner-pail in his hand, and following the pipe-line 
 toward the old railway embankment, which he had been often 
 urged not to take, as many were aware that his life was not 
 safe. Instead of heeding advice, he put his revolver in his 
 pocket and went off cheerfully to what proved his last journey. 
 
 The assassins, James Kerrigan, Mike Doyle and Edward 
 Kelly, were waiting for him. He saw them not, but contin- 
 ued his walk. Kerrigan, as usual, was standing at a little 
 distance unarmed. Jones left his home by a rear door and 
 moved clown the pipe-line. When the murderers reached the 
 top of the path, he was some yards from the same position. 
 He heard their footsteps and turned aside, patiently waiting 
 for the others to pass. They halted, when close to him, and 
 then Doyle and Kelly drew their pistols and fired on Jones. 
 Each discharged one shot. Their victim made a spasmodic 
 blow at his assailants with the tin dinner-pail, when Doyle 
 fired again. Turning off toward the bushes, Jones raised his 
 hands and cried out, "I'm shot, I'm shot." In a moment 
 
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CAPTURE OF THE ASSASSINS. 37 
 
 he fell forward upon his face. After this Doyle fired two 
 more bullets into his already riddled body. His heart beat 
 no more. While Doyle was finishing the savage job, his 
 companions were running away across the mountains. The 
 reports of the pistols brought many workmen to the spot, and 
 Jones' corpse was immediately taken to his home. Several 
 persons had seen the assassins retreating over the hill, and 
 one man was so near them as to be frightened, thinking his 
 turn to be shot would come next. pu-w-W. <Su3~4>j^t 
 
 The citizens of Tamaqua were not long in ignorance of the 
 incidents at the killing of Jones, and the excitement, which 
 before had risen to a high pitch, reached the verge of general 
 madness. People procured arms and went upon the streets 
 in numbers. Men, women, and boys were aroused, and 
 everybody appeared intent upon arresting or killing some- 
 body. The Molly Maguires alone kept quiet. Finally it 
 was discovered by some one who had been quietly following 
 the little miner since the killing of Yost, that James Kerrigan 
 was away from his home. Silently and doggedly a feW pt!f»» 
 sons kept watch over his house. Early in the forenoon he 
 returned, remained but a short time, and was shortly after- 
 wards seen to start out with a small bundle in his hand, and, 
 projecting from one pocket, a flask of liquor. Cautiously the 
 men kept on his trail, and tracked him until he reached a 
 spring where Doyle and Kelly were waiting. He had no 
 more than time to give them refreshments, when the three 
 Mollies, warned by a signal from Carroll, who walked along, 
 making himself conspicuous upon the railway track, started 
 to run. But the people confronted and soon captured them. 
 They had no arms about their persons, and when examined 
 at the jail only some cartridges were found in their pockets. 
 A little later, however, some officers, making a search, un- 
 earthed three pistols and a heavy club, secreted under the 
 trees in the leaves near the spring. The sheriff, the next 
 day, escorted Kerrigan, Kelly, and Doyle to Mauch Chunk, 
 where they were committed to prison to await trial, the crime 
 having been committed, in Carbon County. 
 
 The arrest of these criminals filled with consternation the 
 hearts of the Molly Maguires. Another blow followed. 
 Classified and carefully arranged lists of all the Mollies, or 
 members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, in Luzerne, 
 Northumberland, Columbia, Carbon, and Schuylkill Counties, 
 
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38 ■ CAPTURE OF THE ASSASSINS. 
 
 their residence, occupation, standing in the society, and crimes 
 they had heen connected with, were now printed and circu- 
 lated throughout the United States, by publication in the 
 principal newspapers. Fresh detectives were sent to the sup- 
 port of those already on the ground, unknown to the others, 
 and every available adjunct, that ingenuity could devise and 
 money and influence supply, was set at work to accomplish 
 the defeat of the combination. 
 
 Meanwhile the order, not inactive, was no longer forcibly ag- 
 gressive, but moving purely in self-defence. Money was raised 
 for the legal expenses of the prisoners. Evidence was hunted 
 up to falsify the truth and swear them clear. But on the track 
 of the concocters was the stealthy step of one whom they 
 knew but as yet suspected not, and to whom they had in- 
 trusted their most secret transactions. Hurley, Morris, 
 Monaghan, Sweeney, Campbell, Eisher, and many more, 
 were engaged day and night in collecting funds to defend 
 the cases of Kelly, Doyle, and Kerrigan. The members of 
 Shenandoah Division were assessed two dollars each by 
 McAndrew, which were promptly paid. 
 
 Hugh McGeehan, at this time, gave out that he had been 
 fired upon at night, while going from his saloon to the spring 
 for a pail of water, and had a narrow escape from death, the 
 bullet striking him in the fleshy part of the shoulder. There 
 were several in the attacking party, one of whom McGeehan 
 said he knew, hut was wise enough not to name. Besides 
 the real injury inflicted on McGeehan, several bullets passed 
 through and cut holes in his coat, showing that, however 
 hurried the aim of the attacking party, it was tolerably well 
 taken amid the darkness. 
 
 The publication of the list of Mollies convinced the society 
 that they had a traitor in their midst. Each man fell to 
 suspecting his neighbour. No one except a member, they 
 argued, could have given the papers such full information. 
 The question uppermost in all minds was, " Who is the 
 man ?" That he was well posted, with sources of intelligence 
 not open to ordinary members of the body, was evident to 
 all. After serious discussion, during which every point was 
 covered, it was settled that the journals had been supplied 
 with the names by some person residing in Schuylkill County. 
 Soon suspicion began to be directed to Muff Lawlor, who was 
 known to Lc so particularly kind to Linden, in whose society, 
 
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KERRIGAN GIVES STATE'S EVIDENCE. 39 
 
 for his own purposes, he had frequently placed himself. 
 McKenna, the actual culprit, without saying a word, was 
 freely acquitted. Had he not quarrelled with Linden months 
 before ? Had he not separated himself from Lawlor ? 
 
 Visiting Alex. Campbell at Summit Hill he found that 
 McGeehan had received a threatening notice. It bore the 
 Mauch Chunk postmark, and informed Hugh that, as he had 
 not given policeman Yost, of Tamaqua, a chance for his life, 
 he and Boyle, accomplices in that cruel assassination, with 
 Campbell, Roarity, Carroll, and Mulhall, who were all known, 
 would have about an equal chance for theirs. Their fate was 
 sealed. This document frightened the Summit Hill Mollies. 
 Campbell hardly knew what to do about it. Were some of 
 the boys in jail too open-mouthed, or was the work of the 
 first spying traitor yet going on ? The men who had so 
 long murdered in the dark hated this mystery. The weapon 
 turned upon them made them pale with fear. 
 
 Soon afterwards a crowd of men walked up to McGeehan's 
 house in the night, and fired seven or eight bullets through 
 its siding, but none touched the murderer of Yost. Muff 
 Lawlor, of Shenandoah, was similarly treated. 
 
 / That there was a spy among the Hollies all were now 
 / agreed, but thus far no thought had arisen that McKenna 
 / was the man. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 KERRIGAN GIVES EVIDENCE AGAINST HIS ACCOMPLICES. 
 
 The first indictment of a Molly Maguire in this country, 
 with a chance of conviction, occurred on the 18th of January, 
 1876, at Mauch Chunk, Carbon County. The parties indicted 
 were Michael J. Doyle, of Mt. Laffee, Schuylkill County, and 
 Edward Kelly, charged with the murder of John P. Jones. 
 The circumstances of the crime have already been detailed. 
 At an earlier date the three murderers, Kelly, Doyle and 
 Kerrigan, had been jointly put on trial, entering the usual 
 plea of " not guilty," and demanding a severance. Doyle 
 was the first put on his trial. The trial was attended by all 
 
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40 KERRIGAN GIVES EVIDENCE 
 
 the celebrities of the Carbon County bar, surprised that at 
 last there seemed a possibility that a Molly might be con- 
 victed. Great efforts were made by counsel to show that not 
 one of the three men charged with the deed could have been 
 present at the killing of Jones, as they really were elsewhere, 
 but their trouble and expense were baffled by the effective 
 work of the detectives. The witnesses so confidently ex- 
 pected were for once abashed and afraid to take the stand. 
 They knew they could not swear to a lie and go unpunished. 
 The old and w ell tried alibi fell prostrate, no more to be re- 
 vivetlT teTus hope, in_^ js^^M^mds^j^ : eJ^mS^ : 
 ) wealll t: JBelore the end of the cause, James Kerrigan, oF 
 ' Tam'&'tpia, made known to the prosecuting officer that he 
 wished to give State's testimony. After careful consideration 
 he was accepted, placed before the court, and made a confes- 
 sion as follows : — 
 
 ' ' I live in Tamaqua and have been there six or seven years ; am 
 a man of family and work in the mines. I have known Alex. 
 Campbell three or four years ; met him first at Tamaqua last 
 September ; he lived at Storm Hill and kept a tavern, selling 
 whisky and porter. I did not know John Jones, hut was ac- 
 quainted with Michael Doyle and Edward Kelly. On the 1st 
 of September last I had been working at Alaska Colliery in 
 Tamaqua, for Mr. Richards, and was returning home from work in 
 the evening, when I went into the hotel kept by James Carroll, to 
 get a drink. Mr. Lutz of Tamaqua was there, also Doyle and Kelly. 
 I was going out, when Carroll followed me to the porch, asking me 
 if I would take those men, Doyle and Kelly, over to Alex. Campbell's, 
 at Storm Hill. I told him I would have to go to work at 1 1 o'clock, 
 but after he coaxed me I promised. He then made me acquainted 
 with them, and I went home to wash myself and to get supper, 
 returning at twenty minutes past seven p.m. (I left work at about 
 half-past five p.m. that day.) The colliery was nearly a mile from 
 Carroll's place. When I got back from the house Carroll treated 
 twice and walked with us as far as Preidenburgh's, giving me in- 
 structions not to tell any one that might ask where we were going. 
 At the New York depot we met Mr. and Mrs. Griffiths, and I bade 
 them good evening. "We then walked on to Storm Hill and found 
 Alex. Campbell there, and his little brother-in-law, a boy of 14, 
 with him. Campbell called me outside, bidding me wait until he 
 had put on his coat, when he would accompany us to McGreehan's 
 at Storm Hill, first treating us at his own bar. He told his little 
 brother-in-law to say, if any one inquired for him in his absence, 
 that he had gone to a wake. As we went into McGeehan's, two or 
 three men were coming out ; one I know is named Aubry. Alex. 
 
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AGAINST HIS ACCOMPLICES. 41 
 
 Campbell called for drinks and paid for them. Then he began to 
 whisper, up by the bar. The next thing I observed was three 
 revolvers. McGeehan got them, and took the chambers out of two 
 and began to oil them out of a can. After fixing them he gave one 
 to Doyle and one to- Kelly. Campbell handed one to me, but I 
 refused and would not take it. He wanted me to go with the 
 others and shoot John Jones, but I said I did not know him and 
 would not go. They then agreed I should stay there that night 
 and they would go with me to get work in the morning, as they 
 wanted to see and recognise the boss. 
 
 "McGeehan and Campbell were saying that John Jones had 
 black-listed some men that had been working there, and McGeehan 
 was one of the three, another being named Marshall. Parish gave 
 these men a letter to give to John Jones and Zehner, to be reinstated, 
 but they ordered the men away from the office, saying there was no 
 work for them. Campbell said if Jones was shot Zehner would 
 then run away. McGeehan said : ' By G — , if he does not cool off, 
 after this, we'll give"him a ball.' McGeehan said he was black- 
 listed at Judd's, also, and there were two men there that he wanted 
 put out of the way, B. Marble and John Turner. 
 
 ""We started from McGeehan's at seven a.m., and came down to 
 the Catholic church, and on the road to Micky O'Donnel's tavern, 
 passing Micky at the depot, and went up the railroad to Number 
 Six, where Doyle went into a blacksmith's shop, and Kelly and I 
 to a house above, where we asked a woman if she sold anything. 
 Doyle afterwards came up, and we got a bowl of milk. 
 
 " We then went up to a Mrs. Davis, and finding she sold porter, 
 called for three bottles ; she asked Doyle where we came from, and 
 he told her Shenandoah. Then she gave us tea and a good meal. 
 We went out to the slope to look for work, but leaving Doyle and 
 Kelly, I went to McGeehan's ; still they could not see the boss, so 
 came back and met me. They failed again to find Jones, and about 
 six p.m. we all went to Alex. Campbell's, McGeehan carrying the 
 pistols. As a wagon was passing I wanted to go home on it, as I 
 told them my wife would think me lost, but Campbell would not 
 let me. Campbell treated us, on arriving at his bar, and after 
 supper I again wished to start for home, but Campbell objected, 
 wishing me to go up with the others and shoot Jones at the house, 
 as he would be coming from the post-office about that time. While 
 Doyle and Kelly went, Campbell made me get down on my knees 
 and promise never to tell or speak of the matter, drunk or sober. 
 He then bade me go up and see where they were. I met them this 
 side of Micky O'Donnel's, and Doyle was sitting on a stone. Kelly 
 said he had "been into a house and asked if Jones was at home, and 
 the person said he was not. 
 
 " On returning to Campbell's, this house was described to Alex., 
 
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42 KERRIGAN GIVES EVIDENCE. 
 
 and lie said it was Geo. Hooley's house, not Jones'. "We stopped 
 at Campbell's all that night, and they were fooling with the cart- 
 ridges. Kelly said he would take Campbell's small revolver along ' 
 in the morning, and shoot Jones as he was going to his work, and 
 not let him off with one ball, but give him three or four. Michael 
 Doyle had the old pistol and the black-jack, and Kelly had the 
 other two. Campbell advised them they need not be a bit afraid, 
 for no one would ever follow them, as Jones was not liked by the 
 Welshmen or any one else. ' Tou can have this,' said Campbell, 
 handing me a five dollar bill, ' and buy them some whisky and give 
 them enough to pay their way home on the cars.' I gave the bill 
 to my woman when I got to Tainaqua, and she got a pint of whisky 
 of Mrs. Clark, who could not change the bill. I took the liquor 
 out to them at the spring where we were arrested. 
 
 " Campbell told Doyle and Kelly to be sure not to be seen at 
 Carroll's in the day-time, but to go in the night and leave the pistols 
 there, and then go home on the cars in the morning. Ble also told 
 them this the night Carroll came up the railroad. Then Doyle said : 
 
 ' By G , they are after us : there is Carroll : and he started to 
 
 run. 
 
 I joined the society in Campbell's cellar, thinking it the 
 A. 0. H. A man named Donahue put me through. I did not 
 know it was the Molly Maguires until Barney O'Hare was burned 
 out at Tuscarora. Slattery paid Alex. Campbell to send the men. 
 I was at Campbell's when they started. 
 
 ' ' I received no reward from Campbell for showing the men the 
 road, and the five dollar bill which we could not change I have 
 since sent to my wife from the prison by Wallace. 
 
 " The order of Molly Maguires is an organization to murder, and 
 the men do not speak of their plans at the public meetings ; but 
 the Bodymasters employ men to do the work for them." 
 
 After this, Mrs. Kerrigan turned against her husband and 
 said he might hang. She would not raise her hand to save 
 him. 
 
 During the trial of Doyle, McKenna, who was in attend- 
 ance, ostensibly as a spectator, but really to find out all he 
 could, came across a man named Durkin, who told him he 
 was ready, if the Mollies were convicted, to blow up the 
 court-house edifice, killing judges, jury, attorneys, officials, 
 and innocent spectators, having procured a can of nitro- 
 glycerine, which he had safely deposited in a shop near at 
 hand. The agent informed the desperado that he was very 
 foolish to concoct such a plot, and would be still more silly 
 should he endeavour to execute it, as he would surely be 
 
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MCPAELAN RETIRES TO PHILADELPHIA. 43 
 
 captured and strung up by the vigilance committee to the 
 nearest tree. The attempt was never made. 
 
 Kerrigan's confession h aving corroborated in every import- 
 ant particular the stories of the other State's witnesses, on the 
 1st of the ensuing February the jury returned a verdict of 
 " guilty of murder in the first degree," and on the 22nd the 
 Court sentenced Michael Doyle to death. This was the 
 earliest conviction of a real Molly in Pennsylvania ; and the 
 news spread rapidly, far and wide, carrying dismay into the 
 ranks of the organization and shocking the nerves of the 
 leaders everywhere in the State. During the progress of the 
 trial the Mollies had been bold and defiant, and many of 
 their principal men were on the spot, expecting to witness the 
 defendant's release. How deeply they were disappointed 
 McKenna was among the first to hear. He said that the 
 result came upon the order like an earthquake on a quiet 
 village. Everybody was mute from terror. 
 
 Edward Kelly was placed at the bar before Judge Dreher 
 on the 29th of March, and, although ably defended, met with 
 a similar fate, a verdict of murder in the first degree having 
 been returned by the jury on the 12th of April following. 
 Death-warrants were issued by the Governor in both cases, 
 fixing the execution of Doyle for the 3rd of May, and that of 
 Kelly for the 4th of the same month. "Writs of error in the 
 Supreme Court, however, superseded the warrants. 
 
 The cases failed in the Supreme Court, and in May, 1 877, 
 Gov. Hartranft signed the death-warrants, the executions to 
 take place on the 21st of June following. 
 
 . Thomas Hurley now fled from the country. *• 
 
 ' Kerrigan's turning State's evidence was the most stunning 
 blow the Mollies had thus far received, but they knew not at 
 the time how much heavier were in preparation. / 
 
 XV. 
 
 MCPARLAN RETIRES TO PHILADELPHIA, AND BECOMES A 
 WITNESS. — TRIAL OF T. MUNLEY FOR THE RAVEN-RUN 
 MURDER. SPEECH OF MR. GOWEN. 
 
 In February, 1876, it became known to McParlan that the 
 fact of his being a detective had been betrayed to Kehoe 
 
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44 TRIAL OF JOHN KEHOE AND OTHERS. 
 
 through some treacherous source, and that his death was 
 planned by that king of the Mollies, who had detailed assas- 
 sins for the work. During many days of that month he 
 carried his life in his hand, protecting himself with marvellous 
 resolution and wariness. But all his precaution might not 
 have availed, had he not been aided by the friendly advice 
 and attendance of Frank McAndrew, Body-master of the 
 Shenandoah division. The particulars of his escape are of the 
 most exciting interest, but I omit them here, as they will be 
 found in his re-examination on the trial of John Kehoe and 
 others, which began at Pottsville August 8th, 1876. As 
 soon as it became manifest to him that further concealment 
 of his true character was hopeless, he left Shenandoah for 
 Philadelphia, and consented to appear on the witness-stand 
 in future trials, and give evidence for the Commonwealth. 
 
 Arrests now began in earnest under the direction and 
 advice of Mr. Franklin and the district attorneys, assisted by 
 McParlan. The first person apprehended was Alexander 
 Campbell, of Storm Hill, Langford, charged with the murder 
 of J. P. Jones. The next were Hugh McGreehan, James 
 Boyle, James Eoarity, James Carroll, and Thomas Duffy, for 
 the murder of B. F. Yost, at Tamaqua. Then followed 
 Thomas Munley and Charles McAllister, for the murder of 
 Sanger and Uren at liaven-run. Afterwards John Kehoe 
 and eight others were arrested and committed to prison in 
 Pottsville. (See XVI.) An attempt was made to rescue these 
 prisoners from gaol by a writ of Habeas corpus, but Kerrigan's 
 decisive evidence, with that of McParlan, defeated this endea- 
 vour. The Tost murderers were convicted and sentenced to be 
 hanged in July, 1876, and Campbell in January, 1877. In 
 June, 1876, Munley was tried separately for the Baven- 
 run murder, and, after a vain attempt to prove an alibi for 
 the defence, he was convicted and received sentence of death. 
 It was in this case that the Hon. Franklin B. Go wen, one of 
 the counsel for the prosecution, made a memorable speech, 
 from which I send some extracts. (See these in Appendix.) 
 
 XVI. 
 
 TRIAL OF JOHN KEHOE AND OTHERS AT POTTSVILLE. 
 
 John Kehoe and eight others were tried at Pottsville from 
 the -8th to the 12th of August, 1876, before Judge Walker, 
 
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TRIAL OF JOHN KEHOE AND OTHERS. 45 
 
 on the charge of conspiracy to kill William M. Thomas. I 
 send you full particulars of this trial on account of its singular 
 importance and interest. 
 
 The Council for the Commonwealth were Messrs. Kaercher 
 (district attorney"!, Gowen, Hughes, Farquhar, and Albright ; 
 for the defendants, Messrs. James Eyon, L'Yelle, and 
 Garrett. 
 
 Mr. Farquhar opened the case for the Commonwealth as 
 follows : — 
 
 " With submission to the Court — Gentlemen of the Jury : John 
 Kehoe, Michael O'Brien, Christopher Donnelly, John Donohue, alias 
 Yellow Jack, James Eoarity, Dennis F. Canning, Frank McHugh, 
 John Gibbons, John Morris,, Thomas Hurley, and Michael Doyle 
 are charged in this indictment with assault and battery with intent 
 to kill William M. Thomas. Of these parties, Thomas Hurley and 
 Michael Doyle are fugitives from justice. The Commonwealth 
 has not been able to arrest them, and you have only been sworn to 
 try the other prisoners whom I have mentioned. 
 
 " Before going into the details of this case, it will be necessary for 
 me to explain another matter, so that you may more fully under- 
 stand the attack which was made upon Mr. Thomas. For a number 
 of years there has existed in this county an organization known as 
 the Ancient Order of Hibernians, also known as the Molly Maguires. 
 It originated not in this country, but in Ireland, where it existed 
 many years ago under the name of Ribbonism. That organization 
 was created,for the purpose of resisting the action of the landlords, 
 or preventing them from collecting rents, and if'-<me tenant would 
 takte the land from which another had been evicted,, for not paying 
 his rent, the Ribbonmen maltreated the person who took such a place. 
 At first they did not kill, but merely beat them, ducked them 
 in ponds, and performed acts of that character. These outrages 
 were committed upon the landlords, bailiffs, and constables' who 
 were intrusted with the collection of rents, or making distress for 
 rents, and when the members of the organization conimrfefeed these 
 outrages they were generally dressed as women, and hence became 
 known as Molly Maguires. 
 
 "This organization, founded in the old country, was brought 
 here by persons emigrating from Ireland. In this country the. 
 principal directors are the National Delegate and a President, 
 residing in the city of New York. They have a State organiza- 
 tion in each of the different States, a county organization in the 
 respective counties, and divisions or lodges. The association was 
 created ostensibly for a beneficial purpose, and it was intended 
 that its objects and purposes should appeal not only to the bene- 
 volence, but also to the patriotism of its members. In fact, how- 
 
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46 TRIAL OF JOHN KEHOE AND OTHERS. 
 
 ever, at least so far as this coal region is concerned, the Society 
 is a band of cutthroats and assassins, who have stopped at nothing 
 for the purpose of carrying out their plans. 
 
 "All of these defendants are members of that order. John 
 Kehoe occupied the position known as the county delegate, or the 
 chief man in Schuylkill county. James Roarity was the head of 
 the Coaldalc division, or its body-master. Dennis F. Canping was 
 the county delegate of Northumberland County, or chief of that 
 county. Michael O'Brien was the body-master at Mahanoy City v 
 John Morris was a member of the organization, but held no office.'' 
 Christopher Donnelly was the county treasurer of this county. John 
 Donohue, alias Yellow Jack, was the body-master at Tuscarora. 
 John Gibbons was simply a member of that organization, and Frank 
 McHugh was the secretary of the division at Mahanoy City. 
 
 ' ' The body -master means the head of a division. "When an applica- 
 tion was made, by any of the members, for a murder to be committed, 
 a county convention was called, at which all the officers of the county 
 were entitled to attend ; that is, the officers belonging to the divis- 
 ion, including the county secretary, county treasurer, and all the 
 division officers. These officers were composed of the body -master, 
 secretary, assistant-secretary, treasurer, ancli a vice-president or vice 
 body-master, which although seldom exercised was yet provided 
 for in their regulations. 
 
 ' ' There was, at one time, in Mahanoy City a disturbance at 
 which one George Major, the chief burgess, was killed. Daniel 
 Dougherty was arrested, indicted, tried and acquitted of that murder. 
 He was a member of the order. He belonged to a division near 
 Mahanoy City. Some time after he was acquitted there was a 
 convention held at Mahanoy City, at which John Kehoe presided. 
 Michael O'Brien, Christopher Donnelly, John Donohue, James 
 Koarity, Dennis F. Canning, and Frank McHugh were present, and 
 also one James MeParlan. At that convention a complaint was 
 received from Daniel Dougherty, that, notwithstanding he had 
 been acquitted of the murder of Major, an attempt had been 
 made to assassinate him. The members of the convention sent for 
 Dougherty ; he was brought into the room, and he told them that 
 he had been shot at several times, and showed them, his coat in 
 which were the holes of the bullets, which he alleged had been fired 
 at him. In the course of his narrative he told the convention that 
 he thought, if Jesse and William Major, and William M. Thomas, 
 who was known as Bully Bill, were put out of the road, he would 
 be allowed to live in peace. He then retired from the room, when 
 a motion was made and it was resolved the three men he had named 
 should be killed. Dennis F. Canning, the county delegate of 
 Northumberland County, said that if it was necessary he would find 
 the men who would put the Majors out of the way. Christopher 
 
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TRIAL OF JOHN KEHOE AND OTHERS. 47 
 
 Donnelly said that that plan would not answer ; that he lived down 
 near Mt. Laffee, and he thought it was a very light job, and he 
 could get men to commit the crime, and would go with them, if 
 necessary, himself ; and that it would not need any assistance from 
 Northumberland County. Canning said that that was all right, 
 but if they needed any assistance in the commission of the crime he 
 would furnish the men to do it. Kehoe then told Roarity, the 
 body-master of Coaldale, O'Brien, the body-master of the Mahanoy 
 division, and McParlan, who belonged to the Shenandoah division, 
 that the duty of furnishing the men to shoot Bully Bill devolved 
 upon them, and that in his opinion the best plan to commit the 
 murder would be to go in broad daylight in the streets of Mahanoy 
 City and shoot him down on the spot. O'Brien objected to that. 
 He said that in his estimation that was not the proper way to 
 commit the crime ; that the plan he would suggest to carry out this 
 murder would be to obtain men from a distance and bring them to 
 Mahanoy City ; to have a place prepared for them to board with 
 some members of the organization ; to have their board paid out of 
 the county funds of the organization ; and then that they should 
 lie in wait on the railroad between the colliery where Bully Bill 
 worked and his residence, and catch him some time when he was 
 going from the colliery to Mahanoy City, or from Mahanoy City to 
 the colliery, and then shoot him down and kill him. This plan 
 was agreed to, and Kehoe then instructed James McParlan to bring 
 men from the Shenandoah division to do the job. McParlan went 
 home to Shenandoah City, and there was a meeting called of his 
 division. He told them what he had been instructed to do, and, at 
 that time, John Gibbons, Thomas Hurley, and Michael Doyle agreed 
 to go along with him to do the job. McParlan took them to Maha- 
 noy City and there saw O'Brien, the body-master, and told him 
 there were too many soldiers picketed around there to do their work 
 in safety ; that one of their lives was worth a great deal more than 
 a thousand such as Bully Bill's, and he did not think it was right 
 to risk the danger, as the soldiers might arrest them. At a subse- 
 quent meeting of the division, O'Brien communicated to the mem- 
 bers, as his own, the statement which McParlan had made to him, 
 and they then agreed not to risk their lives, and decided that they 
 had better go home, as they concluded that they were in danger of 
 being arrested. They went home, and McParlan was taken sick, 
 and, while he was sick, John Morris, who had been up in Luzerne 
 County, returned home, and, in the place of McParlan, he was 
 placed upon the committee to kill Bully Bill. 
 
 " The meeting of the organization at which the murder of Bully 
 Bill had been decided upon was held on the 1st of June, 1875, and 
 on the morning of the 28th of June, very early in the morning, 
 these four men, John Gibbons, John Morris, Thomas Hurley, and 
 Michael Doyle, went to the colliery where William M. Thomas was 
 
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48 TRIAL OF JOHN KEHOE AND OTHERS. 
 
 working, for the purpose of committing the murder. When they 
 reached the colliery they found Mr. Thomas in the stahle currying 
 the horses. His business was that of an ostler, and he was at that 
 time inside the stahle, feeding the horses and preparing them for 
 their work. These men waited outside for some time, expecting 
 that Thomas would come out, hut finding that he did not come out 
 as soon as they expected, or growing impatient, and fearing that a 
 crowd of men would gather around on their way to work, they 
 went inside the stable and commenced firing at their victim. Hurley 
 and Gibbons both fired. Thomas was shot in the neck, I believe, 
 and in the body. Two bullets struck him, hut fortunately for these 
 defendants as "well as for Mr. Thomas, he was not killed. He 
 sheltered himself from their firing as well as he could, behind the 
 live stock in the stable, and thus saved his life. In the firing at 
 him they killed a horse and a mule, and, I believe, wounded ano- 
 ther mule. One of the animals that was shot fell down and Thomas 
 fell with it, sheltered by its body. The noise of the firing together 
 with the shouts of Thomas and another stable boss frightened off 
 these defendants, but not before they believed they had killed him, 
 from seeing him fall and the blood on his person ; and, escaping 
 from the scene of outrage, they believed that they would always be 
 safe from detection. 
 
 " It was a part of the plan of this organization, whenever they 
 desired to commit murder, to select members who were strangers 
 both to the person who was to be killed and the people of the 
 locality where the crime was to he perpetrated. Those mem- 
 bers who were selected were always to be unknown in that 
 particular neighbourhood, so that, if they were observed, they would 
 not be likely to be recognised again, especially if seen only once, 
 and that for a short time. 
 
 ' ' But the members of this organization were unaware of one fact. 
 They did not know that in their midst was a detective, placed there 
 for the purpose of finding out who were the authors of these crimes, 
 and, if possible, to prevent them. In the summer of 1873, after 
 a long series of crimes had been committed in this county, it became 
 evident to parties owning large interests in the coal regions, that 
 all these crimes were being committed by an organization, and it 
 was therefore determined that this organization should be exposed. 
 Application was therefore made to Major Allan Pinkerton, the head 
 of the National Detective Agency, in Chicago, and an arrangement 
 was entered into with him, by which he agreed to furnish a detec- 
 tive, who should come into this county for the purpose of becoming 
 a member of the organization, and exposing its secrets and its 
 crimes. James McParlan was the man selected for this duty. He 
 was sent to this county, came here a stranger, and, shortly after 
 his arrival, went from place to place in the county 'to learn its 
 geography. Starting at the lower end, Port Clinton, and visiting 
 
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TRIAL OF JOHN liEHOE AND OTHERS. 49 
 
 Auburn, Schuylkill Haven, Tremont, Pinegrove, Tower City, Potts- 
 ville, St. Clair, Girardville, Tamaqua, Shenandoah, and Mahanoy 
 City, he became acquainted with the manners and customs of the 
 people. In order to move successfully to carry out the design with 
 which he had been sent here, he represented himself as a fugitive 
 from justice, and, by assuming a criminal character, he readily won 
 the estimation of the class of people whose doings he was to expose, 
 and soon gained their confidence and obtained admission to their 
 Order. 
 
 " He was initiated as a member of the Order of Ancient 
 Hibernians at Shenandoah, and two ; of these defendants, John 
 Gibbons and John Morris, were members of the same division as 
 himself, namely, the division of Shenandoah City. 
 
 " In order that he might have access also to the county council, 
 he had himself elected an officer of the division. He was made 
 secretary, and as such became entitled to a seat in their county 
 conventions. In that capacity he attended the convention at 
 Mahanoy, and there met the parties whom I have named, and took 
 part in their proceedings. Through it he got himself appointed a 
 member of the committee to kill William M. Thomas, caused notice 
 to be sent him of the intended attack upon him, and saw that the party 
 whom he took did not commit the crime. He, Mr. McParlan, was 
 prohibited from communicating with anyone except Superintendent 
 Benjamin Pranklin, in Philadelphia. Afterwards the National 
 Detective Agency placed another officer. Captain Linden, in this 
 " county, and McParlan was permitted to communicate with him 
 verbally, but he was obliged to make a report of his investigations 
 every day, and send it to the agency in Philadelphia, so that they 
 might know what was going on. These reports will be produced 
 here, and if Mr. McParlan tells anything upon this stand that is 
 not true, he can easily be contradicted by his reports which were 
 made at the time. He communicated these facts last summer, and 
 gave the names of all these parties, but there was one thing in the 
 way of their arrest. McParlan came under a pledge that he should 
 never be used as a witness. It was a distinct understanding with 
 • him that, while he should expose these criminials, and give all the 
 information he could, he never should be used upon the witness- 
 stand, because if he was, his life would be in constant danger 
 wherever he went, and his influence as a detective would be almost 
 entirely destroyed. Therefore the authorities, although they knew 
 the names of these parties, were not able to arrest them. But, 
 fortunately for this county and for the peace of the community, 
 McParlan was detected by the Molly Maguires. They found out 
 that he was a detective. They discovered who he was, and what 
 he was, and what his business was in this county, and in order to save 
 his life, he was obliged to leave. Then all reason for secrecy was 
 gone. All reason why he should not be a witness was removed ; 
 
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50 TRIAL OF JOHN KEHOE AND OTHERS. 
 
 he consented that he would take the witness-stand, and the very 
 day that he took this stand, these defendants were arrested and 
 placed in jail. 
 
 " McParlan will detail to you all the facts as I have related them. 
 William M. Thomas recognised the two men who came into the 
 stable and did the shooting, namely, John Gibbons and Thomas 
 Hurley. He fully recognised them, and swears to their identity. 
 We will show to you that these men were not at work upon the day 
 we have mentioned ; we will show to you that these parties were 
 in Mahanoy City at the time that we place them there ; and we 
 will show you such corroborative evidence that you cannot fail to 
 believe that all these persons took part in this transaction as I have 
 narrated. 
 
 "You will notice we do not allege that John Kehoe, Michael 
 O'Brien, Christopher Donnelly, John Donohue, James Eoarity. 
 Dennis F. Canning, or Frank McHugh were present or near when 
 this attack was made upon William M. Thomas. They were not 
 anywhere near, so far as we know, when it occurred ; but in the 
 eyes of the law, the Court will tell you, that if they agreed to it, 
 if they counselled it, if they assisted in it, conspired to do it and 
 promoted it, they are just as guilty as the parties who perpetrated 
 the crime. Aye, even more so, for it was their brains that concocted 
 the scheme, and it was the weaker tools who carried it out ; and 
 the leaders should be punished. The law holds them equally guilty 
 with the parties who committed the assault itself, and if we prove 
 to you the facts as I have said, the Court will tell you, if you believe 
 the facts, that you should find them guilty in manner and form, all 
 of them, as they stand indicted." 
 
