pe cee seseeses: Sriciettes: 3 33.08 DS The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. To renew call Telephone Center, 333-8400 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN L161—O-1096 ye ean 7 A Os e MOLLY MAGUIRES. THE ORIGIN, GROWTH, AND CHARACTER OF THE ORGANIZATION, - | Pie Rene ge BY Ee Be DBEWEES, A MEMBER OF THE SCHUYLKILL COUNTY BAR. Bre ca eR: we ge et 2 ; | te : oe E c tare me Ce Pe ae see “ah ai aah q » ? Pr Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” PHILADELPHTA: 1877. My Ja wh ee AE + - vale *s pt . tS é # ° . yg A ye é em se 4 ae a ak ie 5 : tke : mit ee a - ane 4 : ae : 2-3 OS bate ~_F7 _. “ There are more things *twixt heaven and earth, Horatio, Dee > ee ney ia gee th w/ ‘ 4;E Ae We Pil € « Le ; ? ¥] oxeis OC Y 7 Ww b 4 sal PREPACIE In the summer of 1873, James McParlan, a young Irish- man attached to the Pinkerton Detective Agency at Chicago, was requested by his employers to visit Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, as a detective. He was told that a criminal organization, called the ‘*‘ Molly Maguires,’’ was supposed to be in existence there, and that it was to be his duty to — join the organization, and, if possible, learn its character and purposes. McParlan consented to undertake the task, but remarked that he did not believe that an organization such as described was possible. ‘* Schuylkill County is in the mining region, isit not?’’ heasked. ‘‘Yes.’’ ‘You will find,’’ he said, ‘‘ that the workmen there make their money hard and spend it freely. On pay-day they get drunk, and whilst they are under the influence of liquor, and in the heat of passion, quarrels arise, and men are sometimes killed ; but that does not imply organization, nor is there likely to be the kind of work for a detective among them that is supposed.’’ He came to the anthracite coal regions with the expecta- tion that in a few months he would be able to satisfy his employers that no such criminal organization as they sup- posed had any existence. A few weeks’ residence there satisfied him that his impressions as to the condition of affairs had been wrong, and that the ‘‘ Molly Maguires’’ were a terrible reality. The criminal character and purposes of the organization have now been. shown by indubitable evidence, and its iii 4 > Iv. PREFACE. existence proven. There is much misapprehension pre- vailing, however, as to the extent of the organization, and very many non-residents of the coal region wrongly confound the members of the ‘Labor Union’’ with the ** Molly Maguires.’’ Hence it is that in contests between capital and labor they are disposed to array themselves on the side of capital, because they believe that in the coal regions the laborer is lawless. This is rank injustice to the laboring man. The subject of capital and labor pre- sents in the coal regions the same questions as elsewhere. It is sincerely believed that the great majority of the miners and laborers of the anthracite coal regions will com- pare favorably with any large body of laboring men in the world, and that the great body of the Irish-American citizens residing there are well-disposed and law-abiding. The laborer of the coal region is not a criminal, nor does he sympathize with criminals. It has been the object of the writer of this book to give an intelligible description of the organization, with some idea of its extent and influence, and to explain how in its operations it affected the business, social, and polit- ical relations of the coal regions. He has had to deal with living men, and-with events of the present day. He has endeavored to the extent of his ability to treat the sub- ject discussed without prejudice and without bias. From the fact that he was born in the coal region, has lived there the greater part of his life, and has personal acquaintance with very many of those to whom he refers, his effort may not have been entirely successful. .He feels conscious, how- ever, that, whilst possibly there may have been a disposition to extenuate, he has not ‘‘set down aught in malice.”’ It would be impossible to give credit for information to all to whom it is due. Whilst valuable aid has been-ren- dered by many, special acknowledgment is to be made to James McParlan, Captain Linden, and Benjamin Franklin, PREFACE. ' of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, Hon. F. B. Gowen and F. W. Hughes, General Charles Albright, District At- torney Kaercher, of Schuylkill County, and District Attor- ney Siewers, of Carbon County, and to J. Claude White and P. W. Sheafer, Esqs.; also to the AZners’ Journal, Shenandoah Herald, and Evening Chronicle, for free access to their files; and personal acknowledgment to Thomas Foster and Thomas B. Fulder, Esqs., of the Shenandoah Herald. I egd oop BN POTTSVILLE, December, 1876. - ® e : SIT/W IO 3797) MOCVIY SIN VIF Ce Baas IIMASINGITE ’ _ eaenn07 —~. = eg rolled Seryjoyg *MUvLyIO7 Gg - "sor 02 dlovnliy S014 bq CON DE NES: CHAPTER I. PAGE The Molly Maguire in Ireland and the United States ° . : 9 Crake eR, ds The Anthracite Coal Regions of Pennsylvania . ° . A af upaee CHAPTER III. Relation of the Labor Union and the Molly Maguire—The Molly Maguire Political and Otherwise . ° . ° : ° » 323 CHAB PER LV: Societies in Ireland and America . . . . oy tee See CHAPTER. V. Carbon and Schuylkill Counties, 18612 to 1865 . : : ° ~ 45 CHAPTES VI. ; Schuylkill, Columbia, and Carbon Counties, 1866 to 1871 P RY ike CHAPTER VII. Coal-Mining Companies—The Pinkerton Agency, . ° ° at tO9 CHAPTER VIII. ee. McParlan the Detective . e . . P P ° ° ee CHAPTER: FX. McParlan, continued . . z ‘ . P F : F 2 ae CHAPTER X. The Ancient Order of Hibernians . . ° ° . . « 96 CHAPTER XI. The Long Strike—McParlan, continued , : : . : « 1107 ix x CONTENTS. CHARA. Rees The Long Strike, continued—The Major Murder—Mahanoy ie Convention ., ‘ : ° F : . : CHAPTEREXTIL Attempted Assassination of William M. Thomas . . : CRAP TERN Meeting in the Bush—The Majors—John J. Slattery F ° - CHAPTER Gv. The Murder of Policeman Yost ; Z “ . ‘3 4 CHAPTER. XVI. McParlan at Work—The Murder of Gomer James . . : : CHAPTERVAV IL Jack Kehoe—Murder of Gwither—Attempted Murder of Riles . CHAPTER YA VIL, Tamaqua Convention—Who murdered Gomer James?—Sanger Murder arranged—Patrick Butler . ih . . : . CHAPTER XIX. Murder of Sanger and Uren—McParlan on a Committee to murder Jones—Murder of Jones by other Parties—Flight of the Assassins CHAPTER XX, Arrest of Kerrigan, Doyle, and Kelly—Their Lives threatened CHAP T BRA: The Molly as a Politician—The Election of 1875 . ‘ ° : CHAPTERGAXIL: The Autumn of 1875—Waiting for the Trials . . ° . ° CHAPTER XAXTII, The Trial of Doyle—Confession of Kerrigan . . . ° . CHAPTER AXE. Arrests of Molly Maguires—McParlan suspected . : . . PAGE I2rI 133 144 152 164 175 182 194 206 217 229 241 249 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXV., McParlan’s Dangers, and his Escape , ° : . ° CHAPTER XXXVI. Kerrigan the Informer—The Trial of Kelly—Preparations for the Yost Trial. ; : : . ; : ; ° . . ' CHAPTER XXVII. First Trial of the Yost Murderers—More Arrests . a ; CHAPTER ALXVITI. Molly Plots—Trial of Alec Campbell—Trial of Thomas Munley— Second Trial of the Yost Murderers . ° ‘ . - . CHAPTER XX 1X. The Conspiracy Cases—Trial of Duffy . . F : : : CHAPTER XXX. Trials of ‘‘ Mollies’’-—The Sheet-Iron Gang—Jackson’s Patch— Wholesale Confessions—Sentences . . : . : . CHAPTER XXAAT. The Murder of Morgan Powell—Trial of Yellow Jack Donahue . CHAPTER ZAXTIR Trials contrasted—The Catholic Church—Has the End come ? , CHAPTER 2XAXKIIL Conclusion . . : s : - ‘ 7 ‘ = APPENDIX. List of Outrages in Schuylkill and Shamokin Regions . ° : Murders in Schuylkill County during the Years 1864, 1865, 1866, and 1867 P . P ° ° ‘ : : ° F : ; Test of A. O. H. ;. ‘ > : ; ; : . é 4 Passwords of A. O. H. : Ave : : : : : : Letter of Jack Kehoe to the Shenandoah Herald .. : . xi PAGE 260 275 285 298 310 322 332 344 355 359 372 375 376 379 HE MOLLY MAGUIRES. Ge al coed ba gt oa THE MOLLY MAGUIRE IN IRELAND AND THE UNITED STATES, Mo.tiy Macurre,—a name identified with sad and terri- ble records of violence, of bloodshed and murders in the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania, and recalling to memory tales of equal horror that have been borne across the ocean from the Emerald Isle. The murders committ d in both localities have a striking resemblance in their in if ception, execution, and very frequently in minute details, and yet, while we regard the one with a feeling of unmixed horror and repulsion, the memory of the other is enveloped in a shroud of unhallowed romance. This difference of feeling is to a certain extent explainable. In the one case crime stands out unrelieved in its naked enormity, whilst in the other the feeling with which it is regarded is modi- fied by the distance of the scene, the mellowing hand of time, and the magic pen of fiction. The tale of unpro- voked and aimless murder in Ireland excites resentment and inspires horror; nevertheless, the peculiar position of the Irish peasant, his modes of thought, and certain characteristics of his race, compel a feeling of repulsive pity for the assassin. Without entering into the merits of the Irish question in relation to England, it is remem- ; , 9 > # <¥ 3 ine) THE MOLLY MAGUIRE IN [IRELAND bered that England and Ireland are bound together by no ties of race, of tradition, or of religion. ‘The one is the Saxon, the other the Celt; the one the conqueror, the other the unwilling subject; the one the Protestant, the other the Catholic. The Irish peasant yields but enforced allegiance to the house of Hanover, and a species of wild homage is still extended to descendants of Celtic kings, rulers of the Emerald Isle, whose line extended back to times when the Druids erected their altars in primeval forests; to a period long anterior to that in which England became a Norman conquest ; to an age preceding its invasion by the Saxon, and its conquest and occupation by the legions and Ceesars of the Roman Empire. ‘To a romantic and impulsive race a history passing back through the vista of centuries into the regions of fable and myth has a present active mean- . ing, whilst the occupation of the ‘‘ hateful Saxon,’’ extend- “ing back but three hundred years, appears only a thing of yesterday. The Irish peasant to- ines as nae first conquered, re- gards the English landlord as an alien to his race, his country, and his religion; as one to whom only enforced respect is due; his presence. is deemed an intrusion, and his title to the land is regarded as being held by a dis- puted tenure. Patriinitely, the lapse of centuries has only to a lim- ited degree lessened the asperities created by a union founded in force, without elements of mutual sympathy. The English, self-satished beyond any other people on earth, proud of the strength of their country, its enterprise, its wealth, and its civilization, re ard with pitying contempt the poverty of their Irish n sig bors, their sentimentality, their romance, their brilliant but erratic genius; and this contempt and pity have been exercised, with that offensive- ness of which Englishmen alone are capable, upon a people ry S ? : AND\' THE UNITED STATES. a3 and women among them, or that the majority are not well-disposed and law-abiding citizens; those who are in intimate communion with them know it to be the case that among no other people can there be found warmer friends, more generous impulses, more fervent piety. But they will also know and feel that even among many of the best of the race, among those whose character no man dare impugn or gainsay, whose lives are without blemish or reproach, is but thinly hidden the feeling of sdetestation against the Irishman as an ‘‘ informer,’’ who,’ cognizant of crime, seeks to bring the criminal to justice by due course of law. * By reason of this feeling the Molly Maguire has held “high carnival’’ in crime, both in Ireland and in the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania; and this feeling must be thoroughly appreciated in order to understand how it is that a people of kindly, generous, and just im- pulses may in a civilized land keep the murderer and assassin among them, known, feared, and detested, and yet the crimes be concealed and the offenders allowed to — defy the law and the authorities. The Molly Maguire of Ireland stands in the birthplace of his ancestors. The history of his race and country, its wrongs, and his temptations, plead in extenuation of his offenses, and, while we detest his crimes, claim our pity for the%criminal. But the Molly Maguire of the coal-fields of Pennsylvania can enter none of the pleas which may be urged in behalf of his prototype in Ireland. Upon this country he has no natural claim or natural right. The genius of our government: guarantees constitutional freedom to the stranger and the alien as well as to the native-born citizen, and to the stranger and the alien’ ~ seeking to make this land their home the full rights of the native-born citizen are accorded. ‘The enterprise of the people, combined with a sparseness of population, the vast ” 14 THE MOLLY MAGUIRE IN IRELAND expanse of territory, the varied climate, the magnitude of our resources, mineral and agricultural, the extended system of internal improvements and inland navigation, offer inducements to the workers of the world, whether capitalists, men of science, or laborers. It is true that incidentally ‘‘a refuge for the suffering and oppressed of all nations’’ is offered; but this only from the fact that our form of government is liberal and our undeveloped re- sources present a field for labor ; but the doors are opened as wide and the welcome accorded is as hearty to the stranger and the alien who has never suffered nor been oppressed. Throwing off as far as may be the mere shell of time-honored but cumbrous forms, adapted to other ages and other conditions of the people, but. seeking to retain the kernel of constitutional freedom inherited from English sires, and availing ourselves of all the progress of the Old World, we take our place young and strong among the nations of the earth. Our aims are high, and we seek no second place. In pursuit of those-aims we welcome the citizens of other lands who join us, and accord to them earnest sympathy, equal hopes, and common rights. But the privileges and advantages of our government and the country, though freely offered to the nations of the earth, are forced on none; the stranger may come and welcome, but if he does not choose to come, his right to stay away is fully accorded. The Irish peasant seeks this country of his own free will, and, being here, has ~ the full rights of the native-born citizen. He is protected in his person ; is encouraged to acquire property; his re- ligion is respected ; in choosing the rulers and making the laws of the. land he has a potent voice. As a laborer, he has special privileges accorded by laws securing the pay- ment of his wages before ordinary and common debts, and in the coal regions, through the medium of Labor Unions and what may be termed the ‘‘unwritten law of the AND THE UNITED STATES. 15 mines,’’ he wields extraordinary power over the property of others. Whatever rights, real or fancied, he may have had to the Irish soil, he has not even the pretense of claim to any here, except such as he may acquire by virtue of the laws of the land. ‘That under these circumstances the turbulent spirit which created outrages in Ireland should develop itself here in repeated and aimless murders, for years undetected and unpunished, excites unmitigated horror and condemnation. This feeling is wide-spread and deep, and the indignation excited throughout the counties wherein these outrages have been perpetrated, and through the country at large, can be allayed only by the complete and thorough disbanding of the ‘* Molly Maguires’’ as an organization, and by evoking and maintaining such a spirit of opposition among the body of the honest and true Irish people as will render the success of such an organization in the future an impossi- bility. The murders by the Molly Maguires in the coal regions of Pennsylvania have been revolting, brutal, and cowardly, perpetrated in cold blood, aimless, and without justifica- tion, real or imaginary, and must be ever so regarded. That such murders could be conceived and perpetrated is only rendered possible and at all explainable by taking into consideration not only the peculiar training and modes of thought of the Irish peasant, before explained, but also certain peculiarities of his residence in the coal regions. These peculiarities will be hereafter considered. , 16 THE ANTHRACITE COAL REGIONS Cie: Do Pei heeels THE ANTHRACITE COAL REGIONS OF PENNSYLVANIA. THE existence of a band of miscreants regularly organ- ized for the commission of crime, extending throughout the anthracite coal-fields, had been suspected for twenty years past. Frequent and flagrant violations of law, which, in the mode of execution and in the instruments employed, displayed organization, system, and a defined policy, in- duced this suspicion. The crime itself, in connection with the mode of its execution, rendered inevitable the con- clusion of a grievance, real or imaginary, to be redressed, -a tribunal before which such grievance had been consid- ered, the offender judged, and the. penalty fixed, and an executive of some kind by whom persons were selected to carry into execution the decree determined upon. In the years directly prior and subsequent to 1830, when the value of anthracite coal was fully recognized as a fuel, an era of speculation in coal lands and coal mining, re- sembling in its main features the days of the gold fever of 1849 in California, and the later excitement in the oil regions of Pennsylvania, developed itself. The capitalist, the man of enterprise, and the adventurer rushed pell-mell to a mountain region theretofore offering but small induce- ments to the emigrant, all hoping to realize sudden fortunes from a newly-discovered source of wealth. Flourishing towns sprang into existence as if by magic, speculation ran wild, fortunes were claimed to have been made in a day, and all the influences affecting a mining region at fever heat were here in full being. The heterogeneous character OF PENNSYLVANIA. 17 of a population, native and foreign, suddenly thrown together under an unnatural business stimulus, produced a degree of lawlessness that would appear, from like results elsewhere, to be necessarily incident to such a condition of affairs. Violent altercations, sudden frays, contempt for authority or civilized usage, were frequent; but such violations of law were spasmodic, arising not from organ- ized crime, but from the comparatively unorganized con- dition of a new population gathered from all points of the compass, acting under undue excitement and not yet settled into the calm routine of civilized life. The art of mining. was considered, in those days, as being exclusively within the knowledge of foreigners, and, as a consequence, the foreign miner and laborer were soon in full force in the actual workings of the mines. The great majority of this class of workmen, who at that time, and since, have settled in the coal regions, have proven good and valuable citizens ; but with them naturally came the outlaw and the desperado. _ To this last class is owing the reign of terror under which the coal region for years past has suffered . After the first wild excitement had passed, when society had become more thoroughly organized, and coal mining had settled into a legitimate business,—subject, however, to alternate periods of great reverses and unexampled pros- perity,—a peculiar distribution of population took place, which has not, perhaps, its parallel in any other portion of the United States. The anthracite coal-fields of Pennsylvania, generally recognized as the ‘‘Northern,’’ “‘ Middle,”’ and ‘ South- ern’’ coal basins, are comprised within or bounded by a line of mountain, which, forming itself some distance -eastward from Mauch Chunk, takes, under the name of ”? the **Second Mountain,’’ a southwesterly course to the Susquehanna River, leaving the towns of Mauch Chunk, Tamaqua, Pottsville, and Tremont to.the north; thence , s 18 THE ANTHRACITE COAL REGIONS in a northeasterly course, as the ‘* Peters Mountain,’’ to a point nearly southwest from Tower City; thence north- westwardly, as ‘‘ Berrie’s Mountain,’’ again crossing the Susquehanna; thence southeastwardly to Taylorsville, as the ‘‘ Mahantongo Mountain ;’’ thence northwestwardly again, in the direction of the Susquehanna, as the ‘‘ Line . Mountain ;’’ thence, bearing in a southeasterly direction, as the ‘‘ Little Mountain’’ (a misnomer), leaving Shamo- kin, Ashland, Shenandoah, and Mahanoy City to the south, to a point in Union Township, Schuylkill County. Here the mountain runs almost due north for some miles as the Catawissa Mountain, when its course is again changed to gee southeasterly as the Nescopeck Mountain; thence north and northwest as the Wyoming Mountain, and thence again in an easterly direction, running north of Wilkes- barre and Scranton, as the Shickshinny Mountain. Within the area inclosed by this mountain lies all the’ at present discovered anthracite coal of Pennsylvania. It embraces not only the large basins before named, but also a number of comparatively.small detached coal-fields. The investi- - gations of recent years have shown these detached basins to be so numerous and extensive as to warrant the assertion of but one coal-field, inclosed within the line of mountain before described, yielding coal wherever sufficient geologi- cal height is attained. Within this area are inclosed the coal-producing portions of Carbon, Schuylkill, Dauphin, Northumberland, Columbia, and Luzerne Counties, and it is to a great extent occupied by a series of majestic moun- - tains, the Sharp, the Broad, the Big Mahanoy, the Little Mahanoy, the Locust, the Green, the Macauley, and others. . In the red shale measures, lying beneath the coal con- glomerates, there have been attempts made at cultivation, and in Luzerne County, where the surface of the ground is not broken as elsewhere throughout the coal region, a a sige OF PENNSYLVANIA. 19 number of good farms are located in the midst of the coal measures. ‘The arable land, however, bears but a very small proportion to the great mountain-ranges, rich in coal and other minerals, which present insurmountable obstacles to the agriculturist in sides of rough, hard con- glomerate rock. Not only is the amount of tillable land limited, but what there is of it is not fully utilized bya population whose primary aim is the development of min- eral resources, who have but little knowledge of husbandry and less taste for the patient toil of the husbandman. Not only are the farms confined to a few localities, but sites for building-purposes convenient to the mining operations or collieries are sometimes difficult to obtain, owing to the rough and jagged surface of the country. This fact those who have visited Pottsville, Mauch Chunk, and Ashland can readily understand. ‘The physical formation of the country, in connection with the nature of the business of mining coal, which necessitates the employment of large bodies of men at fixed points, has gathered together the immense population: of the coal region in cities, towns, and large settlements. * Miles in extent, displaying nature either in its original grandeur or defaced by the hand of the woodsman, fre- quently intervene, not only between settlements, but be- tween any habitations of man. This situation of affairs does not strike the visitor to the coal region with surprise, for the explanation is patent on the face of the country itself; but, in connection with other-causes, it tends to * By the census of 1870, the population of the counties in which anthra- cite coal is found was as follows, viz., Carbon, 28,144; Schuylkill, 116,428 ; Northumberland, 41,444; Luzerne, 160,755. Since the census of 1870 the population of these counties has very largely increased. No account is here taken of the population of Dauphin and Columbia Counties, where important coal operations are located, but which are in extent eriogal rather than mining counties. 20 THE ANTHRACITE COAL REGIONS show the possibility of a state of affairs there which, in a rich agricultural country, where every foot of the surface of the ground is the object of man’s care and is made sub- servient to man’s wants, or even in. a densely-populated city, under proper police regulations, would be regarded as impossible. From the midst of a dense population it is but a step to mountain-ranges within whose recesses the criminal may hide for weeks or months undisturbed and undetected. Not only do the physical character of the country and the nature of the business employment tend to render the population gregarious, but this result is also, to a certain extent, necessitated by the additional facilities thereby gained in obtaining supplies of the necessaries of life. The fuel with which they are warmed is before them, but the food they eat, both animal and vegetable, the clothes they wear, and all that is required for every other material want, must frequently be brought from a great distance. By living in settlements such supplies can there- fore be more readily obtained. Not only is the singular feature presented of nearly the whole population of the coal regions living in cities, towns, and small settlements, oftentimes called ‘‘ patches,’’ but the character and habits of the population in the several settle- ments differ widely from each other. Scranton, Wilkes- barre, Mauch Chunk, Pottsville, and Tamaqua are all business centres, wherein are located banks, manufacturing establishments, the general offices of railroad and coal com- panies, large stores, and where, to a great extent, the.wealth _ of the region naturally clusters. These cities and towns are _ not only business centres, but offer additional inducements, social, educational, and religious, to the coal operator and those whose means enable them to retire from business, in the selection of a place of residence. As a consequence, they have lost, in a great degree, the distinctive character of mining settlements, and differ, perhaps, from other - OF PENNSYLVANIA. 21 places of equal size throughout the country only in being more cosmopolitan ; this arising from the wide range em- braced by their business operations and the varied character of the inhabitants. ‘Towns such as Ashland, Shenandoah, Mahanoy City, Minersville, St. Clair, Hazleton, Pittston, Plymouth, and many others of large population, to a cer- tain degree partake of the character of business and social centres, but the mining classes, being largely in the majority, regulate and control them. Besides these two classes of towns there are a great number of ‘ patches,’’ or settle- ments, whose population is entirely composed of miners and laborers and those whose business is either directly or indirectly connected with the mines. While the admix- ture of the foreign element.pervades every part of the re- gion, in the large cities and towns native-born citizens of the United States hold control, but at the colliery towns the power of the foreigner is absolute. In these last still fur- ther divisions are made, some being almost exclusively composed of Irishmen, with natives of Queens and other counties, Ireland, largely in the majority. In such towns not only have the manners, customs, and modes of thought of the Irish people been transplanted, but even the local prejudices incident to certain localities in that beautiful but, in many respects, unfortunate land. Coming here fresh from the contest with the landlord and land-agent in Ireland, with no surrounding influences to teach them their error, they,transfer a prejudice which has grown with their growth and strengthened with their strength to the coal operator and the boss, from whom they derive their sub- . . ” sistence, and under whose direction they work. . Taught from infancy to believe that as against them capital is never used except as an instrument of oppression, under the in- fluence, sometimes, of real wrongs, but more frequently under a mistaken belief of an encroachment upon their rights, a spirit of resistance is aroused, which wicked and « . »= ae RELATION OF THE LABOR UNION designing wretches have so used and controlled as to render the undetected commission of horrid crimes not only easy but, to a certain extent, sympathized with. That the above is no justification for such a state of affairs is true ; neverthe- less, it explains, or tends to explain, the possibility of its existence. CECA Peres RELATION OF THE LABOR UNION AND THE MOLLY MAGUIRE— THE MOLLY MAGUIRE POLITICAL AND OTHERWISE. For the purpose of showing the possibility of the suc- cessful organization and working of the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ association at this period in the world’s history, in a sec- tion of the country densely populated, and teeming with mineral wealth of vast importance to the progress and growth of the nation, where business has settled into legiti- mate channels, where law is respected and maintained by the vast majority of the community, where capital to the amount of hundreds of millions is invested and wields its strong arm in maintenance of the rights of person and ‘property, some reference to certain characteristics and prejudices of the Irish peasant, created and nurtured in his ~~ native land, appeared unavoidable. It has also been deemed necessary to explain how, by reason of the physical forma- tion of the coal regions, the nature of coal mining and the method of carrying it on, settlements have sprung into ex+ istence not only composed. of Irishmen, but representing” also, to a great extent, localities in that country, each with its ‘local ideas and -prejudices,—Ireland itself, as it were, _ transported to the coal regions. It must not be understood that any imputation or reflection is intended against thea 4 AND THE MOLLY MAGUIRE, 23 character of the miners and laborers of the coal regions. Such laborers are composed in the main of foreigners,— German, English, Scotch, Welsh, Poles, and Irish,—and the assertion is made without fear of contradiction, that in no large laboring community in the world can there be found better citizens or more abiding respect for law and order than among the majority of the coal miners of the anthracite regions. Nor is there any intention in any way to attack the Irish element or the Irish people. ‘Todo so would be in the face of the fact that Ireland is pre-emi- nently the land in which orators, poets, statesmen, and soldiers have claimed a birthplace or to which they trace their lineage. Asa nation they are warm-hearted, gener- ous, and impulsive to a fault; brave, romantic, and en- thusiastic. Among no other people can be found examples of greater heroism or of more sublime self-sacrifice. No heart beats more sympathetically to a tale of suffering, and no hand responds more kindly to the claim of family, friend, or kindred. ‘‘ Their men are brave and their women are chaste,’’ has ever been recognized as to them no un- meaning eulogy. In their very faults they oftentimes dis- play their virtues, and those who have examined most - thoroughly into the inside workings of the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ organization can recognize in many of their crimes, dark, foul, and damnable though they are, traces of a perverted chivalry. It is from no mean or ignoble characteristic in the Irish people that has arisen the preju- . dice under the influence of which they class the witness who testifies as to the commission of crime in which he had no part with the ‘‘ informer’’ who first instigates and then betrays. Nor is the impulse wholly bad which stands in behalf of the honor of old Ireland, of race and of re- ligion, in earnest support of a criminal through good report and through evil report, in whose deeds they have _ x part, whose crimes they abhor, and whose professions — ¢ rele s we * 24 RELATION OF THE LABOR UNION of religion are felt to be a stigma and a disgrace. To de- spise meanness, to maintain confidence, to revere coun- try, to cherish family and kindred, to uphold religion, are all virtues of the highest order, and yet the perversion of these virtues has rendered the existence of the ‘‘ Molly Maguires’’ a possibility. ‘The order is composed entirely of Irishmen and the sons of Irishmen, professing the Roman Catholic faith, and yet their.crimes are regarded with intense horror by the body of the Irish people, and against the order the Church has hurled its fiercest anath- emas, denouncing its members as outlaws, and denying them Christian burial. That despite such sentiment of the people and such action on the part of the Church the soci- ety should. grow and flourish is to be accounted for, as before stated, in a romantic and perverted exercise of im- pulses founded on virtues. The magnitude and length of the ‘‘strikes’’ in the coal region, combined with the influence of those ‘‘ strikes,’’ not only on business but also on domestic interests, throughout a very large section of the country, have drawn special atten- tion to the ‘*‘ Laborers’ and Miners’ Union,’’ and an im- pression has to some extent obtained that the ‘‘ Labor Union,”’ if not identical, is at least in earnest sympathy with the ‘* Molly Maguires.’’ The only color for such a charge exists in the fact that the great majority of the ‘‘ Mol- lies’? belong to the ‘‘ Union,’’ and that the counsels of such members were naturally for violent rather than peace- able redress, and, further, that most of the notorious out- rages committed by ‘‘ Mollies’’ were against capital, as represented in property or in the persons of superin- tendents and bosses. It is also true that decrees of the ‘¢Union’’ were enforced under the influence of a fear of violence against the disobedient, whether members of the ‘‘Union”’ or not,’’—a fear strengthened by the marching of bodies of men from colliery to colliery, demanding an AND THE MOLLY MAGUIRE. 25 immediate stoppage of work, and the necessity that has arisen to call at different times upon the executive of the State for the military to preserve the peace and protect property. Nevertheless, the charge of sympathy or willing co-operation of the ‘‘ Labor Union,’’ as a body, with the ** Mollies,’’ is believed to be without foundation. Public attention has been specially called, as before re- marked, to the ‘‘ Unions’’ of the ‘anthracite coal-fields, owing to the wide-spread. effect of their actions upon the public at large ; but in the principles upon which they are founded, and in their government and general administra- tion, they are nearly, if not quite, identical with the vari- ous labor and trades unions which have been formed by almost every branch of labor, trade, and mechanic art in this country and in Europe. A charge against them of crime by reason of their organ- ization could be brought with equal force against every association of a similar character here and elsewhere, and would bring up every vexed and mooted question in relation to capital and labor, the discussion of which would be foreign to the present subject. It may be observed, how- ever, just here, that the tendency of the age appears to be to centralization, and that capital, which is condensed labor, is centralized or combined in great corporations, that such corporations combine with one another in further- ance of whatever end may be in view, and that that end may frequently be subversive of the interest of the laboring man or artisan. 3 To admit the right of combination for the protection of capital, and deny it for the protection of labor, would seem neither logic nor justice, and this view, both statute law and courts, exercising, as they properly should, a fos- tering care over labor, have upheld.* # A combination of employers to depress the wages of journeymen B “ 26 RELATION OF THE LABOR UNION But be the merits of the question what they may, as has been before stated, the great body of the miners and labor- ers of the coal region, albeit mostly foreigners, and very many of those foreigners Irish, will compare favorably with any other large body of laborers, bound by a common in- terest, and forming the mass of communities, in the world. Whether judging wisely or unwisely of their true interest, very many, and in some sections the large majority, of the best of such workingmen belong to the ‘‘ Union.”’ Nor are these men mere ignorant ‘‘hewers of wood and drawers of water.’’ Education, it is true, is not so gen- erally diffused among them as among Americans of the present or foreigners of the rising generation, but instances of a high degree of culture are by no means rare, and shrewdness and common sense are usual. These men are not murderers, neither do they sympa- thize with murder, and none more earnestly rejoice than r below what they would be if there was no recurrence to artificial means by either side, is criminal—Commonwealth vs. Carlisle, Gibson, J., Brightly's Reports, 41. It must be evident, therefore, that an association is criminal when its object is to depress the price of labor below what it would bring if it were left without artificial excitement by either masters or journeymen to take its chance in the market. . . . A combination to resist oppression, not merely supposed but real, would be perfectly innocent.—/ézd., 42. There are a variety of British precedents of indictments against journey- men for combining to raise their wages, and precedents rank next to de- cisions as evidence of the law; but it has been thought sound policy in England to put this class of the community under restrictions so severe, by statutes that were never extended to this country, that we ought to pause before we adopt their law of conspiracy as respects artisans.—/d7d., 37. Shaw, C. J.: The averment is this; that the defendants and others formed themselves into a society, and agreed not to work for any person who should employ any journeyman or other person not a member of such society, after notice given him to discharge such workman. The manifest intent of the association is to induce all those engaged in the same occupation to become members of it. Such purpose is not unlaw- ful.--Commonwealth vs. Hunt ef a/., 4 Metcalf, 128. SS AND THE MOLLY MAGUIRE. 27 they in the belief that a reign of terror is over, and that law and order will rule instead. While it is not and cannot be denied by the ‘‘ Labor Union’’ that many of the ‘‘ Mollies’’ belong to the asso- ciation, it is a matter of congratulation that only a few of those at present recognized as criminals do so. And yet it may be that from the manner of enforcing ‘¢strikes,’’ in the early history of the coal region, arose the idea among fugitives from justice, and those who had been members of kindred organizations when in Ireland, of the practicability of a society for the perpetration of crime and the defeat of the course of justice. As has been stated, in the early history of the coal trade, when speculation ran wild, when society was forming itself, when an El] Dorado was sought in mountains of rock, whose geology was then an unsolved riddle and is even now not fully understood, and which offered no attraction except to the angler, the adventurous tourist, or the artist, scenes of turbulence, crime, and violence were by no means rare. But crime was spasmodic, and such as gener- ally accompanies speculative fever in the early days of mining enterprise. Since anthracite coal mining has become regularly estab- lished, it is doubtful whether any great interest of the country has been so subject to sudden fluctuation as the coal business. In its successful working a very large amount of capital is now andshas been required, and yet, as a rule, the coal operator or lessee of coal land (for the ~ owner has seldom mined his own lands) has been a man of enterprise and dash rather than capital. At times the profits arising from mining coal have been exceedingly large, and for the chances of such periods great risks have been taken, and frequent and heavy failures have been a natural consequence. With the fluctuations of the trade fluctuated the de- 28 RELATION OF THE LABOR UNION mand for, and wages of, labor. In periods of prosperity every available hand was employed, at almost fabulous rates, and a heavy draft made on the surplus labor not only of this country but also of Europe. In times of reverses occurred long days of enforced idleness, with thousands out of employment, in a section of country affording com- paratively little agricultural or other recourse beyond mining. The adjustment of wages, therefore, has always been an open field for controversy between the employer and em- ployed, and misunderstandings and utter estrangement have too often been the consequence; the employer look- ing upon his men as totally regardless of his interests or his misfortunes, and the men, on their part, viewing the employer as the representative of capital, ever seeking to degrade and trample under foot the rights of labor. ‘The few direct points of contact, the different places of resi- dence, the different modes of life and associations, intensi- fied a state of feeling which was frequently taken advantage of and controlled by ruffians, understanding little and caring less for the issues at stake, who instigated deeds of violence, either in a wanton spirit of evil or to subserve ; private ends. In consequence of large bodies of workingmen residing - in distinct communities and at distant points, and between whose members existed a friendship in many instances formed beyond the ocean, but who had no acquaintance or intercourse with any coal operators, superintendents, or bosses other than their own, a system of enforcing danger- ous or unlawful demands grew into being. For example, a demand for higher wages being made and refused, the parties so demanding would remain apparently acquiescent, either for the reason that no open conflict would be desired with the employer, or that a movement to. enforce such demand did not receive the full sanction of the whole body of work- Ee i ae «Se AND THE MOLLY MAGUIRE. 29 men, without whose active aid and co-operation it would be ineffectual. The next movement would be to write anonymous letters, delivered by a secret hand, or posted on the coal-breaker, or other building attached to the works, warning obnoxious parties, and generally contain- ing threats of personal violence. Such letters or notices usually contained rude drawings of coffins and of pistols, and have attained wide-spread notoriety, both in this coun- try and in Ireland, as ‘‘ coffin notices.’’ If these notices were disregarded, personal notice would be given, requiring a ‘‘strike,’’ or whatever might have been determined upon, by strangers from a distant colliery, unknown to all not immediately engaged in the conspiracy. Upon those still refusing to obey, further notice was sometimes served, but at once the full force of social ostracism would be bfought to bear upon them as enemies of the workingman, fre- quently followed by waylayings, abuse, and fearful beatings. And here let it be remarked that it is a great error to assume that the evil deeds of the band of miscreants who have infested the coal regions have been altogether against persons and property representing capital. Their iron rule was felt by all, the high and the low alike, and many a poor laboring man has suffered untold hardships, his life rendered a curse from constant fear, or has met unexpected death at their hands in some unnoticed brawl. , The perpetrators of the outrages were generally disguised and unknown to the victim, and escape to the woods was easy. In those rare cases where a clue to the criminal was found or suspected, and the offender brought to the bar of justice, the ever-convenient ‘‘ alibi’? was ready, and a ver- dict of ‘‘not guilty’? was compelled. It can readily be understood how in such a condition of affairs the peace- able and well-disposed should succumb to the rule of the desperado and the ruffian, the more especially as the pecu- liar views relative to ‘‘informers’’ held by that large class a ~] 30 | RELATION OF THE LABOR UNION of the laboring population represented by Irishmen ren- dered the detection of crime still more difficult. Nor is it strange that crime, being a success, and going unwhipped of justice, should develop in strength, seek or- ganization, and revel in the madness of Satanic power. A whisper of such organization spread abroad, and the names of ‘‘ Buckshot’’* and ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ became household words, inspiring far greater wonder and terror in the cot of the laborer than in the mansion of the wealthy or among the residents of the larger towns. It is not generally understood, but it is believed to be a fact, that as some protection against this organization very many of the best disposed of the miners and laborers joined the ‘‘ Labor Union.’’ ‘Through it they sought a power by which the actions of an unknown and irrespon- . sible set of men could be controlled, and through it they | hoped to be enabled to have some voice in questions of labor which affected their very existence. Such action on their part was not only natural but proper; their labor was their capital and their life, and to have some influence as to its direction was their first desire. The end in view was, however, but partly accomplished. Shortly after the break- ing out of the war an era of prosperity in coal-mining interests commenced, which continued for some years. Wages were high and labor was in demand, and little if any attention was paid to the character of the laborer em- ployed. The ‘‘ Labor Unions’’ increased in numbers, combined, extended their connections, and became arrogant. This state of affairs gave to the worst element in that or- ganization, the idle, the vagabond, and the criminal, undue power and influence. * The ‘‘ Buckshots’” and ‘‘ Mollies’’ are identical. The name first adopted in the coal region was that of ‘‘ Buckshot.” The organization can be traced back to 1854 or 1855, and even earlier, AND THE MOLLY MAGUIRE. 31 It is natural for man to avail himself of power, and the power of labor was in the ascendant. Encroachment after encroachment was made upon the rights of the employer, until it came to be claimed that no man should be em- ployed and no man discharged except as sanctioned by the ‘*Union.’? The manner of working, the hours of working, the superintendents and the bosses, were held to be under their control and subject to their direction. They claimed a right to fix a rate of wages and times of payment, without at the same time according to the em- ployer the privilege of refusing their demands and em- ploying others in their stead. Some of these acts are attributable to the circumstances which gave them the power, and others to the pernicious influence of the band of criminals who foisted themselves among them. Whilst it is an act of simple justice to the leaders of the ‘‘ Labor Union’”’ to acknowledge that, as a general rule, the true interests of the workingman, from their stand-point, were sought to be obtained peaceably and through compromise, and whilst in such efforts they had the approval of the great body of the society, unreasonable demands were pressed through the influence and granted through fear of the ‘‘ Molly Maguire.’’ Under the influence of orgamzation and of general pros- perity, the ‘‘ Mollies’’ increased in numbers and in power. Throughout the coal regions they completely controlled the organization known as the A. O. H., or Ancient Order of Hibernians, and, using that order as'a cloak, endeavored to increase still further their numbers and their influence, on the pretext that the order is chartered by the Legisla- ture for legal and proper purposes as a benevolent associa- tion. The ambition of the leaders among them, many of whom deserted labor and the mines for the more con- genial and influential positions of small tavern and saloon keepers, kept pace with their increased power. ,They é 32 RELATION OF THE LABOR UNION sought not only to control the movements of the ‘‘ Labor Union,”’ to inspire whole coal-mining interests with a fear of their displeasure, but also to have a potent voice in politics, township, county, State, and national. The most direct object of their ambition existed in the management of township affairs and the funds arising from road and school taxes. Lands having an immense salable value, as high as five hundred dollars, one thousand dollars, and even upwards, per acre, were under their influence and control, as subjects of assessment and the collection of taxes. Possessed of but little taxable property themselves, these lands, especially in the way of the fund arising from road-taxes, were of immense importance in advancing the power and influence of the society. A road once constructed on a barren, rocky soil, such as the coal region as a general rule presents, costs but little to keep in repair, and yet the taxes assessed and levied have in some instances been as high as twelve hundred dollars per mile in a single year. This money has been used not only as a fund by dishonest township officials, but also in the interest of parties who only nominally worked upon the roads. The misapplication of school funds has not been so flagrant and so extensive as that of those collected for road purposes. It has nevertheless been a power in perpet- uating the reign of terror under which the coal regions have been held. In county politics they have, in a number of instances, urged with much force members of the organiza- tion as. candidates for leading offices, and in Schuylkill County succeeded in three instances in electing ‘* Mollies’’ to the office of County Commissioner, an office of great importance, as one of the powers of the Board of Com- missioners is that of appointing the collectors of county taxes.* In Schuylkill County also, in one instance, a no- %* In Carbon County two “ Mollies’’ have at different times held the * ve AND THE MOLLY MAGUIRE. 33 ? torious ‘‘ Molly,’’ now convicted of high crimes and mis- demeanors, succeeded in receiving the nomination for Associate Judge, and only failed of the election by a few hundred votes out of a poll of many thousands. In every election they have exercised a corrupting influence, by the demand of money or promises antecedent to their support. For State and national offices, townships have been put up for sale to the highest bidder, and the vote delivered ac- cording to contract. Rumors of a vote to be given on account of a pardon to be extended to some offender or offenders whom no perjury could save from the meshes of the law, have been common; and such pardon, following quickly after the result of an election has become known, has given those rumors a force and effect they would not otherwise possess. From both of the great political parties money has been demanded in exchange for their support, and it is to be feared that members of both parties have yielded to their unjust demands. With township offices and township funds under their absolute control, with county officials under their influence, their votes sought and purchased at State and national elections, their crimes rarely detected, and when detected often pardoned, it is hardly matter of wonder that throughout the coal regions crime held high carnival, that fraud was permitted without question, and that the murderer shot down his victim in the broad light of day and in the presence of many witnesses with scarcely a care for concealment. The overgrown power of the ‘‘ Labor Union,’’ and the burdensome taxation imposed upon real estate through the influence of the ‘‘ Molly’’ organization, as well as a general feeling of insecurity as to life and property, made office of County Commissioner, and a ‘‘ Molly’’ also succeeded in being elected to the State Legislature. Both the Democratic and the Repub- lican party have been victimized. B* Fe »*™ 34 RELATION OF THE LABOR UNION the surrender of individual operators to the policy of great coal mining and transporting companies of comparatively easy accomplishment. The owner of productive coal lands, wearied by the continual struggle between his ten- ants and the men, whereby his income was seriously 1m- paired, was glad to sell his lands at a moderate figure in comparison to their true value, whilst the owner of unpro- ductive lands, borne down by taxes, and seeing no hope in the future, was glad, at a comparatively small price, to dispose of property that was becoming an intolerable burden. ‘The masses of the people of this country have wit: nessed with great misgivings the increasing power of these overgrown monopolies; but, dangerous as their great powers - may become if vested in unscrupulous hands, it may well be doubted if through any other means the evils that had sprung into existence could have been rooted out. The control and management of the mines, the manner of their working, the right to employ and discharge hands, were passing away from the owners, and were fast vesting in, not the ‘‘Labor Union’’ proper, but the ‘‘ Labor Union”’ under the direction of the ‘*‘ Molly Maguires.”’ The great companies combined in a struggle for the ownership of their property, and in the struggle have been materially assisted by the prostration of business under which we at present suffer; but it is only at this time, after long and careful preparation, that the blow has been struck which has broken down an organization as ter- rible as any in the world’s history. The detailed statement of events connected with the existence of that organiza- tion reads like a horrible tale of a past age, of the Thug of India, the Bandit of Italy, the Buccaneer of the Spanish — main, of scenes afar from civilization, where law was pow- erless to defend or punish. ‘That in the second half of the nineteenth century, in one of the richest and most populous regions of Pennsylvania, with courts of justice in full force, AND THE MOLLY MAGUIRE. 35 and the majority of citizens ready and willing to execute the law, property should be*held by only a nominal owner- ship, freedom of action be denied to thousands under fear of sudden and dreadful death, and the incendiary and assassin attempt their hellish work in the broad glare of day, would seem utterly incredible, and yet, difficult as it is to realize, it is true. By the great body of the workingmen of the coal regions the maintenance of the rights of property was, if not wel- comed, at least cheerfully accorded in. But with the pros- tration of business the ‘‘ Molly’’ seemed to madden in his career of crime, and to become fairly drunken with blood. Deeds of arson and murder were planned in rapid succes- sion ; some were foiled, but many were executed. Men for merely acting in obedience to orders, or in the line of official duty, were shot down like dogs. Murder was deemed worthy of reward, and he who committed the greatest number and most terrible of crimes took the highest social rank in this fearful band. No man’s life was felt to be safe; vigilance committees were being formed, and probably most fearful retaliation would have been meted out, in which, it may be, the innocent would have suffered with the guilty, when the arrest of the murderers of Johu P. Jones, of Lansford, still fresh from the scene of blood, revived hopes that justice, according to the forms of law, was still possible. ‘The result has justified these hopes. The confessions of the criminals, the testimony of James McParlan the detective, the energetic and thorough action of the Wilkesbarre Coal and Iron Company and the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, and the firm attitude maintained by court and jury in the dis- charge of duty, all render evident the glorious truth that the story of ‘* Molly Maguire’’ outrages has passed into history, and that the power of the organization for evil is broken forever. 36 SOCIETIES IN IRELAND C.EPALP TH Riggie ie SOCIETIES IN IRELAND AND AMERICA. Ir is doubtful whether the ‘‘ Ribbon’”’ society in Ireland, terrible as is its record, even in the days of its greatest strength, ever attained a moiety of the power and influ- ence reached by the ‘‘ Molly Maguires”’ of the anthracite coal-fields of Pennsylvania during the past fifteen years. This is perhaps owing to the fact that the Irish peasant in the land of his nativity, discontented and turbulent, for centuries has been held under subjection and control by the strong hand of England. Living on the same estate, and frequently in the same miserable cot, occupied by generations of his ancestors, poor and down-trodden, his means of intercourse with distant points were limited and rendered dangerous through the ‘‘spy’’ and ‘‘informer’’ in the constant employ of the authorities. Taught, how- ever, the full value of combination through the various conspiracies instigated by the exiled House of Stuart, under the control and management of French emissaries, organizations more or less powerful were effected. Such organizations, however, although co-operating, bearing the same name, and having the same general object in view, never attained the same power of combination as that reached by the Molly Maguire in the comparatively lim- ited area of the anthracite coal-fields, with its immense population and rapid means of transit from point to point. Among the emigrants to this country, it must be borne in mind, an undue proportion of the discontented class of Irish peasants found their way. The ravages occasioned by the potato-rot in Ireland in 1846 were too great to be borne AND AMERICA. 37 by an overcrowded population already fearfully pressed by poverty. Naturally they turned abroad for relief, and the United States, offering a broad field for labor at remunera- tive wages, was looked upon as a ‘‘harbor of refuge.”’ The necessity of some means of relief was recognized by all classes, the landlord as well as the tenant, and such relief . was felt to be in a course of systematized emigration. As a consequence, on some estates inducements to emigrate were offered and a portion of the expenses defrayed by the landlord. In some instances emigration was practically required, and where this was the case it can readily be un- derstood that coercive means were applied to the criminal or the turbulent. It was not uncommon to collude in the flight of criminals from the country, and to offer aid and advice to those suspected of criminal acts to save them- selves from prosecution by a voyage across the ocean. In many instances those who had been lawless under the influence of bad association and dire necessity in Ireland ~ have, by counter-influences in this land, developed into good and valuable citizens. But in too many cases a turbu-— lent spirit of resistance to lawful authority, together with a morbid suspicion and fear of encroachments upon their rights and privileges, has developed itself into a wild and unreasoning cry for justice where no oppression was in- tended or offered, and has resulted in deeds of fearful crime, which have tended to sully the Irish name and thrown a stain—unjustly, it is contended and believed— on the Irish character. The spirit and genius of our civ- ilization and laws are not repressive; with us, the most effective rules of conduct are enforced by public sentiment, stronger far than penal statute, court of justice, or minister of law, and that sentiment, as a general rule, is overwhelm- ingly in favor of submission to lawful authority. By reason of this general disposition on the part of the whole body of the people, associations and societies, secret and other- 4 38 SOCIETIES IN IRELAND wise, for almost every conceivable purpose, are sanctioned by the law and are regarded with no suspicion. The A. OQ. H., or Ancient Order of Hibernians, a so- ciety regularly NconnOraten under the laws of Pennsylvania as a beneficial association, and connecting itself with divi- sions of the order throughout the United States and Great Britain, has been controlled throughout the greater por- tion of the anthracite coal-fields of Pennsylvania for a few years past by the class of Irishmen known as the Molly Ma- guires. Through the medium of this order a thorough and _ complete organization of the worst classes throughout the coal region has been effected. The avowed object of the society as a beneficial association has been, so far as can be learned, entirely dropped, and in the heart of the most populous towns, before the eyes of the whole community, conventions have been held in which crimes have been planned, considered, and approved, and murder agreed to be rewarded. It was by means of this organization, through which unity of action was attainable, that a political influence was ac- quired that for a time seemed to render the Molly Maguire omnipotent for evil. That the society has existed in some form and under various names as far back as 1855, or per- haps before, there is little doubt, but prior to 1862 or 1863 it was confined to particular localities, and, although the instrument of much evil, had not reached the degree of arrogant confidence attained in.after-years, and only now shaken by the terrible revelations in regard to its true ob- jects and character. | The Ancient Order of Hibernians is a society having 2 large membership throughout the United States and Great Britain. It is said to contain among’its active members men of high character and unblemished lives, and the avowed object of its formation is not only lawful but good. There is no conclusive evidence. which connects the order AND AMERICA. 39 outside of the coal region with criminal acts, in this country or in Great Britain, and it is but simple justice, until the contrary is shown, to believe that the name and charter of the association were taken possession of by the ‘‘ Molly”’ outlaws in violation of the general principles of the order.* It is true that it is a matter in testimony ina case of ‘‘ con- spiracy to commit murder,’”’ tried in Schuylkill County in August, 1876, that the leading officers of the order in the city of New York used money belonging to the associa- tion to aid a criminal member in fleeing from justice. A charitable view of the transaction would ascribe so unwar- rantable an act to individual sympathy of men in what was seemingly a benevolent act, rather than to recognized official authority to defeat the ends of justice. It is al- leged, however, that the national delegates at New York have assessed the sum of five dollars on each division of the order—some six thousand in number—throughout the United States, making in the aggregate the sum of thirty thousand dollars, to defray the expenses of the defense of the ‘* Mollies’’ charged with crime in the coal region. This has produced open revolt in the case of one division, and their action in making the assessment-is regarded by the public generally with strong disapproval. It is, however, by-no means conclusive evidence of either the sympathy or complicity of the order generally in. criminal acts. Men, however criminal, are entitled to all the protection the law affords, and are justly entitled to a fair trial and the benefit of able counsel.. That some such feeling rather than a consciousness of common guilt controlled what must be considered under the circumstances the ill-advised * John J. Slattery, an influential member, testified at Mauch. Chunk, October 21, 1876, as follows, viz.: ‘‘ I have it from members and county delegates, and others, that the entire organization from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Gulf of Mexico to Maine, is criminal in its char- acter.” 