Chapter 11 - Fannie Kerrigan’s Testimony

            During the first Yost murder trial conducted in the county seat of Pottsville, Schuylkill County in May, 1876, the list of prosecution witnesses included the wife of James Kerrigan. Fannie Higgins was the third daughter of George and Margaret Higgins of Tamaqua, born in January of 1847. Fannie’s other siblings were William, George, John, Catherine, Joseph, Margaret, Daniel Rosanna and Mary. Fannie’s youngest sister, Mary was born circa 1753. Fannie Higgins had married James Kerrigan around 1866, after James returned to Tamaqua from the Civil War. By 1870, James and Fannie had three boys, Michael, George and James. The marriage was tumultuous throughout the marriage, due to domestic violence and alcohol abuse on behalf of James Kerrigan. Fannie’s father, a Colonel with the 16^th Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War, disliked his son-in-law and had told McParland, he had never visited his daughter’s residence as a guest.

A little sensation was created by Mrs. Kerrigan’s testimony, when she refused to go and see her husband in prison because he had done such a crime as the killing of Yost, and turned informer against the poor innocent prisoners to suffer for his crimes. (Harrisburg Patriot). Mrs. Kerrigan’s testimony was perhaps the most startling and important introduced by any single individual during the trials. Drab and miserable, in terror of her husband, and yet somehow fierce and even noble, she stood on the witness stand, to charge her husband with “the crime of Yost” and to declare that he was trying to send innocent men to the gallows to save his own hide.

Mrs. Kerrigan said her husband had shot Yost. “He left the house with a pistol at dusk on July fifth and returned before dawn the next morning and told me he had shot Yost.” She visited with him in jail until she heard he “confessed”. She never went again. On the witness stand she said: “I didn’t send him his clothes because he wants innocent men to suffer for his crimes. Why should I go see a man guilty of such a crime as that of Yost’s murder? Yes, I lived with him after the crime. If I had disclosed him, he would have shot me. He threatened me and said he would blow out my brains. I treated him as a wife until he turned informer.” (Barrett, page 134).

What is printed below is taken verbatim from the court records:

Q – Was your husband the owner of a pistol?

A – Yes sir.

Q – About how long had he owned the pistol?

A – I think about one year.

Q – What did your husband do after he came? After you let him in?

A – After I let him in?

Q – Yes.

A – Why, he had his boots in his hand when I let him in, and he said he shot Yost (Bimba, page 95).

Gowen took Mrs. Kerrigan under cross-examination, and the following testimony took place:

Q – You have never been to see your husband since that time, have you?

A – No sir.

Q – Have you refused to send him clothes?

A – Yes sir.

Q – And do anything for him?

A – Yes sir.

Q – Did you not come down to Pottsville, voluntarily, and of your own will, some time ago to make a statement or affidavit that your husband had killed Yost; did you not do that of your own motive?

A – I made my statement before I came to Pottsville.

Q – You made it before Squire O’Brien?

A – Yes.

Q – You went there voluntarily?

A – Of my own accord.

Q – To get your husband hung?

A – To tell the truth.

Q – To have the father of your children hung?

A – Not when I was telling the truth.

Q – Why did you not send him his clothes when he was lying in prison?

A – Why, because he picked innocent men to suffer for his crime.

Q – Because he picked up innocent men to suffer for his crime?

A – Yes sir.

Q – Why did you refuse to go and see him when he had sent word that he wanted to see you?

A – Because any man that does such a crime that he done, why should I turn around then, and –

Q – And what; go on.

A – That’s all.

Q – What crime had he done?

A – What crime did he do?

Q – Yes

A – The crime of Yost.

Q – The murder of Yost?

A – Yes sir (Bimba, page 96).

 

 

 

Chapter 12 - Alibi Witnesses – Family Members

Since the defendants were unable to testify on their own behalf, alibi witnesses and eyewitnesses were only used for the defense. Several witnesses have been examined on the subject of the alibi in relation to James Boyle. One of the first alibi witnesses to take the stand, was a cousin of James Boyle. Kate Boyle was born in July of 1859 to John W. and Mary Boyle in County Donegal, Ireland. She had emigrated, with her parents and siblings, to America on April 5, 1864. Kate was called to the stand and said that on the 5^th of July, 1875, she lived at No. 5 with her parents. She said that morning between 9 and 11 o’clock, she was working at a hog pen and she saw John Boyle there. The material portion of her evidence is that she saw the prisoner, James Boyle, that evening at her Uncle Barney P. Boyle’s house in Ashton. She stated that she was going for water and stopped in Barney P. Boyle’s tavern. Her uncle, aunt and James Boyle were there, and it was then dark. She stated that she was about sixteen years old and at 1 o’clock in the evening was coming home. She remembered the time because she saw the clock at the post office. She said she walked about three quarters of a mile from their home with John Mulhearn and her sister Bridget; and that John Mulhearn left shortly after.