 The first witness, James McParlan, alias McKenna, the 
 detective, fully proved the conspiracy to murder charged 
 against the defendants. [A summary of his examination, 
 cross-examination, and re-examination appears in the 
 Appendix.] 
 
 The second witness, William M. Thomas, proved the 
 assault and wounds inflicted on him by four men, two of ' 
 whom he had since identified, viz., Thomas Hurley and John 
 Gibbons. 
 
 Francis McHugh, admitted as Commonwealth's witness, 
 confirmed many parts of McParlan's evidence. 
 
 Ten other witnesses confirmed various particulars sworn to 
 by the three principal witnesses. 
 
 Counsel for the defendants spoke chiefly with a view to 
 impeach the character and credibility of the three leading wit- 
 nesses for the prosecution. Evidence was called in favoiu' of 
 
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TAlAL OF JOHN KEHOE AND OTHEKS. 51 
 
 the characters of Kehoe, Canning, and Donnelly. The cross- 
 examination of these witnesses evinced to an almost ludicrous 
 extent the terror inspired in the coal counties by the Molly 
 Maguire association, so steadily did they all strive to evade 
 giving direct answers to any questions which seemed to dis- 
 credit that association and its members. 
 
 Counsel likewise offered in evidence the Constitution and 
 By-Laws of " The Ancient Order of Hibernians." [See 
 Appendix.] 
 
 Messrs. Go wen and Kaercher ably summed up the case for 
 the Commonwealth, replying to the speeches of Mr. Byon 
 and Mr. L'Velle for the prisoners. 
 
 Judge Walker then charged the jury, August 12th, 1876, 
 as follows : — 
 
 " Gentlemen of the Jury : John Kehoe, Christopher Donnelly, 
 Dennis F. Canning, Michael O'Brien, Frank MeHugh, John Donahue, 
 James Eoarity, John Gibbons, and John Morris, nine of the defend- 
 ants, are charged in this indictment with an assault and battery 
 upon "William M. Thomas, with the intent to kill and murder him. 
 
 The other two defendants, Hurley and Doyle, are not on trial 
 now. 
 
 The evidence of the Commonwealth is, that on Monday morn- 
 ing, about half-past 8 o'clock, on the 28th of June, 1875, when 
 "William M. Thomas was preparing to go to his work, he stopped 
 at his stable at Shoemaker's Colliery to talk with his stable boss, 
 and while there four men approached him, all armed with pistols, 
 and made an attack upon him, discharging a number of shots in 
 quick succession, four of which struck him, and ho fell wounded, 
 though not killed, among the horses. 
 
 The horse next to him was killed, and another one was wounded. 
 He had seen the men at the mouth of the shaft, some thirty yards 
 off, ten minutes before they came up. 
 
 They all fired upon him. Thomas Hurley shot first. One of 
 the balls hit him in the neck and another on the finger. Another 
 shot him on the side. John Gibbons fired the third shot, and the 
 ball struck him in the neck. 
 
 He says : "I stood in the stable, talking, with my hand on the 
 horse's neck. There is a kind of track where the blacksmith's shop 
 turns round to the breaker as it goes up. I noticed them coming 
 around, and one of them had a whitish coat on, and his two hands 
 in the coat pockets. I turned my head and looked at the stable 
 boss, with my back to the door, and I heard a shot fired, and I was 
 shot, and I saw this fellow with the white coat on. He had a 
 
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52 TRIAL OF JOHN KEHOE AND OTHERS. 
 
 piece in his hand, silver-mounted. I jumped toward him. I had 
 my hands on the revolver, when he fired again, and I was shot in 
 the fingers; and just then another fellow came up and pulled into 
 my neck here, and I got two shots in the neck." 
 
 He identifies Gibhons here in court, and has pointed him out to 
 you. Hurley he recognized in jail, and the other two men he says 
 were strangers to him. 
 
 The muzzle of the pistol that was first discharged was within 
 six inches of his head. The shots, aimed at a vital part, almost 
 simultaneously discharged, in close proximity to him, show a deli- 
 berate intent on the part of the men, whoever they were, to kill, 
 and had death ensued, it would have been murder in the first 
 degree. 
 
 The doctor who attended him testifies to the serious nature and 
 extent of the wounds, and the marvel is that he was not imme- 
 diately killed. 
 
 James McParlan is called as a witness by the Commonwealth. 
 He states that he is a detective employed by the Allan Pinkerton 
 Agency, and was sent from Chicago to ferret out and discover the 
 perpetrators of crime in this county, and arrived here in October, 
 1873. He remained until the 6th of March, 1876. 
 
 For this purpose he joined an organization existing in this State 
 called the Ancient Order of Hibernians, chartered by act of Assembly, 
 but known in this locality by the name of Molly Maguires. 
 
 He states that the Order had a written constitution and by-laws, 
 which have been offered in evidence, and were lawful and proper, 
 but which, by the practice of the members of the association in 
 certain localities (of which this county is one), their designs and 
 purposes became unlawful and highly criminal ; that the mem- 
 bers fuimed themselves into a combination for the perpetration 
 of murder, arson, and other crimes; and that they had certain 
 secret signs, passwords, and toasts, by which they were recog- 
 nised among each other ; that they were under a government, the 
 supreme power of which was the Board of Erin. This Board, 
 which controlled the organization, sometimes met in England, 
 sometimes in Ireland, and sometimes in Scotland. It changed at 
 certain periods the signs, passwords, and toasts, and transmitted 
 them to the national officers of the association here in this country. 
 Next they were sent to the State officers, and by them to those of 
 the County. 
 
 The county delegate was the highest officer in the county, and 
 had in charge these signs. They were termed "the goods," and 
 were given out and distributed every three months to those mem- 
 bers who paid their dues. 
 
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TRIAL 01? JOHN KEHOE AND OTHERS. 53 
 
 McParlan testifies that he joined this association under the name 
 of James McKenna, and that none but an Irishman, or the son of 
 an Irishman, and a Catholic, could become a member of the asso- 
 ciation. He is both a Catholic and an Irishman. 
 
 He states that he is acquainted, and has been for some time, 
 with every one of the defendants, and that they are all members of 
 this association. That John Kehoe was, at the time of the shooting, 
 the county delegate of Schuylkill County ; Dennis F. Canning was 
 the county delegate of Northumberland County ; Christopher 
 Donnelly was the treasurer of Schuylkill County ; James Koarity 
 was the body-master at Coaldale ; Frank McHugh was secretary 
 of the Mahanoy division ; Michael O'Brien was body-master at 
 Mahanoy city ; John Donahue was body-master at Tuscarora ; 
 and John Morris and John Gibbons were ordinary members of 
 the Order, and held no office in it. 
 
 He states that on the 26th day of May, 1875, he met John 
 Kehoe at Girardville, and that Kehoe asked him whether in the 
 Shenandoah Division (of which McParlan was a member) they had 
 not some men who could shoot ; and on the 30th of May, 1875, he 
 told him that he wanted to call a meeting to assemble at Mahanoy 
 City, at the house of Michael Clark, on the 1st of June, 1875, to 
 take measures to put out of the road the Majors and William M. 
 Thomas. A meeting of the committee was accordingly called, 
 and met at the time in an upper room in Michael Clark's 
 house, and there were present, John Kehoe, Dennis F. Canning,' 
 Michael O'Brien, Frank McHugh, John Donahue, James Eoarity, 
 William Gavin, Christopher Donnelly, and himself. Kehoe then 
 stated that the Modocs wanted to shoot a certain man by name 
 Daniel Dougherty who was a member of the association. After 
 some preliminary discussion Dougherty was sent for and ap- 
 peared. Dougherty then said that if the Majors and Bully Bill 
 (meaning William M. Thomas) were put out of the road they 
 could have peace. 
 
 Christopher Donnelly said he would furnish two men and go 
 himself to kill the Majors, and that he would take care of his side 
 of the mountain. 
 
 Donahue stated that he did not want Donnelly to take the men 
 until he sent word. 
 
 Kehoe said it devolved upon Boarity, O'Brien, and the witness 
 to get two men, and they should go and knock him down.- 
 
 O'Brien said he could get two men to lay wait for Thomas above 
 the. railroad between Mahanoy City and Shoemaker's Patch, and 
 when he was going to work to shoot him. 
 
 Canning said it was the best plan, and offered to furnish the men. 
 
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54 TRIAL OF JOHN KEHOE AND OTHERS. 
 
 Donnelly objected, and said it was a light job, and tMt there 
 was no necessity for getting men of Canning. Canning lives m 
 Locust Gap, Northumberland County. The witness testifies that 
 Kehoc told him to call a meeting of the Shenandoah division and 
 select two men to do the job, and that he would send for Donnelly, 
 a hairy man, and put him on the track of these men. 
 
 McParlan testifies that he then called a meeting to assemble on 
 the 4th of June, 1875, and notified some of the members, and that 
 there appeared at the meeting Thomas Munley, Edward Monaghan, 
 Michael Dorsey, Patrick Garvey, Michael Doyle, Thomas Hurley, 
 John Gibbons, and others, and that the meeting appointed Hurley, 
 Doyle, Gibbons, and himself to shoot Thomas. The meeting was 
 held in the bush about 9 o'clock in the evening. When they 
 got to Mahanoy City, the next day, the soldiers were stationed 
 there, and he persuaded Michael O'Brien to give up the project at 
 that time, or some of them might be shot, and one of their lives, 
 he said, was worth a hundred lives of such men as Thomas. 
 
 O'Brien then, upon his return to Clark's house, persuaded the 
 men to give it up that day, which they did. 
 
 James McParlan further swears that he made reports from time 
 to time of these proceedings by letter to Superintendent Franklin, 
 his superior officer in Philadelphia, and verbally to Captain Linden, 
 who was stationed in this county. 
 
 On Sunday, 27th June, 1875, the witness states he was at his 
 boarding-house and was sick, when Hurley, Morris, McAndrew, 
 and Doyle called. They stated they were now ready to go and 
 shoot Thomas. Gibbons came along and said his foot was a little 
 lame. 
 
 Prank McAndrew then said that these men were going to shoot 
 Thomas, and asked Gibbons if he was going -along. He, Gibbons, 
 said he was, and as there was a warrant out for his arrest for some- 
 thing he had done, he need not stay around there any longer. 
 
 The party, he states, composed of Doyle, Hurley, Morris, and 
 Gibbons, started to kill Thomas on Sunday evening, 27th June, 
 1875, about nine o'clock. Hurley, being in his shirt sleeves, took 
 McParlan's gray coat ; they stated they all had pistols. 
 
 On the 28th June, 1875, at J-past 7 o'clock in the morning, the 
 witness saw this party again. Gibbons told the witness that he 
 had fired one or two shots at Thomas, and Morris said he had got 
 right up to the door and discharged a few shots at him. 
 
 Hurley said that on the night previous, Sunday evening, they 
 went to Michael O'Brien's, and Michael O'Brien took them to a 
 boarding-house kept by a lady named Costello, and he gave them a 
 bottle of whisky ; that they stopped in Costello's until about day- 
 light, and then proceeded to Shoemaker's Patch, where Thomas 
 
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TRIAL OF JOHN KEHOE AND OTHERS. 55 
 
 lived. Thomas came out from his house about half-past six o'clock 
 in the morning ; he came over to the colliery stable, and was en- 
 gaged there talking to the stable boss and some teamsters, and 
 Hurley himself went up and went into the door and shot him. 
 
 Thomas was in the colliery ; in the stable ; in the stable doorway. 
 Hurley stated that Thomas threw his hat into Hurley's face, and 
 Hurley shot again. Gibbons stated that he got right in then, and 
 he shot at Thomas also once or twice. Morris stated that he got 
 right up to the door then, and he fired a few shots, and Thomas fell 
 among the horses, and they made sure that he was dead, and they 
 didn't know but they had shot one or two horses. 
 
 This conversation happening after the commission of the crime 
 would not be evidence against any of these defendants except those 
 who made the declarations or were present when it occuried, and 
 acquiesced in it ; and we therefore caution you not to give it any 
 weight against the absent defendants. 
 
 The witness, among other things, states that on Saturday evening, 
 June 5th, after leaving Mahanoy, the party lost their way in a 
 swamp, and they met a man, who conducted them out. 
 
 This man was Thomas Price, who testifies that on that night he 
 came across four men near Fowler's Patch. 
 
 In addition to this evidence, Frank McHugh has been called by 
 the Commonwealth, and he testifies that he attended a meeting at 
 Michael Clark's house, on June 1st, 1875 ; that he was asked to go 
 there by John Kehoe ; that he went without knowing the object, 
 and that there were present on that occasion Kehoe, Eoarity 
 Canning, Donnelly, O'Brien, Donahue, McKenna, "William Gavin, 
 and himself. 
 
 That he was secretary of the meeting, but only wrote down the 
 date and names of those present, and kept no true account of the 
 proceedings ; that Kehoe stated the meeting was called for 
 the purpose of having the Majors and Thomas killed ; that they 
 talked over their plan, and it was then determined that Donnelly 
 and Donahue were to attend to the Majors, and that O'Brien, 
 McKenna and Eoarity were to attend to Thomas. 
 
 In support of the testimony of McParlan, the Commonwealth 
 have shown, by the evidence of Adam Leckey, that he employed 
 John Morris to work at the Plank Bidge Colliery on the 21st of 
 June, 1875, and he worked there until Saturday the 26th of June, 
 and that he did not go to work there on the 28th of June (the day 
 Thomas was shot), but returned to work on Tuesday, the 29th of 
 June. 
 
 This is, therefore, important testimony as regards Morris. 
 
 The Commonwealth has also offered a telegraph despatch from 
 Kehoe to Canning, dated 31st of May, 1875, to come to see him at 
 
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56 TRIAL OF JOHN KEHOE AND OTHERS. 
 
 Mahanoy City, to-morrow at 10 o'clock. This corroborates McParlan 
 as to the meeting of the 1st of June. 
 
 On the part of the defence Mrs. Murphy is called to contradict 
 ■Tames McParlan with reference to the interview of the 26th of 
 May, 1875, at John Kehoe' s house. 
 
 She states that Kehoe called upon her to attend to his wife that 
 day, and that she went there about two o'clock, and remained until 
 six, and that she did not see him, Kehoe, or any one else at his 
 house during that time. Defendants have also read the evidence 
 of McParlan and Thomas taken at the hearing of the Habeas corpus 
 to contradict their evidence taken here. 
 
 A number of witnesses have been called as to the character of 
 some of these defendants. "When a doubt exists in the minds of 
 the jury as to the guilt of a defendant, good character must also be 
 taken into consideration, but where the offence is established 
 clearly, good character will not avail. 
 
 You will observe that the evidence shows that the actual com- 
 mission of the crime was done by four men, two of whom it is 
 alleged were Morris and Gibbons. 
 
 The other defendants now on trial were not present at the time, 
 and can only be convicted on the ground that they were engaged 
 in a conspiracy with the perpetrators of the crime. 
 
 A conspiracy is a combination or confederation entered into 
 by two or more persons to do an unlawful act. And when 
 once proved to exist, the acts and declarations of each person 
 engaged in it, in furtherance of the common object, before the 
 commission of the offence, become the act and declaration of all 
 the parties. 
 
 After the offence is committed, however, acts and declarations of 
 each party can only be evidence against himself, and not against 
 the other defendants. 
 
 The most important evidence in this case, and the key to the 
 whole matter, is that of Mr. McParlan, who claims to be a detective. 
 A detective who enters into communication with the criminals 
 without any felonious intent, but for the purpose of discovering 
 and making known their secret designs and crimes, and acts 
 throughout with his original purpose is not to be regarded as an 
 accomplice. The question whether he was so acting is one of fact 
 for the jury. 
 
 Sometimes it becomes necessary, in order to detect offenders, to 
 match cunning with cunning, and accomplish by artifice what could 
 not be otherwise be consummated. In efforts made to detect horse 
 thieves, counterfeiters, incendiaries, and the like, detectives are in 
 common use. State v. McKean, 2 Green, 635 ; 1 Greenleave's 
 Evid., sec. 383. 
 
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TKIAL OF JOHN KEHOE AND OTHERS. 57 
 
 And the evidence of a detective does not require corroboration as 
 an accomplice does. Fisher, Com. Law Dig. vol. 2, p. 2842, No. 6. 
 
 They are employed by nearly every civilized government — 
 national, state, and municipal — and have . become a part of the 
 police regulation of the country, indispensable to the safety of the 
 citizen and the maintenance of law. 
 
 The testimony of Frank McHugh, though voluntarily given, is 
 that of an accomplice. 
 
 The testimony of an accomplice is entirely different from that of 
 another credible witness, inasmuch as he has a stronger motive for 
 testifying against the other defendants in crime. Generally his 
 expectation is that his punishment will be mitigated by his expo- 
 sure of the crime, although no promise is held out to him ; there- 
 fore his testimony, when it is not corroborated, should be received 
 with great caution by the jury. 
 
 The rule of law, however, gentlemen of the jury, is that you 
 may convict upon the testimony of an accomplice alone without 
 corroboration ; but we instruct you not to do so, unless you can 
 believe him. 
 
 That this shooting took place there can be no doubt. It is not 
 denied. It is therefore an established fact in this case, if you 
 believe the evidence. 
 
 The first question, therefore, for the jury to determine is : Did 
 Morris and Gibbons, in company with Hurley and Doyle, shoot 
 William M. Thomas as testified by him ? 
 
 If you find from the evidence that they did, then they are guilty 
 as they stand indicted. 
 
 Tou will further enquire whether these other defendants now on 
 trial counselled, aided, abetted, or in any way encouraged the com- 
 mission of the crime ; whether they knew of it, agreed to it, and 
 became a party to it by their acts and declarations ; whether they 
 conspired together to commit this crime. He who plans and designs 
 a crime is as guilty, morally and legally, as he who commits it. 
 
 If these defendants did aid, abet, counsel, and encourage the 
 commission of this crime, they would be guilty as they stand 
 indicted, and so it would be if they procured or caused to be pro- 
 cured men to do it. 
 
 The testimony of McParlan and McHugh is, therefore, most 
 important upon this point. There has been some contradictory 
 evidence in this case. The presumption is that the witnesses speak 
 the truth. When the testimony is contradictory, it is the province 
 of the jury to reconcile it, and when you cannot reconcile it you 
 can sav whom you will believe. It is the duty of the Common- 
 wealth" to make out the case clearly to your satisfaction, and where 
 
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• r )8 
 
 TRIALS, SENTENCES, AND EXECUTIONS. 
 
 there is a doubt, that doubt is to be given for the prisoners. But 
 it must be a reasonable doubt, such as a prudent and honest man 
 might entertain under all the circumstances. 
 
 There are nine defendants now on trial. Tou have power to 
 acquit or convict them all, or any of them, as the evidence war- 
 rants. Tou are the exclusive judges of the facts and the law in 
 criminal cases ; but vou are bound to decide upon the evidence and 
 that alone. 
 
 The responsibility rests upon you, under your oaths, to do justice 
 to the prisoners and the Commonwealth, irrespective of creed, 
 nationality, or rank ; without fear, favour, or prejudice ; without 
 regard to outside influence, opinion, or popular excitement ; without 
 regard to the allegations, or inferences, or figures of speech, illus- 
 trations or terms of expression, in the arguments of counsel. You 
 are accountable only to God and the law, to consider the evidence 
 and the evidence alone, and to render a just, true, and impartial 
 verdict." 
 
 After the conclusion of the charge of the judge, the jury retired, 
 and in about twenty minutes returned, and rendered a verdict of 
 guilty against each of the prisoners, in the manner and form as 
 indicted, with a recommendation to mercy in the case of Frank 
 ilcHugh. f 
 
 rJ 
 
 XYII. 
 
 TRIALS, SENTENCES, AND EXECUTIONS. 
 
 On the 17th of August were tried five persons concerned 
 in the murder of Gromer James, the actual assassin, Thomas 
 Hurley, having escaped from the district. Of these, Chris. 
 Donnelly got two years in the penitentiary, while Patrick 
 Butler, partly in consideration of his having given State's 
 evidence, met similar leniency. John Donahue having al- 
 ready received sentence of death, was not sentenced. Mike 
 O'Brien was sent to prison for two years. Patrick Dolan, 
 sen., was sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment. 
 Frank O'Neill received two years. 
 
 September 23rd of the same year, John Slattery, John 
 Stanton, Michael Dolan, Chas. Mullhearn, Ned Monaghan 
 John Kehoe, Chris. Donnelly, Dennis F. Canning, Michael 
 O'Brien, Frank O'Neill, and Pat. Dolan, sen., were arraigned 
 
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TRIALS, SENTENCES, ANT) EXECUTIONS. 59 
 
 for conspiracy to murder William and Jesse Major, stood 
 their trial, and all but John Stanton were found guilty, and 
 sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. Slattery was 
 admitted a Commonwealth's witness. 
 
 At the same term of court, Thomas Donahue was sentenced 
 to two years' imprisonment for aiding in the escape of John 
 Gibbons, one of the men who assaulted William M. Thomas. 
 
 September 22nd, 1876, Muff Lawlor was brought to court, 
 as accessory after the fact to the murder of Sanger and Uren, 
 found guilty, but not sentenced, haying enrolled himself 
 among those willing to aid the State in convicting men more 
 guilty. James Duffy received one year for perjury. Mrs. 
 Bridget Hyland, Bernard M. Boyle, and Kate Boyle, having 
 been rather too rash in swearing their friends clear, were 
 found guilty of perjury, and had two and three years each at 
 the State prison. 
 
 The murder of F. W. S. Langdon by the Molly Maguires, 
 at Audenread, in Schuylkill County, committed July 14th, 
 1862, implicated John Kehoe, county delegate, John Campbell, 
 and Neil! Dougherty. Campbell and Dougherty were arrested 
 and brought to trial at Pottsville, January 2nd, 1877, found 
 guilty of murder in the second degree and sentenced, Campbell 
 to nine, and Dougherty to five years in the State penitentiary. 
 Kehoe was found guilty of murder in the first degree, and 
 sentenced to be executed the 16th of April in the same year. 
 
 In November, 1876, Chas. McAllister was convicted of an 
 assault, with intent to kill, upon James Riles, at Shenandoah. 
 
 All of the above were Schuylkill County cases. 
 
 In Carbon County arrests were made almost simultaneous] y. 
 John Donahue, Thomas P. Fisher, Patrick McKenna, Alex. 
 Campbell, Patrick O'Donnell, and John Molloy, were taken, 
 charged with the murder of Morgan Powell, at Summit Hill, 
 December 2nd, 1871. The defendants were tried at different 
 terms of the Carbon County Court at Mauch Chunk, James 
 McParlan frequently appearing— as in most of (he cases in 
 Schuylkill County — on the witness- stand, and testifying to 
 the confessions and admissions of the Mollies. They were 
 found guilty as follows : Donahue of murder in the first 
 degree, Fisher of murder in the first degree, and both were 
 sentenced to death ; Pat. McKenna of murder in the first 
 
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60 TRIALS, SENTENCES, AND EXECUTIONS. 
 
 degree, and sentenced to Dine years' imprisonment ; Patrick 
 O'Donnell, as accessory, to five years' imprisonment. 
 
 In Columbia County, February 24th, 1877, Pat. Hester, 
 Pat. Tully, and Peter McHugh, were arraigned for the mur- 
 der of Alex. Rae. The circumstances of the crime have been 
 mentioned. The court was held at Bloomsburg, the county 
 town, and attracted a very large attendance. McParlan was 
 present, and his testimony was fully corroborated by Dan 
 Kelly, alias Manns Kull, and Mike, alias Muff Lawlor. 
 Dan Kelly's story of the Rae assassination was as follows : 
 
 He met Pat Hester, Peter McHugh and Ned Skivington, at Big 
 Mine Run, in Barney Dolan's Place, on the 16th of October, 1868, 
 the day preceding that of the murder. Hester was on his way, he 
 said, down the mountain with Skivington, but had missed the train 
 and returned to Dolan's, where all had something to drink. After- 
 wards they walked to A.shland, and entered Donahue's saloon. 
 There Hester informed the witness that he had lost something by 
 not going down the mountain that day, adding, "But there is a 
 good thing to be had to-morrow, for Eae will go to Bell's Tunnel, 
 and there is money for us." It was then agreed that Hester, 
 McHugh, Tully, Skivington, Brian Campbell, Jim Bradley, Billy 
 Muldowney, and Dan Kelly, should go and rob Rae. Roger 
 Laffertv alias Johnstone, went across the street and procured some 
 powder and bullets, returned and loaded the pistols, each one of 
 the persons named having a weapon. After this they had more 
 liquor and stayed there all night. All but Lafferty went out in 
 the morning to meet and rob Rae. But when they got as far as 
 Germantown, Muldowney left, saying that he was too lame to keep 
 on. After they got above the toll-gate, Hester and Skivington 
 left, and Hester handed witness (Kelly) his pistol, saying : " Kelly, 
 your pistol is no good ; take mine, for I know it's sure." And he 
 remarked that he would go to Shamokin to purchase hair to mix 
 with lime to make mortar for plastering. Skivington was off also, 
 wanting to go to work in the mine to throw aside suspicion from 
 the rest. All the others went as far as the water-barrel, and re- 
 mained there. They then began talking about Rae and his son, 
 and finally concluded that, if the lad should chance to be riding with 
 his father that morning, as he often did, they would send the boy 
 home with the horse, if they had to shoot Rae. The object was 
 plunder, not murder, unless the latter was necessary to secure the 
 money. Bradley, who was not known in Centralia, went and pro- 
 cured a quart of whisky. When he got back all hands drank and 
 ate. Five of those present did not know Eae if they saw him, so 
 Dalton, who was acquainted with him, walked out on the road to 
 signal the others should their victim arrive. Soon a man came 
 
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TRIALS, SENTENCES, AND EXECUTIONS. 61 
 
 along in a wagon, but as Dalton did not shako his hat the person 
 was allowed to pass. Still another man moved up while the assas- 
 sins waited in ambush, driving a horse attached to a light wagon, 
 and he was permitted to go his way unharmed, as Dalton again 
 failed to give the notice. He presently stepped out into the road 
 to see who was coming and returned to his former position. 
 Quickly afterwards a buggy hove in view, and the assassins saw 
 that Dalton was standing in plain sight, shaking his hat, and they 
 knew that the driver was Alex. Eae. When the vehicle reached 
 the watering-trough, all jumped out upon their victim. Eae 
 alighted from the buggy when the men ordered him to, and quickly 
 handed his watch and pocket-book to Kelly (the witness) but said 
 nothing. He was confronted by a squad of heavily armed ruffians. 
 "What was there for him to say ? Kelly asked McHugh what 
 should be done with the man? McHugh replied : "I won't be 
 hunted around the world by any living man." So the shooting 
 began. Rae ran toward the woods, and Tully went up to him, put 
 his pistol to his head, and shot him near the ear. Seeing that the 
 man was sure to die, all ran up the mountain, where they divided 
 the money, about sixty dollars, and the witness remembered that 
 Dalton received a ten-dollar bill with a corner torn off. Tully, 
 McHugh and Kelly got in at Graham's some time that day, and in 
 the afternoon witness drove to Locust Gap with a beer-seller. He 
 got home at half-past three. They killed Eae about nine o'clock. 
 He struck the ground upon his face, and they left him where he 
 fell, after putting the horse and buggy out of bight in the wood. 
 Kelly acknowledged that he fired two shots, but could not say how 
 many the others fired. Dalton did not shoot at all. All the rest 
 discharged their weapons at the man. He was sure he saw Tully 
 fire. One shot hit Eae in the cheek. He left Hester's pistol at 
 Graham's. Hester's weapon was a sort of navy pistol and held five 
 cartridges. It was loaded at Donahue's house. Dalton had a 
 small pistol, and McHugh's was not so large as Kelly's. McHugh 
 had a seven-shooter. Hester met him the same night in Graham's 
 about nine o'clock, when the rest were there. The next he saw 
 of Hester was three days' later, when he rode in his wagon with 
 him from the Gap to Ashland. Hester received none of the money 
 taken from Eae. It was Hester's idea that Eae would have 
 eighteen or nineteen thousand dollars with him, but when he heard 
 how small a sum had been realised he said it was not worth 
 dividing, so took none of it. About the 17th of November, after 
 Donahue and Duffy had been arrested, Jack Smith told Hester of 
 the capture, and he remarked it was about time for him to go, and 
 he did so, without telling his confederates where he went. They 
 all separated, remained away a month or two, and returned. When 
 they got back Hester was in jail. He said he had been to Illinois, 
 but it would look better to go back, as he might be taken there. 
 
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62 TRIALS, SENTENCES, AND EXECUTIONS. 
 
 The attorneys for the defence were unable, after many 
 efforts, to shake Kelly's testimony in the least. Despite his 
 bad character, it waTthe general belief that for once he was 
 bent upon telling the straightforward truth. 
 
 On the 24th the jury returned a verdict in the three cases 
 of " guilty of murder in the first degree." This was not un- 
 expected by the general public, but was a surprise to Pat. 
 Hester and his Molly friends. So confident had Hester been 
 of release that, the day before the reception of the decree, he 
 sent word to Locust Gap, ordering a grand supper at his 
 house in honour of his acquittal. Though he did not actually 
 fire the shot that killed E,ae, he was virtually as guilty as 
 those who did, having planned the job. This was a case of 
 Raubmord, as it is called in German law, murder for the 
 purpose of robbery. 
 
 Hester, Tully, and McHugh appealed ; but the Supreme 
 Court affirmed the judgment against the prisoners, and 
 sentence of death was passed- on them. 
 
 While these trials were going on, the Mollies were not 
 idle. They sought money and influence to defend their 
 brethren in the coal region. Contributions were levied by 
 the National head of the Order in New York, upon the sub- 
 ordinate divisions of the county, for a large amount of 
 money — some state as high as 30,000 dollars — part of which 
 was to be expended in clearing the criminals, and the rest, 
 Major Pinkerton had reason to believe, in paying assassins 
 to go to Pottsville and take the lives of McParlan and all of 
 his employes in that country. But the refusal of one of the 
 Philadelphia lodges to respond to this levy brought the 
 matter to the notice of the public press, and stopped at least 
 a portion of the funds from reaching the national officers. 
 
 During the session of court, at which occurred the trial of 
 Kehoe and others for conspiracy to murder Wm. M. Thomas, 
 a scheme was planned to assassinate Mr. Gowen, McParlan, 
 and the entire court. It seems at first there was an informal 
 meeting of the Mollies in Pottsville, and it was arranged that 
 twenty-four men should go to the court-house, twelve to sit 
 on the back row of seats, and twelve on the front tier, near 
 the prisoners. All were to be armed with loaded revolvers. 
 Those on the front row of seats were, at a given signal to 
 rise and simultaneously fire upon the judges, the counsel 
 for the Commonwealth — Mr. Gowen especially — and the 
 
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TRIALS, SENTENCES, AND EXECUTIONS. 63 
 
 officers, including McParlan, Captain Linden, and the mem- 
 bers of the Coal and Iron Police. Those on the back seats 
 were to kill those left by the first platoon, when all were to 
 rush in, seize the prisoners, and with them fight their way 
 out and make their escape to the hills. An influential mem- 
 ber of the order, and a county official, hearing of this ar- 
 rangement, after the twenty-four men had actually been 
 appointed, made his appearance at their rendezvous and 
 informed the ringleaders in the movement that such an act 
 would be sheer madness. " If you do this, boys," said he, 
 " there will not be an Irishman left in Schuylkill County ; 
 and what is more, if you persist in the plot, I shall consider 
 it my bounden duty to go at once and have every mother's 
 son of you arrested. It can't be done, and it shall not be 
 done." 
 
 This, for the time, broke up the conspiracy. Subsequently 
 a young Molly Maguire made a boast, in the presence of 
 several friends, that he would go to the court-house any time 
 when he could hear that Mr. Growen was alone, and shoot 
 him down. He was soon told that the President of the 
 Reading Railway and the personal head of the prosecution 
 of the members of the bloodthirsty organization was writing, 
 all by himself, in a jury-room. The assassin walked into 
 the apartment, his hand upon his revolver, and was about to 
 produce it and fire, when an officer of the Coal and Iron 
 Police, having business with the gentleman threatened, unex- 
 pectedly appeared on the scene. As the would-be murderer 
 had no reasonable excuse for remaining, he took his hand 
 away from his pistol and, thwarted in his design, sneaked out 
 of the place. These and other equally foolish acts of the 
 Mollies were duly reported to Mr. Growen, and he was advised 
 to take some precautions, or his life would pay the forfeit of 
 rashness. Up to that date he had not so much as worn a 
 pistol, or any other weapon, upon his person, and it is a 
 question if ever he did subsequently. He is a brave, frank 
 man, but depended too much upon the justice of his cause, 
 for with the Molly Maguires the common instincts of human 
 nature are outraged and disregarded. Still he was not at- 
 tacked. "While there were hundreds present thirsting for 
 his blood, he turned upon the Mollies the heaviest fire of 
 invective they have ever received. 
 
 Several of the assassins of G. K. Smith, of Patrick Burns, 
 
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64 REVENGEFUL ACTS OF THE MOLLIES. 
 
 and of other victims, were also brought to the bar of justice 
 and sentenced to death ; the total number being more than 
 twenty. Applications for mercy were made by some of the 
 sentenced murderers to the Board of Pardons, and, through 
 influential persons to Governor Hartranft, and much corre- 
 spondence on this delicate subject found its way to the public 
 journals. I will not trouble you with doubts, discussions, 
 and difficulties which cannot interest you and your country- 
 men. Delays of justice were, happily, the most that some of 
 the criminals were able to achieve. All who had received 
 sentence of death were, I have reason to think, executed 
 sooner or later. Among the first of these were in 1877, the 
 murderers of JRae, Hester, McHugh and Tully ; at Potts- 
 ville, Boyle, McGeehan, Carroll, Eoarity, Duffy and Munley ; 
 at Mauch Chunk, A. Campbell, Doyle, Kelly, J. Donahue ; 
 among the latest, Kehoe, at Pottsville, in December, 1878, 
 J. McDonnell and Sharpe, assassins of Smith, and Bergau, 
 who killed Burns. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 REVENGEFUL ACTS OF THE MOLLIES. 
 