40 SOCIETIES IN TRELAND action of the national delegates, it is but fair to assume. That the order throughout this country and Great Britain has not openly and officially repudiated and denounced those who in the coal regions have brought a lasting stigma and disgrace upon the organization, is not so readily under- stood. ‘To do so would appear natural as a means of self- protection and self-justification ; that it has not been done is a matter of deep regret to those who are sincerely and earnestly anxious to believe that no considerable body of American citizens, whatever may be the place of their na- tivity, sympathize with ruffians, incendiaries, and assassins. Had the lodges or chapters of any other organization in the United States been proven to have used their organiza- tion in a manner contrary to the purposes of its creation, and to have been guilty of one tithe of the crimes already proven to have been committed under the sanction of divi- sions of the A. O. H. in Schuylkill, Northumberland, and Carbon Counties, earnest and open disavowal would have been instant and thorough, by the official action of the or- ganization at large, and by the individual members of it. That denunciation has not followed the exposure of crime in this instance is only explainable—consistently with en- tire innocence—by keeping in view the clannish character of the Irish people, their thorough detestation of the ‘‘informer,’’ and a mistaken sense of honor, which would characterize the desertion of the coal-region fiends in the hour of their overthrow as cowardly and base. It is to be hoped that before these remarks are pub- lished to the world such disavowal shall have been made. That there should be any question whatever on the subject serves to illustrate to some extent a power and influence of the ‘‘ Molly’’ organization painful to acknowledge. Whilst the Molly Maguire of the United States, in his inception of crime, in his method of notifying the in- tended victim, and in his mode of perpetration of outrage, AND AMERICA. 41 bears a striking likeness to his prototypes, the Ribbonman and Molly Maguire of Ireland, it is believed that no other connection exists. The Ribbon Society, whose deeds fill so large a space in the annals of crime in Ireland, was organized in mainten- ance of what were claimed to be the just and inalienable rights and privileges of the tenants relative to the landed estates. As has been before stated, the education of the Irish peasant, his religion, and a prejudice, the growth of centuries, induces a hatred to English rule, and especially to that of the family at present on the throne. ‘The land- lord is regarded as a natural enemy, holding title to the land by force, and not by right. Under the influence of such prejudice and feelings, a certain unwritten code of laws, or ‘‘tenant rights,’’ came into being, by which the tenant claimed to possess his leasehold estate without, under any circumstances, the right of dispossession existing in the landlord. ‘The landlord might be desirous of improving his estate, or rent be largely in arrears; nevertheless, any action on his part in maintenance of his right of property, under the Ribbon code, was to be resisted to the death. - But not only upon the landlord did the Ribbonmen ex- ercise their deadly vengeance; other tenants entering upon the possession of the disputed property were equally with the landlords and land-agents the victims of murderous, and generally fatal, attacks. This society sprang into ex- istence in the early part of the present century, maintained its unhallowed existence for many years, and only received permanent check upon the execution of Hodgens and Breen, convicted of conspiracy to murder Patrick McArdle, at Carrickmacross, in 1852. The principal points of operation of this society were in Tipperary, Kings, Queens, Meath, Westmeath, Louth, and Monaghan Counties. The numerous murders and other outrages which they have committed have done much to 4* 42 SOCIETIES IN IRELAND retard the improvement and prosperity of Ireland, to in- crease the evils arising from ‘‘ absentee’ ownership, and to prevent the growth of those kindly relations and mutual interests which should exist between the owner of the soil and his less fortunate tenant. In a number of instances -the land-owners for years virtually yielded their estates to the control of a discontented tenantry. Strange to say, all ordinary rules in the management of property which have proven successful in other countries, in Ireland seemed to excite the most bitter opposition. The landlord anxious to improve his estate and looking to the advancement in prosperity of his tenantry, the philanthropist filled with kindly intentions and anxious to render full justice tem- pered with charity, were in constant danger and frequently the victims of the assassin ; whilst the good-natured, fox- hunting, drunken squire, having no end in view but his own ease and the gratification of his own selfish impulses, yielding to prejudices because too careless and too indo- lent to run counter to them, was enabled to be guilty of real acts of oppression, and at the same time to live in per- fect safety, enjoying a high degree of personal prosperity. A condition of affairs so paradoxical could exist only among a people where the heart rather than the head is the con- trolling power, whose habits are eminently social, whose prejudices are intense, and with whom good-natured, open- hearted manners are of more avail than lasting benefits conferred with a repellent hand. That the Irish peasant was himself the victim of many a high-handed act of oppression well-authenticated tales place beyond the possibility of a doubt. It is hard to im- agine two classes of men more dissimilar and less likely to coalesce than the English and the Irish. The English, cold; staid, unyielding, and methodical, prejudiced beyond any other people, with analytical power to understand such prejudices and discuss them, with candor and honesty to AND AMERICA. 43 acknowledge them, and witha magnificent self-sufficiency to glory in them, regard with sovereign scorn, of which there is no attempt at concealment, the open manner, the in- formality, the impulsive and careless extravagance of their Irish neighbors. In every prominent characteristic the two nations are at variance, and in their intercourse, political and social, generally meet with the jagged side of each presented. ‘The Englishman in his own way, and in his own fashion, possesses far more real philanthropic feeling than the Irishman; he has an earnest desire to act not only justly, but even kindly, if he only knew how; but the Irish question, an unsolved problem centuries ago, still remains as complex as ever. That the Ribbonmen as against the English government, and in defiance of Saxon landlords, should not meet de- termined resistance was not in the nature of things. On some estates landlords endeavored to maintain their legal rights with all the machinery of the law, and ‘‘ process- servers, | “‘ grippers,’’ **keepers,’’ and ‘‘drivers’’’ were employed to serve the tenants with legal processes for the collection of rent. The ‘‘grippers’’ had in charge the arresting of all tenants against whom decrees for non- payment of rent had been obtained ; the ‘‘ keepers’’ were employed to watch the crops, lest they should be carried off in the night; whilst the ‘‘drivers’’ were engaged to drive all the live-stock found upon the premises of the de- faulting tenant and lodge them in the pound, from which they were not to be released until the rent was paid. These severe measures, sometimes arbitrary, on the part of the landlord, were met by the most determined resistance on the part of the tenants; and on the barony of Farney, County Monaghan, in the year 1843, the ‘‘ Molly Ma- guires’’ were organized to act as auxiliary to, or in con- nection with, the Ribbonmen. There are a number of traditions as to the origin of the 44 SOCIETIES IN IRELAND AND AMERICA. name of ‘‘ Molly Maguire.’’ One is that the society was formed under the auspices of an old woman of that name, and the first meetings were held at her house. Another account tells of a sort of Amazon of that name who not only planned deviltry, but also was foremost in assisting to execute it. Her followers received the nickname of ‘‘ Molly Maguires.’’ The best-authenticated explanation of the name, however, is that the members were generally stout, active young men, dressed up in women’s clothes, with their faces blackened, or otherwise disguised, with crape or fantastic masks, or with burnt cork about their eyes, mouths, and cheeks.* In this condition they would pounce down upon process-servers, grippers, keepers, and drivers, duck them in bog-holes, beat, and otherwise maltreat them. Under such circumstances the very name of Molly Magaire inspired terror, and to employ officers of the law was not only difficult, but in some instances impossible. It does not appear that the custom of wearing female dresses was observed in all localities in Ireland, nor can any instance now be recalled where the Molly Maguires have ever done so in this country. As has been before remarked, no connection is known: to exist between the ‘‘Ribbonmen’’ and ‘‘ Molly Ma- guires’’ of Ireland and the ‘‘ Molly Maguires’”’ of the coal region, without—and of that there is no present proof— such connection should be through the Ancient Order of Hibernians. The ‘‘ Mollies’’ have often committed out- rages here that resemble in the minutest details the crimes of their prototypes across the ocean, and this, too, with- out one single mitigating circumstance to relieve their horrid enormity. ‘The ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ of the coal re- gion comes into existence without cause, or pretense of a cause, in the past or present. history of this country. * Trench’'s “ Realities of Irish Life.” CARBON AND SCHUYLKILL COUNTIES. 45 Standing the equal before the law of any man or set of men in the land, his rights guarded, and even his prejudices respected, he becomes with fiendish malice and in cold blood an incendiary and assassin, a curse to the land that has welcomed him with open arms, and a blot, a stain, and a disgrace upon the character of his countrymen and the name of the land of his nativity. CH AP EER AV, CARBON AND SCHUYLKILL COUNTIES, 1861 TO 186s. IMMEDIATELY prior to, and during the first years of, the war, the development of what is known as the middle an- thracite coal-field was in its infancy. The construction of the Philadelphia and Sunbury Railroad from Sunbury to Mount Carmel, and the extension of the Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad over the Broad Mountain to Ashland, it is true, had opened the western portion of that basin, in the vicinity of Shamokin and Ashland, to enter- prise and capital. But in the centre of the basin, where are located the magnificent Girard estate and other valu-— able mineral lands, and to the eastward, settlements were sparse, with but little improvement. The stimulus to the anthracite coal trade by reason of the demand created by the war, and the consequent building of new railroad out- lets to market, have caused this region to spring, as if by -magic, into full development, with an immense popula- tion; and this fact is necessary to be borne in mind in order that the shifting of the field of operations of the ‘Molly Maguire,’’ hereafter narrated, may be understood. At the period to which we refer, however, the great coal 46 CARBON AND SCHUYLKILL COUNTIES, operations were being worked to the west of Pottsville, in Schuylkill County, in the neighborhood of Summit Hill, in Carbon County, and in the great upper coal-field in | Luzerne County. At an early day ill-defined rumors that an order called the ‘‘ Black Spots’’ was in existence in the vicinity of Pottsville had been afloat, and several outrages then per- petrated seem to bear the marks of criminal organization. That the order, however, if even in existence, had any- thing more than a mere local being and short life there is no reason to suppose. But from the beginning of the year 1862, that a powerful society was exercising an unwhole- some influence in Cass and adjoining townships in Schuyl- kill County, was generally believed, and in Carbon and parts of Luzerne County the name of ‘‘ Buckshot’’ was be- coming a familiar term as applied to the lawless element in the mining population. Demand for labor had suddenly increased at a time when many of the best citizens were absent in the army. Not only were their places to be filled, but a large excess was required. Good and valuable miners and laborers answered the demand, but with them also great numbers of the worst class of a floating popula- tion. It is not surprising that to this latter element the notice of an enrollment upon which to form a draft for soldiers. would afford an opportunity to strengthen and increase an unlawful combination already existing. Even to the best-regulated community there is nothing popular or inspiriting in a contemplated draft for soldiers. It is a notice that the answer of the volunteer is not suffi- cient, and that every man, whatever may be his private -obligations, must be prepared to answer to the call of his country. From patriotic motive or necessity a draft will be advocated, approved, and submitted to, on the same principle that a nauseous dose of physic is taken,—present discomfort for future health. es 1861 ZO 1865. 47 But there are certain persons who, either from thought- lessness or a natural disposition, regard only the present ; and to this class the large lawless element appealed. Asa consequence, in Cass and other townships in Schuylkill County, and in parts of Carbon County, active measures to prevent enrollment were adopted. In Schuylkill County careful and judicious treatment prevented an outbreak, and the enrollment was made. In Carbon County, where the ‘* Buckshots’’ were fully organized, enrollment was also effected, but amid a bitter and violent state of feeling.* The spirit of lawlessness was aroused. It manifested itself not only against the United States government, but against all law, human and divine. ‘The enrollment offered the occasion for an appeal to the passions of men, by which criminal organization was strengthened and increased. In Carbon County at this time, and during several years, the ‘‘ Buckshot’’ was bold, arrogant, and defiant in a career of crime. Fearful assaults, arson, and murder were per- petrated, and remained to a very great degree unpunished. Not only did the civil authorities seem powerless, but the strong arm of the United States government, invoked when possible, seemed to stay only for the moment the spirit of lawlessness. ‘To such an extent did an open riot- ous feeling manifest itself, that a number of leading coal operators were warned to suspend operations until the un- lawful demands of those opposed to the draft were acceded to, and miners and laborers were notified that if they con- tinued at work it would be at the peril of their lives. A large body of rioters armed came to Mauch Chunk, over- awed the citizens, forced their way into the jail, and released * It is but simple justice to these sections of the coal regions to state that at the breaking out of the war there was an instant response to the call for volunteers, and that during the war the volunteers from these parts were equal to those from any other portion of the community. 48 CARBON AND SCHUYLKILL COUNTIES, a number of the prisoners. This riot occurred in the summer of 1863.* On the 14th of June, 1862, at a meeting held at Auden- ried, Carbon County, to make arrangements for a meeting to be held the following Fourth of July, a party of men became infuriated at a man named F. W. S. Langdon, the breaker-boss at one of the neighboring coal-breakers. It appears that one of the party present, whether purposely or by accident is uncertain, spit upon the American flag. In any event, in the then excited condition of the public mind such an act would be an opportunity for angry dis- cussion. Langdon, who was standing on the hotel porch where the meeting was held, denounced in strong terms the person offending. This was the occasion of angry retort and threats. It is supposed that, independent of the offense given by Langdon that day, he had rendered himself obnoxious to some of the workmen in his capacity as boss. The threats used against him, in connection with the angry looks with which he was regarded, caused some of his friends to urge him to remain on the porch and not to mingle with the crowd. Langdon did not himself be- lieve that he was in any danger. He left the meeting, and, the occasion presenting itself, walked some little dis- tance away from the hotel. He was found alone, severely beaten with stones, insensible, and in a dying condition. One mortal blow received seemed to have been given with a hammer. He died in a short time. A mob had evi- dently followed him. Some persons were suspected of * Through the kindness of General Charles Albright, a number of papers relating to this period have been placed at the disposal of the writer, among them a list of names of a portion of those connected with this riot. The character of the individuals named is noted in brief. To publish this list can answer no good purpose at this time, but the fact is noted that sixty of the persons named were connected with other outrages,—riots, brutal assaults, fiendish threats, or murder. 1861 70-1865. 49 having committed the murder, but the requisite evidence to justify their arrest and hold them for trial was not ob- tained. The full details of the murder are probably known to many persons; but it is only after the lapse of more than fourteen years, when the terrorism inspired by the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’ is passing away and the organization has re- ceived repeated and heavy blows, that there is a prospect of bringing the murderers to justice. John Kehoe, the County Delegate of Schuylkill County, is charged with the offense ; so is Yellow Jack Donahue, so is John Campbell, and so are others. ‘The blow sup- posed to have been struck with a hammer is said to have been inflicted by Yellow Jack Donahue, with a swingle-tree which he had picked up. It is probable that before many months have passed a number of persons will be tried for the murder. : On the 5th of November, 1863, George. K. Smith was murdered in his own house at Audenried, in the presence of his family. Mr. Smith had been a surveyor and mining . engineer, and at the time of his death was a coal operator. He was suspected of having given the information by which the United States government officials had been en- abled to make the enrollment in his district. During the afternoon of the 5th of November he had been absent from home, and on his return in the evening complained of not feeling well. He in consequence retired to his room. During the evening a man called at the house, saying that he had a message for Mr. Smith. Mrs. Smith told him her husband was not well, but that she would carry him any message. The man replied, ‘No; the matter is important, and I must see Mr. Smith him- self.’” In consequence of this urgency Mr. Smith was called, and came partly down-stairs. Whilst he was yet on the stairs, a crowd of about twenty-five men, disguised Cc 5 50° CARBON AND SCHUYLKILL COUNTIES, with blackened faces, rushed into the house. They com- menced shooting at him at once, inflicting wounds which caused almost immediate death. But the assassins did not themselves escape uninjured. Great confusion prevailed, but determined resistance was offered. George W. Ulrich, then in the employ of Mr. Smith, was present at the time, armed with a revolver, which he shot into the crowd. He wounded one man, named John Donahue,—afterwards killed at Tuscarora, and whose body he there identified,—and, it is supposed, killed another. The marks of blood were found, and a ‘‘ Molly”’ funeral followed shortly, but whose it was has not yet been discovered. | No evidence to convict any one of this crime was then to be obtained. As in the case of Langdon, the proba- bilities are that the offenders, or some of them, will shortly be called upon to answer. That the lawlessness existing in a portion of Carbon County in the years 1862, 1863, and 1864 was greater than in any portion of Schuylkill or Luzerne County at that period, is possible. The existence of organized crime was more fully recognized. But if in Schuylkill County no such spirit of bold defiance to law was manifested as in the attack upon the Mauch Chunk jail, the frequency of crime, and the spirit of lawlessness prevailing there, were exciting general alarm.* « On the 3d of July, 1862, a man named Thomas Hogan * The writer has not given in detail the outrages committed in Luzerne County. The character of the ‘‘ Molly” outrages was the same in all parts of the anthracite coal yegion. Whilst throughout the whole region the testimony is that the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’ organization is criminal, during the last few years better influences have been at work in Luzerne than in other counties. As in Carbon and Schuylkill Counties the organization has been detected and exposed, the details of crime in those counties have received more special attention. Luzerne County during the past year has afforded hiding-places for Schuylkill and Carbon County criminals. 1861 7O 1865. 51 was killed at the Otto colliery. He was stabbed with a knife by a Daniel Kelly. David Kelly, William Kelly, and Lawrence Flynn are said to have been accessories. That this was a ‘‘ Molly Maguire’ murder is doubtful. It was the first of a long series of murders in Schuylkill County.* On the 18th of December, 1862, there was an avowed ‘Molly Maguire’’ outrage. On that day about two hun- dred men, armed with guns, pistols, and other weapons, made an attack upon the collieries of William Goyne, near Forestville, Cass Township. They dragged the fire from beneath the boilers, and stopped the engine and pumps.f They beat seriously about fifteen men employed at the mines. A Mr. Hopkins, in the employ of the Mine Hill Railroad Company, was severely injured. They made an attack upon and closed the colliery store. Three shots were fired at the store-keeper, fortunately without hitting him. Two young men, named Edward Harris and Edward Great, were beaten badly. The ruffians remained at the scene of outrage for over two hours. ‘There was no rob- bery committed. They then left, uttering threats of ven- geance against the men should the collieries be started or the stores opened without their permission. It is not known that any of the employees of Mr. Goyne were con- cerned in the matter, nor does any cause of complaint on their part appear. The rioters during the scene boasted largely of an organization called the ‘‘ Molly Maguires,’’ * See Appendix A,—a list of fifty-five murders in Schuylkill County in a little over three years, beginning in 1863. These were not all ‘‘ Molly” murders, nor would a conviction of ‘‘ murder in the first degree’ in all cases have been justified. But many of them were brutal, cowardly assas- sinations, for which there was neither trial nor conviction. t By the stoppage of pumps mines below water-level soon fill with water. This is looked upon as’one of the most serious calamities that can befall a colliery. It occasions loss of time, great expense, and oftentimes irreparable damage. UNIVERSITY OF HiINODIC tiRpapYy 52 CARBON AND SCHUYLKEILL COUNTIES, to which they belonged, and asserted that it was powerful enough to control the whole coal region. From this time forward acts of violence increased in frequency. It is impossible, nor could it be of interest, to describe every outrage committed. Suffice it to state that it was a period of lawlessness in certain sections of the coal-fields. . On the 11th of January, 1863, about forty men attacked the house of John McDonald, in Cass Township. ‘They broke in the doors and windows of his house, with inten- tion to kill him. He escaped. Mrs. McDonald remained; they used violent language against her, but spared her life. On the 13th of the same month, and in the same town- ship, two men, named Conners and Curry, were shot during the night on the public road. The whole affair is a mystery. On the 24th of February, 1863, Mr. Thomas Verner was attacked and knocked down by a crowd of men in Foster Township. For some time after this attack Mr. Verner’s life was in constant danger. His sole offense consisted in the purchase of an interest in a colliery from Mr. Borda. The purchase did not meet with universal approval on the part of the men. On the 2d of January, 1864, James Bergen, of Coal Castle, was shot at by five strangers. He died within two days from the wounds received. The crime was committed in the daytime. The reasons, if any, for this murder are not known. The criminals escaped; no arrests were made. On the 8th of January, 1864, Mr. Thomas Kear and Mr. Benseman were attacked at Minersville by a crowd armed with billies. There had been no provocation given. Mr. Kear had a pistol, and attempted to shoot. The pistol, however, missed fire. On the 11th of September, 1864, at Lorberry, Robert Gardner was killed in his own house by Dennis Aiken, 1861 ZO 1865. 53 assisted by two other men. ‘The weapon used was an axe, with which the head and body of Gardner were completely hacked. Aiken escaped, but was subsequently arrested, tried, convicted of murder in the second degree, and sen- tenced to twelve years’ imprisonment. This is not gener- ally believed to have been a ‘‘ Molly’’ murder. On the roth of August, 1865, Mr. William Pollock, the then superintendent of the Peach Mountain Coal Com- pany, was riding with his son James, a lad about the age of fourteen years, from his residence in Pottsville to the mines of the company, some miles to the east of that place, in the direction of Tuscarora. It was in broad day- light, in a thickly-settled country, and no suspicion of danger existed. Suddenly the report of a pistol was heard, and Mr. Pollock discovered that he was wounded, a pistol- ball having passed through the curtains of his carriage and lodged in his back. In the flurry and excitement the horse was stopped, and a man appeared in front of the carriage, with a pistol, and told them to deliver. He again fired, but this time missed. ‘The pistol contained but two balls, both of which had now been fired. Mr. Pollock sprang from the car- riage and grappled with the ruffian. Weakened though he was with loss of blood and the pain arising from his wound, his feelings were so thoroughly aroused that he fully occupied the attention of his antagonist, who was a strong, powerful man. He would probably, however, have been conquered had it not been for the presence of mind and bravery displayed by his young son, James compre- hended the situation, quickly placed himself in position, and inflicted a rapid succession of well-directed blows on the head of the robber with the butt end of his whip. He doubtless saved his father’s life. The man could neither bear nor prevent the punishment the boy was inflicting upon him, since Mr. Pollock himself engaged his 5! 54 CARBON AND SCHUYLKILL COUNTIES, utmost attention ; he tore himself loose, ran for the woods, and escaped. Had he been successful he ani have gained rich booty. Mr. Pollock had on his person over eight thousand dollars, which he was taking to the colliery to pay the men. Not- withstanding the wound received, the two accomplished the purpose with which they had started from home. They proceeded to the mines, handed the money over to the book-keeper, and then returned to Pottsville, where Mr. Pollock had the ball extracted before meeting his family. He was confined to the house for more than two weeks, The robber had escaped, and has never since been ar- rested. This attempted robbery was probably an individual enterprise, but there is little doubt that the perpetrator was a ‘‘ Molly Maguire,’’ and had he been arrested would have been protected by all the power and influence of the. order. It is not absolutely certain, but he is supposed to have been killed at a tavern in the Mahanoy region called ‘*The Flour-Barrel.’’ Mr. Pollock is an old resident of Pottsville,-a gentleman of social position, and highly respected. ‘The matter excited considerable attention at the time. On the 25th of August, 1865, Mr. David Muir, super- intendent of what are known as ‘* New Mines,’’ in Fos- ‘ter Township, then belonging to the Forest Improvement Company, immediately after taking his breakfast walked down the road towards his colliery. When about fifty yards from his house he was attacked by two or three men. It is supposed that the party came up behind him and struck him down with a blow on the back of his head. He was then shot, the ball passing*through his heart and right lung. He received three severe wounds in the body with a dirk. His death was almost instantaneous. The murderers after committing the crime were seen to walk down the railroad-track about one hundred yards. 1861 7O 1865. 55 They then passed into the woods and escaped. Signals were given them from the neighboring hills immediately after the occurrence. This murder was committed in broad daylight, on the highway, within a short distance of the colliery, where a large number of men were congre- gated, all of whom must have heard the report of the fire- arms, and some of whom were probably witnesses of the act itself. But no testimony has been elicited, up to this time, by which the perpetrators of the crime could be brought to justice. Eleven years have gone since David Muir passed into eternity. No one as yet has been called to answer at the bar of justice for the fiendish act of that day, but his mur- derers, if now on the face of the earth, after long years of unbroken security, have uneasy slumbers and live in con- tinual fear of the wrath to come. Mr. Muir was a Scotch- man by birth, but was for many years a resident of Schuyl- kill County and in the employ of the Forest Improvement Company. He was strictly honorable in his dealings, of high character, widely known throughout the country, gen- erally popular, and possessed a large circle of friends.* * The persons murdered are generally spoken of in high terms. This is not done in the spirit of honoring the dead. They were picked men, many of them occupying positions of trust and responsibility. 56 SCHUYLKILL, COLUMBIA, AND CARBON. CH APDTE RAVE SCHUYLKILL, COLUMBIA, AND CARBON COUNTIES, 1866 To 1871. AxBout seven o’clock in the evening of the roth of January, 1866, Henry Hawthorne Dunne was waylaid and murdered about two miles outside of Pottsville, on a much- traveled road leading to Minersville. There were a number of circumstances connected with this murder which tended to excite public attention to an unusual degree: the character of the man; the position he occupied; the locality in which the deed was committed. Dunne was an Irish gentleman, a native of Waterford, well educated, and possessing rare social, moral, and physical gifts. With strong common sense and natural ability, he at the same time sparkled with wit and humor; earnest and strict in the performance of his duties, which were oftentimes unpleasant, he was possessed of a charity and warmth of heart which formed a part of his every-day life, unobtrusive, yet pervading his whole being ;* magnifi- cently developed physically, of great strength and un- daunted courage, the despotic or tyrannical element formed no part of his character. He had been for a number of years in the business of mining coal on his own account, but at the time of his death he held the position of super- intendent of the New York and Schuylkill Coal Com- pany, at that time the largest coal-mining company in the county. Both by reason of his social gifts and his business connections he was widely known and had great influence. * The writer can bear personal testimony to many an act of unsuspected charity on the part of Mr. Dunne, of which he in his professional capacity. became cognizant. , 1866 70 1871. 57 But beyond all these considerations, there existed the fact that the murder, bold and defiant as it was, had been per- petrated but a short distance outside of the borough limits of Pottsville, where, notwithstanding the continued and numberless outrages committed in other places, it had not been supposed that the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ dared venture. The collieries of the company of which Mr. Dunne was the superintendent were located about ten miles west of Pottsville. He had that day been detained a little later than usual, and as a consequence had driven fast in order to get home as soon as possible. Upon the rise of a hill near what is known as the York farm he somewhat slackened the pace at which he had been driving. At this moment the attacking party, numbering, it is supposed, five men, stopped the horse and fired at their victim, who, being encumbered by large gloves and carriage-robes, was pre- vented from drawing his pistol. At this time a Mr. Jones, of Minersville, accompanied by a lady, on their.way to the skating-park at Pottsville, came driving by. ‘They heard shots, and also heard Mr. Dunne exclaim, ‘‘I am murdered!’’ One of the assassins stepped up to Jones’s carriage and threatened to blow his brains out if he did not proceed on his way, and he, being unarmed, could do nothing but comply. Being unable to rescue Mr. Dunne or arrest the, murderers, he did the next best thing, which was to drive into Pottsville as fast as possible and give notice of the murder. When Dunne had been shot four times, twice in his right arm and twice in his neck, he was dragged from his carriage and again shot through the cheek, the ball coming out through his neck. He was then left lying in his blood on the public highway. The party, with a shout of ex- ultant laughter, which was heard some distance off, walked towards Minersville, keeping on the main road. _J. Claude White, also a colliery superintendent, on his c* ‘ 538 SCHUYLKILL, COLUMBIA, AND CARBON, way to Pottsville, met the men a quarter of a mile from the scene of the murder. He was driving fast, and paid no special attention to them. As he approached the body of the murdered man, his horse became frightened. He made every effort to get close to it, but, finding that impossible, hurried on to give notice of the body lying out in the cold winter night, little thinking that he was leaving behind him the ghastly and bloody corpse of one of his warmest and most intimate friends, who he supposed was living and in the possession of superabundant strength.* The murder was not committed for any purpose of rob- bery. Neither watch, pocket-book, nor other valuable was touched. It is supposed that the motive for the deed was revenge for some acts done in the line of his duty as superintendent. Large rewards for the detection and conviction of the murderers were offered by the county and the company by which he was employed. An intense feeling of indig- nation- prevailed throughout the community. Public meet- ings assembled to consider the situation of affairs, and, if possible, devise means of safety. The New York and Schuylkill Coal Company set detectives at work, but evi- * The night before Mr. Dunne was murdered I passed an hour or two with him in the drug-store of Mr. J. C. Hughes, in Pottsville. During the course of conversation, as he was relating some matter which inter- ested me very much, in an animated way he drew himself up to his full height and threw back his shoulders. I was so struck by his magnificent physique that I remarked, ‘‘ Harry, you look as if you might live to bea hundred.” ‘‘Upon my soul, I have no idea of dying at present,’’ he replied, with a laugh. “ Well, then,’”’ said Mr. Hughes, ‘‘ you should be more careful about _ driving out at night.” _ “Why, no one would hurt me,"’ was the reply. We felt the justice of the remark, and thought that if the social attributes of any man would render him safe, that man was Harry Dunne; and yet within twenty-four hours he was a ‘“‘ Molly” victim.—F. P. D. 1866 7O 1871. 59 dence to convict the murderers could not be obtained. The magnitude of the evil was, however, more fully appre- ciated, and some idea of the extent of the organization, and the names of many of the members, who supposed their crimes hidden, were obtained. The names of the murderers of Henry H. Dunne are known to some few persons outside of the ‘‘ Molly’’ organ- ization. One by one they have gone to their last account, except two wretches, who may yet be called upon to answer for some of their many crimes. Of those dead, not one has died a natural death: in fierce brawl or by accidents in the mines they have closed their earthly careers. On the 4th of July, 1866, a dispute arose between an Irishman and a Welshman, an old man, in Bettinger’s tavern, in Newtown, Reilly Township, Schuylkill County. The Irishman, becoming very angry, threatened to beat the old man, and was only prevented from doing so by the landlord and two young men, named Joseph Berry and George A. Fisher, who had just stopped there for the purpose of hiring a horse to take them to Llewellyn. The Irishman, enraged at the interference, went out of the house, and soon returned with about twenty-five men, who sur- rounded the house, the doors of which in the mean time had been locked. ‘The crowd commenced stoning the house. They soon broke in the doors and windows. Berry and Fisher were both armed, but retreated to the second story, where they were followed. They fired upon their pursuers, who fled. Of the attacking party, a man named Patrick Meehan was killed and James Welsh wounded. As to who killed Meehan and wounded Welsh is a subject of dispute. It is asserted that they were shot accidentally by their own friends. Berry and Fisher then came down-stairs, and attempted to rush through the crowd and thus escape from the house, but they were again driven back to the second story. Their situation was now 60 SCHUYLKILL, COLUMBIA, AND CARBON, becoming desperate. ‘The crowd below was every minute growing more excited. The only chance of escape seemed to be in leaping from the second-story window, which they, fortunately, were enabled to do without injury and without being seen. They managed to get into the woods, and made their way over rocks and through bushes to Llewellyn, where, in a state of almost utter exhaustion, they went to Coleman’s tavern. | In the mean time their escape had been discovered. It was supposed that they had gone to Llewellyn, and about ten of the party followed them up, and, going directly to Coleman’s tavern, found them. One of the party, named Patrick Conners, had a revolver in his hand, which he leveled at Berry, when a man named Lewis Williams, a member of a well-known family long resident in the coal regions, interfered. Conners, enraged, immediately turned upon Williams, and shot at him; the ball entered the right nostril and lodged in the head, inflicting a wound from which he shortly afterwards died. Conners was arrested, but committed suicide in jail before trial. About midnight of the 11th of February, 1867, the house of Mr. John C. Northall, a coal operator residing at Tuscarora, Schuylkill County, was attacked by a body of about twenty-five men. ‘The assailants mostly carried fire-arms: one of them had a sword. They commenced firing into the window of the bedroom where they sup- posed him to be; but Mr. Northall was away from home. The family were much alarmed. A Mr. Cole, who lived with Mr. Northall, managed to arouse the neighbors. A servant-girl on attempting to hoist one of the windows was fired at, the ball passing through her clothing. The neighbors quickly assembled in force, when all of the rufhans left except one, named John Donahue, who was armed with a sword, and still persisted in the attack. In the mélée he was shot and killed. 1866 7O 1871. 61 George W. Ulrich, who had been present at the time George K. Smith was murdered, and had himself shot two of the assailants upon that occasion, recognized in the dead man one of the persons he had then shot. Upon ex- amining the body the mark of the wound inflicted by him was found. Another of the murderers of George K. Smith had meta violent death. For the killing of John Donahue a man named Thomas Border was tried, but under the testimony produced was acquitted. About three o’clock in the afternoon of the 15th of March, 1867, William H. Littlehales was murdered on the public road near Glen Carbon, Foster Township, Schuyl- kill County. He was shot through the body with a rifle- or large pistol-ball. His death must have been almost instanta- neous. He was found by Dr. McWilliams, who had been just paying a professional visit at his house, lying entirely lifeless on the side of the road. The object of the murder was robbery. Mr. Littlehales was superintendent of the. Glen Carbon colliery, owned by Patterson & Co., and was also interested in the colliery store, run in connection with the mines. It was supposed that he had with him the money to pay off the workmen at the mines. The robbers were, however, mistaken ; all that they gained by the mur- der was the little pocket-money he had about him, a silver watch, and his revolver, which he had had no opportunity of using. Mr. Littlehales was, at the time of his death, in the thirty-second year of his age. He left a widow and three children, one of whom, a bright boy, had just had his leg amputated by reason of an injury received on the railroad. He was born in Schuylkill County, and was familiar with coal-mining operations. His father, an Englishman, came to the coal regions at an early day, and had been, prior to that time, a coal operator for many years. Mr. Littlehales was of unexceptionable character, and 6 | 62 SCHUYVLKILL, COLUMBIA, AND CARBON, regarded in the community as a rising man. ‘The story of the dead father lying on one bed, the maimed boy on another, and the almost distracted wife and mother between them, excited universal sympathy. ‘The surroundings of the case were sad. But a little time before, this wife had lived in the happy present with bright and well-founded hopes for the future, and now, without warning, the ‘¢Molly’’ bullet had stricken down the lover of her youth, her husband, her companion, the father of her children, and had left her almost alone to struggle with the world. She had been stricken, and was without any redress what- ever. The murderers were at large, safe, exultant, un- known. But the fact that aroused the public generally, inde- pendent of the sympathy excited, was that this was an- other murder committed in the broad light of day, on a public road in a populous neighborhood, within but two hundred yards of a large number of people who must have had some knowledge of the transaction, and yet no one seemed to know anything about it. It appeared as if the murderers were as safe as if the foul deed had been done at midnight and far from the habitations of man. Public meetings were held, large rewards were offered, various schemes were proposed and discussed, but the ‘¢Molly’’ was triumphant: the murderers were at large. No arrests were made. It is only now that the hope is beginning to be felt that, as the secrets of the past are coming to the light of day, the murderers of William H. Littlehales will have to answer for their crime. And there is some foundation for this hope. Although the ‘* Molly Maguire’’ will indorse any crime, murder for the purpose of robbery was unusual. But a series of murders for the purpose of robbery were being committed by ‘‘ Mollies”’ at this time. It is believed that they were all perpetrated by the same party. Men are now arrested for robbery and 1866 7O 1871.. 63 murder, against whom the proof is overwhelming; and the whole story will probably come to light. On the night of Friday, the 22d of March, 1867, a party of five men made an attack upon a tavern kept by James Gailagher, in Mahanoy Township, Schuylkill County, known as ‘‘ The Flour-Barrel.’’ The purpose was robbery. Gallagher had in his possession several thou- sand dollars, and the fact was suspected. ‘The robbers de- manded admission, but were refused. They then took a large stone and broke in the front door, and immediately commenced shooting into the house. Gallagher seized a gun, which was loaded with No. 5 shot, and fired at his assailants. The entire load entered the abdomen of one of the men, killing him instantly. This had the effect of scattering the assailants, but they continued firing from different points. Gallagher seized a pistol, with which he continued to defend himself. Another of the attacking party was wounded, two balls hitting him, one in the shoulder and one in the leg. Whether he was hit by Gal- lagher or accidentally by one of his friends is not known. The party then retreated. The dead man was carried away, but the wounded man was captured and committed to prison. He gave the name of Owen McClosky. The party was traced the next morning by the blood on the snow. The dead body had been left about half a mile from Gilberton. It was brought to Pottsville, and identi- fied as that of Patrick Stinson, of Glen Carbon, a young man about twenty years of age. The evening following the attack on ‘‘ The Flour-Barrel,”’ the house of Mr. Henry Repp, a farmer of Union Town- ship, Schuylkill County, was broken into by four Irishmen, one other being left outside to stand guard. They asserted that they were in search of two men who had committed a murder in Danville. Mr. Repp took a candle and went with one of them through the house. Mrs. Repp, becom- 64 SCHUYLKILL, COLUMBIA, AND CARBON, ing alarmed, ran over to a tenement-house occupied by Jacob Johnson, and asked him to come to their assistance. Johnson came back with her, bringing twu revolvers with him. At the moment Johnson came in, Mr. Repp had re- turned to the room. One of the party then exclaimed, ‘¢ It is not murderers we are after: we want your money.’’ A struggle at once began, the gang firing at the family. Mr. Johnson fired three shots, none of which took effect. He was then struck by a shot, fired at him by one of the robbers, causing his instant death. When Mr. Johnson fell, Mr. Repp sprang at one of the assailants and stabbed him with a knife, how severely is not known, as he was carried away by his comrades. The party went off without effecting their object, but while re- treating continued to fire. A shot struck Mr. Repp on the forehead, but, glancing off, fortunately inflicted nothing more than a flesh-wound. He was knocked senseless, but did not receive permanent injury. Within a period of eight days there had been three at- tempts at robbery, probably by the same party, and in no instance had they met with success. Two men had been murdered and one wounded by them. On their part, one man had been killed, at least two severely wounded, and one was imprisoned. ‘Their efforts at robbery were evidently unsatisfactory, for no further attempts in that direction were made for several months. Lawlessness prevailed in certain parts of the coal region, but open robbery was for the time abandoned. During the year 1868 the idea of robbery was again started among the ‘‘ Molly. Maguires.’’ It is supposed that in this matter Patrick Hester, a body-master in Northum- - berland County, and a notorious ‘‘ Molly,’’ was the lead- ing spirit. Major J. Claude White, superintendent of the Swatara Mines in Schuylkill County, and Alexander Rae, superin- % 1866 7O 1871. ’ 65 tendent of the Locust Mountain Coal and Iron Company, whose mines and property were situated in Northumberland, Schuylkill, and Columbia Counties, at the point where they all join, were selected as desirable parties upon whom to operate. The execution of these two robberies was fixed at about the same time. This was in the month of Octo- ber, 1868. Major White, by reason of some circumstances which came to his knowledge, had his suspicions aroused. He knew the character of the lawless element, and a long residence among them had caused him to be ever watchful and on his guard. The ‘‘pay,’’ as it is usually called,— that is, the money to be used in paying the wages of the employees at the mines,—was to be taken to the colliery on the 17th of October. When he went to Pottsville that day, the object of his trip was understood. On his return, James Shoemaker, Esq., also connected with the mines of which*Major White was superintendent, was in the car- riage with him. On the road between Llewellyn and Swa- tara, on the top of a hill, is situated a church, which, like many country churches on the roadside, has a large yard between it and the road. When White and Shoemaker arrived at the foot of the hill upon which the church is located, they observed a crowd of men standing at the church-door, but this at the time did not attract their special attention. Happening, however,.to look through the glass in the back curtain of the carriage, they observed a man making signals to the crowd at the church. In an instant they both saw the plan,—they were to be inter- cepted and robbed on the top of the hill. Quickly ar- ranging their fire-arms, the horse, a free-goer, was started up the hill at full speed, and the dangerous point was passed before the party on the hill could reach the road. The major recognized several of the party, and afterwards learned the details of the plot. On the same day an attempt was made to rob Alexander 6* A y 66 SCHUYVLKILL, COLUMBIA, AND CARBON, Rae, Esq. In this there was only partial success. Mr. Rae had about sixty dollars in his pocket, as well as a ~ valuable watch, but the large amount of money intended for paying the wages of the men at the mines had been car- ried forward the preceding day. He was waylaid between Ashland and Centralia, within the boundaries of Columbia County. He delivered his money- and his watch to the robbers, but they determined upon his death. He fled to the woods, and the party followed him. He was caught, and a pistol was placed to his head and fired, killing him instantly. His body was not discovered until the next morning. This murder occasioned excitement among all classes of the community, and wide-spread and heartfelt mourning among the miners and laborers. Mr. Rae was universally beloved. He filled a position which enabled him to do many kind and charitable acts, and he availed himself of his opportunities. Hewas a resident of Mount Carmel,— a small town near the mines which were under his control. He lived near his workmen, took an active interest in their well-being, was sought for as a counselor, and regarded as a friend. The ‘‘Molly’’ bullet has hurried into eternity many good men, but no shot was more cruel than that which struck down Alexander Rae in the hour of his use- fulness and the prime of his manhood. Patrick Hester, Thomas Donahue, and Patrick Duffy were arrested. Donahue and Duffy were tried for the murder in Columbia County, and acquitted. The ‘alibi’ had been gotten up with great skill. It seemed to exon- erate Pat Hester completely. Upon the acquittal of Don- ahue and Duffy, a zo/. pros. was entered by the court as to Heéster.* * On the 8th of November, 1876, Pat Hester, Alexander Graham, and Patrick McHugh were arrested for having been engaged in this murder. 1866 7O 1871. 67 It is said that Samuel Johns, Esq., a coal operator in the Shamokin region, made a narrow escape. He was ex- pected at his mines with the pay, and the robbers were in waiting. Fortunately for Mr. Johns, the engine upon which he had come to the colliery did not stop at the usual place. To that accident he owed his safety. The robbery of Major White was delayed, not aban- doned. At the time of the pay on the following month, on their way from Pottsville, Messrs. White and Shoemaker were accompanied by a Mr. Smith and a policeman by the name of Clauser. The robbers were in waiting, not at the church, but some distance beyond. They were dressed as _greenhorns.* Both parties were well armed. In the wagon occupied by Major White the pistols were lying upon one of the seats.. As soon as the parties came in sight the firing commenced, and the affair was over in a few seconds. None of the parties attacked were injured. Of the assail- ants, a man named Finney was captured, having been wounded in the shoulder by a shot from Clauser. The robbers ran away. According to the statement of the major, Pat Hester was among them and received a flesh wound. A number of the party were recognized at the time. The parties tried in Columbia County for the murder of Rae had been acquitted, but their escape had been a nar- row one. It was felt that there might be a possibility of danger. High crime was for a short time checked. Three years elapsed, during which time no murder oc- curred which excited public attention as distinctively a ** Molly Maguire’ murder. But the memory of past dan- ger grew dim, and a new era of crime, with the organiza- Since then a man named Tully, or Tully Brown, an accomplice, has also been arrested. Tully is supposed to have been the man who fired the fatal shot. : * Newly-arrived emigrants, 68 SCHUYLKILL, COLUMBIA, AND CARBON. tion more extended and more powerful, was to be entered upon. | During the evening of the 2d of December, 1871, Mor- ran Powell, a boss of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, was murdered at Summit Hill, Carbon County. He had just come out of a store, and was on the way to the office of the company. He passed a crowd of men, one of whom stepped forward and shot him, inflicting a wound from which he died. The murderer and his con- federates ran to the woods. ‘The perpetrators of this murder were known to a large number of persons. It oc- curred early in the evening, on the main street of the town. The murderers escaped.* Notwithstanding the numerous murders committed prior to the time of the assassination of Morgan Powell, up to that time there had never been a conviction of @ ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ for murder in the first degree. Large rewards had been offered and a large amount of money had been expended, but the efforts made were spasmodic; crime was on the increase, and the ‘‘ Molly’’ apparently secure. Nevertheless a power was developing whose influence was felt and feared, but whose policy relative to the ‘* Molly’’ organization was not suspected. * “Yellow Jack’’ Donahue has been convicted of this murder; and Thomas P, Fisher, Alec Campbell, and others are awaiting trial. COAL-MINING COMPANIES. 69 OS ie? 8 Said Oa 0 ae fF COAL-MINING COMPANIES—THE PINKERTON AGENCY. THE rivalry existing between the great transporting com- panies, competing for coal freights, was undoubtedly the inducing cause for the formation in some cases, and the development on an extended scale in others, of mammoth land and mining companies, directly or indirectly under railroad control and management. The most extensive and thorough organization of this kind, the Philadelphia Coal and Iron Company, was conceived and established by Franklin B. Gowen, Esq., President of the Philadel- phia ayd Reading Railroad Company. The coal produced from the great body of the lands in Schuylkill and North- umberland Counties was claimed as the legitimate freight of that company, and the control of that freight was being jeopardized by the extensions of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad, from the east, and the Northern Central Railroad, in the Sha- mokin and Lykens Valley regions, in the west. Independ- ently of the action of railroad companies already estab- lished, there existed the danger of the building of new outlets to market and the further subdivision of the trade. Mr. Gowen, from his stand-point as president of the railroad company, saw the absolute necessity of maintain- ing the supremacy of his road by and through the control and ownership of coal lands. He succeeded in impressing his views in a substantial way upon capitalists, and as a result established a company with extended powers under its charter, now in the ownership and possession of about one hundred and twenty-five thousand acres of mineral 70 COAL-MINING COMPANIES. land, in many miles of which is embraced the largest body of anthracite coal in the world. The policy pursued on the part of the Reading Com- pany in the purchase of lands, as well as the influence of like causes, naturally induced similar action on the part of the other great companies, until at this time the largest and most valuable portion of the entire coal area is owned absolutely by, or under the control of, great corporations. Not only in the causes stated but in some others there existed an inducement for the purchase of lands and the formation of large mining companies. Whilst the area of anthracite coal lands is in a degree limited, the facilities for production under the stimulus offered by increased consumption during and subsequent to the war had created a supply of coal largely in excess of the demand. A large number of individual coal operators with conflicting views and interests, acting independently or in rivalry, each seek- ing to make large shipments, rendered the trade precarious and in constant danger of breaking down by reason of an overstocked market. It is true that organization was at- tempted, but it can hardiy be said that it worked success- fully ; individual and selfish interests and necessities in most instances defeated the best-devised and most solemnly adopted measures and compacts in the general interests of the trade. ‘The same diversity of views and interests which defeated the maintenance of rules adopted for the governance of the trade also prevented judicious and com- bined opposition to the encroachments made upon the rights of property by the “Labor Union,’’ influenced and controlled by the ‘‘ Molly Maguire.’’. In the case of mur- der or other outrage committed at any colliery, energetic but spasmodic efforts would be made to detect the offend- ers. But in the effort both to maintain the rights of property and to protect person and life it was individual effort against organized force. The ‘‘ Labor Union,’’ under COAL-MINING COMPANIES. 71 the influence of high wages and prosperous times, had grown rich and powerful, thoroughly and extensively or- ganized, whilst the ‘* Mollies,’’ confident, from a long series of unpunished crimes, of continued immunity, were boast- fully and openly defiant. It was for the purpose, therefore, not only of insuring future freights to the several railroad companies that the large purchases of land were made, but also in that way to so concentrate the business of mining coal as better to regulate and control the trade and maintain and protect the rights of persons and of property. In the accomplishment of these purposes no company has been more active than the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, and no one more efficient than its president, Franklin B. Gowen, Esq. By reason of pre- vious business association, and residence, combined with couragey honesty of purpose, comprehensive knowledge of the situation, and wonderful energy and executive ability, Mr. Gowen, perhaps beyond any other living man, was adapted to carry out the ends in view,—to wit, the main- tenance and increase of the power of his company; the regulation of trade; the establishment of law and order ; and the protection of the rights of person and property throughout the coal regions. In the year 1858 or 1859, shortly after coming of age, Mr. Gowen embarked in the coal business as a member of the firm of Turner & Gowen, at Mount Laffee, a small mining village a short distance outside of the borough of Potts- ville. Owing to the depressed state of trade, and the mis- haps to which the coal business is at times subject, the result of the enterprise was unfortunate. He therefore took up the study of the law, and in the year 1860 he was admitted to practice as an attorney of the Schuylkill County bar. Great natural ability, in connection. with influential friends, established him very shortly in a large 72 COAL-MINING COMPANIES... and lucrative practice. He became at once the attorney for several large land-owners; was in the fall of 1862 elected to the office of District Attorney; acted as solicitor for the Girard coal estate; and early in his career received the appointment of attorney for the Philadelphia and Read- ing Railroad Company, in which last position he won the entire confidence of the management of the road, and be- came its president in the year 1869. The early connection of Mr. Gowen with the coal busi- ness as an ‘‘operator,’’ and his intimate social relation with the people of the coal region, together with valuable knowl- edge gained as an attorney having in charge coal lands and as the official prosecutor in the criminal courts, ren- dered his election as president of the railroad company of * immense importance. That the overshadowing power of. the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, attained under his management, might in unscrupulous hands be fraught with danger to the public is not improbable. San- guine, earnest, and enthusiastic, Mr. Gowen has exercised that power with entire honesty of purpose, and, as he be- lieves, in the true interests of the community at large. He sincerely intends to act justly, but he may be unduly im- pressed with the rights and interests of his company as against all the world besides; an error perhaps inseparable from his official position, combined with a disposition natu- rally combative. Before and after his election as president of the company, the absolute necessity of the acquisition of coal lands to insure the permanent prosperity of the company was thoroughly appreciated. His energies were therefore directed to the purchase of such lands, in which object he was materially assisted by the difficulties presented by the labor question, and the constant danger of outrages to which the coal regions were subject. Understanding ‘fully the condition of the coal operator, he has, wherever it was consistent with his own views of THE PINKERTON AGENCY. 73 official duty, rendered the changed aspect of affairs as ad- vantageous to the latter as possible. His position upon the labor question is open to controversy: he has engaged in a bitter contest, and the immense power of the coal com- bination in connection with the depressed condition of business has given him the victory. He has taken full ad- vantage of his position as victor in waging war, not upon the laboring man, but upon the ‘‘ Labor Union.’’ Whether justifiable or not in his course relative to the labor or- ganization, he has some excuse in the fact that in the days of its power, under the influence of the ‘‘ Molly’’ element, its encroachments upon the rights of property were frequent and unwarranted. Asa coal operator, an attorney, a prose- cuting officer, and a citizen of Schuylkill County, he had a full knewledge of the reign of terror under which the coal regions were held. He was impressed with the belief that to render his general policy a success and to maintain the value of his purchases, organized crime must be rooted out, and in 1873, the Coal and Iron Company being then fully established, he initiated measures to that end. He fully appreciated the difficulties of the position; he had fresh in- his memory the murder of Harry Dunne and the intense excitement prevailing at that time, the large rewards offered, and the earnest but fruitless efforts to detect the murderérs: He remembered George K. Smith, Littlehales, Muir, and Rea, shot down in populous neighborhoods, without any one being found to bring the murderers to justice. He knew of brutal outrages without number com- mitted upon unoffending men, without any attempt made to arrest or convict the guilty. Possessing this knowledge, he felt that the ordinary machinery of the law was of no avail, and that extraordinary means would have to be used. He told the story to Benjamin Franklin, of the Pinker- ton Detective Agency, and was informed that to effect his D 7 "4 THE PINKERTON AGENCY. + end both time and money would be required. This was at once agreed to, and a machinery set in motion which was slowly but surely to undermine an organized band of criminals in the days of their greatest power and most unbounded confidence for evil. The Pinkerton Agency undertook the task of discovering the perpetrators of crime with the view of prevention when possible, or, where pre- vention was impossible, to furnish evidence to convict the criminals. Among the means used to this end was the sending of a young Irishman named James McParlan to the coal region, with instructions to join the ‘‘ Molly Ma- guires’’ and to communicate to the Agency all the facts relating to the organization. This detective bureau differs in some respects from the usual system in force in Europe and in this country. It was founded a number of years ago, and has since been successfully conducted, by Allan Pinkerton, who, with head- quarters at Chicago, exercises a supervisory direction over the whole. There are branch offices in New York and Philadelphia, the latter under the control and direction of Benjamin Franklin. It has heretofore been considered an axiom that ‘it takes a thief to catch a thief.’’ ‘This is denied in toto by Allan Pinkerton, and holds no place in his system. The force of moral power is believed in and relied upon. Ac- ' cording to his theory, honesty is the normal condition of the mind, dishonesty the abnormal ; just as perfect health is the natural condition of the body, disease the result of extraneous causes. Crime and immorality weaken the mind, as a disorganized physical system weakens the body. The man morally and physically strong holds the man mor- ally and physically weak at an advantage. Crime wears upon the mind as disease wears upon the body, and seeks , relief in sympathy. The detective, therefore, according to Mr. Pinkerton, should possess not only ability of a high’ THE PINKERTON AGENCY. 75 order, but also moral and physical force. He must not only possess versatility of character and power of adaptation to circumstances, but must also have strength of mind, force of will, and physical endurance. Of two men of equal ability and knowledge, the one morally strong has the advantage and can exercise the power. ‘To attain success the detect- ive must adapt his life and conversation to the level of those with whom he associates, in order to obtain confi- dence and to bring upon the criminal the full force of his superior intellect and moral power. According to the theory advanced, the model detective is one possessing purity and honesty of the highest order, a person intellect- ually and morally strong, who can yet be all things to all men, can appreciate virtue, but at the same time under- stand the workings of the mind of the criminal and the motives’ by which he is influenced and controlled. He must touch pitch and not be defiled; handle fire and not be scorched; bathe in filth and yet remain clean. The model detective may be as impossible as any other high ideal of perfection, and yet, acting on this theory, the Pinkerton Agency has not only in the present instance, but in very many others, had wonderful success. Ability, knowledge, power of adaptation, and tact are certainly the prerequisites of a good detective. The only advantage the ctiminal has over others in detecting crime exists in the fact of his knowledge. His testimony, however, must always, by reason of his previous character, be regarded as questionable. But the honest detective, possessing the necessary prerequisites, certainly has the advantage: he suffers no temptation, is bound by no friendships, is shack- led by no prejudices, and acts directly in the line of his duty. A dishonest detective would never have exposed the ‘Molly Maguires.’’ ‘The organization had gained won- derful power and influence, and the patience and ability 76 THE PINKERTON AGENCY. exercised by James McParlan in his investigations had given him position in the order offering more inducements to uphold it than to expose. The question as to the strict morality of the detective system is an open one. The Jesuit doctrine, ‘‘the end justifies the means,’’ is held to be false by Christian phi- losbphers. Entire honesty of word and deed, at all times and places and under all circumstances, is claimed to be essential to an observance of the strict rule of morality. Nevertheless, the rule has always been ‘‘ more honored in the breach than in the observance.’’ The detective system has been adopted at all periods of the world’s history and by all nations. The general who wrests victory out of de- feat by reason of deception practiced upon his enemy is not only not regarded as acting in bad faith, but is looked upon as worthy of the laurel crown and the plaudits of a grateful country. The ‘‘secret service fund’’ is deemed an essential to successful government. The purity of all governmental departments is upheld and maintained through the detective system. The Old Testament tells tne story of the spy and informer, and St. Paul, speaking under the new dispensation, approves of his acts. Are we bound to keep faith with the criminal in. the prosecution of his criminal acts? Are we placed outside of the pale of morality if either by implied or express deceit the murderer and incendiary is detected in his course of crime and life and property are preserved there- by? The criminal certainly has no reason to complain if his own rule of conduct in the pursuit of evil is applied to him in the maintenance of right. If no wrong is committed, then no cause of complaint exists; and no man can justly complain of being wronged who is detected in the commis- sion of offenses or punished for their perpetration. If no injustice is done the criminal, if his mouth is closed, then the rest of the world. will readily pardon the breach of MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. 7 morality, if such it be, involved in the deceit practiced by the detective in the pursuit of his profession. In the use of such means as those offered by the de- tective agency seemed to lie the only hope of relief from the fearful rule of a gang of desperadoes and ruffians who sported with human life, destroyed property, and set at defiance all the laws both of God and of man. By the use of those means, an era of security such as never before existed in the coal regions is confidently hoped for. In this matter Mr. Gowen has not only the approval of his own conscience, but also the general indorsement of the public; and, in view of the result attained, those least in- clined to favor the principles upon which the detective system is founded invoke, as to him, the precedent estab- lished in the oft-cited case of Uncle Toby (Sterne, book vii., chap. vill.), where ‘‘the accusing spirit, flying up to Heaven’s chancery with the deed, blushed as he gave it in, and the recording angel, as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the page and blotted it out forever.”’ ‘~ CALE ete Vel: McPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. THE Pinkerton Agency showed great discrimination in the selection of James McParlan as the operative to be intrusted with the difficult and dangerous work determined upon in the anthracite coal region. It has resulted, it is believed, in giving to life and property there the same security that they enjoy in other civilized communities. Through his instrumentality an era of crime extending over long years is drawing to a close, and a people almost 7% oa 78 MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. despairing of relief are seeing light spring out of darkness. Communities long spell-bound with fear of the torch of the incendiary and the bullet of the assassin now breathe more freely, and the law again extends its strong arm in the maintenance of the rights of person and of property. It required a detective of the first grade in his profession to accomplish successfully the result desired. Ordinary rules governing and controlling intercourse with thieves, rufhans, burglars, and murderers in the large cities, are in the coal region of no avail. Criminals usually find suffi- cient motive in an unhallowed desire for gain; but to a Molly Maguire gain is only one, and that by no means the most prominent, incentive to cruel and bloody deeds... Mistaken ideas of honor, of friendship, and of patriotism _ mingle with prejudices the most unfounded, with demands the most unreasonable, with a spirit of revenge utterly un- accountable. Combined with these feelings are motives as debased as any which actuate the petty thief, and a dis- regard for human life which one- would hardly look for even in the professional murderer who slays for gain. Peculiar requisites are essential for the detective success- fully operating among this class. With all their open- hearted enthusiasm and recklessness, the Irish peasantry possess a low cunning that is proverbial, and a suspicious- ness readily excited by a word spoken at random or a care- less act meaning nothing. To counteract this a full appre- ciation and understanding of their contrarieties of character, their prejudices, their modes of thought, expression, and manner of life, only to be attained by an Irishman and Catholic, are absolutely necessary. That such Irishman and Catholic should, in addition to good character and honesty of purpose, be imbued to some degree with the peculiarities and even the prejudices of his race, is desira- ble. But, while he must be able to adapt himself at will to their peculiarities of character and modes of life, it is McPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. 79 absolutely essential that he be cool, wary, cautious, and methodical. To find a person who can pass days and weeks among men who force conclusions from illogical arguments based on false premises, and yet who is possessed not only of great analytical power but also of delicate discretion in separating the true from the false, matters important from things immaterial, is, however difficult, necessary. ‘To find a person of so varied and peculiar character was not easy, even among Irishmen: nevertheless the man possessing all these traits, with others equally valuable, was selected for and intrusted with this business by the Pinkerton Agency. James McParlan was born in County Armagh, Province of Ulster, Ireland, in the year 1844, and is hence at this time (1876) about thirty-two years of age. He is a man about five feet eight or nine inches in height, rather slightly built, but muscular; is of fair complexion, with dark chestnut hair, regular features, a broad, full forehead, and gray eyes. His general dress is a plain black suit ; he wears glasses, and presents a gentlemanly appearance. He is social in his disposition, has a keen sense of humor, and is cordial in his manner. He is an Irishman in feel- ing and sympathy as well as in race, and resents quickly any unjust attack upon his countrymen, his religion, or his - native land. Upon the witness-stand his evidence is entirely devoid of passion, and, although feeling proper pride in profes- sional success, haere: for the sake of making a point, seeks to stretch the truth or give a false color to his recital of facts. His brain is logical, his memory wonderful, his expressions accurate. Whatever he knows he tells squarely, but he pretends to no knowledge beyond that which is actually in his possession. As a consequence, although he has been a witness in a large number of cases of like character in which the same evidence is continually re- 80 MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. peated, he has defied cross-examination. Thisaffords a sure test of the truthfulness of a witness. The best-devised and most probable story, if contrary to the actual fact, will break down under the ordeal of patient, able, and repeated cross- examination. ‘To that ordeal has McParlan been com- pelled to submit: repeatedly for many hours at a time has he answered the questions of able counsel, but, ever cool, calm, and deliberate, ready and clear, he has not lost his head nor has his testimony been in the least degree shaken. He is a man of considerable information, mainly self- taught, having had but a limited education in his boyhood. His early history is that of many a young Irishman. ‘The son of poor parents, he saw in his native land no oppor- tunities for advancement or for the gratification of even a moderate ambition. To tear asunder family ties and break from early associations is always painful, and especially is this the case when the separation is measured by a mighty ocean. The aged parents give their parting bless- ing and their sad farewell with but small hope of meeting the departing son this side of the grave. The son, more hopeful, is nevertheless borne down under the memory of early associations, a sad farewell to a childhood’s home and a native land, and the chilling prospect of an unde- fined future among strangers. But the necessity felt by many another poor lad was upon young McParlan; his future was before him, and he saw in Ireland no field for his ambition. In the year 1863—then being about nineteen years of age—he left for England, where he remained for three years, during the greater part of which time he was em- ployed as a laborer in the Tyne Chemical Works, Gates- head. He traveled some short distance during this period, working at different points. When twenty-two years of age he returned to Ireland, and engaged himself as a stock- keeper in the linen manufacturing establishment of Wil- MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. 81 liam Kirk & Sons, Belfast, Ireland, where he remained until the spring of 1867. His hopes for the future now centring in the United States, his parents gave their sad consent, and, with little other means than their blessing and a letter of introduc- tion from his late employers to their American agents, he embarked at Liverpool for New York, where he arrived in the latter part of June, 1867. Very soon after his arrival he was attracted by the re- ports he had heard of Chicago, and to that city he made up his mind to go when possessed of sufficient means.. Messrs. Anderson, Smith & Co., 38 Park Place, New York, to whom was addressed his letter of introduction, had no place vacant in their own establishment, but in the course of a couple of months procured him a situation with a man named Cummins, a retail merchant at Medina, in the State of New York. In the mean time, whilst in New York City, he had been in the employ of McDonald & Boas, grocers, attending behind the counter, delivering packages, and doing any other work necessary or required. Still having Chicago in view, he remained but little over a month at Medina, and in the latter part of September started for, and arrived at, his coveted destination. Dur- ing the fall of 1867 and the winter and spring of 1868 he had to ‘‘scratch’’ for a living. He worked as a team- ster for a road-contractor, drove a meat-wagon, was a deck hand on a lake steamer, and chopped wood in the wilds of Michigan. He returned to Chicago in the spring, where he was again a teamster and drover. The industrious habits and pleasing address of the young Irishman attracted the attention of Mr. John Alston, of the firm of Alston, Devore & Co., who employed him as coachman and has ever since continued his friend. He “remained in this position only until July, 1868, when he succeeded in obtaining a situation more congenial to his p* 82 MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE, disposition, as policeman and detective of the Merchants’ Police Agency of W. S. Burbine & Co. Two years with this agency, and several months a member of the Chicago city police, he made his first essays as a detective, and met with such success as to give fair promise of future eminence in his profession. A position in the wholesale liquor establishment of Messrs. Dodge & Bros., No. 9 South Franklin Street, Chi- cago, was offered him, and, in the hope of advancing his condition, accepted. He won the confidence of his em-~ ployers and succeeded in adding somewhat to his slender stock of earnings. At the end of eight months, encour- aged and aided by them and other friends, he embarked in business on his own account by opening a liquor store at 349 South Canal Street. His venture prospering, he shortly after increased his business by opening a saloon, in addition to his store, near the corner of Twelfth Street and Centre Avenue, and believed himself to be on the road to competency if not large fortune. © It will be observed that McParlan, although in the humbler walks of life, had made continual advancement from the time he arrived in 1867, a poor and friendless young man, in the streets of New York, until a little over three years afterwards he is established in a prosperous business in his own behalf, with influential friends ready and willing to assist him, in the’ leading city of the West. But ‘‘man proposes, God disposes.’’ ‘The fire of Octo- ber 8th and oth, 1871, laid a great portion of Chicago in ruins, and with it went his Canal Street store. Then, so far as the liquor business was concerned, as McParlan himself remarks, he was ‘‘extinct.’? His saloon not pay- ing well under the altered condition of affairs, he sold out, and in April, 1872, he was employed by Allan Pinkerton, of the National Police Agency. However unfortunate the great fire of Chicago was to McParlan and to many thou- MCPARLAN THE. DETECTIVE, 83 sands of others, its result in forcing him to adopt his former profession has been of incalculable advantage to the coal regions of Pennsylvania, and through them to the general business interests of the country. Connected with his earlier career as a detective, many a strange, ofttimes thrilling and sometimes ludicrous, story might be told, which will, perhaps, some day afford a theme for another pen. Suffice it to say here that the ability which he displayed won the confidence of the Agency to such an extent that when the arrangement was made with Franklin B, Gowen, Esq., on the part of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, to undermine and de- stroy the ‘f Molly Maguires’’ of the anthracite coal regions, McParlan was selected as the operative. The magnitude of thé end in yiew, the difficulties, risks, and dangers of the enferprise, the glory of success arising from repeated failures; and the ample discretionary powers required, ren- dered the selection a High compliment. In the month of October, 1873, he arrived in Philadel- phia, and reported himself to Benjamin Franklin, the superintendent of the Agency there, as ready for action. A general plan was agreed upon, and modes of communi- cation by cipher and otherwise were established. Frequent reports were required,—daily, or even oftener when neces- sary or practicable. It was not in view at this time that McParlan should himself ever become a witness; thé in- tention was to discover, if possible, the criminals who infested the coal regions, to learn of their inside workings, to give notice of intended outrages, so that when possible they might be prevented, and when this could not be done, to point out the offenders and secretly furnish information and evidence for their conviction. The character of the outrages committed and the man- ner of their commission had led to a belief in the ex- istence of a powerful organization located in the very 84 MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. heart of the mining operations. It was fully appreciated ‘that every move should be made cautiously; it was fully understood that by one single error the work of months might be rendered of no avail, and that by one false step future operations would be made still more dangerous, if not impossible. Before entering on the work, a knowledge 'of the various localities and differing characteristics of the people, to be obtained through actual observation, was deemed requisite. ‘This was considered advisable for a number of reasons: it would render the detective better able to enter into and understand ordinary subjects of con- versation, and would give him a clearer idea of the field he had to work in. The details of his action and future movements were left as a matter either of discretion or of after-consideration. Under such general instructions, MePantas entered upon the scene of action. In the month of October, 1873, he took the cars in Philadelphia, with Port Clinton—a small town situated on the dividing line between the counties of Schuylkill and Berks—as his destination. Here he for the first time assumed the name of JAMES MCKENNA, a name by which he was known during the whole period of his residence in Schuylkill County, up to March, 1876. Port Clinton, a small but thriving village, a railroad junction, with some manufacturing industries, frequented by railroad hands, but with the Pennsylvania German element predominating among its residents, was soon understood, and, to the detective, uninteresting. Remaining there but one day, he passed a few miles up the railroad to Auburn. Here he found the Pennsylvania Dutch in full force. The town was small, and the inhabitants evidently not blood- thirsty; but, according to his own account, here it was that his main duties as an officer were appealed to. He showed obedience to orders in stopping there, but his dis- cretion told him to leave within a few hours. A ride of MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. 85 about fifteen miles on the Schuylkill and Susquehanna branch of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, through a beautiful farming country, and he was rewarded by a sight of the pretty little town of Pinegrove. Not being inter- - ested in the subject of agriculture nor in search of a pleasant place of residence, the same day found him on the return trip to Auburn, and from there he went still farther up the railroad to Schuylkill Haven. Schuylkill Haven, although outside of the coal region, is only four miles from Pottsville, is at the junction of the Mine Hill branch with the main line of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, and is also at the head of the Schuylkill Canal. Although possessing many of.the char- acteristics of a central town in an agricultural district, the heavy coal shipments on the canal, and the number of boatmen and railroad hands congregated there, presented subjects for examination, and afforded him opportunities ° to form acquaintance. Here he remained about four days, visiting the coal wharves, the company shops, and the sur- rounding country; also, while here, he availed himself of the opportunity to pay a visit of a few hours to Pottsville. From Schuylkill Haven McKenna proceeded to Tre- mont, which place he made his headquarters for about a week. Here he had his first conversations relative to the ‘¢ Molly Maguires.’’ He pretended to believe an assertion of the existence of that organization, made in the Boston Pilot, to be without foundation. He was, however, assured by a railroader named Fitzgibbons and a tavern-keeper named Donohue, both of whom asserted that they were not members, that the society had an existence, that Mahanoy City was full of its members, and that the organization was bad in its character. Tremont was in the coal region, and here he made his first acquaintance with miners and laborers. Pretending to be in search of work, from that point he visited Newtown, 8 86 MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. Swatara, Middle Creek, Rausch’s Creek, and Donaldson, at each place forming acquaintances and extending his in- formation. He next passed to the western part of Schuyl- kill County, where he paid a visit of some four days to Tower City and the surrounding coal-mines. Here he heard the assertions repeated as to the existence of the ‘Molly Maguires,’’ but the point of their strength was again alleged to be in the Mahanoy Valley, north of the - Broad Mountain. From Tower City he made his way back to Tremont, and from there to Minersville, a town of about five thousand inhabitants, four miles to the west of Potts- ville, where he remained several days. McKenna now left the coal region and went to Philadel- phia to make a personal report to Superintendent Franklin, remaining in that city about two weeks. He had obtained some idea of the country, had made a number of acquaint- ances, and had satisfied himself that the ‘* Molly Maguire’’ organization was no myth, but a terrible reality. A course of policy was again marked out, and Pottsville selected as the proper place for McParlan to make his head- quarters, that city being the centre of business in Schuyl- kill County, the county seat, where were located the offices of the railroad and mining companies, and as a conse- quence being frequented by all classes of the population and residents of all parts of the county. Whilst the ‘‘ Molly Maguires’’ had not yet attained suf- cient hardihood openly to defy law and authority in Potts- ville, it nevertheless had a number of members of the order among its citizens, and several of their places of resort in its very centre. It was conceived that at this point a gen- eral acquaintance with the order throughout the region could be best formed, and from there a proper place for the basis of future operations be best selected. It will be borne in mind that up to the time here referred to, and throughout the whole of his operations in the coal MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. 87 region, the system of daily reports was maintained. ‘These reports, still in existence, and in the possession of the Pink- erton Agency, form a proud record of the industry, the ability, and the honesty of McParlan the detective. CHAPTER IX. McPARLAN.—CONTINUED. McPartan, or McKenna, as he was now called, re- turned to the coal region in December, 1873, after his visit to Philadelphia, with the intention, as already stated, of making Pottsville his immediate headquarters. He ob- tained boarding with Mrs. O’ Regan, East Norwegian Street, and at once earnestly entered upon the duties for which he had been employed. He had become fully satisfied by this time that if every member of the A. O. H., or Ancient Order of Hibernians, was not a ‘‘ Molly Maguire,’’ it was a pretty well-established fact that every ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. This order, regularly chartered by the Legislature of Pennsylva- nia as a benevolent association, paraded its existence before the world, and made no special secret of the times and places of its meetings. Before McParlan left Chicago, it had been determined upon by Allan Pinkerton that he was to join the organiza- tion, and to do so was a part of his instructions. Its mem- bers were known, and very many of them were soon his friends and associates. He was ‘‘a broth of a boy.’’ He had, according to his own account, come to the coal region in search of a job, but, as he had just left a good place in Philadelphia, where he had saved some money, he was in 88 MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE, no special hurry about the matter. He could, according to the style and taste of those of his nationality, sing a good song, dance a jig, and pass a rough joke. He was polite and attentive to the girls, could drink his share of whisky and pay for it, and was open for a row or shindy of any kind. Altogether, his manners were those of as rollicking, impulsive, generous, careless, unreasonable, quar- relsome, devil-may-care an Irishman as could be found in the four counties. At an early day after locating in Pottsville, McKenna formed the friendship of Pat Dormer, a Molly Maguire, one of the commissioners of the county, and the keeper of a drinking-saloon and ‘‘ Molly’’ resort, called the Sher- idan House, on Centre Street. He quickly marked Dor- mer as a fit subject on whom to commence operations, and as a consequence, alone or in company, he was frequently loafing in front of the counter when Pat played the part of his own bar-tender. An opportunity for establishing confidence presented itself. McKenna’s boon companions grew careless, and a toast, the words of which he remem- bered, was several times repeated and responded to in his presence. ‘This was sufficient for the detective: watching an opportunity when he was the only guest, he treated the landlord, and, leaning mysteriously across the counter, tipped glasses, and in a significant manner repeated the words of the toast he had heard. | ‘¢ What !’’ said Dormer, surprised, ‘‘ are you one of them things ?”’ ‘¢That’s what they call me,’’ replied McKenna. Dormer, without further inquiry, accepted the position, and confidence was established between the two. McKenna told him that he had been a member of the Ancient Order in Buffalo, where he owned some houses, but that owing to a crime which he had committed there he had left in a hurry, and was unable not only to collect his rents, but ’ MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. 89 also, for fear of detection, to communicate with his so- ciety. He stated likewise that, whilst he had some money on hand, he would like to get a job of work, and to keep up his connection with the organization. The story ex- cited Dormer’s sympathy. He said that Michael Law- ler, of the Shenandoah Division, was a personal friend of his, and that he had no doubt that Lawler would, on his recommendation, aid McKenna in getting a job at Shen- andoah. 7 Although Dormer had fallen so readily into the snare, McKenna’s path to knowledge was not always strewn with roses. Dormer, a night or two after the interview just re- ferred to, introduced him to Michael Cooney as a member of the order. Cooney required too much proof. McKenna’s stock of knowledge was soon exhausted, and he floundered. Cooney became indignant. McKenna, to get out of the scrape, assumed intoxication, called for drinks all around, apparently took a very big drink himself, reeled, and fell over on the floor, where he lay feigning sleep. Cooney still continued indignant, abused McKenna, and said that he had a notion to kick him on the head. Dormer remonstrated. ‘‘ The fellow is all right,’’ he said; ‘‘ he is a good fellow, and belongs to the order; he is a little intoxicated now, but when he gets sober he will be able to explain it all to you.”’ ‘‘T don’t believe it,’’ replied Cooney ; “and I wouldn’t believe him unless he brought a card from his body- master.’’ | ? The situation was not pleasant; McKenna had made a narrow escape from getting a severe bruising; but he had gained two additional items of information, namely, that cards were issued, and that the officer issuing them was the body-master. Several weeks after this occurrence McKenna met Michael Lawler, who was then the body-master of the Shenandoah 8* 90 MCPARLAN: THE DETECTIVE. Division, at the Sheridan House; they were introduced, and a strong recommendation of McKenna was privately given Lawler by Dormer. McKenna did his utmost to impress his new acquaintance favorably, and succeeded. ~ Arrangements were then made for him to visit Shenandoah with a prospect of obtaining work. Prior.to this time the detective had been extending his acquaintanceship throughout the coal region. His usual course was to stop at some hotel or tavern frequented by workingmen, or to go to some boarding-house suitable for the purpose he had in view. He stopped about a week in ~ St. Clair (three miles from Pottsville); then, crossing the Broad Mountain, he remained a few days at Girardville ; from thence he journeyed to Ashland, which place he made his residence a sufficient length of time to enable him to increase his acquaintance and enlarge his knowledge of the coal region. After his return to Pottsville, his circle of friends not only increased, but, owing to the spread of the impression that he had been formerly connected with the order, he was enabled to gain a more comprehensive view of its ex- tent and power. His reckless, daring manners, together with an impression that he was himself creating of an utter disregard of all laws, human and divine, induced an unusual degree of confidence to be placed in him. He still kept up the fiction that he was in search of work, except to some friends, to whom he threw out vague intimations of his being a fugitive from justice. Avowedly in search of work, after remaining several weeks in Pottsville he visited Mahanoy City, where he made a short sojourn; thence to ‘Tamaqua, and from there again returned to Pottsville. This was in the latter part of January, 1874. It was at this time that he made the acquaintance of Michael Law- ler, or, as he was generally called, ‘‘ Muff’? Lawler, and agreed to go to Shenandoah to get work. MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. gt He had now made up his mind, and had so reported to Mr. Franklin, that his true base of operations was in the Mahanoy Valley, north of the Broad Mountain. In the early part of February, 1874, he made his first visit to Shenandoah, on his way stopping over Sunday at Girard- ville, and Monday night at Colorado, a mining town in that neighborhood. 2 About the roth of February he artyed at Shenandoah, which place he thereafter made his home; going back and forth from there, until his position as a police-officer was discovered and his career as an operating detective in the coal region had ended. Shenandoah, a town of about nine thousand inhabitants, has sprung into existence within the last thirteen years. It lies a few miles north of Mahanoy City, and to the east of Ashland, and is built upon and surrounded by coal lands of almost fabulous value. The improvements are commen- surate with the value of the lands, some of largest collieries in the world being there in successful operation. Both the Philadelphia and Reading and the Lehigh Val- ley Railroads extend through the town, severally claiming a share of the rich deposit of coal. ‘The population con- sists in the main of miners and laborers, although bankers, store-keepers, lawyers, doctors, editors, ministers, mechan- ics, and artisans of various kinds constitute an important element. The miners and laborers are, however, not only the controlling political element, but also the great source from which directly or indirectly the remainder of the population derives its support. As a consequence, the fluctuations of the coal trade, with their effect upon the rate of wages, are quickly felt by all classes of the community, and asa further consequence, not only the ‘‘ Labor Union’’ but also the ‘*‘ Molly Maguire’’ organization was here openly defiant and advocated extreme measures, which, although not generally approved, were maintained against opposition. 92 MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. In the latter part of February, 1874, McKenna obtained work at the Indian Ridge shaft, near Shenandoah, as a laborer. Here he remained a little over two weeks. Upon some trivial pretext he threw up this job, and engaged him- self at the West Shenandoah colliery, where he remained _ about seven or eight days. Some ludicrous stories are current as to McKenna’s at- tempt to work in the coal-mines. He at first insisted upon working in full dress. Soon his coat was thrown aside, then his vest, and finally his shirt. He perspired and suf- fered under the unwonted labor, but nevertheless bore himself manfully. The work in the mines would soon have become as pleasant as any other manual labor, but he found no occasion to test that question fully. He quickly discovered that it was not as the skillful miner or industrious laborer that admission to or influence in the ‘Molly Maguire’ organization was to be obtained. He first boarded a week or two with his new friend, Michael or ‘‘ Muff’’ Lawler, and was by him introduced to the boarding-haquse of Fenton Cooney, who was also a member of the order. A very short intercourse with his. new associates convinced him that not only were the rights of person and of property and the laws of the land re- garded with contempt by the ‘‘ Molly’’ organization, but that he who had committed the greatest number and dead- liest of crimes and had at the same time evaded the law was looked upon with admiration and respect. He also Soon discovered that the man who supported himself or his family by a course of honest industry was held in far less esteem than the man who had acquired money by fraud or trick. The great corporations, the land-owners, and the coal operators were viewed as enemies and oppressors, who had no rights, and against whom any advantage, however — unfair, might be taken. The positions of Towhship Audi- tor, Supervisor of Roads, Treasurer, School Director, and MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. 93 Tax Collector were eagerly sought for, and when obtained the duties were administered with a criminal disregard of the rights of the public. Fraudulent, altered, and forged orders were issued with perfect boldness, and corruption in the management of public trust prevailed to an extent that would have excited the admiration of the boldest operator in the Tweed ring in its palmiest days. It is no exaggeration to say that the frauds in many townships in the coal region were far greater, in proportion to the amount involved, than any charged to New York or Phila- delphia jobs. Many of the ‘‘ Molly’’ leaders were tavern- and saloon-keepers, and their houses headquarters for the turbulent and discontented, where were devised schemes by which the different coal operations could be run in the interest of the organization by means of superintendents and bosses of their selection and by them forced into position. McKenna, upon finding that not only were his purposes not advanced, but that his movements were hampered and controlled by being confined as a miner and _ laborer, stopped work about the roth of March, 1874. He had now gained sufficient insight into the workings of the order to be enabled to state boldly that he wasa member. He gave up the story of having accumulated money in Phila- delphia, and began, to those confidential friends who under no circumstances can keep a secret, to tell of crimi- nal acts which excited even their admiration. He had two explanations for his present means of support: one was that he was in receipt of a pension from the United States government, obtained fraudulently, and the other that he was ‘‘shoving the queer,’’ in other words, passing counterfeit money. To ‘* Muff’’ Lawler he told, with more detail, the story he had already related to Pat Dormer, in Pottsville, relative to his Buffalo adventures. According to his account he had 94 - MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. worked at a grain-elevator there (describing one that had no existence), and had quarreled with and killed a man under circumstances of peculiar atrocity, but assigned reasons that rendered him perfectly justifiable from the ‘‘Molly’’ stand-point. He suggested that as writing to Buffalo to obtain a card from the body-master there might lead to his detection and arrest, it would be better that he should be initiated over again and become an active mem- ber of the Shenandoah Division, of which he (Lawler) was body-master. The reasons given were satisfactory, and accordingly, on the 14th of April, 1874, the ceremony of initiation was gone through with at Lawler’s house by reading to him an obligation called the ‘‘test,’’ which he kissed in token of secrecy. He was now a full-fledged member of a society known throughout the coal regions, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, but among themselves recog- nized as the dreaded ‘‘ Molly Maguires.’’ He found the society acting avowedly under an act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, approved March to, 1871; and that its motto was ‘‘ Friendship, Unity, and True Christian Charity.’’ He found, further, that in its written constitution and by- laws were embodied the purest sentiments of morality and benevolence, not only as between the members, but as to all the world besides. But he also found that the written principles for the governance of the order were but a thin cloak to cover their real purposes in the perpetration and concealment of crime.’ Whilst there was no pretense at carrying out the avowed object of the society as a benevo- lent association, it was not every new and young member that was fully trusted: education was sometimes necessary before entering into full communion. The chief county officer, called the County Delegate, was alone deemed worthy of being made cognizant of all transactions ; whilst even in a lodge or division the chief officer, called the Body-master, and those immediately concerned, were some- MCPARLAN THE DETECTIVE. 95 times, although not always, alone aware of a contemplated or perpetrated outrage. The members of one division could only under special circumstances be admitted to the deliberations of other lodges or chapters of the order ; and as a consequence McKenna found that he had advanced but one step towards the object he had in view. He found that to attain his ends he would have to out-herod Herod or out-‘* Molly’’ a ‘* Molly.”’ The character he had first assumed he intensified: he became loud, brawling, and boastful of crimes of all grades, from petty larceny to murder. He was ready to drink, sing, dance, court a girl, or fight. He boasted of the great benefit that he had been to the order, and was ever ready to pretend sympathy with the perpetrators of a crime, after its commission, which he had been unable to prevent and the full details of which he was anxious to discover. By reason of the merit he claimed to himself he succeeded in being elected secretary of his division, whereby he obtained a seat in the county conventions; and he had ambition for still higher preferment. In every hole and corner of the coal-region portions of Schuylkill, Northumberland, and Carbon Counties (with an occa- sional visit to Luzerne) Jimmy McKenna could at dif- ferent times be found among the order, the loudest talker and apparently the biggest ‘‘ Molly’’ of them all. But it is simple justice to James McParlan to state that this was only in appearance: with all his show of devotion to the order he never asked a man to join it, never by word or deed suggested or encouraged acrime. ‘To this he has testified in trials both in Carbon and Schuylkill Counties. In Carbon County a desperate effort was made to prove the contrary, not only without success, but with a signal failure that recoiled upon the prisoner. ‘The ill success there proved a warning to the defense in sub- sequent cases in Schuylkill County, and the effort to prove 96 THE ANCIENT ORDER him in any respect an accomplice has been entirely aban- doned. It may be in place to mention at this point that the hardships endured by McParlan, in combination with the bad whisky he was compelled to swallow, resulted in a most singular effect upon his personal appearance during the latter part of his residence at Shenandoah. All of the hair fell off his head ; he lost his eyebrows, and his eyesight became impaired. Seeing him with a slouch hat on a bald pate, with green spectacles, rough shirt, and an old linen coat, swaggering along the streets, the last idea likely to present itself was that through his exertions a new era of peace, of law, and of order was about to dawn on the anthracite coal-fields. CHP AE Reta THE ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS. ACCORDING to the sworn testimony of McParlan and others, produced in what are known as the ‘ Molly’’ trials in Carbon and Schuylkill Counties, the organization of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in the United States is as follows : The society has an existence in Great Britain as well as America, the whole being under the control of what is known as the ‘‘ Board of Erin,’’ selected from members in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and from whom every three months the signs and passwords are obtained. The national officers of the United States, with head- quarters at New York, consist of National Delegate, Na- OF HIBERNIANS. 97 tional Secretary, National Treasurer, and President of the Board of the city and county of New York. These officers are selected by the State officers. Pennsylvania State officers, with headquarters at Pitts- burg, consist of a State Delegate, State Treasurer, and State Secretary. These officers are selected by the county officers. The county officers consist of County Delegate, County Treasurer, and County Secretary. These officers are elected at county conventions, consist- ing of officers of the divisions. The officers of the several divisions consist of Division Master or Body-master, Secretary, and Treasurer. These officers are elected by the members of the divi- sions respectively. The requirement for membership is that the applicant be an Irishman, or the son of an Irishman, professing the Roman Catholic faith. We are told that in the United States there are in the neighborhood of six thousand divisions, or lodges, of the ** Ancient Order of Hibernians.’’ ‘To even suspect that this large organization as a body is of the same character or in any way sympathizes or has complicity with the ** Molly Maguires’’ of the coal region, is extremely pain- ful. The country and the world will be inclined to receive any reasonable explanation rather than believe that so many thousands of Irish-American citizens are faithless to God and morality, the land of their nativity, and the land of their adoption. But the question forces itself, Why is there not instant disavowal of the acts of the coal-region ruffians by every division in the country? The crimes proven are fearful in atrocity, the society as organized in the coal region has not its parallel for evil in the history of the world. No obligation is sacred to its members ; possessed with a fiend- E 9 98 THE ANCIENT ORDER ish lust for blood, arson and murder are but sport and pastime. And yet out of six thousand lodges in America, and a large organization in Great Britain, not one word of repudiation of these hellish acts, except by part of divi- sion No. 2, of Philadelphia, has been uttered. It requires a charity that ‘‘beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things,’’ to ascribe such non-action to a national prejudice against the ‘‘spy’’ and ‘¢informer.”’ That by the passwords of the society no favorable im- pression is created, certainly as to the general character of the menibers in Great Britain, where those passwords origi- nate, is to be regretted. The general character of the passwords, it is to be presumed, can be judged from those given in testimony by James McParlan. ‘The signs and passwords were entitled ‘‘ goods’ or ‘‘ benefits.’’ Received 14th April, 1874: PassworD.—‘‘ The Emperor of France and Don Carlos of Spain, They unite together and the Pope’s right maintain.’’ Answer.—‘‘ Will tenant rights in Ireland flourish If the people unite and the landlords sub- due ?”’ QUARRELING Toast.—‘‘ Your temper is high.’’ Answer.—‘‘T have good reason to.’’ NicuT Passworp.—‘‘ The nights are very dark.”’ Answer.—‘‘ I hope they will soon mend.’’ Sicn.—The little finger of the right hand to the corner of the right eye. Answer.—Catch the lapel of the vest with the little finger and thumb of the left hand. May 18, 1874: PassworD.—‘‘ That the trouble of the country may soo be at end.”’ rite OF HIBERNIANS. : 99 Answer.—‘* And likewise the men who will not her de- fend.”’ QUARRELING Toast.—‘‘ You should not dispute with a friend.’’ Answer.—‘‘ Not Tf I am not provoked.”’ Nicut Passworp.—‘‘ Long nights are unpleasant.’’ Answer.—‘‘I hope they will be at an end.’’ SicN.—The front finger and thumb of the right hand to touch the neck-tie or top button of the shirt. Answer.—Right hand to rub across forehead touching hair. August 10, 1874: ‘ Passworp.—‘‘ What do you think of the Mayo election? I think the fair West has made a bad ° selection.”’ Answer.—‘* Whom do you think will duty betray ?’’ QuARRELING Toast.—‘‘Don’t get your temper so high.”’ Answer.—‘‘ Not with a friend.’’ Sicn.-—Putting the thumb of right hand into the pocket of the pantaloons. Answer.—Putting the thumb of left hand on the lower lip. October 28, 1874: PassworD.—‘‘ What do you think of D’Israeli’s plan ? He still keeps home rule from our native land.”’ Answer.—‘‘ But still with good swords and men at com- mand We will give long-lost rights to our native land.’’ Nicut Passworp.—‘‘ The night looks gloomy.’’ Answer.—‘‘ I hope we will soon have a change.”’ QUARRELING Toast.—‘‘ You are very provoking, sir.’’ Answer.—‘* I am not to blame.”’ I0o THE ANCIENT ORDER BoDY-MASTER’S TOAST: Question.—‘‘ May the President of France the general so grand ”’ Answer.—‘‘ Banish all heresy and free Ireland.”’ Sign omitted. January 11, 1875: PASSWORD : Question.—‘ Gladstone’s policy must be put down: He is the main support of the British crown.”’ Answer.—‘‘ But our Catholic lords will not support his plan, For true to their church they will firmly stand.’’ QUARRELING TOAST: Question.—‘* Don’t give way to anger.”’ Answer.—‘*I will obey a friend.”’ NiGHT PassworD : Question.—<*‘ The nights are getting shorter.”’ Answer.—‘* They will soon be at their shortest.”’ Bopy-MASTER’s Toast.—‘‘ Let every Irish peasant Espousing Erin’s cause, In college green They may be seen There making Irish laws.”’ Sicn.—Nail of the right thumb across the bridge of the nose. Answer.—Tip of the forefinger of the left hand to the chin. May 14, 1875: PASSWORD : Question.—‘‘ What is your opinion of the Tipperary election ? I think England broke her constitution by ‘4 Mitchell’s rejection.”’ + OF HIBERNIANS. IoI Answer.—‘‘ But didn’t O’Connell resign his oath and seat P Yes, and by agitation gained the emancipa- tion.”’ QUARRELING TOAST: Question.—‘‘ Keep your temper cool.”’ Answer.—‘*I will not raise it to a friend.’’ BoDy-MASTER’sS Toast.—‘‘ Here’s that every Irishman may stand to his cause, And subdue the British gov- ernment and its coercion laws.’’ Sicn.—The forefinger of the right hand in the left sleeve of the coat. Answer.—The thumb of the left hand in the left side vest-pocket. . November 4, 1875: PassworD.—‘‘ Here’s health to every Irishman That lives in Ireland, To assemble round in Dublin Town In memory of Great Dan.’’ Answer.—‘‘ When born he found our country In chains and slavery ; He labored hard to set her free, But now he’s in the clay.’’ QUARRELING TOAST: Question.—*‘ You seem to be getting vexed.”’ Answer.—‘‘ Not with you, sir.”’ NIGHT PAssworRD : Question.—‘* These nights are fine.”’ Answer.—‘* Yes; we shall have a fine harvest.’’ Sicn.—Tip of the forefinger of the right hand to the hole of the right ear. Answer. —TYip of .he forefinger of the left hand to the hole of the left ear. | 9* 102 THE ANCIENT ORDER January 22, 1876: PASSWORD : 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 P?’’ | Answer.—*‘ Yes, if supported by the Irish members.”’ * Nicut PassworD: Question.—‘‘ Moonlight is pleasant.”’ Answer.—‘* Yes, so is freedom.”’ QUARRELING TOAST: Question.—‘‘ Be calm, sir.’’ Answer.—‘* I am never too boisterous.”’ Bopy-MASTER’S Toast.—‘‘ Here’s to every Irishman that crossed the Atlantic wave, That they may return with heart and hand their na- tive land to save.”’ Sign omitted. These were the last ‘‘ goods’’ McParlan received, as the fact of his being a detective was shortly after this time suspected, and in the following March he left the coal regions.* That the passwords and toasts are imbued with a spirit of disloyalty to the English government only demonstrates a fact well understood, to wit, that the Irishman now, as in years gone by, is chafing under English rule, and has an earnest desire not only for ‘‘home rule,’’ but also for absolute independence. It isa matter of regret that the deep-rooted hostility to England, which appears to be a part of the nature of Irishmen, should be fostered and ** See in Appendix copy of the test, and also additional toasts and signs, oe a ee OF HIBERNIANS. 103 encouraged in what appears to be a hopeless struggle: still, © that it is so encouraged occasions no surprise. But the character of the society is placed under sus- picion by the nature of their passwords. It would appear from them that the universal use of intoxicating liquors ~ among the members is recognized and approved. ‘The passwords are as surely the toasts to be used among mem- bers over their cups as is the body-master’s toast among the chief officers. But by the quarreling toast is also recog- nized a rough and turbulent spirit among the members; . whilst by the night password is acknowledged traveling by ~ night in unfrequented places. It would also seem to imply a ruffianly disposition in the night-time, from the con- sequences of which the use of the night password would protect one member against another. The case would appear to stand in favor of the order as follows: reputed good character of many of its members in divisions outside of the coal regions; no conclusive proof of the participation of any such divisions with crimi- nal acts in the coal region or elsewhere; a charter, in the provisions of which are embodied principles of benevo- lence, morality, universal brotherhood, and religion. To this extent the position is in their favor. On the other hand, passwords and toasts imply a general habit of drinking, quarreling, and suspicious night journeyings. From no quarter does there appear evidence of any acts of benevolence accomplished in pursuance of the avowed object of their organization ; with but one exception, there has been no repudiation of the coal-region fiends, and uncontradicted testimony exists of the participation of national officers in aiding the escape of a criminal and using for this purpose society funds. 7 It is to be regretted that McParlan could not have re- mained a sufficient length of time in the order to have investigated the subject fully. If, as is to be hoped and 104 THE ANCIENT ORDER the general disposition is to believe, notwithstanding the unfortunate position taken by the society in making no public disavowal, the great body of the Ancient Order of Hibernians are law-abiding citizens, by such investigation they would have been fully vindicated. If, however, it should have been discovered that the society is a disgrace to humanity and a foul canker on the body politic, not only this country but Great Britain would have been under the greatest obligations,—for, understanding the evil, the remedy could be applied. Taking the most favorable view of the matter, the shield of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, inscribed as it is with the motto, ‘‘ Friendship, Unity, and True Christian Charity,’’ has been tarnished, its fair name and fame clouded, and its existence regarded with suspicion. If, as a fact, it is carrying out in good faith the avowed objects of its organization, it may emerge purified by its present disgrace. If, on the contrary, its charter is elsewhere, as in the coal regions, the mere cloak to cover lawless and criminal acts, the end of the order is in the near future, and it will soon be but a memory of infamy and shame. Membership of the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ society does not carry with it the right to attend the meetings of any divi- sion of the order; on the contrary, the right of attendance is confined to the one to which the membership attaches. A member in good standing can, however, change his division by bringing a card of recommendation from the body-master. When it is proposed to use the card out of the county, the county delegate places upon it his private mark. ‘The card can be presented to either a body-master or county delegate. If to a body-master, he will forward it to the county delegate to verify the private mark. In leaving the State a traveling card is used, which also re- ceives the mark of the county delegate. The body-master’s toast is given only to body-masters, ee ay Js OF HIBERNIANS. TOS and is used for the purpose of making one known to the other. If, after the use of the quarreling toast, a blow is struck, the offender is subject to be tried and expelled. The practice relative to the commission of crimes was systematized. When an outrage was to be committed in any particular district, the body-master of that district would apply either to the county delegate or the body- master of another division for men to do the work, such men to be unknown to the parties upon whom the outrage was to ke perpetrated. ‘These men or the division would receive a guarantee that if they wanted a like favor in their locality it would be reciprocated. The men were either selected by direct appointmen‘ by the body-master or chosen by lot. The penalty for refusal to act under the instructior of the county delegate was expulsion; but it has never, ac- cording to the detective, proven necessary to enforce such penalty on that account. In case of the arrest of a member-of the order for crime, the first effort is to raise money to pay counsel, and the next to procure witnesses to prove an ‘‘alibi.”’ The commission of crime was determined upon either by the body-master, by a meeting of the division, by the county delegate, or bya meeting of body-masters and other principal men of the organization called by the county delegate. It was but seldom that members of another division were called upon to commit highway-robbery or murder for the sake of gain; but when outrages of this kind were com- mitted by individual members on their own responsibility, the act was indorsed and the criminal sustained by all the machinery at the command of the order. The usual subjects of complaint were against* bosses and superintendents at collieries who had refused work to mem- E* fo6 ZHE ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS. bers of the order; and this was a special cause of offense when the work applied for was given to other than an Irishman. To take possession of a house belonging to a colliery, but occupied by a member of the organization, or by a friend of a member, was also a serious offense, notwithstanding such action was taken by the boss under direct instruction and the house was needed for the purposes of the work. To carry out instructions of the coal operator and owner against the rules established by the men was a serious offense, and resulted frequently not only in exciting the in- ddignation of the Mollies, but ee in the ates the whole work by the ‘Labor Union.’ The gratification of a whim, ere a fancied slight, personal dislike, or pure wantonness, justified beatings, arson, even murder. ‘The actual perpetrator of the out- rage, influenced by no personal feeling against the victim, to whose very existence he had hitherto been a strafiger, did not stop to ask the cause of offense or in any way to judge the merits of the controversy. He obeyed orders or accepted the chance of the choice by lot. He applied — % _the torch which destroyed property worth thousands of dollars, bringing financial distress and ruin upon men against whom he had no feeling or cause of complaint, and throwing hundreds out of employment with whom he not only pretended, but actually had, sympathy. He waylaid and fearfully beat men who had never done him the slightest injury, and towards whom he had not even an- unkind thought. He murdered in cold blood, with the ferocity of the fiend and with the stealth of the assassin, men on the instant brought to his knowledge, from whom he had never suffered injury, and regarding whom he did not even know what was charged against them. And yet, strange to say, the perpetrators of these out- rages were frequently young men on the very threshold of life, with hearts capable of being touched by a tale of ass THE LONG STRIKE. 107 suffering, and with -hands ever ready to succor the afflicted and distressed. Not even a course of evil life and dissi- pation was the inducing cause of their lawless acts. Born of poor but honest parents, and with humble Christian training, the young man who. never tasted liquor, whose surroundings were apparently pure, and whose character was unsuspected, would become the perpetratpr of a ter- rible and cruel murder. Such a course of conduct appears contrary to every theory of crime, and is the result of false ideas of honor, false ideas of friendship, false ideas of fra- ternity, false ideas of patriotism, and a perversion of every good and, noble impulse. Arrested and before the bar of eae justice, tender tokens of affection, and kindly acts of friendship, are mani- fested, and the sorrowing father, the loving mother, the clinging wife, are all seen. ‘The friend stands firm through good report and through evil report. Heroic fortitude and unexampled bravery are combined with an utter callousness in regard to the crime committed ; as to it, not one regret is apparently felt, there is not one thought of a dishono¥ed family, of outraged law, of a disgraced nationality, of an angered God. CHAPTER XI. THE LONG STRIKE—-McPARLAN, CONTINUED. McKenna, in April, 1874, was a member in good stand- ing of the Shenandoah branch of the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’ organization. Owing to the independent means of sup- port which he avowed, his movements were untrammeled. His acquaintance was now extensive, and the necessity of aconstant change of base in ‘shoving the queer’’ ac- 108 THE LONG “STRIAZ. counted for his frequent journeyings. The rule of the order, which prevented visitors from attending the meet- ings of other divisions and taking public part in their de- liberations, still prevented the easy attainment of his object to obtain full knowledge of all that was going on and the names and acquaintance of all the members. By means of his litergry qualifications and his simulated zeal and ardor for the advancement of the society, combined with his apparent willingness to join in the commission of any act, however desperate, he easily succeeded in obtaining the position of secretary of his division. By reason of that office, and by loud, boastful talk and self-assertion, he soon acquired the reputation and position of a leader. He was also enabled by virtue of his office to have a seat in county conventions of the order, and to establish intimate relations with the county delegate, at that time Barney Dolan. lLoud-talking and apparently reckless, by his logical power he gained respect, and by his plausibility and tact acquired the reputation not only of being ready forfany enterprise, but also of being a knowing and safe operator. New in the order, with position to obtain, with confi- dence to gain and strengthen, with its full workings throughout the region to become versed in, with extensive acquaintance to acquire, during the summer and fall of 1874 he not only attained all the ends in view, but made rapid headway towards the detection of crimes supposed to be long buried in the mists of the past. How much was accomplished, what discoveries were made, what still re- mains obscure, it is not proper here to state. In some cases the perpetrators are dead, in others the veil may never be uplifted, exposing to public view the terrible mysteries of the past, whilst in others the footprints of the - avenger are even now upon the track, and from countries of the Old World, from the islands of the distant Pacific, \ THE LONG STRIKE. 109 from across great waters or from the recesses of rugged mountains, the criminal, long resting in fancied security, may be brought to answer at the bar of outraged justice for deeds done in the past. In the summer and fall of 1874 the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ was reveling in his extended power and boastful in a fancied security. Tweed-in his palmiest day was never more arro- gant nor half sounscrupulous. Not exceeding five hundred in number in Schuylkill, and in about that proportion to population throughout the rest of the coal-fields, they yet controlled township affairs in a number of districts, had great influence in the management of counties, and were courted and caressed as a potent political element. In the control of mining operations the ‘‘ Labor Union’’ under the influence of their most extreme counsels was gaining undisputed sway. The coal operator, wearied out with repeated and continued encroachments upon his un- doubted rights, had yielded point by point, until his ownership of property—his by purchase and by law—had become almost nominal. The land-owner, groaning under a load of unnecessary taxes, felt himself powerless to stay the evil. As a consequence, unreasonable as the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ has proved himself, there were during this period but few notorious outrages. In December, 1874, commenced the ‘‘long strike.”’ ‘*Those whom the gods would destroy they first make mad ;’’ and this would seem to be exemplified by this ill- advised movement on the part of the workingmen. It is said that the strike was inaugurated against the advice of the leading men of the ‘‘ Labor Union ;’’ but, without an idea of the long struggle then commencing being enter- tained by any one, the strike became an existing fact. During the year 1874 the interests of the coal trade, and with them the interests of the coal region, had been guided by skillful hands. The failure of Jay Cooke in 10 II0 THE LONG STRIKE. the fall of 1873 had shocked the country and the world. Whilst repeated and large failures were reported among operators in speculative stocks, business houses and manu- facturing establishments, although much damaged, and those financially weak ruined, kept on in the even tenor of their way, hoping for better days. The cry of de- pressed trade soon came from every branch of industry and every section of the country. The coal regions alone seemed to weather the storm: the coal combination effected by the great carrying companies kept up the price of coal, and with it the wages of labor, and the hope was openly expressed that while a great financial crisis was about to visit the country, the coal region, generally the first to suffer, would escape unscathed. At this juncture the strike for higher wages was made,— made at a time when the continued decrease in the demand for coal and increased depression in business imperatively pointed to a reduction in prices, in salaries, and in wages. The strike was, however, in the beginning not regarded as serious, although at an early day the workmen were in- formed that not only would their demands not be acceded to, but that a reduction of wages would be insisted upon. This was not, however, believed, and matters remained quiet, good humor, in the first instance, prevailing. The strike was inaugurated at a time when the great body of workmen expected to be idle; navigation had closed, the winter stock of coal of the East and South had been laid in ; it was the period of limited demand, of what is termed ‘¢ dead work,’’ in preparation for the coming season. As, however, the attitude of the ‘‘coal exchange’’ was firm, very early came annoyances, in the refusal of the men to allow even sufficient coal to be mined for the use of the furnaces on the line of the road and for the locomotives of the railroad companies. In the mean time, the general busi- ness and manufacturing interests of the country were still THE LONG STRIKE. Itt more depressed. By the latter part of February, 1875, all hopes of even a partial revival of business in the spring had died out. Many of the large manufacturing and iron estab- lishmeuts of the country, which had struggled through the past year on the accumulated capital resulting from seasons of prosperity, either totally stopped work or ran on half-time ; whilst the area of the anthracite coal market had somewhat extended, the uses were being curtailed, and a large falling off in the demand during the coming year was felt to be a certain prospect. The facilities for mining coal created a supply largely in excess of the demand, and the fact was perfectly understood that no combination of the coal- mining companies would enable coal operators to run on full time and maintain prices of coal or wages. As a consequence, in the beginning of March, 1875, when the policy of the coal operators was fully developed, the struggle began in earnest, the operators maintaining that the reduction of wages was to them a matter of neces- sity, whilst the ‘‘ Labor Union’’ remained firm in the de- mand that at least the prices of the preceding year should be maintained. The stock of money accumulated by very many of the workmen was now exhausted, and a call was made on kindred associations for assistance. These associa- tions sympathized with the struggles of the miners and laborers; but they had their own interests to guard, and in most instances had themselves yielded to the pressure of the times. The response was, therefore, made with a necessarily sparing hand. Cases of suffering now appeared. The ‘‘ Labor Union,’’ in spite of the murmurs of many of its members, main- tained its position. Fears of the dreaded ‘‘ Molly’’ pre- vented open revolt on the part of those willing to go to work, whilst outrage and crime became common.* % See in Appendix the list prepared by the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, published in connection with Mr. Gowen’s ie tele THE LONG STRIKE. Intense feeling began to manifest itself on both sides. The ‘‘ Labor Union’’ yielded the position, so far as the question of reduction was concerned, but, as a question upon which its existence was involved, demanded to have a voice in the settlement cf the basis of wages. A num- ber of the coal operators were willing to commence work on these terms; but the great coal-mining companies, with the entire approval of many individual operators, refused to treat with the ‘‘ Labor Union”’ at all. By the action of the great carrying companies in the regulation of freights this policy was enforced. About the rst of June, 1875, combined capital, in con- nection with the depression of business throughout the _ country, conquered, and the once powerful ‘‘ Labor Union”’ experienced a Waterloo defeat. Most of the ‘‘labor-strikes’’ previously inaugurated had been local in their character, in some instances confined to particular collieries, in others to districts, and again, in others, to the coal shipments by particular lines of railway. In none of these contests had the men suffered overwhelm- ing defeat ; they had not always, it is true, obtained their full demands, but the result had generally been a compro- mise, in which their power was acknowledged, and the outrages committed either by unruly members of the ‘*Union”’ or indirectly resulting therefrom were, to a cer- tain extent, condoned. In the month of January, 1875, however, the organiza- tion of the ‘‘ Labor Union’’ was perfect ; not only was the association moving harmoniously throughout the coal re- gions, but it was assuming a national character, and friendly and profitable relations were established with kindred soci- eties in every section of the country. But in that which appeared their greatest security existed their greatest dan- speech, delivered before the Legislative Investigating Committee, July 2oth and 3oth, 1875. THE LONG STRIKE. {13 ger. The coal product was in excess of the demand, and a partial ‘‘strike’’ stopping the mining in a particular sec- tion caused an irreparable loss in shipments in such sec- tion, whilst it inured to the benefit not of the ‘‘strikers,’’ but of the coal producers of other sections. By virtue of the terms of the coal combination in 1874, apportioning to each region its share of tonnage, this result was not so manifest as usual ; nevertheless, rival interests and conflict- ing claims, both as between the shippers and the miners and laborers, had the effect of hastening compromise. The **strike’’ of 1875, as has been remarked, was ill advised on the part of the ‘‘Union.’”’ It was ill advised not only by reason of the depressed condition of business every- where existing, but also in the abandonment of the de- | tailed system of fighting. The conclusion, it is true, ap- peared rational, that if from the partial combination of labor partial success would result, from complete combi- nation complete success would follow. ‘The error in the calculation was simply this: combined action on the part of the men induced combined action on the part of the whole body of anthracite producers. The strike extending throughout the whole region, the rivalry of capital was at rest. As no anthracite coal was shipped, one section of the region had no advantage over the other, and the market could only be partially supplied by the product ofthe bitu- minous coal-fields. As has been stated, the situation was, as a general rule, regarded with good humor, until the latter part of February or the beginning of March, when the position was first fully appreciated by the men and some conception had of the coming struggle. It is true that prior to this time some dis- sension existed among the men themselves, occasioned by the resolution of the ‘‘Union’’ requiring that all ‘‘ dead work”’ should cease ; but a compromise with the coal oper- ators in time for the spring trade was confidently expected. 10* 114 THE LONG STRIKE. The firm attitude assumed by the coal operators, and’ particularly by the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and ‘Iron Company and the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Com- pany, excited in the minds of the workmen, according to their locality, extreme indignation against their respect- ive presidents, Franklin B. Gowen and Charles W. Parrish, Esqs. It is hardly necessary to say that both these gentle- men fully appreciated the situation, were determined to maintain their position at all hazards and at any sacrifice, and in that policy had the full indorsement of their re- spective companies. Against these companies, therefore, intense opposition was manifested by the whole body of the ‘‘ Labor Union,”’ and the outrages committed by the lawless and turbulent became frequent. In February, 1875, the shaft-house, at the large shaft on the outskirts of Pottsville, was burned to the ground,—the work of an incendiary. A more wanton outrage it is hard to conceive. Owing to the great.depth of the large veins in the vicinity of Pottsville, and for miles east and west from that point, and the consequent expense of opening mines, the larger coal operations are located in sections of the country where the coal is more easy of access. Mr. Gowen, however, appreciating the great value of a supply of coal, Almost unlimited, at the head of the main line of the Reading Railroad, and being able to command the large capital required, directed the sinking of the shaft, which was successfully accomplished, under the direction of General Henry Pleasants, the able chief engineer of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. This resulted in completely establishing the truth of the generally accepted theory of the coal formation in its appli- cation to the southern coal-field. The mining operations in connection with this shaft, when completed and in full operation, will give at least five thousand of an addi- THE LONG STRIKE. It5 tional population to the neighborhood of Pottsville. Any motive for interfering in the advancement of this enterprise would appear to be wanton, and the destruction of the shaft building was therefore specially malicious. A reward of ten thousand dollars was offered for the conviction of the offender, with a guarantee on the part of the Coal and Iron Company to insure the personal safety of the ‘‘ informer.’’ This reward, so far as is publicly known, has been with- out effect, and the transaction itself, in the crowding and terrible incidents of the year, has almost passed from memory. In the month of March scenes of lawlessness were not only of daily occurrence, but in many instances there were a number on the same day. Men were beaten and robbed by unknown parties, the repairsmen on the railroad were stopped from their work, train-hands were threatened, rail- road-tracks obstructed and barricaded, engines and cars thrown off the track, cars unloaded, property stolen and destroyed, houses burned ; mobs riotously assembled, took possession of engines and trains, displayed fire-arms, and drove men from their work. The lawlessness displayed in March continued during the months of April and May ; threats, notices, beatings, burn- ings of houses and breakers, mobs, railroad obstructions, and other outrages increased in number. As can be readily imagined, during this period ‘‘ Mc- Kenna,’ or McParlan, was fully occupied. He had during the month of January attended two conventions of the **Molly’’ organization as an officer, the first on the 4th and sth of January, at Lafferty’s Hall, Girardville, and the other on the 11th of January, at the Town Hall, Pottsville, and was becoming recognized throughout the order as a leader. Affecting to be in entire sympathy with, and ready for the commission of, any outrage, however horrible, he obtained a knowledge which he, with great tact and plau- 116 THE “LONG STRIIBE. sibility in his way of reasoning, used in the prevention of ~ contemplated crime. When he found this impossible, he often occasioned de- lays, and by his early and frequent reports to Superintend- ent Franklin, at Philadelphia, enabled parties interested to be on their guard, and thereby, in numerous instances, ‘saved individuals from murderous attacks and valuable property from destruction. The comparatively slow course of even a cipher telegraph was found inadequate. ‘To con- fide his knowledge to the civil authorities would have inev- itably, in a very short time, led his associates, who were ever morbidly suspicious and cunning, to a knowledge of his true position, and would not only have ended his sphere of usefulness, but would have cost him his life. It was therefore determined by the Pinkerton Agency to give him a coadjutor, who was found in the person of R. J. Linden, the -assistant superintendent -of the Agency at Chicago. About the 1st of May, 1875, Mr. Linden ap- peared on the scene of action in the coal regions, where he has remained ever since, and has been, next to McPar- lan, one of the most effective instruments in breaking the power of the dreaded ‘‘ Molly’’ and bringing the perpe- trators of crime to justice. Mr. Linden was born in Brooklyn, New York, in the year £835, and is consequently now in his forty-first year. He is a ship-carpenter by trade, and has passed a life of travel and adventure. During the war he was on the South At- lantic squadron, engaged in his trade. Since the close of the war he has been connected with the Pinkerton Agency at Chicago. Upon coming to the coal region his connection with the Agency was concealed. He was sworn into the Coal and Irot Police, and given the position of captain. He acted in conjunction with Marshal Heisler, who was known as a most efficient police-officer, honest, brave almost beyond THE LONG STRIKE. 7 conception, thoroughly efficient in action, but with little or no power as a detective. The appointment of Captain Linden was another evi- dence of the sagacity of the Agency in the selection of its men. Long-headed, sharp, and untiring, he yet possesses a sociability of manner and real warmth of heart that have rendered him extremely popular, even with the parties he has assisted in arresting and been so efficient in convicting. Under instructions from Superintendent Franklin, Mc- Kenna now, in addition to making his usual reports, con- ferred with Captain Linden, who, in case of an emergency, had authority to act promptly and on his own responsi- bility. Frequent secret meetings between the two were necessary, which in their arrangement required skill and ingenuity. As outrages increased in number, still more fre- quent meetings were required, and, for the purpose of warding off suspicion, a system of making appointments was resorted to, in which Malachi Cleery was made the innocent agent. ; To effect this was, however, attended not only with great inconvenience, but also with great danger. The meetings would take place sometimes in the bush, sometimes at Schuylkill Haven, sometimes even at Reading. The risk was run, every time they met, that the secret intercourse would be discovered, in which case the life of McParlan would have been the sure forfeit. Another plan of opera- tions was adopted. A plan of open intercourse was ar- ranged and successfully carried out. One evening, at Malachi Cleery’s drinking-saloon in Shenandoah, a large number of Mollies being present, McKenna among the rest, Captain Linden walked in, and, going up to the bar, asked for a drink. McKenna was, as usual, talking loud and making himself conspicuous. Linden entered into conversation with one of the by-standers, of whom after a while he inquired, ‘‘ Who is that fellow ?”’ 118 THE LONG STRIKE. The man hesitating in his reply, Linden continued, ‘‘ His voice reminds me, although he don’t look like him, of a fellow named Jim McKenna, whom I used to know.”’ ‘His name is Jim McKenna,’’ was the answer. Linden now stepped up to that portion of the bar where McParlan was standing, and said,— ‘¢Ain’t you Jim McKenna, and didn’t you live at one time in Buffalo ?”’ ‘¢That’s my name, and there’s where I lived,’’ answered McParlan, gruffly ; ‘‘ but I don’t know you.”’ ‘Don’t know me! Is it possible you don’t remember Linden P”’ McKenna instantly recovered his memory, affected great delight at renewing the acquaintance, and insisted on treating all round. Various reminiscences of by-gone times were recalled, and Linden, also seemingly gratified, stood the drinks in memory of other days. The captain took the opportunity of informing several parties in confi- dence that he knew McKenna well, and that he was ‘‘ a bad lot ;’’ that he had known him in Buffalo, where he worked on the elevator (which had no existence except in fancy) ; that he had been one of the best ‘‘shovers of the queer’’ in McCartney’s gang, but that as he had once killed a man who was threatening his (Linden’s) life, he did not want to arrest him. Besides this, he considered him a good fellow. This answered two good purposes: it indorsed McKenna in the description he had given of himself, and it ac- | counted for a certain good-fellowship existing between the two, by means of which information could be given and received, and arrangements-made in the midst of the crowd without detection or suspicion. Cleery was not himself a ‘‘ Molly,’’ but was popular with the order, and was to some extent under their influence, his house being with them a favorite resort. It was McKenna’s loafing-place. McKenna informed him confi- THE LONG STRIKE. 11g dentially that he had a suspicion that Linden was after him, and that he did not want to meet him when he could avoid it. He therefore requested that should Cleery happen to see Linden when he was about, he should let him (McKenna) know, in order that he might hide himself. This occurred on several occasions. McKenna would re- tire, apparently frightened, to a side room. Captain Lin- den would saunter in, and in asking for a drink, or in some casual remark, by preconcerted system, inform the listener where and when a meeting should take place. The lawlessness that existed during the period of the long strike of 1875 was not by any means confined to the ** Molly Maguires,’’ although in the actual perpetration of crime they were active in throwing the balls prepared by other hands. The ‘* Labor Union’”’ as an organization did not counte- nance flagrant violations of law; there were not only too many good men connected with it who would have been shocked by the perpetration of crime, but their leaders were men of more than ordinary ability, capable of appre- ciating the force of moral power and the necessity of ob- taining and retaining public sympathy. But the contest was a fierce one ; the ambition to win was great, want and suffering in the absence of work had become common, and men who themselves would not be willing to do an unlaw- ful or criminal act were perfectly willing to have it done, and in some instances to suggest indirectly, in others di- rectly, its perpetration. As an illustration, in April, 1875, parties not connected with the ‘‘ Molly’’ organization in- terviewed McKenna and others on the subject of burn- ing one of the Catawissa bridges. McKenna was ap- proached as a leading ‘‘ Molly.’’ It was suggested that as his organization was in the habit of doing such things, the burning of the bridge would advance the labor movement. It was urged that a large amount of coal for the Western 120 THE: LONG: SITRIRE = market was being transported over this bridge, and that its destruction would be a severe blow to the corporations. McKenna pretended to consider the proposition favorably, but said that it was necessary to have the matter brought before the society. In the mean time, the Pinkerton Agency was in full possession of the facts, through Captain Linden and Superintendent Franklin, and arrangements were made, in case there should be an attempt to carry out the scheme, to arrest the parties concerned while in commission of the act, McParlan, or McKenna, among the rest. ‘The enter- prise was, however, stopped. Before the time of the meet- ing, McKenna had a private talk with Frank McAndrew, then body-master of Shenandoah Division, and others. He suggested that the thing was a trick, and done with a view to have them arrested, and thereby get glory for the ‘Labor Union’’ and degrade the ‘‘ Mollies.’’ This was evident, he said, from the fact that, if the burning of the bridge was so important, they might do it themselves with- out calling upon them. ‘This view of the subject aroused suspicion, and although, when the meeting was held, the first impulse of the majority, that of McKenna seemingly among the rest, was to do what was asked, the view he had suggested to McAndrew was advanced, and the scheme fell through. : In other instances the ‘‘ Mollies’’ were made the instru- ments in the perpetration of wrongs which cooler heads had either hinted at, suggested, or advised ; but in a num- ber of cases violence and turbulence occurred in which they took but a secondary part. It needs no criminal organization to lead an inflamed and hungry people to scenes of riot during a long strike, and the ‘‘ Molly”’ or- ganization has far too many of its own undoubted sins to answer for without having placed upon it the misdeeds of others. : THE LONG STRIKE. 121 GB APPLE Beales THE LONG STRIKE, CONTINUED—THE MAJOR MURDER—MAHA- NOY CITY CONVENTION. Durinc the month of May, 1875, the force of the ‘¢strike’’ was broken. The end was inevitable. The combination of railroad companies, great coal-mining companies, and individual coal operators was too powerful for the ‘‘Labor Union.’’ ‘The number of ‘‘ blacklegs,’’ or men outside of the ‘‘ Miners’ and Laborers’ Benevo- lent Association,’’ ready and willing to work, increased. The leaders in that association saw that under the circum- stances their power was gone, and advised that the best terms possible be made by the miners at their respective collieries. Nevertheless, whilst under the severe pressure of want, and consequent loss of heart for further contest in a hopeless cause, the great majority were ready to com- mence work, the lawless few still retained the power, by means of threats, to excite fear and delay resumption. To offset this the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and fron Company promised to secure protection for such par- ties as desired to go to work. On the strength of this promise several mines in the neighborhood of Shenandoah and Mahanoy City commenced operations, but not fall- handed, on the 1st and 2d of June. This excited deep indignation among the remaining malcontents. During the night and early in the morning of the 3d, the mob began to gather upon Glover’s Hill, near Shenandoah, from Lost Creek, Colorado, Griscom’s, and various other small mining towns, all the way to Locust Gap, to the number of about* one thousand. The i | 122 THE LONG STRIKE. outburst was not so hearty as the number would indicate, since very many who had no heart or soul for the enter- prise had been forced into the ranks. ; Glover’s Hill is just opposite the West Shenandoah col- liery, then in operation, and it was upon this colliery that it was intended the first demonstration should be made to compel the men to quit work. Preparations for protection were, however, made. Captain Linden, with a force of twenty-four of the Coal and Iron Police armed with Win- chester rifles, was on hand early in the morning. About six o’clock some five hundred of the mob which had as- sembled on Glover’s Hill moved over to the colliery, where they were met by Captain Linden, his force drawn up in line of battle. No engagement took place; the firm stand of a few determined men kept the whole crowd at bay ; but for about six hours the mob was turbulent and threatening. About twelve o’clock the rioters retreated, and joined the party on Glover’s Hill. A line was then formed, and, preceded by a drum corps, they marched to Mahanoy City, some five miles distant, gathering force as they went along. At Mahanoy City they met the sheriff of Schuylkill County and his posse.. The sheriff attempted to protect the work- ing collieries. The excitement increased. Shots were fired on both sides, and several of the rioters injured. The sheriff - was, however, compelled to retreat, leaving Mahanoy City in possession of the rioters. The lock-up was broken open, and all work in that locality stopped for the day. The line was then again formed, and the mob left Mahanoy with the avowed intention of stopping the work at West Shenandoah. Loud threats of vengeance on the workmen at that colliery and the Coal and Iron Police were heard, but either fear of Captain Linden and his: gallant little band, or better counsels, prevailed, and before they reached that point the mob was dispersing. THE LONG STRIKE. 123 As might be expected, McKenna was in the midst of the rioters, taking notes of everything, but to all appearances as wild an Irishman as that crowd of wild men contained. On the afternoon of the same day the sheriff made his requisition for the military, which was promptly responded to by Governor Hartranft, and on the following day Colonel Caldwell’s regiment (a coal-region organization) was sent to the Mahanoy Valley, where it remained several weeks, with headquarters in Mahanoy City. The end was accomplished. Day after day, and week after week, work was started at different points, without disturbance, until very soon the coal regions presented their usual appearance of busy life. But if at the end of the ‘‘strike’’ the ‘‘ Labor Union’’ was paralyzed, the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ was in full being. During the. preceding months the opportunity for the commission of crime had been daily, and in its perpetra-- tion he had had the implied and sometimes expressed sym- pathy of large masses of people who, as a general rule, were his enemies. Crimes had been committed with impunity, and he had come to believe that as there was but small danger of punishment, little concealment was necessary. It is not certain that at any period in the history of the “‘Molly Maguire’’ organization the commission of murder was regarded with any compunction, or that any value whatever was placed upon human life other than their own. Whether or not at any time there was any repugnance to the commission of murder or any other crime, it is cer- tain that in this country, as in Ireland, neglect to comply with an unwarranted demand was always considered a suf- ficient reason for the sacrifice of life. As an illustration: a few years ago, a boss at a colliery under the superintendence of a gentleman comparatively new in the region was warned, through a coffin notice, to leave. Rather than endanger his life, the boss gave up his 124 THE LONG STRIKE. position, thereby throwing himself out of employment and losing all means of support. He was a good man, under- stood his business, was faithful to his employers, and in the discharge of his duty entirely just to the workmen em- ployed. The superintendent, unused to such a method of conducting business, was shocked, especially as every work- man he talked to professed to have no cause of complaint. Speaking to one of them of the wickedness of the proceed- ing and the injustice of the action, not only to the em- ployer, but to the man himself, in so driving him out into the world, he was astounded at receiving the answer, ‘‘Sure and didn’t the man have notice ?’’. - In that was told the whole story. No account was made of the fact that no right of law, religion, or morality gave them any authority whatever over the property and persons of others, and yet loss of life was considered only the just forfeit of disobedience to their commands. If the notice was disregarded, the party notified was at fault, and no moral responsibility rested on those who accomplished his destruction. This sentiment was widely spread, and the fact just stated has had its counterpart in many another incident almost identical. In this instance the remark made a strong impression on the superintendent, a comparative stranger, a pure and good man, a Quaker by nature and education, taught that even for the punishment of the darkest of crimes it is error for the strong arm of the law to take human life. But at the end of the ‘‘long strike’’ even the ‘ coffin notice,’’ although sometimes given, was not deemed essen- tial. An utter disregard of all the rights of person and of property seemed to pervade the organization. Arson and murder were not only considered as not criminal, but as - deeds worthy of high praise. The Indian boasts of numerous scalps and of acts of E> THE MAFOR MURDER. . 125 savage butchery, but the scalps he shows are those of his enemies, and his cruelty is against strangers to his blood and his tribe. The ‘‘ Molly’? commits his crimes against those with whom he has been in daily and apparently friendly intercourse, or against his employer, from whose injustice, if exercised, he is protected not only by just laws but also by the force of public sentiment. And yet the boast of the sae not more exultant. In the ** Molly,’’ conscience a red dead, and no ghosts of mur- dered victims arose to disturb the repose of an assassin su- perstitious by nature and education. Strange to say, whilst this disregard was felt and ex- ercised so far as the lives of others were concerned, among themselves there is a love of existence almost over- strained, death is regarded with unmixed horror, and re- taliation, however just, occasions a loud but heart-felt wail of mourning. ‘Their superstitions are intense and unrea- sonable. ‘That with this intense appreciation of life they should so readily commit murder in revenge for a fancied wrong, a slight, or to gratify a mere whim, presents an in- explicable contrariety of character. 7 Before entering into a narration of stirring events occur- ring within a little over three months succeeding the ‘‘ long strike’ of 1875, a proper understanding of the subject re- quires some reference to the murder of George Major, the Chief Burgess of Mahanoy City, in the autumn of 1874. Mahanoy City, containing a population of between six and seven thousand inhabitants, is also a town of recent growth. It is situate in the valley of the same name; is about twelve miles distant from Pottsville, lying a few miles to,the east of Ashland, and southeast from Shen- andoah. It was laid out about the year 1861, by the late Burd Patterson, Esq., so widely and favorably known not only as a pioneer in the coal region, but also as one efficient and active in the development of the iron manu- 11* 126 THE MAYOR MURDER. facturing interests of the State. The country was then primeval forest, but the Broad Mountain and Mahanoy Railroad, of which he was an active projector, shortly afterwards built, and similar railroad enterprises following, have made it one of the wealthiest and most densely- populated sections of Pennsylvania. Near by is situated some of the most valuable land ofthe Girard estate, and of the Philadelphia and Rea “and Iron Company. Mahanoy City, although several years older, has not attained the full growth of its neighbor Shenandoah, but, nevertheless, does not present as many features of an ex- clusively mining town. Manufacturing interests are more fully developed, and the influence of the miners and laborers is not so paramount. The ‘‘ Labor Union’’ has not had so full a control; and resistance to ‘‘ Molly Ma- guires’’ has, with a class of the population, degenerated into a bitter hostility against Irishmen. ‘This feeling has been growing for some years past, and has been fostered by sharp political contests and the formation of rival fire- companies. ” A party of the rougher element, inspired with this ani- mosity to the Irish, received the nickname of ** Médocs,’ and bitterness of feeling on both sides rendered. ‘the a ger of a collision imminent. \ eee During the evening of October 31, 1874, a pe aharly turbulent feeling manifested itself. A fire, about Mo of the town, in the early night brought both engine-com- panies to the ground, and a general fight soon began. Shots were exchanged, several persons were injured, and George Major, the Chief Burgess, received a wound which in a few hours occasioned his death. Daniel Dougherty, a young Irishman who was present at the fire, and who was -himself wounded by a pistol-ball which lodged in his face, was arrested for the murder. An intense feeling was cre- ated. Dougherty steadfastly asserted his innocence. A THE MAFOR MURDER. 127 number of persons present at the time swore positively to his being the perpetrator. By reason of the excited state of public feeling, the court of Schuylkill County, upon application, sent the case to Lebanon County, where it was tried during the month of April, 1875. Messrs. John. W. Ryon, Lin Bartholomew, and George Troutman, Esqs., of Schuylkill County, and Josiah Funk, of Lebanon, repres ies, Commonwealth, and Hon. F. W. Hughes, O. P. Bechtel, H. M. Darling, Esqs., of Schuylkill County, and Hon. John W. Killinger, of Leba- non, the defense. The case was hotly contested and very ably tried on both sides before his Honor Judge Henderson. The testimony as to the killing of Major by Dougherty was direct, positive,.and unequivocal, not only from one, but from six witnesses, whilst proof as to his innocence, with the counter-assertion that Dougherty was shot by William Major, was equally overwhelming. Testimony was produced showing that, the morning after the shoot- ing, an Irishman named John McCann appeared before one of the justices of the peace at Mahanoy City and asked for a warrant against George Major on the charge of assault and battery with attempt to kill, stating at the same time that he had shot Major, but that he was himself in- jured, and he wanted to be the first in- getting out a war- rant. Upon being informed that if George Major was not already dead he was dying, McCann left the Be) and shortly afterwards the county. Eleven witnesses swore to the fact that John McCann shot Major; but the credibility of the witnesses so testify- ing was attacked, and the position taken that the story was manufactured, and that McCann was a myth, a creation of the fancy. Mr. Hughes, on the part of the defense, became fully sat- isfied that Dougherty was innocent of the offense charged, and also that he was not a ‘‘ Molly Maguire.’’ Upon the 128 THE MAFOR MURDER. first point, that is to say, relative to the innocence of Dougherty, subsequent testimony in other cases has proven the correctness of his conclusion; but it has also proven that Dougherty was at the time a member of the organiza- tion. The ball lodged in the face of Dougherty had never, up to the time of the trial, been extracted. According to the theory of the defense, the ball had been fired from George Major’s pistol by William Major, and to establish this fact was of great importance, as it would render the innocence ‘of the prisoner manifest. The extraction of the ball was a painful and somewhat dangerous operation, but Dough- erty, by the urgent advice of Mr. Hughes, submitted. During the time of the trial the operation was performed ; the ball was extracted, and exhibited to the jury; it fitted George Major’s pistol, thus establishing the theory of innocence, and Dougherty was triumphantly acquitted. McKenna, immediately after the killing of Major; had investigated the matter. He met John McCann within two days afterwards, who told him the whole story and acknowledged himself to be the guilty party. The move- ments of McCann (who instead of being a myth was a tur- bulent, brawling fellow, and well known) were watched by McKenna for some months. No action could, however, be taken on his part; the prosecution had got on the wrong course, and the aid that could have been secretly ren- dered to convict McCann was not available. On the other hand, he was fully aware of the evidence of Dougherty’s in- nocence, and was much surprised to learn of the direct and positive testimony produced on the trial tending to estab- lish his guilt. It was very important at this time that Mc- Kenna should not be known, but, if other means had failed, doubtless the Pinkerton Agency would have prevented in some way the execution of Dougherty. Dougherty, al- though a ‘‘ Molly Maguire,’’ was considered a young man THE MAFOR MURDER. 129 of good character, and up to the time of his arrest had never been admitted into full communion relative to the commission of crime. He was being educated. Notwith- standing his acquittal, his innocence was questioned by a large portion of the community, and by the ‘‘ Modocs’’ wholly denied. . Threats of vengeance against him were freely uttered, but, being a man of nerve and relying on the ‘* Molly’’ power, he determined to maintain his residence in his old home near Mahanoy City. The bitterness of feeling pre- vailing was intensified not only by the acquittal of Dough- erty, but also by the numerous outrages committed during the ‘‘long strike.’’ On several occasions, when Dougherty ventured out in the evening, shots were fired at him, in one instance the balls passing through his clothing; his escape was miraculous. This was during the month of May, 1875. The defiant and aggressive position maintained by the ‘‘ Modocs”’ of Mahanoy City exasperated the ‘‘ Mollies.’’ The order was exceptionally powerful in that section of country, and it was felt by them that a startling movement, sufficient to in- spire boundless terror, was necessary to retain undisputed sway. Complaint of ‘‘ Modoc’’ defiance was made to John Ke- hoe, the County Delegate of Schuylkill. As he has him- self stated, the idea that suggested itself to his mind was to assemble the entire ‘* Molly’’ organization under his direc- tion, with them to proceed armed to Mahanoy City, and then to shoot down those recognized as ‘‘ Modocs’’ in broad daylight, in the open streets. With this plan in view, he visited Mahanoy City (his residence being in Girardville, where he kept a drinking-saloon) and consulted Dougherty, as the party in the greatest danger. Dougherty, however, expressed the opinion that if William M. Thomas, known as ‘* Bully Bill,’’ and William and Jesse Major, the brothers F* 130 go a Be “. THE MAYOR MURDER. BF the eaepered George Major, were killed, he would be safe and matters would become quiet. On the 26th of May, 1875, McKenna visited John Ke- _ hoe at his saloon in Girardville. In the course of conver- sation the situation of affairs in Mahanoy City was dis- cussed. Kehoe stated what his original idea had been as to making a combined attack, and the conclusion he had arrived at to call a meeting at Michael Clark’s, in Mahanoy City, on the rst of June, to consider the subject. As the matter might assume such a form that aid outside of the county would be required, he had sent Thomas Donahue (acquitted in Columbia County of the murder of Alexander Rae) to Locust Gap, to request the presence of Dennis F, Canning, County Delegate of Northumberland, at the meeting. As a matter of course, McKenna manifested great in- terest in the subject, and promised to go over to Mahanoy City to examine into the situation of affairs for himself; which the second day afterwards he did. He there met Michael O’Brien, whose views were not in exact accord- ance with Kehoe’s. O’Brien’s plan was to get about six good men, strangers in Mahanoy City, armed with navy revolvers, who, under guidance which he would furnish, could shoot in one night all the persons that might be de- termined upon. The escape of the parties committing the act, he thought, would be easy. This interview McKenna reported to Kehoe the same day, in the presence of John Regan, of St. Clair. Discussion arose as to the selection of proper parties to commit whatever act should be determined upon. Kehoe desired to know the condition of the Shenandoah and St. Clair Divisions as regarded men ‘‘ good on the shoot.’’ McKenna replied that the Shenandoah men were young and inexperienced in the business, and would hardly suit. Regan thought he had one good man, named Clark. Both MAHANOY CITY CONVENTION. 131 ‘ McKenna and Regan were invited to attend the coming meeting, to be held on the 1st of June, and McKenna received further instructions to notify Michael O’Brien the next day. At the time appointed, the meeting was held in a second- story room of Michael Clark’s hotel, Mahanoy City. ‘The meeting was opened with prayer, and organized by John Kehoe, County Delegate of Schuylkill. There were pres- ent, Dennis F. Canning, County Delegate of Northumber- land, Michael O’ Brien, Body-master of Mahanoy City, John Donahue, Body-master of Tuscarora, James Roarity, Body- master of Coaldale, Christopher Donnelly, County Treas- urer, William Gavin, County Secretary, Frank McHugh, Secretary of Mahanoy City Division, and James McKenna, or McParlan, Secretary of Shenandoah Division. In opening the meeting, Kehoe described the condition of affairs in Mahanoy City, the aggressive disposition of the ‘‘ Modocs,’’ and the attempted assassination of Daniel Dougherty. | The presence of Frank McHugh, who was a nineteen- year-old boy, was objected to by Chris. Donnelly, but at the request of Michael O’Brien, his body-master, he was allowed to remain and act as secretary of the meeting. McHugh then went out for paper, and, on his return, made fictitious notes of the proceedings of the meeting. This was done for the purpose of being prepared with a plausible account of the object of the meeting, should it ever be called in question. Upon motion, it was then agreed that Dougherty should be sent for. Dougherty appeared, showed his coat, bullet- ridden, and stated that he believed that it was Jesse Major who had shot him, and that he had come to the conclusion that the Majors were determined to kill him. He thought that if they and ‘‘ Bully Bill’? (William M. Thomas) were put out of the way, he might then have peace. 132 MAHANOY CITY CONVENTION. Dougherty was then requested to retire; and the busi- ness of the meeting was now conducted in a conversational way. Christopher Donnelly, the county treasurer, stated, in regard to the killing of the Majors, that he would furnish two men and go himself. In reply to this, John Donahue (Yellow Jack) remarked that the Majors, together with a man named Ferrel, were at work near Tuscarora, mining - coal, and that it would be very easy to get them; never- theless, he desired that Donnelly would not move in the matter until the following Sunday, when he would send a man to Pottsville to meet him and let him know how to act. To this Donnelly agreed. * The question relative to the Majors was now considered settled, and both Donnelly and Donahue said that as they would take care of their side of the mountain, Roarity, O’Brien, and McKenna should look after theirs, and dispose of ‘‘ Bully Bill.’’ Kehoe agreed that this was right, saying that the duty devolved on the three last named to dispose of Thomas. He suggested that the best plan was to get a couple of men well armed, who should go right up to him on the street and shoot him down by daylight, or at any time they could get him. To this course O’Brien objected ; he suggested that some men should be provided, for whom he would get a boarding-house, and that they should lie in wait upon the railroad between Mahanoy City and Shoe- maker Patch, where Thomas lived ; the expenses to be paid out of the county funds of the society. This plan was in- dorsed by Dennis F. Canning, the County Delegate of Northumberland, and was agreed upon. Canning then ._ desired to know if any men were required from him; if so, he could furnish them. Donnelly replied that, as the job was but a light one, there was no necessity of troubling him. Kehoe also stated that in carrying out the plan adopted there need be no call upon Canning. ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION. 133 McKenna, as secretary of the Shenandoah Division, in the absence of the body-master, and Roarity, the body- master of Coaldale, were instructed to call meetings of their respective divisions, to notify them what had been done at this meeting, and to see what action they would take. Kehoe, on his part, further said that he would send a man named McDonald, alias the Hairy Man, living near Pottsville. McDonald, he claimed, was a good man for a ‘*clean job.’’ * No further business being before the meeting, an adjourn- ment was moved and carried, and the party proceeded to take their dinner at the tavern where the meeting was held. Other matters were discussed socially. CHARI ER whi ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF WILLIAM M. THOMAS. THE participation of James Roarity,t} the body-master of the Coaldale Division, in the contemplated assassination of ‘* Bully Bill’? (Wm. M. Thomas) stopped at this point. -He became further involved, however, in the conspiracy - to assassinate the two Majors, and during the month of June was active in arranging the details of other crimes of like nature, hereinafter explained. It will be borne in mind that at the time John Kehoe os * McParlan defines a ‘‘ clean job’’ as signifying the shooting of a man, or » the beating of him well, or the burning down of a place, or any other out- rage. If a man was sent to do a job of that kind, and did it according to instructions and got off, it would, in every sense of the term, be ‘a clean job.” ¢ Convicted of the murder of policeman Benjamin F. Yost, of Tamaqua. a I2 134 ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION called a committee together to consider the question of the Mahanoy ‘‘ Modocs,’’ the ‘‘long strike’? had drawn to a close, and work had started under the arrangement made by the Coal Exchange for the protection of the workmen. As a consequence, the first steps taken to prepare for the murders determined upon were during a period of great excitement, and at a time when the last efforts of the mal- contents of the ‘‘ Labor Union’’ were being made. This prevented any meeting of the Shenandoah Division before - the evening of the 4th of June, and enabled McKenna to give to the Detective Agency full reports relative to the convention held at Mahanoy City. He was also enabled to confer with his coadjutor, Captain Linden; but the threat- ening dangers, and the riot which occurred on the 3d of June, occupied the full attention of the whole available police force. McKenna was therefore, to a great extent, thrown on his own resources. He was required not only to prevent, if possible, the contemplated murder, but also at the same time to maintain and even still further advance his position as a leading member of the order. The fact that Kehoe intended to call a committee meet- ing at Mahanoy City to consider the position of affairs there, and that the murder of the Majors and * Bully Bill’’ would probably be determined upon, was no secret among the ‘‘ Mollies’’ throughout Schuylkill. County. The sub- ject had been generally discussed for some time before the meeting was held. When, therefore, McKenna, on his return to Shenandoah, acting in place of Frank McAndrew, the body-master, called his division together, without further explanation the object in making the call was readily un- derstood. ‘The policy determined upon at Mahanoy City had, however, been explained to Monaghan, Gibbons, and Hurley. The meeting of the division was held on the evening of the 4th of June (the day after the ‘‘ Labor — Union’’ riot), in the bush on the Ringtown Mountain, re ¥ is worth a hundred such as ‘ Bully Bill’s. OF WILLIAM M. THOMAS. 135 north of Shenandoah. The members present were Ed- _ ward Monaghan, constable of the borough of Shenandoah, John Gibbons,* Thomas Hurley,} Michael Doyle, Thomas Munley,{ Michael Durcey, Patrick Garvey, and James McParlan, alias McKenna. The purpose for which the meeting was called was discussed at once, Garvey remark- ing, ‘‘ I suppose yez all know the object of the meeting ?”’ to which there was a general assent. Gibbons, Doyle, and Hurley, all very young men, volun- teered to ‘do the work,’’ but insisted on McKenna being one of the party, to which he without objection consented. The next evening (Saturday) was fixed upon as the time for the murder. It was expected that ‘‘ Bully Bill’’ would be in Mahanoy City at that time, as usual, ona spree. The place of rendezvous was fixed at Michael Clark’s tavern, where the committee had met three days before. The parties met at Mahanoy City according to this appoint- ment. Frank McHugh and Michael O’Brien came into the tavern shortly after their arrival. -McKenna had matured his plan of action. He took O’Brien out of the house, and walked with him down the street. He suggested to him that it would be a very foolish thing to shoot Thomas that night, that the military was in the town, that soldiers were patrolling the railroads and guarding the coal-breakers. He remarked that Thomas could not be shot without making a noise, which would inevitably lead to capture, and, said he, ‘‘ one of our lives ** O'Briensre garded the arguments as very forcible; indeed, so ingeni- ously did McKenna play upon him, that he almost came to the conclusion that the points had been suggested by himself. * Convicted of assault and battery with intent to kill Wm. M, Thomas (‘* Bully Bill’’). T Fugitive from justice. t Convicted of the murder of Thomas Sanger. 136 ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION On their return to the tavern, O’Brien called the party together, and in an earnest way, using the arguments by which he had himself just been affected, advised that the enterprise be given up for the time, and that they return to their homes. O’Brien was body-master of the Mahanoy Division, had arrived at mature years, and the enterprise was under his peculiar direction; as a consequence the young men were readily convinced, and, with a promise of their being notified when a favorable opportunity should present itself, started on their return to Shenandoah. McKenna at this time was not only making frequent reports to Superintendent Franklin, but was also in con- stant communication with Captain Linden, endeavoring, so far as his information enabled him, to frustrate the perpetration of the numerous crimes then contemplated. The heroic aspect of the case, from the ‘‘ Molly’’ stand- point, had now fully taken possession of the minds of young Hurley and Doyle, and they were determined to carry the enterprise through. On the 1oth of June, Gibbons being present, they called on McKenna at Shenandoah, and told him that they were on the road to Mahanoy City, where they hoped to see Thomas. They asked him g0 go along. The proposal was sudden ; he had no opportunity to report ; but, relying on the fact that they would first have to meet O’Brien and arrange matters, he made some trivial excuse and declined. On the 11th he succeeded in making his arrangements to follow them, and on the rath he did so, taking Gibbons along with him. He found Hurley and Doyle boarding with a Mrs. McDonnell, with whom O’ Brien had placed them. ‘They reported that they had not, as . yet, succeeded in meeting Thomas, but as their board was paid, and as they had no work, they would wait. McKenna tried to convince them that this was useless; but O’Brien sustained them in their determination, saying that he had no doubt they would be all right in a short time. b OF WILLIAM M. THOMAS. 137 McKenna and Gibbons then left Mahanoy City. They drove to Mahanoy Plane, where they met William Calla- han, the body-master of that division. Gibbons wanted to know from him why he had not sent some men over to Mahanoy City to shoot some of the ‘*‘ Modocs.”’ Callahan replied that some weeks previously he had lent two navy revolvers to ‘‘ Friday’? (James) O’Donnell for the purpose of killing Dr. Bissell and some other of the **Modocs,’’ but that nothing had been done yet. McKenna and Gibbons then proceeded to Girardville, where they called on John Kehoe, who seemed well satis- fied that the matter was moving right. As might have been expected, the result of Hurley and Doyle’s visit to Mahanoy City was an utter failure, so far as the main purpose was concerned. Thomas was never found in an exposed condition. On the 15th of June they returned to Shenandoah, bringing Patrick Clark with them to call on — McKenna. They were still anxious to effect the murder of Thomas, and, contrary to the advice of McKenna, but urged on by Gibbons, who lent them a shot-gun, which he said he had loaded enough to blow ‘‘ Bully Bill’s’’ head off, they started out, hoping to succeed in their purpose by watching along the railroad. They were again unsuccessful. On the 23d of June, Michael O’Brien, in company with a man named John McDonald, came to Shenandoah to see McKenna, who was sick at his boarding-house. Doyle was there at the time, and asked if they should then go over and shoot Thomas. O’Brien replied that this was a good opportunity ; that he was working at the same col- liery with him; that Thomas was on the day-shift, and generally came out of the mines about two o’clock in the afternoon. ‘This fact was borne in mind, but arrangements could not be made to start at once. McKenna excused himself, and the others, although willing to go, consented to defer the job still further. 12* 138 ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION On the 24th of June, Frank McAndrew, the body-mas- ter of the Shenandoah Division, who had just returned from Luzerne County, together with McKenna, met John Kehoe. The conversation turned on the Mahanoy City matter. McKenna stated that O’Brien had been over to get men; that he could not himself go, on account of the condition of his health, but that Doyle was ready. ‘This was con- sidered, so far as concerned McKenna, a valid excuse for not having gone; but -Kehoe then instructed McAndrew that when he appointed men to do anything and they did not do it, he should expel them from the order at once ; that McAndrew should attend to this business.* On Sunday, the 27th of June, Thomas Hurley, John Morris, Frank McAndrew, and Michael Doyle were at McKenna’s boarding-house. McAndrew asked if Morris, Hurley, and Doyle were going over to Mahanoy City. They replied that they were. McAndrew then sent Carey after Gibbons. ‘The two shortly afterwards returning to- gether, McAndrew said, ‘‘ These men here, Morris, Doyle, and Hurley, are going to Mahanoy to shoot Thomas in the morning as he is going out to work, and they want to know if you are going along.’’ Gibbons replied that he was. Carey volunteered to work in Doyle’s place during his absence, and it was arranged that a man named Daniel Sweeny should work for Morris. It was agreed that the parties doing ‘‘ the job’’ should each receive a day’s wages out of the society treasury. On account both of his sickness and of the rapidity of the movement, McKenna was unable to give warning in time and thus secure their arrest whilst in the commission of the crime. The party started at once for Mahanoy City, * An expulsion under such circumstances not only destroyed the social standing of the. expelled member among his associates, but also placed his life and property in constant danger. OF WILLIAM M. THOMAS. 139 at which place they met O’Brien, who took them to a boarding-house, where they remained during the night, but left early in the morning for Shoemaker’s Patch, where Thomas lived. ‘Thomas came out of his house about half- past six o’clock in the morning, and went to the col- liery stable. There he remained, talking to the stable-boss and some teamsters. During this time Hurley, Gibbons, Doyle, and Morris were sitting at the mouth of the drift, waiting for ‘Thomas to appear. Becoming impatient at his not coming, they all proceeded to the stable where he was, and commenced firing at him through the door. One shot hit him in the breast, another in the hand, and two in the neck. He either fell or threw himself among the horses, where, covered with blood, the would-be assassins left him, thinking that he was dead. Fortunately, however, his wounds were not fatal, and his recovery was rapid. The perpetrators of the crime sought safety in flight. They left at once for Shenandoah, where they met Mc- Kenna and told him of all they had done. Gibbons shortly afterwards left the county. John Renee gave him a dollar and a half; Thomas Donahue gave him two dollars, and took him to the railroad-station at Rupert.* No arrests were made of parties engaged in this outrage until nearly a year had elapsed. It was being buried in the mists of the past; and only remembered as one of the long list of ‘‘ Molly’’ outrages for which there seemed to be no redress or punishment. *¢ Bully Bill,’? in the attack made upon him which has just been described, had barely escaped with his life. For some reason he was specially obnoxious, and his murder was still earnestly desired. On the evening of the 15th of * Gibbons has since been convicted of ‘‘ assault and battery with in- tent to kill” William M. Thomas. -r4o ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION July following, as he was getting on the train at the depot of the Lehigh Valley Railroad at Mahanoy City, another attempt was made to kill him. He was fired at by a party of strangers, but fortunately the shots did not take effect, either upon him or upon any of the by-standers. Whilst it is a subject of congratulation that William M. Thomas was not killed, his escape renders but deeper the regret that the like good fortune had not befallen the many other victims of ‘‘ Molly’’ outrages; that men like Henry Dunne and Alexander Rae, with high social gifts and intellectual powers, should have been stricken down in careers of usefulness; that George K. Smith, dreaming of wrong to no man, should have been shot down on his own hearthstone like a dog; that Littlehales, and Muir, and Morgan Powell, acting in the full discharge of their duty, and against whom there was no word of just reproach, should, in the pride of their manhood and their strength, have fallen victims to the bullet of the assassin; that many another honest and true man, whose murder remains un- avenged, should have incurred the hatred of the ‘* Mollies’’ and fallen a victim to their wrath. William M. Thomas escaped ; his friends rejoiced, and the hundreds of fiends who knew that his assassination had been planned, with Jack Kehoe at their head, mourned the failure of a ‘* clean job.” | The preliminary movements attending this attempt at murder have been given somewhat in detail, as they clearly illustrate the character of the organization,—the utter want of moral perception on the part of its members. Jack Kehoe opened the Mahanoy City meeting of the 1st of June with prayer. First prayer, and then murder! Was this hypocrisy? Was it blasphemy? Or was it an open defiance of a great Creator, whose edict, delivered amidst clouds and thunders and fires on the top of Mount Sinai, ‘*Thou shalt not kill,’’ has been recognized in all ages OF WILLIAM M. THOMAS. 14! and in all climes, in lands enlightened and in nations bar- barous, by the meek and lowly Christian and by the veriest unbeliever who says in his heart, ‘‘ There is no God’’? No! bad as is this terrible organization,—and it has no parallel in the recorded annals of the-world,—the answer still is, No! It was simply an utter want of moral percep- tion. The ordinary rules of conduct by which mankind in general are influenced seem to have had with these men no application. The answer of the Delphic oracle, ‘‘ Know thyself,’’ for thousands of years has governed the student of human nature, but it is to be hoped it offers no key to **Molly’’ impulses or ‘‘ Molly’’ crimes. The terrible object of the meeting just referred to was known and indorsed by very many members of the society. Jack Kehoe had no fear of shocking the-moral sense of the organization when he proposed to summon all his cohorts in Schuylkill County to drench the streets of Mahanoy City in blood. Neither did Dennis Canning see aught in the conduct of the meeting or in the object proposed but what was proper and right; he cordially offered the assist’ - ance of old Northumberland ; but the work was light: only three men were to be killed; a city of neighbors should for the time remain exempt from general slaughter. Roarity and Donnelly and Yellow Jack Donahue ex- pressed their sympathy, and promised the active aid of their respective sections. McKenna, as directed, called a meeting of his division, and volunteers, active and earnest as if for a gallant and noble enterprise, sprang forward, thirsting for the privilege of committing a cold, a brutal, and a bloody murder. How quickly McAndrew indorsed! and furthered the work! How gracefully William Callahan excused himself for not killing a few men, under the plea, that he had lent his pistols to others to do the deed, which he regretted had not yet been accomplished! With the stray guest at a tavern or the casual visitor to a sick friend, t 142 ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION. at home or abroad, the matter was discussed with all the carelessness and freedom of the most ordinary every-day occurrence, provided such discussion was within the limits of a society holding as its motto ‘‘ Friendship, Unity, and True Christian Charity.’? Nor was there any particular caution exercised in such intercourse: they held a com- munity bound with a chain of terror, and wide-spread knowledge of criminal acts did not present any danger of information or punishment. Courted by the politician, dreaded and feared by the community, and denounced by their church, they sought to cheat their God. Cognizant of, and participants in, crimes of the deepest dye, many of them for the time being would not take the “‘ goods’’ or “ benefits,’’ and under that shallow plea would deny their connection with the order. The communion-table might thus be reached, the priest de- ceived, and the solemn confession rendered. But all would be of no avail: the foul wrong was bare in the eyes of Him who is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. In the attempted murder of Thomas, as in most other outrages, the scheme was devised by the older, the cooler, the wickeder, and the more cautious heads, whilst the actual perpetration of the crime was committed to mere boys, or those who in the early years of manhood had been imbued with perverted ideas of heroic action. Asa_ necessity, those of more mature years were often compelled — to act as guides, but they sought not the ‘‘glory’’ of the act itself. John Kehoe, the County Delegate, is about forty-five years of age; O’Brien and Donnelly are in the same dec- ade, but the first is older than Kehoe, and the second younger. Canning, Garvey, and Roarity are each about thirty, Yellow Jack Donahue about fifty-five. These were among the wiser heads controlling and directing. Thomas Hurley, John Gibbons, Michael Doyle, and John Morris, OF WILLIAM M. THOMAS. 