James Boyle’s uncle was next called to give testimony on his behalf. Barney N. Boyle had married Hannah Boyle about 1865. Barney N. Boyle stated that he saw James Boyle on the night of the 5^th of July at Barney P. Boyle’s house and tavern. He testified that John Mulhearn came in afterward, and remained a couple of minutes. The witness says that he remained in the house in company with the prisoner and Barney P. Boyle’s wife. Barney N. Boyle left his brother-in-law’s tavern and went to work at half past 10 o’clock as he was on the 11 o’clock shift. He also said that James Boyle was drunk and that the witness went with him to his own house and his wife opened the door. The witness went in and pulled off the prisoner’s boots and put him to bed, and then left. On cross-examination, he said that he came to this country in 1873. He stated that Kate Boyle was not present in Barney P. Boyle’s house while he was there. He says that Barney P. Boyle is now hunting work, and that he saw him last on the 4^th of July of this year, at home. He cannot give the date of any other time he was at Barney P. Boyle’s house, but he met James Boyle frequently before and since. He took James Boyle home drunk pretty often, and has taken him home drunk since that date.

Hannah Boyle was born in August, 1846 in County Donegal, Ireland. She was the wife of Barney N. Boyle, and had testified, as to her husband going to work on the night shift, before Barney N. Boyle and James Boyle left their house on the night of the 5^th of July, 1875. She says that the two went together. She said, “When I heard James was arrested, I said that it couldn’t be for he was at our house.” She called Barney McCarron “a dirty deserter.” (Barrett, page 210).

            Another family member was called to the stand, that of Kate Boyle, not to be confused with the younger Kate Boyle. This elder Kate ran a boarding house to make ends meet. In 1875, Hugh McGeehan had resided in the boarding house, which was situate in Storm Hill. During the second trial, Kate states that the last time she was Hugh McGeehan on the 5^th of July was about 6 o’clock, in the evening. She next saw him the next morning between 5 and 6 o’clock, when she unlocked the door to let him in. McGeehan then told her that he had been at a ball in Summit Hill, and had left there at 10 o’clock to go to Nesquehoning. Kate had testified that it was her habit to go to bed at 10 o’clock and that John Burns, to which she is now married, and Patrick Breslin, another boarder, went to bed before she did. Con (Cornelius) Shovlin, a third boarder, was still out, and she left the back door open for him. She also said that there was but one key to the two doors, and that she locked the front door with the key and placed it in the back door which was left open in order that Shovlin could get in. She stated that in the morning when she got up, she found the door locked and McGeehan outside. Shovlin told her he had locked the door. Burns and McGeehan usually slept in the same room. Kate stated that after McGeehan came from Mauch Chunk, he went to Summit Hill, came back about six o’clock and that after supper she saw him go on through the woods, in the neighborhood of Summit Hill, and that was the last she saw of him until the next morning. Kate admitted on her cross-examination that she had made statements contradictory in what she had stated on the stand in the first trial, and admitted that she had said that McGeehan was in that night.

                                                                    Bernard P. Boyle

Barney P. Boyle, another uncle of James Boyle, was called as the last witness on the defense. He testified that he lived in Ashton on the 6^th of July, nearly a mile from Summit Hill, and the same distance from No. 5 colliery. He stated that he saw him first on the 6^th of July, 1875, from 12 to 4 o’clock, in the afternoon, and he stopped all that time in his house. The witness stated that he drank to the prisoner’s – four times. Barney P. Boyle stated that he left James Boyle in his own house and did not see him after that.

After the alibi witnesses had left the courtroom, Kate Boyle and Barney N. Boyle were immediately arrested for perjury. On September of 1876, the case of the Commonwealth vs. Bridget Hyland, et al., the case against Kate and Barney, as defendants, accused of perjuring themselves in testimony delivered on behalf of the men already convicted of the murder of Officer Yost. Mrs. Hyland was arraigned for perjury in the Munley trial; sixteen-year old Kate Boyle and her uncle, Barney N. Boyle were arraigned for perjury in the Yost trial, along with James Duffy. The defendants were quickly found guilty. On October 16 they received their sentences, along with fifteen other Molly Maguires who had been convicted in the Thomas and Major conspiracy cases. All nineteen convicts were brought into Pottsville courtroom chained together, for a single, mass sentencing. It was a remarkable show of power by the authorities, a spectacle that was not to be surpassed until the following June 21, when ten Molly Maguires were executed on a single day (Kenny, page 224-225). Kate Boyle, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison (Kenny, page 289). Nearly a year and a half later, the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons met and recommended a pardon for Kate (Philadelphia Inquirer). Barney N. Boyle received three years of confinement. This paved the way, in other Molly Maguire trials, for the suppression of any witness to provide an alibi for any defendant.

 

Chapter 13 - Other Witnesses 

During Daniel Shepp’s testimony, the following is taken from the trial,: Shepp was asked: “You said that Yost and Kerrigan had considerable difficulty, and Yost arrested him several times. How often do you know that he arrested him? I cannot mention the number of times, but I think half a dozen at least. Do you know that Yost was in apprehension that Kerrigan would take his life? Yost always told me, in connection with this, that he was afraid of those two – Kerrigan and Duffy; he always put them together; he told me that six or eight times” (Bimba, page 95). Additionally, Mr. Shepp testified that he asked his dying brother-in-law, “Might you not be mistaken?”, but Mr. Yost was very emphatic in saying that Duffy and Kerrigan were not the men. He returned to the subject, and said, “May you not be mistaken, and was it not Duffy and Kerrigan who did this?” and Yost answered, “No, I am not mistaken, the men were strangers, but I had seen them before.” Lastly, Shepp had said that Officer Yost removed that impression when he said they were strangers, and he described one as a large man and the other not so large (West, page 17).

Barney McCarron stated on the stand, that he had heard two shots, fired and saw the figures of two men retreating, one a large man and the other not so large. They ran in the direction of the cemetery (West, page 15).