 Dismayed as the Mollies were by the arrest and execution 
 of so many leading criminals, and by the flight of others, 
 rage and thirst for revenge were yet strong in their hearts ; 
 and many murders, burnings and other outrages were per- 
 petrated by them in the years 1877 and 1878. They had 
 also shewn their rebellious spirit by giving wakes, flowers 
 and funerals with crowded processions to many of the con- 
 victs executed, professing to honour them as heroes, patriots 
 and martyrs. Such disgraceful acts, tending to foster and 
 encourage wickedness, would be prevented if burial within 
 the precincts of the prisons were made part of the sentence 
 passed on murderers. 
 
 Among the crimes inspired by revenge in 1N77, are men- 
 tioned these. On July 30, Miller, one of the jury on the 
 trial of Alexander Campbell, was fired at while sitting in his 
 parlour. The shot happily missed him, but some days after- 
 wards his house was set on fire and burned down. 
 
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REVENGEFUL ACTS OF THE MOLLIES. 65 
 
 Persons named Brunnow, John Dunn, Crosby, Brady, 
 Mrs. Dalton, who had given evidence against Mollies on trial, 
 were murdered. Many threatening letters were sent, many 
 persons were ill-used and robbed, houses were set on fire in the 
 towns of Scranton, Dunmore, Hyde-Park, Greenwood, and in 
 Avondale, Luzerne County. Similar acts of terrorism were 
 committed in Bloomsburg, the chief town of Columbia County. 
 
 In September a man named Piles was fired at and severely 
 ~ wounded in Shenandoah. 
 
 On October 14, .the corpse of one Brennan, a known enemy 
 of the Mollies, was found in the river Lehigh. 
 
 On the 1st of December, a miner, Timothy Donohue, was 
 murdered and flung into an empty shaft at Hecksherville. 
 
 On the same day the offices of J. B. Davis, at Newcastle, 
 were set on fire ; four miners were attacked by a band of 
 Mollies and so much injured that one died of his wounds. 
 
 .A few days later the- buildings of Torktown Mine in 
 Carbon County were burnt down, with a loss of $1 00,000 ; 
 two miners were shot in that neighbourhood. Two were also 
 killed at the Lehigh Coalworks, and two others, who had 
 given evidence against the Mollies, disappeared without traces. 
 
 To these might be added many other deeds of blood and 
 crime in 1878 as well as 1877, but I fear you would 
 be tired with a painful list, only repeating again and again 
 horrible events of the same character. Outrage became so 
 frequent, and terror so general, that all the mines were 
 watched, and their superintendents accompanied by guards 
 for their personal safety. Since those years 1 have been out 
 of the way of hearing Pennsylvanian news except through 
 . the public press. Liian—anJy-hfipe.- that- the- energetic Mr. 
 Gowen and his supporters have quite stamped out the crimi- 
 nalTelement in the coal region. If not, it must be for want 
 of wtseand strong combination among proprietors and agents 
 there, who ought to have learnt by past experience their only 
 safe course of action for the future. 
 
 Such is the account of Irish crime in this land of freedom 
 which my enquiries enable me to supply. Should you think 
 it useful for the information of readers in the " old country," 
 you have my full permission to employ it with that view. 
 Believe me 
 
 Most sincerely yours, 
 
 Ernest W. Lucy. 
 
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66 KEPLY FROM C. E. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 REPLY FROM C. E. 
 
 My dear Lucy, 
 
 Accept my cordial thanks for the important facts supplied 
 by your letters and the documents therein quoted. 
 
 They establish truths not so fully understood as they ought 
 to be in the old country ; but proper to be known in every 
 country, proper to be borne in mind by all who would defend 
 civilised society and its first requisite,' the repression of 
 crime. 
 
 We knew before that the Irish Catholics who have emi- 
 grated to the United States are, for the most part, avowed 
 enemies of England ; that rebels, traitors and criminals here 
 obtain from them funds for the prosecution of their nefarious 
 work. But from your letters we now learn that they are 
 enemies not of England and the Saxon race alone, but of the 
 l aw s and peace of the land in which they reside, and of all 
 races which compete with them for employment, position and 
 influence there ; that, while sanguinary ruffians in Ireland 
 itself are engaged in murdering, outraging and plundering 
 landlords, land-agents and law-abiding tenants, their sympa- 
 thising kinsfolk across the Atlantic keep tune with them by 
 murdering, outraging and plundering coal-proprietors, their 
 agents, and law-abiding labourers of all races, American, 
 English, Scotch, German, Swede, all in short who are not 
 Irish Catholics ; for the heretic Celt, Welsh or Cornish, finds 
 no more mercy at their hands than the heretic Teuton. Their 
 war is three-fold, a war against race, a war against religion 
 a war against property and the laws which uphold property' 
 
 That they wage war on race and religion, is amply proved 
 (1) by the 10th Article of their hypocritical association, the 
 Ancient Order of Hibernians — which says that " No person 
 shall, become a member of this Order who is not Irish, or of 
 Irish descent, a Roman Catholic, and of Roman Catholic 
 parents." — (2) by their hostile action against all other immi- 
 grants, whom they confound under the common title of 
 Modocs. 
 
 That they wage wa r oji_pjMper.ty.and the la ws which pr ntgnt 
 property is amply proved b^tbiiiad^supniiedin,your letters, 
 a^HcrtoTEoiewEich the history of ill-fated Ireland has_coh^~ 
 tinually" furnished for the last 120 years and earlier still. ' 
 
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REPLY FROM C. E. 67 
 
 Mr. Froude's well-known work, " The English in Ireland" 
 was, as I well remember, among those which you read with 
 interest during your visit to England. Since that time Mr. 
 Lecky has published the first four volumes of his " History 
 of England in the 18th Century." In the 2nd volume he 
 severely censures Mr. Froude's book, as " intended to collect 
 and aggravate everything that can be said against the Irish 
 people " (p. 95), " to blacken to the utmost the character of 
 the Irish people " (p. 101), and he makes a longer and more 
 elaborate attack at pp. 378-9. Mr. Froude has published a 
 new edition (1881), in which I observe some modifications of 
 his former statements. This edition I advise you to procure, 
 as well as Mr. Lecky's work, and to examine them minutely. 
 Both these writers are able, well-read, and rationalistic. 
 Neither of them is known as a political partisan, and there 
 is no reason to doubt that the opinions of both are the result 
 of much study and of honest conviction. By comparing 
 their statements and views on disputed matters, such as the 
 massacres of 1641 and the following years, we may perhaps 
 hope to form just conclusions. 
 
 That Ireland has often been misgoverned by England and 
 wronged commercially, is too true ; but it is also true that 
 Ireland has always been ungovernable, repaying concession 
 with new~demahds which cannot be conceded, and refusing 
 conciliation except on terms which would soon lead to fresh 
 and more deadly quarrel. Mr. Lecky's history has not yet 
 reached the terrible era of 1798. When he comes to deal with 
 that time, he will find its story, as told by Mr. Froude, if I 
 mistake not, irrefragable as to its facts. The leaders of the rebel- 
 lion at Dublin were irreligious men, inoculated with the worst 
 principles of the French revolution. They had succeeded in 
 attaching to their republican scheme a large number of the 
 Presbyterians in Ulster, who took up arms at first, but soon 
 repented of their madness, alarmed and converted by the 
 massacres of Scullabogue and Wexford. But out of Ulster 
 and beyond Dublin, the war of that time was, beyond all 
 question, a religious war, a rising of the Catholics, as in 1641, 
 instigated or abetted, sometimes (as in Wexford) led by the 
 priests, for the purpose of exterminating the Protestants. 
 The perusal of Sir Richard Musgrave's history leaves no 
 doubt of this fact. The relation of landlord and tenant 
 aroused no wide-spread angry feelings then. Families were 
 murdered, burnt out and plundered, not because they were 
 
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68 B.EPLY FROM C. E. 
 
 those of land-owners or their agents, hut JiecaiiseJJiev_were_ 
 Pro testant . The land question, as hetween owner and tenant, 
 EasHbecome a hurning one since then : but it would he an 
 error to suppose that the religious question has ceased to 
 exist as a cause of severance and hatred. This is clearly 
 shown by the constitution of " The Ancient Order of Hiber- 
 nians," which you have transmitted to me. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that Mr. Lecky, being an Irish- 
 man, has a natural and honourable motive for trying to make 
 the best possible case in defence of his countrymen. But, 
 even if it be allowed that Mr. Froude's pictures of Irish 
 character, Irish misconduct, and the mischievous influence of 
 the priesthood, are here and there too darkly coloured, I still 
 think with the Edinburgh Revicirer (No. 303), that Mr. 
 Lecky has sometimes treated these same topics in too lenient 
 " a spirit, with less width of view and less profound reflection 
 than the truth of history and the welfare of society demand. 
 What he says is said truly and well, so far as it goes ; but it 
 does not always go far enough ; the full truth is not brought 
 out, and the full truth is wanted. I refer especially to his 
 remarks on the (Roman) Catholic system and its priesthood. 
 Whether it be from unwillingness to offend members of the 
 Roman Church that Mr. Lecky deals so sparingly with it — 
 more sparingly for instance than the rationalists Edgar Quinet 
 and Prof. Laurent of Ghent have dealt — I am unable to say. 
 But, if no desire to give pain be exhibited, if this be expressly 
 disclaimed, and if reproachful epithets and terms be studiously 
 avoided, in such case relevant matters of fact may surely be 
 stated without giving offence, at all events without giving 
 just offence. I am an English Churchman, a moderate one 
 assuredly, a reasonable one, I hope. I have no Romeward 
 proclivities like some ; but I am not wont, after the manner 
 of others, to declaim against " the idolatrous superstitions of 
 the scarlet woman."' I wish to live in peace with all my Catholic 
 countrymen, who will be at peace with me. But since I am 
 an Anglican, it stands to reason that, as a matter of fact, I 
 regard some doctrines of Trent and the Vatican as erroneous, 
 and some of their practices as superstitious, and all error and 
 superstition as in their nature hostile to human progress and 
 happiness ; otherwise, I should not be a Christian living 
 outside the Roman Communion. This is simple truth, which 
 can neither offend nor pain any intelligent mind. 
 
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REPLY FROM C. E. 69 
 
 I now oite from Mr. Lecky's Second Volume two passages 
 relating to_the_ power . of jthe_ Catholic priesthood. 
 
 " Catholicism, like all other religions that have approved them- 
 selves to the hearts and conciences of great bodies of men, brings 
 with it its own distinctive virtues, and it has contributed much 
 both to the attractive charm and to the sterling excellences of the / 
 Irish character. Biit. it is on the whole a_ lower typejrf religion j/ 
 than Prote stantism, aacLit is peculiarly unsuited to _a- nation strug- 
 gl ing wiEE Igrcat difficulties. It is exceedingly unfavourable to 
 independence of intellect and to independence of character, which 
 are the first conditions of national progress. It softens, but also 
 weakens the character, and it produces habits of thought and life not 
 favourableTxTindustriaL activity, and extremely opposed*to-political 
 freedbhTr^LtTnations that are wholly Catholic, religious indifference 
 usually in some degree corrects these evils, and the guidance of 
 affairs passes naturally into the hands of a cultivated laity actuated 
 by secular motives, and aiming at secular ends. But no class of / 
 men by their principles and their modes of life and of thought are ^" 
 less fitted for political leadership than Catholic^ priests. It is 
 inevitable "that "they should subordinate" political to sectarian con- 
 siderations. It is scarcely possible that they should be sincerely ' 
 attached to tolerance, intellectual activity, or political freedom. 
 The theological habit of mind is .beyond all others the most opposed 
 to that spirit of compromise and practical good sense which is the 
 first condition of free government ; and during the last three 
 hundred years the gradual restriction of ecclesiastical influence in 
 « -politics has been one of the best measures of national progress. It 
 may indeed be safely asserted that, under the conditions of modern 
 life, no country will ever play a great and honourable part in the 
 world if the policy of its rulers or the higher education of its 
 people is subject to the control of the Catholic priesthood. In 
 Irish history especially the dividing influence of religious animosities 
 is too manifest to be overlooked, and there is no doubt that the 
 Catholicism of the bulk of the people has in more than one way 
 largely contributed to their alienation from England. It deepens 
 the distinctive differences of the national type. The Church as an 
 organised body becomes the centre of the national affections, bring- 
 ing in its train political sympathies, affinities, and interests wholly 
 different from those of the great majority of Englishmen. Besides 
 this, Catholicism, when it has once saturated with its influence the 
 character of a nation, has a strangely antiseptic power, giving a 
 wonderful tenacity to all old traditions, habits, prejudices and 
 tendencies." p. 383. 
 
 " Every religion which is worthy of the name must provide some 
 
 - method of consoling men in the first agonies of bereavement, some 
 
 support in the extremes of pain and sickness, above all some stay 
 
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70 
 
 REPLY FROM C. K. 
 
 in the hour of death. It must operate, not merely or mainly upon 
 the strong and healthy reason, but also in the twilight of the 
 understanding, in the half-lucid intervals that precede death, 
 when the imagination is enfeebled and discoloured by disease, when 
 all the faculties are confused and dislocated, when all the buoyancy 
 and hopefulness of nature are crushed. At such a time it is not 
 sufficient for most men to rest upon the review of a well-spent life. 
 Such a retrospect to all of us is too full of saddening and humiliating 
 memories. It is an effort too great for the jaded mind. It can at 
 best afford but a cold and languid satisfaction amid the bitterness 
 of death. It is at this moment that priestly influence is most felt. 
 The Catholic priest asserting with emphatic confidence a divine 
 power of absolving the sinner, arresting and overawing the wander- 
 ing imagination by imposing rites, demanding only complete sub- 
 mission at a time when beyond all others the mind is least disposed 
 to resist, and professing, on the condition of that submission, to 
 conduct the dying man into an eternity of happiness, can provide a 
 stay upon which sinking nature can rest in that gloomy hour. The 
 immense consolation which has been thus infused into innumerable 
 minds at the time when consolation is most needed, can be hardly 
 overstated. To secure the efficacy of this l ast absolutio n upon the 
 imagination of the dying, has been a main~end of all the teaching 
 and of all the ceremonies of the Church. For the sake of tjoisjmen 
 have endured all the calamities which jriestjyaft, has brought upon 
 the world, have bartered the independence of their minds, _and shut 
 their eyes to the light of truth. By connecting this absolution 
 indissolubly with complete submission to their sacerdotal claims, 
 the Catholic priests framed the most formidable engine of r^liginuB; 
 tyranny that has ever been employed to disturb or subjugate the 
 workL." p. 638. 
 
 In the former of these passages Mr. Lecky says, as any 
 honest rationalist must say, that " Catholicism is a lower type 
 of religion than Protestantism," that it is " opposed to inde- 
 pendence of intellect and of character," that "no country 
 will ever play a great part " if " it is subject to the control of 
 the Catholic priesthood," mainly because "the theological 
 habit of mind is beyond all others the most opposed to " a 
 " spirit of compromise and practical good sense." 
 
 In the latter he says that, by the power they exercise of 
 absolving dying sinners on condition " of complete submission 
 to their sacerdotal claims," the Catholic priesthood framed 
 (?) the most formidable engine of religious tyranny that has 
 ever been employed." 
 
 What Mr. Lecky has thus said is all_true — so far as it 
 goes ; but it goes a very little way towardslTiull description 
 
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REPLY FROM E. C. 71 
 
 of " the formidable engine " therein mentioned. He is a 
 historian, and a man of signal ability. He has treated of 
 the first 800 years a.d., in his HMorij of European Morals. 
 He knows that ecclesiastical history forms a large and mate- 
 rial — many will say " the most material " — part of European 
 history, from the Christian era to the present time. He 
 ought therefore to know full well that he has given a very 
 faint idea of that engine and its powers when he confines 
 their operation to the approach of death. Let us see what 
 those powers are, and hovr they work. In the first place the 
 Roma n church , calling itself Catholic, declares that for those 
 whS^£_outsid^j50ts.£flmmu.nion there is no salvation ; for 
 thosTwho~die"in its communion, reconciled with if, everlasting 
 bliss. Here the most terrible of all menaces is shown on the 
 one side, on the reverse the most alluring of all promises. 
 The reformed Churches do not use any such language. 
 There are in the world very many minds, among all grades 
 of society, on whom " the safe side," and the secure prospect 
 of a ' heaven after death, exert a most seductive influence. 
 Again T by the strict enforcement of clerical celibacy Pope 
 Hildebrand ((ire gof y"YIT.") acquired for hisxhuxcha militia, 
 "freed from theTencterest worldly influences, and bound to its 
 cause by every motive of personal interest and ambition. 
 The' weapons and cords he gave them for the subjugation of 
 the iaTty to their behests are — auricular confession and 
 penance. The bribing influences he placed in their reach 
 are — absolution pronounced by themselves, indulgences or 
 remissions of purgatorial and other penance, offered by the 
 Pope, and the singing or saying of masses for the souls of 
 the dead. The cult of the Virgin, and the invocation of 
 patron saints, are also practices very captivating to many 
 minds. These are, perhaps, the principal springs of that 
 " formidable engine " of which Mr. Lecky has mentioned 
 one movement only, the influence brought to bear beside the 
 sinner's dying bed. But not less potent aids are the com- 
 bined indolence and ignorance which make myriads of every 
 class blindly commit themselves to the guidance of men, 
 whom they have learnt to revere as infallible, and divinely 
 entrusted with the keeping of souls unto salvation. 
 
 Upon the whole then, without venturing to endorse all 
 Mr. Fronde's views in his very interesting work, I sympa- 
 thise with them more than with Mr. Lecky's chapters on 
 Ireland in his second volume. " These," says the Edinburgh 
 
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72 REPLY FROM 0. E. 
 
 Reviewer, " are in fact a passionate pleading for the justice 
 and humanity of the Irish character. We quite admit that 
 Ireland has, in past centuries, been treated with injustice and 
 inhumanity by England, crimes for which it has been the 
 ardent desire of this country to make the largest atonement 
 in its power. But we are unable to accept Mr. Lecky's 
 version of the temper and conduct of the Irish people, who 
 have in all ages rendered the wise government of the country 
 difficult, and sometimes impossible." 
 
 The ci>tgH Ti flta no ftB-^endjng_tbe discovery by tha.3£olly 
 Mja guires of McParlan's charantSr as-a^etectiye ...are-pecu- 
 liariy interestiirgpaHd-dSserve special notice. They will be 
 found in his re-examination: It appears that John Kehoe 
 named Mr. Byon (counsel for the prisoners Kelly and Doyle, 
 committed for the murder of J. P. Jones) as his authority for 
 say4Bg_Jibat_a.,deteeti-ve- was at work. He did not say Mr. 
 Byon spoke of McKenna as that detective ; bu t ho wcame 
 Kehoe at once to fix upon him as the man ? WhinTiardr 
 pressed"TBy~McPnrluTi7 Kehoe at length referred him to Father 
 O'Connor ; and this priest, being also pressed, referred him 
 to Father Beilly and Father Ryon (probably a kinsman of 
 the counsellor). Whereupon McParlan, having a just in- 
 sight, got out of the way "witrI6TrtTossT3fHmieT Oarrwe-dtrnbt 
 that Mr. Byon had his intelligence froin~trie~p_riest s? How 
 were They ' informed ? We are told.TbyTIr. . Gtow£n_that 
 "Archbishop Wood was in his confidence from the. first." 
 
 In your latest letter you say that the discussions which 
 arose respecting the pardon or execution of certain criminals 
 cannot interest me. They do interest me very much ; and, 
 as I think they will both interest and instruct the readers of 
 this volume, I shall add to its Appendix an outline of them, 
 which I find in the German work to which you allude in your 
 first letter. 
 
 Believe me always 
 
 Very gratefully and sincerely yours, 
 
 F 
 September, 1882. 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MR. GOWEH's SPEECH. 73 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I. 
 
 Extracts from the speech of Franklin B. Gowen, Esq., 
 one of the Counsel for the Commonwealth on the trial of 
 Thomas Munley for the murder of Thomas Sanger at Raven 
 Eun. See p. 34.) 
 
 After a few opening remarks, Mr. Gowen said, 
 
 On the 1st of September last, Thomas Sanger, a young English 
 boss miner, a man between 30 and 40 years of age, who, so far as 
 we know, may not have had an enemy in the world, left his house 
 in the morning to go to his daily work. If there is anything which 
 should be accorded to a member of a free . government, if there is 
 any right which the humblest man in this country should possess, 
 it is the right to labour for the support of his family, without hind- 
 rance or molestation from any one. Going forward and onward in 
 the performance of his duty, and the prosecution- of his daily work, 
 this man was confronted by one of an armed band of five assassins. 
 He was shot in the arm. He turned to run round a house in the 
 neighbourhood, and he was there confronted by another of these 
 miscreants who had been sent to intercept him. He again turned 
 and stumbled upon the ground ; and then, when the foremost of 
 this band of assassins came up to him, as he lay upon the ground, 
 he discharged his revolver into him, and another turned him, as he 
 lay upon his face, over upon his back, so that he could expose a 
 deadly part for his aim, and then, with calm deliberation, selected 
 a vital spot and shot him as he lay prostrate upon the ground. 
 His wife, from whom he had just parted, hearing his cries, rushed 
 out and reached her husband only in time to hear his last faltering 
 accents : "Kiss me, Sarah, for I am dying." 
 
 That is this case. It is not isolated or alone. God knows I 
 wish it was. It is not one case singled out in this great commu- 
 nity, but it is one of a number that we have been called upon to 
 confront during the last twenty years. Who were these persons 
 that were guilty of this murder? That is for you to determine, 
 according to the evidence ; and I now propose, very concisely and 
 as succinctly as I can, to call your attention to the evidence in this 
 case ; and I ask you to find your verdict of guilty solely in accord- 
 ance with that evidence and acting under the solemnity of your 
 oaths. 
 
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74 EXTRACTS FROM MR. GOWEN's SPEECH. 
 
 He then gives the evidence of identity. 
 
 The colliery at which Sanger was killed belonged to the firm of 
 Heaton and Co., and one of the firm was Mr. Eobert Heaton, whom 
 you have had on the stand as a witness. He noticed the five men 
 sitting near the truck and near the stable fence. He went to break- 
 fast, but before going he had noticed that one of these men sat in 
 a peculiar and apparently constrained position, with his hands down 
 in his lap and his body bent in a straight line from the hips up- 
 ward and forward to the head and nock, with no curvature of the 
 back. When at his breakfast Mr. Heaton heard shots, and rushed 
 out of his house, falsing with him his pistol. On his way to the 
 scene of the murder he met his superintendent, wounded and bleed- 
 ing, and believing as he struggled into Mr. "Weevil's house, that he 
 was about to die, this brave superintendent, who died at his post, 
 uttered his last words to his employer : "never mind me, give it 
 to them, Bob." If ever a brave man died bravely that man was 
 Thomas Sanger. Mr. Heaton rushed out after the murderers, who 
 were retreating up the road, three in front and two behind, and as 
 deliberately as the excitement of the moment would permit, he 
 shot at the retreating fugitives. The two that were behind turned 
 upon him, and faced him directly, so that he and they were face to 
 face. He says to you : "I had a full view of them ; every time I 
 fired my pistol they turned full around upon me, looked me full in 
 the face, and then when I shot again they did the same thing." 
 At one time Mr. Heaton rested his pistol upon a stump for the 
 sake of getting a better aim ; but all was of no avail. He thought 
 he shot one, for he states that he saw a motion made by one of the 
 two that was farthest away from him that indicated he had been 
 wounded, but there is no evidence that any one received an injury ; 
 the whole five escaped, but one of them left upon Mr. Heaton's 
 mind and upon his eye the indelible impression of his countenance. 
 
 Mr. Heaton eame to Court here some months ago, on the hearing 
 of the writ of Habeas corpus in this case, and he was attracted by 
 one of the prisoners sitting in the Court in the same peculiarly 
 constrained position in which he saw the one man sitting at the 
 stable fence. Then he saw the man's face, and in addition to the 
 recognition which had resulted from the position of this prisoner, 
 Mr. Heaton again recognised him by his countenance. It will not 
 do for my friend, Mr. Bartholomew, to say that Mr. Heaton did not 
 swear to you that he saw these five men or recognised them by 
 their faces; for Mr. Heaton was positive that' the one man who 
 turned round and faced him, and who deliberately fired at him, 
 was this prisoner, Thomas Munley. Said Mr. Heaton : " I had a 
 full view of him, and from that I am able to identify him." "Where 
 can you get better identification than this ? When a witness says : 
 " The man looked me full in the face, and I saw him; I was 
 shooting at him and he was shooting at me, and I recognise this 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MR. GOWEN's SPEECH. 75 
 
 prisoner as the man," of what avail is it that we did not ask the 
 witness whether he recognised this prisoner by his face or not, be- 
 cause the necessary and inevitable inference from what he said is 
 that he did recognise him by his face. If Eobert Heaton that 
 morning, instead of taking with him a five-barrelled pistol when 
 he left the house, had taken a rifle carrying 16 cartridges, and, as 
 he saw the men retreating up the road had rested his rifle on the 
 stump, he would have brought every one of the murderers clown 
 right in their tracks, as they deserved to be brought down ; but, I 
 am free to say here, I am glad they were not. The punishment 
 meted out to the murderer by being shot down in his tracks, is not 
 the punishment which the law awards to vindicate the ends of 
 justice ; nor is it the proper punishment to impose upon the felon 
 for the purpose of deterring others from the commission of the same 
 offence. But if Robert Heaton that day had 'had a carbine loaded 
 with 16 cartridges, and had shot every one of these men down in 
 their tracks, and their bodies had been laid side by side for identi- 
 fication before the coroner's inquest, I submit, with great confidence, 
 that there would have been, in the dead body itself, no better 
 identification of Thomas Munlcy than has been given of his living- 
 body now sitting before you for trial. 
 
 But Robert Heaton is not alone. We have Mrs. Williams, the 
 wife of a man working at that colliery, or in that neighbourhood, 
 the mother of a son, a young, manly, active and impetuous lad 
 who, when he hears the sounds of fighting, is anxious to rush 
 out, as the other men there ought to have rushed out, and arrested 
 these men, or confronted them for identification. This mother, 
 hearing the shots and knowing there was murder in the air, was 
 anxious that her son should not be exposed to danger, and throwing 
 her arms around his neck at the front door, strove with all her 
 strength, and with the additional assistance of her daughter and 
 another, to force him from the path of the murderer. When so en- 
 gaged, with all the dread of the danger before her, she sees one of 
 the murderers pass the door, with his head raised defiantly in the 
 air, and with his pistol in his hand. It needed but one instant for 
 that countenance to become indelibly impressed upon her mind. 
 The gentlemen who represent the prisoner tell us' that the means 
 of identification are wanting in this instance, and that the time 
 afforded for the examination was too short. There are authentic 
 instances of detection even in less time. The dog of a murdered 
 man saw an assassin in the act of murder, and that one glimpse 
 lasted for days and weeks and months. The brute creature of (jlod 
 treasured up in what little mind, if any, he had, the picture of the 
 murderer and the first time he saw him — in a crowded thorough- 
 fare in a great town — he sprang at his throat and fastened him 
 down until the assassin was arrested by the officers. Conviction 
 followed upon the identification by the brute. 
 
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76 EXTRACTS FROM MR. COWERS SPEECH. 
 
 < If this be so, how much more credit should be given to the 
 identification by a human being. How much more to ijjejitification 
 by a jnother clinging to her offspring to keep him_fcom_^anger 
 "when the~picture of 'the assassin is presented before her. Did you 
 hear the remark that Mrs. "Williams made when she was cross- 
 examined by one of my learned friends ? When she was asked : 
 " How can you tell this man, by his profile or by his full face ? " 
 she answered : " By his profile ; for that was all I saw." But she 
 said something else : " It seems to me that I could always see that 
 face." In the dark visions of the night it was ever before her, and 
 the face of the murderer was ever haunting the witness whom 
 Providence had appointed for his identification. We did not know 
 that she knew this. She was not subpoenaed as a witness. "We 
 believed, acting for the Commonwealth, that we had done all that 
 we could to ferret out these offenders ; but you can see that there 
 are some things which human ingenuity, human sagacity and 
 human endurance will omit and will neglect, and I can safely say 
 that it looks to me as if the finger of God was here revealed, and 
 as if it unerringly pointed out the evidence which the officers of 
 the Commonwealth had not been able to secure. 
 
 The husband of this woman had been subpoenaed and had come here 
 as a witness and she accompanied him. The husband was excluded 
 from Court, but she was not. She came into the Court-room and 
 the moment she saw the profile of this prisoner sitting at the table, 
 sitting among two or three men, with nothing upon his person or 
 in his countenance to indicate that he was the prisoner, with no 
 previous knowledge on her part that this was the man who was 
 being tried, but simply seeing him sitting there facing the table 
 with his profile toward her as she sat among the audience, she said 
 to those around her : " That is the man I saw passing the road 
 when I was holding my son that morning." Of course the report 
 was brought to us at the counsel table, and we put her on the 
 stand. \, 
 
 There are mechanical appliances that render identification in- 
 stantaneous. The art of the photographer has discovered a method 
 whereby, in an instant or less of time, in a pulsation of the heart, 
 in the winking of an eye, you can take the picture of a man while 
 ,'he is moving at full speed before you. "Why should not the eye of 
 this woman lie able to do the same thing ? Can there be anything 
 stronger, anything better than a recognition such as we have here 
 established before you ? 
 
 But even here we are not alone. "We need not stop. We have 
 the testimony of Melinda Bickelman, who has been subjected to a 
 rigid cross-examination, and whose testimony has been attacked by 
 the very learned gentleman who preceded me. The case of Miss 
 Bickelman is almost identical with that of Mrs. Williams. She 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MR. GOWEN's SPEECH. 77 
 
 was a 'sister of Mrs. Weevil, to whom she was paying a visit at 
 Raven Run at the time Sanger was killed. She was sunpoenaed as 
 a witness because she was known to have heen in the house of Mrs. 
 Weevil on the morning of this murder ; hut it appeared that no one 
 questioned her as to what she knew, and it never appeared that she 
 knew anything that was important, and she was not called to the 
 stand ; hut she had come here into this Court-room a few months 
 ago, at the hearing upon the writ of Habeas corpus in this case, and 
 she saw this prisoner Munley, and then identified him ; and I 
 submit that her identification is complete. 
 
 McParlan's evidence is added. 
 
 I could rest this case here to-day, as counsel for the Common- 
 wealth, solely upon the testimony of Robert Heaton, Mrs. Williams 
 and Melinda Bickelman. But I dare not stop without going 
 further, because in addition to that testimony, which alone is suffi- 
 cient to convict, we have the. positive declarations of the prisoner 
 himself. And how do we show this ? By the detective, James 
 McParlan, of whom I shall speak hereafter; for, at this stage of 
 the case, I simply desire to call your attention to the fact that on 
 the 31st of August, McParlan, who had slept the night before with 
 Michael Doyle, was informed by him that he and some others were 
 going to shoot a boss at Baveu Run. Doyle wanted one of his 
 (McParlan's) coats, and got it ; and Thomas Hurley then came in 
 and instructed Doyle how he should perform his murderous work. 
 After that this man Hurley remained with McParlan the whole of 
 the day, so as to prevent him communicating with any one ; and on 
 the next morning at eight o'clock, immediately after the perpetra- 
 tion of the crime, panting with the speed of the flight and reeking 
 with the blood of their victims, the five assassins rushed into the 
 house of Michael Law lor, at Shenandoah, and into the presence of 
 Hurley and McParlan himself. 
 
 These men announced at once that they had killed a man, that 
 they had killed a boss, that thoy had intended to kill only one, but 
 that they had to kill another. They said that they did not intend 
 to kill' more than one, but the other man interfered and they killed 
 him too ; and then each recounted the share which he had taken in 
 the exploit. Munley, as I shall show you hereafter, specifically 
 detailed the position which he occupied and the part which he had 
 taken in the murder. Here is our case, and were it not for what 
 the defence has offered in evidence, and more particularly for what 
 their counsel have said, it would be unnecessary for me to add a 
 single word to that which I have already uttered ; but as my 
 friends, Mr. Bartholomew and Mr. L'Velle, have pleaded before 
 you for the acquittal of the prisoner, and as they have endeavoured 
 to attack the credibility of our witnesses,^ and to blacken the 
 character of James McParlan, it becomes my duty not to stop with* 
 
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78 EXTRACTS FROM MR. GOWEn's SPEECH. 
 
 the testimony of the Commonwealth, but to go over, in more 
 laborious detail, the evidence for the defence, and to_ answer the 
 arguments which have been made to secure an acquittal for this 
 prisoner. 
 
 Lfter »' victorious demolition ' of the alibi attempted by perjured_ 
 evidence,' Mr. Gbwen returns to the subject of McParlan's testimony. 
 
 I now come to the testimony of McParlan. Many of youTffftnv 
 that some years ago I was the District Attorney of this county. I 
 am, therefore, not very much out of my old paths, and not very 
 far away from my old moorings when I am standing, on behalf of 
 the Commonwealth, in the Court of Pottsville, demanding the con- 
 viction of a guilty man. It was when I was District Attorney of 
 this county, a young man, charged with the prosecution of the 
 pleas of the Commonwealth, that for the first time I made up 
 my mind from what I had seen, in innumerable instances, that 
 there then existed in this county a secret organization, banded to- 
 gether for the commission of crime, and for the purpose of securing 
 the escape or acquittal of any of its members charged with the 
 commission of an offence. 
 
 That conviction forced itself indelibly upon my mind. A man who 
 for two years acts' as. District Attorney in this county -prosecuting 
 criminals who are brought before the Court, must be either very 
 obtuse or wilfully blind,, if he could close his eyes to the existence 
 of a fact as perceptible as this was then to me. I left this county 
 with that settled conviction, and circumstances which occurred at 
 the time and again long after I withdrew from the prosecution of 
 criminals, still more deeply fastened this conviction in my mind. 
 Murder, violence and arson, committed without detection, and ap- 
 parently without motive, attested the correctness of that- belief, 
 and when the time arrived that I became so much interested in the 
 p rosp erity of this county, and in 'ffi^fTlhiTp.lnprnnnt, nf itj^n^gral^ 
 wealth, that X saw it was™aT struggle between the good citizen and 
 *tt[e"baa""citizen as to which should obtain the supremacy, I made 
 up my mind that if human ingenuity, if long suffering and patient 
 care and toil, that stopped at no obstacle and would confront every 
 danger, could succeed in exposing this secret organization to the light 
 of day, and bringing to well-earned justice the perpetrators of these 
 awful crimes, I would undertake the task. 
 