143 who were the active perpetrators of thé crime, at the time were of ages varying from nineteen to twenty-three. Frank McHugh, who acted as secretary of the meeting at which the killing was determined upon, was nineteen years old, If fancy should picture these men as dark-browed ruffians and ill-looking scoundrels, fancy would be, as it often- times is, mistaken. The great majority of them present no appearance of murderers or assassins ; on the contrary, several of them are handsome, have pleasing, attractive features, and many men with more of the look of criminals are held in universal esteem. ‘They are, in fact, men who, not naturally bad, might well, had their lives received a different bent, have been good citizens and honest -men. Yellow Jack Donahue and Donnelly are notable exceptions: they look their character. Jack Kehoe is a large, well-built, handsome man, but with a cold, cruel eye. This, perhaps, would only be ob- served by those possessing a knowledge of his character. Neither O’Brien nor Canning presents anything in his looks to indicate his character, the appearance of both men being ordinary. MRoarity has a countenance that grows worse upon acquaintance: this may be accounted for by the fact that in the face of the most damning evidence of guilt he shows a feeling partaking of perfect indifference. Hurley, Gibbons, Doyle, and Morris look like young Irish boys, but, with the exception of Hurley, give no outward indications of vice. ‘The last-named is a bad fellow, was badly reared, is a liar and a thief, false to those whom he regards as his friends as well as to his foes. He has not a single good instinct ; and his Spercries is, to a certain ex- tent, marked in his face. Doyle is quite small, scarcely over five feet in height ; he has been kicked from pillar to post all his life, is a bad fellow, but has kindly traits of character. It is possible that under different circumstances and better training his 144 MEETING IN THE BUSH. evil nature might have been restrained. He is nowa fugi- tive from justice, aided in his escape by national officers of the Ancient Order of Hibernians with society funds. Gibbons and Morris are of good families, and respectably nurtured. They have not shown, except by their connec- tion with the ‘‘ Molly Maguires,’’ any natural predilection for crime; they seem to have been wholly moved by what to them appeared the heroic aspect of the case, and sought to win the meed of praise and honor from their fellows. Young Frank McHugh has received careful Christian edu- cation. He was induced to join the order, and received the patronage and training of Mike O’Brien. He some time since severed his connection with it, and may, and it is trusted will, break the force of the bad influences by which he was for a short time surrounded and controlled, and become a good and respected member of society. CHAPTER XIV: eed MEETING IN THE BUSH—THE MAJORS—JOHN J. SLATTERY. It will be remembered that at the meeting called by John Kehoe at Mahanoy City, on the 1st of June, John or Yellow Jack Donahue, of Tuscarora (a small town about four miles west of Tamaqua, on the Schuylkill Valley branch of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad), and Chris. Donnelly were appointed to compass the assassination of - William and Jesse Major. Donnelly, the County Treas- urer of the order, resided at New Castle, a small town about four miles from Pottsville and about fourteen miles from Tuscarora. James Roarity, the body-master of Coaldale, was at a point some four or five miles east of Tamaqua. Yellow Jack Donahue, who will be remembered as the MEETING IN THE BUSH. 145 murderer of Morgan Powell at Summit Hill, and as one of the worst, if not the very worst, of the many hardened villains who have infested the coal regions, immediately assumed the leadership. He requested, at the time of the Mahanoy meeting, that Donnelly should furnish him two men, but that they should not forward any until he should hear from him, which, he said, would be on the following Sunday. Donahue shortly afterwards requested Roarity to send the men. Immediate compliance with this request was promised. Roarity was as good as his word. He came over to -Tamaqua, bringing the two men with him to commit the assassination. ‘They stopped at the Union House, the «‘ Molly’’ headquarters at that place, kept by James Carroll. Upon their arrival Carroll handed Roarity a dispatch or letter from Donahue telling him not to go to Tuscarora at that time, and not until he was again sent for. Roarity returned to Coaldale, and, not receiving further message on the subject, dropped the matter. There is some confusion here as to dates. Yellow Jack Donahue called a meeting of the Tuscarora Division on Sunday, either the 6th or the 13th of June. The arrange- ments with Chris. Donnelly, of Mount Laffee, at the time of the meeting had already been made and two men named. Jerry Kane and a man named Stanton were to be forwarded, and actually did put in an appearance ready for the work. James Kerrigan, the body-master of Tamaqua, who has since obtained wide-spread notoriety as an ‘‘informer,’’. was present by special invitation. ‘The meeting was held in the bush, on Little Mountain, near Tuscarora. Early on the Sunday afternoon a party, among whom were John Donahue, Jimmy Kerrigan, Michael Doolan, and Michael Somers, practiced shooting at a mark with a Spring- field rifle belonging to Charles Mulhearn. Kerrigan was the best shot, and it was determined that he should use the G 13 146 MEETING IN THE BUSH. rifle. Doolan offered the services of a shot-gun which he owned. A party of men, seemingly fully aware of what was going on, sat near by, playing cards. After this matter was settled, the meeting was called to order at a point some little distance from where the party had been shooting ata mark. ‘There were present Yellow Jack Donahue, James Kerrigan, Michael Somers, Michael Doolan, Charles Mulhearn, John Slattery, Matthew Dona- hue, John Malay, John Coleman, Pat Smith, Joseph Ryon, and perhaps others. As was the invariable custom, the meeting was opened in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and the Holy St. Patrick of Ireland, each person present making the sign of the cross. Yellow Jack Donahue officiated. Donahue is about fifty-five years old, of medium height, black hair and eyes, regular features, and muscular frame, and yet there is that about him which is intensely repul- sive. He looks the villain that he is,—a fiend in human form,—dark, cold, bloody, relentless, without a feeling of love for his kind, a spark of pity for his victim, a care or regret for his crimes, or fear or dread of God or devil. Yellow Jack then stated that at a meeting called by Jack Kehoe at Mahanoy City it had been determined to kill the two Majors, then working at Middleport (four miles distant), and Bully Bill; that Donnelly, the County Treasurer, and himself had taken the Majors in hand; that Donnelly was ready with two men, and that Jimmy Kerrigan was willing to assist. Who would volunteer ? There was a pause. Donahue continued, ‘‘Are you a lot of old women? Jack Kehoe ought to take your charter away.’’ Charles Mulhearn, one of the older and more hardened villains, laughed, and, prompted by a feeling of dislike to John Slattery, with whom he was on bad terms, said, ‘‘ If I were not at,present lame I would go. Let John Slattery be selected.”’ MEETING IN THE BUSH. 147 Slattery is over fifty years of age. He had enjoyed a good character for many years, when in the spring of 1872, weakly yielding to importunity, he joined the Ancient Order of Hibernians, persuading himself, against not only his better judgment but also his actual knowledge, that there was nothing wrong in the order. He had acquired in the neighborhood of twenty thousand dollars, and had in the fall of 1871 been the Democratic candidate for Associate Judge, but was defeated by Judge Seitzinger, running on the Independent judiciary ticket. His fall had been rapid. He had yielded to temptation. ‘The means of revenge offered by the society proved too much for him, and he was the willing confederate, if not an active participant in their crime, of those who burned the store and dwelling- house of a man named O’ Hara, his personal enemy. He had groaned in spirit under the net-work of crime weaving around him; and, being not only not naturally bad, but possessed even of many good and amiable traits of character, he was suspected, and: subjected to annoyance. He had attended the meeting under the influence of fear of his associates, and the proposition for him to volunteer to commit murder, thrown at him in sheer malice, shocked him. The idea of committing murder, in his own person and with his own hand, he had never dreamed of, but he understood the character of his confederates, and he dared not absolutely refuse. **T cannot go,’’ said he, ‘‘ but I will give five dollars to a man to take my place.”’ **T will go,’’ volunteered Michael Doolan, a young and very handsome Irishman. *¢ And I,’’ said Matthew Donahue. Yellow Jack grinned approvingly; his division was emerging, in his opinion, from the disgrace in which a momentary hesitation had placed it. He announced that he, too, would be of the party. 148 “MEETING IN THE BOSH. It was then determined that if possible the murder should be committed on Tuesday morning following; that Michael Somers should watch the movements of the Majors and report, and that if everything proved favorable the party should take its position Monday night in a grave-yard near Middleport. Kerrigan should in the mean time re- turn to Tamaqua, to be recalled by a telegraph from Yellow Jack when all was ready. For two days Somers reported that the Majors did not go to work as usual. On Tuesday, however, Yellow Jack became impatient, and determined to run the chances of meeting them. He therefore telegraphed to Carroll at Tamaqua : ‘“TUSCARORA, June I5, 1875. ** Don’t send the boy over to-night. ‘¢JoHN DONAHUE.’’ This meant that Kerrigan should start at once. Jimmy had, however, been at work during the day, felt tired, and concluded he would not go. If it were not for the fact that with these men human 4 life is held so cheap, their conduct would be utterly incom- prehensible. With alacrity they consent to engage in the murder of a stranger, against whom they have no feeling and whose person is unknown. ‘They will gloat over the death-agonies of such a one, and in fiendish glee tell of the last mortal cry of the poor, dying victim ;* they will destroy the God-given gift of human life, and then mangle the cold, senseless corse ; and yet a whim, a freak of fancy, a momentary dislike for exertion, would have sufficed to make them refuse to join the enterprise. It was thus with Jimmy Kerrigan: it was not the aroused influence of a * Several of the murderers have declared in effect that the pleasure of a murder was almost gone if the victim did not, as they termed it, “‘ squeal.” ‘ MEETING IN THE BUSH. 149 hitherto-dormant conscience; it was no sudden pity for men condemned to a horrible death, whom he did not know and against whom he had no complaint; it was no good or virtuous feeling, nor even the semblance of a good impulse, that actuated him in his refusal to go that night: he had been at work that day, and he didn’t feel like it,— that was all. The Majors had warning ; they did not go to work when expected, and the arrangements for their murder for the time being fell through. It was not, however, given up. Mike Doolan came to Slattery and insisted upon borrowing his pistol, and Slattery loaned it; unwillingly, it is true, but loaned it,—knowing full well the hellish work designed. Their efforts, however, met with no success ; the Majors displayed such a degree of caution as to lead to the con- clusion that they had been warned, and suspicion fell on Slattery that the warning had come from him. Slattery was a school-director, and, it is but justice to him to state, active and earnest in the discharge of his duties. He is a man of considerable intelligence, and married to a good wife, the daughter of the Widow Kelly, for many years favorably known as the mistress of a hotel in New Philadelphia. The widow was a woman of influence. She controlled Blythe Township politics, but her reign was an honest one. She had her opinions and her prejudices, but she repudi- ated mercenary and corrupt action. Her life was pure, her influence over the many wild men with whom she came in contact was for good, and she reared her family well. Slattery in a great degree owes it to his wife that he has not fallen lower than he has. His connection with the ** Mollies’’ was to her a never-ending source of sorrow ; but the toils were around him, and the terrorism that pre- vailed prevented any open revolt against the order on his part. ey 150 MEETING IN THE BUSH. Samuel Major, an uncle of the murdered George Major, and of the two brothers intended to be assassinated, was a school-teacher at Tuscarora. After the trial of Dougherty, _the school board, under ‘‘ Molly’’ influence, turned vindic- tively on Major. Slattery sustained him, contending that he was a capable teacher ; but his efforts only had the effect of injuring himself by still further increasing the suspicion which was rife in the minds of the ‘‘ Mollies’’ against him. Samuel Major himself confirmed this suspicion by in- forming Kerrigan that he had been told by Slattery that the Irish were opposed to him. ‘This assertion confirmed Donahue and others in the idea that Slattery had informed the Majors, through their uncle, of their danger. A meeting of the order was called by Yellow Jack. Slattery was notified to attend. Jimmy Kerrigan was his aceuser; the charge being of his intimate relation with Samuel Major, as developed in the assertion made to him by Slattery relative to the feelings of the Irish people. The charge was sustained, and Slattery was expelled from the Tuscarora Division. An expulsion of this kind meant death,—death at the hand of the assassin, sudden and un- warned, as he well knew,—and, willing and anxious as both his wife and himself were that his connection with the- order should be severed, he did not dare to let this feeling appear. He appealed to the general convention of the order, and his case, together with others that came before that body on the following 25th of August, will be consid- ered in another place. Slattery’s life was now one of constant terror. It was true, although he strenuously denied it, that the Majors had received warning of their danger through him. He | had not spoken to Samuel Major himself, but had to his wife, giving words of warning which, quickly reported to the nephews, put them on their guard, and saved their lives. Conscious of the truth of the charges made against him, JOHN Ff. SLATTERY. I51 and feeling that through his connection with the order he had done much wrong, and would still continue in wrong- doing, he was reduced almost to utter despair ; he knew not which way to turn. He learned from Charles Mulhearn, who, notwithstand- ing their quarrel, still had some feeling for him, that his life was in danger, that Michael Doolan and Yellow Jack intended to compass his assassination. He was afraid per- sonally even to close the shutters of his dwelling. He learned, through a man named Cafferty, of an intention to burn down all his property, and he knew not the moment when property and life might be the forfeit. His anxiety for reinstatement was therefore intense. John Slattery, by reason of his connection with this ter- rible organization, has done some very criminal things. Still, he is not naturally a bad man. For many years he won by a blameless life the respect of all who knew him. Once a member of this organization, his downfall was rapid. He yielded to temptation, became cognizant of fearful vio- lations of the law, and was the intimate associate of ruffians. His better nature urged him to break loose, but the im- mense power of the organization, its apparent immunity from punishment, the individual power he could by its means control, the danger of opposing it, all influenced him to drift along from evil thoughts to evil deeds, until the result was his ruin. His story is told briefly by himself i in a few sad words in a casual conversation. **T lived,’’ said he, ‘‘ twenty-eight years in Schuylkill County, respected by all who knew me. In all parts of that county are men, known as among our first citizens, who for that period will indorse my conduct; but’’ (and as he said it a tear rolled down his cheek) ‘‘I joined this order thinking it was good; its constitution and its by-laws, which they showed me, seemed to prove it. I found it 152 THE MURDER OF POLICEMAN YOST. diabolical, but for my life I dared not leave it, yet in it I lived in constant terror. I had acquired property, and the ‘ Mollies’ have it. J had a good character, and it is gone, and the strong walls of the jail only give me safety. If I ever get out, my wife, who is now my earnest adviser, will go with me to some spot where, old as we are, a new life can be entered into.’ John Slattery is an elderly man, with judgment matured, and yet he fell. The ‘‘ Molly’’ seeks recruits for the order among young and impressible boys, whom it makes assassins in cold blood before the age of twenty. The story of the murdered victim is a terrible one in all its surroundings,—the widowed wife, the children cast unprotected on the world, and a society spell-bound by fear. But it is not so sad a tale as that of the murdered souls and darkened lives of many young and innocent boys. Influenced by the older villain who tells of cruel deeds done as heroic acts, their judgment has been obscured, their enthusiasm aroused, and they have become soul and body the slaves of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, under its specious motto of ‘‘ Friendship, Unity, and True Chris- tian Charity.”’ COL ASP TE Rea THE MURDER OF POLICEMAN YOST. JAMES KERRIGAN, body-master of Tamaqua, is now about thirty-three years of age. He is of Irish parentage, born at a small settlement near Tuscarora. Motherless at the age of three months, and abandoned by his father, he grew to manhood without training, physical, mental, or moral. It would not be correct to say that he was badly THE MURDER OF POLICEMAN YOST. 153 treated in his childhood, for that would imply some de- gree of care and attention; he was utterly neglected. He never went to school a day in his life; is unable to read or write, and has been forced to shift for himself from earliest childhood. Kerrigan is scarcely five feet in height; is well built; has black hair and sharp black eyes. He is quick in move- ment and rapid in speech; has an excellent memory, good intellect, and fine perceptive faculties. He is careless, jovial, and ready at repartee. Whilst not repulsive in ap- pearance, he is not handsome; the little fellow is, never- theless, vain, and with opportunity would develop into a dapper little dandy. He grew up drunken and worthless, and has shown an amount of wickedness beyond all pro- portion to the size of his body. He is a married man with children. | During the war he was in the Union army. He is said to have been a good soldier, of unquestioned bravery. He received an honorable discharge, came home, fell into his old way, and became a member of the ‘* Molly Maguires.”’ During the year 1874 and part of 1875, Kerrigan was in the habit of frequent intercourse with a man named Thomas Duffy. This arose from no similarity in their general char- acter, but from the fact that both belonged to the organi- zation and both were fond of hard drinking. Duffy is the younger man of the two; is about twenty-five years of age ; is of medium height, strongly built, dark, heavy features,— looks like a Spaniard ; is reticent of speech, and revengeful. He was steady as a workman. Duffy was quarrelsome in his cups. Kerrigan was noisy, reckless, ready for any- thing. They had both more than once been arrested by the Tamaqua night police, and imprisoned in the lock-up. In the years 1874 and 1875 there were two night watchmen in. Tamaqua, one named Barney McCarron, an Irishman, and the other Benjamin F. Yost, of Pennsylvania German G* 154 THE MURDER OF POLICEMAN YOST. extraction. In making arrests, Kerrigan had several times been severely handled before he would submit, and on one occasion, during the fall of 1874, Yost beat Duffy severely on the head with his policeman’s club. | This excited in Duffy a feeling of intense and bitter hatred and a desire for revenge. He brought a prosecu- tion against Yost for assault and battery; this case was, however, amicably settled. But his hatred to Yost in- creased with time, and he determined to accomplish his death. ‘This he proposed to Kerrigan, who, nothing loath, agreed. Kerrigan would have agreed under any circum- stances, but in this matter he was specially willing; he had his own grievances to avenge. Kerrigan was at this time the nominal body-master of the Tamaqua Division, but the real head was James Car- roll, who kept the Union House, a sort of ‘‘ Molly’’ head- quarters. Carroll is a man between thirty and forty years of age; is about five feet seven inches in height, of slight build, dark hair and eyes; an attractive and rather handsome face. He does not look like a bad man, and until within three or four years past his general reputation was good. At this time, however, he was fully imbued with the spirit of Molly Maguireism and active in advancing their plans, whatever might be their nature. To Carroll, therefore, as the real head of the division, the proposition to murder Yost was submitted by both Kerrigan and Duffy. Carroll, although it does not appear that he had any. personal feeling in the matter, engaged heart and soul in the enterprise. This was during the month of June, 1875. After the matter had been determined on, Duffy hap- pened to meet Roarity, the body-nwaster of Coaldale Di- vision, at Carroll’s. He spoke to Roarity of the murder in contemplation, and offered to give him five dollars if he 2 & q THE MURDER OF POLICEMAN YOST. 155 would accomplish it. Roarity consented at once, saying that, if he did not do it himself, be would send over two men who would.* Coaldale is located in Schuylkill County, near the Car- bon County line, and but a short distance from the villages of Lansford, Ashton, Storm Hill, the three being parts of the same town, and Summit Hill, the latter the western terminus of the Switchback Railroad. ‘This section of country is, to a great extent, populated with employees of the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company, and, as a con- sequence, the villages named have close social and business relations. The leading ‘‘ Molly’’ in this section of the country, al- though not at this time holding official position, was a man named Alexander Campbell, a liquor-dealer and saloon- keeper at Storm Hill. Campbell had been for years well acquainted in the neighborhood of his present residence, but had kept the Union House, Tamaqua, immediately before the same was taken by James Carroll. Roarity, after his interview with Duffy, mentioned that the Tamaqua Division had in contemplation the murder of Policeman Yost, and the request made that he should do the ‘‘job.’’ It so happened that at this time the ‘‘ Mollies”’ in the neighborhood of Storm Hill and Summit Hill had also determined upon a murder,—the intended victim being John P. Jones, a boss in the employ of the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company, holding the position formerly filled by Morgan Powell, whose murder has been already described. ‘The idea of an exchange of ‘‘ Molly cour- tesies’’ at once suggested itself. This murder was in strict accordance with ‘‘ Molly’’ - ethics. Charles Parrish, Esq., president of the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company, equally with Mr. Gowen, un- * This is Kerrigan's evidence. 156 THE MURDER OF POLICEMAN YOST. derstood the necessity, for the successful operation of his company, that the ‘‘ Molly’’ organization should be broken up. He understood fully the practical working and man- agement of mining operations and the evil consequences of ‘* Molly’’ control. At Summit Hill, two men named William Mulhall and Hugh McGeehan, known to belong to the organization, had rendered themselves obnoxious. They were placed on the ‘‘ black-list,’? no member of which was employed by the company. Unable to obtain-work, they blamed John P. Jones for having them ‘‘black-listed.’’ They made complaint, and their cause was advocated by Campbell, a man of determined will and more than ordinary ability. Campbell is tall and straight, of slight but sinewy per- son; has dark hair and eyes. He was money-making, am- bitious of power, and a controlling spirit. He understood perfectly the importance of ‘‘ Molly’’ ascendency to his business, and had it in view that the operations of the company located at that point. should, by bosses under his control, be run in the interest of his liquor-store. The murder of John P. Jones, who was an avowed enemy of the order, was therefore in accordance with his views. The agreement was made. Men were to be furnished from the neighborhood of Summit Hill to kill Policeman Yost in consideration of Carroll and Kerrigan sending men from Schuylkill County to dispose of John P. Jones. Mulhall and McGeehan, as parties specially interested, were selected on the part of Summit Hill. Yost was to be killed first. } The Fourth of July, 1875, fell on a Sunday. The 5th of July was therefore the national holiday. Roarity had come over to Tamaqua, and, about eleven o’clock in the morning, met Kerrigan at Carroll’s. They drank together several times, and the question of the proposed murder was discussed. It was agreed that it should be accom- THE MURDER OF POLICEMAN YOST. 157 plished that night; but Roarity insisted that Kerrigan should walk with him to Storm Hill, and they would then come back together. Jimmy objected to this arrangement, both on account of the heat and also for the reason that he had no money. Carroll insisted upon his going, and gave him two dollars to pay expenses. ‘The distance from Tamaqua to Storm Hill is about five miles. Upon arriving at that place, Roarity and Kerrigan went at once to Campbell’s. In- quiry was made for Mulhall and McGeehan, but Campbell said he had not seen them that day. Roarity hunted them up, and reported to Campbell and Kerrigan that they had agreed to go to Tamaqua that night for the purpose intended, and that he would guide them over. His pistol, he said, had already been sent to Carroll’s. Word had been received at Campbell’s that Mrs. Roarity was sick, and he now went home to see what was the matter. Kerrigan remained some little while engaged in conversation, and then went back to Tamaqua alone. The point for the assassination of Yost had been already selected by Carroll, Duffy, and Kerrigan during a Sunday afternoon walk. It was at a lamp-post at the upper end of the town, opposite Yost’s house, and the last one usually extinguished by him, and when extinguished, that portion of the town was in darkness. It was arranged that all parties should meet at Carroll’s early in the evening. Duffy, who was an engineer, had been at work that day up to three o’clock, pumping water at the mines where he was employed, about two and a half miles to the west of Tamaqua. After that time he dressed himself and started for Tamaqua, stopping on his way with two picnic-parties. He arrived at Carroll’s in the evening, and walked directly back into the kitchen. Carroll, Ker- rigan, McGeehan, and James Boyle soon came in and joined them. 14 158 THE MURDER OF POLICEMAN YOST. Roarity had been kept away by the sickness of his wife. Shortly after Kerrigan had left Storm Hill, Campbell and McGeehan, in talking over the matter, came to the conclu- sion that, as Mulhall was a married man witha family, he had better be left at home, and James Boyle, who was convenient, was asked to go in his stead, and had consented to do so. Here was again illustrated the general policy of getting young men to do the actual work. McGeehan himself presents one of the most singular results of the Molly Maguire organization. He is uneducated, but is generally correct in his habits, does not use a profane word, and has never touched a drop of liquor in his life. He is only about twenty-two years old. Nevertheless, whilst he has not the look of a criminal, he has given no indication to lead to the idea that he is other than the testimony paints him to be,—cold, hard, ruthless, and relentless. Boyle is also a young man, was of dissipated habits, has rather an amiable look, is irresolute, impressible, and con- trolled more by association than by any natural inclination, good or bad. During the greater part of the evening the conspirators occupied the kitchen, although at intervals they all showed themselves in the bar-room, and Kerrigan in different parts of the town. The others only went out once before they left. In order to explain fully the plan in view, Duffy walked with McGeehan and Boyle up the street and past the lamp-post. ‘They then returned to the hotel. A difficulty arose from the want of pistols. Neither McGeehan nor Boyle had brought one. The only effective weapon on hand was the Roarity pistol. Carroll sent Ker- rigan to several places to borrow another, but he met with’ - no success.: It was finally determined that McGeehan should use the Roarity pistol, whilst Boyle would have to content himself with a small single-barreled pistol belong- ing to Carroll. THE MURDER OF POLICEMAN YOST. 159. Kerrigan during the evening met both policemen, and took a drink with McCarron. He discovered that .they did not separate. Both he and Carroll were, or pretended to be, alarmed at this fact. Carroll argued that, as both policemen were together, the undertaking was dangerous, and had better be postponed. Kerrigan, on his part, as- serted that it was well known that he had had difficulties and quarrels with McCarron, and there was great danger that he would be suspected. Young McGeehan, however, would not entertain any proposition as to the postponement of the work on hand. He said that it was the second or third time that he had come over to do a job of this kind, and he would not be put off; it must be done then or never. Boyle was indif- ferent, and ready to take whatever action might be agreed upon. It was discovered, how and when does not appear, that the lights were to be turned off first in the eastern part of the town, in McCarron’s district. By this arrangement the gas-light in front of Yost’s house would be the last extinguished. It was decided that Kerrigan should go home, in order that he might arrange to get in afterwards without trouble. Duffy was to lead McGeehan and Boyle up the back streets to the cemetery, there to leave them and return to Car- roll’s, where, in the event of his being suspected, he was to prove that he had remained during the night. This plan was carried out. Kerrigan went home, came out, leaving the door unlocked, and returned to the cemetery, bringing with him a bottle of whisky. There he found McGeehan and Boyle awaiting him. Kerrigan now led the two to the street-lamp, and placed them under shade-trees near by. For over an hour the lurking miscreants lay in wait before the two policemen made their appearance. 160 THE MURDER OF POLICEMAN YOST. If there was ever a bloody and cold-blooded murder con- templated, this was one. Not only was it predetermined and deliberate, but in the stillness of the midnight hour additional time was given in which, with their minds fully bent on the object in view, the ghastly nature of the crime might be presented in all its naked enormity. But no thought of pity touched the heart of any of the three; no idea of relenting; no sudden remorse of con- science ; and yet there was no deadly hatred in the heart of either of the three against the intended victim. As the huntsman follows the fox or the woodsman the deer, so were they in the pursuit of unresisting game; their excite- ment was more intense, their joy more exultant; the game they had in view was human life. All three were worthy children of the ‘‘ Molly Maguire ;”’ all three were bent upon acommon object, and yet between the three were marked distinctions. Kerrigan, wild, bold, careless, reckless, feasted on crime as he did on liquor; he loved the wild and mad excitement; so far as revenge was concerned, a curse would have sufficed him. Boyle, with little purpose or ambition, did as he was bidden, without one ray of conscience or thought of care except for the whisky in Kerrigan’s bottle. But McGeehan was young and ambitious; he felt the responsibility that was upon him; he knew what was ex- pected of him. He did not hate Yost, but he was im- pressed with the heroic aspect of the matter; he earnestly desired to be considered ‘‘a good hand for a clean job.”’ Yost and McCarron came up-street, but, instead of put- ting out the light at once, as had been expected, they first went into Yost’s house for something to eat. The sight of the prey maddened Kerrigan; he insisted upon having a hand in the play himself; as he had no pistol, he would take two rocks, and when Yost fell he would beat his brains out. THE MURDER OF POLICEMAN YOST. 161 But McGeehan meant work and not idle talk. He told Kerrigan that he should take no stones; that he (McGee- han) intended to do the job; that he had five*charges in his pistol, and that if either Kerrigan or Boyle moved an inch whilst the murder was being committed their lives would be the forfeit. At last the two policemen came out of the house, and Yost proceeded to the lamp-post and mounted the ladder, McCarron remaining some distance off across the street. At this moment McGeehan and Boyle stepped forward and dis- charged their pistols. Boyle missed his mark, but the ball from McGeehan’s pistol inflicted a fatal wound in the right side. Yost staggered from the ladder, exclaiming, ‘‘Oh! my God! Iam shot! my wife!”’ The murderers, under the lead of Kerrigan, fled. Mc- Carron ran after them, firing two shots, which McGeehan returned. They kept on the main street, which led them out of the western part of the town, then, leaving the road, they crossed over to the Sharp Mountain. They then re- versed their direction. Kerrigan took them through unfre- quented paths, then again turning into the town they passed through alleys and back streets to the eastern limits of the borough. The hour was late and the lights extinguished, and thus far they had met no one. Kerrigan continued with them until they were certain of their road, and then returned to his own home unnoticed. Kerrigan tore his black panta- loons. This seems to have made as much impression on his mind as the murder. | Boyle and McGeehan met but one person, a young Irish- man named Robert Breslin, at one time a member of the order. ‘This was not deemed of special importance. The deed was regarded as a ‘‘ good job well done,’’ hidden from view, ranking with the many murders and outrages of the past, undetected and unavenged. ‘ 14* 162 THE MURDER OF POLICEMAN YOST. But the meeting with Breslin had a significance little dreamed of then. It completely overthrew the ‘alibi’ which in course of time was attempted to be set up. Robert Breslin, a young Irishman, was in the employ of the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company. He resided with his father in the Bloomingdale Valley, about a mile southwest of Summit Hill. He had been at a picnic at the last-named place the day and night of the 5th of July. He remained at the party until late, and, thinking it not worth while to go to bed, he threw himself upon a porch and slept until daylight. He then started for home, and met on the way McGeehan and Boyle. This was shortly after four o’clock. Breslin was surprised to meet them, and said,— ‘¢ Where the devil are you coming from this time in the morning ?”’ One of them replied, ‘‘We are coming from Mauch Chunk ; we were there last night at a ball.’’ Breslin remarked, ‘‘ You have had a hard tramp.”’ “« Yes,’’ was the reply, ‘‘ we have lost our way.’’ (This was to account for the fact that they were on the road leading to Tamaqua.) ‘‘Is there any water about here ?’’ ‘*No,’’ said Breslin; ‘‘ but if you come back to the house I will give you some.”’ Boyle refused, saying, ‘‘ We have not time: we must go to work.”’ Breslin was not fully trusted ; he had been a member of the order, but had left it; was a good workman, and held - in esteem by his employers. It was thought that in any event, on account of his own safety, he would keep quiet. Mrs. Yost was sitting at the window of her room at the time her husband was shot. She was an eye-witness of the tragedy, had a glimpse of the murderers, and heard their retreating footsteps. Almost frantic, she rushed down- stairs to meet her husband mortally wounded on the pave- THE MURDER OF POLICEMAN YOST. 163 ment. In agony, he exclaimed, ‘‘I am shot, and I must die!’’ He requested that the doctor should be sent for. The bitterness of death was upon him, and he steadied himself upon the clinging form of his young wife, and said, ‘‘Sis, give me a kiss.’’ He then repeated that he must die. The wife exclaimed, ‘‘Oh, Frank, do you know who shot you?” ‘¢No,’’ was the answer; ‘‘ but there were two Irishmen, and one was smaller than the other.’’ McCarron stepped forward, but could give the desperate wife no answer as to who were the murderers of her husband. The shots had aroused the neighborhood, and in a few minutes a number of persons had collected in the house. Dr. Solliday arrived, examined the wound, and was forced to confirm Yost in his avowed belief that he was mortally wounded. Death did not, however, occur until ten o’clock in the morning. » In the mean time he conversed with Dr. Solliday, with Squire Lebo, Conrad F. Shindel, and with Daniel F. Shepp, a brother-in-law of Mrs. Yost. He repeated that he did not know the men, but that they were Irishmen, and that one was smaller than the other ; that he had seen them at Carroll’s as he passed there that night with McCarron; that Barney was the man they had intended to shoot; that he had been afraid of them, and had asked him to go with him when he put out the lights, and that Barney had in turn accompanied him, and the mistake had thus occurred. The character of Duffy and Kerrigan, and their diffi- culties with the police-officers, were well known, and they were in consequence at once suspected. Yost was repeat- edly asked if these two men were not the murderers, but he said, ** No!’’ But he again said that he and Barney had seen them the night before at Carroll’s, and in the presence of Dr. Solliday asked McCarron who the men were, and 164 MCPARLAN AT WORK. to this McCarron answered, ‘‘Oh, they were men from the other side,’’ meaning from the direction of Summit Hill. Yost died. An inquest was held. It was apparently without result. It appeared from McCarron’s testimony that he did not know the strangers who were at Carroll’s that night. Months passed by; no arrests for this murder were made; and the public was gradually settling into the belief that it was but another tale of murder open and defiant, but impossible of detection. a HA PIL HAR a xeVele McPARLAN AT WORK—THE MURDER OF GOMER JAMES. | THERE were many circumstances which tended to call public attention to the murder of Benjamin F. Yost. He was at the time of his death about thirty-three years of age, enjoyed a good character, was kindly in nature, popular in manners, and had served his country during the war in the Forty-eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. His - family was an extensive one, old residents of that part of Schuylkill County lying outside of the coal region. His widow is a young and attractive woman; her countenance displays refinement and amiability. She is a daughter of Joshua Boyer, an old and respected citizen, for several terms a member of the State Legislature from Schuylkill County. The murder had been an exceedingly daring one, com- mitted on the main street of a town regarded .as almost exempt from ‘‘ Molly’’ influence and as entirely exempt from ‘‘ Molly’’ control. As a consequence, intense excite- ment prevailed. In the large towns of the Mahanoy region MCPARLAN AT WORK. 165 on the one side, and in Carbon County, around Summit and Storm Hill, on the other, the frequent occurrence of outrages had to a certain extent rendered them familiar. A murder of this nature, however, in Tamaqua, where the proportion of the mining population was comparatively small, inspired horror and surprise at the evident power of the suspected organization ; but at the same time a de- termined spirit of resistance, and intense and bitter desire to bring the guilty parties to justice. The borough authorities were active, and determined, if possible, to discover the murderers. Nothing of very great importance had been elicited at the inquest. The testi- mony of Mrs. Carroll, that Duffy was at the hotel during the night, and the dying declarations of Yost, that neither Duffy nor Kerrigan committed the act, apparently exonerated them. Nevertheless, Michael Beard, Daniel Shepp, and some others, could not rid themselves of suspicion. Yost had not, to their knowledge, except these men, an enemy in the world, and a murder entirely motiveless wag beyond their comprehension. It was determined by Daniel Shepp and Michael Beard to employ the Pinkerton Agency, if necessary at their own expense; and Benjamin Franklin, the Philadelphia superintendent, was applied to. He took the matter in hand, but he did not disclose to them the details of his operations, he made no unnecessary confidants. . He readily arranged with the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company relative to the use of the coal- region detectives in this matter, and McParlan received instructions on the 14th of July, 1875, to investigate and report. McKenna, on the 15th, made his appearance on the scene of action, and, as might be expected, conducted his investigations with great prudence and sagacity. He knew the Union House to be the Molly headquarters, and, going there at once, for the first time formed the acquaint- ance of James Carroll. 166 MCPARLAN AT WORK. Carroll had heard of McKenna as one of the leading *¢ Mollies’’ of the Mahanoy Valley, and treated him cor- dially. McKenna referred to the murder of Yost, but Carroll pretended to know but little about it; he said he had heard of the murder, and that Mrs. Carroll had been a witness at the coroner’s inquest to prove that Duffy had remained at their house on the night of the murder. McKenna understood perfectly that to betray the least curiosity would arouse suspicion; he therefore asked but feW questions at the time. He determined, however, to cultivate an_ intimacy with Carroll, beliéving that, sooner or later, he should gain the object he had in view. From what he had learned, and from what he understood of the method of proceeding by the organization in like cases, he was satisfied that the murderers had come from either Car- bon County or thé Mahanoy Valley, and that Carroll would know all about it. That they did not come from the valley he believed, for ’ the reason that, in such case, he would himself have been likely to hear of it. His first impression was that the proper person to reach was the County Delegate of Carbon. He therefore went that afternoon to Storm Hill, where he called on Alec Campbell, a leading member at that place, with whom he had previous acquaintance, and who he thought might know something of the transaction. He made pre- tended business an excuse for visiting the County Delegate. Campbell volunteered to walk with him to Summit Hill to see Thomas P. Fisher, who then occupied the position, and with whom McKenna also had previous acquaintance. On the way McKenna introduced the subject of the Yost murder, assuming, as a matter of course, that it had been perpetrated by parties from that section. This Camp- bell admitted, said it was ‘‘a clean job,’’ but that they would never have taken it in hand except on a trade. McKenna had now discovered what he before suspected, MCPARLAN AT WORK. 167 that he was in communication with one of the parties un- derstanding the whole transaction. Not venturing to make direct inquiries, he remained with Fisher that night, but learned nothing further. He returned the next day to Campbell’s, at Storm Hill. Exercising caution, he only strove to increase his intimacy without asking any further questions. On his part he was apparently open, talked freely of the terrible deeds which he pretended to have com- mitted himself, and strove to create the impression that there was nothing he was not willing to attempt. McKenna at all times had been anxious to maintain the character of a desperado without doing any desperate act; he would strike a man with his fist on small provocation, and ata moment’s notice, if by so doing he could make a point. He had in this way acquired a reputation for courage which com- manded respect and induced confidence. His apparent recklessness and dashing, jovial manners excited admira- tion and rendered him popular. He remained at Camp- bell’s, visiting around the neighborhood, until Sunday, the 25th. He had on the 17th opened the matter cautiously to Mike McKenna, son of Pat McKenna, a saloon-keeper and body-master. Mike had not been concerned in the transaction himself, but knew the names of the parties con- cerned. He gave McKenna his information relative to the matter, which was in the main correct. On the 18th, Hugh McGeehan was introduced by Campbell in a com- plimentary way as one of the Yost murderers. During the next few days he obtained no further information. . On the 25th he returned to Tamaqua, determined to con- tinue his investigations there. On the afternoon of that day he called at Carroll’s, and found him in a more con- fidential mood than on the occasion of his first visit. He stated the difficulty in relation to the pistols, and that a large one of Roarity’s was used and a small one of his own ; that Duffy, Kerrigan, Roarity, and himself knew all a 168 MCPARLAN AT WORK. about the murder. He did not, however, give the names of those who actually committed the crime. McKenna was stopping at the Columbia House, but now concluded to make Carroll’s his loafing-place. On the 27th, a man named Pat McNellis came into Carroll’s and asked where he could see James Kerrigan, stating that he had been sent over by Alec Campbell. He was told where Kerrigan lived, and it was suggested that he could find him at home during the evening. That evening McKenna made a friendly call on Kerrigan. McNellis paid his visit at the time suggested. Whilst the full details of the interview were not discovered at this time, Kerrigan giving only partial confidence, the fact of the intended assassination of John P. Jones, boss of the mining operations of the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company at Summit Hill, was discovered; also that Ker- rigan had the matter in charge, and that it was postponed for the time being. On this occasion Kerrigan sent the Roarity pistol, which he had borrowed a few days pre- viously, by McNellis to its owner. The position of affairs was now becoming critical. Not only did the duty devolve upon the detective to investigate the murder of Yost, but he had also to prevent, if possible, the contemplated assassination of John P. Jones. To cultivate intimacy with both Carroll and Kerrigan was necessary. In the matter of Carroll this was easy; his hotel was his natural loafing-place. For oft-repeated visits, at short intervals, to Kerrigan’s house an excuse was requi- site. It presented itself to McKenna in a most agreeable form. Kerrigan was a married man, and his wife had a “sister, Miss Mary Ann Hegins, who lived near by and visited him frequently. Miss Hegins was a young and good-looking Irish girl, and her conquest of the too susceptible McKenna was on the instant. He was her most devoted admirer and con- a MCPARLAN AT WORK. 169 stant visitor. He made no concealment of the fact that his heart was irreparably lost, and that Mary Ann was the fair enslaver. This sudden passion on McKenna’s part not only gave him jntimate relations with Kerrigan, but also furnished a valid reason for his protracted stay in Tamaqua. On the afternoon of the 4th of August, Alec Campbell stopped at Carroll’s. McKenna was very particular in his inquiries after McGeehan, whom he pretended to admire on account of the ‘‘ clean job’’ he had done. Campbell said he and Mulhall were at work in Tuscarora, but that McGeehan had done so good a thing in killing Yost that he intended to start him in a saloon, and he asked McKenna if he would not come over to the opening. He went on to say that Kerrigan was to have come over on the 29th to kill John P. Jones, but that he was so small he would be conspicuous, and he had therefore sent him word by McNellis not to come over at that time. Besides that, he wanted McGeehan to get first settled in his saloon. When he and Mulhall got settled steadily at work he wanted men from Schuylkill County to come over to kill John P. Jones, in consideration of their baWae sent men over to kill Yost. After Campbell had left, McKenna said to Carroll, ** You see I knew all about the Yost matter.’’ Carroll an- swered, ‘I knew you did, but it was not my place to tell you.’’ He then gave a detailed description of the affair, explaining why it was that Boyle had come over in place of Mulhall. He thought it a ‘‘clean job,’’ and it would never be found out. Kerrigan came into Carroll’s about seven o’clock in the evening, when McKenna spoke of Campbell’s intending to send word to Carroll of the time of McGeehan’s opening, and that both he and Kerrigan must go over. ‘The two commenced a conversation about the Yost murder. From Carroll’s they took a walk to the H 15 170 MCPARLAN AT WORK. # Catholic cemetery, where Kerrigan gave a detailed descrip- tion of the commission of the crime, and also talked of the contemplated murder of John P. Jones. McParlan had now the confessions of three of the prin- cipals in the Yost murder, and a knowledge of the contem- plated assassination of Jones. It was thought best, espe- cially for the purpose of arranging for the safety of Jones, that there should be a personal interview between Superin- tendent Franklin, Captain Linden, and himself. This was fixed to take place on the gth of August, at Onoko Glen, two miles to the north of Mauch Chunk. As a result of the interview with Superintendent Frank- lin and Captain Linden, John P. Jones was made aware through the Tamaqua authorities of his danger, and was, during the succeeding nights, in the constant company of Coal and Iron Policemen. Mr. Franklin returned to Philadelphia, and Captain Linden and McKenna stopped at Mauch Chunk. Whilst together they saw Campbell and. McGeehan on the other side of the street. Campbell hailed McKenna and asked him to take a drink. McKenna immediately dropped Linden and joined him, and on being asked why he did not bring his friend along, denied the acquaintance, saying that he was a fellow full of beer who had asked him the way to the Mansion House. The parties had been successful in arranging for McGee- han’s license, and it was settled that the opening should take place on the 13th or r4th. Campbell was very enthu- siastic on the subject of McGeehan’s execution of the Yost murder. He said that he was the best man in Carbon County; the job was a clean one. Boyle had been along, but McGeehan had done the work, and he deserved to be set up in business for the manner in which he had per- formed it. McGeehan received the compliments with the gratified yet modest air of a virtuous and noble youth re- Bilal apts ip MCPARLAN AT WORK. 171 ceiving just praise from a respected superior for heroic and magnanimous conduct. McKenna returned with his ‘‘ Molly’’ friends over the Switchback Railroad. Captain Linden was again encoun- tered in the cars. McKenna talked loud, and called both Campbell and McGeehan by name, in order that Linden would be able to recognize them. It was the object of McKenna now to receive the con- fessions of all the Yost murderers, if possible. His method of approaching McGeehan and Roarity was ingenious. He knew that the ball which occasioned Yost’s death was from a No. 32 cartridge. He went over from Tamaqua to Campbell’s on the 13th of August, to attend the McGee- han opening, but found that it was postponed for one day. On the 14th, at McGeehan’s saloon, he called him aside and asked him if he had any No. 32 cartridges; that he had a pistol carrying that sized ball which he had stolen from a man in Tamaqua, and that he was afraid to purchase the balls at any store for fear of being suspected as the thief. McGeehan fell into the trap at once; he said he had no pistol carrying such a ball, but Roarity had,—in fact, IT was the pistol with which he had killed Yost ; that Roarity for this reason was himself cautious in regard to cartridges, and he was not positive whether he would have any. The conversation being on that subject, McGeehan, encouraged by McKenna, narrated with particularity and at length the manner in which the murder had been accomplished, ~ On the rsth, McKenna broached the subject‘of the pistol to Roarity, referring to his conversation with McGeehan. _ Roarity said he did not know whether he had any cartridges ~ left; that his was the pistol with which Yost was shot, and that he had been afraid to buy any since that time. He conversed freely with McKenna on the subject. McKenna had obtained up to this time the confessions 4 ie Se ws 142 THE MURDER OF GOMER FAMES. of Campbell, Kerrigan, Carroll, McGeehan, and Roarity, and there remained only two, Duffy and Boyle, who had not confessed their guilt to him. Before McKenna could develop any plan by which they could be reached, the Mahanoy regions claimed his imme- diate attention. It was now fully a month that he had been absent investigating the Tamaqua matters, and his success had certainly been wonderful. On the 16th, however, he received news which hurried him home. A large picnic had been held on the 14th of August, near Shenandoah. The ‘‘ Mollies’’ were there in force, although it was not by any means a ‘‘ Molly’’ picnic, there being present persons of all nationalities resident. in the town. During the evening there were a great many drunken men, and considerable disorder prevailed. Towards midnight, the great majority of those present were Mollies or young Irish boys. Gomer James, a young Welshman, watchman at a small coal-drift near Shenan- doah, was still on the ground, and was waiting behind the bar. At about one o’clock at night, Thomas Hurley walked up to him, drew a pistol, and in presence of the assembled crowd shot him, inflicting a wound from which he died in a few moments. ‘The murder was bold, open, and in the presence of many witnesses. In the neighbor- hood of two hundred people were there at the time. There | was not only no attempt at concealment, but Hurley openly boasted of his crime. The assassination of James had been determined upon for some months. He had offended young Tom Hurley (before described as connected with the attempted assas- sination of Bully Bill), and his death had been resolved upon and a time fixed. This had, however, been within | the knowledge of McKenna, and from information given by the Detective Agency, and precautions in consequence taken, he had been for the time being kept out of danger. THE MURDER OF GOMER FAMES. 173 As soon as McKenna heard of the murder he started for Shenandoah, stopping on the way at Mahanoy City, where he had heard a man also had been shot. He arrived at Shenan- doah about nine o’clock in the evening, and there he met a number of his friends. They went up to Monaghan’s saloon, John Morris,* Ed Monaghan,} McAndrew, Ed Sweeney, Muff Lawler, and others were present. He was soon in possession of the facts of the case, told by Hurley and dis- cussed by the others. Hurley was the hero of the evening, and received universal applause. It was generally conceded that for so brave and gallant an act he was entitled to re- ward. Muff Lawler suggested that as McKenna had plenty of time he should go to Girardville and see John Kehoe, the County Delegate, and ascertain if a good reward would not be paid by the organization. Hurley and Morris also urged McKenna to do this. He, pretending to be as enthusiastic as the others, consented, and on the following day (the 17th of August) went to Girardville to see Kehoe. Whilst he was carrying out the instructions he had received to that extent, he was determined, if possible, to let the subject be introduced by Kehoe. McKenna started the conversation by saying the Satur- day night had been very rough up the valley. Kehoe as- sented, and then immediately commenced talking about the murder of Gomer James. He was enthusiastic; the job had been a clean one; Hurley was entitled to a large reward ; for an act of that kind he ought to have three ». hundred dollars or five hundred dollars, He said he, Big NDS not wish to take the responsibility of ordering so large an . amount himself from county funds, but he would call a convention at Tamaqua on the 25th of the month, and there present the matter and have the SEDER of the or- ganization to a large reward. * Connected with the attempted assassination of Wm. M, Thomas. + Constable of Shenandoah. “% 15* aN ty ~ 174 THE MURDER OF GOMER FAMES. McKenna of course assented to the justice of .Kehoe’s position, and, returning to Shenandoah, reported to Hur- ley, who at once said he would attend the convention at. Tamaqua on the 25th. The terrorism which the ‘‘ Molly Maguires’’ had in- spired, and their belief in their immunity from punish- ment, are in no act better illustrated than in the murder of Gomer James. The deed was perpetrated late at night, it is true, but in the presence of a very large number of wit- nesses, many of whom were boys and others not members of the society. Hurley, during the night, had openly boasted of his crime, and never dreamed at that time of being a fugitive from justice. On the contrary, he was a hero and an object of admiration. It was felt that the whole organization could with perfect safety be trusted with what might scarcely be called a “secret, and that his conduct would be regarded with uni- versal and unqualified approval. ‘The question of reward was to be submitted to the leaders of the order. ‘Their belief.as to Hurley’s safety was apparently well founded. No witness of the bloody deed at that time dared report to the authorities. Vainglorious and triumphant, he boasted of his crime. He assumed airs of superiority, vaunted his own courage, and was critical as to the past and present capacity, as ‘‘ good hands for a clean job,’’ of other mem- bers of the order. It is not credible that the very many persons who, either as eye-witnesses or through the open confessions of Hurley, knew him to be the murderer of Gomer James approved of the act. But the terrorism existing, the fear of personal danger, sealed their lips. It was not until months after, when unlooked-for dangers to the order arose, that Hurley, terror-stricken, fled from the coal regions and the country. eS ee ee FACK KEHOE, 175 CHAPTER axa JACK KEHOE—MURDER OF GWITHER—ATTEMPTED MURDER OF RILES. Tus openness and frequency of crime were to a great degree owing to the counsel and influence of John Kehoe, County Delegate. Kehoe had been for sixteen or seven- teen years a member of the order, either under the name of ** Buckshot’’ or ‘* Molly Maguire,’’ and regarded with pride its fast-growing influence under the name of the *¢ Ancient Order of Hibernians.”’ He is a large, rather handsome man, with a cold gray eye, but there is nothing in his appearance to indicate the incarnate fiend which recent developments have shown him to be.. He is a man of great determination of character, of an intense selfishness, that permits neither-friend nor foe, kindred, family, religion or country, native or adopted, to stand in the way of his wishes or his safety. __ His disregard of human life is simply appalling and in- conceivable. The writer of fiction who should sketch such a character would be regarded as unnatural and ‘sensational’ beyond excuse. Yet that there are many in the order fully as wicked and insensible as he to all ties, human and divine, there is just reason to believe. He isa man of plausible address. In his intercourse with those outside the order, he argued with great earnest- ness and seeming sincerity that it was a benevolent asso- ciation, regularly incorporated, and that its objectsywere not only lawful, but in the highest degree in accor e 176 ¥ACK KEHOE. with Christian morals. He spoke of the crimes of the ‘* Molly Maguires’’ with deep regret, and resented with great show of indignation any charge or even innuendo that there was the slightest connection between that dread power and the society of which he was County Delegate. As has been before asserted, high crime is generally committed under the influence of sudden passion, of jeal- ousy, or of revenge; under pressure of poverty or insti- gated by avarice. Either of these motives would justify, according to ‘*‘ Molly’’ ethics, a murder, and one or the other sometimes entered into it, but none of them were requisite. A simple request, without a statement of the reason or even the name of the intended victim, was suf- ficient. Kehoe took great pride in the terrorism inspired by the order, and the mystery with which, to the outside world, its action was enveloped. It gave him with his fel- lows a power and position in which he delighted. His uniform advice for open and desperate measures increased not only his popularity but the admiration with which he was regarded by his rough associates. He advised bold crimes not only by reason of the natural cruelty of his character, but also in the hope that in this way he could firmly establish his position as against Barney Dolan, from whom, in a sharp contest, he had wrested the position of County Delegate. Dolan is sharp, shrewd, and an antagonist by no means to be despised. He had been very popular, but used his. office to increase the political power of the order, and by that means his own, and to attract custom to his drinking- saloon. Kehoe, acting on the assumption that Dolan had been cowardly and weak in his direction of the order, endeav- ored to contrast with such former policy his own boldness and daring. Kehoe entirely under-estimated the force of the opposing elements to the organization. He had no- FACK KEHOE, 177 idea of the strength of moral power. For this, however, he has some excuse. He had known of crimes committed for years throughout the anthracite coal regions and the criminals escaping punishment ; he had known of commu- nities roused almost to madness for the moment on the perpetration of some startling outrage, and then, the first excitement past, it would be apparently forgotten. He had seen townships misgoverned and fraud triumph- ant, and people submit as to an inevitable evil. He had © seen members of his order in the State Legislature and high in county offices. He had himself been courted and caressed for political favors, and the politician, Republican and Democrat, was specially careful of his feelings in utter- ing no word against the ‘‘ Molly Maguire.”’ Association with criminals was avowed ; earnest sym- pathy for criminals was expressed; favors for criminals were asked; and yet, in the heat of the contest, the politi- cian pandered to their vices and acceded to their lawless demands. Jack Kehoe, with many others, discarded the authority and teachings of the church in which he was reared; and yet that authority he had been taught from his cradle to reverence, its teachings were pure and good. MHaving no faith themselves, can it be wondered at that with their past experience with others neither he nor his desperate asso- ciates could dream of the slumbering volcano over which they rested in apparent security, nor of the force of a moral sentiment, rising high above party ties and petty ambitions, that would crush them as between the upper and the nether millstone? No! Jack Kehoe in his inter- course with men had seen no evidence of moral sentiment, but he had firm reliance‘in his political influence. He be- lieved that with any plausible defense to crime any member of the order was safe. } His bold policy and his counsels were, however, occa- H* 178 MURDER OF GWITHER. sioning crimes with such a degree of rapidity that terrible retribution must soon have been the consequence. The idea of murder was now familiarized to an extent never before dreamed of even in this organization. A number of murders were contemplated in the imme- diate future, some of which, fortunately, have been pre- vented. During the evening of Saturday, the 14th of August, 1875, the same night that Gomer James was shot, a per- Sonal difficulty occurred in Girardville between a man named William Love and Esquire Thomas Gwither, in the office of the latter. It appears that Esquire Gwither, in pursuance of the duties of his office, had issued a warrant against Love. Love, outraged at what he chose to consider a violation of his rights as a citizen, called at Esquire Gwither’s office about ten o’clock that evening and became abusive. ‘The Esquire ordered him out of his office, and, upon Love’s refusing to go, put him out by force. Love became furi- ous, and left for his home near by, uttering threats of vengeance. 