Mr. Schindel testified that he heard a portion of the dying declaration of Officer Yost, as follows,:  “…when two men approached and shot him; that he did not know the men; they were strangers, but he had seen them before; one was a large man than the other” (West, page 15). Officer Yost had also told Squire Lebo, that one man was larger than the other (West, page 16).

Pat Nolan testified that James Kerrigan, “…came into my saloon on July 5^th, at about 10:30 p.m. He called me into the back room and asked me if I would lend him a pistol (Barrett, page 122).  Edward Gillespie, born in Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, about 1846, said that he was on his way home on July 5^th, and “Kerrigan called over to me and asked me for a revolver. He said he was going to shoot a cop. I assured him, I had no gun.” (Barrett, page 135). Thomas Trainer, born in England in 1843 and a neighbor of Kerrigan’s, said that, “Kerrigan turned to me and said – Tom, you know Yost made a hellish roar when he was shot.” (Barrett, page 127).

Patrick Duffy testified that Kerrigan was once sent to jail after a fist fight. Duffy swore that Kerrigan said, “When I get out, I’ll kill Yost the first chance I get.” (Barriett, page 127).  Patrick Duffy also said he was not a Molly Maguire and knew no secrets, “I was with Kerrigan the night and heard Kerrigan say he would kill Yost when he got a chance.” Gowen then asked Duffy, “You are a brother of Thomas Duffy?” His answer, “I am sir.” Gowen retorted, “That is all.” (Barrett, page 210).

William H. Evans, a mine foreman, provided testimony that James Boyle worked on July 6^th. He and his buddy, Pat Dawson, loaded six mine cars on a sixty-eight degree pitch (Barrett page 123).  Pat Dawson, of Summit Hill, swore he saw James Boyle at work on July 6^th. “I loaded coal from his mine breast. He worked all day. We started at 7:00 a.m., and quit sometime between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. We didn’t work less that day than any other day.” (Barrett, page 128).

Mrs. Alex Campbell swore that Kerrigan was not in her home on July 6^th, as he had stated, and the black pistol admitted as evidence, “Looks like the one he gave me to keep for him on December 13^th, 1874” (Barrett, page 127). “It was black and resembles that revolver there.” She was asked, “You know that McGeehan was charged with shooting Yost with that gun?” She answered, “ I heard Kerrigan say so.” (Barrett, page 213).

 

Chapter 14 - Buying Witnesses

Allen Pinkerton insisted, that the detectives within his employ, must recognize that secrecy is the prime condition for success – “It is the chief strength which the detective possesses beyond the ordinary man.” Indeed, he went on, “It frequently becomes necessary for the detective, when brought in contact with criminals, to pretend to be a criminal; in other words, for the time being to assume the garb of crime.” Pinkerton recognized that this was one of the most sensitive of all his principles. He said it is “unfortunately necessary to resort to these deceptions.” He explained that “the detective has to act his part, and in order to do so, he has, at times, to depart from the strict line of truth, and to resort to deception, so as to carry his assumed character through.” Moralists may question whether this be strictly right,” he continued, “but it is a necessity in the detection of crime, and it is held by the Agency that the ends being for the accomplishment of justice, they justify the means used.” The operative, when the ends of justice were accomplished, would “return, of course, unblemished by the fiery ordeal through which he has passed, and take his place once more in society (Broehl, Page 136). This meant that any tactic could be used, including false testimony, would be tolerated, as long as the conviction of the accused was certain.

James McParland had boasted that the railroad had the money to buy any witness it needed in order to convict the Mollies, and would do that if necessary (Campbell, page 50). It is important to note that General Albright was the legal advisor of the coal company and participated in the prosecution of the defendants, has said the prosecution was openly backed with the money, the power, and the influence of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company (Bimba, page 87).

Robert Breslin, who testified at the trial, that early in the morning of July 6^th, he had met McGeehan and Boyle, on an out of the way path near his father’s house, and that they had told him they were returning from a ball at Mauch Chunk. His evidence, which hardly seems very conclusive on its face, was, however, discredited when the defense charged, and he himself admitted, that it was being paid for, by the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company, with the promise of a position, as mine boss (Bimba, page 96).

Another witness statement was given by a man named Fenton Cooney. Emigrating from Ireland to New York City, on June 23, 1865, aboard the ship, Hibernia, 22-year-old Fenton Cooney set out to create a new life in America. Cooney had married 17-year-old, Elizabeth O’Haren, daughter of Thomas and Catherine (nee Knowles) O’Haren of New York City, in 1870. Settling in Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, Cooney supported his family by becoming a laborer within the mines. By 1875, the Cooney’s had three children. During this time, Detective McParland had boarded with the Cooney family during the tumultuous years of the violence in the coal region.

In a letter, dated September 17^th, 1876, Mr. J. H. Butler writes to Franklin Gowen, the following correspondence, “Dear Sir, John W. Ryon asked James Kerrigan last Friday did not he tell Fenton Cooney, that he was the man that shot (Yost). Kerrigan, I will give an idea with respect to that question before the first Yost trial. Fenton Cooney made his statement in Mr. Ryon’s office, in my presence. It was that, at the time Bull Doolan died at Schuylkill Haven. He was taken to Tamaqua for burial. He, Cooney, went to the funeral, when it was over, he put up his horse and walked down town. He met and was introduced to James Kerrigan.”