 I knew that it could only be done by secret detectives, and I 
 had had enough experience, both_as a lawyer and as the h ead of a 
 .very larg e corporation, to know that the "public municipal detec- 
 tive^" etirp'teyeoTDy the police authorities of the cities, who operate 
 only for rewards, are the last persons to whom you could trust a 
 mission and an enterprise such as this. It was as important for us 
 to know who was innocent as it was to know who was guilty. 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MR. GOWEN's SPEECH. 79 
 
 The detective who operates for rewards, who is only paid upon 
 his conviction of the offender, has a motive to incite him to action 
 which I would be the last man in the world to arouse. I knew, 
 for I had had experience before, of the National Detective Agency 
 of Allan Pinkerton, of Chicago, which was established by an intel- 
 ligent and broad-minded Scotchman, established upon the only basis 
 on which a successful detective agency can be established, and I 
 applied to Mr. Pinkerton. His plan was simply this: "I will 
 secure an agent, or an officer," said he, "to ferret out the existence 
 of this society. Whoever I get is to be paid so much a week, no 
 matter if he finds out nothing. He is bound to me never, under 
 any circumstances, to take a reward for his services from anybody, 
 and if he spends five years and obtains nothing in the way of in- 
 formation, he must have every month or every week exactly the 
 same compensation as if every week he had traced a new murder 
 and every month had discovered a new conspiracy. He is never to 
 gain pecuniarily by the success of his undertaking ; but, as a man 
 who goes into this organization as a detective takes his life in his 
 own. hands, I will send no man on this_mission of yours, Mr. Gowen, . 
 unless it be agreed beforehand, and I can^lTEm soTEEat he never 
 ist u be ~""known in connection with the enterprise." Upon these 
 terms this man, James McParlan, was selected. A young Irishman 
 and a Catholic, but six or seven years in this country, eminently 
 qualified by his peculiar Irish accomplishments to ingratiate him- 
 self with those to whom he was sent, he came here in the fall of 
 1873, and within six months he had so far won the confidence of 
 the class of people who constituted this order that he was admitted 
 as a member. Remember now, here, and I advert to it lest I might 
 forget it, that he came here pledged that he should not be used as 
 a witness. Therefore the only object of his coming was to put us 
 upon the track, so that we could discover the crime when it was 
 being perpetrated, and this is the best answer that can possibly be 
 made to the charge that he willfully withheld his knowledge when 
 he might have saved human life. His only object here was to get 
 knowledge. He never was to be used as ■ a witness. His only 
 object was to find out when a murder was to be committed, to be 
 with the perpetrators if he could, and to give notice to Captain 
 Linden, who had an armed police force ready, so that they might 
 be waiting at the very spot, and not only save the life of the in- 
 tended victim, but arrest every man engaged in the perpetration of 
 the offence, in order that there could be abundant evidence of their 
 guilt. That was his whole object. Almost every night he made 
 his report ; and how well he has performed his duty, the security 
 of human life and property in this county to-day, as compared with 
 what it was six months ago, is the best commentary I can make 
 upon the subject. 
 
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80 EXTRACTS FROM ME. GOWEn's SPEECH. 
 
 After repelling the attempt to discredit McParlan as an accomplice, 
 Mr. Gowen says : 
 
 And now some words about this secret organi sation of Molly 
 Maguires. My friend, Mr. Bartholomew, is not correct in his 
 Statement of their history. If, after this case is over and when 
 you are permitted to read, you will get a little book called Trench's 
 Realities of Irish Life, written by a relative of that celebrated Dean 
 Trench, whose name is well known wherever English literature is 
 read, you will find the history of this organisation. It was known 
 as the Eibbonmen of Ireland. It sprang up at the time when there 
 was an organised resistance in Ireland to the payment_of^rents. 
 The malcontents ""became known as Eibbonmen, and they ^generally 
 made their attacks upon the agents of the non-resident landowners, 
 or upon the constables or bailiffs who attempted to colle ct th e rents. 
 Their object was to intimidate and hold in terror all those to whom 
 they owed money, or who were employed in its collection. As a 
 branch of this society, and growing out of it, sprang the men known 
 as the Molly Maguires, and the name of their society simply arose 
 from this circumstance, that in the perpetration of their offences 
 they dressed as women, and generally ducked or beat their victims, 
 or inflicted some such punishment as infuriated women would be 
 likely to administer. Hence originated the name of the Molly 
 Maguires, which has been handed down to us at the present day ; 
 and the organisation of the Molly Maguires, therefore, is identical 
 with that of the Eibbonmen in Ireland, who have terrorised over 
 the Irish people to so great an extent. 
 
 How this association came into this country we do not know. We 
 had suspected for many years, and we know now,- that it is criminal 
 in its character. That is proved beyond peradventure. It will not 
 do now to say that it was only in particular localities in this county 
 that it was a criminal organisation, because the highest officer in this 
 society, in this county, the county delegate, Jack Kehoe, the man 
 who attended the State Convention, and was the representative of 
 the whole order in this county is to-day, as you hear from the tes- 
 timony, in prison awaiting his trial for murder. Whether this 
 society, known as the Ancient Order of Hibernians, is beyond the 
 limits ofTEis county a good society or not,T~ cannot ' tell ; I have 
 believed sometimes that it was, and I am willing to be satisfied of 
 that fact now, if there is any evidence of it. But there has been 
 an attack made upon this organisation, and up to this time we have 
 not had furnished to us any. evidence that in any place its objects 
 were laudable. Criminal in its character, criminal in its -purpose? 
 it had frequently a political object. You will find the leaders of 
 this society the prominent men in the townships. Through" the 
 instrumentality of their order and by its' power, they were able to 
 secure' offices for themselves. You see here, and now know, that 
 one of the Commissioners of this county is a member of this order. 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MR. GOWEn's SPEECH. 81 
 
 You know that a previous Commissioner of this, county was a mem- 
 ber of this order, convicted of a high offence, and pardoned by the 
 Governor. Tou know that another county Commissioner, before 
 that, was a member of this order, convicted of an offence, and par- 
 doned by the Governor. High constables, chiefs of police, candi- 
 dates for associate judges, men who were trusted by their fellow 
 men, were all the time guilty of murder. 
 
 But in addition to the criminal and the political motives, these 
 people claiia_Jiational characteristics. They claim that they are 
 par excellence the representatives of the Irish of this county. They 
 claim more than that, they say that they represent the Irish Catholics 
 of this county. I shall say but little about the Irish except that I 
 am myself the son of an Irishman, proud of my. ancestry, and proud 
 of my race, and never ashamed of it except when I see that Ireland 
 has given birth to such wretches as these. These men call them- 
 selves Irishmen. These men parade on St. Patrick's Day and 
 claim to be good Catholics. Where are the honest Irishmen of this 
 county ? Why do not they rise up and strike down these wretches 
 that usurp the name of Irishmen ? If a German commits an offence, 
 and engages in murder, do all the other Germans take his part and 
 establish a false alibi to defeat the ends of justice ? If an American 
 becomes a criminal, do the Americans protect him? Do they not 
 say, " Away with you : you have disgraced the country that bore 
 you ? " If an Englishman becomes an offender, do the English 
 nation take him to their arms and make him a hero ? Why then 
 do not the honest Irishmen of this county come together in public 
 meeting, and separate themselves widely from and denounce this 
 organization ? Upon what principle do these men, outcasts 
 from society, the dregs of the earth, murderers and assas- 
 sins, claim to be Irishmen and arrogate to themselves the 
 national characteristics of the Irish people ? It is a disgrace to 
 Ireland that the honest Irish of this county, probably five or ten 
 thousand in number, should permit a few hundred wretches like 
 these to say that they are the true representatives of the Irishmen 
 of Schuylkill county. 
 
 Does an Irishman wonder why it is sometimes difficult to get a 
 job in this county? Does he wonder why the boss at a colliery 
 hesitates to employ him, when these people have been permitted to 
 arrogate to themselves the Irish character, and have been permitted 
 to exhibit themselves to the people of this county as the proper 
 representatives of Ireland ? The time has come when there must 
 be a line of demarcation drawn. The time has come when every 
 honest Irishman in this county must separate himself from any 
 suspicion of sympathy with this association. He must denounce 
 its members as outcasts from the land that gave them birth. He 
 must denounce them as covered with infamy and blackened with 
 
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82 
 
 crime. He must say that they are not true Irishmen, and that they 
 are not representatives of Ireland. 
 
 But far beyond this attempt to invoke your sympathy on account 
 of their nationality is the attempt to invoke that sympathy on the 
 ground that they belong to a persecuted religion. Was there ever 
 such tremendous impudence as that members of this secret society, 
 excommunicated by the Archbishop of Philadelphia and by the 
 Pope, should set themselves up in this community as the represent- 
 atives of the Catholic faith ? 
 
 _ I have the direct personal authority of Archbishop "Waoihiniself 
 to say that he denounces them all, and that he was fully c ognisan t 
 of and approved the means I took to bring them to justice. And, 
 for myselfi _ I"can"say that for many months before any other man in 
 this world, except those connected with the detective agency, knew 
 what was being done, Archbishop Wood, of Philadelphia, was the 
 only confidant I had, and that he fully knew the mission of 
 McParlan in this whole matter. So much then for the assumption 
 of Mr. L'Velle that these men claim sympathy on account of their 
 being Catholics. 
 
 And now one word more upon this subject, and I dismjgjjit. 
 Whenever you hear a complaint made against a man becaus4f;' is 
 an Irishman, or because he is a Catholic ; whenever you htv 1 oj 
 one, no matter who he may be, say that the outrages of this c§r' *V 
 are due to the Irishmen, or due to the Catholics, do not, I be|, 6? 
 you, forget, in your secret hearts, that the highest prelates of that 
 church have excommunicated this order. Do not forget that what- 
 ever little credit may be due to him who has conceived the plan of 
 exposing this association, is due to one who is the son of an Irish- 
 man ; and do not forget that a greater honour and a greater meed 
 of praise than is due to any other, is due to Detective McParlan, 
 who is an Irishman by birth, and a Catholic by religion ; and if 
 those who profess to be Irish Catholics in this county have brought 
 their nationality and their religion into disrepute, I beg of you to 
 remember that both have been gloriously and successfully vindicated 
 by an Irishman and a Catholic, in the person of James McParlan. 
 
 After dwelling on the strong corroborative evidence, he says : 
 I have said to you before that it seems to me as if there had 
 been a divine interposition for the investigation and punishment of 
 crime in this county. Eemember that McParlan came here pledged 
 that he should not be used as a witness. We could not arrest a 
 man because he told us anything about him, because he was pro- 
 tected by the pledge we had given him that he was not to be 
 exposed, and was never to be known in the investigation ; and I 
 tell you that, uo matter what the consequence would have been, 
 when I became an instrument to lead him into the danger to which 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MR. GOWEn's SPEECH. 83 
 
 he was subjected, when he took his life into his own hand and en- 
 tered into the secret councils of this order, I would have been the 
 last man in the world to have asked him to relieve me from the 
 pledge which had been made to him. You have heard that his 
 mission became known to this order, how or by what manner I am 
 not at liberty to tell you to-day, for it is not in evidence. We 
 have the fact that his mission became known to this society, 
 and we have the fact that those from whose vengeance he was to 
 be protected, by ignorance of his true character, acquired informa- 
 tion that enabled them to know that he was playing a false part in 
 the organization, and that he was in reality a detective ; and he 
 was compelled to leave the county. And then I saw before me 
 my path as clear as day. Then I saw that some miraculous inter- 
 position of Providence had been vouchsafed to permit us to use the 
 testimony and the knowledge of this man McParlan. Then I 
 breathed freer and trod with elate step ; then I knew that I had 
 wi thin my hands the power_.tp _c.rush these villains ; then and on 
 the day when he took his 
 
 day when ne took his place upontnTwitness^iEand, I took my 
 seat at this table as counsel for the Commonwealth, and the warrants 
 were executed which consigned to the prison every one of these 
 criminals, with the exception of one or two, and of those who 
 rar away when Jen^y i K_emganJajxnad_fitate_'_s evidence. When 
 ^n £he history of criminal jurisprudence did ever such a change 
 ,o" iety come over a county as that which came over this county 
 <. r ' ae' morning that McParlan first became a witness and on the 
 morning when Jack Kehoe, the county delegate, with twelve or 
 fifteen other men, handcuffed to a chain, were marched from the 
 high places they occupied to take their solitary cells as felons 
 within the walls of your prison ? 
 
 When I came to this Court-house on that memorable day, the 
 Court-room was crowded with the sympathising friends of these 
 criminals ; but where are they to-day ? They may be here, but 
 they give no sign, and we know nothing of them, and care not if 
 they are here. &he whole country sprang up like a giant unbound.^ 
 
 /Then we knew we were free men. Then we cared no longer for" 
 the Molly Maguiresl Then we could go to Patsy Collins, Commis- 
 sioner of this county, and say to him : "Build well the walls of 
 the new addition of the prison ; dig the foundations deep and make 
 them strong ; put in good masonry and iron bars, for as the Lord 
 liveth, the time will come when, side by side with William Love, 
 the murderer of 'Squire Gwyther, you will enter the walls that 
 you are now building for others." Then we could say to Jack 
 Kehoe, the high constable of a great borough in this county : " We 
 have no fear of you." Then we could say to Ned Monaghan, 
 chief of police and assassin : " Behind you the scaffold is prepared 
 for your reception." Then we could say to Pat. Comy, Commis-- 
 sioner of this county : " The time has ceased when a Governor of 
 
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84 EXTRACTS F.ROM MR. GOWEn's SPEECH. 
 
 this State dares to pardon a Molly Maguire — you have had your 
 last pardon." Then we could say to John Slattery, who was 
 almost elected Judge of this Court : "We know that of you that 
 it were better you had not been born than that it should be known." 
 Then all of us looked up. Then, at last, we were free, and I came 
 to this county and walked through it as safely as in the most 
 crowded thoroughfares of Philadelphia. 
 
 When we discovered the criminal nature of this organization, 
 and when the evidence of this conspiracy was brought forward to 
 us by McParlan, we issued our warrants for the arrest of the con- 
 spirators, and we turned to these men, with the Commissioner of 
 the county at their head, and we said to them, " Ha, you have 
 lost the stake." They played a deep game and they played for a 
 great stake. They played to secure the property of this county 
 by endangering the lives of their fellow citizens. They had agents 
 as chiefs of police, and as constables and commissioners, and they 
 had one of their number almost on the bench itself. God alone 
 knows what would have happened to us if they had secured him 
 there, and then elected a jury of commissioners besides. With Molly 
 Maguires as judges, Molly Maguires as constables, Molly Maguires 
 as commissioners, and Molly Maguires as witnesses, what would 
 have been the history of this good old county ? Think of this for 
 a moment Can you think where then we should have drifted, 
 and to what it would have led us ? Can you imagine the condition 
 of the people of this county with murderers on the-hencEi and in - 
 the jury box, and in control of all the principal offices of the 
 county. I lived in the apprehension of all this for two years and 
 a-half alone, and God knows that when the time comes that all I 
 know may be told to the world, it will reveal a history such as will 
 make every American citizen hang his head with shame I have 
 seen a society of murderers and assassins having its members in the 
 highest places in this county. I have seen them elected to fill the 
 positions of constables and police officers. I have seen a trusted 
 member of that band of murderers a commissioner of the county. 
 I have seen this organization wield a political power in the State 
 which lias controlled the elections of a great Commonwealth. I 
 have received the information of meetings between some of the 
 highest officers of the State, and the chief of the murderers, at 
 which large sums of money were paid to secure the votes of this 
 infernal association to turn the tide of a State election. God knows 
 if ever in the world there was a revelation as deep and as damning 
 as that now laid open to the people of this Commonwealth for the 
 first time." 
 
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EXTRACTS FKOM MCPARLAN's EVIDENCE. 85 
 
 II. 
 
 Extracts from the evidence of the Detective, James 
 McParlan, on the trial of John Kehoe and others at 
 Pottsville, in August, 1876, for conspiracy to murder. 
 See p. 44-58. 
 
 JAMES MCPARLAN SWORN AND EXAMINED. 
 
 What is your full name ? James McParlan. 
 What is your occupation ? Detective. 
 
 Connected with what agency ? The National Detective Agency. 
 Who is at the head of that agency ? Major Allan Pinkerton, of 
 Chicago. 
 
 When did you first become a member of that agency ? In the 
 spring of 1872. 
 
 At what place ? Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 Did you ever come into Schuylkill County ? Yes, sir. 
 
 When did you come ? In October, 1873. 
 
 Who sent you here ? Major Allan Pinkerton. 
 
 Did you receive any instructions from anyone else except Mr. 
 Pinkerton ? Superintendent Franklin, of Philadelphia. 
 
 Had you seen Mr. Franklin before you came here ? Yes, sir. 
 
 How long did you remain here ? I remained until March the 
 5th or 6th, 1876. 
 
 Where did you go to when you first came to Schuylkill County ? 
 Port Clinton. 
 
 Slates the places visited by him before he finally settled at Shenan- 
 doah. States also when he became acquainted with Kehoe and ike 
 other defendants on trial. 
 
 You have told us that you were a detective, and in the employ 
 of Allan Pinkerton ; will you tell us for what purpose you carne 
 into Schuylkill County ? For the purpose of investigating and 
 finding out as to who belonged to a supposed organization called 
 Molly Maguires ; to see what kind of outrages they committed and 
 who committed them. 
 
 As such detective, and coming into this county with such an 
 object, what was required of you in pursuing your investigations ? 
 1 was required to make a daily report, when I possibly could do it, 
 of all my proceedings. 
 
 To whom were you to make your reports ? Superintendent 
 Franklin, of Philadelphia. 
 
 State whether, after you came to this county, you joined any 
 secret organization ? Yes, sir, 
 
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86 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAn's EVIDENCE. 
 
 What was the name of it ? The Ancient Order of Hibernians, 
 more commonly called Molly Maguires. 
 
 When did you join the organization ? In Shenandoah, on Tues- 
 day, I believe, the 14th of April, 1874. 
 
 At whose house did you become a member ? Michael Lawlor's. 
 
 By whom were you invited into this order ? By Michael Lawlor. 
 
 "Was any one else present at the time ? Tes, there were present 
 Edward Ferguson, Thomas Hurley, Thomas MclSulty, and Peter' 
 Monaghan. 
 
 State what ceremony you were required to go through to become 
 a member ? I had to go down upon my knees ; a certain obligation 
 that was called a test was read to me, I repeating the words after 
 Lawlor ; then I paid three dollars for initiation fees, and was ad- 
 mitted as a member. I had to kiss this paper (this test) previous 
 to getting ofE my knees. 
 
 State whether or not it was a secret order ? Yes, sir ; a secret 
 order. 
 
 Was it known by any other name than the Ancient Order of 
 Hibernians ? It had several names ; it was known as Molly 
 Maguires, Buckshots, &c. 
 
 What were the qualifications for membership in this order ? It 
 required men to be either Irish or of Irish parents. They must 
 also be Catholics. 
 
 How did members know one another, it being a secret organiza- 
 tion ? By signs and passwords. 
 
 You have stated that you joined the division at Shenandoah. 
 What was the name given' to such a division ? Was it simply 
 called a division, or had it a number or a name ? I do not know 
 that it had a number. Sometimes we would get a number ; but 
 when we came to look at it, some other division had the same 
 number. Things were kind of mixed up, and we generally called 
 it Shenandoah division. 
 
 What officers were there connected with that division ? There 
 did not seem to be any officers there but Lawlor alone. 
 
 What position did he hold ? He was what was called a division 
 or body-master. 
 
 State from your knowledge of other lodges what officers were 
 required or were held in these different divisions besides the presi- 
 dent or body-master ? Some divisions had a president or body- 
 master, vice-president or vice-body-master, secretary, assistant 
 secretary, and treasurer, making in all, five officers at the head of 
 a division. Others did not have that. 
 
 * w^P an y hi S n er body or organization in a county than that 
 of i division ? Yes, sir ; county officers, 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAn's EVIDENCE. 87 
 
 What county officers were there ? A county delegate, county 
 secretary, and county treasurer. 
 
 "Were there any other county officers or county body that could be 
 called togther ? Yes ; there was a county committee that was 
 sometimes called together. 
 
 Tell us how that was composed, or of whom. The way I have 
 seen it work here, the county delegate generally appointed the 
 committee. 
 
 He fixed the number and appointed the committee ? Yes, sir. 
 
 By whom were' these county officers elected or selected ? They 
 were elected by the division masters, or body-masters, and their 
 officers — the division officers. 
 
 "Were they elected in one general assembly of the body-masters 
 and officers of the county ? It was called a county convention. 
 
 Then these officers would be elected in a county convention of 
 the officers of the different divisions ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Is there any grade in this society above that of county officers ? 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 What was that grade ? State officers. 
 
 What were the names of the different officers ? There was the 
 State delegate, State secretary, and State treasurer. 
 
 How were they selected ? They were elected by the different 
 county delegates or the different county officers as a general thing ; 
 but division masters and their officers that would happen to be in 
 the immediate vicinity of where this election would take place had 
 also a vote in their election. 
 
 Was there any grade in this order still higher than that of State 
 officers ? Yes, sir, there were National officers. 
 
 Where were the head quarters of the National officers? In 
 New York. 
 
 What were those National officers? There was the National 
 Delegate, National Secretary, National Treasurer, and President of 
 the Board of the city and county of New York ; I believe that 
 is what it is styled. 
 
 Do you know by whom these National officers were selected ? 
 By the different State officers ; the same as in the case of the 
 State Delegate. It seems that any division officers living in the 
 immediate, vicinity where the elections were held, who was present 
 at the time, had also a vote. 
 
 Say where the headquarters of the State officers of the State of 
 Pennsylvania were ? In my time they were in Pittsburg. 
 
 Proceed and tell us whether there was any higher degree in the 
 order. Yes, sir ; there was still what was called the Board of 
 Erin. 
 
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88 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's EVIDENCE. 
 
 Of how many members was it composed ? It was composed, I 
 understand, of delegates from England, Ireland, and Scotland. 
 
 How many from each place ? I do not think the number was 
 limited ; I never understood it to be. 
 
 Where did they meet ? They met at different places. Some- 
 times in England, sometimes in Scotland, and sometimes in Ireland. 
 
 They were called the Board of Erin? Yes, sir ; that is what I 
 understood. 
 
 You have stated that the members were known to each other by 
 signs and passwords. From whom were these signs received? 
 They were received from the Board of Erin. 
 
 To whom were they sent in this country ? They were sent to 
 the National Delegate. 
 
 By this Board of Erin ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Did you ever hear by whom they were sent ? Well, I have 
 heard it talked among the members that a party who was a steward 
 on the Inman line used to carry the " goods." 
 
 Among the members ? Yes, sir. 
 
 To whom were these " goods " distributed by the National Offi- 
 cers of New York ? Distributed to the different State delegates. 
 
 Where were they distributed by them ? To the differeut county 
 delegates. 
 
 Did the county delegate make any further distribution of them ? 
 The county delegate in turn distributed them to the body-master, 
 the division master. 
 
 Of the different divisions ? The different divisions of the county. 
 
 What did the division master do with "the goods," or signs and 
 passwords ? He or his secretary in turn distributed them to the 
 different members of his division. 
 
 State how often these " goods" were received by and distributed 
 among the members ? Once in each quarter ; four times a year. 
 
 Of what did they consist ; of mere signs and mere passwords, or 
 were there other signs ? They consisted of signs, passwords, toasts, 
 quarrelling toasts, and night passwords, some of tbeni. 
 
 Can you now give us some of the "goods?" Yes, sir; I have 
 some of them here. 
 
 Bead them, please ; giving the date and quarter for which they 
 were given. 
 
 (Referring to report.) These are the 'goods" which I received 
 upon entering the organization, on Tuesday, April 14, 1874 : — 
 
 The password is : 
 
 " The Emperor of France and Don Carlos of Spain, 
 They unite together and the Pope's right maintain," 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN S EVIDENCE. 89 
 
 The answer is : 
 
 " Will tenant right in Ireland flourish ? 
 If the people unite and the landlords subdue.'' 
 
 The quarrelling toast is as follows : 
 
 " Question. Your temper is high." 
 " Answer. I have good reason to." 
 
 The night password is as follows : 
 
 " Question. The nights are very dark." 
 "Answer. ' I hope they will soon mend." 
 
 The sign is the little finger of the right hand to the corner of 
 
 the right eye. The answer is to catch the lappel of the vest with 
 
 the little finger and thumb of the right hand ; this should be the 
 
 left hand, as I evidently have made a mistake in that particular. 
 
 These are the " goods " I received on Sunday, May 18, 1874 : — 
 
 The password is : 
 
 " That the trouble of the country may soon be at an end." 
 The answer is : 
 
 " And likewise the men who will not her defend." 
 The quarrelling toast is : 
 
 " You should not dispute with a friend." 
 
 The answer is : 
 
 " Not if I am not provoked." 
 
 The night password is : 
 
 " Question. Long nights are unpleasant." 
 " Answer. I hope they will be at an end." 
 
 The sign is the front finger and thumb of the right hand to touch 
 the necktie or top button of the shirt. The answer is the right 
 hand to rub across the forehead, touching the' hair. 
 
 These are the " goods" received Monday, August 10, 1874 : — 
 The password is : 
 
 ' ' What do you think of the Mayo election ? 
 I think the fair West has made a bad selection." 
 
 The answer is : 
 
 " Whom do you think will duly betray ?" 
 The quarrelling toast is : 
 
 " Question. Don't get your temper so high." 
 
 " Answer. Not with a friend." 
 
 The sign is by putting the thumb of the right hand into the 
 pocket of the pants. The answer by putting the thumb of the left 
 hand on the lower lip. 
 
 These are the " goods " received on "Wednesday, October 28th, 
 1874:— 
 The password is : 
 
 " What do you think of Disraeli's plan ? 
 He still keeps home rule from our native land." 
 
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90 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's EVIDENCE. 
 
 The answer is : 
 
 ' ' But still with good swords and men at command 
 We will give long-lost rights to our native land." 
 
 The night password is : 
 
 " Question. The night looks gloomy.'' 
 
 " Answer. I hope we will soon have a change." 
 
 The quarrelling toast is : 
 
 " Question. Tou are very provoking, sir." 
 " Answer. I am not to blame." 
 
 The body-master's toast is : 
 
 " Question. May the President of France, the General so grand" 
 " Answer. Banish all heresy and free Ireland." 
 
 I find that I have omitted the sign in these " goods," and I do 
 not remember it now. I did not commit it to memory, for I never 
 paid much attention to the " goods " anyhow. 
 
 These are the "goods" received on Saturday, January 11th, 
 1875:— 
 
 The password is : 
 
 " Gladstone's policy must he put down, 
 — He is the main support of the British Crown." 
 
 The answer is : 
 
 " But our Catholic lords will not support his plan, 
 For true to their church they will firmly stand." 
 
 The quarrelling toast is : 
 
 " Question. Don't give way to anger." 
 "Answer. I will obey a friend." 
 
 The night password is : 
 
 " Question. The nights are getting shorter." 
 " Answer. They will soon be at their shortest." 
 The body-master's toast is : 
 
 " Let every Irish patriot espousing Erin's cause, 
 
 " In College Green they may he seen, there making Irish laws." 
 
 The sign is the nail of the right thumb across the bridge of the 
 nose. The answer, the tip of the forefinger of the left hand to the 
 chin. 
 
 These are the " goods" received on Friday, May 14, 1875 : — 
 The password is-: 
 
 " What is your opinion of the Tipperary election ? 
 I think England broke her Constitution by Mitchell's rejection/" 
 The answer is : 
 
 " But didn't O'Connell resign his oath and seat ? 
 Yes, and by agitation gained the emancipation." 
 
 The quarrelling toast is : 
 
 " Question. Keep your temper cool." 
 " Answer. I will not raise it to a friend." 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's EVIDENCE. 91 
 
 The body-master's toast is : 
 
 " Here's that every Irishman may stand to his cause, 
 And subdue the British Government and its coercion laws.' - 
 
 The sign is the forefinger of the right hand in the left sleeve of 
 the coat. The answer is the thumb of the left hand in the left 
 side vest pocket. 
 
 These are the goods received on the 4th of November, 1875 : — 
 
 The password is : 
 
 " Here's a health to every Irishman 
 That lives in Ireland, 
 To assemble 'round in Dublin town 
 In memory of Great Dan." 
 
 The answer is : 
 
 " When born, he found our country 
 Iu chains and slavery ; 
 He labored hard to set her free ; 
 But now he's in the clay." 
 
 The quarrelling toast is : 
 
 " Question. You seem to be getting vexed." 
 " Answer. Not with you, sir." 
 
 The night password is : 
 
 " Question. These nights are fine." 
 
 " Answer. Yes, we shall have a fine harvest." 
 
 The sign is the tip of the forefinger of the right hand to the hole 
 of the right ear ; and the answer is the tip of the forefinger of the 
 left hand to the hole of the left ear. 
 
 These are the " goods " received on Saturday, January 22nd, 
 1876:— 
 
 The password is : 
 
 " Question. Home rule in Ulster is making great progress." 
 
 " Answer. Yes, if every Irishman would support the cause." 
 
 " Question. I wonder if Ireland can gain tenant right ?" 
 
 " Answer. Yes, if supported by the Irish members." 
 
 The night password is : 
 
 " Question. Moonlight is pleasant." 
 " Answer. Yes ; so is freedom." 
 
 The quarrelling toast is : 
 
 " Question. Be calm, sir." 
 
 "Answer. I am never too boisterous." 
 
 The division master's toast is : 
 " Here's to every Irishman that crossed the Atlantic wave ; 
 That they may return with heart and hand their native land to save." 
 
 I find I have omitted the sign also in that report. 
 
 There is a toast there called the quarrelling toast ; what was the 
 province of that toast ? Well, if two members should meet in a 
 bar-room who were not acquainted with each other, and were going 
 
 i 
 
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92 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's EVIDENCE. 
 
 to fight, which was a very common thing, if one of them would 
 give a portion of this quarrelling toast, the other would certainly 
 see who he Was right away, and, of course, if he struck him after 
 that, he was liable to be tried by the society, and very likely dis- 
 missed. 
 
 "What was the province of the body-master's toast ? If a body- 
 master should leave this county, and probably leave this State, on a 
 pleasure trip or any kind of business, and meet another body-master, 
 he could tell plainly who he was through his toast, so that he 
 could not forge anything on him. The members, as a general 
 thing, did not get that toast ; they sometimes got it at the latter end 
 of the quarter, but they did not get it at first ; at least I have 
 never seen it as far as I have been connected with it. 
 
 Could the members of one division join any other division in the 
 same county ? Yes ; providing they were in good standing, and 
 brought a card of recommendation. 
 
 How was that done ? What evidence did they have to give that 
 they were in good standing ? Why, the division master or his 
 secretary would fill a card stating that he was a member in good 
 standing and all that sort of thing, and that would be sufficient to 
 gain him membership in any other division in the same county. 
 
 How was it if he went out of the county ? Then this card had 
 to go to the county delegate and receive what was called a private 
 mark. Then, upon going to another county, he would present this 
 card either to a county delegate or to a division master, and the 
 division master, if it was to the division master the card was pre- 
 sented, would take the card and send it to the county delegate to 
 ascertain if this private mark was on it, as it was something that 
 the division masters as a general rule did not know anything about ; 
 if it was, of course the member was admitted. 
 
 Was there any provision for a member to go from one State to 
 another '? The provision was to take his travelling card with him. 
 
 Would it have to be marked by the State officers, or would the 
 county delegate's mark be sufficient ? The county delegate's mark 
 would be sufficient as far as I have seen. 
 
 What was the practice of this organization in reference to com- 
 mitting crimes ? It was a general practice to commit crimes. 
 
 How was it done ? Generally when there was an outrage to he 
 committed, in the district where it was going to be committed the 
 division master of that district would either apply to another 
 division or to the county delegate to get men who were unknown 
 to the parties upon whom the outrage was to be perpetrated. 
 These men would come and commit this outrage, and he would 
 give a guarantee that if they wanted a like favour in their locality 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's EVIDENCE. 93 
 
 he would send the men. The men generally selected for that pur- 
 pose were strangers. 
 
 What penalty was imposed on memhers who would refuse to join 
 in the commission of these outrages or crimes ? The penalty, as a 
 general thing, was expulsion. I heard the county delegate one 
 time instruct the division master of the division I belonged to. 
 
 "Who was the county delegate ? John Kehoe. 
 
 I heard him instruct Frank McAndrew upon the 24 th of June 
 last that, if he wanted his men to do any job and they refused, to 
 expel them immediately. 
 
 That was upon the 24th of June, of what year ? 1875. 
 
 What was the practice of this organization as to assisting mem- 
 bers that might be arrested for crime ? The practice was to raise 
 money first to obtain counsel, and secondly to try and get as many 
 witnesses as possible to prove an alibi. 
 
 Was there any penalty imposed upon persons who would refuse 
 to aid in these matters ? The penalty, as a general thing, was 
 expulsion ; in fact I have never known any to refuse. 
 
 In what manner would these divisions determine on the commis- 
 sion of crime ; would it be in meetings of the organization ? They 
 would have a meeting ; sometimes all the members would not be 
 present. 
 
 Sometimes all the members would be present, and at other times 
 they would not all be present ? Tes, sir. 
 
 State whether any of these defendants belonged to the Ancient 
 Order of Hibernians ; the Order that you joined ? Tes, sir ; they 
 all did. 
 
 Were any of these defendants present at that meeting besides 
 Eehoe ? James Eoarity. 
 
 Any of the others ? Michael O'Brien was there ; Frank McHugh 
 was there. 
 
 Was Donnelly there ? Christopher Donnelly was there. 
 
 States various county meetings attended by himself, at which all the 
 defendants or some of them were present. States also their residences. 
 
 At all these meetings that you have named were you present as 
 a member ? Tes, sir ; I was present as a member. 
 
 What position did you occupy in the order that entitled you to 
 be present at county meetings ? I was secretary of the Shenan- 
 doah division. 
 
 Tou said you attended a county meeting or convention in Maha- 
 noy City on the 1st of June, 1875, at the house of Michael Clark ? 
 Tes, sir. 
 
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94 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's EVIDENCE. 
 
 Did you have any notice of that meeting from any of these de- 
 fendants prior to the time of the meeting being held ? Yes, sir. 
 
 From whom did you hear that the meeting was to he held ? Tell 
 us all about it. From John Kehoe ; upon Wednesday, the 26th of 
 May, 1875, I believe, I went to Girardville, and I there saw John 
 Kehoe. 
 
