Papers On The Molly Maguires

The Molly Maguires

The Molly Maguires, originated in Ireland, were best known for their activism among Irish American and Irish immigrant coal miners in north-eastern Pennsylvania. Coal miners were treated unfairly with poor working conditions, as well as a low pay, which the Mollies sought to fix. After a series of violent conflicts, twenty members of the Mollies were suspected and convicted of murder, among other crimes. They were executed by hanging in 1877 and 1878, with the history remaining a part of local PA lore. The Mollies are believed to have been in the anthractite coal mines of Pennsylvania since at least the Panic of 1873. The panic was a financial crisis that triggered a depression in North America and Europe. It lasted from

Pinkerton subsequently called on James McParland to go undercover against the Mollies. He used the alias ''James McKenna'', made Shenandoah his headquarters and claimed to become a trusted member of the orginization. His assignment was to collect evidence of murder plots and intrigue, and pass the information along to Pinkerton. He also began working with a Pinkerton agent for the purpose of coordinating the eventual arrest and prosecution of members of the Mollies. Although there had been fifty inexplicable murders between 1863 and 1867 in Schuykill County, progress was slow for McParland. The union had grown powerful with 30,000 members, 85% of PA's anthracite miners joining. But Gowen had also built a combo of his own, bringing mine operators into an association as well as forcing a strike and showdown between the two

Union leaders were "excoriated by the press", and were "denounced from altar and pulpit". On May 12th, John Sinet, the union leader who favored arbitraiton and had opposed the strike, was arrested at a mass meeting called to protest the importation of strike breakers. The union was nearly broken by the imprisonment of its leadership and by attacks that were conducted by vigilantes against the strikers. Gowen had ''"deluged the newspapers with stories of murder and arson" committed by the Molly Maguires. The press also produced stories telling of strikes in Illinois, Jersey City, and in the Ohio mines, all inspired by the Mollies. The stories were widely believed by the public. After six months the strike was defeated and the miners returned to work, accepting the twenty percent cut in pay. But miners belonging to the Ancient Order of Hibernians continued the fight. McParland acknowledged increasing support for the Mollies in his reports. He wrote ''Men, who last winter would not notice a Molly Maguire, are now glad to take them by the hand and make much of them. If the bosses exercise tyranny over the men they appear to look to the association for