The letter continues, “He, Cooney, talked about Tamaqua and about the killing of Yost. Kerrigan asked him was it not a good job? Cooney said it was. Then Kerrigan said, I am the man that shot Yost. I can’t see how Pat Duffy can have money to hire Ryan & Bartholomew at the last Yost trial. He did not have money to pay Cooney’s fare to Pottsville. Cooney was to swear that McParland called him out doors and told him he would give him fifty dollars……(text is missing, because of tear in original letter)…his family, if he…..that he.”

The end of this correspondence appears to suggest that Detective McParland is actually committing witness tampering and/or bribing the witness, Cooney.

 

Chapter 15 - The Weapon

            When James Kerrigan was arrested in the Odd Fellows Cemetery, located in the West end of the borough of Tamaqua, a hidden cache of weapons were confiscated. Among the pistols found, a Smith & Wesson .32 caliber pistol was found to be the murder weapon of both mine boss, John Jones and Officer Benjamin Franklin Yost. The revolver was a single action, Smith & Wesson model 1 ½, that chambered .32 rimfire cartridges within a five shot cylinder. The Model 1 ½ had three issues, with the first two having a “tip-up” barrel, with the release catch located in front of the trigger. The second issue can be identified by its fluted barrel and the round shape of the butt grip. The murder weapon was blued steel and having a 3 ½ inch barrel.

 

            According to statements made by Fannie Kerrigan and her sister, Mary Ann Higgins, James Kerrigan had obtained the pistol, from a man named Charles Mulhearn and that, Mulhearn would swear that he had sold it to James Kerrigan many months before. Kerrigan’s wife also said, she would ascertain a few cartridges belonging to the revolver from James Kerrigan’s drawer, since she was positive that they would correspond with the one found in Yost’s body (Broehl, page 277-278). The gun was one supposed, at some previous time, to have been given to a man named E. B. Whitenight for repair. Whitenight indeed testified that he had repaired one which he thought resembled that shown in court (Bimba, page 97). In the present day, the pistol is in the possession of the District Attorney George Ringgold Kaercher’s descendants and currently on loan for display to the Schuylkill County Historical Society.

 

Chapter 16 - Height of the Murderer(s)

            In James Kerrigan’s initial confession to Daniel Schepp, he had stated that he was not present at the shooting of Officer Yost, but had learned of the events from the accused murderers, Hugh McGeehan and James Boyle, personally. He also stated that James Boyle is “a man not much taller than I am.”  Later, during the trial against the defendants, the prosecution witnesses had testified that before Officer Yost expired, he had stated that the men that shot him were described as one being larger than the other. Yost’s partner, Officer Barney McCarron had testified to seeing two men shoot Yost, one being larger than the other one, then running away toward the Odd Fellows Cemetery.

            However, the defense witness, James Duffy swore under oath, that he had seen James Kerrigan at the crime scene, heard the shooting, wherein, both he and Kerrigan ran westward toward the cemetery. James Kerrigan’s official height, according to the U.S. Army records, is recorded at 4 foot, 11 inches. James Duffy’s official height, according to the U.S. Army records, is recorded at 5 foot, 7 inches.

            What was the height of the accused, McGeehan and Boyle? In Pottsville, the undertaker, Herman Raudenbush Kline owned Kline’s Funeral Parlor on Market Street. Kline was given permission from the Schuylkill County Sheriff, John Frank Werner, to measure all of the prisoners for their coffins.

                                                    Sheriff John Frank Werner

Prior to the executions, Kline had displayed the coffins in the window of his showroom. Each coffin had a little sign with the recipient’s name and measurements: Hugh McGeehan, 6’0”; Thomas Duffy, 5’6”; James Carroll, 5’10”; Thomas Munley, 5’8”; James Roarity, 5’10”; and James Boyle, 6’0”. The coffins, according to a large poster which hung above the windows, were donated to the families of the condemned men, “through the generosity of Herman Raudenbush Kline, prop.” Except for its public relations value, Mr. Kline’s benevolence was wasted; the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided sturdier, if less ornate, coffins built of rough pine (Lewis, page 288). Interesting, that the two accused murderers of Officer Yost were both 6 foot even.

 

Chapter 17 - Officer McCarron Went to Carroll’s Tavern after the Assassination

            Early in the evening of July 5^th, 1877, Officers Yost and McCarron, while patrolling the streets of Tamaqua, stopped at Carroll’s Tavern. Inside, James Kerrigan admitted that he was present and had interacted with both officers. Through Charles Albright’s closing arguments, we find that after McCarron summoned a doctor for his dying partner, McCarron immediately tries to pursue the murderer(s). His actions reflect his thinking that the murderer returned to Carroll’s Tavern. Albright states:

                                                            Charles Albright, Esq.

            “But the fact has come out in this case that after Yost was shot, Barney McCarron went to James Carroll’s house; of all houses, of all saloons in the town, that is the place he went to; he went into an alley way, or into the back yard, and tried to see or listen if he could discover the assassins of Yost, for Yost had seen these men; had made some remarks which, after Yost was shot, came back to McCarron’s mind, and he no doubt thought he might apprehend the men at Carroll’s who killed Yost. Why then did McCarron go to Carroll’s?” (Albright’s closing arguments, West, page 12).