7 _ Gwither, it is supposed, was going to his own house for means of protection. Whilst still in the street, Love came rushing out, armed with a gun, followed by his mother, who, much alarmed, was endeavoring to control him. The excitement attracted a crowd of people. When within a short distance, Love fired the contents of his gun, loaded with shot, into the breast, arms, and abdomen of Gwither, inflicting about sixty wounds. Death was almost instantaneous. The murderer then rushed down the street past his house and escaped. He is still a fugitive. It would have been possible for him to remain for weeks undetected near the scene of his crime. Such a course of conduct would have been by no means unusual, and not so foolhardy as ¢ ATTEMPTED MURDER OF RILES. 179 would at first sight appear. In a settlement composed in the main of his own countrymen, no man would prove an ‘‘informer.’’ Certainly, in making his escape, no dif ficulty would exist in covering the tracks of the criminal. Many who would have no part in the crime—not only nc sympathy, but would regard it with horror and the mur- derer with detestation—would give him aid and hearty assistance in effecting his escape. It is asserted that the parties so aiding and assisting him are known, and that among them is a county official belonging to the order. This was not, strictly speaking, a ‘‘ Molly’’ murder, although Love was a member of the organization. It was not conducted in accordance with ‘Molly’? rules or in accordance with established ‘‘Molly’’ precedents. He allowed himself to be carried away by heat of passion, A moment’s calm reflection might have shown him that by an appeal to the order his end might have been attained in a way not to disturb his family or disarrange his busi- ness. -He had only to signify his desire and promise his own services when required, and a party of strangers, both to himself and to the victim, would have done the work. Long immunity had, however, begotten carelessness, and even in the organization the precautions which had been deemed essential in the past were lost sight of. Esquire Gwither was highly esteemed, and his murder aroused general indignation. The brother of the murderer was arrested on suspicion, but, no evidence being produced against him, he was discharged. During the following week the assassination of James Riles, a saloon-keeper at Shenandoah, was attempted. Riles had been, some months prior to this time, shot and very seriously wounded by a ‘‘ Molly’’ named John Tobin. The assault had been an aggravated one, and that Riles had not been killed was merely the result of accident. Prose- cution had been entered against Tobin, and, the evidence 180 ATTEMPTED MURDER OF RILES. being conclusive, effort had been made to effect a settle- ment. Upon the offer of the payment of costs, Riles, who was in possession of some property, thought it best to agree and drop the matter. Mrs. Riles would not, however, con- sent without payment of the doctor’s bill, and the loss of her husband’s time whilst disabled was also included. ‘The whole cost would have been in the neighborhood of one hundred dollars. This Tobin and his friends positively re- fused to agree to, and the case was proceeded with. Tobin was found guilty, and sentenced to fifteen months’ impris- onment.* In revenge for this action on the part of Riles his death was determined upon. On the evening fixed for the mur- der, James McAllister stepped into Muff Lawler’s tavern, and, after taking a drink, told him of what was in contem- plation, but did not seem positive as to whether it was Riles: or a man named Riley who was to be the victim. Lawler, according to his own account, discouraged any attempt of the kind, and advised James McAllister to have nothing to do with it, for it would be wrong, as both Riles and Riley were respectable men. The two then walked down the street and into the liquor-store of Frank Mc- Andrew, the body-master, and Edward Monaghan, constable of Shenandoah. Several members of the. order were there assembled. Lawler claims that he was under suspicion, and did not dare to protest against it. Whilst the matter was under discussion, Lawler and McAllister left. In the mean time, that evening, Riles and his wife were seated in front of his saloon, which was located in the heart of the town. Just after dark, they observed Ed Monaghan pass in front of them, and then down the other side of the street. In avery short time a number of strange * He was pardoned early in 1876. ATTEMPTED MURDER OF RILES. 181 men made their appearance, and fired at Riles, who was severely wounded. They then attempted to retreat, but Mrs. Riles sprang forward and grasped by the arm one of the ruffians who had fired the shot. He threw her roughly off, but she again sprang forward, and again clung to him. A second time she was thrown violently away, but not before she succeeded in obtaining a full view of his countenance, which was en- tirely unknown to her. This occurred early in the evening, in the main street of a large town ; as a consequence a crowd soon assembled. The wounded man was carried into Mr. Kendrick’s house and properly cared for, but the perpetrators escaped. Riles again recovered ; but both his wife and himself had now come to the conclusion that it was impossible longer to live in Shenandoah with any degree of safety. They therefore disposed of their property at a sacrifice and moved West. That their action was a prudent one may be inferred from a fact sworn to by Muff Lawler. Lawler states that on the morning of the 1st of September following he was informed by ‘Thomas Hurley of an intention to assassinate a boss at Raven’s Run, and that in consideration of this Mrs. Riles was to be assassinated. Lawler asserts that he earnestly denounced the contemplated murder, for the reason that the intended victim was a woman, and that he consulted James McKenna on the subject, who said the matter must be stopped. It may be proper to remark here that months after Riles and his wife had moved West the news of the ‘‘ Molly’’ . arrests in Schuylkill County reached them. - Mrs. Riles resolved to visit Pottsville, in hopes of being able to identify the assassin whose face she had seen. She carried her resolution into execution, and visited the Schuylkill County prison. She passed from cell to cell until she saw Charles McAllister; -when she immediately charged him 16 ae TAMAQUA CONVENTION. with the crime. McAllister was at that time waiting trial on a charge for murder. He was also held to answer for assault and battery with intent to kill.* Whilst the particulars of this assault were not generally known throughout the region, in connection with other crimes quickly following, intense feeling was created in Shenandoah and the surrounding neighborhood. In Mahanoy City active opposition to the organization had existed for some time. This opposition, whilst with- out organization, had for its moving spirits generally young Americans. In Shenandoah the murder of Gomer James, a young Welshman, and the attempted assassination of James Riles, aroused the Welshmen to a feverish state of indignation, shared in by the Americans and sympathized with by the English-German element. For the next few months this feeling increased in inten- sity. IEA SD Rove Valet TAMAQUA CONVENTION—WHO MURDERED GOMER JAMES ?— SANGER MURDER ARRANGED—PATRICK BUTLER. McKenna, having discovered the particulars of the Go- mer James murder, and reported the same to headquarters at Philadelphia, returned to Tamaqua and the fascinations of Miss Mary Ann Hegins. The special policy of Mc- Kenna as a lover does not appear; whether he was the gay, rollicking Irish lad, who sang a good song, told a good * The facts relative to this attempted assassination have been derived from the sworn testimony of Michael Lawler and statements made by Mrs. Riles. Charles McAllister was convicted of assault and battery with intent to kill Riles in November, 1876. TAMAQUA CONVENTION. 183 story, and danced a jig, whether ‘‘she loved him for the dangers he had passed, and he her that she did pity them,’’ or whether he assumed the subdued and sentimental clrar- acter, with a touch of blarney, is not known; and upon that point, like an honorable man, he makes no revelations. That he wooed successfully we may be sure; that he had, as a necessity for the accomplishment of his purposes, to give Miss Mary Ann a mistaken idea of his intentions, he deeply and sincerely regrets. McParlan at all times and under all circumstances speaks of Miss Hegins as a good, pure girl, as no doubt she is. She was the excuse that brought him to Tamaqua and kept him there in her society and on the most intimate terms with her brother-in-law, James Kerrigan. The Yost murder investigations were again resumed. On the 24th of August, Carroll was away from home attend- ing a funeral, and in his absence McKenna attended bar for him. During the afternoon Campbell stopped at the Union House. He referred to the Yost murder, but seemed most anxious relative to the assassination of John P. Jones. He regretted that he could not be present at the conven- tion to be held the next day, in order that he might bring the subject up there. He asked McKenna to attend to the business for him ; said that Jimmy Kerrigan had it in hand, but that he was afraid Jimmy would get drunk and neglect to attend to it. McKenna promised to do his best to get men to do the work. When Carroll came home the Yost murder was again re- ferred to. During the conversation Kerrigan came in and formed one of the party. Both Kerrigan and Carroll again expressed the opinion that it was a ‘‘clean job,’’ and that the perpetrators would neyer be found out. The details of the transaction were again discussed, and the statements which they had formerly made corroborated. ‘The next day, August 25, the convention called by Jack 184 TAMAQUA. CONVENTION. Kehoe assembled at Carroll’s house. The parallel of this convention is not known in recorded history. In a period of profound peace, ina land governed by just and equitable laws formed by the people, in broad daylight, in the cen- tre of a large town, situate in one of the most wealthy and populous sections of the country, the leaders of a large and powerful organization gathered together, without any attempt at concealment, to consider the proposition of re- warding a cold-blooded, brutal, purposeless assassin; and also to deliberate upon the punishment merited by one of their own members who was suspected of having prevented the accomplishment of the previously planned murder of two unarmed and unsuspecting men. Those forming this conclave were not animated by even perverted sentiments of patriotism or religion. It was no uprising against arbitrary and unjust laws, for by virtue of the laws even their peaceful assemblage was guaranteed. Gomer James was no tyrant, trampling the rights of an enslaved people under foot, by whose death liberty was to be gained. He was simply a poor young Welshman, defenseless, unarmed, unsuspicious, engaged inno quarrel or brawl, shot down, and without a moment’s warning cast into eternity. That such an act, or, in fact, any of the crimes com- mitted by the organization, should be regarded as heroic passes comprehension. The Thug of India would rob and murder an unsuspecting victim, but the Thug never claimed to be a hero or a subject for admiration. Low, servile, cruel, deceitful, cunning, he was; cowardly and groveling, he admitted it. But the Thug was no more cruel, deceit- ful, or cunning than the ‘‘ Molly Maguire,’’ and no Thug or Italian assassin was ever more cowardly; two, three, four, or more were considered necessary to shoot down one unarmed man, and any suspected preparations for protec- tion were sufficient to postpone the enterprise. ~ | ae Fee TAMAQUA CONVENTION. 185 Among the very many *‘ Molly’? murders committed in the coal region, there never has been one in which the victim has been accorded the least chance for his life, or where the murderers willingly subjected themselves to the slightest danger. And yet they regarded themselves, and were regarded by the association, as heroes. The war- worn veteran was never as boastful of scars obtained in open conflict for the sake of home and country, as were these ruffans of unprovoked murders, committed, as they be- lieved, in perfect safety. . The convention was called to order by John Kehoe, the County Delegate. Different divisions of Schuylkill County were represented by their body-masters and other officers. Besides the officers a number of influential members of the organization were present. Shortly after the opening of the convention a county committee was selected by Kehoe, to whom was to be submitted business affecting the organ- ization. This committee consisted of John Kehoe, County Delegate ; Yellow Jack Donahue, Body-master at Tusca- rora; Chris Donnelly, County Treasurer ; Michael O’Brien, Body-master at Mahanoy City; Frank O'Neill, Secretary of St. Clair Division; Patrick Dolan, Body-master at Big Mine Run; James Roarity, Body-master at Coaldale; Mc- Kenna acted as Secretary. The deliberations of the convention were held with open doors so far as the order was concerned. ‘Three rooms on the second floor of Carroll’s house were occupied ; one by the committee, one by the witnesses, and the third from time to time by McKenna, who took down in writing dif- ferent complaints that were made. The case of John J. Slattery was considered. Jimmy Kerrigan was the nominal prosecutor, but the charges were presented and urged by Yellow Jack Donahue. It was claimed that through Slattery the murder of the two Majors had a prevented ; his intimacy with Samuel Major, the j 16* 186 WHO MURDERED GOMER FAMES? uncle, was urged in proof of the charge, as well as the remarks made by Samuel Major relative to information given him by Slattery as to the feeling of the school board. Slattery entered the plea of ‘‘not guilty,’’ but he was re- garded with suspicion, and his expulsion by the Tuscarora Division was affirmed. If Slattery is to be believed (and his story is to some ex- tent corroborated by Charles-Mulhearn of the Tuscarora Division), his situation was now critical. His life was in constant danger, and his property threatened with destruc- tion. The feeling of both his wife and himself, at first, was one of relief that his connection with the order had been severed; but this feeling was only momentary, for, un- derstanding as he did the character of the organization, their mode of operations, and the feeling towards himself, he was conscious that his life might be the forfeit of one unguarded minute. He had been warned that he was in - danger, and Alec Campbell, a few days after the conven- tion, made it a point to call upon him to say that if he did not succeed in reinstating himself in the order his destruc- tion was certain. He advised that application should be made to Jack Kehoe, the County Delegate. Under the circumstances, Slattery. considered the advice good, and, under strong asseverations of his innocence of any attempt to save the Majors, regained his standing in the order. To return to the convention of the 25th of August. The exciting topic before it was regarding the reward to be paid the murderer of Gomer James. ‘Thomas Hurley was present urging his claim as the murderer. Hé was accom- panied by Frank McAndrew, the body-master, and John Morris,* both members of the Shenandoah Division. Mc- Kenna, in the presence of these men, took down the state- * Convicted of an assault and battery with intent to kill Wm. M. Thomas, WHO MURDERED GOMER FAMES? 187 ment in writing, which he then presented to the committee. It was read aloud by Frank Keenan, the body-master of Forestville. ‘The statement was heard by Patrick Butler, the body-master at Lost Creek, who was in an adjoining room. Butler appeared before the committee and asserted that a man named McClain, belonging to his division, had committed the act, and was entitled to the reward. Mc- Kenna urged the claims of Hurley. Kehoe stated that for the commission of the act a reward was justly due, but that it was important that the reward should go to the proper party. In this all present acquiesced. Besides the committee there were present at this time in the room Frank Keenan, Patrick Butler, John Morris, Jeremiah Kane,* body-master at Mount Laffee, and James McKenna. McClain was not present to’urge his claim, and in fact had only asserted in a spirit of braggadoeio that he had committed the murder.t As there appeared to be an uncertainty as to the real murderer of Gomer James, no fixed reward was settled upon, but James McKenna and Patrick Butler were appointed by the committee to inves- tigate the subject and report. © Butler and McKenna there- upon agreed to hold a meeting and hear witnesses on the following Sunday, August 29, in the bush near Shenan- doah. At this time, through the borough authorities of Tama- qua, acting on information derived from the Pinkerton Agency, John P. Jones was on his guard, and a detail of the Coal and Iron Police stayed at his house every night. McKenna, to be early cognizant of anything that tran- spired in the matter, encouraged the selection of Frank * Fugitive from justice, connected with the attempt to assassinate the Majors. 7 This was not at all uncommon. A number of instances are known where murder was falsely boasted of for the purpose of gaining increased popularity and social position. é 188 WHO MURDERED GOMER FAMES? McAndrew, the body-master, to procure the men to com- mit the murder from the Shenandoah Division. Jimmy Kerrigan was on the day of the convention full of whisky and determined to effect the murder. Without telling McKenna what he had done, he concluded another arrangement with Jerry Kane, the body-master at Mount Laffee, to furnish men from that division. McKenna, not suspecting this action on the part of Kerrigan, arranged for the contest between McClain and Hurley, determined, if possible, to get at the exact truth of that matter. He understood Hurley thoroughly ; he knew that he was a liar and a thief, and wished to obtain as much proof as possible as to who the murderer really was. On Sunday, the meeting was held according to appoint- ment. Butler and McKenna acted as judges. A number of persons were present, Edward Monaghan, a constable of Shenandoah, among the rest. McClain did not make his appearance ; he excused himself afterwards to Butler by saying that he was afraid of Hurley. Hurley was him- self present with his witnesses. The fact that he committed the murder was testified to by Thomas and James Welsh, Michael Carey, and a man named Conway. The evidence appeared conclusive. McClain was not there to dispute any points, and Butler and McKenna agreed that Hurley was the fortunate man entitled to the reward. It was de- termined that a report to this effect be sent to Kehoe, which was accordingly done on the following day (August 30). ae It may be proper to state here that no portion of the reward was ever paid to Hurley. The end of the fearful reign of terror was approaching. The power of the ‘‘ Molly Maguires’’ was at the culminating point. The darkest of crimes now followed in rapid succession, and others, both in Carbon and Schuylkill Counties, as well as in Luzerne, were in contemplation. ‘There never had been in the an- WHO MURDERED GOMER FAMES? 189 thracite coal region a member of this organization con- victed of murder in the first degree; but the time was close at hand when they would have to enter upon a struggle wherein not only the lives of many of their members would be placed in jeopardy, but the ascendency, nay, the very existence of the order would be threatened with destruc- tion. Confronted with dangers like these, not only were all the available funds of the organization required for purposes of defense, but a demand was also made upon the personal resources of the members, and assistance from abroad was required. In this contest the money claimed by Hurley was absorbed. To arrange for the murder of John P. Jones, Frank McAndrew, the body-master, called a meeting of the Shenandoah Division, to be held at his house on the tst of September. ‘This was in pursuance of the arrangement made in Tamaqua on the 25th of August. McKenna was at this time staying at Fenton Cooney’s, his regular boarding-place in Shenandoah. Michael Doyle, who will be remembered as connected with the attempt to assassinate ‘‘ Bully Bill,’’ was boarding at the: same place. He and McKenna were bedfellows. On the morning of the 31st of August, McKenna, upon getting out of bed, saw lying on the wash-stand a new Smith & Wesson pistol, which he knew did not belong to Doyle. Turning to him, he asked, ‘‘ Where did you get that pistol?’’ Doyle re- plied that he had borrowed it from Ned Monaghan ; that he and the two O’Donnells and McAllister were going that day to shoot a boss at Raven’s Run. | Immediately after breakfast they were in the back-yard: together, where they were joined by Tom Hurley. Hur- ley was at this time still elated with the ‘‘clean job’’ he had made with Gomer James, and assumed airs of supe- riority. The matter of the contemplated murder was talked over, but the name of the man to be shot was not dos 190 THE SANGER MURDER ARRANGED. mentioned. ‘‘ A bossat Raven’s Run, who would be pointed out,’’ was sufficient information for Doyle. Hurley gave minute directions as to the proper way to shoot a man. He told Doyle to hold his pistol at full cock in his pocket ; to walk straight up to his victim and then draw the pistol ; to shoot directly thréugh the breast-pocket of his coat. He sneered at the way in which Doyle had acted when they attempted to assassinate ‘‘ Bully Bill,’’ and accused him of cowardice on that occasion. ‘‘ Now,’’ he said, ‘‘you are going with Friday O’Donnell, and he is a man who will stand no nonsense.”’ -. The three then proceeded up the street, Doyle stopping at Lawler’s, where, he said, he was to meet some of his party. McKenna and Hurley went on. They soon met Friday O’Donnell, and together they went to Malachi Cleery’s liquor-store. O’Donnell there exhibited two pistols, and said that his brother Charles, McAllister, and Doyle were going that day to shoot a mining boss at Raven’s Run. He further said that they would work only a half-day, but that the matter of work would be arranged with their ‘«butties,’’ who were friends of the order. McKenna had not learned the name of the person to be assassinated, but merely that the location of the contem- plated murder was at Raven’s Run, a small mining town about two miles north from Girardville. ‘Thinking it pos- sible that he might yet give Captain Linden warning, he, in a casual way, asked for him at Malachi Cleery’s, which was the point under their arrangement where he would be most likely to hear of it if he was in town. Ascertaining that Captain Linden was not in town, he made a number of fruitless efforts to rid himself of Hurley in order to send a cipher dispatch to Superintendent Franklin, at Philadel- phia, But Hurley, either by accident or for some reason, kept him close company. McKenna expected that the murder would be accom- THE SANGER MURDER ARRANGED. Igt plished that day. He did not know of Linden’s where- abouts, and was hampered by Hurley. He was, conse- quently, unable to prevent the perpetration of the crime, and his object now was, in case of its commission, to learn all the details. To do this the best plan was for him to remain at Shenandoah. It was also at that place that the meeting was to be held’on the following night to arrange for the murder of John P. Jones. That McKenna was not before this aware of the con- templated murder was owing not to any want of openness on the part of those having the matter in hand, but to the fact that he had been away from Shenandoah, at Tamaqua and Storm Hill, during the preceding six weeks. There is, perhaps, nothing more noteworthy in the career of Mc- ' Kenna than the success he always had in obtaining the confidence of his associates, and this was probably owing, to a great extent, to the fact that while he manifested in- terest and sympathy he never seemed to seek for information. He therefore assumed in this instance the same feeling of indifference exhibited by Doyle and Hurley, that it was a matter of but little account who the intended victim was ; **a boss at Raven’s Run’’ was a sufficient description, with- out inquiring into minute particulars. For him to have manifested curiosity would have been to arouse suspicion, so that of necessity he was compelled to await developments and take the chances of gaining more accurate informa- tion. The fact was, that the man to be murdered was Thomas Sanger, and that this murder, with some others never at- tempted, had been in contemplation for some time. Sanger was a man of good character and of an amiable disposition. He was between thirty and forty years of age, enjoying the esteem and confidence of S. M. Heaton & Co., at whose colliery at Raven’s Run he was employed asa boss. He was not known to have an enemy in the world; but it was Ig2 PATRICK BUTLER. afterwards ascertained that, by reason of some act done in the pursuit of his duty, he acquired the ill will of some of the ‘‘ Mollies,’’ and his death was determined upon. The year previous (1874) Bucky Donnelly took the matter in hand, pointed out Thomas Sanger to Patrick Butler, and said that he wanted him killed. At another interview with Butler, when a man named Patrick Shaw was present, he proposed that the two should commit the act. For some reason they never made the attempt. For the purpose of showing the difficulties which beset the path of McKenna, and of illustrating not only with what readiness a murder would be conceived, but also how readily it would be abandoned,—in short, the little account in which human life was held,—several incidents in the history of Patrick Butler may here be given. Patrick Butler, who will be remembered as being on the committee with McKenna to decide to whom belonged the credit of having murdered Gomer James, is a young man who joined the order in August, 1873. He joined the Raven’s Run Division, of which Bucky Donnelly was body- master at that time. Donnelly, about six weeks afterwards, notified Butler to meet him at Girardville station and go with him to Mahanoy City, which he did. They were in company with Barney Dolan, then County Delegate of Schuylkill, Larry Crane, and Peter Finneral. When they arrived at Mahanoy City, Butler learned that Philip Nash had ‘“set up a job’’ to kill a man by the name of Edward Burke. Peter Finneral, a man named McDonough, and Butler, as young members, were selected to commit the murder. After the selection was made and the party had eaten their supper, those not appointed went home, taking Finneral along, he being very drunk. A man named For- fay pointed Burke out to McDonough and Butler. He was sitting at the door in front of his house. They fired at him, but missed him,—Butler says purposely, for they were PATRICK BUTLER. 193 angry because Finneral had got drunk and the rest of the party had gone home. ‘The matter was then dropped. Butler was also with Bucky Donnelly at a large meeting at Shenandoah, assembled for the purpose of making a raid on Jackson’s Patch.* Whilst there, Donnelly, out of pure malice, shot off a pistol in such a manner as to make a woman believe that he intended to kill her. ’ In the year 1874, Bucky Donnelly, Larry Crane, Philip Nash, and Patrick Butler went over to Centralia, in Colum- bia County, for the purpose of killing a man named Mc- Brierty. This was to oblige Edward Curley, the County Delegate of Columbia. The party, however, got drunk, and returned without accomplishing the purpose of the visit. Butler succeeded Bucky Donnelly as the body-master of the Raven’s Run Division. Whilst holding that position an application was made to him to furnish two men to help kill Captain William Hays and William Rees. An appli- cation of the same kind was also made to Philip Nash, body-master at Girardville. For some reason the men were not furnished. Joseph Rees was afterwards attacked at Shenandoah, but was not injured. The cases just cited constitute only a part of those in which Butler and Donnelly were engaged since the autumn of 1873, but they are sufficient for the purpose of illustra- tion. When it is taken into consideration how many parties there were—all equally criminal—who needed watching ; that a spirit of braggadocio was abroad in the order; that murders were openly discussed ; that the darkest of crimes would be suggested for the mere gratification of a whim, and that a contemplated murder would often be abandoned with the same readiness with which it had been conceived, # This meeting is described in another place. I 17 194 MURDER OF SANGER AND UREN. it can readily be understood how the detective might waste much valuable time in useless work. The air was filled with the talk of murders and other outrages, and it required calm, deliberate judgment and nice discrimination to learn where real danger existed. Through the instrumentality of McParlan the lives of a number of those consigned to death were saved, but it was one man against a host, and the assassins themselves were so confident of immunity from punishment that they murdered with scarcely an attempt at concealment. a (SEA: PAGE Re XTX MURDER OF SANGER.AND UREN—McPARLAN ON A COMMITTEE TO MURDER JONES—MURDER OF JONES BY OTHER PARTIES —FLIGHT OF THE ASSASSINS. THE murder of Thomas Sanger was not attempted on the 31st of August, as McKenna had been informed it would be. It was a ‘‘job’’ of Bucky Donnelly’s, and had been arranged under the auspices and with the encourage- ment of Jack Kehoe, who seemed to be ready and anxious ~ for any murder that might be proposed. About ten o’clock that night the two O’Donnells, James McAllister, and ~ Michael Doyle were joined by Thomas Munley at Gil- berton. Munley is about thirty years of age, and was the oldest man of the five. It is said that it was the intention that a younger brother of Munley’s should go, but he being sick, Thomas went in his stead. A portion of the evening the party passed with Jack Kehoe, at Girardville, where the matter of the contemplated murder was discussed. From Kehoe’s they went to Anthony Munley’s, at Dane’s Patch, » MURDER OF SANGER AND UREN. 195 and from Munley’s they proceeded to Bucky Donnelly’s house, at Raven’s Run, where they remained during the night. As early as six o’clock on the morning of the 1st of Sep- tember, 1875, the five men were at the colliery of S. M. Heaton & Co. They had taken the precaution to exchange clothing and hats, with the exception of Michael Doyle, who had borrowed from McKenna the coat which he wore. The only other attempt at concealment was the drawing of the hats down over the face as far as possible, and raising the coat-collars. From half-past six o’clock until a quarter to seven the men were gathering ready to go to work. About this time in the neighborhood of one hundred men and boys had collected. The five men were noticed by a number of the workmen, but very little was said to them. At about a quarter to seven o’clock Thomas Sanger came out of his house and walked towards the mines, intending to set the men to work. -He was accompanied by a young man named William Uren. ‘They were met by James, or Friday, O’Donnell, who stepped towards Sanger and shot him. Sangér turned and ran. Uren attempted to inter- fere in his behalf, when he also was shot by O’ Donnell. Uren then ran towards the engine-house, O’ Donnell pur- suing Sanger. In the mean time the remaining four commenced firing right and left, threatening the remainder of the workmen, who fled panic-stricken. Whether the flight was encour- aged or led by those in sympathy with the murderers, it is impossible to tell. That over one hundred men and boys . should give way to four is not so remarkable as it at first appears, when it is considered that the four men were armed and presented a determined front, whilst to the larger number the whole affair was unexpected, and no one was prepared to head the others in resistance. Thomas Munley, seeing Sanger running away, ran for- 196 MURDER OF SANGER AND UREN. ward to head him off. He met him near a house occupied = q by the family of Robert Weevil, when he also shot him. | Sanger then ran into Weevil’s house. The five ruffians retreated to the mountains. Robert Heaton, one of the proprietors of the colliery, had just finished his breakfast, and was seated on his front porch, when he heard the firing. He ran as fast as possible towards Weevil’s house. He saw two of the party running towards the mountain. He com- menced firing at them, and his fire was returned. It took but a few moments, however, to exhaust the charges in his revolver. He had not succeeded in hitting any of the fugitives, and did not recognize in them any one he knew. Sanger was shot in the arm, a flesh-wound, and in the right groin. He died in a few minutes, in the arms of his agonized wife, whose side he had just left in perfect health and with apparent prospect of long life. William Uren was also shot in the right groin. He lingered some hours longer, but his recovery was from the first regarded as hopeless,—the ball had passed into the abdomen. In the mean time, McKenna was anxiously waiting at Shenandoah to hear what had been done. On'the morning of the rst of September he went down to Muff Lawler’s, where he found Tom Hurley. The-conversation was on the proposed murder. Muff had been injured in the mines, and could only move with great difficulty. Hurley here again expressed the opinion that Doyle would have to be- have better than he had done in the case of Bully Bill; that Friday O’ Donnell was not the man to stand nonsense; that he would fix him. This was about eight o’clock. At this time the five men who had committed the murder at Raven’s Run came into Lawler’s, Michael Doyle lead- ing the way. ‘They all looked overheated, and were very much excited. ‘They first had a drink of water, and then — took whisky all around. The murder at Raven’s Run was narrated, each one of the party anxious to tell his own MURDER OF SANGER AND UREN. 197 share. Doyle said it was all right. Friday O’Donnell said it was a ‘‘clean job ;’’ they had killed two, when they only expected to kill one. Friday said he had fired the first shot, when the second man interfered, and then he had shot him. Munley said he had fired at and hit the first man as he was going into a house. Charles O’ Don- nell, Doyle, and McAllister said they had been firing and frightening the people, and could not get up to the two others until the job was done. James O’ Donnell then spoke of a man firing at Munley and himself, and of their returning the fire. Doyle said the man who had fired at them was named Heaton, and that he was one of the proprietors. McKenna now learned for the first time that the name of the boss they had gone to kill was Thomas Sanger. None of the party seemed to know or care who the other was. Each man seemed anxious to tell the story his own way. They described how they had changed their hats and clothing before the murder, and changed back again before coming over the mountain to Shenandoah. They examined their pistols ; Charles O’ Don- nell and McAllister at first thought they had best leave their navy revolvers with Muff Lawler to take care of for them, and gave them to him for that purpose. They, however, changed their minds and took them back. After the party had taken about four drinks apiece, the O’Donnells and McAllister started for their home at Wiggan’s Patch. Munley, Doyle, Hurley; and McKenna then went up to Tobin’s ball-alley, where Hurley and Doyle played for the beer, McKenna keeping the game and Munley looking on. About half-past twelve o’clock Munley started for his home at Gilberton, on his way going up-street with McKenna. As they separated, Munley remarked that as there was to be a meeting of Shenandoah Division that night, he would be over. The incidents of the morning, together with the liquor he had drunk, excited Munley. He was boastful 17* 198 McPARLAN ON A COMMITTEE and quarrelsome. After he arrived at home he had a dis- turbance with his wife, flourished his pistol, and fired it off in the house, the ball lodging in a partition. As might naturally be expected, these murders following so quickly after the others before narrated created intense excitement. Notwithstanding the fearful outrage had been perpetrated in the presence of a large number of people that morning, the criminals were either not known to any one, or the terrorism prevailing prevented their exposure, and many months passed under the general belief that two more-victims of ‘‘Molly’’ outrage had passed into eternity and the strong arm of the law was apparently powerless. The vigilance committee, as it is believed, sprang into ex- istence, and in the course of time retaliation commenced ; but the civil authorities were silent, and a general fear was felt and expressed that a system of laws which in civilized lands had received the indorsement of centuries was here utterly powerless. On the evening of the 1st of September the Shenandoah Division held a meeting at the house of Frank McAndrew, the body-master. Notices of the time of meeting had been given on the day preceding. ‘There were present Frank McAndrew, Thomas Munley, Michael Darcy, John Morris, Thomas Hurley, John McGrail, Edward Mona- ghan, and James McKenna. Edward Sweeny came in, but, as his dues were not paid up, he was requested to leave. The murder of John P. Jones was considered. Thomas Munley and Michael Darcy volunteered to go. John McGrail and James McKenna were appointed in ad-. dition by the body-master. ‘They were requested to leave the next morning. McKenna, having in view the giving notice to Captain Linden and Superintendent Franklin, suggested that he should go ahead for a day or two to pre- pare matters. This was satisfactory to John McGrail, who said he had business in Shenandoah, which he would have ‘oo, =. TO MURDER FONES., 199 to attend to the next day, but he would be ready the day following. Munley and Darcy both advocated going at once. Munley said he had his hand in now (referring to his share in the murder of Sanger and Uren), and he was going right then. ‘The arrangement was finally made that Munley and Darcy should get cartridges for the pistols at Mahanoy City, and join McKenna the next morning on the train at that place, to go with himto Tamaqua. McGrail was to be telegraphed for when needed. At this meeting the murder of Sanger and Uren was openly discussed, Munley assuming the same boastful manner that he had in the morning at Muff Lawler’s. The arrangement, so far as relates to. the murder of John P: Jones, had been worked by McKenna according to a preconcerted plan. It had been understood between Captain Linden and himself that he would, if possible, get on the committee and so delay matters that if, in the end, the affair should be attempted to be consummated, all par- ties should be arrested. Wm. D. Zehner, superintendent of the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company at Landsford, had been warned by Beard and Shepp, of Tamaqua, prior to this, not only of the intended murder of John P. Jones, but also of a similar attempt to be made on himself, in exchange for the murder of a gentleman at Jeddo, Luzerne County. He had consulted with Mr. Parrish, the president of the Le- high and Wilkesbarre Coal Company, who was much ex- cited on the question, and had given instructions to spare no expense or trouble to secure the safety of all parties. Mr. Jones had slept, for several weeks prior to this time, at Mr. Zehner’s house, at Landsford, under guard of Coal and Iron policemen. McKenna started on the 2d of September for Tamaqua on the seven o’clock train, and was joined, as per arrange- ment, by Munley and Darcy at Mahanoy City. On ar- 200 MURDER OF FONES BY OTHER PARTIES. riving at Tamaqua, they proceeded at once to Carroll’s, but found that he was out of town. McKenna then went pretending to look for Kerrigan,—really to make out his report,—and reported not being successful in his search. He suggested that without Kerrigan the matter could proceed no further, and told Munley and Darcy to return home and wait for a telegraph from him. To this they agreed, and left for Mahanoy Valley that afternoon. Mc- Kenna was now satisfied that the attempt to murder was delayed for the time being, if not forever. He was much surprised to learn from Carroll, after his return about ten o’clock that night, that two men sent by Jerry Kane had come over from Mount Laffee the preceding evening and were already at Storm Hill; that the probabilities were that John P. Jones was already killed. It was then too late to give further notice, and McKenna could only hope that his previous warnings had proved effectual. It appears that at the meeting at Carvoll’s on the 25th of August, Jerry Kane, body-master of Mount Laffee Division (near Pottsville), had been spoken to. He was just as willing to procure men to kill John P. Jones as he had himself been to assassinate the Majors at the request of Chris. Donnelly, and proceeded to arrange the matter shortly after the convention. He called a meeting of his division, stated the object, and two men were drawn by lot, one being Edward Kelly, and the other a married man, a resident of Mount Laffee. Kelly was a young man, considered of kindly impulses and nature, and, except in being a ‘‘ Molly,’’ regarded as of good character. He -accepted the situation at once. But the fact that the other was a married man with a family excited the sympathies of young Michael J. Doyle, who, in a spirit of enthusiasm, and, as he imagined, heroism, offered to take his place. Michael J. Doyle is a young man, not over twenty-five years of age. He has been well brought up. In his boy-. 3 MURDER OF FONES BY OTHER PARTIES. 201 hood he was regarded as amiable and kind-hearted. His early associates speak of him in high terms. His habits and character were regarded as good. Yet both Doyle and Kelly were, under the influence of this organization, ready, willing, and anxious to slay a fellow-being in cold blood whom they had never seen and against whom they had no ill feeling, and to regard themselves as heroes and worthy of praise and admiration for so doing. Furnished with a letter to James Carroll, and wearing badges of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, they arrived at Tamaqua on the ist of September, 1875. Carroll at once sent for Kerrigan, and asked him to conduct them to Storm Hill to Alec Campbell. Kerrigan objected, on the ground that he had work to do that night. Carroll, how- ever, insisted, and Jimmy, without much urging, con- sented. They arrived at Storm Hill in the evening, and went immediately to Campbell’s. Kerrigan introduced his com- panions, Kelly and Doyle, and told him that they were the parties sent over to kill Jones. Campbell expressed gratification at seeing them, and said he would take them up to McGeehan’s saloon on Summit Hill; which he did. On arriving at McGeehan’s, Campbell remarked that the murder should be committed as soon as possible, but that as Mulhall was now at home from Tuscarora, he must notify him to keep out of the way, so he should not be suspected. He also advised McGeehan to go home early that night, so that his whereabouts could readily be accounted for. Several pistols were now produced, among others the black pistol, belonging to Roarity, which McGeehan had used to kill Yost. McGeehan examined and oiled the pis- tols, in order to have them in good condition. In one of the pistols the cartridges used were rather large for the bore. McGeehan in endeavoring to drive one of the car- tridges tightly into place exploded it, the ball imbedding [* 202 MURDER OF FONES BY OTHER PARTIES. itself in the bar counter. Neither Kerrigan, Kelly, nor Doyle knew John P. Jones, and his personal appearance and manner of dress were described by Campbell. It was then understood that the party next day should appear as if in search of work, and, if any favorable opportunity should offer itself, conclude the job. Campbell first left, and between ten and eleven o’clock that night McGeehan also went to his boarding-house, leaving the key of his saloon with the three strangers to lock themselves in. The next day Kerrigan, Doyle, and Kelly wandered from point to point in that neighborhood. They saw John P. Jones, but, according to their opinion, had no favorable opportunity to accomplish their design. That night they stopped with Campbell. He was disposed to blame Kerrigan that the deed was not already done, and thought that it might still be done that evening. Kelly and Doyle, at his sug- gestion, stationed themselves near the front of Jones’s house, where they were observed by a number of persons. There were several meetings that evening in town, and it was supposed that Jones might go to one or the other of them. Finding that he did not make his appearance, the matter was deferred until morning. The balance of the evening was spent in drinking in Campbell’s saloon,—parties passing in and out. When the conspirators were alone, Campbell discussed the situation with them. He said that the murder of Jones would bea glorious thing ; that they could shoot him at any place, and that no one would tell; that they should be careful to put not only one, but several balls in him; that if it were not for the society and the dropping of an odd man off once in a while, there would be no such thing as living there. He said, further, there would be no difficulty in their getting away; no one would dare to tell on them even if they should be known. Campbell is a man of decided ability, money-making, but fond of power, and ambitious. a at ae v" THE TRIAL OF DOYLE. 243 In the midst of the threatened danger they were furious. An attack upon the jail, or an attempted rescue, was feared, and an uneasy feeling prevailed that at any moment might come an outburst. Precautions against a rescue were enforced when adjourning the court. First the doors were directed to be shut, and the attendant throng confined; then the constables were directed to take the jury from the room. In the mean time the prisoners were handcuffed, and sent under a strong guard to prison. ‘Then the doors were all unlocked, and the smothered wrath of the throng in the court-room found vent in curses from clustering knots of angry men on the public streets. A body of police fully armed guarded the jail, and a full supply of hand-grenades and other ammunition was kept within its walls. Judge Dreher, learned, deliberate, unimpassioned, but determined, understood the danger of the situation, and, whilst allowing every reasonable latitude to the argument of counsel, preserved strict order and checked any dis- position to acrimonious discussion. An application was made by the prisoners for a change of venue. An argument was heard and considered, and the motion was refused. Dilatory motions were heard and dismissed. The District Attorney was directed to proceed, and the indictment charging James Kerrigan, Edward Kelly, and Michael J. Doyle with the murder of John P. Jones was read to the prisoners, who respectively entered the plea of ‘‘not © guilty.’’ Separate trials were demanded, and the Com- monwealth elected to try Michael J. Doyle. A jury was directed to be, selected. The impaneling of ajury.in a homicide case is in itself a solemn act, bringing to the minds of the parties present the fact that human life is to be weighed in the balance, and that safeguards are being thrown around it. The * \ 244 THE TRIAL OF DOYLE. jurors are called singly. The clerk of the court in each instance directs, ‘‘ Juror, look on the prisoner; prisoner, look on the juror. What say you, challenge or no chal- lenge ?’’ If, as usual, the prisoner does not immediately avail himself of his right, the juror is directed to be sworn to make true answers. He is then usually examined as to whether he has conscientious scruples on the subject of capital punishment ; whether he has formed or expressed an opinion, etc. The answers may be of such a nature as to render the juror incompetent, and one side or the other may chal- lenge for cause. If no legal cause is shown, the right of peremptory challenge exists, in a limited degree, in the Commonwealth, and, to a large extent, in the prisoner. This right not being exercised by either party, the court directs the juror to be sworn in the pending case. The same formula is repeated with each juror. called until twelve are chosen. It can readily be understood that in cases which have occupied a.large share of public attention difficulty in obtaining jurors frequently occurs. In the case of Doyle several days elapsed before a jury was selected. EK. R. Siewers, Esq., the District Attorney, well and clearly related the sad story of the murder of Jones, and told in detail the testimony proposed to be submitted, by which the guilt of the prisoner was to be shown. The case is proceeded with. General Albright examines the witness, and Bartholomew conducts the cross-examina- tion. In the frequent points arising, all the counsel at times engage; but Hughes, as a rule, argues the legal points in behalf of the Commonwealth, and Ryon for the prisoner. The testimony is wonderful in its completeness. During the day preceding the murder, hour by hour, almost min- ute by minute, the exact whereabouts of the prisoners are THE TRIAL OF DOYLE. 245 shown. Doyle and Kelly are identified as having fired the fatal shots, and their course is minutely traced up to the moment of their arrest. As day after day new and unexpected testimony is of- fered, clinching and riveting the damning evidence of guilt, the crowd of ‘‘ Mollies’’ in the town look sullen and dangerous. The officers of the court, members of the bar, the police- men, the tipstaves, the throng of spectators, watch every step of the trial with breathless interest. Even the army of reporters, by their profession inured to varied scenes of excitement, and even danger,are interested in the strange story being told, while they uneasily watch the crowd of threatening faces with which the room is thronged. The counsel for the Commonwealth were secure in the strength of their case, and appeared confident. They must have been conscious, however, of the intense hate with which many present regarded them. If each and every of them were not armed during the trial, they neg- lected ordinary precaution. The counsel for the defense were uneasy. From the beginning they understood and felt the danger to their clients far better than did the arrogant and self-confident organization from which their fees were obtained.* As the cause progressed, any hope of acquittal which they might have before entertained passed away. When the Commonwealth rested their case, the carefully- prepared ‘‘alibi’’ was useless, There was danger of prose- cution and conviction for perjury to any rash enough to ‘attempt to prove such ‘‘alibi’’ upon the witness-stand. The counsel for the prisoners discharged the witnesses. That they were prepared to swear falsely was so manifest * It is not intended to be intimated that the counsel for the defense were employed by the ‘‘ Molly Maguires’’ as an organization. Their engage- ments, it is to be presumed, were made with the relatives and friends of the prisoners, 21* 246 THE TRIAL OF DOYLE. that the prisoners’ counsel felt that to call them would not only be useless, but that they would be knowingly per- mitting perjury. That these witnesses should not be called was specially urged upon his colleagues by Hon. James B. Reilly, who, it is possible, had some knowledge of the nature of the testi- mony the ‘‘Mollies’’ intended to produce. Because he was of Irish extraction, a Catholic, and a politician, he was deemed worthy of greater confidence than any of his colleagues except Mulhearn. The ‘‘ Mollies’’ made a mis- take. James B. Reilly was not prepared to become a party to a crime. The case was submitted to the jury upon the testimony of the Commonwealth. Nothing, one would imagine, could be said in behalf of the prisoner; but Kalbfus, who pos- sesses a wonderful command of words, and Bartholomew, ingenious and brilliant, made stirring appeals to the jury. But no efforts, however eloquent, could avail the pris- oner, especially under the review of testimony made by counsel for the Commonwealth, and the calm and dispas- sionate charge of his Honor Judge Dreher. Notwithstanding the completeness of the testimony, the Commonwealth were determined to risk nothing, and Hon. Allen Craig (the able counsel of the Lehigh Valley Rail- road Company), logical, self-possessed, and with high lit- erary culture, General Albright, elaborate, thorough, with intimate knowledge of the facts and of the law bearing on the case, and Hon. F. W. Hughes, with large experience and thorough knowledge of the law, trained, comprehen- sive, analytical, and eloquent, made their best efforts before the jury. On the morning of the rst of February, 1876, the jury - brought in against Michael J. Doyle the verdict of ‘‘ Guilty of murder in the first degree.’’ The prisoner listened eagerly whilst the verdict was being rendered by the jury, taal THE TRIAL OF DOYLE. 247 and then instantly presented an appearance of being en- tirely unaffected by the result. This assumed hardihood is by no means unusual among criminals convicted of high crimes, but especially among the ‘‘ Molly Maguires’’ is it maintained as a matter of pride. The open expression of emotion is a characteristic of the Irish people, and yet the verdict of ‘‘ guilty of murder’’ may be rendered, and the prisoner will remain apparently the least concerned of any present. The wife, whose de- votion is recognized with sympathy, will sit calmly by with- out evidence of emotion; the father and the brother will be apparently cold and impassive; it is only the aged mother who will utter a wail, or show the mortal agony that fills the hearts of them all. A motion for a new trial was entered a few days after- wards, but was refused, and Michael J. Doyle was by Judge Dreher sentenced to death by hanging. McKenna is of course on hand during the trial. He is seemingly as chagrined as the worst of the throng of bad men present at the course matters are taking. As witness after witness is called he apparently becomes more defiant. But his interviews with Captain Linden, who is also pres- ent, taking open part in the prosecution, are arranged with skill and care. Day by day the exact position of the defense is disclosed, and night after night is it reviewed, discussed, and guarded against in General Albright’s office. During the trial an incident occurred which was of ter- rible import to the ‘‘ Molly’’ organization. Deputy-Sheriff Brenheiser testified to a conversation which he had over- heard in prison between Doyle and Kerrigan. ‘The con- versation had been carried on through certain pipes by which the cells were connected. Doyle said in effect that astatement of an ‘‘alibi’’ had been prepared and sent to Reilly at Pottsville, which statement was to be shown to the witnesses who were to be sent from Mount Laffee, in 248 CONFESSION OF KERRIGAN. order that they might know exactly what to swear to; that the witnesses were ready to. show that Kerrigan had been at a wake near Yorktown at the time the murder occurred ; that he could trust Mulhearn and Reilly, but must be care- ful in what he said to Bartholomew and Kalbfus. This testimony excited Kerrigan beyond control; he sprang to his feet, exclaiming, ‘‘ That isa lie! By God, I have no stomach for this! I won’t have my life sworn away in this way !”’ Kerrigan was silenced by the court, and sank to his seat. It was the turning-point in his existence. If true to his race and inborn prejudices, certain death at the hands of the law stared him in the face; if false, family, friends, associates, all he loved or who loved him, would throw him off as an outcast and a traitor. But there was a chance for life; and the love of life triumphed: in that moment he determined to become an ‘‘ zzformer.”’ : : That he wished to confess was speedily made known to the counsel for the Commonwealth, and a day or two before the conviction of Doyle, Messrs. Hughes and Albright, in company with a stenographer, visited Kerrigan in prison. He told his story; he told the truth, but not at that time the whole truth; he endeavored to shield himself. He told the story of the murder of Jones, and also of that of Yost, and gave a view of the inside workings of the organi- zation, of which his listeners, old residents in the coal regions though they were, had never dreamed. But with this revelation came a well-assured confidence that, fearful as was the evil, a remedy might be applied. A well-defined hope sprang into life. Francis W. Hughes and Charles Albright are men of high social and profes- sional standing. They differ in many respects,—in ap- pearance, in manner,—and they profess directly opposite political faith. But both men are possessed of a purity of character and honesty of purpose carrying them beyond ARRESTS OF MOLLY MAGUIRES. 249 petty aims and purposes. ‘They felt a common duty, and, clasping hands, expressed a common purpose to accom- plish a common object. The pledge then made has been well sustained. From that day onward, for many long months, side by side they have waged war against the **Molly Maguire.’’ ‘They have had able associates, but from the first trial to the last, in Carbon and in Schuylkill, ever at their post, they have dealt vigorous and manly blows for the punishment of crime and the maintenance of law and order. CHAPTER «xX XLV. ARRESTS OF MOLLY MAGUIRES—McPARLAN SUSPECTED. By the confession of James Kerrigan a point long de- sired had at last been attained by the civil authorities and those specially active in the endeavor to break up the ‘Molly Maguire’ organization. Whilst the confession of Kerrigan as to his own participation in crime had been only partial, it was well understood by the Pinkerton De- tective Agency and by the experienced lawyers at the helm that the entering wedge had been driven in. They knew that the unveiling of all the unholy secrets of the organi- zation was merely a question of time. Not only in their minds was the conviction of all the murderers of John P. Jones and Policeman Benjamin F. Yost rendered certain, but it was now felt that with safety other known mur- derers could be arrested, and that those who had long been resting in fancied security from punishment for ghastly crimes, almost forgotten amidst present horrors, could at last be brought to the bar of outraged justice. It was now felt that the knowledge already in their pos- L* 250 ARRESTS OF MOLLY MAGUIRES. session obtained through McParlan could be rendered avail- able without calling him upon the witness-stand. This they could the more readily do as with him in the camp of the enemy every move made by them would be known and the perjured testimony required to establish the ‘alibi’ universally adopted as a defense could be readily exposed. The fact that a confession had been made by one of the prisoners at Mauch Chunk was soon a matter of rumor; that the informer was James Kerrigan was soon suspected. The ‘‘ Mollies’’ had themselves never felt absolutely secure in Kerrigan, and, as a consequence, had been specially care- ful to give him encouragement and to attend-to the wants and interests of his family. For this reason, whilst the rumor inspired fear among them, it was not fully believed. Warrants for the arrest of the murderers of Yost were placed in the hands of Captain Linden, and also in the hands of Captain Peeler, of the Coal and Iron Police, located in Carbon County. The arrests were managed with great skill, and simultaneously made on Friday, the 4th of February, 1876, two days after the jury in the Doyle case had rendered their verdict of ‘‘ Guilty of murder in the first degree.’’ Early in the morning of that day Alex- ander Campbell was sent to Mauch Chunk, and James Roarity, James Carroll, Hugh McGeehan, James Boyle, and Thomas Duffy were brought to Tamaqua, together sent to Pottsville, and there at once committed to prison to await trial. Messrs. Ryon and Bartholomew were em- ployed for the defense, and in their behalf applied for a writ of habeas corpus on the 9th of February, which was — made returnable on the r2th of the same month. The intensity of feeling created by these arrests can well be imagined. It was now fully understood that Kerrigan was the ‘‘leaker.’’ The indignation of the ‘‘ Mollies’’ against him—in which a large portion of the Irish people sym- pathized—was openly expressed. +» > ARRESTS OF MOLLY MAGUIRES. 251 The state of feeling then prevailing was increased in in- tensity by the arrest on the roth of February—the day fol- lowing the issuing of the writ of habeas corpus in the Yost case—of Charles McAllister and Thomas Munley, charged with the murder of Sanger and Uren at Raven’s Run, and their commitment to the Schuylkill County jail. Men greeted each other with brightened faces, and the end of the ** Molly Maguire’’ was for the first time generally pre- dicted. Saturday, the 12th of February, 1876, the day fixed for the hearing of the habeas corpus in the case of the prisoners arrested for the murder of Policeman Yost, arrived. The large court-room at Pottsville was packed almost to suffoca- tion with a mass of anxious and excited humanity. The corridors of the court-house were filled with expectant faces. Crowds of people unable to gain admittance into the court-room thronged the streets. ‘The nature and ex- tent of Kerrigan’s confession, who, and how many, were implicated, were the themes of every tongue. Disappointment had been expressed at the fact that no sight had yet been obtained of Kerrigan. Multitudes of the curious had awaited the arrival of the train from Tamaqua, anxious to catch a glimpse of the ‘‘informer.’’ But, fearful of a disturbance or an attempt to murder him, he had been sent from Mauch Chunk in a special car, under charge of Captain Peeler. Unnoticed by any one, he had taken his lodgings in the Schuylkill County jail.* But fresh disappointment was still in store. Judge Pershing made his appearance on the bench, and announced that the hearing would be private, and that the room must be cleared. It was some twenty minutes before the room could * Kerrigan has since that time made frequent journeys openly between Mauch Chunk and Pottsville, but always in charge of Captain Peeler. From the circumstance of the captain being a large man and Kerrigan being very diminutive in size, he has received the name of ‘‘ Peeler’s baby.” 252 ARRESTS, OF, MOLLY MAGCUI£GS. be emptied, and then, in the presence of their Honors Per- shing, Green, and Walker, all of the law judges, and Asso- , ciate Judge Seitzinger, the hearing was had. A number of the witnesses for the Commonwealth were present and testified, and Kerrigan then first made a public confession. As directions were given that the proceedings were not to be published, the curiosity of the community was in no degree allayed. All of the prisoners were committed to answer the charge of murdering Benjamin F. Yost. Whilst the arrest of Munley and McAllister attracted no special attention other than as being that of the murderers of Yost, it alarmed the ‘‘ Molly, Maguires’’ themselves. The public did not know the extent of Ker- rigan’s information, but they did. In the murder of San- ger and Uren it-was known to them that Kerrigan had no part ; he was a resident of a different part of the region, and had no special intimate connection with the mur- derers. A different source of information seemed indicated. To such experienced and able attorneys as Messrs. Ryon and Bartholomew, the conduct of the prosecution in the Doyle case had rendered evident the fact that information of the defense was being disclosed and that their policy in minute details was being betrayed by some one within their own lines. This belief of the attorneys became known, and aroused to the full extent the suspicions of the ‘‘ Mol- lies.’’