On June 21, 1877, twenty men linked to the famed Molly Maguires were hanged in Carbon and Schuylkill county prisons for first degree murder..
Pinkerton detective James McParlan’s testimony led to the convictions for violent crimes against owners in the coal industry.
The executions and aftermath still reverberate.
The story of the Mollys carry with it a twisted tale of paranormal and historical significance. If they did not exist, perhaps workers rights would not have existed either.
Hundreds of years later. And Hangings.. curses.. and handprints later.. We begin..
MEET THE MOLLYS
The Molly Maguires was a secret organization of coal miners supposedly responsible for what many called acts of terrorism in the coalfields of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, U.S., in the period from 1862 to 1876. The group named itself after a widow who led a group of Irish antilandlord agitators in the 1840s..
They were blamed for bombings.
Assassinations.
Violence..
People said that The Ancient Order of Hibernians was the front for the group..
The group had originally emerged in north-central Ireland in the 1840s as an offshoot of a long line of rural secret societies including the Whiteboys and Ribbonmen, who responded to horrible working conditions and evictions by tenant landlords with violence in that country.
The Civil War had a role in the the American formation.
When the Civil War began, miners were drafted to join what they lambasted as “a rich man’s war.” In response, they began to rebel. “Coffin notices” threatening death, allegedly written by Molly Maguires, were delivered to mining supervisors and to the ‘union scabs’ who planned to fill their roles during strikes.
Working conditions worsened in the 1870s. As a result, violence worsened. Some claim that 24 mine foreman were killed due to actions the Mollys took.
In 1873, the Reading Railroad hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to infiltrate the Molly Maguires because they were a threat to profits. Using the alias James McKenna, native Irishman James McParlan spent two and a half years living alongside the coal miners, eventually gaining their trust.. And then turning on them after the infiltration.
Meet the Pinkertons
In 1842, Allan Pinkerton immigrated to the Chicago area and opened a cooperage, or barrel-making business. His detective career began just five years later, when he stumbled upon a band of counterfeiters while scrounging for lumber on an island in the Fox River…
The Pinkertons were born!
The Pinkerton agency first made its name in the late-1850s for hunting down outlaws and providing private security for railroads. As the company’s profile grew, its iconic logo—a large, unblinking eye accompanied by the slogan “We Never Sleep”—gave rise to the term “private eye” as a nickname for detectives.
There are even rumors that the Pinkertons stopped an assassination attempt on Honest Abe Lincoln..
Eventually, the Pinkertons’ crime fighting role had largely been absorbed by local police forces and agencies like the FBI. The company lived on as private security firm and guard service, however, and still operates today under the shortened name “Pinkerton.”
Oh.. and they are tired of being the bad guys in 2020.
THE WIGGANS PASSAGE
Early on December 10, 1875, a group of armed masked men burst into the home of the three Molly Maguires believed to be involved in the deaths of two mine foremen. They killed Charles O’Donnell and also the pregnant and innocent Ellen McAllister, who was due the next day.
But a major part of the story if this event is the purported soul of murdered Ellen McAllister.
An historical account of the event:
Ellen’s mother, Margaret, a widow, was the last to go upstairs to bed. Grannie,” as they called her, had just finished putting coal on the stove to keep the house warm. She knew that Ellen’s pregnancy was coming along fine. But naturally, Grannie didn’t want her daughter to catch a chill.All was peaceful for a few hours as the stroke of midnight changed December 9 into December 10.Then, about 1 a.m., Ellen was awakened by a strange noise, a very intense rustling and crunching. It sounded as if hordes of people were stomping on top layer of fallen leaves. Ellen nudged hubby Charles, asking him to investigate.
Before anybody could react, a small army of about 20 armed, camouflaged men kicked in the door, roared into the house and began firing. Ellen’s brother Charles was dragged out of the house by the invaders. His body was riddled with 18 bullets.Her other brother escaped. James McAllister was found in the house, too. The vigilantes grabbed him and put a noose around his neck.