            The prosecution tried, but failed to explain this behavior of Officer McCarron. Several witnesses were present that could testify to the fact that both Yost and McCarron were in Carroll’s Tavern early in the evening of July 5^th. Again, several witnesses could present evidence that McCarron returned after Yost was shot. Definitive evidence and was admitted by the prosecution, that Kerrigan was present. Kerrigan’s statements that he was present only to assist McGeehan and Boyle fails to be proven, in that no other witness states that McGeehan and Boyle were present.

 

Chapter 18 - James McParland’s Reports

            Before continuing with the story as I know it, there is a final observation to be made about McFarland’s reports for July, 1875. Although the covering letter under which they were sent to Mr. Gowen expressly states that they cover the period from July 1 through July 24, 1875, the reports for the five days during which McFarland went to the Tamaqua area to investigate the Yost murder are all missing. The expense accounts for those five days, July 15 through July 19, are included in detail. Only the results of the detective’s investigation are missing. The question of why the notes of activities for those days are missing is a valid inquiry. Their absence casts doubt upon the reliability of the reports as a systemic recording of events at, or near the time, they occurred. Much later, the Pinkertons supplied the District Attorney with a narrative for those days, to be used in obtaining convictions against those whom the Pinkertons accused of the murder of officer Yost and a related murder. However, that the five days were not included in the original report summary to Mr. Gowen permits the inference that their original content differed from what was later given to the District Attorney (Burke, page 141).

I now know after reading McFarland’s expense reports that his testimony in the Yost case was full of other lies. He swore that on July 15, he went to Campbell’s saloon to find out who had shot Yost. His expense report shows he had not gone to Campbell’s; rather he had actually gone to a different saloon. He further swore that on July 17, he went to Campbell’s and got information from his son. The expense account shows he actually went to a different saloon and got information from that saloonkeeper’s son. He testified that after the party to celebrate the opening of McGeehan’s saloon, he went back to Campbell’s place. The expense report shows he went to a different bar entirely (Burke, page 179).

 

Chapter 19 - Anti-Monopoly Convention

About the 4th of March, 1875, an Anti-Monopoly Convention was appointed to take place at Harrisburg, having for its principal purpose a movement against the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, by individual and other large operators. Among them was Muff Lawler, who reported, on his return, that there were nearly three hundred representatives present, and it was decided to ask the Legislature, by resolution, to cause an investigation to be made, by committee, of the officers of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, and say why their charter should not be rescinded. 

Proceedings at Harrisburg Yesterday – Speeches and Resolutions – New York Times

Harrisburg, PA, March 3 – The Anti-Monopoly Convention contains representatives from all the labor organizations in New York and Pennsylvania, including the Grangers and retail coal dealers. An address was read by Horace H. Day, of New York, representing the Industrial Congress of the United States, who received a vote of thanks. E.M. Davis, of Philadelphia, also delivered an address on the moneyed power of the country, and its tendency to foster monopolies. The Convention adopted resolutions condemning the passage by the Legislature of any bill which will not hold the employer responsible for the competency of the apprentice when he becomes a master mechanic, urging the passage of some law which will restrain the large corporations from charging excessive rates of transportation, condemning the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company for discharging those of its employees who are members of corporate labor organizations, and recommending the enactment of a law by the Legislature appointing a commission to examine into the causes of the difficulties existing between labor and capital, which shall report the testimony taken and the conclusion arrived at to the Legislature at the next session.

The Convention reassembled this afternoon at 2 o’clock in Barr’s Hall, President John F. Walsh, of Schuylkill County, in the chair. A number of resolutions were adopted tending to oppose monopoly, among them the following:

Resolved, That the action of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company in procuring by fraud and deception the charter known originally as the Laurel Run Improvement Company, and now called the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, whereby special privileges of great value to them and danger to the community were granted, and their abuse of said privileges, demand immediate attention. Upon the Legislature of the State we urge the appointment of a joint committee of both Houses to investigate the affairs of both corporations with instructions to report an act repealing all or so much of their charters as may be detrimental or dangerous to the public welfare.

A discussion of one hour took place on the subject of uniting the laboring classes of the United States. Senator Staunton, of Luzerne, addressed the convention on a bill before the Legislature in the interests of the miners and laborers in the coal fields.

An evening session was held for the further discussion of the question of uniting the mechanics, miners, and laboring men of the country. Several delegates from New York addressed the convention.

James McParland Report March 11, 1875

The operative remarks today, that the miners seem to have a great deal of determination and say they will not succumb to the Reading Rail Road Co., under any circumstances. The operative made some quiet inquiry among the Molly Maguires today, in regard to the affairs at Ashton and learned that the Molly Maguires are very numerous in that section. Thomas Fisher of Summit Hill is County Delegate for Carbon County and Pat McKenna of Storm Hill is the Bodymaster, and it is generally thought by the Molly Maguires of Shenandoah City, that the parties who created the disturbance at Ashton, are not only Molly Maguires, but was more belonging to the various secret organizations.

The Legislature of Pennsylvania, listening to the repeated demands of the Anti-Monopoly Convention, appointed a committee to investigate the affairs of the Philadelphia and Reading Company. That commission convened and heard testimony as the complainants could bring before it, as well as the pleadings of the attorneys for the Philadelphia and Reading Company. Mr. Gowen, the President of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company, personally appeared before the committee and made answer to the charges. 