 Did you stop at Kehoe's ? Yes, sir ; I stopped at Kehoe's. 
 
 He kept a tavern there, did he not ? Yes, sir ; he kept a saloon. 
 
 You stopped with him there ? Yes, sir. He told me he had 
 been to Mahanoy City some time previous — a few days, I guess — 
 prior to this time, and that things were in a bad state ; that the 
 Modoos were raising the mischief, and that he calculated to call a 
 meeting of the Ancient Order of Molly Maguires of the county, to 
 arm themselves and go to Mahanoy City and challenge them out to 
 fight, and shoot them down in the daytime; but upon considering 
 the matter, he said that he thought he would not undertake that 
 plan ; that he had sent Thomas Donohue to Locust Gap to tell 
 Dennis F. Canning to meet him in Mahanoy City on Tuesday, the 
 1st of June. 
 
 You say this was on the 26th of M'ay that Kehoe told you that 
 Donohue had returned and told him that Canning was not at home ? 
 Yes, sir ; I left Girardville that evening and went to Shenandoah, 
 and upon the following Friday, I believe, the 28th of May, I went 
 over to Mahanoy City, and I saw Michael O'Brien there. 
 
 One of these defendants ? Yes, Sir ; Michael O'Brien told me 
 that he had been talking to Kehoe : that he wanted a meeting 
 called ; that he wanted some steps taken to do away with the 
 Modocs. He stated what he wanted was to get about six good 
 men, armed with navy revolvers, and he would send a man around 
 with them who would point out to the strangers whom he wanted 
 shot ; they could do it all in one night, and he did not see any 
 difficulty in their getting away. I returned back to Shenandoah 
 the same afternoon. 
 
 Did you return to Shenandoah on the 31st ? Yes, sir ; and 
 on Tuesday, the 1st of June, I went to Mahanoy City. 
 
 What time did you leave Shenandoah that morning ? The train 
 leaves, I believe, somewhere about 9 o'clock. I went on the 
 Lehigh Valley. 
 
 Did any one go with you from Shenandoah to the meeting ? Wo 
 person but myself. When I arrived at Mahanoy City I met Kehoe 
 and Donohue. 
 
 This defendant here, John Donohue ? Yes, sir ; John Kehoe 
 John Donohue, Dennis F. Canning, Christopher Donnelly, James 
 Eoarity, Mike O'Brien, Frank McHugh, and some more. 
 
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EXTRACTS FEOM MCPAKLAn's EVIDENCE. 95 
 
 Where was it that you first saw these men, or any of them ? I 
 first met them on the main street of Mahanoy City, a little east of 
 the dead line, I should judge. 
 
 About what time in the day was it when you went into Clark's ? 
 I should judge it might be about half-past ten o'clock by the time 
 I got in the room ; it might be a little more. 
 
 And you say the men that went in the front room with you were 
 Jack Kehoe, John Donohue, Dennis F. Canning, Christopher Don- 
 nelly, James Eoarity, Mike O'Brien, and Frank McHugh ? Yes, 
 sir ; there was still another man who came in, but he is not here. 
 
 Tell us whether this was a county convention of the Molly 
 Maguires or whether it was what you have described to us as a 
 meeting of the county committee ? It was what was called a 
 county meeting ? 
 
 The men were selected by the county delegate ? By the county 
 delegate. 
 
 And he appointed the meeting ? Yes, sir. 
 
 What took place after you went into that room in Clark's ? Tell 
 us all that was said and done ? When I got in the room "Kehoe 
 was President, and kind of opened the meeting, telling them he 
 supposed they knew the object they had been called there together 
 for, and I believe gave a description that the Modocs had tried to 
 shoot Dan Dougherty and commit other crimes of that kind. Then 
 Christopher Donnelly objected to Frank McHugh ; he asked what 
 brought him there. Michael O'Brien said that he was his secretary 
 and he wanted him in there; so. Francis McHugh stayed. Chris- 
 topher Donnelly then made a motion that the convention should 
 procure some stationery, that v is some pens, ink and paper, and for 
 Frank McHugh to write down the minutes, or what purported to 
 be the minutes of the meeting, so that if any trouble should arise 
 from the convention, they could produce those minutes to show 
 that they had met there on legal society business. This paper was 
 got. 
 
 Do you recollect who went for the paper, whether it was 
 McHugh or not ? Well, I do not recollect exactly. 
 
 You recollect that some one went and got the paper ? I recol- 
 lect that the paper was got ; I saw the paper on the table, but I 
 do not recollect exactly who went for it. Then it was moved that 
 Daniel Dougherty be sent for. 
 
 Who was this Daniel Dougherty that they were to send for? 
 He was a man that had been arrested and charged with the shoot- 
 ing of George Major, I believe, of Mahanoy City. 
 
 State whether or not he was a member of this Order of Molly 
 Maguires. Yes, sir ; he was a member of the Order. Dougherty 
 
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96 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAn's EVIDENCE. 
 
 was fetched into the room. There were two who went out after 
 him. I forget now who they were. They got him in his hoarding- 
 house. He showed us one or two bullet-holes in his coat, some- 
 where up by the shoulder, and stated that he believed that Jesse 
 Major was the man that shot him, and he had come to the conclu- 
 sion that the probabilities were that the Majors were going to kill 
 him anyhow, and he thought that if the Majors and Bully Bill 
 were put out of the way he would have peace. He was told to 
 retire, and he did so. 
 
 "Were the names of the Majors mentioned ? Tes, sir. 
 
 What were they ? "William and Jesse Major. 
 
 He was then told to retire ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Go on and tell what happened ? After he had retired Christopher 
 Donnelly stated that he would furnish two men and go himself to 
 shoot the two Majors. John Donohue stated that the Majors in 
 company with another man, whose name I believe was Ferral, were 
 at that time taking coal out of a drift, or doing something in that 
 way about Buck Vein, at Tuscarora, and it would be very easy to 
 get them ; but he wanted Donnelly not to make a move until he 
 would send a man to Pottsville on the following Sunday to meet 
 Donnelly, and to tell them how they should act in the matter. 
 Moreover he (Donohue) stated that he and Donnelly would take 
 care of their side of the mountain, if we — referring to O'Brien, 
 Roarity and myself — would take care of ours. Donnelly stated 
 the same. Kehoe then turned round and stated that it now de- 
 volved on O'Brien, Boarity and myself, how we would dispose 
 of "WilUam M. Thomas, or "Bully Bill," he advocating that the 
 best plan was to get a couple of men, well armed, and go right up 
 to him in the street and shoot him down in daylight, or any time 
 they should see him. 
 
 Kehoe did that ? Tes, sir. 
 
 At what place ? At Mahanoy City. O'Brien objected to that 
 mode of doing the business, and stated that what he would like in 
 that case was to get a couple of men — I believe he named them — 
 or some men, I could not exactly tell, get them a boarding-house, 
 have their board paid out of the county funds, -and for them to lay 
 wait upon the road. I believe he stated the railroad between 
 Mahanoy City and Shoemaker's Patch, where they should lay wait 
 on the road, this patch being the place where Thomas lived. 
 
 That was O'Brien's plan ? Yes, sir ; to lay wait and watch 
 for him, and shoot him, either when he was in the act of going to 
 Mahanoy City, or in the act of going home. Canning said he 
 thought that was the best plan ; hence it was agreed that that plan 
 should be taken. 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's EVIDENCE. 97 
 
 You said that the recommendation was that these men should be 
 paid out of the county funds ? The county funds. 
 
 Do you mean the county treasury ? "Well the county treasury, 
 of course, of the organization ; I do not mean the treasury of Schuyl- 
 kill County. 
 
 They had a county fund in this order of Molly Maguires, had 
 they ? They seemed to have from their conversation. 
 
 ' Go on with your story ? Canning stated that he considered that 
 was the best plan ; and the plan was agreed upon, or something in 
 that way. Canning then asked the president, or the society at 
 large through those who were present, if they wanted any men 
 from him, to which Donnelly replied that they did not, and said 
 that the job was but a light one, and they could do it themselves. 
 Kehoe said he did not see any necessity for getting men of Canning. 
 Kehoe then instructed me to notify the members of the division to 
 which I belonged (Shenandoah), to hold a meeting and see what 
 they were going to do ; he also instructed Roarity to do the same, 
 telling him not to do anything until he received word whether it 
 could be done without him or not. The meeting then adjourned 
 and we had dinner ; of course there was some talk, but not in 
 respect of the Major or Thomas affair. 
 
 You stated - that this was all that was said at the meeting in 
 reference to these conspiracies ? There is one thing that I remem- 
 ber just now. After Kehoe had given myself and Roarity instruc- 
 tions with respect to notifying our respective divisions what was 
 wanted — to notify them of the proceedings of the meeting — it was 
 moved by himself that he should send for a man named McDonald, 
 alias "the hairy man," who lived, I understood him to say, some- 
 where around Pottsville. 
 
 What was he to send for him for ? To send for him and to put 
 him on the track of those men ; Kehoe claimed he was a good man 
 on a clean job. 
 
 State whether the term " clean job " was one in use in the society 
 and among the members ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Tell us whether it had an understood meaning among the mem- 
 bers of this organization ? Yes, sir ; it had. 
 
 Tell us what that meaning was ? It signified the shooting of a 
 man, or the beating of him well, or the burning down of a place, 
 or any other outrage. If a man was sent to do a job of that kind 
 and done it according to his instructions, that was a clean job in 
 every sense of the word. 
 
 Was it a clean job if he was caught in the act, or if he got away 
 without being caught ? If he got away without being caught it 
 was a cleaner job. 
 
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98 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's EVIDENCE. 
 
 You have stated this was all that was said in reference to the 
 shooting of those men ; can you give us any other part of the con- 
 versation in the meeting at Clark's that you recollect ? Yes, sir ; 
 Donnelly informed me that they had a boss down at Beechwood 
 Colliery. 
 
 Can you give us a little more fully than you have the language 
 which Kehoe used when he referred to- the object and the purpose 
 of the meeting. Well, he stated tha't these Modocs done just as 
 they pleased, and it did not seem as if an Irishman could get any 
 law in Mahanoy City ; that he would have to take the thing in 
 hand and clear them out. 
 
 What were the instructions that you received from Kehoe at the 
 close of that meeting ? I was instructed to notify the members of 
 my division. 
 
 That was the Shenandoah division ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Did you notify the members of that division ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Whom did you notify ? I notified Edward Monaghan, John 
 Gibbons — 
 
 This defendant ? Yes, sir ; Thomas Hurley. 
 
 Did you notify any one else that you know of or recollect at this 
 time ? I did not notify others, but those I notified did. 
 
 State whether the parties you have named, Monaghan and 
 Thomas Hurley, were members of this Order ? Yes, sir. 
 
 State whether in pursuance of the notice you had been directed 
 to give, and did give, there was a meeting of the Shenandoah 
 branch ? Yes, sir ; there was a meeting. 
 
 Where did it meet ? In the bush at Eingtown Mountain, north 
 of Shenandoah. 
 
 Korth of Shenandoah, on the side of the mountain ? On the side 
 of the mountain, near the Merchants' Hotel. 
 
 On what day ? I believe it was on the 4th of June. 
 
 What time of the day ? Well it was in the evening, I should 
 judge about 9 o'clock ; probably after 9 ; it was dark. 
 
 Tell us as clearly as you can how many persons attended that 
 meeting ? Well, there was Edward Monaghan, Thomas Munley — 
 
 Where did he live ? Gilberton. 
 
 Did he belong to the Shenandoah .branch ? Yes, sir ; Michael 
 Darcy — 
 
 Where did he live ? Gilberton. 
 
 Did he also belong to that branch ? Yes, sir ; a fellow named 
 Patrick Garvey — 
 
 Was he a member of the Order ? Yes, sir ; Michael Doyle was 
 there — 
 
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EXTRACTS FKOM MCFARLAn's EVIDENCE. 99 
 
 Where did he live ? Shenandoah ; Gibbons was there, and at 
 the close of the meeting Hurley came. 
 
 That is this John Gibbons here ? Yes, sir. 
 
 "Were there any others whom you have not named ? None that 
 I remember just now. 
 
 Do you say there were others, but you do not remember them 
 just now ? I do not remember any others ; I do not know but 
 that I have named them all. 
 
 Tell us what took place at this meeting ? "Well, they all seemed 
 to know the object of the meeting. Garvey remarked, " I suppose 
 you all know the object of the meeting ? " 
 
 That was Patrick Garvey ? Yes, sir ; they all said they did, 
 and it was there determined that Gibbons, Doyle, Hurley and 
 myself should go to Mahanoy City. 
 
 For what purpose ? To shoot "William M. Thomas. 
 
 "Were your men volunteers or were you selected by the meeting 
 to go? Well, the men kind of volunteered, saying they wanted 
 me with them, and the meeting was satisfied with those selected ? 
 
 And you were selected to go with them ? Yes, sir. 
 
 The other three men, Hurley, Gibbons and Morris, volunteered 
 to go ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Did you go to Mahanoy City with these men ? Yes, sir. 
 
 You named Morris ? Morris was not there. 
 
 "Who was it that was to go ? Gibbons, Doyle, Hurley and 
 myself. 
 
 Did you four go ? "We went on Saturday ; I believe it was the 
 5th of June, the day after the meeting in the bush. 
 
 "What time did you leave Shenandoah on the 5th of June ? I 
 should judge it was half-past four, probably it was five o'clock in 
 the afternoon. 
 
 Where did you go when you arrived at Mahanoy City ? We 
 went to Michael Clark's. 
 
 The place at which the meeting was held ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Go on and tell anything that occurred between you and these 
 men, or between yourself and Michael O'Brien? On arriving 
 at Mahanoy City I had my plans of action prepared. When I got 
 to Clark's I met Frank McHugh, and a little after that Michael 
 O'Brien came in. 1 took O'Brien out of the house, walked to a 
 cross street, and told him that I thought it would be a foolish 
 thing to attempt to shoot Thomas. I told him that the military 
 were patrolling the streets and around the breakers and railroads, 
 and no doubt if we attempted to shoot Thomas we should all be 
 captured, and being a venturesome idea we had better not do it, 
 
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100 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN S EVIDENCE. 
 
 O'Brien came to the same conclusion, and we returned to Clark's 
 and told the men they had better go home, as we did not see that 
 anything could be done. 
 
 Give in detail the whole conversation that took place with 
 O'Brien, and what reasons were given for putting it off to another 
 time ? He went in and gave the reasons after I had given them 
 to him. 
 
 Tell us first what your argument was with him ? My argument 
 was that if we went to shoot Thomas we should surely be arrested, 
 that the military, from the time of the riot that had occurred but a 
 few days previous, were stationed at Mahanoy City, and were 
 patrolling the railroads and guarding all the breakers, that if we 
 shot Thomas and made any noise we were sure to be captured, and 
 that one of our lives was worth a hundred such as Thomas's ; with 
 this O'Brien agreed. Then we returned to Clark's, went into the 
 little room at the back of the bar, and O'Brien told the men that 
 it would be an utter impossibility to do anything at present, that 
 they had better go home, and that when there was a favourable 
 chance he would notify them. 
 
 What time was it that you started to return from Mahanoy 
 City? I should judge it was half-past nine in the evening; it 
 was very dark and wet, as it had rained very heavy that afternoon. 
 "When we came to the little colliery known as the Foundry Colliery, 
 west of Mahanoy City, we crossed over the mountain and there we 
 were stopped by a policeman (a watchman). 
 
 Do you know the name of the colliery now ? It is called the 
 Foundry Colliery ; I do not recollect the other name, but I know 
 it had one. 
 
 You were stopped by a watchman ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Did you know his name ? I did not, nor was I near enough to 
 see his face. He halloed out to us "halt." 
 
 "Who were present with you at that time ? John Gibbons, 
 Michael Doyle and Thomas Hurley. 
 
 This Gibbons who is here in court now ? Yes, sir. 
 
 State whether you met any other person on the road home ; 
 after you had halted did you proceed on your way ? Yes, sir ; we 
 proceeded on our road along the mountain path, and caught up 
 another man, who seemed to be going to Mahanoy ; I believe he 
 had a little paper in his hand. "We got talking with him as we 
 walked along, and he seemed to be afraid. 1 told him he need not 
 fear anything, it being very dark. When we came to Lanigan's 
 Patch we did not care for going round by the breaker as there was 
 watchmen there, so we thought we would make our way round 
 the rock bank, but we got into the swamp, where the five of us 
 stuck fast and could not get Qut for nearly an hour. The man, 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAn's EVIDENCE. 101 
 
 who was perfectly sober and lived in the neighbourhood of Lanigan's 
 Patch, had lost the path. How he did so I cannot say, but he did 
 so and lost us too, as he told us to follow him. In the end we got 
 out of Lanigan's Patch pretty well satisfied. We tore our boots 
 off ; at least I tore mine anyhow. 
 
 What time was it when you got home to Shenandoah that night ? 
 I judge it was getting on for eleven o'clock. 
 
 State if you know what was the next step taken in relation to 
 any of these defendants to kill William M. Thomas? Upon the 
 10th of June I saw Hurley and Doyle ; they were then going to 
 Mahanoy. 
 
 Tell us the conversation of the 10th of June between yourself 
 and Gibbons, Hurley and Doyle being present ? They stated they 
 were going to Mahanoy City, and would look out for Thomas. 
 They asked me if I would go, and I said I did not feel like going, 
 so they went alone, at least they started in that direction. 
 
 States various conversations held in his presence between Hurley, 
 Gibbons and others respecting the intended murder of Thomas. States 
 also that, when he was unwell at Shenandoah, Hurley, Gibbons, Morris 
 and Boyle, on June 27th, left that place for Mahanoy, in order, as 
 they told him, to kill Thomas. 
 
 When did you next see any of these men ? Upon the 28th of 
 June, I should judge about half-past seven o'clock a.m. 
 
 Where were you when you saw Doyle ? I was in my boarding- 
 house, in my bedroom. I was writing my report out when I saw 
 him coming in at the rear door, and I put my report up and locked 
 it in my valise, and waited until he came into the bedroom. 
 
 Did you go anywhere with Doyle ? I went to the Eingtown 
 Mountain with him. 
 
 When you got to Eingtown Mountain did you meet any one ? 
 I met John Morris. 
 
 The prisoner here ? Yes, sir, and John Gibbons. 
 
 The prisoner ? Tes, sir, and Thomas Hurley. 
 
 Doyle had gone up with you ? Doyle came with me. . 
 
 If any conversation took place there between any of these parties 
 with reference to the shooting of William M. Thomas, tell us what 
 was said ? The first that spoke when I got there was Hurley. 
 He gave me a detail of what occurred. He stated that when they 
 went to Mahanoy City — 
 
 Tell us what was said and who were present ? Gibbons and 
 Morris were present. 
 
 Go on and give us the full details of this conversation ? He 
 said that on the night previous, Sunday evening, they went to 
 Michael O'Brien's, and Michael O'Brien took them to a boarding- 
 
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102 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN*S CROSS-EXAMINATION. 
 
 house kept by a lady named Costello, and he gave them a bottle of 
 whisky ; that they stopped in Costello' s until about daylight, and 
 then proceeded to Shoemaker's Patch, where Thomas lived. Thomas 
 came out of his house about half-past six in the morning ; he came 
 over to the colliery stable and was engaged there in talking to the 
 stable boss and some teamsters, and Hurley went up, entered the 
 door, and shot him. 
 
 Shot whom ? Thomas. 
 
 "Where was Thomas at that time ? In the colliery ; in the stable 
 doorway. Hurley stated that Thomas threw his hat into his 
 (Hurley's) face, when he fired again. Gibbons stated that he went 
 right up to the door then and fired a few shots, and Thomas fell in 
 among the horses. They made sure Thomas was dead, and they 
 didn't know but that they had shot one or two horses. 
 
 Morris said that he fired one or two shots ? He said that he 
 did so. 
 
 Doyle had fired one or two shots outside ? So Doyle said ; that 
 was all he done. 
 
 The remainder of the examination relates to the same subject of 
 Thomas, but contains nothing of further importance. 
 
 caoss-EXAMrrrED. 
 
 Is James McParlan your full baptismal name ? That is my 
 name. 
 
 Except for purposes of detection or for purposes of deception you 
 go under no other name ? I go under no other name. 
 
 Tou were born in Ireland ? Yes, sir ; I was born in Ireland. 
 
 What year ? "Well, it was about 1844, I believe. 
 
 Fix the date as near as you can ? 1844 I think ; I am thirty- 
 two years of age, or something about that. 
 
 In what part of Ireland were you born ? I was born in the 
 province of Ulster. 
 
 "What county ? The county of Armagh. \ i 
 
 The cross-examination pursues McParlan' s movements from Armagh^ 
 to Chicago minutely^ for nearly five pages, either for the chance of 
 finding some flaw in his conduct, or some self-contradiction ; or else 
 to expose him as an idle tramp not able or willing to settle down to 
 honest work. It fails for each purpose, only showing that he had not 
 found work suited to his active powers and tastes, till he reached) 
 Chicago. 
 
 You say you became a detective in 1872 ; what was your occu- 
 pation prior to that ? I said I became engaged with the National 
 Detective Agency in 1872, but in 1868 I became a detective for 
 another firm, W. S. Baubien and Co. 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAn's CROSS-EXAMINATION. 103 
 
 What was that for ? Do you mean what was the reason why I 
 became a detective ? 
 
 No ; what was the business ? The business was for the detection 
 of crime as far as I could see. 
 
 "Who was the head of that ? W. S. Baubien ; he was a French- 
 man. 
 
 How'long where you with him ? Pretty nearly two years. 
 
 Did you remain in Chicago at that time ? A portion of the 
 time ; except when my business called me out. 
 
 Did you remain any time out of Chicago ? I always went out 
 when business called me out. 
 
 Where did you go when you went out on business ? Sometimes 
 . I went to the southern part of Illinois ; sometimes to Ohio. 
 
 Tou were a detective then for two years prior to your connection 
 with the Pinkerton Agency ? Tes, sir ; I had been there nearly 
 two years. Sometimes I travelled a beat for this man Baubien ; 
 he had a preventive police force. 
 
 How long had you been engaged with the Pinkerton Agency 
 before you came to Schuylkill County '? I became engaged with 
 the Pinkerton Agency early in the spring of 1872, and I came to 
 Schuylkill County in October, 1873. 
 
 Had you been employed outside of the City of Chicago by Pink- 
 erton ? Well, I was generally in the city of Chicago. 
 
 I say had you been employed outside the city of Chicago prior 
 to your coming to Schuylkill County by Pinkerton ? No. 
 
 Who came with you into Schuylkill County when you first came 
 here ? No one came with me ; there were several parties riding in 
 the cars, but I did not know any of them ■; I came alone. 
 
 Tou had no person accompanying you ? No, sir ; I took care of 
 myself. 
 
 Where did you start from when you came direct to Schuylkill ? 
 I started from Philadelphia and came direct to Schuylkill. 
 
 How long had you been in Philadelphia before you came up 
 here? A few days ; four or five days, perhaps. 
 
 Had you seen Franklin before you met him in Philadelphia ? 
 Oh, no. 
 
 Had you anybody with you while you were in Chicago prior to 
 coming on this mission ? No, sir ; I was always able to carry 
 myself around. 
 
 Tou introduced yourself to Mr. Franklin ? I carried a letter of 
 introduction from Mr. Pinkerton. 
 
 ' Did Mr. Franklin tell you where to go when you came into 
 Schuylkill County ? Tes, sir ; he gave me a list of towns I was 
 to visit. 
 
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104 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAn's CROSS-EXAMINATION. 
 
 Did he direct you to visit Port Clinton ? Yes, sir. 
 
 And Auburn ? Tes, sir. 
 
 And Pinegrove, and all the places you have mentioned ? Well, 
 all of them except one. 
 
 "What was that? That was Shenandoah; I took the responsi- 
 bility upon myself of going there. 
 
 When did Captain Linden come to Schuylkill County ? In April, 
 1875. 
 
 Tou were aware of his coming, were you ? I was aware of his 
 coming. 
 
 Was that the first time you had met Captain Linden? No, sir ; 
 I had met Captain Linden in 1872, while in connection with the 
 Pinkerton Agency, and I had seen him often previous to that. 
 
 Tou had known Captain Linden, then, prior to your connection 
 with the Pinkerton Agency ? Tes, sir ; I had no personal ac- 
 quaintance with him, but I knew him by his appearance and knew 
 his business. 
 
 Had you seen him in Chicago before ? Tes, sir ; I had seen him 
 in Chicago often. 
 
 He lived there, did he not ? Tes, sir ; he lived there. 
 
 What was his business there ? I understood him to be assistant 
 superintendent of the Chicago office, and he holds that position to- 
 day. 
 
 Tou knew him very well, then, when he came to Shenandoah ? 
 Tes, sir ; I knew him very well. 
 
 And you say you were instructed to report to him verbally ? 
 Well, I };ot instructions in April, 1875, to report to him verbally, 
 or in writing, if I considered it safe ; to report to him any way 
 that I could under emergency. 
 
 Tou told us in this case, and in other cases, that you were in- 
 structed to report to him verbally, as I understand it ? If I said 
 so, I should have added in writing, or the best way I could. 
 
 Did you ever report to him in writing ? Sometimes I wrote to 
 him when I knew where he was. 
 
 He came here in April, 1875 ? Tes, sir. 
 
 Did he remain there from that time until March, the time you 
 left ? Well, he remained there ; but of course he made occasional 
 visits to Philadelphia and other places. 
 
 Was not he here most of the time ? No, sir ; not most of the 
 time. It was a difficult matter to find his headquarters. It is 
 something I do not know yet. Although I know him well, I do 
 not know where his headquarters are in this county. 
 
 Was he in the town of Shenandoah in the months of April, May 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAn's CROSS-EXAMINATION. 105 
 
 June and July of last year ? He was there in April, and in the 
 months of May, June and July ; and probably every month from 
 then unto this he has been in Shenandoah part of the time. 
 
 Was not he stopping there during the whole, or nearly the 
 whole of these months ? He was not there the whole time you 
 have mentioned, .because I met him outside of there during the 
 time. 
 
 How long after did you meet him outside ? I met him several 
 times outside. 
 
 Was it by appointment that you met him ? I have met him by 
 appointment, and I have accidentally run across him. 
 
 Did you see him when you were in Shenandoah during those 
 months ? Sometimes when he was there I would see him. 
 
 Did you see him frequently ? I saw him every time I had any 
 information to carry him, if possible ; sometimes I met him by 
 accident, which I would always do if I could. 
 
 Did you ever miss him when you wanted him ? Tes, sir, some- 
 times I did. 
 . How often did you miss him? Well I cannot say anything 
 about that ; if I went to see him, and could not find him, I did not 
 know how to do so. 
 
 Did you take any means to find out where he was ? The means 
 I took was to report to the Agency in Philadelphia ; there they 
 knew where Captain Linden was every minute in the day, at least 
 every hour ; whenever he made a movement he always despatched 
 to them. 
 
 Whenever he made a movement he always sent a despatch ? 
 Tes, sir, and wrote too. 
 
 Then you could have found out where Captain Linden was when- 
 ever you wanted ? No ; there was several times I should have 
 liked to have found out where he was but could not. 
 
 Could you not have telegraphed ? ~No ; there were many times 
 when it would not have been safe for me to telegraph, therefore 
 on those occasions I had to do without seeing him. 
 
 How long did you remain in Pottsville before you went over the 
 mountain ? Well, probably ten days or a fortnight, it might be a 
 little more. 
 
 The cross-examination in the next twelve pages is uninteresting and 
 unimportant. .It goes into details as to meetings and visits at various 
 places, probably with the view to entrap the witness into the statement 
 of things which could he contradicted by other witnesses. If so, it 
 turned out to be a failure. 
 
 Tou were bound under your arrangement to come here, and you 
 have stipulated in writing that you were not to be sworn, and that 
 
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106 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's CROSS-EXAMINATION. 
 
 you were not to • become a witness. It was not stipulated in 
 writing ; it was a verbal agreement. 
 
 That stipulation was that you were not to be a' witness on the 
 trial of any of these cases ? Tes, sir. 
 
 What good would it do you to know of these things if you could 
 not swear to them ? We wanted to catch these men right in their 
 tracks ; we could not arrest them for what we knew they were 
 going to do unless they did it, and we wanted to take them right 
 in the act. 
 
 If you were not going to become a witness, how could anybody 
 know that you were meeting in the hush, or that you were a mem- 
 ber of the Molly Maguires and taking part in a Molly Maguire 
 meeting, unless somebody was quietly looking on to ' see these 
 things ? "Well, I could not tell about that, for I did not always 
 know what time we were going to do anything. 
 
 Linden was not in Mahanoy City that day, was he ? Not that 
 I know of. 
 
 Was there any other detective there to your knowledge ? Not 
 to my knowledge. I could not tell how many detectives our 
 agency would send out there. 
 
 Were not O'Brien, Powers, and other detectives sent here from 
 your agency ? Those men were not detectives. 
 
 Were they not policemen ? They might have been ; I was not 
 acquainted with them, but I could swear positively they were not 
 detectives.' 
 
 Tou say you did not know O'Brien ; did you not see him in 
 Chicago ? I have seen him in Chicago since. 
 
 Did he not come from there to this county ? At that time I do 
 not know where he came from, but I have seen him since and he is 
 no detective. 
 
 Do you not know that he was employed by the Pinkerton 
 Agency before you came here ? No, sir ; not officially. .1 have 
 seen him working for the Pinkerton Agency since in Chicago. 
 
 Captain Linden did not tell you that he was in the employ of 
 the Pinkerton Agency ? Not before I left Chicago. 
 
 Did he tell you so after you left Chicago ? Since I left here I 
 heard that O'Brien was employed by the Pinkerton Agency. 
 
 Did you not know, on the 1st of June, that O'Brien, Powers, 
 and three or four others were working under the direction of 
 Captain Linden, and were subject to his orders as one of the officers 
 of your agency ? I did not know that the man O'Brien or the man 
 Powers, or the several others that you ha\e spoken of, were. 
 
 Did you not hear that they were in the employ of the Pinkerton 
 Agency ? What I heard was what Captain Linden told me — that 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAn's CROSS-EXAMINATION. 107 
 
 he had some half, a dozen men at his command, and that he could 
 get all the men of the Coal and Iron Police whenever he wanted 
 them. 
 
 Did he not tell you that O'Brien and Powers belonged to the 
 Pinkerton Agency ? He told me that he had five or six special 
 men, but I could not know that these particular men were enlisted 
 in his service. 
 
 Then you knew that Captain Linden had all these men in his 
 employ when you met in Mahanoy, and yet not one of them were 
 in that city to identify you or any of these parties as being there 
 that day ? I am very well satisfied that I should not allow myself 
 to be identified by any of these men. I would have left the region 
 the next day if I had known such a thing ; that was in direct 
 violation of my contract, to make myself known to five or six 
 policemen. 
 
 You communicated to Franklin ? That was my contract. 
 
 Franklin communicated to Linden ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Would it be violation of your contract if there had been 
 somebody to have identified these parties in Mahanoy City that 
 day ? I could not tell you about that ; you may find out by and 
 by, before we are through the trial, if there was anyone there ; I 
 am not supposed to know all these things. 
 
 You do not know whether there were or not ? I do not ; I guess 
 you will find out as you progress with the trial. 
 
 Then you did not know there was to be anyone in Mahanoy City 
 that day. to recognize these parties? I did not know anything 
 about it. 
 
 If there was, it was a violation of your arrangement with them ? 
 Well, that could easily be done without being a violation ; it could 
 be managed without being a violation of my arrangement. 
 
 You told us before it would be a violation of your arrangement 
 for those parties to be identified in Mahanoy City ? You wanted 
 me to communicate direct with those men by your question. 
 
 Mr. Gowen : The witness did not say anything of the kind. He 
 said it would be a violation of his instructions to be identified by 
 five or six policemen. 
 
 Witness : With the leave of the court I would like to explain 
 this thing. 
 
 Judge Walker : You may explain it. 
 
 Witness : For me to have communicated with those men in 
 respect to their recognizing me would be a direct violation of my 
 arrangement, and I should not have entrusted myself with those 
 men ; nevertheless these men who were employed by Mr. Pinkerton 
 under the direction of Captain Linden, might have been placed in 
 
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108 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAn's CROSS-EXAMINATION. 
 
 some position where I would have been identified by tbe character 
 I assumed — as being a notorious Molly Maguire — but not as a de- 
 tective. They were not allowed to know this fact, or I should 
 have left the region. I think Mr. Linden will bear out my asser- 
 tions that some of them reported me as being a man of that Order. 
 
 You could not have been in a position to be identified as a detec- 
 tive in any possible way during your operations in this county ? 
 No, sir. 
 
 Do you not know that you were known as a detective in this 
 county ? I know I was found out. 
 
 Outside of the Pinkerton Agency and outside of the railroad 
 authorities who employed you ? No, sir ; I did not know that. 
 
 Do you not know that there were men in Tamaqua who knew 
 you ? ' No, I did not know that. 
 
 The next ten pages of cross-examination are without interest or im- 
 
 Tou were admitted into the Order in April, 1874 ? 1874. 
 
 And by Mr. Lawlor ? Tes, sir. 
 
 Who was present besides you and Lawlor ? There was Thomas 
 Hurley, Thomas McNulty, Peter Monaghan, and Edward Ferguson ; 
 I believe that was all. 
 
 At that time Hurley was a mers boy ? He was a very strong 
 boy. 
 
 I did not ask you that question ; was he twenty or over twenty ? 
 I am sure I do not know the man's age. 
 
 From his appearance, what was it ? I should take him to be 
 twenty. 
 
 Did they take any minutes of your initiation ? No. 
 
 There was no pen or ink there at all ? I did not see any. 
 
 "Was there no writing of any kind done ? No. 
 
 Lawlor initiated you ; put you through the form of initiation ? 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 Were you on your knees at the time ? I was on my knees at 
 the time. 
 
 Did you have a Bible ? There was no Bible. 
 
 He repeated the obligation to you, did he ? Yes, sir. 
 
 From memory ? No ; from a slip of paper. 
 
 Was the obligation in writing or in print ? It was in print. 
 
 Can you repeat that obligation ? No ? I cannot. 
 
 Have you heard the same obligation administered since then td 
 others ? Yes, sir. 
 
 And administered it yourself ? Yes, sir. 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's CROSS-EXAMINATION. 109 
 
 And you cannot repeat it ? No ; not verbatim. 
 