?’ The arrest of Munley and McAllister confirmed them in their views. Who was the detective? Suspicion fell upon McKenna, —exactly how and why is wrapped in some mystery. Vari- ous stories are afloat. One is that he was forced to sign his true name of McParlan to a draft or check to enable him to get some money out of bank. Another, that owing to the suspension of a Chicago banking-house, in which his savings of years were deposited, he was forced to use his own name. Still another, that by accident a returned — TE a a oe a MCPARLAN SUSPECTED. 253 letter at the post-office betrayed his true character. And still another, that a dropped letter at Tamaqua, falling into the wrong hands, led to his discovery. It is probable that there is a foundation for all these stories; it is possible that none of them contain the true version of the matter. It is sufficient to know that his business was discovered, and that the discovery was imparted to several Catholic priests. Through these priests Jack Kehoe, the County Delegate, and others of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, were put upon their guard against him as being a detective. That this fact should be urged by many as proof positive that the Roman Catholic priesthood, if not the Roman Catholic Church, are in sympathy with the ‘‘ Molly Ma- guires,’’ can readily be supposed. The prejudice existing against that Church in the minds of many is bitter and utterly unreasonable. There are those who through preju- dice are prepared to believe any charge, however contrary to reason, against it, without any investigation, and to hold it responsible for intemperate language used by any man holding the priestly office, acting on his own respon- sibility, under strong provocation and influenced by the heat of passion. This being the case, it can be a matter of no great surprise that the warning given to members of the ‘‘ Molly” organization should receive the most un- charitable construction, especially as the act would seem- ingly bear it out. To shield criminals, to save them from punishment for brutal murder in the past, and to leave them to pursue unchecked a course of horrible crime in the future, is not in accordance with either the teachings of the Christian religion or the dictates of common humanity. Any steps tending to the relief of a terror-stricken people, who, feeling powerless, surrender unresistingly property and life itself to cold-blooded brutality, should, it would seem, receive the support of right-thinking men. That notice of the fact that James McKenna was a detective 22 254 MCPARLAN SUSPECTED. . was given to members of the organization through Catholic priests has never been denied. ‘The notice so given makes those pause and doubt who are most desirous not to be- _ heve, not even to imagine, the possibility of evil. Nevertheless, it is difficult to credit that any respectable portion of the Catholic priests sympathized with or coun- tenanced in any way the Molly Maguires. It is impossible to believe that Father O’Conner, of Mahanoy Plane, who has been most publicly implicated in the matter, should desire in any way to screen them or aid them in the main- tenance of their bloody work. His history ever since he has been in the coal region would indicate an entirely dif- ferent state of feeling on his part. In the public press, over his own signature, and from the pulpit, he was open in his denunciations. Hardly a month had passed since he had read the pastoral letter of Archbishop Wood excom- municating all lawless societies, and especially the ‘‘ Molly Maguires.’’ In his sermon, delivered at a time of great excitement, and with many of the most desperate of the organization among his hearers, he had the courage to de- nounce them in most unmeasured terms. He referred to the Wiggan’s Patch murder, and claimed that, as the victim was a ‘‘ Molly,’’ full sympathy should not be extended. He impressed upon them the fact that war was not being waged upon women, and that Mrs. McAllister was evidently shot by mistake. He stigmatized the order as a disgrace to the Irish people and a blot upon the Irish name. He bade ~them to beware of the order for their own sake and for the sake of their children; to hold no communication with friend or even brother who belonged to it, for it was out- side the pale of humanity and cut off from connection with the Church; under no pretense to show sympathy with them; to let them fight their own battles unaided; that they were the scum of the earth, a disgrace to the Church, to Ireland, and to America. MCPARLAN SUSPECTED. 255 That Father O’Conner was sincere in his sermon de- livered that day there can be no doubt. The sentiments he then expressed are in accordance with his whole record, before and since. What isthe explanation? Unfortunately, although willing and anxious to explain before a legal tri- bunal, he could not do so, objection being made. He isa man of high character, and sincerely anxious for both the spiritual and the temporal welfare of his flock. He is of handsome and commanding presence, is a gentleman, a man of culture, and has broad and extended views. His nature, his instincts, his education, and his religion all teach him to understand, to appreciate, to despise and fearlessly condemn the horrible order by the members of which he is surrounded, and who are the subjects of his anxious thoughts and earnest solicitude. He groans under not only the disgrace they bring upon the religion of which he is a priest, but the disaffection they breed in the Church. He mourns for the jeopardy in which they are placing body and soul here and hereafter. As aman, he shudders at their horrible barbarity ; as a priest, he trem- bles for their personal welfare and safety not only in this world, but in the world to come; as an Irish-American citi- " zen, he grieves for the honor of Ireland sullied and for Amer- ica disgraced, and with foreboding he contemplates their pernicious influence in the future upon their own families and upon the country at large. Can it be possible that the: inborn prejudice against an ‘‘ informer,’’ which seems to be part of the Irish nature, transmitted through generations, unconsciously influenced his mind contrary to his instincts, his nature, his education, and his religion? Can it be that when it was announced that a detective was in the midst of this lawless gang, contempt for the ‘‘informer’’ and pity for the unsuspicious criminal for the moment affected his judgment? Did he believe that the detective was the instigator of crimes that he might betray them? If the 256 MCPARLAN SUSPECTED. last was his belief, he had learned the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ history to little purpose. That his reasons were at the time satisfactory to his own mind is certain. His purity and honesty of purpose are unquestionable, but, in this matter, even in the exercise of the utmost charity his judg- ment must be regarded as at fault. When Jack Kehoe heard that McKenna was a detective he gave the report instant credence. It was believed that there was a*spy among them, and that such spy was held in general confidence. Who so likely as McKenna? He was a comparative stranger. He was without visible means of support; he had never engaged in any scheme of fraud by which money could be obtained; and yet he was always in funds. Who more likely? The thought caused Jack Kehoe to shudder, for he knew the extent of McKenna’s information and the power he possessed. He had been his own trusted friend and confidant, but the idea once sug- gested, he knew it to be correct. On the theory of his being a detective the arrest of Mc: Allister and Munley for the murder of Sanger and Uren could be accounted for. He sent his wife at once to Potts- ville, directing her to see Danny Hughes, the keeper of a drinking-saloon and restaurant where ‘‘ Mollies’’ from all parts of the region resorted when in Pottsville, and inform him that McKenna was a detective, against whom he should be on his guard, and also to request Hughes to notify all members of the order that such was the fact, obtained from a reliable source. McKenna was then in Pottsville, and had been for several days previously. Upon the day of the morning of the habeas corpus hearing he walked down straight from the court-house with Frank McAndrew, body-master of the Shenandoah Division, who gave him the first intimation of the story afloat. He told him that it was rumored that he was a detective, and that the report was being discussed Pos MCPARLAN SUSPECTED. 257 throughout the order ; that very many could not credit it, but that very morning bets had been made in the cars that he would appear on the stand that day as a witness for the Commonwealth in the habeas corpus hearing of Munley and McAllister. McKenna on the instant made a rapid review of the situa- tion. He appreciated the fact that since the time of the Doyle trial a belief had been gaining ground that a detective was at work in their midst. He had himself, with his usual policy, fallen into the current of opinion. Muff Lawler had been suspected, and McKenna had with a number of the members of the order discussed the question of his guilt or innocence. He knew not only from his experience in that case but from life-long experience upon what slight foundations a suspicion could be aroused, and he hoped that, by assuming a defiant attitude he could crush out the doubts with which he was-regarded, and not only retain but increase his power. Every force of mind and body was engaged in the task he had undertaken. He had worked for years to attain the position he then held as an influential member of the order. He had gained universal confidence. He had lifted the veil that had shrouded in mystery many a bloody deed of past years, and he could now, if firmly established, quickly and thoroughly com- plete hiswork. He did not for a moment dream of yield- ing to the current setting in against him. He resolved to show fight. Nor were his hopes without foundation. He was exceed- ingly popular. He had ever appeared to show the greatest devotion to the order. He was cool and determined, was without personal fear, and could, if necessity in his judg- ment demanded it, present the appearance of exceeding rashness. He had thus won great admiration. His in- genuity had at the same time been taxed to prevent the commission of crime. He would display zeal for and ap- 22° . 258 MCPARLAN SUSPECTED. proval of the object in view, would discard any question of his own personal safety, but in his prudent care for others generally defeated the job, at the same time adding to his own reputation as a ‘‘safe hand for a clean job.”’ More than this, he possessed the power of intellect, ever on the alert and directed to a fixed object.. Beyond all this, nature had endowed him with that peculiar magnetism of manner which all appreciate but no one can understand. He determined on the instant to join issue. He was apparently thunderstruck at the idea. That he of all men should be suspected was monstrous. He spoke of his steady and unswerving devotion to the organization, the sacrifices he had made for it. McAndrew, who was much attached to McKenna, quickly sympathized with him, and regretted that the rumor had be- come so wide-spread. ‘‘As it is,’” said he, ‘‘ you must prove your innocence before a county convention.’’ ‘This was in direct accordance with McKenna’s views; he believed that no proof against him could be produced, and that a demand for the most thorough investigation would in itself completely vindicate him. A large number of ‘‘ Mollies’’ from different points were in Pottsville on that day, by reason of the hearing in the case of Munley and McAllister. McKenna set to work at once to manufacture sentiment in his favor. He proceeded to Danny Hughes’s saloon, where he met a number of the order. Hughes told him of the word received through Mrs. Kehoe. McKenna was indignant, was surprised, was mortified that such a false and malicious report should be spread against him of all men. Danny Hughes said that he did not believe it. They took a drink all around at Mc- Kenna’s expense. In the midst of McKenna’s indignation his sensibilities were affected ; he could bear anything but that ; that was too much. ‘* They had wounded the spirit that loved them.” wi MCPARLAN SUSPECTED. 259 Perhaps at no time in his whole career had McKenna been more popular than on that day in Pottsville. He carried the crowd by storm; he was greeted with the warmest ex- pressions of sympathy. ‘That evening he left them and went to Shenandoah. There his old associates were with him. He disarmed suspicion. He defied, nay, courted investigation. It was his right, and a most thorough and searching examination must be had. He insisted upon being brought face to face with his accuser. The next morning he went to Girardville. He saw Jack Kehoe, and assumed with him a like innocent, injured, _and very indignant air. ‘‘ Why,’’ said he, ‘‘do you spread these reports about me ?”’ McKenna’s manner frightened Jack Kehoe, and for the - time being staggered even him in his belief. He excused himself. ‘‘I did it,’’ he answered, ‘‘ because I heard it. I heard it some time since, and I heard it again lately.’’ ‘¢ Where did you hear it ??? demanded McKenna. ‘¢T heard it from a conductor on the Reading Railroad,”’ was the answer. ‘‘ Hecalled me into the baggage-car, and asked me whether I had seen you lately, and said that I might be certain that you were a detective. I told him that it was a the first time I had heard the charge made against you.’ f A McKenna denounced the charge as a foul slander, “and demanded as his right that a convention of the order be called and the matter investigated. ‘¢What I want now,’’ said he, ‘‘is somebody to prove it. I am willing to let the society try me. I will let the society try me; and if I find out the man who is lying about me, I will make him suffer. It isa re thing to charge a man like me with being a detective.’ Kehoe agreed with McKenna that the request was reason- able, and that there should be a county convention, as he 260 MCPARLAN’S DANGER, suggested. He requested that McKenna should write the letters,—he being too nervous,—calling it in his name, to meet in Ferguson’s Hall, in Shenandoah, about the 1st of March. McKenna, taking writing materials up-stairs, wrote, as authorized, to the several body-masters of Schuylkill County, and, putting the letters in stamped envelopes, directed them, and handed them to Kehoe to mail. He stopped that night at Kehoe’s house. His manner had, for the time being, the desired effect. Kehoe was almost disarmed. ‘The star of McKenna was in the ascend- ant, and, feeling great confidence in his ability to main- tain his position, he returned the next day to Pottsville. There he assumed a bold and aggressive tone. He said to Patrick Butler, body-master of Lost Creek, as well as to others, ‘‘I am not waiting for the order to take action upon me; I will take action upon myself; I will have a meeting, and I will have a fair trial.’’ CehAsh ot Rao ve McPARLAN’S DANGERS, AND HIS ESCAPE. KEHOE was only shaken in his belief of McKenna’s guilt, not thoroughly convinced of his innocence. He, however, assumed, in conversation with him, an air of entire confidence. The manner of McKenna tended to create a doubt of any testimony that might be produced, and yet the evidence in his possession against him was felt to be unquestionable. The two met in Pottsville on the 26th of February. AND HIS ESCAPE. 261 Kehoe greeted McKenna cordially, and manifested his usual confidence. They were about retaining John W. Ryon, Esq., to defend McAllister. In the afternoon of the same day they met again. ** Have you any news?’’ asked McKenna. *¢T have a good deal of news,’’ Kehoe replied. ‘‘ There are about twenty-five hundred men banded together in this county for the purpose of prosecuting the Ancient Order of Hibernians. ‘There is positive proof that there are detect- ives among them, and that these detectives get money to go around and spend, and find out all their secrets, in order to either send them to the penitentiary or hang them.” | ‘‘There has been in my mind,’’ said McKenna, ‘for some time past an idea that there is something crooked going on, and that is the reason I am doubly cautious. But,’’ continued he, ‘‘ from whom have you received this information now ?”’ ‘From Mr. John W. Ryon; that is the man; he is after telling me in his office,’’ Kehoe replied. It is not probable that Kehoe reported literally Mr. Ryon’s remarks, but it is likely that Mr. Ryon suspected the fact that detectives were at work: the action of the Commonwealth betrayed inside knowledge. Away from McKenna, the suspicions of Kehoe returned with redoubled force. That there was one detective— perhaps more—among them could not be doubted. The whole conduct of the Commonwealth, the confidence mani- fested, the startling arrests made independent of any testi- mony of Kerrigan, rendered the matter sure. The direct information received implicating McKenna, and the recur- ring question, ‘‘ Who so likely?’’ dispelled all doubt,—and in Jack Kehoe’s mind McKenna was condemned to death. There should be no convention, no trial,—it would be useless. Before the time fixed for the convention the blow 262 " MCPARLAN’S DANGERS, should be struck, and the life of McKenna rendered up. He acted vigorously; he created sentiment against the suspected man; he asserted that his information was un- doubted. He came to Pottsville the day previous to that fixed for the convention, and asked McKenna if he was going to Shenandoah that night. He was told that he was; and an arrangement was made that they should meet in the after- noon. Kehoe at once returned to Shenandoah. He called Frank McAndrew, the body-master of the division, and a number of the order together. He told McAndrew that McKenna was a detective beyond doubt; that he must be killed. ‘‘ For God’s sake, have him killed to- night,’’ said he, ‘for he will hang half the people in Schuylkill County.”’ Kehoe treated freely. Friendship to McKenna in all except McAndrew was shaken, and even he finally gave way. ‘The murder was agreed to, and in the evening after the arrival of the train twelve or fourteen men assembled on purpose to do the deed. Some had axes, some toma- hawks, and some the sledges used in the mines. They were afraid to use fire-arms, on account of the police and assembled crowd. In the mean time, McKenna was confident that his plans were working satisfactorily. Kehoe did not meet him during the afternoon according to appointment; but this he judged was accidental. But he quickly discovered that, notwithstanding all his efforts to create confidence, there was a counteracting influence at work. In a conversation with a man named Mullen, from Tuscarora, he found that the assembling of the convention was being secretly op- posed. Mullen said that the idea was abroad that he was certainly a detective, and that he wanted to get all the body-masters and other officers together in Ferguson’s Hall, AND HIS ESCAPE. 263 Shenandoah, and have them arrested in a body by the Coal and Iron Police. McKenna laughed at this idea, told him that such a thing would not be lawful, and insisted upon the fact that he had the meeting called in good faith. The conversation made an impression upon him. He was intensely anxious to gain his end and establish in their view his innocence. He saw Captain Linden and asked him to keep the Coal and Iron Police away next day ; that he was perfectly satisfied he could make the convention believe he was no detective. ‘‘I believe,’’ said he, ‘‘I can fight them right through.’’ Captain Linden objected to this. He thought McKenna was taking too great a risk; but, like him, he was anxious that he should establish his point with the convention. Captain Linden therefore unwillingly consented that he should make the venture without even a shadow of protec- tion. McKenna took the evening train for Shenandoah. He was sitting in the smoking-car, when Marcus O’ Donnell. a brother of Mrs. Kehoe, told him that his sister was in the ladies’ car and desired to see him. At Mahanoy City he went into the car, and found that her husband was not with her. He asked where he was. She replied that he ‘had gone up by way of Frackville that afternoon, whilst she had visited her mother in Tamaqua. The idea of immediate personal danger then first pre- sented itself. Kehoe had assumed friendship; had told him-to be sure and be in Shenandoah that night,—that he would meet him on the way. McKenna knew Kehoe thoroughly, and he saw danger ahead. His suspicions were still further excited upon his arrival at the Reading Railroad depot at Shenandoah. He had sent word to McAndrew that he was coming that evening, and usually, in such case, he would be met at the cars by a number of his associates, who would give him the news, and ant 264 MCPARLAN’S DANGERS, with whom he would take a drink. This evening he was met by no one. This looked ominous; but he was well armed, and prepared to defend himself if necessary. Passing up-street, he met none of the order until he came to McHugh’s saloon. He stopped and spoke to McHugh. He was asked to take a drink, and said he would take some porter. McHugh was in a tremor; he had difficulty in getting the cork out of the bottle; he was deathly pale. McKenna asked him if he had the ague; had he been on a spree, or was he sick? -McHugh said no, but he .was very cold. ‘The question was then asked by McKenna as to whether he had heard the report that he was a detective. McHugh said that he had, but did not believe it; that he would attend the convention next day, and see how things were going on. The aspect of affairs grew still more ominous. Pass- ing up-street, he met a man named Mike McDermott, a member of the order, with whom he was on very friendly terms. McDermott scarcely spoke to him. Farther on he saw Edward Sweeny, another member, across the street at a lamp-post. He called to him and asked if he had seen McAndrew. Sweeny, coming over, said that he had, about an hour since. ‘‘ Had he gone to bed?’’ Sweeny thought not. The manner of Sweeny tended to confirm McKenna in his belief that foul play was intended. He did not dare, however, to let his suspicions appear, and acted as if he had not noticed the change in his reception. He deter- mined, if possible, to learn the full extent of his danger. He knew that, usually, he had much influence with McAn- drew; but he had been popular with all his associates, and he feared there was not one left upon whom he could rely. He mistrusted the immediate intentions of his companion. They walked together towards McAndrew’s house, but Mc- Kenna, adjusting his pistol so as to have it within easy reach, managed to get Sweeny a step or two ahead, and to AND HIS ESCAPE. 265 keep him there. When they arrived at McAndrew’s house, McKenna, making a strong effort, endeavored to act as if he were certain of a cordial reception. But the effort was in vain. ‘The conversation was constrained. There was some- thing in contemplation which was concealed from him. Two men were standing outside the house without apparent purpose ; one was within, restless and disturbed, as if wait- ing for some signal. McAndrew appeared nervous, uneasy, © undecided. Sweeny got up and said he was going away ; to this McAndrew did not respond. Sweeny then left, but presently returned with a piece of snow in his hand, which he threw at McAndrew’s foot. It was evidently intended to call McAndrew’s attention to the fact that time was passing and that nothing was being done. McAndrew hesitated, looked for a moment at McKenna, and then said, ‘‘ My feet are sore; I believe I will take off my boots.”’ This was intended, and understood, to mean that the scheme which had been adopted to inveigle McKenna into _a crowd of men, by whom he was to be beaten and hacked in pieces, was, by McAndrew at least, that night abandoned. Sweeny then left. McKenna, concealing his suspicions, asked McAndrew in a careless way what arrangements had been made about the meeting, and received the answer that the hall had been rented, and that everything was right. But he was no longer in doubt. He knew that his death was determined upon, and that any instant the at- tack might be made. Still, there was much at stake; he had confidence in his own power; if he could only get a hearing he was satisfied he could disarm suspicion and re- trieve his popularity ; but in the mean time he had to save himself from present danger. When he left McAndrew’s, instead of taking his usual route to his boarding-house, he 23 266- MCPARLAN’S DANGERS, passed to the back of the house into a swamp, through which he made his way, and in this manner succeeded in reaching home undiscovered. During the following hours he had no sleep. He knew the character of his ‘‘ Molly’’ associates, and their modes of action. He knew Jack Kehoe. He knew the ease with which he could be dragged from his bed and murdered ; and with a full determination, in the event of an attack, to make his life cost them déar, he sat up all night, waiting anxiously for the first gleam of dawn. In the morning he saw McAndrew. He met also Ned Monaghan, the constable, 3 Shenandoah, James “Carlin, the body-master at St. Nicholas, and Florence Mahony, | the body-master at Turkey Run; but there was no appear- ance of a gathering convention. About eleven o’clock in the morning two ‘‘ Mollies’’ from Mount Laffee came in. Their names were Dennis Dowlan and. Mike Doyle. Doyle - was getting drunk, and both presented the appearance of having been up the night before. They said they had just come in the cars; but, as no cars arrived at Shenandoah at that time, the falsehood was manifest. .McKenna at once made up his mind that these men were selected to kill hin, Dowlan took him aside, and asked what was the matte, saying he had not heard. McKenna stated the case, and then Dowlan asserted that he did not believe he was guilty. Desperate as the position was becoming, the detective determined to make another effort. He announced that he was going to Girardville to see John Kehoe and learn why it was no meeting had been held that day. He hired a horse and sleigh, and asked McAndrew to go with him, Doyle by this time was drunk and in bed. Ned Mona- ghan and Dennis Dowlan said they also would go; and, another sleigh having been hired, they all set off together. McKenna, on their way, asked McAndrew to explain. oan AND HIS ESCAPE. 267 McAndrew hesitated fora moment; he seemed in doubt, but then said, ‘*See here; you had better look out for Dowlan, the man in the sleigh with Monaghan ; he calcu- lates to take your life.’’ At the same time he asked, ** Have you pistols ?”’ McKenna answered, ‘‘ Yes.’’ **So have I,’’ said he, ‘‘and I will lose my life for you. I do not know whether you are a detective or not, but I do not know anything against you. I always. knew you to do right, and I will stand by you. Why don’t they try you fair ?’’: It was this point that, independent, of the friendship he had for McKenna, seemed to . McAndrew. The charge of being a detective was indignantly denied by McKenna, and a full investigation demanded. It had been refused, and, without a hearing or opportunity given to vindicate: himself, he was to be murdered in cold blood, and, as his friend, McAndrew "ee consent to such action. &. On their way MeAnaien £ f Jack “ne s visit to Shenandoah the day before, and the agreement then made to kill him. He told of the party in wait for him, armed with axes, tomahawks, and sledges. He was to be in-. veigled among them and Seatinatan McAndrew said, **T saved your life last night. You were in queer com- pany then, and you will find you are in queer company now.”’ McKenna’s determination never faltered ; he said, ‘ do not care a cent, I am going to Kehoe’s.”’ Kehoe was dumfounded when he saw the party. His plan had not worked. The man who he thought had already been assassinated had called to see him, on appar- 2ntly the best of terms with the man who was to have assas- sinated him. McKenna indignantly demanded of Kehoe the reason 268 ‘ MCPARLAN’S DANGERS, why the meeting had not been held. Kehoe replied that it was useless, that they were satisfied there was no use in trying him, and that he had countermanded the order given fora convention. There was a crowd of ‘‘ Mollies’’ assembled there, and, notwithstanding the satisfaction Kehoe pretended to feel, the appearance of matters was threatening. McKenna insisted that Kehoe had injured him, and that it was only justice that under the circumstances he should. have a trial ; that he wanted to know who it was that dared to charge him with being a detective. As McKenna him- self expresses it, he ‘‘took the opportunity of blowing a little.”’ a Kehoe said that McDermott, conductor on the Shenan- doah branch, had said that if he (McKenna) would go to Father O’Conner, of Mahanoy Plane, he would find it all out. Notwithstanding McKenna had, as he says, taken this opportunity of ‘* blowinga little,’’ the information given him by Jack Kehoe, that the charge of his being a de- tective came from the Catholic clergy, startled him. He knew that very many of the ‘*‘ Molly Maguires’’ were Cath- olics only in name and frora policy ; that they were infidels, materialists ; that some had so far thrown off allegiance to the Church as either to refuse upon their dying bed its last | rites or to receive them with ill-concealed aversion. But he knew at the same time that, whilst these men had but little regard for or belief in religion, a charge against him of being a detective, indorsed by the clergy, would be almost irresistible ; the ministers, if not the religion, claimed respect. Still, even in this untoward position he did not despair. The air of unflinching defiance which he assumed of everybody and everything was absolutely necessary to insure his present safety, and in asserting that he intended to see Father O’Conner he meant what he — " 5) ae AND HIS ESCAPE. 269 said. For the future operations of the Agency in the coal region it was requisite to discover how much was known, and he believed that Father O’Conner would be frank with him. After that interview he could resolve upon his future course. But the crowd gathered at Jack Kehoe’s that day was, as McAndrew remarked, ‘‘ queer company ;’’ the only man whom he could at all depend upon was McAndrew himself. It was intended to murder him then and there.* A bright idea struck the detective. He would excite the sympa- thies of Mrs. Kehoe in his behalf. Mrs. Kehoe pos- sessed considerable influence in . 7a circles: . She is an O’Donnell, a sister of Friday and Charles O’ Donnell, a cousin of James Carroll’s wife. She is a high-strung woman, of considerable force of character, but, like most persons of quick emotion, sympathetic in temperament. McKenna found her in the kitchen, and to her, as his friend, he told his story, and to her knowledge of his full and entire devotion to the order he appealed. He became very much affected as he recounted all he had done and ° sacrificed, and was then doing and sacrificing, to advance the general interest ; but he said he did not care for that, he was willing to do anything, to bear anything, except suspicion. Mrs. Kehoe was fast giving way ; her sympa- thies were being excited. McKenna saw his advantage and clinched it. He could bear even suspicion, he said, but, after all he had done, not the charge of being an in- former,—not that; and then he pulled out his handker- chief and burst into tears. McKenna was not a beautiful object as he sat there in his red wig and rough dress ; but * The intention was to take him into either the back room or shed and murder him. His body was to remain there until night, when it was to be carried away and thrown down some old slope. McKenna was sup- posed to have no relatives who would make any inquiries, They thought the murder would excite no attention. 23% - . + 270. MCPARLAN’S DANGERS, the sympathies of the woman were fully aroused, and he was the conqueror. She grasped the poker, and vowed she would make any one suffer who should attempt to touch him. But he had not succeeded in allaying the suspicions of the husband; he had only secured present safety. Even his avowed resolution to see Father O’Conner had not the desired effect. His death was determined upon, to be compassed at the first opportunity, and in the mean time he was to be closely watched. Upon his announcement of an immediate visit to Father O’ Conner, Thomas Donahue and Philip Nash, without his knowledge, started ahead of him. Upon his arrival at Mahanoy Plane he met them at William Callahan’s saloon. McAndrew had come over with him, as had also Dowlan and Monaghan. “™ Nash and Donahue called McAndrew aside, and had*a conversation with him.» McKenna, intent on his purpose, went at once to see Father O’Conner, but did not find him at home. Upon his return McAndrew informed’ him that the three men wanted to kill him at once and there, but that he had refused his consent. Donahue and Nash _ had not insisted upon the*matter, but Dowlan seemed “s determined, and said that he would do the job himself, ~~ He wanted McAndrew to lend him his pistol in addition >. to the one he already had, but this was refused. Dowlan, probably for the purpose of screwing his cour- age up to the proper point, took one drink after another, and was fast becoming very drunk. This was perhaps fortunate for him. McKenna, in the midst of his dangers, was determined, and after the warning from McAndrew would not have lost his life without a severe struggle. McAndrew had now fairly enlisted in McKenna’s be- half; he insisted that Dowlan, on account of his drunken condition, should be left at Callahan’s, and that Monaghan should drive to Shenandoah alone in his sleigh. ff F €:: = > + ~~ athe . AND HIS ESCAPE. 271 There was an intention that the detective should be murdered that night in his boarding-house, and for that purpose a number of men pretending to be tramps were around the house the greater part of the night awaiting his arrival. But this scheme was also thwarted by McAndrew. When McKenna proposed to go to his boarding-house, **No,’’ said he; ‘‘ you sleep with me.’’ ‘¢ Why ?”’ was asked. ‘¢Tt makes no difference; you sleep with me,’’ was the reply. McKenna did so, and next morning went to Pottsville, and in the afternoon returned to Mahanoy Plane to see Father O’Conner. But he was again unsuccessful; the priest was still absent. At Callahan’s he met McAndrew, Dowlan, and Doyle who had been left at Shenandoah drunk the day before. McAndrew told him of the escapé he had made the pre- “ceding night. The whole party treated him cordially. But his main object now was to see Father O’Conner ; upon that interview depended his future course. He con- cluded that he would not risk another night in Shenan- | @pdoah. He returned to Pottsville. . » He saw Captain Linden that night and told him of the & dangers by which he was surrounded, but persisted ‘in his resolution of finding to what extent the suspicions had gone. He proposed, therefore, to go to Mahanoy Plane next day. Linden agreed as to the importance of the visit, but said he would shadow him with police-officers ; which he did. He desired a witness to his interview, and the next day he asked Callahan to go with him; but Callahan refused, saying that he had had words with the father on account of a sermon he had preached against the ‘‘ Molly Ma- guires.’’ McKenna went alone, and this time found Father 272 MCPARLAN’S DANGERS, O’Conner at home. But he had observed a man named Michael Dooley, a member of the order, following him, and had also heard him enter the kitchen, ask the servant- girl for a chair, and seat himself near the door. The fact of there being a listener in the next room somewhat regulated his conversation. | He told Father O’Conner that he was the McKenna whom he had represented as a detective; that such repre- sentation had greatly injured him; that it had in fact ‘ruined him in the estimation of some of his fellow-citizens, who were greatly enraged against him by reason of the report. He insisted that it was not true, and asked him to deny it. Father O’Conner replied that he had heard he was a detective, and, although he had no personal ac- quaintance with him, he thought that he was cognizant of crime long before its perpetration, which he could and should have prevented. He thought that he acted as a sort of stool-pigeon; that he knew all about crimes and took part in them, instead of reporting them as a detect- ive ; and he did not think it right. He said it was true he had written a letter to Kehoe, and had given it to a party to deliver, but that it had been brought back. : He said, further, that he had heard that he (McKenna) was a detective belonging to the Pinkerton Agency of Chicago, and that that Agency was employed by the Reading Railroad Company ; that Father Ryon, of Maha- © noy City, and Father Reilly, of Shenandoah, knew more about the matter than he did. Father O’ Conner was earnest in his denunciations of the ‘Molly Maguires.’’ He said he had given these men warning time and again of the fate that awaited them, but they would not hearken to his voice and leave the organ- ization, and that now they must suffer. McKenna was equally earnest and louder in his defense of the order. It was a good society. He had belonged AND HIS ESCAPE. | 273 to it a number of years, and he knew it to be all right. All the crimes committed in the county were attributed to the order; but they were not guilty of crime: on the contrary, they tried to prevent it; that was their special object. It is beyond doubt that Father O’Conner believed Mc- Kenna to be a very bad man and a participant in crime. He said, ‘‘ You were seen around Tamaqua about the time Kelly, Doyle, and Kerrigan were arrested, and you were seen in very close company with Kerrigan a little before Jones was shot.”’ **T had business in Tamaqua,’’ was the reply. ‘‘I was sparking Kerrigan’s sister-in-law, and of course I had to keep close company with the brother.’’ At this the father laughed, and said he saw no great harm in that. McKenna then took leave of Father O’ Conner, stating that he was going to see Father Ryon to get things straight- ened out, and that when he had done so he would notify him, in order that he might inform the congregation that he was no detective. Father O’Conner replied that if things were settled up in that way he would be happy so to state, as he had been injured in the estimation of his friends. McKenna met Tom Donahue at Callahan’s. He told them that it was all right, that he was going to see Father Reilly on the, following day, but that he must return to Pottsville that night. Both Donahue and Callahan seemed pleased at the result. On his way to the railway station he stopped at Dooley’s, who, on seeing him, laughed. : . ‘‘T heard every word of it,’’ said he. ‘‘I was at Father O’Conner’s all the time, and it was a ’cute thing the way you gave your reasons for being in Tamaqua.”’ McKenna acknowledged the compliment. M* ’ 274 MCPARLAN’S DANGERS, AND HIS ESCAPE. ‘* You gave the society a good lift,’’ said Dooley. ° guilty of murder in the first degree who was absent when the act itself was committed, and was not physically con- cerned in inflicting the fatal blow, was not understood. The older villains in the order had pushed. the young men forward under the belief that they thereby screened themselves and in case of detection avoided punishment. A case of murder in which the ‘‘ alibi’? was powerless to prevent conviction was to them a profound mystery. The theory of the defense, therefore, was that, whilst Kerrigan was guilty, he alone was guilty. It was to be proved that he had a motive, arising from vindictive feel- ings towards Yost, whilst McGeehan, Boyle, and Roarity were to be shown to have been utter strangers. _ The defense was a plausible one, and it is not by any means impossible that, against Kerrigan unsupported, it might have been successful. If the attorneys for the de- fense were confident of acquitting the prisoners, as it is to be assumed they were, the nature of the defense proposed might well justify their confidence. It is not at all proba- ble that they knew anything about ‘‘ McKenna’’ or could anticipate any danger from that quarter. (284 . PREPARATIONS FOR THE YOST TRIAL. Irish criminals, as a rule, do not know how to tell their attorneys the truth, and very frequently a case is prepared out of court which bears no resemblance whatever to that which in court the attorneys are called upon to try. But support to Kerrigan was to come from a source which the prosecution had not hoped for and which was in no degree anticipated by the defense. McParlan consented to come on the witness-stand. Then for the first time he had a personal interview with Mr. Gowen. He told him the story of his life in the coal regions and of his determination to become a witness. Mr. Gowen well knew that no better work could be done for the companies of which he was the president than the total overthrow of the ‘Molly Maguires.’’ He was impressed with the man, and he determined not only to give the Commonwealth the benefit of his legal ability, but also to give the witness the moral support of his presence in court as president of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, who had employed the Pinkerton Agency. Mr. Hughes and District Attorney Kaercher also had an interview with McParlan, and heard his story. They, too, were deeply impressed. ‘They were not only satisfied of the wonderful ability of the man as a detective, but also thoroughly convinced of his entire honesty and of his capacity to tell his story on the witness-stand. Both parties, confident and full of courage, awaited the coming struggle. FIRST TRIAL OF THE YOST MURDERERS. 285 CHAPIN ER AAW LI. FIRST TRIAL OF THE YOST MURDERERS—MORE ARRESTS, At about two o’clock in the afternoon of Thursday, May 4, 1876, District Attorney Kaercher announced to the court, then in session at Pottsville, that the Commonwealth was ready to proceed in the trial of James Carroll, James Roarity, James Boyle, Hugh McGeehan, and Thomas Duffy, charged with the murder of policeman Benjamin F. Yost on the night of the 5th and 6th of July, 1875, at Tamaqua. ; , Although this was expected, and the court-room thronged in anticipation of such action, the announcement created marked sensation. In Schuylkill County cases of the greatest magnitude have been tried ; suits in which were involved millions of | dollars; titles to lands of almost fabulous value; issues where human life was held in the balance; but it was felt that this case was truly, and to the full extent, an issue joined between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the prisoners at the bar. There was no turbulence dis- played; there was no vindictive feeling towards the un- fortunate men about to be put upon trial; but there was intense desire that if guilty no false sympathy, no manufac- tured testimony, should save them from judicial conviction. The feeling was deep and wide-spread that if guilty, and they should escape, the ‘*‘ Molly Maguire’’ would have won . in the contest ; that danger would then exist of capital being withdrawn from the coal region, of property depreciating in value, of life being rendered so insecure as to drive 286 FIRST TRIAL OF away honest labor and leave the lawless and desperate in full control. | In addition to this, the unusual spectacle of five men at one time on trial for their lives increased the interest created by the magnitude of the issue. The case was to be tried before a full bench, his Honor Judge Pershing presiding, with their Honors Green and Walker, and Associate Judges Kline and Seitzinger. The Commonwealth, as in the former trials at Mauch Chunk, felt secure in its position, whilst the defense, calculating fully on breaking down the testimony of Kerrigan, were hopeful. When the case was called the Commonwealth was repre- sented by District Attorney Kaercher, with whom were associated Messrs. Hughes, Albright, and Guy E. Farquhar ; Messrs. J. W. Ryon, Bartholomew, and Kalbfus appeared for the defense. The prisoners had determined to be tried together. The bill of indictment was read. Clerk Aregood, ad- vancing to the table and addressing the prisoners, said, ‘¢ Are you guilty or not guilty ?”’ The plea of ‘‘ not guilty’’ was entered. ‘¢ How will you be tried ?”’ Roarity responded, ‘‘ We want to be tried by God and our country.’’ A jury was then directed to be impaneled. This occu- pied until the close of the court the following day (Friday). It was evident, during this time, that not only the friends of the prisoners but also the prisoners themselves, guarded as they were by a strong force of police, and entering the room handcuffed and conscious of guilt, were exceed- ingly hopeful. With apparently perfect unconcern they conversed together. They received, when they could be approached, many a hearty shake of the hand and little kindly token,—a package of tobacco, a cigar,—a thing of THE YOST MURDERERS. 287 no value, but displaying heartfelt affection, and indicating an innate refinement in the Irish nature which not even the brutality of the ‘‘Molly Maguire’ can extinguish. The conduct of the prisoners in court may have afforded no indication of their real feelings; they are born actors, and it was in the part they played to manifest unconcern. Carroll alone seems to appreciate fully his position ; there is a sad look in his eyes, as if his thoughts are in the past, as if recalling an innocent boyhood, a youth and early manhood held in respect and esteem. He feels the dis- grace now upon himself and family. He cannot join in the assumed careless airs of his companions. When ad- dressed, he will perhaps smile slightly, but sadness at once settles on his features. He holds himself in a certain de- gree apart from his companions. Young McGeehan assumes, perhaps feels, defiance. Throughout the trial, that he has once lost hope does not appear. Boyle, evidently weak and irresolute, is yet impressible. McGeehan is to him evidently the master-mind. Duffy is rather handsome ; dark-haired, with a sullen cast of feature ; he betrays no emotion. ) Roarity has himself well under control. During the trial he does not blanch under the most damning testimony. He does not appear exactly reckless; rather curious as to what may be said, but indifferent to its personal applica- tion. Mrs. Carroll, with her two little children, is seated be- side her husband. She understands the nature of the trial, and would go through fire and water to save the father of her children. She excites sympathy, but it is whispered around that she is an O’Donnell, a cousin of Mrs. Jack Kehoe, a cousin of Friday and Charles O’Donnell. Still, no word is breathed against her. Mrs. McGeehan, a bride when her husband is torn from 288 FIRST TRIAL OF her arms and thrown into prison, sits by his side, appar- ently happy in his presence, hardly realizing his position. Young and pretty, small. in figure, with auburn hair and fair complexion, decked in her wedding finery, she does not seem even to hear the testimony being given by the - witnesses on the stand. Her husband gazes proudly upon . her, whilst she, fondly clasping his hand, or, when wearied, © leaning upon his breast, has thrown aside the memory of past misery, has discarded fear for the future, and only feels that in the present she is with him. ° Mrs. Roarity, careworn and sad, brings her little children into court. ‘The youngest sits upon the father’s lap and crows and laughs. It fondly pats the face of the parent on trial for his life, and, unconscious of the fearful fate awaiting him, in baby wonder gazes at the crowd by which it is surrounded and the strange scene in which it finds itself. The jury was obtained with less difficulty than had been anticipated. Very little prejudice was manifested against the prisoners; there was a very general belief expressed by the jurors that they would be able to decide the case according to the evidence. Whilst the jury were being impaneled, earnest prepara- tions for the prosecution were continued. Captain Lin- den, on the alert, and full of resources and energy, in this case, as in the cases before and since tried, would quickly but quietly make his appearance, whisper’a few hurried words to the District Attorney, and then as suddenly disap- pear.. This excited no attention at the time, but arrests made on the following day recalled it to mind. At nine o’clock on Saturday morning the case was opened by District Attorney Kaercher. He told, with his usual clearness, the familiar story of the murder of Yost, and of the evidence that would be produced establishing the guilt of the prisoners on trial; that the testimony of THE YOST MURDERERS. 289 James Kerrigan, the accomplice, would be offered, and that a man who for years had lived in the county, asso- ciating with these men, and who had learned the history of their crimes, known to them as James McKenna, would also be put upon the witness-stand. His real name was James McParlan, and he was a detective employed by the Pinkerton Agency. It was an eventful day. During the opening speech of the District Attorney, Mr. Gowen entered the court and took his seat at the counsel-table of the prosecution. Benjamin Franklin, chief of the Pinkerton Agency at Philadelphia, entered at the same time, and took his seat close by. No outward manifestation was made, but the opening of the District Attorney excited most intense expectation. The Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company had openly shown their position, and no secret was made of the fact that they had engaged the private counsel in the present prose- cution. ‘The presence of Mr. Gowen indicated that not only was his great and acknowledged legal ability to be ar- rayed in behalf of the Commonwealth, but also that the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, with its vast resources and power, was openly engaged in the contest with the ‘*‘ Molly Maguires.’’ _ The appearance of McParlan was anxiously awaited. The court-room had been crowded with people from an early hour; and the, until then, unusual sight of ladies in court, filling the grand jury box, attracted by the deep interest felt in the case, added to the prevailing sen- sation. ‘The morning hours were, however, consumed in proving the murder. Mrs. Yost, sad-looking and sub- dued, an object of universal sympathy, told of the lurking assassins ; the fatal shots to which she was an eye-witness ; her husband’s cry of mortal agony, ‘‘Oh, my God! Tam shot! My wife!’’ of his staggering to the house, and his N . 25 290 FIRST TRIAL. OF falling dying on his threshold. _Dr. Solliday told the nature of his wounds, his certainty of death, and his dying declarations. Whilst this testimony was being offered, a rumor, soon to be made a certainty, ran round the court-room that a number of important arrests had been made. Very quickly copies of the Zvening Chronicle passed from hand to hand. It was true. That morning eight important arrests had been made, and at this time the jail was opening to receive the prisoners. They were: John Kehoe, High Constable — of Girardville, and County Delegate of the Ancient Order of Hibernians; Michael Lawler, of Shenandoah; Frank O'Neill, of St. Clair; Patrick. Butler, of Lost Creeks Patrick Dolan, Sr., of Big Mine Run ; Michael O’ Brien and Frank McHugh, of Mahanoy City; and Christopher Don- nelly, of Mount Laffee. There was no loud expression of feeling. Events were crowding too rapidly. Men gazed at one another in blank amazement. ‘Surely, surely,’’ it was said, “ the end is now at hand.’’ ‘* Surely the day of organized murder has passed forever.’” The members of the order, many of whom were in the crowd, seemed scarcely to realize what had been done. But on that day, for the first time, the ap- palling truth burst upon them. It was a struggle for life. iA Mauch Chunk, during the trial of Doyle, they had beén fearfully excited, but it was owing to the fact that individual members of the organization were in danger. They were then arrogant, proud, defiant, glorying in their strength, and resentful that even the strong arm of the law should dare to lay hold on them. Now, however, members of the order who had come into the court-room that morning hopeful and confident were panic-stricken; no one among them felt safe; but they looked dangerous; the feeling of utter desperation was upon them. James McParlan was called. The stillness of expectancy THE YOST MURDERERS. 291 throughout that large assemblage was painful. Gentle- manly, quiet, and unassuming in manner, but cool and self- possessed, neatly dressed in black, wearing spectacles, the detective made his appearance. He told his story in slow, measured sentences, without any manifestation of feeling or attempt at display. His words were listened to by all, judges, jury, attorneys, prison- ers, Officers, all assembled, with breathless interest. Carroll and McGeehan and Roarity gazed upon him with wonder- ment. Upon their faces there was an expression which . seemed to say, ‘‘Can it be possible? Is this man now calmly and coolly telling of our past confidences the same Jim McKenna who, dashing and venturesome, we believed the biggest ‘Molly’ of us all ?’’ He tells his story. He was a detective in the employ of Allan Pinkerton, of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. He came to Schuylkill County from Chicago to join, if possi- ble, the ‘‘ Molly Maguires’’ and discover their secrets. He told of his life step by step since he had arrived. He had joined the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He was ac- quainted with Carroll, McGeehan, and Roarity ; had been in their confidence. He described his interviews with them. Hehad a slight acquaintance with Duffy. He had never met Boyle. Saturday night had arrived, and with his evidence-in-chief but partly given the court adjourned. On the following Monday it was evident that a bitter struggle was on hand. The Commonwealth had given some fearful blows, but if there was a flaw in McParlan’s testi- mony the attorneys for the defense were determined to discover it. The array of counsel on both sides was brilliant. The Hon. F. W. Hughes, the senior counsel for the Common- wealth, is a lawyer by nature, education, and training. Thoroughly grounded in the principles of his profession, by long and extensive practice he seems equally at home 7 292 FIRST TRIAL OF in any court or in the practice of any branch of his pro- fession. Impulsive by nature, he has become by long prac- - tice remarkably calm and collected in the trial of a cause. He but rarely loses his temper, and never forgets the points at issue. Comprehending and urging with force the strong points of his case, he is fair to the other side. He is logical and analytical in mind, and a fine speaker. His greatest talent, perhaps, lies in the general management of a cause; his greatest danger, perhaps, in the too great re- finement of an established principle. Mr. Gowen, a much younger man, is also of splendid legal ability. His memory is wonderful, and the rapid strides he made to the foremost ranks of his profession whilst at the bar are almost unprecedented. On becoing presi- dent of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad he aban- doned the active practice of his profession, and it is only occasionally that he appears in court. It is only by reason of their importance to the general interests of the coal region, and in fulfillment of a promise made-to McParlan, that he takes part in these trials. He is of fine appearance and pleasant manners. He has literary tastes, and is broad and comprehensive in his views. He cross-examines witnesses with great skill, and is an eloquent and im- passioned speaker. Like Mr. Hughes, he is at home in all the courts, and very familiar with general practice. His wonderful energy, executive ability, and versatility are, it is possible, his most prominent characteristics. Although very gentlemanly in the trial of a cause, he is perhaps too quick to resent an offense where, sometimes, none may have been intended. General Albright has been already referred to. He served with distinction in the army during the war of the rebellion, and has been Congressman-at-large from the State of Pennsylvania. He isa leading lawyer in his section of the State, and is in the enjoyment of a large practice. THE YOST MURDERERS. 203, ~ He prepares a case with great skill, and understands thor- oroughly the facts and law in controversy. He is clear and methodical. He watches closely every point of his case and is ready with his authorities. In these cases he feels most deeply interested. District Attorney George R. Kaercher is a young man, but already a leading member of the Schuylkill County bar. He is in the enjoyment of a large and lucrative prac- tice in the civil courts, and will attain eminence. He takes great pride in his profession, and has a judicial cast of mind, being cool, logical, and analytical. Guy E. Farquhar is an attorney of ability, logical, ener- getic, and a sound lawyer, a rising man in his profession. He is the law-partner of Mr. Hughes. John W. Ryon, Esq., the senior counsel for the defense, is one of the able lawyers of Pennsylvania. He has had large experience in the practice of the law, has been a hard student, and has a remarkably clear, strong, logical mind. When roused, his statement of his points is as clear as pos- sible to be made, his reasoning accurate and conclusive. His practice has been extensive and varied. He is slow and deliberate in speech, but is full of wit and humor, which bursts out on the most unexpected occasions. He is a successful practitioner, but his strongest point is in the discussion of law questions arising during a trial. His combative nature sometimes arouses antagonism in the ex- amination of witnesses. Mr. Bartholomew is in some respects a most remarkable man. He is brilliant, witty, and eloquent, possessing in a high degree magnetic power of voice and manner; is a good judge of human nature, and understands the motives and hidden springs by which human conduct is governed. As a consequence he selects a jury well, exercises judgment in his offer of testimony, and cross-examines witnesses with prudence. His strong position is before the jury. By : 25* 204 FIRST TRIAL OF reason of his quick perception on questions of law he is in danger of too rapid conclusions. Mr. Kalbfus has before been referred to. He-has a fine command of language, is a good speaker, is of sanguine temperament. Like Mr. Bartholomew, his great power is before the jury. Martin M. L’Velle, Esq., of Ashland, has been engaged as counsel for Jack Kehoe and others arrested the preceding Saturday. He is at the table of the prisoners’ counsel, watching with.interest the progress of the trial. Mr. L’Velle is a young Irishman, a Protestant, a graduate of an Irish college, and of literary tastes. Although in gen- eral practice, he is much engaged in the criminal courts. McParlan, being again on the stand, gave the signs and passwords of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, which he identified in the coal regions as the ‘‘ Molly Maguires.”’ He explained the criminal nature of the organization, the systematized commission of crime, and the efforts used to © obtain the acquittal of criminals. He told of his inter- course with Kerrigan, his visits to Campbell, and the bar- gain made by means of which Yost was killed in consider- ation of the promised murder of John P. Jones. McParlan was on-the witness-stand for four days. His cross-examination was thorough and exhaustive. He told the story of his whole life, where he had been, at what he had worked, and for whom he had worked. The cross- examination recoiled on the prisoners. A large amount of testimony, rejected on his examination-in-chief, was brought out upon his cross-examination. When he told the story of his being suspected of being a detective, his demand for a trial, his escape from assassination, and his interview with Father O’ Conner, those present witnessed a scene never to be forgotten. Intense silence prevailed throughout the court-room, the only sound heard being the slow, measured words of the witness. The prisoners THE YOST MURDERERS. 295 for the first time manifested uneasiness. Even the counsel on both sides were carried away by the tale of wonder plainly but thrillingly told. The ‘‘ Mollies,’’ of whom there were many present, listened with blanched cheeks, whilst the thronging mass of humanity in the court-room . displayed an almost painful interest. That McParlan had not been as bad as he had repre- sented himself to be, his former associates could hardly credit. ** Did you not murder a man in Buffalo ?’’ was asked. *¢T never did,’’ was the reply. ** Did you not say you did ?”’ ‘¢ Yes; I also said that I passed counterfeit money, that I had obtained a pension from the United States Govern- ment to which I was not entitled, and many other things of like nature.’’ *¢ Were these things true ?”’ ‘* Not one word of truth in them.’’ “‘Then you lied when you said so ?’’ ** Most certainly I did.”’ - ‘¢ What induced you to tell these lies ?’’ **T did it because I found they liked a man who could do things of this kind and not be found out. I did it to obtain confidence.”’ The above, whilst not an exact quotation, is in substance a portion of the testimony given on cross-exdmination. The witness, under the long ordeal to which he was put, never once contradicted himself. He was telling the truth, and he told it without embellishment. During the examination, a question arose as to whether the witness should be permitted to answer a question asked by the counsel for the Commonwealth. Mr. Gowen con- tended that he should, and in the course of his argument, becoming apparently carried away by suppressed feeling, in an impassioned burst of eloquence told the story long 296 FIRST) TRIAL OF confined within his own bosom, of a ‘‘ Molly’’ candidate for Associate Judge, ‘‘ Molly’? Commissioners, ‘* Molly’’ township officers, ‘‘ Molly’’ constables. He told of a *¢Molly’’ who had been admitted to the jail as a guard over these prisoners, and of a ‘‘ Molly’’ Commissioner carrying the key of the prison in his pocket. He turned to the audience, and proclaimed the court-room full of them, and then, addressing them, warned them that the day of their power had passed, and that the avenger was on their track. The effect was electrical; up to that moment the full power of the organization had never been appreciated. Jimmy Kerrigan came upon the witness-stand. He was no longer regarded with undivided hatred: McParlan had rendered him of less importance. McParlan, at this time, never moved without being well guarded. At the same time, he was never regarded, after it was satisfactorily shown that he was a police-officer, with the same hatred that was visited upon Jimmy Kerrigan. That he would have been killed had an opportunity offered there can be no question; but it would have been done simply for the purpose of getting rid of his testimony. Kerrigan had by this time made up his mind to tell the whole truth, and not to shield himself in any particular. He is very bright and quick-witted, and understands fully that if any favor is shown him it will only be in consid- eration of his having concealed nothing. Day by day the trial progressed. The testimony cor- roborating the evidence of both McParlan and Kerrigan was overwhelming, and when the Commonwealth closed the conviction of the prisoners seemed certain. Mr. Kalbfus opened for the defense. He was denun- ciatory of both McParlan and Kerrigan, and promised tes- timony which would show an alibi so far as McGeehan and Boyle were concerned. It was not contended on the part & THE YOST MURDERERS. 