The Mollies Were Men (Second Edition)
The Final Chapter
by
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Despite all of the efforts by Franklin B. Gowen the P&R C&I had an astounding total operating loss of $12,257,568 for the period from1876 to 1887. In 1888, Gowen reported, that the monies needed to restore efficient operating procedure to the mines cost the company $1,186,614. The company went into bankruptcy and Gowen was fired as its president. On December 14, 1889, Franklin B. Gowen committed suicide in a hotel in Washington, D. C. The trials of the "Molly Maguires" were a travesty of justice. It is a time of embarrassment for the judicial system in the history of our country. The trials were conducted with open hostility against Irish Catholics. The judge in Jack Kehoe’s trial was an old political enemy. Judge Pershing did not allow key witnesses to testify. Irish and Catholic alike were not allowed to serve on any of the juries. The prosecution was conducted by Franklin B. Gowen and General John Albright, a mine operator’s attorney. The General wore his full military regalia to emphasize his patriotism. The evidence against the accused men was provided by the Pinkerton Detective Agency spy, McParlane. His testimony was corroborated by men who were granted immunity for their own crimes. James Kerrigan confessed to one murder and then retracted his confession, but his wife testified that Kerrigan did commit the murder that he was accusing others of committing while he himself was on trial. Witnesses testifying for the accused miners were indicted for perjury. Several of these witnesses were women and all those accused of perjury were sentenced to thirty months in the county prison. This made many of the defense’s witnesses reluctant to testify, even for their close friends. The bizarre way the trials were conducted and the speed in which they were pushed through the courts are very troubling to current legal experts. The rush by the jurors and the guidance and direction of the courts show that a miscarriage of justice happened near the end of the century. The judicial system appeared to be corrupt. It abandoned its responsibility and turned the courtroom over to the coal company allowing it to take the law into its own hands. The coal company used a private police force to arrest the men; hand picked the juries, put fear into the minds of potential witnesses and provided the gallows and the hangman. It was a time when the coal region experienced lawlessness on both sides of the courtroom. This does not justify murder but the question was always there. How many innocent men were convicted and sentenced to die? All this was done in an effort to subdue labor movements and attempt to make the rich coal fields throughout several counties available for personal gain of one man and his company. Table 2 shows the expediency with which the Molly Maguires were prosecuted once the process got started with their arrests. There were five unsolved murders in the three counties at the time McParlane came on the scene in Shenandoah in February of 1874. After he came on the scene, seven more murders were committed. Crimes unsolved for twelve years were suddenly resolved in less than two as soon as James Kerrigan confessed to the murder of John P. Jones. He decided to accept the Prosecution’s promise of freedom by pointing to men who helped to convict others for the 1868 murder of Alexander.
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About the Book
On June 21, 1877, in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, ten men were executed by court order. All were said to be members of the "Molly Maguires," a secret society formed during the latter half of the nineteenth century by the Irish coal miners of the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania. Dr. Barrett, using a wealth of authentic records and backed by intensive research, contends that although the Mollies did exist and did perpetrate some crimes, their trials and arrest were ridden with perjury, false accusations, and unbelievable miscarriages of justice, all condoned by the politicians of the era. Hired by a mine executive, a Pinkerton detective, carried out a course of espionage among members of a Molly "lodge" which resulted in the conviction and execution of a large number of Molly Maguires. It is the author’s belief that this secret group, which appeared to take the law into its own hands, was forced to do so by the circumstances of the era and, by so doing, helped to set the pattern for our modern-day enlightened labor conditions. They were persecuted, convicted and hanged – but they did accomplish their purpose, which was to someday force better working conditions for their fellow man.
About the Author
Dr. Barrett was born in Shenandoah in 1938 and he learned very early from his dad to plan on getting away from the mines. After his father passed away, he found all of his father’s original notes and research material, he tracked additional information from the Internet and old newspaper files. The new records and the attraction of the Molly Maguire legend made Tom want to complete the story. Dr. Barrett, working as an analyst and system engineer, learned to keep accurate evidence and notes. He used this experience and talent to integrate and edit the original version of The Mollies Were Men to create this second edition as The Final Chapter giving closure to this violent era.