It was the sixth of July that the committee was in Pottsville. Franklin Gowen alluded to troubles in the coal region: “It will not do to say that these troubles result from the inadequacy of the price paid for labor, because, without exception, the rates paid are the highest in the world. The high rates have had the effect of attracting to the coal region a surplus of labor, more than sufficient to do the work required; and it is the effort of this surplus to receive an employment which it cannot really get that has led to all these disturbances. I have had printed for your use a statement, from the daily reports coming to me during the strike, of the outrages in the coal region. Here I want to correct an impression that goes out to the public, that these outrages are intended to injure the property of the employer. They are not. We do not believe that they are. They are perpetrated for no other purpose than to intimidate the workingmen themselves and to prevent them from going to work. I shall not read the list; it is at your service; and you can look over it and see the position we have occupied for months. But let me mention a few of the glaring instances of tyranny and oppression. At a colliery, called the Ben Franklin Colliery, the employees of which were perfectly satisfied with their wages, had accepted the reduction early in the season, and were working peacefully and contentedly, the torch of the incendiary was applied to the breaker at night. These men, having families to support, working there contentedly and peacefully, were driven out of employment by a few dangerous men, simply for the purpose of preventing them from earning their daily bread. I had some interest in the subject of the amount of their wages, and I asked the owner of the colliery what his miners were actually earning at the time when they were prevented from working by the burning of the structure in which they were employed, and he told me that the lowest miner on his pay-list earned sixty dollars a month, and the highest one hundred and thirty dollars; and yet, although these men were peaceful, law-abiding men, they were driven out of employment by an incendiary fire. At another colliery, within five or six miles of this, a band of twenty or thirty men, in the evening – almost in broad daylight – went to the breaker, and by force drove the men away and burnt the structure down. It belonged to a poor man. It was a small operation. The savings of his lifetime were probably gone, and his own employees, who had nothing against him, and who were perfectly willing to work, were thrown out of employment, and probably remain out of employment to this day.”

When Franklin Gowen concluded, the committee made its report, showing that there was no ground of action, and that was the last heard of Legislative investigating the Company. In the meantime, Gowen pressed McParland to investigate and report on the officers and members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, believing that they were the same as the Molly Maguires.

James McParland Report July 8, 1875

            Operative J. Mc.F. reports that the Molly Maguires appear to take but little interest in the investigating committee. There are men in Pottsville from all parts of the County, and they all agree in saying that it is impossible for an Irishman to get a job at present.

James McParland Report July 9, 1875

            The Molly Maguires declare that the investigation was a humbug and say there was nothing in it. They all complain of hard times. At 11AM the investigating committee left Pottsville.

James McParland Report July 20, 1875

            Austin Maley, the Borough Constable, this morning informed the operative, that Charles Haase wanted him, the operative, to try and get bail for him by next Thursday, if possible. He said the operative was the only man in the crowd who had any brains and he thought he could get bail for him if he tried. Operative J.Mc.F. mentioned the subject to McAndrews and Morris, the former said he thought he could get the bail.

James McParland Report July 21, 1875

            The operative had a talk with John Kehoe, County Delegate of Girardville today, he reports everything quiet in his County. Kehoe asked Reilly to go bail for Charles Haase. Reilly said he would, if he could be accepted. Kehoe then requested operative J.Mc.F. to go to Pottsville tomorrow, and take Reilly with him and see if they could get Haase out. Kehoe stands bail for some six or seven men, amounting in the aggregate to some $10,000. He does not own a foot of real estate.

James McParland Report July 22, 1875

            This morning Reilly told the operative that he could not possibly go to Pottsville today, as there was a liquor merchant in town, and he must remain and see him. He said he would willingly give bail for Haase if he could, but as he was not worth $1,000, he did not think there was any use in trying. The operative thought it would be a good plan to see Haase, as perhaps he might be able to gain some important information by him. Therefore he went to Pottsville and had an interview with him in the jail. He told Haase that he had done all in his power to obtain bail for him but had not yet succeeded; this made the prisoner feel very blue. He talked freely with the operative, but did not appear to know anything in particular of the doings of the Molly Maguires. After the operative’s return to Shenandoah, he was told by McAndrews that he would see Colihan, of Gilberton tomorrow, and see if he could obtain bail of him.

                                                                Charles Haase

Charles Haase, who was just from Summit (Hill), where he had gone to secure work and see some relatives, reported that the Laborer’s Union and the Mollies had made common cause in the fight on Summit Hill, headed by Tom Fisher, County Delegate, Pat McKenna, Bodymaster (of Storm Hill), and a prominent Mollie named (Daniel) Boyle, (Bodymaster of Summit Hill). They were determined that, unless the collieries submitted to the general demand, they should not have men to do their work. Now, McParland had testimony to link the officers of the AOH to the troubles of the Labor Union. McParland ascertained the names of some of the officers and members of the AOH, but did not know the first name of the Bodymaster of Summit Hill. McParland just knew the last name of Boyle.

James McParland Report July 24, 1875

            McAndrews and Reilly went to Gilberton yesterday, but failed to obtain the bail, as Colihan said he was not able to be bondsman for $1,000.