297 of the Commonwealth that the others had been actually engaged in the perpetration of the murder. The alibi as suggested was being given. The most notable witness was the wife of Kerrigan, who was called to contradict her husband and to fasten the whole guilt upon him. In her testimony is given a striking’ illustration of the Irish detestation of an ‘‘informer.’’ She had been a faith- ful wife to Jimmy long after he had been committed to prison at Mauch Chunk; but now her contempt for him was open and avowed. ‘¢ When did you stop visiting your husband ?’”’ asked Mr. Gowen. ** Ever since he committed the crime, ‘¢Crime! What crime ?”’’ Mrs. Kerrigan saw her position in a moment: she hesi- tated, became embarrassed, and then answered, ‘‘ Ever since he tried to put his own guilt on innocent men.’’ But the crime that Mrs. Kerrigan meant was that of being an informer. He had been drunken and quarrel- some, and she had loved him. He was ‘now an informer, and he had committed a ‘‘ crime ;’’ he was an outcast, and she turned against him.* When James McKenna She attention to Miss Mary Ann Hegins, he was a reputed passer of counterfeit money, without visible means of support, of more than question- able record, and known as a desperate character. She was rather an object of envy among her companions. When James McKenna proved to be James McParlan, an honest, respectable man, a detective by profession, the girls laughed and jeered at Mary Ann for having an ‘‘informer’’ for a beau. »? was the answer. * Mrs. Kerrigan has since relented. She has been with her children to see her husband, and a reconciliation has taken place, n* 298° “MOLLY PLOTS. On the 18th of May the testimony on the part of the defense was nearly closed, and a speedy termination of the trial was hoped for. Just after court opened, it was an- nounced that one of the jurors—Mr. Levi Stein, of Pine Grove—was ill, and not in condition to remain in court. In hope of his speedy recovery, the jury was kept together until the 23d of the month, when Mr. Stein died. This sad event of course rendered it necessary to discharge the jury, and the case went over. Notwithstanding the fact that no verdict had been ob- tained, what is known as *‘ the first Yost trial’’ will long be remembered in Schuylkill County as more important in its general effects than any case ever before tried there. It is true that no verdict had been rendered, but the full nature of ‘* Molly’’ crimes was now understood, the members of the nefarious organization were known, and their convic- tion had become possible. CALACP THOR = Xex elle MOLLY PLOTS—TRIAL OF ALEC CAMPBELL—TRIAL OF THOMAS MUNLEY—SECOND TRIAL OF THE YOST MURDERERS. THE intense anxiety prevailing among the better class of citizens throughout the coal regions reached its culmi- nating point during the trial of the Yost murderers at Pottsville. Great interest thereafter down to the present time has been manifested, as the history of the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’ has more fully developed; but the fear which had been entertained that crime would remain undetected and criminals escape punishment has given way to a feeling that the power of the law would be maintained there as in MOLLY PLOTS. 299 other sections of the country, and that the destruction of an organized band of murderers was assured. The fact that Carroll, Roarity, and Duffy; although not present at the actual assassination of Yost, might still be guilty of ‘* murder in the first degree,’’ was then first gen- erally understood, and satisfaction was openly expressed that the deeper and more hardened villain who laid the hellish plan could receive the same punishment as the oftentimes less guilty instrument executing it. To the ‘* Mollies’’ themselves this knowledge was a matter of deep consternation, mingled with surprise and incredulity, and the approaching trial of Alexander Camp- * bell, at Mauch Chunk, was looked forward to with great anxiety. It was not contended in his case that he had been actually present at the murder of John P. Jones. Nevertheless, the arrest of Jack Kehoe and others at an early stage of the Yost trial, and still other arrests rapidly following, created intense alarm among them. Crime had been discussed, sympathized with, and perpetrated within their own knowledge, and to aid and abet the escape of a criminal had been by them regarded as a most virtuous action. Many were conscious of the extent to which they were themselves implicated, and lived in con- tinual dread of arrest. Numbers, under the influence of fear, left the anthracite coal regions, it is hoped forever. A general feeling of uneasiness pervaded the whole organs ization.* It was no longer a question as to whether the organiza- tion should retain power and position; the arrogant, con- fident feeling had passed away, and the appalling question remained, ‘‘ Who among us is safe?’’ The leaders of the # Even under these circumstances the Irishman could not resist a jeke, ** And whin shall I see you again ?’’ asked one son of the Emerald Isle of another, on a street corner in Pottsville, one evening about this time. “On Monday next, me mon, if I’m not thin in jail,” was the answer. 300 | _ MOLLY PLOTS. » Wiring order throughout Schuylkill and Carbon Counties were being arrested or were fugitives from justice. That in this condition of affairs, driven as they were to the wall, desperate means of relief should suggest them- selves is but natural. The women in sympathy with the organization were the last to realize that its power was on the wane, and by their voices and influence they counseled active, bitter resistance. In Carbon County General Al- bright* was regarded with special dread, whilst in Schuyl- kill the destruction of Messrs. Gowen, Hughes, and District Attorney Kaercher was discussed. ‘They were regarded as their great enemies, and they falsely assumed that, these gentlemen disposed of, they could have more assurance of safety. That they had no conception of the fearful retri- bution which would have followed the destruction of any one engaged in the enforcement of the law is not surprising. They reason from their own feelings, prejudices, and de- sires, and they had not then, they never had, and with all their-experience up to this time they have not now, a con- ception of the intense detestation with which their crimes are regarded. The reason of this is obvious: they have not themselves any adequate conception of the fearful, terrible nature of their brutality. 3 During the Yost trial and afterwards several plans were * In Carbon County a plan for the rescue of Doyle and Kelly and the capture of Kerrigan had been matured. Two members of the order were to be brought to Mauch Chunk from Pittsburg. They were to watch General Albright, to form his acquaintance on pretense of business, and to arrange an evening interview with him in his office. He was to be de- tained there by force until after midnight, when it was supposed that under the influence of threats he could be induced to procure them admission into the prison. ‘The general and the jailer were then to be murdered and the prisoners released. ‘The arrest of the Yost murderers and Alec Camp- bell, charged also with the murder of Jones, disarranged the plan. As the details of the matter were understood at the time, the conspirators had no chance whatever of success. : at? MOLLY PLOTS. 301 discussed among them, in one of which the destruction of all who might happen to be in the court-house was involved. Difficulties as to its practical execution, however, pre- vented any serious efforts in that direction. Besides, in its execution, the lives of some of their own number would have been necessarily forfeited. The chief object of their fear was, however, Mr. Gowen, the president of the Reading Railroad Company. It is not to be supposed that he was regarded with any personal dislike. There is among no other class of people a more thorough recognition of the position of the opposite coun- sel, and of the distinction between his official position as an attorney and his acts as a private individual. No people better understand the difference between McParlan, the police-officer and detective, and Kerrigan, the ‘‘ informer.”’ They recognized in-Mr. Gowen the attorney against them, rather than the president of the Reading Coal and Iron Company. But it was not a question of personal like or dislike: the attorneys were against them, and inflicting fearful blows, -and Mr. Gowen wielded the full power of a great corpora- tion. For their own personal safety they desired him out of the way, and that to do so they would have to destroy life was, in their view, immaterial. The apparent indifference of nearly all the prisoners excited surprise, and a belief has been entertained that news of an intended rescue had been given them; and this seems probable. One plan discussed among the. ‘‘ Mol- lies,’’ the full details of which are known, embraced not only the breaking in of the jail, but also the destruction of the town of Pottsville, and, if necessary, the murder of many of its inhabitants. In the fact that it is known that such schemes are contemplated may exist the safe- - guard against their perpetration. It must be borne in mind, however, that whilst in past experience almost numberless 26 302 TRIAL OF ALEC CAMPBELL. : crimes have been committed, far more have been the sub- ject of mereidle talk. On the 2oth of June, 1876, the trial of Alexander Camp- bell for the murder of John P. Jones was commenced at Mauch Chunk. The counsel appearing for the Commonwealth were Dis- trict Attorney Siewers, Messrs. Hughes, Albright, and Craig; and for the defense, Messrs. E. T. Fox, Esq., of Easton, Daniel Kalbfus and Edward Mulhearn, Esqs. This case was regarded as of the greatest importance both by the Commonwealth and by the defense. Camp- bell was one of the most influential men in the order, and - regarded as specially dangerous. He had planned, had ~~ aided and assisted, but had not executed the murder. He was known to have been for years the instigator of the horrors'by means of which Carbon County had been held in terror, and his conviction was felt to be justly due. It was also felt that his conviction would be most salutary in convincing the desperadoes of. the region that the ac- cessory before the fact, in the case of murder, could be held as ‘‘ guilty in the first degree.”’ The ‘‘ Mollies’’ had attempted to rally their forces since the close of the first Yost trial, and a determined effort was intended to be made to break down McParlan’s tes- timony if possible. As usual, they had no difficulty in obtaining witnesses. The murder of Jones was proven, as in former cases, to have been committed by Doyle and Kelly. The whole history of the transaction, including the bar- gain in consideration of which John P. Jones was assas- ° sinated in exchange for the murder of policeman Yost, - was. given in- evidence by McParlan and Kerrigan. A most gallant contest was made by E. T. Fox, Esq., who has justly the reputation of a leading lawyer in the Lehigh Valley, supported by Mr. Kalbfus. “t.». : XX € TRIAL OF ALEC CAMPBELL. 303 Witness after witness was called, among whom was John J. Slattery, in contradiction of the deteetive and the ‘‘ in- former ;’’ but unfortunately for the prisoner, and unfor- tunately for the witnesses themselves, they broke down, as was to be expected, under able and well-directed cross- examination. Not only was James McParlan, the police-_ officer and honest man, sustained, but also James Kerrigan, the self-convicted murderer. And for the same reason: they both told the truth. When the Commonwealth closed their testimony, the conviction of the prisoners was prob- able. When the testimony for the defense was all in, it was absolutely certain. During the trial the court-room was, as usual in these cases, crowded. One of the most notable scenes occurred in argument on the admission of Kerrigan as a witness. Mr. Fox objected to his testimony on the ground that he was an accomplice, and that its admission was discretionary with the court. In arguing that, in this case, the court should exercise its discretion against such admission, he took occasion to denounce Jimmy in most unmeasured terms, and spoke of the wrong that would be done to | society in convicting any one upon such evidence. Mr. Hughes, in the first instance, discussed the legal proposi- tion, and then, in a burst of thrilling eloquence, portrayed the wrongs done to society by Campbeli, who was a leader among leaders and a chief among chieftains, and by his criminal associates; he spoke of the ‘ Molly’’ reigning with brutal and unhallowed power in the past, and of the’ doom that was upon him in the present; how, by his foul crimes, society had been disorganized, homes rendered desolate, and the widow and orphan thrown bi ais. a: on the world. The testimony of Kerrigan was admitted by yds Dreher upon the legal proposition and in the exercise of his discretion. 304 TRIAL OF THOMAS MUNLEY. On the tst of July the jury returned a verdict of ‘‘ guilty of murder in the first degree’’ against Alexander Campbell, — the third conviction of this kind in the coal regions, and all of them in Carbon County. Shortly after this trial a number of witnesses for the de- fense were arrested and bound over to answer the charge of perjury. In the mean time, on the 27th of June, at Pottsville, the case of the Commonwealth vs. Thomas Munley and Charles McAllister was announced for trial before his Honor Judge Green. Charles McAllister, one of the defendants, demanded a separate trial, and District Attorney Kaercher elected to first try Thomas Munley. The case opened with District Attorney Kaercher, F. B. Gowen, and Guy E. Farquhar, Esqs., for the Common- wealth, and Messrs. Ryon, Bartholomew, L’Velle, and S. A. Garrett, Esqs., for the defense. Upon the conclusion of the Campbell trial at Mauch Chunk, Messrs. Hughes and Albright also appeared for the Commonwealth. ‘The prisoner was charged in-the indictment with the murder of Thomas Sanger at Raven’s Run on the preceding 1st of Septembers It will be remembered that Thomas Sanger was, together with William Uren, murdered by Friday O’Donnell and Thomas Munley, whilst Charles O’Donnell, McAllister, and Doyle were at the same time firing at the crowd and preventing interference. ‘There were nearly one hundred men assembled at Raven’s Run, and yet, strange to say, of all the workmen there assembled, not one could be found who could identify Thomas Munley as having been there that morning, though there were none who would swear that he was not present and committed the act. They had seen five men there, but their faces were hidden under their hats, and their coats drawn up; they were bewildered ; the > TRIAL OF THOMAS MUNLEY. 305 action of the tragedy had been too rapid. Robert Heaton, one of the proprietors of the colliery, who had rushed from his porch and exchanged shots with the fugitives, was alone able to swear positively to the identity of the prisoner. The defense was an “ alibi.’’ McParlan, it is true, swore positively to the confessions of Munley, made at Muff Lawler’s tavern at Shenandoah, on the morning of the murder, and directly after its perpe- tration, but ground for his contradiction was laid by the defendant’s attorneys in his cross-examination. Hope was entertained that by means of the number of witnesses to be produced, showing Munley’s presence elsewhere at the time of the murder at Raven’s Run, a question might be made as to whether Mr. Heaton was not mistaken, and such a reasonable doubt established as would acquit the prisoner. But the ill success attending the attack upon McParlan at Mauch Chunk was discouraging ; and whilst the attempt, to contradict him was not wholly abandoned, many of the points made at Mauch Chunk were not pressed. The Commonwealth, moreover, unexpectedly obtained two witnesses that had not been calculated upon. A Mrs. Williams, who lived at Raven’s Run at the time of the murder of Sanger and Uren, impelled by curiosity, visited the court-room during the progress of the trial. From the place where she was sitting in the room she had a side view of the prisoner’s face; she recognized it at once. She was in her house with her son, a mere lad, on the morning of the murder. Hearing the noise outside, the boy ran to the door, and the mother, anxious for his safety, followed him to draw him back. The door was opened, and just at that moment a man passed with a pistol in his hand, and his side face towards het. The view she had was but for an instant, but an impression was made never to be forgotten. That face was printed on her brain. It was the face of Thomas Munley, the prisoner at 26* 306 TRIAL OF THOMAS MUNLEY. the bar, she told a friend sitting by her side. Quickly was Captain Linden in possession of the fact. Quickly. was it known at the counsel-table of the prosecution; and before Mrs. Williams fairly comprehended her position she was on the witness-stand and had told her story. The Commonwealth had closed their case, the defense had opened and were offering their testimony, when Cap- tain Linden unexpectedly discovered another witness able to identify Munley. A young girl named Belinda Bickel- man, a sister of Mrs. Weevil, into whose house, it will be remembered, Sanger ran after being shot, was present at the time, but, keeping herself in the background, had es- caped attention. She had no previous acquaintance with Munley, but had recognized him as soon as she saw him in court as the stranger she had seen with a pistol on the morning of the assassination. She had applied to Cap- tain Linden for permission to return home, when in con- versation with her he learned that she too could identify the prisoner. Application was at once made to the court, and, under the circumstances, Judge Green permitted the testimony to be given.* The father and brother of the prisoner were seated by his side. It being understood that they were to be ex- amined as witnesses, the one was requested to withdraw during the examination of the other. On the main fact, that Thomas Munley was in his own house at the time of the murder, they agreed, but in other respects their contradictions were flagrant. A sister of the prisoner testified to the fact that he-was at home that morn- ing. A Mrs. Hyland also testified to meeting him in his own house at a time which; if she told the truth, would have rendered his commission of the crime charged im- De i NNO * Prior to this, the testimony of either of these witnesses, it is probable, would have been difficult to obtain, Even at this time Mrs, Williams was the object of threats and alarmed for her safety. TRIAL OF THOMAS MUNLEY. 307 possible. The case was ably argued to the jury by Messrs. _Kaercher and Gowen for the Commonwealth, and Bar- tholomew and Ryon for the defense. The argument of Mr. Gowen was an arraignment of the ‘© Molly Maguire’’ organization. It has been published and extensively circulated. The case was fairly and impartially presented to the jury by his Honor Judge Green. On the rath of July the jury rendered a verdict of ‘‘ guilty of murder in the first degree’’ against Thomas Munley, the first verdict of that kind in Schuylkill County against a ‘Molly Maguire,’’ and the fourth in the anthracite coal region. It was discovered through the examination of McParlan in this case that Charles McAllister, under arrest and in- dicted for’the murder of Sanger and Uren, was innocent of active participation in that offense. It was James McAllister, the brother of the prisoner, who was present at Raven’s Run with Munley, the O’Donnells, and Doyle. James McAllister is a fugitive from justice. The prosecution of Charles McAllister for the murder of Sanger and Uren has not been pushed, but he has since been tried and convicted for the attempted assas- sination of James Riles, of Shenandoah. It is said to have been arranged by the ‘‘ Mollies’’ that Mr. Gowen should be shot in the court-room during the progress of thistrial. The perpetrator of the act was to be protected, and his escape effected, by a number of armed men who accompanied him. At the time appointed, how- ever, a member of the organization was sitting in sucha position that his life would have been endangered by any shot fired at Mr. Gowen. To have executed this plan would have been such utter madness that it is more than probable that it would not under any circumstances have been attempted. « 308 SECOND TRIAL OF On the 6th and 7th of July, and before the conclusion of the Munley case, a jury was impaneled in the case of the Commonwealth vs. Carroll, Roarity, McGeehan, and Boyle. Thomas Duffy demanded a separate trial. ‘The case was tried before his Honor Judge Pershing. The counsel for the Commonwealth and for the defense . were the same as had been employed in the Munley case. An application for a change of venue was made and refused. . The reason that the jury was impaneled at this time was that no jury had been summoned for the following week, and, owing to pressure of business, the District Attorney was anxious to dispose of this case.during the term. The trial began on the 13th of July-” “The evidence, with but immaterial exceptions, was the same as that ad- duced in the first Yost trial. Mrs. Kerrie, however, did not appear upon the witness-stand. It is stated that even before the conclusion of the first trial she had re- pented, and had determined to come upon the stand and tell the truth. Certain witnesses also who had consented to perjure themselves in order to establish an ‘‘alibi’’ for McGeehan, influenced either by fear or by a higher motive, refused to fulfill their promise. The ‘‘alibi’’ of Boyle was made out as in former trials. But, independently of the testimony of McParlan and Kerrigan, in material points corroborated by other wit- nesses, the evidence of Robert Breslin was utterly at variance with the ‘‘alibi’’ set up for McGeehan and Boyle. It will be remembered that Breslin met these two men a little after four o’clock on the morning of the 6th of July, and that they told him they were returning from a ball at. Mauch Chunk. It was shown that this was on the road to Tamaqua, and testimony was given to prove that there had been no ball or party the preceding night at Mauch Chunk. The effort to impeach the testimony of McParlan was S THE YOST MURDERERS. 309 not yet abandoned. His cross-examination was thorough, but notwithstanding he had now been examined at great length in the three trials preceding, and in a number of | ‘‘ habeas corpus’’ hearings, no material contradiction in any portion of the testimony he had given could be dis- covered. ‘The conclusion was being unwillingly arrived at that he was impregnable. The speeches of the counsel in this as in preceding cases were earnest and able. The speeches of Messrs. Hughes and Albright have been published in pamphlet form, ang have had a wide circulation. On Saturday evening, July 22, the jury retired, after listening to the able, well-prepared, and impartial charge of his Honor Judge Peétshing. At about eleven o’clock that night the jury brought in a verdict omgeuty of murder in the first degree’’ against all the defendants. The scene was a startling one. Notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, and the fact that the court-house is situated some distance from the centre of the town, a few moments after the ringing of the bell the room was thronged to its utmost capacity. Judge Pershing took his seat upon the bench. ‘The prisoners were brought in hand- cuffed. Their wives and relatives took seats beside them. The jury then entered the box. The verdict was rendered. The counsel for the defendants asked that the jury might be polled, and then each juror, separately as to each pris- oner, declared the verdict, ‘‘ Guilty of murder in the first degree.”’ The ceremony occupied nearly half an hour. There were but few there assembled who did not feel the solemnity of the scene, and yet the prisoners sat, with their wives beside them,—evidently by preconcerted arrangement,— all seemingly careless and unmoved. ‘The mental strain upon them all during that hour must have been terrible. — 310 THE CONSPIRACY CASES, The wail of mortal agony wrung from those poor women, when the eyes of the curious crowd were removed, must have been heart-rending. CLEGACE Te RS ae THE CONSPIRACY CASES—TRIAL OF DUFFY. WHEN the jury brought in a verdict of ‘‘ murder in the first degree’’ against Carroll, Roarity, McGeehan, and Boyle, the battle against the ‘‘Molly Maguires’’ as an organization had been fought and the victory had been won. Although a united effort for the defense was made in the conspiracy cases against John Kehoe*and others, it was entered into with little reasonable hope of success. Since that time the fight has been spasmodic,—earnest sometimes, in the hope of clearing the individual charged with crime, but with no expectation of saving the asso- ciation from its just doom. That McParlan was telling the truth was now generally admitted by all classes of the community. Very few even of known ‘‘ Mollies’’ longer denied it. He was recognized not only as a truthful witness, but as a fair, cautious, un- prejudiced one; appreciating, if not to an unusual at least to the full extent,.the sanctity of an oath. This conclusion had been produced, in a very great de- gree, by the internal evidence of the truth of his state- . ments. That such a state of the public mind was a high compliment to McParlan is unquestionable; that he should himself be gratified at strong corroborative evidence, soon offered, is but natural. The prisoners convicted of the murder of policeman Yost entered a motion for a new trial, which was argued THE CONSPIRACY CASES. 311 and refused. They were sentenced by the court to un- dergo the extreme penalty of the law. Death-warrants were issued against them, and also against Thomas Munley, convicted and sentenced for the murder of Thomas Sanger. Writs of error have been issued in behalf of each pris- oner, which have for the time being acted as a supersedeas. The cases have not as yet been heard by the Supreme Court. That perjury is a crime, punishable by law, and that danger of the enforcement of the law existed, the arrests of witnesses in Carbon County, testifying in the case of Alexander Campbell, and in the trials of Munley and the murderers of Yost, in Schuylkill County, now rendered evident. The ‘‘ Mollies’’ found themselves beaten at all points. . At the time of the verdict against Carroll and others, arrests had been made of men charged with the murder of F. W. Langdon, committed over fourteen years ago. Yel- low Jack Donahue was in prison. Dennis F. Canning, the County Delegate of Northumberland, had been arrested. John Gibbons, John Morris, John J. Slattery, Charles Mul- hearn, John Stanton, Michael Doolan, Edward Monaghan, and others, in addition to those before noted, were await- ing trial. It was known as to those implicated in ‘* Molly’”’ crimes and not arrested, that the officers of justice were on their track, and that death alone would save them. Sooner or later they would be called upon to answer at the bar of outraged justice for their crimes. On the 8th of August, 1876, at Pottsville, before his Honor Judge Walker, District Attorney Kaercher called for trial the case of the Commonwealth against John Kehoe, Michael O’Brien, Christopher Donnelly, John Donahue alias. Yellow Jack, James Roarity, Dennis F. Canning, ? S12? THE CONSPIRACY CASES, Frank McHugh, John Gibbons, John Morris, Thomas Hurley, and Michael Doyle, charged with assault and bat- tery with intent to kill William M. Thomas. All of the accused were produced in custody except Hurley and Doyle. : District Attorney Kaercher, F. W. Hughes, F. B. Gowen, Charles Albright, and Guy E. Farquhar, Esqs., appeared for the Commonwealth, and Hon. James Ryon and Martin M. L’Velle-and S. A. Garrett, Esqs., for the defendants. Mr. Farquhar opened the case, giving a clear and lucid statement of the facts to be proven. . The case was a very interesting one. McParlan was on the stand, and exam- ined at great length. His history of the organization and its character, his own experience and adventures, were given perhaps at greater length and with more detail than in any of the preceding trials, with the exception perhaps of the first trial of the Yost murderers. ” The full details of the convention held in Mahanoy City on'the rst of July of the preceding year were given, and the, division meeting held in Shenandoah, called for the purpose of selecting the party to execute the ‘‘job,’’ was also described. Testimony as to the details in the preparation of the assault was given. Young Frank McHugh, one of the prisoners, was called to the stand, and testified to the meeting in Mahanoy City, completely corroborating McParlan. McHugh was the first of the prisoners, after Kerrigan, to make public confession. A result had now been attained which for some time had been expected. “As the fortunes of the ‘‘ Molly’”’ organ- ization became desperate, a very general desire to turn estate’s evidence manifested itself among the prisoners. A serious question for the Commonwealth now was as to how far it could avail itself of that evidence under any implied obligation which the use of such testimony would seem . Sty ey * THE CONSPIRACY CASES. 313 to create. McHugh was a mere boy, and the least guilty of any of those charged with the crime. He had been under the influence of Mike O’Brien, but, it was believed, was not yet wholly corrupted. In this case the printed constitution and by-laws of the Ancient Order of Hibernians were given in evidence. There is nothing in this constitution or by-laws to indicate any criminality in the organization. It is manifest fi. the evidence given in the several trials that the avowy principles of the order are used as a cloak to cover its criminality: they ‘Stole the livery of the court of heaven To serve the devil in.” The argument was made to the jury on the part of the Commonwealth by F. B. Gowen and George R. Kaercher, Esqs., and on the: part of the defense Dae M. M. L’Velle and Hon. James Ryon. On Saturday, the r2th of August, the case was sibimithed to the jury, under the charge of his Honor Judge Walker. * The verdict rendered was ‘‘ guilty’’ as to all the defendants | * in custody, with a recommendation to the court of mercy in the case of Frank McHugh. On the following Monday, his Honor Judge Green pre- siding, District Attorney Kaercher called the case of the Commonwealth against John Kehoe, Christopher Don- nelly, Dennis F. Canning, Michael O’Brien, Frank Mc- Hugh, John Donahue, and James Roarity, charged with conspiracy to murder William and Jesse Major. The same counsel appeared as in the case tried the week immediately preceding. . * A full report of the testimony, arguments of counsel, and charge of court has been published under the supervision of R. A. West, Esq., by whom the same was stenographically reported, and to whom the writer takes this occasion to make acknowledgments for repeated courtesies. The report has been extensively circulated, and forms an interesting volume. Og 27 314 THE CONSPIRACY. CASES, A special plea was entered in behalf of the prisoners, to which issue was joined, that they had been. already con- victed of the offense charged, by the verdict of ‘‘ guilty’? — rendered by the jury in the case for assault and battery with intent to kill William M- Thomas; that the conspir- acy entered into at Mahanoy City on the 1st of June 1875, to kill the Majors was one and the same transaction as the conspiracy to kill Thomas, and inseparable from it ; that as the latter had merged in the actual assault and battery, no right of action for conspiracy existed. The question as to whether the prisoners had already been tried for the offense charged was submitted as a ques- tion of fact to the jury, under the charge of Judge Green, who instructed them that the mere fact that these prisoners came together, and at the same meeting entered into a . conspiracy not only to kill one person, but to kill more, _ did not necessarily constitute a single conspiracy. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of the Common- wealth. The prisoners entered the plea of ‘‘not guilty,”’ anda jury was called and sworn to try the question of their guilt or innocence. The testimony was in many particulars the same as given in the preceding trial. The story of the meeting on Sun- day at Tuscarora was told by Kerrigan; the shooting at ~ the mark; the selection of the party to do the ‘fjob;” the offer of Slattery to pay five dollars to any man to take his place; the interest manifested by Yellow Jack Dona- hue, Michael Doolan, and Charles Mulhearn; the details of which have been given in a previous chapter. On the 16th of August the case was submitted to the jury, who rendered a verdict of ‘ guilty’? against all the” defendants. 3 a The same day District Attorney Kaercher called the — case of the Commonwealth against James Roarity, Chris- topher Donnelly, John Donahue, Michael O’ Brien, Patrick Pat ae athe ee ae THE CONSPIRACY CASES. 315 Dolan, Sr., and Patrick Butler, charged with aiding and assisting to reward Thomas Hurley for the murder of Gomer James, the counsel on both sides being the same as in the two preceding cases. The interest excited by this case can readily be im- agined. The full story, the particulars of which are already known to the reader, of the convention held on the 25th of August, 1875, at the house of James Carroll, in Tama- qua, was given in evidence. By reason of the strange developments before made as to the open character and free discussion of many of the crimes perpetrated under sanction of this order, it would be imagined that nothing could occasion surprise. But the history of this day is almost beyond belief. That in broad daylight men from all sections of Schuylkill County should openly attend a meeting held at a tavern on the main street of a populous town, and without one dissenting voice, after open discus- sion among themselves, agree to reward the perpetrator of a brutal, cowardly, aimless murder, is in itself almost in- credible. But when, beyond this, it conclusively appeared that another person, jealous of the honor and reward claimed, should falsely assert himself to be the perpe- trator of this dark crime, and that a committee should be appointed to decide the question and report, it was felt that a depth of brutality and debasement had been reached by a large body of men possessing influence, and met in daily association, which even the long record of horrid crimes and ghastly murders could scarcely explain. But the evidence of McParlan, given in plain, simple words, without any attempt at embellishment, has since been corroborated to such an extent that the possibility of a doubt of its truth no longer exists. On this trial James Kerrigan told his knowledge and his part in that day’s proceedings, and now the evidence of another actor in that scene was also added. 316 TRIAL’ OF DUPEY, Patrick Butler, body-master of Lost Creek, who, it will be remembered, was appointed with McKenna to examine into the respective claims of Hurley and McClain to the reward for the murder of Gomer James, was called to the stand on the part of the defense. Unexpectedly to most persons present, he told the truth; he corroborated Mc- Parlan to the fullest extent, and, more than this, he told of other terrible deeds perpetrated or in contemplation. There was no longer in the mind of even the most preju- diced any doubt of the entire truth of McParlan’s state- ments. The day of sneers and innuendoes as to a paid ‘spy’? and ‘‘informer,’’ who, for selfish purposes, mag- nified the knowledge he had obtained, had passed forever. On the 2oth of August the jury rendered a verdict against all the prisoners of ‘‘ guilty’’ in manner and form as they stood indicted. The time fixed for the trial of Thomas Duffy for the murder of policeman Yost was approaching. Duffy had made no confession of his participation in the crime to McParlan. The defense persuaded itself that there could be no testimony of the guilt of the prisoner apart from the evidence of Kerrigan. That they would be able to con- tradict Kerrigan in such material points as to render him unworthy of belief they felt sanguine. The case was prepared with great care. Patrick Duffy, the brother of the prisoner, had since his arrest devoted all his energies to accomplish his acquittal. He had been at work night and day. During the first Yost trial, by his wonderful energy he assumed the main part of the vast labor necessarily required by the attorneys in its preparation’and during the trial. On his brother’s account he had been just as active during the trial of Carroll and others. Now was coming the struggle, in which his whole interest was centred, and the hope expressed by the attor- neys redoubled his efforts. TRIAL OF DUFFY. 317 The case was called before his Honor Judge Walker, at Pottsville, on the 6th of September, 1876. District Attorney Kaercher, and Messrs. Hughes, Al- bright, and Guy E. Farquhar, appeared for the Common- wealth, and Messrs. Ryon and Bartholomew for the de- fense. The contest made on the part of the defense in this trial was earnest and even bitter. The energy and ability of the learned counsel for the defense were fully engaged in the struggle. Nothing was overlooked,—the case was fought inch by inch. But, notwithstanding their efforts, the same evidence, with immaterial exceptions, was pre- sented to the jury as in the former trials of the prisoners charged with the Yost murder. The whole story was told. Kerrigan as a witness sustained himself well. It was claimed by the defense that he was contradicted on material points, and on the part of the Commonwealth that his testimony was entirely reliable. With the cor- roborative testimony offered he was sustained by the jury. The testimony produced in all the cases is strongly con- firmatory of Kerrigan’s truthfulness.. His own statements bear internal evidence of their general correctness. He- has been corroborated to a wonderful extent in very many material points. Unprincipled and wicked as he most cer- tainly has been, there can be little doubt that he has made up his mind to conceal nothing, as against either himself or any one else. He appreciates that in that one line of conduct is his one hope for safety. . But he is very bright, quick in motion and quick in intellect,—a very rapid talker, anticipating the question before it is fully asked. His answer is on the instant, and the utmost skill of the stenographer is taxed in reporting him, entire ac- curacy being next to impossible. That he should exercise caution and care to the extent observed by McParlan is not to be expected. The two men are actuated by entirely 27* 318 TRIAL OF DUFFY. different principles. _McParlan appreciates the sanctity of an oath. Kerrigan’s past life would not indicate respect for anything ; but he tells the truth because he conceives it to be his interest to do so. The case was concluded on the 2oth of September, 1876. The arguments of counsel were carefully prepared, and, as in the preceding cases, exceedingly able. In the ‘‘ Molly’”’ trials preceding the present, Messrs. Ryon and Bartholomew had made able and probably their best efforts in the case of Thomas Munley, charged with the murder of Thomas Sanger. In that case, too, in the concluding argument, Mr. Gowen’s speech had been im- passioned, eloquent, and of great literary merit. It was an arraignment of the ‘‘ Molly’’ organization, and, delivered by the president of the Reading Railroad Company, com- manding its power and resources, its effect on the public mind, which under any circumstances would have been great, was increased. General Albright’s argument in the case of Carroll and others, charged with the murder of Yost, was an elaborate and telling speech, whilst Mr. Hughes, generally ingenious and convincing, had prior to this time made his best effort in argument at the trial of Alexander Campbell at Mauch Chunk. In this case the speech of Mr. Hughes, who opened in the concluding arguments before the jury, was both in conception and delivery a masterpiece. He endeavored to show the jury that the testimony, independent of Ker- rigan, would justify a verdict against the prisoner; that Ses s testimony alone would demand it, that Ker- rigan’s testimony as corroborated would compel it. As evidence was reviewed and connected which, scattered through the case, had excited but little attention, the con- viction was forced that such corroboration of Kerrigan had been given as to place his evidence beyond doubt. TRIAL OF DUFFY. 319 Mr. Hughes, in treating the testimony of Kerrigan, con- tended that it bore internal evidence of truth, and in illus- tration related an anecdote in his own experience, which, as it illustrates what has been heretofore contended for, it may not be inappropriate to relate. ‘‘ Many years ago,’’ said he, ‘‘the late John Bannan, Esq., and myself were engaged in the defense of Daniel Edwards, charged with the murder of James Richards. We both knew Edwards well, and were both satisfied of his innocence of the crime charged. A witness was, however, produced who testified that he had been present at the time of the difficulty, that Edwards had incited a quarrel, and with premeditation in- flicted the fatal blow. Both Mr. Bannan and myself knew the witness was testifying falsely, that he was a bitter enemy of Daniel Edwards, and that he was extremely shrewd ; but we knew further that no perjured witness could sustain himself against a patient, well-directed, careful cross-exam- ination. But this witness seemed invulnerable. His story was a short one, containing but few facts, and to those he clung with great tenacity. He was two days on the wit- ness-stand, arid no impression on his testimony had been made, when, after he had fully committed himself, the question was asked, ‘ You stated, did you not, that you were standing very near by when this occurrence took place?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘You also stated that you were a friend of Edwards and of Richards?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Then, if you were in such position and a friend of both Edwards and Richards, why is it that you did not interfere in order to prevent the murder of one friend and the sin and _ punish- ment of the other?’ For the first time the witness faltered. The weak point had been found at last. From that moment he broke down. Within twenty minutes of that time he was off the witness-stand, but within that time court, jury, and all present were convinced that he had been lying. Edwards was triumphantly acquitted.”’ 320 TRIAL OF- DUFFY. In this case Mr. Bartholomew perhaps made his best effort. He was deeply interested and anxious for an ac- quittal. He argued that Kerrigan had contradicted him- self on material points and was not worthy of credit. All his ingenuity, his magnetism of voice and manner, were fully enlisted. Mr. Ryon was roused to his utmost depths and was in- tensely earnest. He appeared convinced of the innocence of his client and that Kerrigan was with fiendish malice endeavoring to swear away his life. Mr. Ryon has powers of invective, and those powers were exercised that day on Kerrigan. District Attorney Kaercher had the concluding argu- ment. Cool, calm, and logical, if the jury had for a moment been shaken by the powerful appeals made to them, their doubts were brushed away by a clear and suc- cinct answer to all questions raised and fresh review of the facts in evidence bearing upon the guilt of the prisoner. The prisoner’s counsel had prepared, with much skill, a number of points of law upon which they asked the court to instruct the jury. Great ingenuity had been displayed in this matter. As arule, the correct principle of law was stated, but in such a manner that the facts of the case would ‘hardly warrant the application intended. His Honor Judge Walker answered most of the points in the affir- mative, and his charge, carefully prepared and well con- sidered, was regarded as favorable to the prisoner. The case had extended into the night, when the charge of the court was given to the jury. The next morning the jury brought in their verdict, and the prisoner was found ‘‘ guilty of murder in the first degree.’’ The friends of Duffy were determined, if possible, to secure his safety. An important witness for the Common- — wealth, who was to have been called in rebuttal, disap- - . TRIAL OF DUFFY. _ 32t peared just before he was needed. It was shown that when last seen he was in company with Duffy, the brother of the prisoner, and with policeman McCarron. His where- abouts could not be discovered. The circumstance excited much comment. A conspiracy for the rescue of Duffy is said to have been planned the night the charge of the court was delivered. A way had been found by which entrance could be made into the cellar of the court-house. It was arranged that two men should go into the cellar, and to the point where the gas-meter was fixed. Ata given signal the gas was to be turned off. ‘The prisoner, who under- stood the plot, was to. spring forward at the moment the gas was extinguished, whilst friends stationed near by were to occupy his place. In the confusion and darkness his escape was to be effected. The charge of the court was, however, deemed so favorable to the prisoner that this pro- ject was abandoned, and the chance of his acquittal by the jury wasrisked. It is very doubtful whether the plan would have succeeded. Captain Linden had heard of attempts of that kind during night-sessions of courts, and as a con- sequence he was himself, with other officers of the law, so stationed that in the event of the slightest disturbance the prisoner would at once have been seized and removed. If the plan had been pursued, the scene that might have occurred cannot be thought of without a shudder. That large crowd left in total darkness—uncertain of what was intended, panic-stricken—in the room at midnight; the officers of the law anxious to retain the prisoner; the friends desperate, determined to effect his escape; the screams of the women, the rush for the doors, the use of the dirk, and the report of the pistol; friend and foe-not recognizing each other in the madness of fright ; men and women trampled under foot, mangled, and the life crushed out! Imagination alone can paint the horrors of sucha scene. o* 322 IRIALS OF *#MOLLRILSF: ACPA ae oe TRIALS OF “MOLLIES’—THE SHEET-IRON GANG—JACKSON’S PATCH—WHOLESALE CONFESSIONS—SENTENCES., IMMEDIATELY after the Duffy trial, and during the Sep- ~ tember term, 1876, ‘‘ Molly Maguire’ cases were disposed of with great rapidity in Schuylkill County. The power of . the organization was entirely broken. The prisoners were forced to depend on private resources, and in a number of instances counsel for the defense were appointed by the court. It is but justice to such counsel to state that they were, and at the time of this writing are, as earnest and conscientious in the discharge of their duties as if they were the recipients of large fees. Mason Weidman, J. M. Healey, Charles N. Brumm, Samuel A. Garrett, Hon. Myer Strouse, and W. J. White- house, Esqs., of the Schuylkill bar, have been called upon in important cases by the court, and freely and willingly accorded their services. James Duffy, Barney N. Boyle,-Kate Boyle, and Mrs. Bridget Hyland were respectively convicted of perjury,— the offense of the first three having been committed in the Yost trial, and that of the last in the Munley case. For all these prisoners sympathy is felt. James Duffy is an old man, whilst the two Boyles are in early youth. Mrs. Hyland is a married woman, the mother of a number of young children, who need care and attention. That the offense of perjury should be severely dealt with, that the purity of the witness-stand should at all hazards and under all circumstances be upheld, that in the maintenance TRIALS OF “MOLLIES.”’ 323 of its purity all the ends of justice are involved, that the crime of perjury justly merits the full extent of the pen- alty allowed by law, cannot be questioned; yet to these unfortunate victims of ‘‘ Molly’’ crime a pity is given that cannot be accorded to the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ himself. There dare not, under the circumstances, be thought of mercy, and yet, as contrasted with those who induced them to commit the crime and have escaped punishment, they are comparatively innocent. The ‘‘Molly’’ has corrupted the moral sentiment of all over whom he exercises influ- ence. ‘The punishment of these prisoners for obedience to his commands renders the detestation with which he is regarded deeper, if possible, than before. Edward Monaghan, ex-constable of Shenandoah, was convicted of being an accessory before the fact to the assault and battery on William M. Thomas. Michael O’Brien, Chris. Donnelly, and Frank O’Neil were convicted of aiding and abetting the escape of Thomas Hurley. Michael, or Muff, Lawler was tried on the charge of being an accessory after the fact to the murder of Sanger and Uren. ‘The jury did not agree.* Lawler came on the witness-stand upon his own motion, and made what purported to be aconfession. That he has made a full confession is doubted. He told, however, matters of very great interest. He entirely corroborated McParlan in his description of the visit to his house by the murderers of Uren and Sanger. He gave very important details relative to the attempted assassination of James Riles, in August, 1875, at Shenandoah. He asserts that he (Lawler) was regarded with suspicion by the ‘‘Molly’”’ organization, a fact known from other sources, and that he was suspected by Jack Kehoe of being the informant * He was again tried, and found guilty, November, 1876. 224 THE SHEET-ITRON GANG. through whom Munley and McAllister were arrested. fo1 the murder of Sanger and Uren; that Jack Kehoe had determined upon his death, and was endeavoring to com- pass it at the very time when, with characteristic hypocrisy, he had issued to him a card reinstating him in*full com- munion-with the order. His evidence was clear as to the criminal character of the organization. He told a story, which is otherwise authenticated, of an intention to burn down and murder the residents of Jackson’s Patch, a colliery town near Mahanoy City. The facts of this case, as derived from the testimony of Muff Lawler, and from other sources, are about as follows: Throughout the coal regions, and particularly in the county of Schuylkill, there exists a feud between the Kil- kenny men and those from Queens and some other coun- ties in Ireland. This feud of course originated beyond the ocean, but has been intensified in Schuylkill County. Some years ago the ‘‘ Molly Maguire’’ organization was very powerful in Cass township, in that county, and among its members were a number of Kilkenny men. ‘The old quarrel and prejudice could not, however, be repressed ; and the Kilkenny men, being in the minority in the order, either left it or were turned out. Continual quarrels then arose, and what is known as the ‘‘ Sheet-Iron Gang’’ was formed in opposition to the ‘‘ Mollies.’’ The extent of this organization is not very well understood. That there is anything criminal in it is not supposed. Its object would appear to be that of defense against ‘* Molly”’ outrages. In the course of time the Kilkenny men became the most powerful in that section of the county, and the great majority of the ‘‘ Mollies’’ in Cass and adjoining townships, finding that retaliation followed very quickly any outrage upon a Kilkenny man, beat a retreat and settled in force over the Broad Mountain and in the FACKSON’S PATCH. 325 Mahanoy Valley. But there, too, a number of Kilkenny men resided, and the ‘‘ Sheet-Iron Gang’’ was introduced. The two divisions of Irishmen naturally chose different localities, and Jackson’s Patch was held in possession by Kilkenny. It is said that a good Catholic priest was much con- cerned at the outrages and crimes committed by the *¢ Mollies,’’ and called a number of his parishioners into consultation. He suggested that, in order to do his full duty, and that he might break up the order, if possible, he should have knowledge not only of the crimes of the ** Mollies’’ but also of the names of the members. He asked the assistance of his parishioners. His idea was to form a sort of detective police. But not so did they understand it. They took an origi- nal but Irish view of the matter. Their idea of breaking up the order assumed a different form. They traveled as much as possible in a body, and very frequently, when they met a known ‘‘ Molly,’’ they would give him a severe thrashing. They made a number of incursions into Maha- noy City, and upon one occasion beat James Doyle and Michael J. Doyle, who were on a visit there from Mount Laffee, the last being the man now under sentence for the murder of John P. Jones. That this condition of affairs should excite bitter feelings of resentment among the ‘‘ Mollies’’ was natural. ‘Two men, named Edward Burke and James Whalen, residing at Jackson’s Patch, had rendered themselves particularly ob- noxious, and against them special vengeance was sought. Where one of this band of ‘‘ model detectives’ could be found, there also were his companions. ‘They generally moved in a body. Irishmen have a habit, when walking together along a country road, of marching Indian file. The Kilkenny boys form no exception to the rule, and in Indian file they were generally seen. From this circum- 28 326 SFACKSON’S PATCH. stance, and from their being constantly together, the ‘* Mol- lies’’ gave them the name of the ‘‘ Chain Gang,’’ in addi- tion to that of the ‘‘ Sheet-Iron Gang.’’ The purpose of revenge upon Whalen and Burke excited considerable discussion throughout the order of ‘* Mollies’’ in that section, and it was finally determined to burn down their houses at Jackson’s Patch during the night-time (which would have caused the destruction of the whole town) and to shoot them down as they came out. Philip Nash, Bucky Donnelly, and John McDonald, of Mahanoy City, were said to be at the head of the movement. This occurred in the autumn of 1873. Muff Lawler, who is not naturally blood-thirsty, endeavored to prevent ~ the perpetration of this crime. Lawler, although not willing to engage in the active participation of high crime himself, was in constant association with the criminals, | had their confidence, and did not as a rule discourage it. Because in this matter he was expected to take part, he en- deavored to prevent it. He went over to Mahanoy City, saw McDonald, and attempted to persuade him to abandon the enterprise. He pointed out the serious nature of the crime contemplated,—the burning of houses, the destruc- tion of property, and the sacrifice of the lives not only of men but also of women and children, together with the indignation it would arouse in the whole community. The matter was discussed at length, and McDonald was at last convinced. He agreed to aid Lawler in preventing the outrage, if possible. On the night of the 28th of November, 1873, about two hundred men, under the lead of Philip Nash, Bucky Don- ‘nelly, and John McDonald, assembled in front of Lawler’s house, with the intention of going over to Jackson’s Patch. Ed Monaghan was in the party, as was also Patrick Butler, _ of Lost Creek. | It was expected that Barney Dolan, County Delegate, WHOLESALE CONFESSIONS. 327 would be present and lead the crowd. Dolan not making his appearance, opportunity was thus offered to both Law- ler and McDonald to make objections. Philip Nash and Bucky Donnelly wanted to consummate the enterprise, but under the influence at work it was abandoned. Many of the men assembled did not know what was intended to be done, nor did they care. They were ready for any act, however criminal. During the September sessions Thomas Donahue, who had years before been tried and acquitted in Columbia County for the murder of Alexander Rae, was convicted of being accessory after the fact to the assault and battery upon William M. Thomas. It will be remembered that Donahue paid John Gibbons some money, and took him over to Rupert in a carriage, after that assault. The case of the Commonwealth against Charles Mul- hearn, John J. Slattery, John Stanton, and Michael Doolan, was called by District Attorney Kaercher on the 23d of September. The charge against the prisoners was that of conspiracy to kill the two Majors, with the details of which affair the reader is already familiar. It was a memorable day in court. That the ‘‘ Molly Maguires’’ were disorganized, demoralized, and desperate was known, but the evidence of that fact, now being pre- sented, was nevertheless the occasion of heartfelt rejoicing. Charles Mulhearn, one of the defendants, a member of the ** Mollies’”’ of many years’ standing, and deep in the con- fidence of the organization, entered the plea of ‘‘ guilty,’’ and the jury was sworn as to the others. James McParlan was called to the witness-stand, and gave testimony as to the convention held on the 1st of June, 1875, and the character of the organization. His testimony was received with scarcely a question, and yet Messrs. Ryon, Bartholomew, and S. A. Garrett appeared 328 WHOLESALE CONFESSIONS. for the defense. They had learned from experience that McParlan was impregnable. Frank McHugh, convicted of the same offense, told his story. John Maloy, one of the guilty parties, told of the meeting of the Tuscarora Division. James Kerrigan, the ‘‘informer,’’ also testified ; but Jimmy, having been the first to ‘‘squeal,’’ and being regarded with the greatest antagonism, was subjected to severe cross-examination. Charles Mulhearn testified as to the main facts of the case, and, as an older member of the order than McParlan, and for years in its confidence, not only fully corroborated the detective, but even in this case gave information beyond McParlan’s reach. John J. Slattery, of whom much mention has been made, upon his own motion went upon the witness-stand and told his sad story. Slattery was a man of ability and ee and deep in the secrets of the order. The scene afforded a marked contrast to that of but little over four months before,—on the 6th of May,—when first McParlan went upon the witness-stand, in the same court-room, in the ‘first Yost case,’’ with the organiza- tion, bold and defiant, facing him. He then stood alone, for from such support as Kerrigan could give him he de- rived little’comfort. To guard his life he was surrounded by a strong body of police. To maintain his character he was doubly guarded, for, though he was telling nothing but the truth, he was attacked by skillful and earnest attorneys, and he well knew that if by perjured testimony he could be contradicted, hundreds would be ready to testify. But on the 23d of September he took his place upon the stand, having up to this time not only unaided sustained himself, but having materially assisted Kerrigan. Within a few days Muff Lawler and Pat Butler had told their stories, corroborating his testimony, and this day he was almost unquestioned. He was-now again corroborated by WHOLESALE CONFESSIONS. 329 young Frank McHugh, Jimmy Kerrigan, John Maloy, John J. Slattery, and Charles Mulhearn, and the two latter understood the order thoroughly. McParlan was now able to walk the streets of Pottsville unguarded. It had been supposed that he had painted the devil too black; but that he had laid on the color with a cautious hand was at last recognized. But there was one not then ready to flinch, and that was Yellow Jack Donahue, convicted and awaiting sentence for the same offense for which Slattery and others were on trial. A question arose as to whether Stanton, the prisoner at the bar, was the Stanton who had come to Tuscarora with Jerry Kane. McParlan had no information or knowledge on the subject. Kerrigan said he was. Charles Mulhearn said the Stanton who had come to Tuscarora was a differ- ent-looking man. Captain Linden was anxious that no mistake should be made. On the part of the Commonwealth, whilst there was a determination that no guilty man should escape, there was no desire to convict the innocent. . One of the police-officers, well acquainted with Yellow Jack, conceived an idea, and upon his own motion put it in execution. He visited him in prison, told him the cir- cumstances, and of the trial going on, and asked if the Stanton on trial was the man who had been at the meeting in Tuscarora. The old rascal looked the officer full in the eye, and said, ‘‘The whole thing is a d—d lie. There never was such a meeting at all.”’ Slattery and Michael Doolan were convicted, but the doubt which had been thrown upon the question of Stan- ton’s guilt by the evidence of Mulhearn occasioned his acquittal and discharge from custody. Immediately after the adjournment of the regular session of the court a ‘‘ habeas corpus’’ hearing was held in the case of Thomas P. Fisher, County Delegate of Carbon 28* 330 SENTENCES. County, and Patrick McKenna, body-master of Stone Hill, who had been arrested during the week, charged with the murder of Morgan Powell, at Summit Hill, in 1871. Charles Mulhearn, an accomplice and eye-witness, told the story of the murder, implicating Yellow Jack Dona- hue, Matthew Donahue, Alexander Campbell, Thomas P. Fisher, Cornelius McHugh, Patrick McKenna, and _ others. Slattery gave evidence of the confession of Yellow Jack. The prisoners were sent to Mauch Chunk for trial, the offense having been committed in Carbon County. The wind had been sown, and the whirlwind was to be reaped. On the 16th of October a long line of convicted ‘‘ Mol- lies,’’ handcuffed and together fastened to a chain, were brought into the court-room of Schuylkill County for sentence. The solemnity of the occasion impressed all present except, seemingly, the prisoners, who assumed an air of. unconcern and talked and laughed among themselves. Thomas Donahue, accessory after the fact to the assault and battery on William M. Thomas, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at labor. Edward Monaghan, accessory before the fact to assault and battery on William M. Thomas, to seven years’ im- prisonment at labor. Barney N. Boyle, perjury, three years at labor. Kate Boyle, perjury, two years and six months at labor. Bridget Hyland, perjury, two years and six months at labor. , Thomas Duffy, perjury, two years and six months at labor. John Kehoe, John Morris, Dennis F. Canning, Christo- pher Donnelly, John Gibbons, and Michael O’Brien, con- victed of complicity in assault and battery with intent to kill William M. Thomas, were respectively sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment at hard labor. SENTENCES. 331 John Kehoe, Dennis F. Canning, Patrick Dolan, Sr., Michael O’Brien, Christopher Donnelly, and Frank O’Neil, convicted of conspiracy to kill Jesse and William Major, were sentenced as follows: John Kehoe, seven years. Dennis F. Canning, seven years. Patrick Dolan, Sr., one year. Christopher Donnelly, five years. Michael O’Brien, five years. The two last named, together with Frank O’Neil, were sentenced to two years, respectively, for aiding Thomas Hurley to escape. The sentences of Michael Doolan, Charles Mulhearn, John J. Slattery, Patrick Butler, and Frank McHugh were postponed. But if the prisoners appeared careless and unconcerned, _ not so did their wives and families. With them the day for acting had passed. As the sentences were pronounced, unrestrainable cries of heartfelt agony arose. The dread reality was upon them. Punishment had come at last. The prison-doors were now closing for years upon those loved best on earth. Wives and little children outside the prison-walls are the sufferers. Desolate and unprotected, they are thrown on the world with blackened name and desperate fortune. God help them! 332.