 How often since your initiation into the Order have you heard 
 that obligation administered ? That is a question I cannot answer. 
 
 How often have you administered the obligation ? T can hardly 
 tell that. 
 
 Have you fifty times ? No ; I think not. 
 
 Have you twenty times ? Probably I have. 
 
 Can you tell us some of those whom you initiated ?• Yes ; I 
 recollect some of their names. 
 
 Tell us who they were ? A. man named Lowrey of Turkey Hun, 
 a man named McHugh of Shenandoah, a man named Burns of She- 
 nandoah, a man named. Charles Hayes of Shenandoah, a man named 
 Travers of Shenandoah, Edward Monaghan of Shenandoah, Thomas 
 Hyland of Gilberton, and a number more. With the exception of 
 two I believe these were all men that had formerly been members 
 and were taken back again. Some of them had been expelled for 
 a time. 
 
 "Was that Joseph McHugh whom you initiated ? No, it was 
 James McHugh. 
 
 If a member had been dropped or expelled out of the organization 
 through any means whatever, was he re-instated ? If they were 
 out a year and had been dropped for non-payment of dues, or had 
 been expelled, they were re-instated. That is the general way 
 there, how they do elsewhere I cannot say. 
 
 Have you not undertaken on a previous occasion to repeat the 
 obligation in this court ? Yes, and can repeat a portion of it now ; 
 I said then I could not repeat it all verbatim. 
 
 Can you in substance ? Yes I can give it in substance, not all 
 of it, either, satisfactorily. 
 
 Well, we will be pleased to hear all you know of it ? Yes ; you 
 could have had it long ago if you had asked for it. This obligation 
 or test is read by the secretary or the division master, and is some- 
 thing after this form : The name of the person to be initiated is 
 called out by the president or by the division master. He then 
 says, " I, [repeating the name of the man to be initiated] do declare 
 to keep all things secret, and so forth, belonging to this organization, 
 and if I hear a member ill spoken of, or otherwise abused, to 
 espouse his cause at once, and to notify the said member at the 
 earliest opportunity, and to obey my superior officer in all things 
 lawful, and not otherwise," and so forth. I cannot remember the 
 other part ; it is something to the same effect. 
 
 You obligated yourself first to secrecy, did you not ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Next, obedience to your lawful officers, did you not ? I do not 
 know whether that was the next, or to espouse the member ill 
 spoken of immediately. 
 
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110 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's CROSS-EXAMINATION. 
 
 Did you at all obligate yourself to be obedient to your lawful 
 officers in that organization ? Tes, I was generally obedient. 
 
 Do you obligate yourself to be charitable to your brother mem- 
 bers ? Tes, sir, and to be fraternal. 
 
 Was not all your obligation comprised within these four things, 
 secrecy, obedience, charity and fraternity ? Tes, that certainly 
 comprised the obligations ; but, with the exception of two — to 
 espouse a brother's cause immediately and to secrecy — they were 
 not acted up to. 
 
 I did not ask you that. I beg your pardon, I thought you 
 wanted to know. 
 
 Tes ; we will come to that directly. Did you, at the time you 
 joined this organization, know that you joined the Order of Molly 
 Maguires? I laboured under the impression that I did, and I 
 found out it was a fact. 
 
 Tou were labouring under the impression ? I was very well 
 satisfied of it. 
 
 Did you labour very hard ? Not very hard ; a little, not extra- 
 ordinary. I had not to put myself about much to find that out. 
 
 Tour purpose in Schuylkill County was to find out the Molly 
 Maguires ? It was my purpose to make inquiries about the Molly 
 Maguires, and I determined the best way to do so was to join them 
 myself. 
 
 And to find out their crimes, if possible ? Tes, sir. 
 
 But not to participate in them yourself ? No, sir ; not to parti- 
 cipate in them myself. 
 
 Nor to assist in perpetrating them ? Oh, I would go on the 
 ground sometimes ; it was very necessary that I should. 
 
 Did you indirectly assist in them ? I should presume that the 
 members so understood it. 
 
 I did not ask you your presumption at all. I put you a cate- 
 gorical question ; did you or did you not ? I seemed to ; it was 
 not a fact that I did. 
 
 Did you or did you not ; I want an answer ? Of course I did 
 not, so far as I was concerned ; so far as the members were con- 
 cerned they thought so. 
 
 Then you were not the party that Mr. Kehoe authorized to get 
 men to kill Bully Bill ; were you, or were you not ? Certainly I 
 was the party. 
 
 Did you deem that participation ? No I did not deem it parti- 
 cipation ; I went there for the express purpose of finding out what 
 they were going to do. 
 
 At the time you joined the organization did you receive the 
 " goods " ? I received the " goods " then, 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAn's CROSS-EXAMINATION. Ill 
 
 Prom whom ? From Michael Lawlor. 
 
 And immediately after your initiation ? Immediately after my 
 initiation. 
 
 Did he give you those " goods " from a slip of paper ? Yes, sir. 
 Repeated them to you ? Repeated them to me. 
 
 Do you remember what those were you received on your first 
 initiation ? I read them yesterday ; I have them in court at the 
 present time. 
 
 When did you commit a knowledge of the " goods " to paper ? 
 I committed them upon that evening or the following morning. 
 
 Embodying everything he told you that evening ; embodying 
 the " goods " in your report ? As near as possible. 
 
 Can you tell us, without referring to your report, what the 
 " goods " were that you received from Mr. Lawlor when you were 
 jnitiated in April, 1874 ? I cannot. 
 
 Were you exact in your report of what " goods " you received ? 
 I might not be to an odd word. 
 
 Did you ascertain afterwards, while in the organization, whether 
 or not you were correct or whether you omitted any part of the 
 " goods." No; I might sometimes have omitted an odd word. 
 
 I did not ask you that either. I wish you would answer some- 
 .what responsively. I thought it was the first "goods" you referred 
 to. 
 
 The "goods" you received from Lawlor on your admission into 
 the organization ? No ; I did not find out whether I had omitted 
 any particulars or not. 
 
 Did you take pains to ascertain whether you did or not ? I do 
 not know that I did. 
 
 Do you know now, or have you ascertained since then, that you 
 omitted any portion of the "goods" as given you on that occasion? 
 I do not know ; I did not ascertain ; I believe them to be correct 
 or nearly so. 
 
 Then there might have been some password or something else 
 appertaining to your initiation that you have forgotten on that 
 occasion ? I did not forget in respect to the password. There 
 might be a word omitted, hut the regular programme of " goods " 
 is there, I believe, as far as I got them. 
 
 Did the organization have any special place of meeting in April, 
 1874, in the borough of Shenandoah ? I can hardly tell you ; this 
 much I know, I was initiated in Lawlor' s front room upstairs, and 
 we held our next meeting in the bush at the back of Lawlor's, or 
 near Eingtown Mountain. 
 
 That was on the 4th of June ? Wo ; this was in May, 1874. 
 
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112 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAn's RE-EXAMINATION. 
 
 What time in April were you initiated ; what clay in April, or 
 what night? Tuesday, I believe, the 14th of April. 
 
 Your next meeting was in the bush above Lawlor's ? Yes, right 
 in the rear of Lawlor's house. 
 
 "What time was that ? I think it was about the 10th of May, 
 1874. 
 
 Was the body-master there ? Lawlor was there. 
 
 Lawlor was then body-master ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Who was secretary ? I could see no secretary. 
 
 There was no secretary ? Not that I saw. 
 
 The remainder of the cross-examination, 17 pages, is omitted as 
 unimportant. 
 
 RE-EXAMINATION". 
 
 The first time you met Dennis F. Canning, the county delegate 
 of Northumberland Couuty, he invited you to dinner ? To supper. 
 
 And you took supper with him at his father's house ? Yes, sir. 
 
 How can you account for.it that at the first meeting with a 
 stranger he extended such hospitality to you ? I asked him if he was 
 Canning ; he said he was. He wore a gold badge with A. 0. H. 
 on it. I saw him at the door ; I threw the sign to him, and he 
 returned it. 1 said I was McKenna, of Shenandoah, and he said 
 he had heard of me. 
 
 The badge you refer to was the badge of the Ancient Order of 
 Hibernians ? Yes ; a man might wear it who was not a member 
 of the Order, but from reputation I knew he was the man I wanted 
 to see. 
 
 You threw him the sign ? Yes, sir. 
 
 And you gave him your assumed name ? Yes, sir. 
 
 And that was the only introduction you required to share his 
 hospitality ? Yes ; besides I had written him letters for men who 
 came to Shenandoah that belonged to the Ancient Order of Hiber- 
 nians who wanted their cards, and they had informed me of Canning; 
 and Canning had seen my name signed to some of these letters as 
 secretary of the Shenandoah division. 
 
 You stated in reference to going with the committee to shoot 
 Bully Bill, that you were well aware you could keep it back. Did 
 you mean by that answer that you could prevent the consummation 
 of the attack ? That I could prevent the consummation of the 
 attack at that time ; exactly. 
 
 And I understood you to say that you had so informed Mr. 
 Franklin ? Yes, I had. 
 
 If you knew at the time you were about going to Mahanoy City 
 with the avowed intention, so far as the members of this organiza- 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's RE-EXAMINATION. 113 
 
 tion knew, of participating in an attack upon Thomas, state what 
 Linden was doing around Shenandoah. I know he was stationed 
 at "West Shenandoah colliery, and his men were there. They were 
 working there, and threats had been made not only to destroy the 
 breaker, but the homes of those who were working at that colliery. 
 
 Do you know the fact that this was at the time when the 
 attack was threatened and afterwards made upon the "West Shenan- 
 doah colliery by a large body of armed men ? It was after the time. 
 
 When Linden and his men were engaged with a large force in 
 the protection of that colliery ? Yes, sir ; it would have been 
 impossible for him to have left. 
 
 Tou said that Linden had at his command a number of men that 
 he could control, and that he could also control the Coal and Iron 
 Police ? Yes, sir. 
 
 You also said that at that time you were not to be known as a 
 witness ? Yes, sir. 
 
 State whether you did not know it was understood with the 
 detective agency and Linden and Franklin that these men were to 
 be, if possible, at the point where any outrage was to be committed, 
 for the purpose of arresting the perpetrators in the act ? Yes ; and 
 I have known the fact of that understanding to be carried out ; 
 and I have known Linden and his men to lie out at nights, and I 
 have watched myself several nights. 
 
 State whether, in consequence of information furnished by you of 
 intended outrages, Linden and his band of armed policemen lay out 
 in the woods all night watching for persons, with the purpose of 
 detection and arrest in the act ? Yes, sir ; I have known several 
 instances. 
 
 "Was not that the means whereby evidence was to be obtained of 
 their guilt ? Yes, sir. 
 
 And you, if necessary, were to be arrested with others in the 
 participation ? Yes ; Linden was to take charge of me as being the 
 worst man, and I was to escape. 
 
 Was it not understood that you were, in some manner, to be 
 designated or marked so that if you were to be arrested no 
 bodily harm could come to you, and that you were to escape his 
 clutches, clear the county, and get off ? Yes ; and return in a few 
 days. 
 
 And you were to acquire the greater glory in consequence of 
 your escape from Captain Jack ? Yes ; the papers could come down 
 on him, but we did not care. 
 
 You were asked yesterday whether you did not know you were 
 known as a detective, and you said in February, 1876, j'ou were 
 known. I want to know all you know about that, how you dis- 
 covered it, and what was known in reference to the subject ? After 
 
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114 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAn's RE-EXAMINATION. 
 
 the arrest of Thomas Hunley and McAllister, there was a Habeas 
 corpus hearing here in this court. That -was last February, I 
 suppose ; I am not positive as to the date exactly, without I refer 
 to my reports. I was in Pottsville for a couple or three days, 
 perhaps nearly a week, previous to that, and came up to the court- 
 house upon the morning of that hearing. I met Frank. McAndrew, 
 and he informed me then that certain parties coming down 
 from Frackville were making bets that I was a detective, and 
 that I would go- on the stand at the Habeas corpus hearing. I told 
 him it was not the fact ; and I went and saw some of the parties 
 who were there. I saw Danny Hughes and a few more. Hughes 
 said he knew it was not a fact. On that morning Kehoe did not 
 come himself but sent his wife down into the saloon to bid Dan 
 Hughes to tell every one to beware of me, that I was a detective, 
 and that he had heard it reported so from responsible sources. I 
 got the facts of the case, and returned to Shenandoah the same 
 evening with Frank McAndrew and a great number more of the 
 members of the organization that was down here. On the follow- 
 ing day I went to Girardville and saw John Kehoe and asked him 
 about the reports he had circulated. "Well," he said, "I have 
 heard so, and heard it some time ago." I replied " What I want 
 now is somebody to prove it. I am willing to let the society try 
 me. I will stand a trial, and if I . find out a man that is lying 
 about me 1 will make him suffer for it. Kehoe informed me that 
 he had learned it from a conductor on the Reading Railroad as he 
 was coming between Ashfield and Girardville ; the conductor took 
 him into tbe baggage car and asked him if he had seen me or not, 
 but what he said in reply I forget. Eehoe thereupon said there 
 should be a county convention and I should be tried. I asked him 
 to name the date, time and place of the convention, which he did ; 
 and if I recollect right it was about the 1st or 2nd of March that 
 the convention was to be held in Ferguson's Hall, in Shenandoah. 
 He then got me some paper and pen and ink, stating that he was 
 too nervous to write himself, and asked me if I would just write 
 to each of the division masters of the county, and sign his name. 
 I then went up stairs to a room on the second floor and sat down 
 and wrote to every division master in the county. When Kehoe 
 came up I handed the letters to him to read. He said they were 
 all right, and I sealed them. They were enclosed in stamped 
 envelopes, and he took them with him to mail. 
 
 I believe I stopped that night at Kehoe's, and the following day 
 returned to Pottsville. I reported all this. Patrick Butler, the 
 body-master of Lost Creek, amongst a number of others, told me 
 that he had heard I was a detective, and that some men told him 
 they must take action upon me. I said, "I have the advantage 
 of them ; I will take action upon myself ; I will have a meeting 
 and have a fair trial." Ou a Saturday, and I think the 26th of 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPAKLAn's RE-EXAMINATIOX. H5 
 
 February, John Kehoe, in company with Manua 0'Donnell, his 
 brother-in-law, came down to Pottsville, when I saw him. He 
 ■said he was going to see Mr. Byon in order to retain Mr. John W. 
 Eyon for the defence of McAllister. In the afternoon I met him 
 again, and enquired what news. " The news is," he said, "that 
 there is about two thousand five hundred men banded together in 
 this county for the purpose of prosecuting the Ancient Order of 
 Hibernians, and that there is positive proof there are detectives 
 amongst them, who are supplied with money to go about and spend 
 it where they are in order to find out their secrets, so that they 
 may turn upon them, and eventually consign them to the peni- 
 tentiary or the gallows." I said "I have had it in my mind for 
 some time that something crooked was going on, and for that reason 
 I am doubly cautious ; but from whom have you received that in- 
 formation now?" He said he had it from Mr. John W. Eyon, 
 who told him so in his office. 
 
 Upon the day previous to my trial Kehoe was in Pottsville. I 
 saw him in Dan Hughes' and had a cigar with him. He asked 
 me if I was going to Shenandoah that evening. I said I was, to 
 be there for the trial to-morrow. I engaged to meet him in the 
 afternoon. He was going to Eyon's, he said, and Mrs. Kehoe was 
 in town. I made my reports out in the afternoon, reported Kehoe 
 being in town and that sort of thing. I then returned to Danny 
 Hughes', expecting to see Kehoe there, but 1 did not, nor did I 
 hear anything at all of him. I then met a man named Mullen, of 
 somewhere near Tuscarora. Mullen told me what he had heard of 
 me as being a detective, and he considered it would not be right to 
 hold a meeting in Shenandoah. Some of them concluded I wanted 
 to get all the officers and body-masters in Ferguson's Hall and so 
 have the whole crowd arrested by the Coal and Iron Police. I 
 told Mullen that was impossible, it was not legal, and it was not 
 right to do such a thing ; and, for fear of there being suspicion, I 
 told Captain Linden he must not have any Coal and Iron Police 
 there, adding that I thought I could fight my way through clean, 
 and make them believe I was no detective. The Captain was not 
 very well satisfied with this idea, and thought I ran a very great 
 risk ; however I went to Shenandoah by the late train. Previous 
 to arriving at Shenandoah I was in the smoking car. Manus 
 O'Donnell came in the car and told me that Mrs. Kehoe was in the 
 ladies' car and wanted to see me. When the train stopped at 
 Mahanoy City, I got out of the car I was in and went to see Mrs. 
 Kehoe, and asked if Mr Kehoe was not in the train. She said 
 she thought he went up to Prackville by the afternoon train, and 
 she had been to see her mother ; I also understood her to say she 
 had been at Tamaqua. I expected something was not right then, 
 as Jack Kehoe told me to be sure and be up that night and he 
 would be there too. 
 
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116 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's RE-EXAMINATION. 
 
 I now began to feel nervous. It was well known to McAndrew 
 that I was bound to be at Shenandoah, that night. I had in fact 
 written to say I should be there, and on all previous occasions 
 when I had been away there were five or six at the depot, when I 
 would get all the news and we would have a drink together. On 
 this occasion there was none of them there, which I thought very 
 strange. I had armed myself and was well prepared for any 
 emergency. I walked along the street and met some citizens, but 
 none that belonged to the organization. When I was passing James 
 McHugh's saloon I spoke to him, and he asked me in to have some- 
 thing to drink. I told him I did not mind having a bottle of 
 porter. He got a bottle, and had some trouble to get the stopper 
 out. I noticed that he was very pale, and asked him if he had the 
 ague, had been on a spree, or had been sick. He said not, but was 
 cold standing about. I then asked him if he had heard the report 
 about me. He said he had, but did not believe it, and would be 
 round the following day to hear how things were going on. 
 
 Passing the Lehigh depot I met Mike McDermott, a member of 
 the organization, and one with whom I had always been on friendly 
 terms, but he hardly spoke, and passed very quick. Just across 
 the street I saw Edward Sweeney, another member, standing 
 against a lamp-post. I halloed to him, " Is that you, Sweeney ? " 
 He said " Yes," and came over. I said, - " Have you seen 
 McAndrew ? " He said " Yes." I said " How long since ? " He 
 said "About an hour." I said "Has he gone to bed?" He said 
 that he thought not. "We went together down the street, and as I 
 was very suspicious of him I got him to walk in front of me, saying 
 my eyes were bad, that I could not see properly, and that the 
 pavements had holes in them ; however, I got him in front of me 
 and made up my mind to keep him there. 
 
 When I got to McAndrew's I found a party posted inside and 
 outside. There were two of them, the one outside I think was 
 Grady, and Doyle inside. I went in, and Sweeney came in and 
 went out again ; he said he was going home, but he soon returned 
 with a little snow in his hand which he threw over and struck 
 McAndiew, who looked at me and said, " My feet are sore ; I guess 
 I will take off my boots ; " and Sweeney turned and walked out. 
 From the rumours that were about I was suspicious, of course, of 
 everybody, and that incident seemed to strengthen my idea that 
 something was up. 
 
 I then asked McAndrew about the meeting, and he said he had 
 rented a hall, and it was all right. I then bade him good night, 
 and when I got outside I crossed over the swamp and came out in 
 front of my boarding-house. I could not sleep much that night. 
 The next morning I went and saw McAndrew, and on going up 
 the street I met Ned Monaghan and a fellow named Carlin the 
 body-master at St. Nicholas ; Florence Mahony, the body-master 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's RE-EXAMINATION. 117 
 
 at Turkey Eun, was also there. No one else seemed to come until 
 a little after ten o'clock, when there came in a couple of drunken 
 men from Mt. Laffee. 
 
 Who were they ? Dennis Dowling and James Doyle or Mike 
 Doyle ; I believe Mike Doyle was his first name ; he is a red com- 
 plexioned big man. I asked them if they had just arrived, and 
 they said they had just come from the cars. 
 
 "Were they members of the Order ? Yes ; from Mount Laffee, 
 and their appearance indicated that they had not slept the night 
 before. The fact was no cars came into Shenandoah at that time, 
 so that they could not then have come direct from them. Dowling 
 took me on one side and asked me what was the matter ; I said, 
 "Didn't you hear ; don't you know what you are called here for ?" 
 He said no, and when I had told him he said he would not believe 
 it I called for drinks and sent for McAndrew, and we went into 
 a rear room. Doyle kept getting the worse for drink, and some 
 one took him away to bed or somewhere else. 
 
 I did not see Kehoe ; he did not appear, so I made up my mind 
 to find him and to know why there was to be no meeting. I then 
 went out with McAndrew and engaged a horse and sleigh of Martin 
 Delany, and Dowling and Monaghan engaged another, which they 
 got in, McAndrew speaking for it. I now asked McAndrew if he 
 could explain matters? He said, "Look here; you had better 
 look out, for that man who is riding behind you in that sleigh 
 expects to take your life." Dennis Dowling, he said, was the man, 
 with Monaghan. He then said "Have you got your pistols?" 
 I said " Yes." He added " So have I, and I will risk my life for 
 your sake' ; I do not know whether you are a detective or not, nor 
 do I know anything against you ; you have always done as seemed 
 right to me, and I will stand by you. Why don't they give you a 
 fair trial ? " I then made up my mind to watch Dowling as closely 
 as possible. When we got to Danny Munley's we stopped and had 
 a drink, and when we came out McAndrew informed me positively 
 that he had saved my life. He also told me that John Kehoe had 
 been to Shenandoah the afternoon previous, and that he had as- 
 sembled all the Mollies that were in the town, and spent a good 
 deal of money amongst them, and told him (McAndrew) to be sure 
 and have me killed that night, or I should be the means of having 
 half the people in Schuylkill County hanged. McAndrew told 
 Kehoe and those present he would see to it, which satisfied them, 
 and they assembled, twelve or fourteen of them, a little below the 
 , Reading depot, on the line. 
 
 On the line ? Yes, sir, waiting for the train to come up. They 
 were all armed ; some of them had axes, some had tomahawks, and 
 others had the sledges which they use in the mines. They did not 
 want to use fire-arms, as the report from them would have attracted 
 
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118 EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLANS RE-EXAMINATION. 
 
 the policemen about -there. The idea was to inveigle me to the spot 
 and assassinate me with the other weapons. 
 
 Mo Andrew then said " That is a fact ; you will find out you are 
 in queer company this minute." I said, "I do not care; I am 
 going down to Kehoe's." When I got there no man could look 
 more surprised than Kehoe. He saw his plans had not worked, for 
 I was still alive in his presence, and in company of the man who 
 was to have assassinated me. I asked Kehoe about the meeting, 
 and he said he had come to the conclusion it was no use trying me. 
 I said : " You have taken a great deal of trouble." He said, 
 " You can go to Father O'Connor and see him about it ; you will 
 find it all out ; that is all I have to say." I went to Father 
 O'Connor's, but I could see the movements while in Kehoe's. 
 David Kelly, Philip Nash, Thomas Donahue, a fellow named 
 Butler, and several others were there talking to McAndrew on the 
 subject, and I said I would start to see Father O'Connor. A good 
 many had left sometime before us, and when we got to Collahan's 
 on Mahanoy Plane, we found Philip Nash and Tom Donohue were 
 there. They had heard that I was going to see Father O'Connor, 
 and went ahead of me. Tom Donohue, of Mahanoy Plane, not-the 
 prisoner, and Nash took McAndrew out and had some conversation, 
 and when they came back seemed quite uneasy. Nash went into 
 Collahan's and I went over to see Father O'Connor, but he was 
 not at home. "When I got back I asked Collahan what was the 
 matter, and he said " Those men want to kill you here ; Dowling 
 wants my revolver." I said, "Has he got one ? " He said " Yes ; 
 but if I gave him mine I should be unarmed myself. Dowling, 
 however, still got worse for drink ; he was so drunk that McAndrew 
 would not let him get in the sleigh ; he told Monaghan to get in, 
 and we drove away. I told McAndrew if Dowling made a motion 
 towards me I would shoot him ; but we left him at Collahan's and 
 drove off straight to McAndrew's house at Shenandoah. When we 
 got there I said " I will go to my boarding-house." He said, 
 " You will not go to your boarding-house." I said, " What is the 
 reason?" He replied "It makes no difference; you will sleep 
 with me. I did so, and was very glad of the chance, and on the 
 following morning I went to Pottsville. Of course I made out my 
 usual report and reported to Captain Linden. According to ap- 
 pointment I went to Mahanoy Plane in the afternoon, and again 
 met Dowling and this Doyle at Collahan's. They were both 
 sobered a little then. McAndrew was there, and told me he 
 intended seeing the thing through. He took mo aside and said 
 " It was a lucky thing that you did not go home last night." I 
 asked him "Why?'' He stated that on the night previous — the 
 night I slept with him — two or three men were loitering about my 
 boarding-house all night, but as I did not go home that night they 
 lost the game they were seeking. I went to see Father O'Connor 
 on that occasion. 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAn's RE-EXAMINATION. H9 
 
 On that day ? On that day, but, as before, lie was not at home ; 
 he had gone to Philadelphia. I returned back, and saw Dowling 
 and the others again ; they appeared very kind, and were still 
 talking with McAndrew. I bade them good evening, and took the 
 train again to Pottsville, not feeling inclined to go back to Shenan- 
 doah. I saw Captain Linden that evening and told him that 
 I had come to the conclusion that thty had had a peep at my hand 
 and that the cards were all played ; however, I said I would go up 
 again if he would keep a close watch upon me, and as he said he 
 would I went the following day. 
 
 That was Saturday ? On Saturday ; but I did not see Dowling 
 or Doyle that day, I believe, but I saw Father O'Connor. I asked 
 Collahan to go with me to Father O'Connor's, but he refused saying 
 Father O'Connor and him had disagreed in respect to a sermon 
 preached by him about the Molly Maguires or Ancient Order of 
 Hibernians, and that he did not care to meet him again, so I went 
 alone. 
 
 T was sitting in the hall waiting for Father O'Connor, when I 
 heard footsteps and a man speaking. I knew the voice, and heard 
 a chair move, and by the sound I thought it was pulled alongside 
 the door. Father O'Connor then came to me, and I told him I was 
 James McKenna, that I was the man he had heard about, and 
 whom he had represented as" a detective ; that his saying so had 
 ruined me in the estimation of some of my fellow citizens, who 
 were greatly enraged against me ; and from the fact that it was 
 not true, I should like him to deny it. Father O'Connor admitted 
 that he had used my name, and that he had heard I was a detective, 
 and although he did not know me he thought I was cognizant of 
 crime long before the perpetration of it, and that I ought to have 
 prevented it ; that I acted as a stool-pigeon — a common phrase 
 among men — and that I knew all about crimes and took part in 
 them instead of reporting them as a detective, which he did not 
 think was right. He said that he had written a letter to Kehoe, 
 and had given it to a party to deliver, but instead of delivering it 
 the party brought it back. He said that he had told the men time 
 and again that such would be their fate, but they would not hearken 
 to him and leave the organization, so now they must suffer. He 
 told me to go to Father Eyon of Mahanoy City, and Father Eeilly 
 of Shenandoah, as they knew more about it than he did. He said 
 that he had heard it only a little while previous, and had been 
 down to Philadelphia himself to hear something about me that he 
 might find out how closely I was connected with another party 
 who was in this region, but he did not name that party. He said, 
 moreover, " You were seen about Tamaqua at the time that Kelly, 
 Doyle and Kerrigan were arrested, and you were seen in close com- 
 pany with Kerrigan a little before Jones was shot." I told him I 
 had business in Tamaqua ; that I was intimate with Kerrigan's 
 
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120 EXTRACTS EROJtf MCPARLAn's RE-EXAMINATION. 
 
 sister-in-law, and, of course, often in company with her brother- 
 in-law ; he laughed at that, said there was no harm in it, and that I 
 had a right to be there. So I parted with Father O'Connor, 
 telling him I would go and see Father Eyon and get things made 
 straight, when I would notify him of it, so that he might inform, 
 the congregation I was no detective. He answered that if I got 
 things settled in that way, he would be very happy to state so, as 
 I had been injured in the estimation of my friends. At the same 
 time I had no notion of going to see Father Eyon or Father Eeilly. 
 
 "While you were there with Father O'Connor did you defend or 
 denounce the Ancient Order of Hibernians ? I defended them in 
 a loud tone. I said that it was a good society, that I had belonged 
 to it a good many years, that it was all right, and that, though 
 the crimes committed in the county were all attributed to this 
 society, they were not guilty of them, that they tried to prevent 
 crime, and all that sort of thing. 
 
 Why did you speak in this loud tone of voice ? I was very well 
 aware that Martin Dooley, a member of the Order, was sitting in 
 the next room listening at the door, and I spoke loud so that he 
 might hear what I said. 
 
 How did you ascertain that Martin Dooley was sitting in the 
 next room listening to your conversation ? 1 heard footsteps imme- 
 diately I got into Father O'Connor's house, and heard him ask the 
 maid-servant for a chair. She gave him a chair and I heard it 
 moved over beside the door. The door was closed and I was 
 standing in front of it. 
 
 Tou spoke loudly in defending this Order so that Dooley should 
 have the benefit of your observations to Father O'Connor? Tes, 
 sir, and that I should have the benefit of it also by getting from 
 there with my life. 
 
 "What occurred then ? As soon as I got out I went to Collahan's 
 and told him that things were all right, that I was going to see 
 Father Eeilly the following day, and that I had to go to Pottsville 
 that afternoon or evening. Tom Donohue was there ; he was well 
 pleased, and said he was very glad to hear it. I then left Collahan's 
 and called in Dooley' s on my way. 
 
 The same man ? The same man. He commenced to laugh when 
 he saw me and I told him how I had got along, and said " I heard 
 every word of it ; I was in Father O'Connor's all the time ; it was 
 a cute way you gave your reason for. being in Tainaqua ; you gave 
 the society a pretty good lift." I said, " I know I did," and he 
 replied " You were telling the truth." He seemed quite pleased 
 that I called. I went from Dooley's to Frackville, and took the 
 train. Captain Linden was there and rode down in the same car. 
 I left the county on the following morning. 
 
 You left the county ? Yes, sir. 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCPARLAN's RE-EXAMINATION. 121 
 
 When did you next come to Schuylkill County ? Last May. 
 
 On what occasion, and for what purpose ? To prosecute the 
 murderers of Tost. 
 
 As a witness ? Yes, sir. 
 
 You have stated that when you came into Schuylkill County 
 you were not to be a witness. State what it was that induced you 
 to change your mind and consent to be a witness ? I found out 
 then that it was well known I was a detective, and that secrecy 
 was no longer of any use to me. 
 
 That secrecy, of course, was no longer any protection, as every- 
 thing had become known ? Yes, . sir ; and therefore I informed 
 Major Pinkerton that I would take the stand and prosecute those 
 cases. 
 
 You were cross-examined at some length by Mr. L'Velle as to 
 the amount of your expenses. Can you give us any idea, estimate 
 or description of what the character of those expenses was that 
 you had to spend money for, and how you spent it in this county 
 in order to keep up your fictitious character ? Of course I had to 
 spend a good deal of money, and in respect of whisky bills, they 
 were very large. It cost a good deal for railway fare, and I had 
 always to make a good show of money, otherwise I must have 
 gone to work or something. 
 
 You have stated in answer to a question of Mr. L'Velle as to how 
 you maintained your character among these men, that you " shoved 
 the queer," that you had a pension, having been in the navy. 
 State whether you meant by that answer to convey the idea that 
 you were actually engaged in the business of counterfeiting money, 
 or that you had been in the navy, or that you were receiving a 
 pension ? Certainly ; though I was not. 
 
 You merely represented these facts to the parties with whom 
 you met to account for your having money in your possession 
 without working ? Yes, sir ; and it worked first-rate. 
 
 When you told them you were engaged as a counterfeiter, or in 
 the occupation of counterfeiting money, did you meet with any 
 opposition in this organization, which has equality, liberty, frater- 
 nity, and such, as its mottoes ; and did they not expel you from 
 the organization as being a person who was committing a heinous 
 offence ? No, sir ; they seemed to think more of my company, and 
 some of them asked me to supply them with a little. 
 
 I think you told us, in answer to a question, that you informed 
 those parties that you had killed a man in Buffalo ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Did they cease then to have any communication with you, or did 
 they take greater interest in you ? Of course, I was supposed to 
 be a good man on a clean job, and that confidence could be placed 
 in me. 
 
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122 EXTEACTS FKOM MCPARLAn's RE-EXAMINATION. 
 
 Were you not obliged, in maintaining your position among them, 
 to take a pretty active part in local politics ? Yes, sir. 
 
 And that involved a considerable expenditure of money ? Yes, 
 sir ; there was a good deal of money spent on politics. 
 
 Can you tell me what efforts you made to elect Patsy Collins as 
 a commissioner in this county ? I know I canvassed for Mr. Collins 
 nearly throughout the county, and spent a good deal of money. 
 
 It must have cost you several hundred dollars. Can you tell us 
 how much you spent for that purpose ? I daresay I spent from 
 the latter part of June some 250 or 300 dollars in that way. 
 
 Do you not think that it was a good deal through the instru- 
 mentality of yourself and this Order that Mr. Collins succeeded in 
 obtaining his present position ? 
 
 Mr. Byon : We object to that.- 
 
 Mr. Gowen : Well, we will let the answer be understood instead 
 of expressed. 
 
 (To the Witness.) The delegate Campbell, the old man Camp- 
 bell, from New York, whom you met at Girardville at the county 
 convention, was the head man in this Order in the United States, 
 was he not ? He was the national delegate. 
 
 And on that occasion this national delegate of that Order, on 
 being informed by Barney Dolan that it was necessary sometimes 
 to administer a beating to men in order to make them good men, 
 did not express any serious disapprobation of that means of pro- 
 ceeding ? No ; he simply laughed at it, and said if a man opposed 
 him very hard he would fight himself. He said that as a sort of 
 joke. 
 
 Mr. L'Velle asked you several times whether you did not know 
 that members of this Order were expelled in consequence of the 
 commission of crime. You remember that question, do you not ? 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 Now I desire to ask you whether you have any knowledge of the 
 fact that this Order not only did not expel members for the com- 
 mission of -crime, but that they paid money and promised rewards 
 for the commission of crimes ; and if you have any knowledge of 
 these facts let us know how you acquired that knowledge ? In the 
 particular case of Thomas Hurley shooting Gomer James he was to 
 have a reward ; and in the case when Pat Hester was convicted 
 and sent to the penitentiary, he was suspended or expelled, and a 
 quarrel arose about his admission again into the society ; therefore 
 the fact is that when a man commits a crime and gets clear away 
 he is the more respected. I know it to be so. 
 