                                                     Chapter 20 - Hugh McGeehan

                   Hugh McGeehan was born on or about 1852 in Glenfin, County Donegal, Ireland. He emigrated with some of his family, to the United States sometime after 1870, for he is not listed in the census. He resided in the Storm Hill section of Lansford, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, at the boarding house of Margaret Boyle. Standing 6’ 0” tall, Hugh first made his living as a miner for the Lehigh and Wilkes Barre Coal Company. He had joined the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), Storm Hill chapter and became heavily involved in demonstrating for the rights of workers during the Long Strike of 1875.
       One of these demonstrations, McGeehan headed a parade of striking miners through the Borough of Tamaqua. A contemporary newspaper had this account: “At noon today a large body of miners from Summit Hill collieries arrived in Tamaqua and made a street demonstration. They were headed by a solitary drummer and a man carrying an American flag. Every person carried a heavy cudgel and looked as if prepared for business. The object of the display was to induce the men working at Colonel Cake’s Philadelphia breaker to strike. The appearance of the strikers made considerable excitement in the town, and the Lehigh men were greeted in a loyal manner by the Schuylkill brethren. Four hundred miners paraded the streets today at Tamaqua. They went to the mines located near this town and found that the men had all quit work. They fired their revolvers in the air and informed the proprietors that they had no objection to coal being mined for the town’s own consumption, but none should be shipped abroad, which was agreed to. They made no disturbance and conducted themselves quietly.”

For his labor activities, he was blacklisted, supposedly by Landsford mine boss John P. Jones. However, William D. Zehner, Superintendent, testified at Hugh's trial that he discharged McGeehan "before we resumed work after the strike."
       On the night of July 5^th, 1875, Officer Benjamin Yost is murdered in Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. On August 9^th, Pinkerton detective James McParland joins McGeehan and Alec Campbell at the Ambrosher's saloon for a drink. Campbell tells McParland he is there to help Hugh McGeehan get a liquor license to open a saloon. On August 14^th, Hugh McGeehan opens a tavern in Summit Hill, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, in a building leased from Nathan Clouse and sponsored by Alex Campbell.
       The Vigilance Committee of Tamaqua or the Flying Squadron of the Reading Railroad Police used a more violent approach against those that were labeled ‘Molly Maguires’. Hugh McGeehan was identified on a “Strictly Confidential” handbill, as the murderer of Officer Yost. There were two attempts against his life, for he was shot at by vigilantes, once in late December, 1875, and then again while walking home early in January, 1876. Although he was not wounded, he could point to bullet holes in his clothes (Riffenburgh, page 112).

On January 9^th, 1876, Hugh McGeehan marries Maria Duggan, in St. Joseph's Church, of Summit Hill, witnessed by James Walsh and Maria McGee. The honeymoon was short lived, for on February 5^th, 1876, McGeehan was arrested for Yost’s murder. On July 24^th, after two trials, he is found guilty, with others of the murder of Yost. On June 21, 1877, McGeehan is given capital punishment in the yard of the Schuylkill County prison. His body is taken back to Summit Hill, where he is buried alongside Alex Campbell and James Boyle in St. Joseph’s Cemetery behind the church.

 

Chapter 21 - John (Jack) Boyle is Killed

            Franklin Gowen’s plan of decimating the remnants of the Ancient Order of Hibernians was coming to fruition, especially at the expense of the Storm Hill Chapter. The Storm Hill AOH Chapter was in the forefront of the opposition to the coal barons in the Schuylkill and Carbon Counties. One by one, the leaders of the Storm Hill AOH Chapter were eliminated in one fashion or another.

In jail for the murder of Officer Benjamin Yost were James Boyle and Hugh McGeehan, both organizers and leaders of the labor protestors in the region. Both were the first to die on the gallows on the “Day of the Rope”, June 21, 1877. Pat McKenna, the Body Master of the Storm Hill AOH Chapter, was arrested and charged with the murder of Morgan Powell. Additionally, Alex Campbell, the Treasurer of the Storm Hill AOH Chapter, was also arrested and charged with the murder of Morgan Powell. McKenna and Campbell were both hung in the Mauch Chunk prison on March 28, 1878.

James Boyle’s older brother, John (Jack) Boyle served the Storm Hill AOH Chapter as the Secretary. With this position, Jack had the ability to both read and write, for it was his responsibility to take minutes and produce official correspondence with other chapters. In the Schuylkill County archives, it appears that both James Boyle and Hugh McGeehan were unable to read and write for they had to affix their mark on all the legal documents and pleadings.

With the tumultuous affairs that surrounded John (Jack) Boyle, he found it unsafe to keep residence in Storm Hill. He left the employ of the coal mine of his family’s roots and went north to the town of Eckley, in Luzerne County. To escape the wrath of Franklin Gowen was not possible. On May 21, 1877, one month before James Boyle was to be hung in Pottsville, John (Jack) Boyle was killed near Stockton, Pennsylvania. According to a limited story in a contemporary newspaper, he was “thrown off” the No. 1 train on the Lehigh Valley railroad and fatally injured. He was taken to Hazleton, where he died about two o’clock in the afternoon.

I recently tried to ascertain the Luzerne County Coroner’s records in the investigation of John (Jack) Boyle’s death, but all of the Coroner’s records were lost in the flooding due to Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Allan Pinkerton later admits that, more than once, members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians were quietly murdered (Bimba, page 71).

                                             Chapter 22 - Kerrigan Is Freed From Jail

Kerrigan was in prison on murder charges for 18 months, but he was never brought to trial even though the law demanded a defendant be brought to trial within two terms of the court. It was during his 18 months in prison that Kerrigan testified as the primary prosecution witness against men accused of being Molly Maguires (McBride, Page 77). A motion to discharge Kerrigan from the custody of the court was subsequently made by the three attorneys prosecuting Campbell, Kelly, Doyle and Donohue. This, in and of itself, is astounding, since this motion is usually proffered by the defense attorneys against the prosecution. This is also evidence of a deal between the prosecution and James Kerrigan.