But when they dragged him outside, James somehow managed to wiggle free and flee into the dark woods.Seeing what was happening at the front of the house, Ellen’s husband jumped out a back window and disappeared into the night, chased by a few of the gunmen. Grannie was pistol-whipped but still alive.By this time Ellen had put on her robe, made her way down the dark stairway to see what the ruckus was all about. She appeared at the front door to catch a glimpse of the goings-on.
Several assailants turned, looked at her, and fired point blank.Ellen’s eyes rolled as she reached for her stomach with her right hand. With her left arm she tried in vain to deflect the siege of bullets.My baby,” she screamed. Oh dear God, my baby!” Ellen cried out, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.She gasped, faltered, and clung to the doorframe for a few seconds. But her strength quickly faded and she crumpled to the floor.Seeing what they had done, the gunmen ran, scattering in all directions.
Coal & Iron Police or the Pinkertons were suspected in the event.. Also accused: Welsh and Dutch “Moducs”..
No arrests were ever made and the murders went unsolved. Either by fate or on purpose.
The house was demolished in 2006.. The Pottsville REPUBLICAN ran a front pager December 2007 when it showcased Ashland resident Loretta Murphy’s attempt to keep the Wiggans memory alive online.
In 2009, the site became newsworthy again when Schuylkill Haven’s Pennsylvania Paranormal Research Team investigated the foundation area and declared it haunted .. the group at the time said members say while investigating, they were approached by the spirit of a little boy who asked to go along home with them..
This from the TIMES NEWS on October 30, 2009:
The haunting can be felt at night. The pleas from the house are like a low moaning sensation as if she’s saying ‘help me, help my baby,'” said Deborah Randall, a Washington, D.C., playwright who investigated the murders several years ago while doing research on the Mollies
CENTRALIA: MOLLYS DIDN’T START THE FIRE
We are traveling slightly out of the dark woods of Schuylkill County, about a mile, and visiting the fiery little town of Centralia PA.. You cannot speak of the Mollys without bringing up an historic purported event that occurred at St. Ignatius cemetery in the late 19th century.
A legend among many has also stated that Father Daniel Ignatius McDermott, the first Roman Catholic priest to call Centralia home, cursed the land in retaliation for being assaulted by three members of the Maguires in 1869. McDermott said that there would be a day when St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church would be the only structure remaining in Centralia. Other versions have the 19th-century priest, saying, “One day this town will be erased from the face of the earth.”
While the lineage of the Mollys may have extended far into the late 20th century, Centralia’s life did not. The town’s mine fire removed memory and life from the once bustling streets.
But what to make of that curse from Fr. McDermott? There is no historical record of this attack or proof of him saying anything about a curse on the town. Instead a year after the reported attack, he build the rectory for $22,000 and asked permission to stay in Centralia to evangelize to 200 families from various patches who attended mass at St. Iggys. He remained pastor until 1872.
And even if his curse occurred.. he clearly didn’t have the power of the powwows of the time to make it stand the test of time!
TRAIN STATION VIBES
In 1878, the station was an overnight warehouse for the bodies of six hung Molly Maguires, including their leader, Black Jack Kehoe, before they were transported home for burial.. More on Black Jack in just a bit..
Due to their late arrival in ’78, the bodies of the dead Mollys were stored in the station overnight in wooden boxes that were packed with ice as a preservative.
And superstition reveals that their overnight stay made an indelible mark that remained since.
Electrical devices reportedly malfunction and disembodied voices are heard. Many who have worked in restaurants at the location through the years say there are cold spots, spectral lights, and photographs of orbs. Psychics and ghost hunters have found have been rampant at the location in past decades. Some claim to capture voices.. cold spots.. spirits.
THE HANGING OF THE MOLLYS
A private corporation initiated the investigation through a private detective agency; a private police force arrested the alleged offenders; the coal company attorneys prosecuted them. The state only provided the courtroom and hangman.”