 Tell us the circumstances of Hurley. Was Hurley a member of 
 this Order ? Yes, sir ; Hurley was an active member of the Order. 
 
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EXTRACTS FROM MCTARLAN's RE-EXAMINATION. 123 
 
 That is the same Hurley that you have been speaking of in con- 
 nection with this murder, and who is included in this indictment ? 
 The same Hurley. 
 
 He committed the murder of Gomer James ? Tes, sir. 
 
 I do not care about your going into details about the facts; 
 bring yourself down to the time at which this Order consented to 
 pay him money for the commission of this crime, and tell us what 
 occurred at that time, that is tell us all the circumstances as far as 
 you can ? On the 25th of August there was a convention held in 
 Tamaqua. 
 
 A convention of what ? A convention of the Ancient Order of 
 Hibernians or Molly Maguires ; a county convention ; however, it 
 was appointed by Mr. Kehoe. 
 
 John Kehoe ? John Kehoe, the prisoner ; he called it to try 
 some cases. 
 
 To try what cases ? Such cases as came before it ; some men 
 were accused of disobedience, and things like that, and Kehoe 
 appointed me to take down the statement of members having 
 charges to make against each other, and then give them to the 
 committee to deliberate thereon, which I did. Thomas Hurley 
 came forward, and I took down his statement. He stated that he 
 shot Gomer James on the 14th of August, and demanded a recom- 
 pense. 
 
 Hurley demanded a recompense ? Yes, sir ; that was about the 
 substance of his statement. Of course I took it down and presented 
 it to the committee. 
 
 Who composed that committee ? "Well, John Kehoe, Michael 
 O'Brien, John Donohue, Frank Keenan, Jerry Cane, Pat. Dolan, 
 Sen., and Frank O'Neal were in the room at the time, and Pat. 
 Butler and John Morris came in afterwards. When I placed 
 Hurley's statement before the committee, Frank Keenan was the 
 man that picked it up and commenced to read it ; then Pat. Butler 
 said : " I object to your taking any action in this matter from the 
 fact that there is a member of our division named McLane who 
 claims to have shot Gomer James, and therefore is entitled to the 
 reward." The committee then stated they would not take any 
 further action in it, and that the man who shot Gomer James was 
 certainly entitled to be recompensed. Therefore John Kehoe ap- 
 pointed Pat. Butler and myself to investigate the matter, and find 
 out which of the two had shot Gomer James, and report to him 
 which was entitled to the blood-money. 
 
 On Sunday, the 29th of August, Pat. Butler, Hurley, myself, 
 three others named McCormick, Walsh and Michael Carey, and 
 some young fellows whom I did not know, met at No. 3, in West 
 Shenandoah, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Butler told us that 
 he had notified McLane to be here at the time, but he had not 
 
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124 JOHN H. KEMMEKBR, SWORN AND EXAMINED. 
 
 put in an appearance. Hurley then came forward and said that he 
 shot Gomer James in the presence of his mother. Carey, the 
 Walshes, McCormick and others stated that they saw Hurley shoot 
 Gomer James, so it was agreed between Butler and myself that 
 Hurley should have the reward. On the following day, Monday, 
 the Kohinoor Colliery was stopped. Hurley came to me and asked 
 me to write out the report, so I wrote a letter and addressed it to 
 John Kehoe, stating that we had investigated the matter, and that 
 we reported in favour of Hurley receiving the blood-money, which 
 letter I gave to Hurley, but whether he posted the letter, carried 
 it to him, or it was ever delivered, I cannot tell. 
 
 But you made your report in pursuance of your instructions ? 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 And you met and adjudicated upon the fact, that is, between the 
 rival claimants, that Hurley was the real perpetrator of the offence, 
 and as such was entitled to the reward ? Yes, sir ; I made my 
 report to Kehoe, and also reported the facts to the Agency. 
 
 You made two reports ; one in your capacity as an Ancient 
 Order man, and the other in your capacity as a detective ? Yes, sir. 
 
 State whether at this meeting, at Tamaqua, John Slattery was 
 present? Yes, sir ; he came to get a claim adjusted. He was 
 tried there and came to defend himself. 
 
 He was not on this committee ? No, sir. 
 
 You say this constitution and by-laws is the written law of the 
 Ancient Order of Hibernians ? Yes sir, the written law. 
 
 State whether the constitution sets forth the practice and written 
 law of the Ancient Order of Hibernians ? It neither sets forth the 
 practice nor the written law, which is the main embodiment of the 
 Order. 
 
 They are governed by the unwritten law, and that is a mere 
 cover ? Yes, sir. 
 
 A Re- Cross-Examination has leen omitted as it failed to discover 
 any flaws in McParlan's evidence when re-examined. 
 
 III. ; 
 
 Evidence to the character of prisoners ; cited to shew the 
 "feeling of terror which the Molly Maguires inspired. / 
 
 JOHN H. KEMMEBER, SWORN AND EXAMINED. 
 
 You are resident of Ashland ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Do you know John Kehoe, one of the defendants here ? I do 
 
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JOHN H. KEMMERER CROSS-EXAMINED. 125 
 
 How long have you known him ? About five years. 
 
 From your knowledge of him, what has been his reputation for 
 peace and good order in the vicinity where he lives ? Well, good, 
 as much as I know. 
 
 CROSS-EXAMINED . 
 
 Tou never heard anything against him ? Nothing, but that he 
 was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. 
 Do you know who they are ? Mo, sir. 
 
 Are they not reputed to be Molly Maguires ? "Well, I believe 
 that is the name, the Mollies. 
 
 Then you had heard that he was a Molly Maguire ? I had 
 heard it, but I do not know whether he was such or not. 
 
 I am not asking you what you know. I asked you whether 
 people said so ? Tes, sir. 
 
 Tou had heard that he was a Molly Maguire how long ago ? 
 "Well, two or three years. 
 
 How do you reconcile the fact that he was a Molly Maguire 
 with your statement that his reputation for peace and good order 
 is good ? I reconcile it in this way, that all the business he had 
 with me was right and proper and just ; and the other, hearing 
 that he was a Molly Maguire, was only hearsay. 
 
 Do you not know you are called to the witness-stand to testify 
 to nothing but hearsay, and that what you know of your own 
 knowledge is not evidence at all ; and do not you understand that 
 all that you can tell on that witness-stand is hearsay and nothing 
 that you know of your own knowledge ; it is only what people say 
 of him ? Well, that is all I heard people say, that he was a 
 member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, so-called Molly 
 Maguires. 
 
 Then I ask you how you reconcile the fact that he was a mem- 
 ber of the Ancient Order of Hibernians or Molly Maguires with 
 your statement, under oath, that his reputation — not what you 
 know — but that his reputation was good ; how do you reconcile 
 those two things ? For the very reason the one I have only got 
 from hearsay. 
 
 Do you not get reputation from hearsay ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Very well ; you got that from hearsay ? Tes, sir. 
 
 And you know from hearsay that he was_ a Molly Maguire ? 
 Tes, sir. 
 
 Then you have got both from hearsay ? No, sir ; he has done 
 work for me also. 
 
 Tou were not asked what you knew about him ; the question 
 was, what was his reputation, that is, what people say about him. 
 That is the question, and you have sworn that what people say 
 
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126 GEORGE SCOTT SWORN AND EXAMINED. 
 
 about him is good, and yet you swear that people say that his 
 reputation is that he is a Molly Maguire. How do you reconcile 
 those two statements ? I reconcile it that I only got it from 
 hearsay. 
 
 Got what from hearsay ? That he is a Molly Maguire. 
 
 Do you understand, then, that a Molly Maguire is a man of good 
 .reputation for peace ? Not if they act as is reported. 
 
 Not if they act according to reputation ? According to reputation. 
 
 Then why do you say that his reputation is good, and yet that 
 he has the reputation of a Molly Maguire ? For the simple reason 
 that all the business we had together he done right and proper. 
 
 The business you had together is not reputation at all, under- 
 stand that ; it has nothing to do with reputation. You said his 
 reputation is good, that is, what people say about him is good, and 
 ' yet you say that people say he is a Molly Maguire ? Yes, sir. 
 
 How do you reconcile those two things ? I cannot answer any 
 other way, only that I got from hearsay that he is a Molly 
 Maguire. 
 
 Then is the reputation that you have heard of him, that is, what 
 people say of him for peace and order, good or bad, outside of what 
 you know yourself ? His reputation outside of that is bad. 
 
 Have not you said to Captain Linden and others, that he was a 
 very bad man '? If so as reported. 
 
 &EOBGE SCOTT, SWORN AND EXAMINED. 
 
 Where do you reside ? Locust Gap. 
 
 How long have you resided there ? About eighteen years. 
 
 Do you know Dennis F. Canning? Yes, sir. 
 
 How long have you known him ? I guess about four years ; 
 between four and five. 
 
 You have known him long ; what has been his reputation for 
 peace and good order ? Good, as far as I know. 
 
 CEOSS-EXAHINED. 
 
 You never heard that he was a Molly Maguire ? I have heard 
 him reported so, to the best of my knowledge. 
 
 Do you consider it good reputation to be called a Molly Maguire ? 
 I could not swear. 
 
 I did not ask you to swear. You say his reputation is good, and 
 you call him a Molly Maguire. Then you consider one who is 
 called a Molly Maguire as having a good reputation, do you ? I 
 do not swear positively he is a Molly Maguire. 
 
 That is his reputation ; what people say of him ? Yes, sir ; .but 
 I don't know. 
 
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GEORGE KEESLER SWORN AND EXAMINED. 127 
 
 I asked for what people say of him, not what you know. I do 
 not ask you now whether you know he is a Molly Maguire. I do 
 not ask for that. You say you heard he was a Molly Maguire and 
 his reputation was good. Do you mean to say that a man who has 
 the common reputation of being a Molly Maguire has good reputa- 
 tion ? Is that what you call a good reputation ? No, sir. 
 
 Then it is a bad reputation, is it not, to he called a Molly 
 Maguire ? If it is not good, it is had ? No, sir ; it is not. I say 
 it has been the common report that he belonged to the Molly 
 Maguires, or the Ancient Order of Hibernians. 
 
 You say that it is not a good reputation to have the common 
 report or the common reputation of being a Molly Maguire. If it 
 is not a good reputation to be called a Molly Maguire, what is it, 
 a bad one ? I cannot answer that question that way. 
 
 How can you answer ? What way can you answer ? You say 
 his reputation was good, and yet his common reputation was that 
 of being a Molly Maguire. I ask you now- whether a person who 
 has the common reputation of being a Molly Maguire can have a 
 good reputation ? I do not suppose he would, as far as report goes. 
 
 GEORGE KEESLER, SWORN AND EXAMINED 
 
 Where do you reside ? New Castle. 
 
 How long have you resided there ? Fourteen years, or thereabouts. 
 
 Do you know Christopher Donnelly ? Yes, sir. 
 
 How long have you known him ? About five years. 
 
 From the time you have known him, up to the time of his arrest, 
 what has been his reputation for peace and good order ? Well, 
 it was always good. 
 
 CROSS-EXAMINED. 
 
 Did you ever hear that he was a Molly Maguire ? Yes, sir ; 
 there was some talk about it. 
 
 Is that always a good reputation ? Well, I do not know about that. 
 
 But you have' just sworn that his reputation was always good ? 
 I say there was nothing bad said about him, except that he was a 
 Molly Maguire. 
 
 You did not tell us that before ; you did not say that there was 
 nothing bad about him except that he was a Molly Maguire. He 
 always behaved himself around New Castle. 
 
 I did not ask you how he behaved himself around New Castle. 
 You were asked what his reputation was, and you said it was 
 always good, and yet you say he was a Molly Maguire, and that he 
 had a good reputation. There was not much talk about Molly 
 Maguires up there. 
 
 You heard him called a Molly Maguire ? They did not call him 
 one ; it was only the talk that he was one. 
 
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128 PERCIVAL BOMBOY SWOKN AND EXAMINED. 
 
 Do you think it good to be called a Molly Maguire ? I do not 
 know what it is. 
 
 You, do not know what it is. "What do the people say ; is it 
 understood to be good or bad to be a Molly Maguire ? No answer. 
 
 Cannot you tell ? No. 
 
 Do you mean to tell us that you never heard whether it was 
 good or bad to be a Molly Maguire ? I did not know what it was. 
 
 I did not ask you whether you knew what it was, but I ask you 
 what people said ; whether it was good or bad to be a Molly 
 Maguire ? They did hot say much about it ; whether it was good 
 or bad. 
 
 You do not know from reputation, whether it was good or bad 
 to be a Molly Maguire ? I do not know much about that ; he was 
 a nice man around New Castle. 
 
 PERCTVAL BOMBOY SWOEN AND EXAMINED. 
 
 Where do you reside ? New Castle. 
 
 How long have you resided there ? Well, 25 or 26 years. 
 
 Do you know Christopher Donnelly ? Yes, sir. 
 
 How long have you known him ? Well, I have known him ever 
 since he was a boy, I believe. 
 
 Where have you known him ? Well, in Mt. Laffee ; he used to 
 live there, but now he has moved to New Castle. 
 
 What has been his reputation for peace and good order up to the 
 time of his arrest ? Well, good ; I do not know anything more ; 
 I did not hear anything bad during the time. 
 
 CKOSS-EXAMINED. 
 
 Did you not hear that he was a Molly Maguire ? I did. 
 
 You think that is nothing bad about him ? It is not considered 
 good. 
 
 You have already said that you have heard nothing bad about him, 
 but you heard he was a Molly Maguire ? I mean as a neighbour. 
 
 You were not asked about him as a neighbour. You were asked 
 as to his general character for peace and good conduct. You say 
 you have heard that he was a Molly Maguire, and that is bad ? 
 It is what we could not call good. 
 
 Then it is bad ? That is what I heard. 
 
 Then his reputation is bad ? Yes, sir. 
 
 Did you not hear that it was Christopher Donnelly and Jerry 
 Kane that sent Michael Doyle and Edward Kelly, the two boys at 
 Mt. Laffee, to Lansford for the purpose of murdering John P. 
 Jones ? I heard them say that they were not sure that they did, 
 but they believed so. 
 
 You do not consider that a good reputation, do you ? No. 
 
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CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS. 129 
 
 IV. 
 
 Constitution and By-laws of the Ancient Ordei of Hiber- 
 nians. Instituted March 10th, 1871, Chartered March 10th, 
 1871, Adopted March 11th, 1871. 
 
 PREAMBLE. 
 
 The members of this Order do declare that the intent and purpose 
 of the Order is to promote Friendship, Unity, and True Christian 
 Charity among its members, by raising or supporting a stock or 
 fund of money for maintaining the aged, sick, blind, and infirm 
 members, and for no other purpose whatsoever. 
 
 These laws though human, spring from Love Divine, 
 
 Love laid the scheme — love guides the whole design. 
 
 Vile is the man who will evade these laws, 
 
 Or taste the sweets without sufficient cause. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Motto of this Order is "Friendship, Unity, and True 
 Christian Charity." 
 
 Unity, in uniting together for mutual support in sickness and 
 distress. 
 
 Friendship, in assisting each other to the best of our power. 
 
 True Christian Charity, by doing to each other, and all the 
 world, as we would wish they should do unto us. 
 
 Brethren : It is beyond all doubt that the Supreme Being has 
 placed man in a state of dependence and need of mutual support 
 from his fellow man. Neither can the greatest monarch on earth 
 exist without friendship and society. Therefore, the Supreme 
 Being has implanted in our natures tender sympathies and most 
 humane feelings towards our fellow creatures in distress, and all 
 the happiness that human nature is capable of enjoying must flow 
 and terminate in love of God and our fellow creature. So we, 
 the members of this Order, do agree to assist each other, and 
 conform to the following rules : 
 
 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE ANCIENT ORDER OF 
 
 HIBERNIANS. 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 Name. — This society shall be denominated " The Ancient Order 
 of Hibernians of the United States," whose headquarters shall be the 
 city and county of New York. 
 
 Aeticib II. 
 
 Officers. — The Officers of this Order shall be a National Delegate, 
 National Secretary, General President, General Vice-President, Sec- 
 retary, and Assistant Secretary ; Treasurer and Board of Directors ; 
 
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130 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF 
 
 also State Delegate, State Secretary, and County Delegates ; also, 
 a President, Vice-President, Secretaries, and Treasurer of each Lodge 
 or Divisions ; all of whom shall hold their offices for the term 
 of one year, unless removed by the Board of Directors for im- 
 proper conduct. 
 
 Auticle III. 
 Duties of Officers. 
 
 See. 1. — Duty of N. D. — He. shall be called to preside at all 
 meetings of the Board of Directors, and affix his signature and seal 
 of the Order to all warrants. The national officers will direct all 
 processions in the city and county of New York, taking the lead 
 thereof, watch the general welfare of the Order, and make known 
 the condition of the society semi-annually. 
 
 Sec. 2. — Duty of N. S. — The N. S. shall correspond with auxil- 
 iaries abroad, keep minutes of the Board of Directors, make known 
 the financial affairs of the society annually, assist the N.D. in 
 matters appertaining to the interest of the society, and render such 
 services as will tend to harmonize the Order. 
 
 Sec. 3. — Duties of State Delegate. — He shall organize one new 
 division in each county where none exist, preside at all State 
 Conventions of the society in the State, direct all State processions, 
 head all State processions in the State except the city and county 
 of New York, taking the lead thereof, attend to the general welfare 
 of the Order in his State, and make known the condition of the 
 Order annually at the State Convention. 
 
 Sec. 4. — Duties of the State Secretary. — The State Secretary 
 shall correspond with the National Delegate, National Secretary, 
 and County Delegates of his State, all communications to be 
 countersigned by the State Delegate, and assist the State Delegate 
 in all matters appertaining to the Order, and report annually to 
 the State Convention of the Order. 
 
 Sec. 5. — County Delegates. — The duties of each County Delegate 
 shall be to open divisions throughout his county, preside at all 
 meetings of the Board of Directors of his county, and correspond 
 with the State Delegate and Secretary, and all divisions in his 
 county, and he shall take the lead of all county processions. 
 
 Sec. 6. — Duty of the President. — The duty of the President 
 shall be to preside at all general or extra meetings of the Order, to 
 see that the constitution and by-laws are preserved inviolate and 
 carried into effect, to affix his signature and seal of the Order to 
 bonds and contracts lawfully entered into, and see that the same 
 are properly engrossed upon its records. 
 
 Sec. 7. — Duty of the Vice-President. — In the absence of the 
 President the duties shall devolve on and be performed by the 
 Vice-President ; and in the absence of both a chairman shall be 
 
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THE ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS. 131 
 
 appointed by the members present, with all the powers and privi- 
 leges of the President during his absence. 
 
 Sec. 8. — General Secretary. — The G. S. shall record elections 
 and expulsions in the general book, act in accordance with the 
 Board of Directors, and to them report his acts whenever called 
 upon. The Division Secretaries shall notify the County Delegates 
 of all expelled members, with their name and address. The G. S. 
 to notify the State Secretary, and the State Secretary the National 
 Secretary, who shall notify -the different State Secretaries of the 
 same, and the State Secretaries the different divisions in the State. 
 
 Sec. 9. — Assistant Secretary. — The Assistant Secretary shall en- 
 gross, in a book kept for that purpose, the minutes of all the trans- 
 actions of the Order, at the meeting thereof ; he shall notify the 
 Standing Committee of all matters referred to them, and of such 
 vacancies as may occur,- and the name of the person elected to fill 
 such vacancy, and render such services as the General Secretary 
 may require. 
 
 Sec. 10. — Duty of Treasurer. — The Treasurer shall have charge 
 of, and be responsible for the safe keeping of, all money belonging 
 to the Order, and see that no disbursements are made thereof except 
 in compliance with a special resolution of the Order, approved by 
 the Board of Directors and signed by the President and General 
 Secretary, with the seal of the Order attached thereto ; he shall 
 also report quarterly to the Order the state of the funds, with the 
 amount of receipts and disbursements ; he shall give a bond with 
 two sufficient sureties for the faithful performance of his duties, 
 and at the expiration of his office he shall transfer all money, books, 
 and vouchers belonging to the Order to his successor. 
 
 Abticie IV. 
 
 Officers ; How Elected. — The N. D. and N. S. shall be elected by 
 the Board of Directors to New York City, State and County Dele- 
 gates of all the States, and none other. 
 
 The general officers shall be elected by the general body in their 
 respective towns or cities, and the division officers shall be elected 
 by their respective members. The election of all officers to take 
 place on or about the 28th of March, after the National Convention 
 of each year. 
 
 The State Delegate and Secretary shall be elected by and from 
 
 . the Board of Directors of each Division and County delegates of the 
 
 different counties. The County Delegates shall be elected by and 
 
 from the Board of Directors of the different divisions of the county. 
 
 Article V. _ 
 
 Each division shall have the power of making rules and regula- 
 tions for its own internal welfare, provided always that such regu- 
 lations are in accordance with the general rules of the Order, subject 
 
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132 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF 
 
 to the approval of the National officers, with their names appended 
 thereto. 
 
 Aeticle VI. 
 
 The Board of Directors, at their first annual meeting, shall choose 
 from their number a Treasurer and a Committee of Finance, con- 
 sisting of three, to "whom shall be referred for examination all 
 claims and demands against the Order, and who shall report the 
 same to the Board of Directors with their opinion thereon, as by so 
 doing no fraud can be committed. 
 
 Aeticle VII. 
 
 The- powers and management of this Order shall be vested in the 
 Board of Directors, who shall be composed of a President, Vice- 
 President, Secretaries and Treasurer of each division, and shall hold 
 their office for the term of one year. 
 
 Article VIII. 
 
 All general and extra meetings shall be called by the President 
 and General, Secretary, and in the absence of the President, by the 
 Vice-President, and it shall be their duty to call such meetings 
 when requested, in writing, to consist of fifteen members. 
 
 Aeticle IX. 
 This Order shall consist of an unlimited number of members, 
 and as it increases the State and County Delegates shall have the 
 power of opening divisions for the accommodation of the members, 
 and of issuing orders and directions for the management of the 
 same, and shall call in all warrants for any flagrant deviation from 
 the general rules of the Order. 
 
 i Aeticle X. 
 
 Eligibility of Candidates. — Xo person shall become a member of 
 this Order, who is not Irish, or of Irish descent, a Roman Catholic 
 and of Iloman Catholic parents. Any person wishing to become a 
 member of this Order shall be proposed by having- his name and 
 occupation or calling of business registered, with the name of the 
 proposer, appended in a book kept for that purpose in the division 
 room, and no person shall be admitted at any time unless he is of 
 good moral character. 
 
 Aeticle XL 
 The names of persons thus proposed, on being read by the Secre- 
 tary at any regular or duly organized meeting of the Order, may 
 be ballotted for a>t the next regular meeting, and' if a majority of 
 ballots be cast in favour of admission, then such persons shall be 
 declared duly elected members of the Order. 
 
 Aeticle XII. 
 Fines and Penalties. — Any member coming into the division in a 
 
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THE ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS. 133 
 
 state of intoxication and annoying the members, shall be fined 
 the sum of $1 and leave the. division for that night. In default of 
 complying with this order he or they shall be excluded for six 
 months, at the expiration of which they shall be allowed to re- 
 enter and become full members of the Order. 
 
 Article XIII. 
 So member shall be allowed to speak more than twice on any 
 subject without permission of the presiding officer. Any member 
 interrupting another whilst on his feet addressing the President 
 shall be fined the sum of one dollar for each offence ; and should a 
 member swear an oath in the division room he shall be fined the 
 sum of fifty cents for each offence, and if not paid at the time it 
 shall be entered as a debt against him, and he shall be deprived of 
 all the benefits of the Order until the fine be paid. 
 
 Article XIV. 
 
 Should any member hold a dispute with another, or cast any re- 
 flection on his country, he shall be fined fifty cents for the first 
 offence, for the second one dollar, and for the third he shall be 
 excluded the Order, to be no more admitted. 
 
 Article XV. 
 
 Any member striking another shall be fined, for the first offence, 
 five dollars, and be suspended until the fine is paid ; for the second 
 offence he shall be expelled for life. If a member so offended 
 strike the other in return he shall be fined fifty cents ; if the blow 
 shall be struck in the division room the aggressor shall pay the 
 sum of 7| dollars, and the member so struck returning the blow, 
 shall be fined one dollar for the ' second • offence. In case of any 
 doubt as to the first offender, the case shall be brought before the 
 Board of Directors, who shall try the causa, by having the parties 
 brought before them with their witnesses, and decide the matter, 
 and their decision shall stand. 
 
 Article XVI. 
 
 Any member absenting himself three nights in succession shall 
 be notified by the Eecording Secretary to attend on the next night 
 of meeting, and for neglecting to do so he shall be expelled from 
 the Order. 
 
 Article XVII. 
 Any member absenting himself on a meeting night shall be fined 
 the sum of 25 cents. 
 
 Article XVIII. 
 Any officer absenting himself on any night of meeting shall be 
 fined 50 cents, sickness or absence from the city excepted, 
 
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134 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF 
 
 Article XIX. 
 
 Any officer absenting himself three nights in succession shall be 
 notified to attend on the next night of meeting, and neglecting to 
 do so shall be expelled the Order, sickness or absence from the city 
 excepted ; and should the members think proper at any time after- 
 wards to admit him as' a new member, on his applying for admission, 
 he shall not hold any office for the term of one year after such 
 admission. 
 
 Article XX. 
 
 "When the President and Vice-President take their seats the 
 President shall strike with his mallet for the division to come to 
 order. The Vice-President shall respond in like manner by striking 
 with his mallet. Should any member not come to order then, he 
 shall be fined 25 cents ; should he not then comply with the order 
 of the President assisted by the Board of Directors the said member 
 shall be fined 50 cents ; and should he not then comply the Presi- 
 dent shall order the floor officers to put him out of the room for 
 the evening, when the Board of Directors shall take action in the 
 matter, and fine or expel him as they in their judgment may think 
 proper, and from their decision there shall be no appeal. The said 
 member may be readmitted at the expiration of one year. 
 
 Article XXI. 
 
 "No member shall be allowed any sick or ailment money unless 
 he is six months a member and clear on the books of the division, 
 to commence from the date of filing such notice of sickness, when 
 such sickness is brought on by Divine Providence, but should he 
 be three months in arrear he shall not be entitled to any benefits 
 • for one month from such notification. 
 
 Article XXII. 
 
 Any member of this Order who shall speak of any business or 
 transaction that may transpire in any division room or place of 
 meeting, he shall be handed over to the Standing Committee of the 
 division of which he is a member ; or if at a general meeting it 
 should happen that he or they shall be brought before the Board 
 of Directors and tried, if found guilty of the same he or they shall 
 be expelled. 
 
 Article XXIII. 
 
 Committees consisting of three shall be appointed by the presid- 
 ing officers ; all others shall be appointed by the meeting. 
 
 Article XXIV. 
 Schism. — Any member or members who shall cause discussion or 
 schism in the Society, by frequent attempts at discord, or branching 
 off from the society, shall be erased from the books, and they shall 
 
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THE ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS. 135 
 
 have no further claim on the property or benefits of the society 
 for life. 
 
 Aeticle XXV. 
 
 Any member who shall bring charges maliciously designed against 
 a brother, which he is unable to prove, or shall knowingly propose 
 unworthy characters' for membership, shall be subject to reprimand, 
 fine, suspension, or expulsion; according to the enormity of the 
 offence, as the Board of Directors may determine, and from their 
 decision there shall be no appeal in any case whatever. 
 
 Aeticxe XXVI. 
 Resignation. — If any member shall give written or verbal 
 notice of his intention to quit the Society, the notice shall be 
 received, and if ' attested by two or more members, his name shall 
 be erased from the books forthwith not to be readmitted for one 
 year after such notice, and then only by permission of the Board 
 of Directors, and by paying the usual initiation fee. 
 
 Aeticle XXVII. 
 
 The initiation fee of this Order shall be three dollars. The 
 monthly dues shall not be less than thirty-five cents. The weekly 
 benefits in case of sickness shall be five dollars, and on the death 
 of a member the sum of fifty dollars shall be appropriated to defray , 
 the funeral expenses. J 
 
 Aeticle XXVIII. / 
 
 No member shall be admitted in any Division unless he produces 
 a certificate from the Division which he left, unless a visiting 
 member. 
 
 Aeticle XXIX. 
 
 The seventeenth day of March shall be a National Holiday of 
 this Order, to be celebrated by a public procession of its members, 
 and any member failing to parade shall be fined in the sum of three 
 dollars, unless excused by the Board of Directors of his Division. 
 
 Aeticle XXX. 
 No person under twenty or over forty years of. age will be eligible 
 as a member of the Society. 
 
 Aeticle XXXI. 
 It shall be compulsory on all Divisions outside New York 
 City to raise a fund for the purpose of sending their State and 
 County Delegates to the National Convention. 
 Aeticle XXXII. 
 Any person joining this Order under an assumed name or age, or 
 having any bodily ailment, and afterwards found to be so, shall be 
 expelled never to be admitted. This article to be read by the pre- 
 siding officer of each Division, to the member before joining, 
 
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13G CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF 
 
 Abticle XXXIII. 
 The members of each Division, in each State, are required to 
 attend Holy Communion, in a body, at least twice a year, at their 
 Parish Church, or such other Church as they may designate, and 
 wear the Eegalia of the Order. 
 
 BY-LAWS, 
 
 Meetings. — Sec. 1. The regular monthly meetings of- the Order 
 shall be held on any stated evening. From the first day of October 
 to the first day of April, the hour of meeting shall be half-past 7 
 o'clock, and from the first of April to the first of October, shall be 
 8 o'clock. 
 
 Sec. 2. When any question is before the house, no other motion 
 shall be in order, except to amend the previous question, to lay 
 on tbe table, or to adjourn, which shall take precedence in the 
 order in which they are named. 
 
 .'Sec. 3. Eeports from' all Committees shall be made in writing, 
 and shall be filed, or correct copies entered by the Secretary of the 
 body receiving them. 
 
 Sec. 4. When a member speaks he shall rise in his place and 
 respectfully address the President, confine himself to the question 
 under consideration, and avoid personality or unbecoming language. 
 (See Article XX of the Constitution.) Should two or more mem- 
 "bers rise to speak at the same time, the President shall decide who 
 shall have the floor. 
 
 See. 5. No member shall speak more than twice on any one 
 subject — five minutes allowed each time — but 'not oftener, unless 
 to explain, or by permission of the President. 
 
 Sec. 6. When a member is called to order he shall take his seat 
 until the point of order is decided. When an appeal is made from 
 the decision of the President, he shall put it thus :." Shall the 
 
 decision of the President he sustained?" Which shall be decided 
 without debate. 
 
 Sec. 7. The President shall state the question properly to the 
 meeting, and before putting it to the vote shall ask, " Is the house 
 ready for the question?" Should no member offer to speak, he 
 shall rise to put it, and after he has risen, no member shall be 
 allowed to speak upon it. 
 
 Sec. 8. All resolutions shall be reduced to writing, if the Pre- 
 sident or any member desires, and all reports of committees shall 
 be in writing. 
 
 Sec. 9. On each night of general meeting, the President and 
 Secretary shall give an account of all the money received and paid 
 out for that quarter, in order to afford general satisfaction, 
 
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THE ANCIENT ORDER OE HIBERNIANS. 137 
 
 Sec. 10. If any member of this Order be convicted of robbery, L 
 perjury, or any other atrocious offence, he shall be excluded from/T 
 the Order for life. wf ■■ 
 
 Sec. 1 1 . ~No officer or member shall dictate to the President, or 
 call his conduct in question, daring Division hours, except by a 
 regular motion made to the Vice-President ; in default of so doing, 
 to be fined as in Article XV of the Constitution. 
 
 Sec. 12. Should any dispute arise between the members of any 
 Division on any matter or subject which they cannot conveniently 
 settle by their own Standing Committee, which shall consist of 
 seven members, the cause shall be brought before the Board of 
 Directors, who shall determine the matter in question, and such 
 decision shall be binding. (See Article XXV of the Constitution.) 
 
 Seo. 13. On the examination of a member for a breach of these 
 rules, he shall be allowed to sit in the Division room during the 
 examination, and be allowed to ask any question he may choose, 
 through the presiding officer, to the person who is his acpuser ; but 
 if he uses any abusive language to the Board or witnesses he shall 
 be expelled the Division room, and, although acquitted, he shall be 
 fined in the sum of one dollar. 
 
 Sec. 14. ~No member shall stand a poll or fill any office except 
 he is capable of keeping his own books and has been a member six' 
 months. 
 
 Sec 15. When any member of this Order falls sick, a Visiting 
 Committee belonging to the Division of which he is a member shall 
 visit him ; and should they neglect to do so, each of them shall be 
 fined in the sum of one dollar. When said Committee shall report 
 the state of his health, and if it be so -as he is not able to attend to 
 his daily labour, the President shall give an order on the Treasurer, 
 signed and countersigned by the Secretary, for the sum of five' 
 dollars for each week during his sickness ; and should he die, the 
 sum of fifty dollars shall be allowed to defray his funeral expenses. 
 
 Sec. 16. Any officer or member neglecting to attend the funeral 
 of a brother member, shall be fined in the sum of fifty cents, except 
 members of the Division to which the deceased belongs, who shall 
 be fined one dollar ; and on Sundays the fine shall be one dollar for 
 all, and be deprived of the benefits of the Order until the said fine 
 is paid. 
 
 Sec. 17. On the death of a member's wife, the Division to which 
 said member belongs shall pay the sum of 10 dollars to defray the 
 funeral expenses. But the members shall not be compelled to 
 attend the funeral. 
 
 Sec. 18. Each Division shall have a High Mass said on the death 
 of every member in good standing. 
 
 Sec. 19. Each Division shall have an Assistant Secretary, who 
 
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138 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF 
 
 shall aid the Secretary by recording all fines and penalties. The 
 Secretary and Assistant shall each have a book, and attend the 
 meetings, call the roll of their respective Divisions, fine all absent 
 members, take an account of the state of the funds of the Division, 
 notify their committees on general and special matters, and sign all 
 documents relative to their Division. 
 
 Sec. 20. All persons initiated in the Order shall pay the sum of 
 three dollars, sign the Eules of the Society, and pay the sum of 
 thirty-five cents monthly during membership, and ten cents for a 
 copy of the Constitution. 
 
 Sec. 21. Propositions .for membership shall be accompanied by 
 the sum of one dollar for each name proposed, which shall apply 
 as part of the initiation fee. Should the candidate be rejected, the 
 money shall be refunded. 
 