These prosecuting attorneys were also attorneys for the coal and railroad companies, each having a vested interest in finding the men of the Storm Hill AOH chapter guilty. Lead attorney Albright was an attorney for the Lehigh-Wilkes Barre Coal Company, Frank W. Hughes was an attorney for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and Coal Company (owned by Franklin B. Gowen), and Allen W. Craig was the attorney for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company (owned by Asa Packer). Their argument for the motion to discharge was that District Attorney E. R. Siewers was not ready to prosecute Kerrigan. No reason was given why his case was not ready since Kerrigan had been in prison for at least 18 months. Judge Dreher concurred with this motion and Kerrigan was released from prison on April 10, 1877 (McBride, Page 78).

Kerrigan was given official recognition for services performed in a petition filed, which read: “And now, April 10, 1877, upon motion of Messrs. Hughes, Albright and Craig, it appearing that James Kerrigan, the defendant, having been indicted for the murder of John P. Jones, January 17, 1876, and more than two full terms having elapsed since the indictment, the said defendant is therefore discharged from the further custody of this court, upon said charge the District Attorney not being prepared to prosecute said defendant.” ”I have no objections to the above motion for discharge.” said E.R. Siewers, District Attorney (Bimba, page 282).

As usual, during the trials, there was a phalanx of reporters from around the country, delirious in appetite to report the news from the courtroom. As the reporters entered the courtroom, they were taken aback that James Kerrigan was seated at the prosecution table. At the time we entered the Courtroom, we were not a little astonished to perceive the famous “Little Squealer” occupying Gen. Charles Albright’s accustomed seat, right in front of the bench. But this was soon and fully explained to our satisfaction, when Gen. Albright, with the concurrence of the District Attorney, moved the discharge of Kerrigan, which was at once granted by the Court, and Mr. James Kerrigan left the Courtroom, a happier, if not a better man, than he’d been during the last 19 months or ever before. James was neatly if not nobly dressed, and as he departed from the seat of justice it was with the air of one conscious of having done the state some service (Carbon Advocate, page 4).

Within ten minutes after Kerrigan's discharge, he visited the Coal Gazette office and was interviewed with the following reported:

Reporter - Well Jimmy, I suppose you are happy on account of your release.

Kerrigan - Yes, sir, I am. I had no knowledge that I was to be released until just before dinner. The whole thing was a complete surprise to me. I have spent a little over nineteen months in jail, and while I have no fault to find with the way I was treated there, I am very glad to get out.

Reporter - What do you propose to do?

Kerrigan - Well, I am going to Tamaqua tonight.

Reporter - Is there no some danger in your going back at this time?

Kerrigan - I think it is a duty I owe to my family to go to them at the earliest moment. I will start on the six o'clock train.

Reporter - Have you anything you wish to say through the columns of the Coal Gazette to the public?

Kerrigan - I want to say that I am very thankful to the Commonwealth's attorneys for their treatment of me, and especially General Albright. He always told me to tell nothing but the truth in my evidence, and gave me good advice not to drink and to attend well to my church duties.

Reporter - What do you intend to do?

Kerrigan - My plans are not matured. However, I intend to let drink alone and keep out of bad company...(Bimba, page 282).

                                                            Francis Wade Hughes, Esq.

                                                 Chapter 23 - Kerrigan Is Paid

Mrs. Fannie Kerrigan, James’ wife, was destitute during the trials. The newspapers bathed their columns in human interest stories on the Mollies. The Herald visited Mrs. Kerrigan, and found her in bitterly reduced straits. She and her children were down to “eating bread and water” and were to be evicted for failure to pay their rent. The poor woman mournfully reported that she was planning to sell her furniture, farm out the children, and “go out to service”. When the reporter asked her if she would “live with Jimmy again”, she said she would “if he promises to be kind to me, but if he is rough with me, I won’t stay with him a day.” But, she added, “I’m not sorry I testified, and I told Jimmy in jail…that I would go on the stand against him again if the court wanted me to.” (Broehl, Page 329).

When Benjamin F. Yost, the policeman, was assassinated, the Tamaqua council offered a reward of one thousand dollars for the arrest and conviction of the murderer. The Schuylkill County Commissioners had also offered five hundred dollars additional (Patriot, page 1). At the exact time, that James Kerrigan was released by the Carbon County Court and Jail, at a meeting of the Carbon County Commissioners, the official meeting minutes of April 10, 1877, showed Kerrigan was paid $1,000.00, but there was no indication as to the reason for the payment. This would be the equivalent, according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics, of $24,000.00 based on today’s currency. He was later paid, another $500.00, the equivalent of $12,000.00 in today’s currency.

This is the concurrence needed to prove that James Kerrigan was given leniency for his testimony against those convicted of murder. On September 15, 1877, the Carbon Advocate newspaper reported that, “Jimmy Kerrigan, the notorious Mollie Maguire, was in Pottsville the other day for his witness fees in the several murder trials. Frank Hughes gave him a letter recommending their payment.” (Carbon Advocate, September 15, 1877, page 4). I was unable to ascertain the amount given to Kerrigan from Schuylkill County, however, from Carbon County, he was given, at least, the total of $1,500.00 (the equivalent of $36,000.00 in today’s currency). The total average salary of a miner in 1877, was around $300 to $400 annually.

                                            Minutes from Carbon County Commissioners