To this day, many celebrate the Mollys and decry the outlandish ‘justice’ they sealed their fate..
The New York Times, however, exulted in the deaths of the Maguires in 1877:
“The lesson taught by the punishment of the Molly Maguires would have been shorn of much of its terror and impressiveness if the energetic and persistent efforts made in behalf of Kehoe, the reputed king of that organization, had resulted in rescuing him from the gallows. If they had even so far succeeded as to have caused his punishment to be commuted to imprisonment for life, the admonitory influence of his fate upon the murderous clan of whom he was the last surviving chief would have been greatly lessened, and the snake of Molly Maguire-ism, of which he was the forked tongue and fangs, might haply have been only scotched, not killed….”
After McParland’s cover was blown, Frank Gowen, the president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, serving as the district attorney of Schuylkill County, led the prosecution of the Molly Maguires who were indicted and then convicted largely on McParland’s testimony.
On June 21, 1877, the last of the Molly Maguires were hanged in the Carbon County prison in Mauch Chunk.
The image shows the gallows in Pottsville where fates were handed down:
The media referred the men as Molly Maguires despite little evidence of their existence. Before they were executed, they were excommunicated from the Catholic Church and consequently denied a sacraments and a Christian burial.
MAUCH CHUNKY TALE: THE HAND PRINT IN THE OLD JAIL
The Old Jail Museum website explains the story of the prison this way:
“The building is best known as the site of the hanging of seven Irish coal miners known as Molly Maguires in the 1800s. On June 21, 1877, today known as the Day of the Rope, Alexander Campbell, Edward Kelly, Michael Doyle and John Donohue were hanged at the same time on gallows erected inside the Old Jail Museum cell block. On March 28, 1878, Thomas P. Fisher was hanged here, and on January 14, 1879, James McDonnell and Charles Sharp were hanged on the same gallows. Historians today feel the Molly Maguire trials were a surrender of state sovereignty. A private corporation (a coal/railroad company) initiated an investigation through a private detective agency (Pinkerton Detectives), a private police force (the Coal & Iron Police) arrested the alleged offenders, and private attorneys (employees of the coal companies) prosecuted these men. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided only the courtroom and the gallows. “
The site goes on to explain this, bringing in that strange paranormal element:
“Before their hanging, the men proclaimed their innocence and today historians believe many of the condemned men were falsely accused of murder. Before his hanging one of the man, thought to be Alexander Campbell, put his hand on the dirty floor of his cell and then placed it firmly on the wall proclaiming, ” This handprint will remain as proof of my innocence.” That handprint is visible today for everyone to view even though past wardens tried to eradicate it by washing it, painting it, and even taking down part of the wall and replastering it.”
Not mentioned in the description: Children of the rich, powerful, and important in then Mauch Chunk, were playing on the gallows the night before the hangings.
The privileged few were reportedly mocking the men who would die the next day at the hands of injustice and wealthy coal barons being in charge of law..
This old jail, filled with concrete windowless solitary confinement cells and a history of public hangings, was still used until 1995 after an inmate sued the county for ‘wretched housing’ at the prison.. imagine! A cell in which prisoners were being injured on a regular basis just under 20 years ago..
Imagine someone someone being picked up for drunk driving, being put into a cell with a freaky hand print that never goes away? It happened.
Some researchers have tried their best to debunk the hand.. The very idea of the hand has been the talk of the town for decades.. Some still think it’s a fraud.. others think it’s a sign of innocence..
The Old Jail Museum may not scare you like other seasonal haunted attractions, but it will allow you to get a glimpse into the past, and examine your present..
Did Alexander Campbell leave his mark for generations to come? …and the deeper question… did the Molly Maguires win the battle against unfair corporations, or are those same corporations still in charge, just under a friendlier name with a logo and ‘social media appeal’ made for the modern era.