 Sec. 22. Any candidate accepted by the Order, failing to present 
 himself for initiation -within two months after being notified of his 
 election, shall forfeit the proposition fee to the Society. 
 
 Sec. 23. The Board of Directors shall receive the sum of one 
 dollar quarterly from each Division, and shall appoint a Treasurer 
 and Secretary to keep an account of all moneys received by the 
 said Board, and also the expenditures. 
 
 Sec. 24. The Board of Directors shall appoint its own President, 
 Secretary, and Treasurer, at the annual election, and shall raise a 
 stock or fund of money, in order to defray the expenses of the said 
 Board. They shall receive the sum of one dollar ■ quarterly from 
 each Division, pay all the postage of letters of communication and 
 printing of any documents belonging to the said Board. The Secre- 
 tary shall engross, in a book kept for that purpose, all the receipts 
 and expenditures, and return an account of the same to all the 
 members of the Order, at each quarterly or general meeting. The 
 Chairman shall give an order on the Treasurer, countersigned by 
 the Secretary, and all the members present shall have the power of 
 rejecting or permitting the payment of the same ; when the yeas 
 or nays are taken, and a majority are in favour of paying a bill, 
 the Treasurer shall pay the same, and the Secretary shall enter the 
 same on the minutes. 
 
 • Sec. 25. All property, such as general banners, books, staves of 
 office, etc., etc., shall remain at headquaters designated by the 
 Board of Directors. 
 
 Sec. 26. Wo member shall be exempt from fines imposed under 
 the Constitution of this Order, unless the cause shall be presented 
 in writing, attested by five members in good standing, and with 
 the consent of a majority of the members of the Division of which 
 he is a member. 
 
 Sec. 27. A member falling sick while in arrears on the books 
 
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THE ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS. 139 
 
 of his Division, for dues or fines, cannot liquidate such arrearage 
 for the purpose of drawing benefits from the Order during his 
 sickness. 
 
 Sec._ 28. The General President and General Secretary shall take 
 no action in regard to the funeral of a member until they have re- 
 ceived notice from the Secretary of such member's Division as to his 
 standing on the books. 
 
 Sec. 29. Upon intelligence being received by the Secretary of 
 a Division of the death of a memher, he shall immediately report 
 the standing of such member on his books to the General Secretary 
 and General President for action as prescribed in the Constitution. 
 If an officer should die, the Secretary of the Board will proceed as 
 Secretary of a Division. 
 
 Sec 30. All books and accounts shall be kept by the officers in 
 a uniform system and ready for inspection by proper authority, at 
 any regular meeting. 
 
 Sec. 31. Any brother, a member of this Order for six months, 
 shall be entitled to the benefits thereof in case of sickness, provided 
 such sickness or disability shall not be the result of immoral or 
 improper conduct. (See Article XXI. Constitution.) 
 
 Sec. 32. "No member shall be allowed any sick dues unless he 
 has been sick one week, and then only from date of filing' notice of 
 said sickness. 
 
 Sec. 33. Members of a Standing or Special Committee, failing 
 to perform their duty, shall be reprimanded, fined, or both, by the 
 authority which appointed, unless sufficient excuse be given. 
 
 Sec. 34. Officers of each Division shall, in all processions, walk 
 at the head of their respective bodies, and preserve order in the 
 ranks. 
 
 Sec. 35. It shall be the duty of any officer who may see a 
 brother appearing in procession, or in public, with his regalia on, 
 in a state of intoxication, to take the regalia off and report the 
 name of such brother to his Division, with charges in writing. 
 
 Sec. 36. A meeting shall, be held in each Division on or about 
 the beginning of each month, after the opening of which the Presi- 
 dent shall order the proceedings of the last meeting to be read to 
 to the members. Money should not be received by any officer or 
 member, but on the night appointed for meeting. 
 
 Sec. 37. The General and Division elections shall be held within 
 one month after the State election, when the old officers' term 
 expires and new ones installed. 
 
 Sec. 38. Secretaries' are required to keep a separate account of 
 funeral fines from all other moneys received, and render a report of 
 the Divisions at each quarterly meeting, failing they shall be sus- 
 
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140 THE MOLLIES IN RELATION TO 
 
 pended from office, unless prevented by sickness or absence from 
 the city. 
 
 Sec. 39. Members of this Order in this State shall be required 
 at least twice a year to receive Holy Communion, at their Parish 
 Church, or such church as they may designate, and wear the rosette 
 of the Order. The time to be the Sundays within the octaves of 
 the 15th of August and 25th of March. Any member failing to 
 comply with this section, for the first neglect shall be suspended 
 for three months, for the second neglect six months, and for the 
 third for life. 
 
 Sec. 40. No part ©f this Constitution or By-Laws shall be re- 
 pealed, altered, or amended, unless a proposal in writing be presented 
 to the Board of Directors one month previous to the discussion, 
 when if two-thirds of the members present vote in favour of the 
 motion it shall be adopted, and not otherwise. 
 
 ORDER OF BUSINESS. 
 
 When the Board of Directors take their respective seats, and the 
 President calls the Division to order, the business shall be taken 
 up in the following order : 
 
 1st. Minutes of last meeting. 
 
 2nd. The call of the officers of the last stated meeting, who if 
 not present, shall be fined according to Article XVIII. 
 
 3rd. Beports of candidates and new members received. 
 
 4th. Petitions read and referred. 
 
 5th. Beports of committees read and referred. 
 
 6th. Communications read and referred. 
 
 V. 
 
 THE MOLLIES IN RELATION TO THE STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 The following extract is taken from Neue Pitaval, 2nd 
 Series, Yol. XVI., p. 99 :— 
 
 "We have exhibited to our readers a dark and truly frightful 
 picture, so dark and so frightful, that its like can' hardly be found 
 in the criminal history of any other country, But perhaps the 
 darkest feature in it is this :^4hat_ajx>liiical ..party coul d stoop so 
 low as to purchase the voices of this gang of murderers. Mr. 
 "Gowen7 in his speech on the Munley trial, used these' memorable 
 words : ^-^htmrsgefT this* organisation assume political^ power in 
 this state, and control the elections. I have before me credible 
 
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V 
 
 ) l ' '' \r rtt^i ~- *'. , : ■ v (v J -. 
 
 THE STATE GOVERNMENT. 141 
 
 accounts of meetings being held between the highest state officers 
 and the leaders of this murderous band, and of large sums of money 
 being paid to secure the votes of its venal association.' 
 
 " These words of Mr. Gowen were confirmed by John F. Slattery, 
 when he appeared as Commonwealth's witness at the trial of 
 Lawlor. The public who heard his evidence in court were loud in 
 their manifestation of disgust ; and when the newspapers had made 
 it generally known, a cry of indignation rang throughout all Penn- 
 sylvania. A writer in the Pottsville Chronicle gives the following 
 statement as that which he received from Slattery's own mouth in 
 the prison : — 
 
 ' The first time I heard anything about J-iad ing. iiLjptes was on 
 a Sunday, about a month before the faileiection. MrT'M. B. 
 Fowler, of Tamaqua, called at my house and asked to see me. 
 When I had sent my children out of the room,, he said: 'Mr. 
 Slattery, we know you have influence, and I am come to ask if 
 you can do anything for us.' I replied, ' Mr. Fowler, I've had a 
 good deal to do with politics, and I've found there's neither money 
 nor credit to be got by them.' ' "Well,' said he, ' if you'll work for 
 us, you shall be no loser.' After a little more conversation Mr. 
 Fowler left me, saying he would call again and tell me how things 
 could be arranged. He came again within a few days, and begged 
 me to go into Pottsville and see Gen. Sigfried. I did so, and the 
 General told me he must first go to Harrisburg, where the Governor 
 of Pennsylvania and his staff resided, and see if he could obtain the 
 money wanted ; afterwards he would send me a telegram, fixing an 
 interview. I got his message, and thereupon I telegraphed at once 
 to Kehoe desiring him to meet me directly at Port Carbon. He 
 came, and we went together to the house of Gen. Sigfried, whom 
 we found in company with A. C. Henning. At first they hesitated 
 to take Kehoe into confidence, but I told him the votes of the 
 Order could not be secured without his help, and I would not carry 
 on the negotiation without him. Upon this they began to converse ; 
 and, as Henning expressed a doubt of our power to secure the votes 
 of the Ancient Hibernians, Kehoe produced letters from numerous 
 county delegates and body-masters, proving that 32,000 members 
 of the Order were living in Pennsylvania, "whose votes on all im- 
 portant questions depended on him and his coadjutors. This re- 
 moved all doubt. Each of us received 500 dollars, with promise of 
 1000 more before the election. ¥e undertook to secure the votes 
 of the Hibernians for John F. Hartranft as Governor. When I 
 suggested the name of M. B. Fowler, they both exclaimed, ' the 
 devil take Fowler ; we are only concerned for Hartranft ; you must 
 work for him body and soul. ' This we undertook to do, and Kehoe 
 engaged to write to all the county delegates, instructing them to 
 secure the votes of those under their control. A few days before 
 the election Sigfried and Henning came to me and paid me the 
 
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142 THE MOLLIES IN RELATION TO 
 
 1000 dollars, promising 500 more for each of us if their candidate 
 was elected. They also brought the ballot-papers which chose 
 Hartranft for governor, and the whole Bepublican ticket for the 
 subordinate offices, except the Commissionership of Schuylkill 
 County. For this office Patsy Collins, a Molly Maguire, was no- 
 minated and afterwards duly elected. He was body-master of the 
 Palo- Alto division.' 
 
 Slattery was asked by the reporter if any other inducements 
 ■were held out to the Order besides money. " Not in distinct 
 terms," he replied, "but it was well understood between us, 
 that we might count on the good offices of the Eepublican 
 party, if we came into collision with the tribunals and stood 
 in need of pardons. Our votes were given to Hartranft in 
 order that we might have a friend at Harrisburg. And those 
 votes of ours helped to place him there." 
 
 So far Slattery. It may perhaps be said, that the tale of 
 a confessing criminal must be regarded with much suspicion. 
 But that tale is in full accord with the speech of Mr. Growen 
 many months earlier in the Raven- Run trial ; and that 
 speech was never contradicted or questioned. 
 
 The newspaper press also spoke out on the subject. On 
 the 14th of March, 1878, a leading journal of New York 
 wrote, in referenoe to the demoralising results of the civil 
 war : " And when peace was restored, political corruptionists 
 went to work, and for a whole decad made common cause 
 with murderers, forgers and swindlers, to elect presidents, 
 governors, judges, senators, congressmen, sheriffs, and other 
 county officers. | That the Republican party in particular 
 exercised the most shameless bribery in the counties of Schuyl- 
 kill and Luzerne to procure the votes of criminals, is a fact 
 now notorious far beyond the borders of Pennsylvania! 
 Money was not the only price paid for such agency. Lucra-I 
 tive offices were also brought within the grasp of the influen- 
 tial leaders, and complacent judges were chosen to make 
 immunity from the penalties of crime a prospective advantage 
 for habitual law-breakers. 
 
 A Reading paper of June 30, 1878, writes as follows : — 
 " It is well known that John Kehoe was convicted of murder 
 in the first degree, and sentenced to death. The Superior 
 Court, on his appeal, confirmed the sentence. His application 
 to the Board of Pardons was also dismissed. He now lies in 
 prison at Pottsville, awaiting execution. |But Governor! 
 Hartranft has neither fixed the day nor signed the warrant. I 
 
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THE STATE GOVERNMENT. 143 
 
 The reason why Kehoe is treated differently from his fellow 
 criminals is represented to be this : In 1875 Hartranft was 
 a candidate for re-election, his opponent being Judge Pershing 
 of Schuylkill County. The contest being very hot, strong 
 measures were adopted. Hartranft's friends, two leading 
 politicians of that county, applied to John Kehoe and John 
 F. Slattery, to obtain through them the votes of the Molly 
 Maguires. After several meetings, terms were settled to 
 that effect. | Kehoe and Slattery received 2000 dollars and a 
 promise to obtain the pardon of certain Mollies who were then 
 lying under sentence in various state prisons. These pardons 
 were issued jin due time, with the signature of Governor 
 Hartranft.'f 
 
 These circumstances came before the public in Slattery's 
 evidence on several trials in Schuylkill County, and the press 
 was loud upon the subject. But neither the Governor himself 
 nor any of his friends uttered a word of explanation or re- 
 monstrance. 
 
 The Neue Pitaval declares that its account on all these 
 heads is communicated by a citizen of the United States, who 
 holds dear the honour of his country, and finds the narration 
 of facts so discreditable a most painful duty, but still a duty ; 
 for (he says) "history claims its right, and that right is 
 Truth." 
 
 The same work adds to its narrative the following post- 
 script : — 
 
 " So far was the account of the Molly Maguires in Pennsylvania 
 continued to September, 1878. At that time John Kehoe lay in 
 prison at Pottsville, and all the world were waiting in lively expec- 
 tation to see whether the governor would ever issue a warrant for 
 his execution. Some time yet elapsed before any step was taken. 
 On the 12th of November, 1878, Hartranft, having been re-elected 
 governor, addressed a letter to Mr. Lear, general State-attorney 
 and his official legal adviser, which ran as follows : — 
 
 " Harrisburg, 12th November, 1878. 
 
 " On the 3rd of September last, the Board of Pardon's refused to 
 recommend that the sentence ■ of death pronounced upon Kehoe 
 should be commuted to imprisonment. It appears from the acts of 
 the trial that two accomplices, who had taken a more active part in 
 the murder of Langdon than Kehoe, have only been found guilty 
 of murder in the second degree. There has been an endeavour to 
 make political capital out of this case, and to prejudice the courts 
 against the" condemned prisoner, by taxing him with offences for 
 
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144 THE MOLLIES IN RELATION TO 
 
 which he has never been indicted. Unusual zeal has been mani- 
 fested t° obtain a verdict of guilty against Kehoe for a murder 
 committed fifteen years ago. Adding to these facts the further 
 considerations that two members of the Board of Eardons voted for 
 commutation of punishment, and that doubts have been raised as to 
 the degree of murder in Kehoe's case, and being also convinced that 
 the executive power have the final responsibility, and ought to 
 institute a careful re-examination of all the extant proofs, I have 
 hitherto thought it my duty to refrain from signing the warrant of 
 execution. I have no doubt that according to the old law and the 
 practice of many years, a capital sentence could be changed to per- 
 petual imprisonment by continuing to hold back the warrant. But, 
 as a new act provides that no remission or commutation of punish- 
 ment shall take place unless a majority of the Board of Pardons 
 recommend it, the governor must have lost his discretionary power. 
 If so, the execution must proceed, whether the governor consider 
 it to be a just or an unjust act. 
 
 " Soon after I had received information of the decision come to 
 by the Board, I asked you by word of mouth to give me your 
 opinion, whether or not the issuing of a warrant of execution has 
 become a mere form, which the governor is obliged to issue without 
 regard to his own personal judgment. Tour reply, verbally given, 
 was that by virtue of the new constitution the old custom must be 
 taken as abrogated. 
 
 " At the time when we conversed on this subject, we were in 
 the midst of a strongly contested political' election, and. I thought it 
 a duty to defer the decision of the question till that contest was 
 ended. I preferred enduring personal attacks a short time longer, 
 to erecting another gallows in order to conciliate opponents who 
 were not satisfied with twenty executions which had already taken 
 place, under warrants bearing my signature. Whatever advantage 
 was to be gained at the poll by the pardon or hanging of a criminal 
 I was content to leave to my opponents. 
 
 " That contest being now over, I have no hesitation in saying 
 that I accede to your view of the new constitution. JSo ground 
 therefore remains for delaying the execution any longer. But as a 
 question is involved which now appears for the first time in practice, 
 and a precedent for the future will thus be created, I ask you to 
 give me your opinion in writing, that your letter may be added to 
 the other written documents, and so become a ground and regulative 
 standard of action in the time to come. 
 
 "To Mr. George Lear, General State-attorney." 
 
 The foregoing letter received the following answer : — 
 
 "Harrisburg, 13th November, 1878. 
 ' ' Honorable Sir, 
 
 " I am in receipt of your letter dated yesterday, in which you 
 
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THE STATE GOVERNMENT. 145 
 
 desire me to give my written opinion respecting the powers and 
 responsibilities of the executive government in capital cases, with 
 special reference to the Kehoe trial. 
 
 " Before the acceptance of the new constitution the governor had 
 the unlimited right of granting pardons according to his own judg- 
 ment, but he was not entitled to commute punishments directly. 
 Indirectly he had the power of doing this, by refusing to sign 
 warrants of execution. The consequence was that capital sentences 
 were not executed, and delinquents were suffered to live without 
 receiving any pardon. 
 
 " The provisions of the present constitution are these : No pardon 
 and no commutation shall be granted unless it he recommended by 
 the lieutenant-governor, the secretary of state, the general state- 
 secretary, and the secretary of the interior, either unanimously or 
 at least by three of these persons, in writing. The case shall first 
 be carefully examined in public session, the recommendation shall 
 bo drawn up with full statement of its grounds, and preserved in 
 the office of the secretary of state. When such a recommendation 
 is laid before him, the governor is empowered to grant its request; 
 but he may, on the other hand, refuse to confirm the pardon or the 
 commutation. But if the Board refuse to recommend, the governor 
 has no right of re-examination ; it becomes his duty to appoint a 
 day for execution of the sentence. 
 
 " Criminals are executed by virtue of the judicial sentence, 
 not by virtue of the governor's ordinance. In many States 
 the day of execution is fixed by the court which sentences ; 
 but in Pennsylvania the day is determined by the governor. 
 His duty is to specify a term within which the sentence is to he 
 executed. 
 
 " If the Board of Pardons has refused a remission, the governor 
 has the same responsibility as the sheriff, whose duty it is to see 
 that the sentence is fulfilled on receipt of the warrant. Both acts 
 are the legal consequences of the Court's judgment. 
 
 " If the signature of the warrant were omitted or delayed, this 
 would be a commutation of punishment, a thing which the Consti- 
 tution now distinctly- forbids. 
 
 " In the case of Kehoe application was made for commutation of 
 punishment, but the majority of the Board of Pardons refused to 
 recommend it, on which ensues the duty of issuing a warrant of 
 execution. 
 
 "It is therefore quite unnecessary that your Excellency should 
 examine the acts and proofs. Whatever result this examination 
 might have it would not alter the sentence of the Court. What you 
 are to do in this case is prescribed by law; and whether you 
 
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146 THE MOLLIES IN KELATION TO 
 
 agree or not with what was done and determined on the trial is of 
 no importance. 
 
 " I am, with high respect, 
 
 " Geokge Leak, General State-attorney. 
 " To His Excellency John F. Hartranpt, 
 " Governor of Pennsylvania." 
 
 In pursuance of this advice the Governor issued his warrant 
 on the 18th of November, fixing the 18th of December as the 
 term for execution. Kehoe's friends made a last attempt by 
 petitioning for a new trial, on the pretext of having fresh 
 evidence to prove that he took no part in the murder of 
 Langdon. The Board of Pardons met on the 17th of Decem- 
 ber, and rejected the petition, considering that no good reason 
 was shown for the resumption of proceedings which had long 
 since been judicially concluded. 
 
 The prisoner's fate being thus determined, at 10 o'clock on 
 the 18th Kehoe was led to the scaffold. The sheriff there 
 asked him if he had anything to say. After reflecting for a 
 few seconds' he replied, " I am not guilty of the murder of 
 Langdon ; I never saw the crime committed."* The body 
 was given to his friends, waked, and buried with all the 
 honours of an innocent martyr. 
 
 So died the most prominent and influential leader of a 
 conspiracy against public peace and safety as cruel and odious 
 as any recorded in the annals of crime. His shameful death 
 was richly merited, whatever part he may or may not have 
 taken in Langdon' s murder." 
 
 Readers will observe that this severe account of the Ancient 
 Hibernians or Molly Maguires is not the work of an English 
 writer, but of a German, one who views with a disinter- 
 ested and impartial eye the conflict between English rule and 
 Irish rebellion. 
 
 * Kehoe's evasive words on the scaffold are such as might he expected. 
 Experience- has-shown-.thattondenmed Catholic criminals are always forbidden 
 try'the . j;;haplains.who shrive them to satisfy justice bypuhlic confessio n of guilt, 
 6Fto assist it by valuable information. Readers will find a striking illustration 
 of this fact in Mr. Steuart Trench's Realities of Irish Life, ch. xvi, xvii. A 
 man named Hodgens lay under sentence of death for conspiracy to murder. 
 He was known to possess intimate knowledge of the secrets and members of 
 the Ribbon confederacy. Mr. Trench had obtained the Lord Lieutenant's per- 
 mission to promise him his life on condition of full and faithful information. 
 The result is given in Mr. Trench's narrative. Many who read it will be 
 tempted to ask : How long will the governments of free countries allow 
 justice to be thus defeated by the perverting influenee of ministers of a per- 
 verse creed ? Might not their access to prisoners under capital charge be with 
 ample reason, subject to certain just conditions ? 
 
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THE STATE GOVERNMENT. 147 
 
 " No sooner had I left his Excellency's presence than I felt, in 
 all its force, the delicacy of the task I had undertaken. I resolved, 
 however, to go through with it honestly, and to the hest of my 
 ahility, and, if I failed, to bear both the blame and the danger. 
 
 My first step was to proceed to Carrackmacross, and there to 
 unfold to my confidential clerk all that had passed between his 
 Excellency and me ; and thinking that Hodgens would speak more 
 freely to him than myself, I directed him to proceed at' once to 
 Monaghan, to get access through proper credentials to the cell of 
 Hodgens, and there explain to him, that if he would really tell all 
 he knew about the Ribbon Conspiracy, and those concerned in it, 
 so as to enable the Government practically to lay hold of his accom- 
 plices, his life would surely be spared. But if he declined this 
 offer, he was a dead man, and had not the remotest chance of 
 pardon. 
 
 My clerk executed his commission with all the delicacy I had 
 expected. He found Hodgens calm and firm ; little or no change 
 had apparently taken place in him since his conviction and sen- 
 tence. He had braced his nerves for the worst, and he was pre- 
 pared to abide by the consequences -of his crime. 
 
 By degrees my clerk began to unfold to him the real nature of 
 his mission. For a time Hodgens was wholly unmoved, as if he 
 thought it was only a plot to get something out of him which he 
 was determined not to give. 
 
 ' Are you aware,' said the clerk, at last, 'that Mr. Trench has 
 your pardon in his pocket, and that he has only to my the word, 
 and your life is spared ? ' 
 
 Hodgens leaped up from his seat as he heard these words. 
 
 ' Is it lies you're telling me ? ' he exclaimed ; ' why do you come 
 here with lies to me at such a time as this ? ' 
 
 ' It's not lies,' replied the clerk ; ' I'm telling you the real truth. 
 Mr. Trench went up himself to the Lord-Lieutenant, and got a 
 promise of pardon for you, if you would only tell all you know 
 about the Ribbon Conspiracy, and those who are concerned in it.' 
 
 'And what makes Mr. Trench think I know anything at all 
 about it ? ' asked Hodgens. 
 
 'He knows it right well,' answered the clerk. 'He has got 
 everything out of Thornton, and he knows that you, and you only, 
 can give the information he now requires.' 
 
 A shade passed over Hodgens' countenance as the name of 
 
 Thornton was mentioned, but it was only momentary. 
 
 " ' I always said I would die hard ; but it's a terrible temptation 
 
 to a man ; and sure, after all, it's no great harm to tell on all them 
 
 that brought me to this end. But how am I certain that Mr. Trench 
 
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148 THE MOLLIES AND THE STATE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 can save my life even if I do peach ? ' he exclaimed, as if suddenly 
 recollecting himself. 
 
 ' He will tell you so himself,' said the clerk. He is now in 
 Monaghan, and has the promise of your pardon from the Lord 
 Lieutenant in his hand. Tou know him well, and though you 
 tried to take his life often enough, you know he would not deceive 
 you.' 
 
 'I'm sure of it,' ohserved Hodgens, thoughtfully, 'I know he 
 would not ; but it's a terrible disgrace to a man to go and do what 
 Thornton done — I'd a'most as soon die hard.' 
 
 ' It's a terrible thing to be hanged ! ' remarked the clerk. 
 
 ' That's true, too,' replied Hodgens ; and the clerk saw the whole 
 of his powerful frame beginning gradually to shake and tremble 
 with agitation, and large drops of perspiration to stand out dis- 
 tinctly upon his forehead. 
 
 ' "Well, maybe I might as well tell it out. Come to me to-morrow 
 morning, and you shall have all I know ; but Mr. Trench must 
 come himself, as I will not trust any one else. I must have it 
 from his own lips that my life will be surely spared.' 
 
 ' Tou shall have it from himself,' replied the clerk ; but why not 
 to-night ? he is waiting now to see you ; let me call him now, and 
 tell him all you have to say.' 
 
 Again a dreadful tremor seemed to shake the whole of the young- 
 man's frame. 
 
 ' Not to-night,' said he — ' not to-night ; I am to see the priest in 
 the morning, and I will tell nothing to any one till I see him.' 
 
 ' Tell Mr. Trench all about it now,' entreated the clerk ; ' let me 
 call him this minute, maybe it will be your last chance.' 
 
 ' I can't, and I won't,' said Hodgens, doggedly; ' I must see my 
 clargy first, and there's no use in pressing me any more.' 
 
 His agitation had now increased to the most painful degree — 
 his voice trembled and his knees shook under him. He rose and 
 walked rapidly up and down his small cell, as if to throw off his 
 agitation, and at length he finally addressed the clerk. 
 
 ' It's no use your waiting or pressing me any more. Come to 
 me to-morrow morning, and bring Mr. Trench with you ; but I 
 won't see him or tell a word of anything until I see my clargy 
 first.' 
 
 The clerk unwillingly retired ; he saw further pressing was use- 
 less, and he came and told me all that had passed. 
 
 ' You could do no more,' I said. ' We must await the result of 
 his interview with the priest. I trust he will induce him to tell 
 us all he knows.' 
 
 The clerk shook his head doubtingly, but made no reply. 
 
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CONCLUDING WORDS. 149 
 
 At ten o'clock next morning, my clerk obtained access to the 
 condemned cell of the criminal. The first glance at the prisoner 
 showed that a great change had taken place since the interview of 
 the preceding day. All traces of doubt, uncertainty, and agitation 
 had completely vanished, and Hodgens stood before him calm and 
 unmoved, with a quiet placidity of manner and countenance, as if 
 all anxiety about his fate was gone. He could scarcely recognise, 
 in the placid features of the man now before him, the shattered 
 and agitated frame he had left the evening before, and he saw at a 
 glance that Hodgens had made up his mind, and was at peace 
 within himself. 
 
 ' Well,' said the clerk, disguising his fears as well as he could, 
 'may I send for Mr. Trench, and will you tell him all you know 
 about what we were talking of yesterday ? ' 
 
 ' I will tell nothing,'' returned Hodgens calmly, and with a com- 
 posed and resigned countenance. ' I will tell nothing, neither to 
 Mr. Trench, nor to any one else. 1 have seen my priest, and I'm 
 now prepared to die, and maybe I would never be as well prepared 
 again. So I am content to die, and there is no use in asking me 
 any more. I will tell nothing, except to them that has a right to 
 know it, and who should that be but the priest ? So now let me 
 alone, for you'll never get another word out of me ; / am content to 
 die for my country ! ' 
 
 He calmly sat down and remained in perfect silence, until the 
 clerk, who had addressed, him several times without effect, was 
 compelled to leave the cell. 
 
 What passed between the prisoner and the priest I know not, 
 but Hodgens adhered to his determination, and bis secret died with 
 him. 
 
 VI. 
 
 CONCLUDING WOKDS. 
 
 The sad tale truly told in this volume must not he regarded 
 as an indictment of the Irish nation and race. It has no 
 such purp6se"Tts editor knows" not by fame alone, but by 
 the happy experience of private friendships, how much there 
 is to admire and esteem in native Irish character. The Irish 
 names illustrious in literature, in eloquence, in statesmanship, 
 in diplomacy, in war, are familiar to him as household words, 
 though too numerous to recount : and at this moment the 
 
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150 CONCLUDING WORDS. 
 
 Irish soldier, Sir Garnet Wolseley, has emulated with success 
 the glory of Wellington ; the Irish diplomatist, Lord Dufferin, 
 has trodden in the steps of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. But 
 these merits and this renown, great as they are, cannot re- 
 deem Ireland from the disgrace of its protracted barbarism, 
 its long career of vengeful outrage, horrible crime, and ever 
 recurring hopeless rebellion. Bngland 1 Jias.~siaB'©d- against 
 Ireland. That is true. But IrelanoThas. oftener sinaed, and 
 far more grievously, not against England alone, but against 
 its own welfare, against its own honour. 
 
 In days gone by England sinned against Scotland quite 
 as heavily as against Ireland. Yet, since the union of Scot- 
 land with England in the reign of Queen Anne, the Scotch 
 obey the laws and prosper in doing so. Scotch colonists are 
 welcome and successful in Canada, in Australia, in New 
 Zealand, and elsewhere, not conducting themselves as the 
 Molly Maguires did in Pennsylvania, as the Ancient Hiber- 
 nians are said to do in New York. Whence comes this 
 startling difference between two races which are so near 
 akin ; for in each the Celtic blood is mingled with the Teuton, 
 and the very name of Scot was Irish before it became Cale- 
 donian ? The mam ca^s^^f_thaL.iiLtt^r-eH«e-is~bu"t~ too ub- 
 1 vious. It isTthe differing religion of the respective majo rities 
 in the two countries. The Scotch arej for the most ._p_art. 
 Protestant,' ~not Anglican indeed, but Presbyterian : the 
 masses of the Irish people remain subject- to- the Roman' 
 See, and are reared in deadly hatred of Great Britain, which 
 has thrown off the yoke of Pome. Those who know well 
 the history of Europe f rom "thlTChristian era to the present 
 time, those who have traced the action of that which calls 
 itself the Catholic Church during those centuries, know 
 that a large proportion of the crimes and miseries which 
 have afflicted European nations is attributable to that action. 
 If it be asked why Spain and the vast Spanish colonies, why 
 Poland, why Ireland, stand so low in the scale of nations ; 
 why Italy itself, until lately, lay sunk in decrepitude ; why 
 Austria has suffered so much of defeat, France so much of 
 fluctuating agony ; why, on the other hand, Great Britain, 
 Prussia, Holland, Scandinavia, have been comparatively 
 prosperous, victorious and domestically peaceful, (whatever 
 other causes may be alleged and in any degree allowed), it 
 must remain true, on the whole, that to the former group 
 of nations nothing has been more injurious than Papal 
 
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CONCLUDING WORDS. 151 
 
 influence, to the latter no blessing so great as their free- 
 dom from that influence. If again we ask, what cause 
 most of all disturbs the , peace and alloys the prosperity 
 of the British empire, the answer must be — Papal influ- 
 ence in Ireland, with its products, insubordination and 
 disloyalty. What is it that most interrupts the harmony, 
 and tends to weaken the power, of the German confede- 
 ration and its imperial head ? Papal influence in Poland, 
 Bavaria, the Ehineland, and other places. Why are 
 the Netherlands so politically weak, that in the first 
 European convulsion they may become the prey of their 
 stronger neighbours ? Because Papal influence rent Belgium 
 from Holland in 1830, and during the half-century suc- 
 ceeding has made Belgium itself a battle-field between 
 clericalism and infidelity. Why has republican France been 
 compelled, like Switzerland, to violate, in appearance, the 
 principles of religious toleration, by driving out the Jesuits, 
 and suppressing various conventual foundations ? , Because^ 
 these governments are convinced that political freedom and 
 public peace canriot~subsist side by side with that kind of 
 religious freedom which the ultramontane priests of Rome 
 demand — a freedom which shall consist in, subjection to their 
 influence, trampling down the freedom of all other religious 
 bodies. 
 
 I am far from saying that all priests of the Roman faith 
 accept and act up to these evil principles. I am sure it is 
 not so. There are priests and priests, as there have been in 
 history popes and popes, variously disposed in feeling, 
 variously active in their clerical life. But I fear that all 
 past history, and also present experience, teaches that the 
 sacerdotal order of the Roman Church never has been and 
 never will be allied with a Protestant government for the 
 maintenance of order, obedience and loyalty in a Roman 
 Catholic population. If they did choose to preach, teach and 
 enforce loyalty by their united exertions in Ireland, crime 
 and outrage would very soon cease, and there would be a fair 
 prospect of pacification and prosperity for all classes. But 
 this is what the priests have never yet done, and unhappily 
 there is little probability that they ever will do it. They 
 seem to think their religious influence cannot be preserved 
 except by troubling the waters and keeping them troubled. 
 Political divisions in the British legislature have enabled 
 them to play this game with advantage during the last half- 
 
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152 CONCLUDING WORDS. 
 
 century. They have thereby succeeded in annihilating for 
 the time the power of the Irish landlords. Perhaps they 
 may find, as they found after 1641 and 1689, that their 
 temporary triumph will be less favourable than they imagine 
 to the attainment of their ulterior objects. 
 
 I lately read with astonishment and disgust in the public 
 journals that "the Mayor of Chicago"' took a part in talking 
 Irish treason at a meeting of the Dublin Corporation. The 
 Mayor of Chicago ! Had this unwise man forgotten his own 
 country's history of twenty years ago ? Had he forgotten 
 that the Northern States, including Illinois and its capital 
 Chicago, fought a bloody war of four years duration, to 
 enforce upon the Southern States the continuance of that 
 Union which these latter strove with ardent longing and 
 with all their might to dissever ? Did he suppose that 
 England can any more afford to let Ireland be governed 
 by its own devices than the Northern States of his country 
 could permit the Southern to drift apart from them? 
 If we imagine for a moment an Irish parliament with a 
 Catholic majority sitting in Dublin, could England suffer it 
 to raise a single regiment, to build a single ship of war, to 
 tax the Protestants for the maintenance of the priests ? 
 Could England dispense with strong forts and garrisons in 
 Dublin and Kingstown, in Belfast, Londonderry, Gralway, 
 Limerick, Cork, Waterford, and Wexford ? Impossible. 
 And how if a casus belli should arise between the severed 
 islands ? What would be the fate of Ireland then ? Verily 
 the Mayor of Chicago may do well to take a course of 
 hellebore and history before he crosses the Atlantic again to 
 delight an Irish corporation with his inspiring eloquence. 
 
 t. A. HILLS AND SON, PE.INTEKS, MINBTER FLACE, ELY. 
 
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