been infested by a most desperate class of men, banded together for the
worst purposes—called by some the Buckshots, by others the Mollie
Maguires. They made such sad havoc of the country that life was no
longer secure and the regions suffered in many ways.
The unusual circumstance of this trial was the fact that it was the
first indictment of a “Mollie Maguire” in this country which had a
possible chance for ultimate conviction.
John P. Jones was a mine boss who had incurred the illwill of some of
the Irish connected with the organization of Mollie Maguires, masking
under the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and on the morning of September
3, 1875, he left his home in Lansford, in which were his wife and seven
children, and traveled toward the breaker where he was employed. The
three assassins, James Kerrigan, Mike Doyle and Edward Kelly, were lying
in wait for him and cruelly shot him down, killing him on the spot.
This crime was no more revolting or cruel than the many others committed
by this murderous organization, but it was the one in which the
Pinkerton detective, James McParlan, had been able to connect all the
facts in the case, and with the additional assistance of James Kerrigan
turning State’s witness the civil authorities were able to conduct such
a trial that the two other murderers were convicted.
Michael Doyle was found guilty January 22, 1876, and sentenced to death.
This was the first conviction of a Mollie Maguire in this country.
Edward Kelly was subsequently placed on trial for the same crime and on
March 29 was found guilty. Doyle and Kelly both were hanged at Mauch
Chunk, June 21, 1876, and the Mollie Maguires ceased to be the terror of
civilized people.
To form some idea of the operations of these desperadoes it must be
known that the Mollie Maguires were more than bloodthirsty and active in
1865. On August 25, that year, David Muir, superintendent of a colliery,
was shot and killed in broad daylight. On January 10, 1866, Henry H.
Dunne, a well known citizen of Pottsville, and superintendent of a large
colliery, was murdered on the highway near the city limits, while riding
home in his carriage. On Saturday, October 17, 1868, Alexander Rea,
another mining superintendent, was killed on the wagon road, near
Centralia, Columbia County. Several arrests were made but no
convictions.
On March 15, 1869, William H. Littlehales, superintendent of the Glen
Carbon Company, was killed on the highway enroute to his home in
Pottsville. F. W. S. Langdon, George K. Smith and Graham Powell, all
mine officials, met death at the hands of assassins.
On December 2, 1871, Morgan Powell, assistant superintendent of the
Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal and Iron Company, at Summitt Hill, Carbon
County, was shot down on the street.
In October, 1873, F. B. Gowen, president of the Philadelphia and Reading
Railway Company and the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company,
employed Allan Pinkerton, the noted detective, to take charge of a
thorough investigation of this organization.
Pinkerton accepted the commission and selected James McParlan, a young
Irish street-car conductor of Chicago, to be his chief operative in this
hazardous enterprise. On the evening of October 27, 1873, there arrived
at Port Carbon a tramp who gave his name as one James McKenna, who was
seeking work in the mines. This McKenna was none other than Detective
McParlan and well did he perform his task.
McParlan cleverly assumed the role of an old member of the order, and as
one who had committed such atrocious crimes in other parts of this
country that he must be careful of undue publicity. He could sing and
dance, and was an all around good fellow, but only feigned the drunken
stupor in which he was so constantly being found by his associates.
The crowning event in his three years’ work was his initiation into the
Ancient Order of Hibernians, at Shenandoah, April 14, 1874. He was soon
appointed secretary on account of his better education. In fact, he was
a leader and supposedly the most hardened criminal of the coal regions.
October 31, 1874, George Major, Chief Burgess of Mahanoy City, was shot
and killed by Mollie Maguires. On April 6, 1875, a despicable plot to
destroy the great bridge on the Catawissa Railroad only failed because
the Mollies in charge of the work failed to make the fire burn the
structure. McParlan was in on this crime, but had much to do with its
failure.
Conditions were so serious by June 1, 1875, that Governor Hartranft sent
militia to Shenandoah and in their very faces 700 Mollies attempted to
capture and destroy a breaker, June 3. August 11 there was a great riot
in Shenandoah. Edward Cosgrove and Gomer James were murdered and a
bystander was killed during the riot.
August 14, 1875, has since been known as “Bloody Saturday” in the coal
regions. On that day Thomas Gwyther, a justice of the peace, of
Girardville, was murdered. Miners rioted in many places.
September 1, Thomas Sanger, boss at Heaton & Co., colliery, near
Ashland, and William Uren were murdered. On September 3, John J. Jones,
already mentioned, was killed.
At the great trial the Commonwealth was represented by E. R. Siewers,
the able district attorney; F. W. Hughes, of Pottsville; General Charles
Albright, of Mauch Chunk, and Allen Craig. For the defense appeared Linn
Bartholomew, J. B. Reilly and John W. Ryon, of Pottsville; Daniel
Kalbfus and Edward Mulhearn of Mauch Chunk. James Kerrigan gave State’s
testimony, which left no doubt of the guilt of the prisoner, and this
also was the death knell to the Mollies. Arrests rapidly followed for
the other murders.
When the Mollies learned of McParlan’s true character, they planned his
destruction, March 5, 1876, but now it was too late. Their nefarious
work was at an end.
What might be said to be the closing climax of this reign of terror was
the trial in Bloomsburg, February 24, 1877, when Pat Hester, Pat Tully
and Peter McHugh were arraigned for the murder of Alexander Rea. The
first trial February 2, 1869, had resulted in acquittal for Thomas
Donahue, and the other cases were dropped, but this time the three
prisoners were found “guilty” and were hanged in Columbia County jail,
March 25, 1878, nine years after the murder of Rea.
On May 21, 1877, Governor Hartranft signed the death warrants for eight
other Mollies and on June 21 they were hanged. These, with the three
hanged at Bloomsburg, brought to a close the business of the Mollie
Maguires.
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Prophetic Letter to President Buchanan by
Governor Packer, Who Was Inaugurated
January 19, 1858
The campaign of 1857 was unusually active, as there were three prominent
candidates in the contest. The Democrats nominated State Senator William
F. Packer, of Williamsport, one of the most widely known of the
representative men of the State; the Republicans named the Hon. David
Wilmot, of Towanda, author of the “Wilmot Proviso,” who enjoyed a
wide-spread reputation as a public speaker and a politician; and the
Hon. Isaac Hazlehurst, was the choice of the Native American Party,
still quite a factor in Pennsylvania politics. After a spirited campaign
Senator Packer was elected by a majority of fourteen thousand votes over
both the other candidates. He was inaugurated January 19, 1858.
The political question which overshadowed all others at this period was,
whether Kansas should be admitted into the union with or without a
constitutional recognition of slavery.
Governor Packer was an ardent friend of James Buchanan, and labored
zealously to secure his nomination for the Presidency. Mr. Buchanan was
inaugurated about the time of Packer’s nomination for Governor. The
clouds were rapidly forming in Kansas where a state of hostility existed
between the inhabitants and the general Government, and the agents of
the latter, for their safety, had been compelled to flee from the
territory. The slave-holders were making a desperate effort to control
the state and thus extend their sway.
Buchanan had been in Washington only a few days when he received a
letter from Mr. Packer, which in view of his prophetic utterances,
honest advice and the further fact that it was written by a
Pennsylvanian, so soon to become Governor, to a Pennsylvania President
of the United States, that the following paragraphs should prove of
interest.
The letter was dated Harrisburg, March 24, 1857.
“Our people confidently expect that your administration will see that
equal and exact justice shall be done to all parties—the free-state as
well as the pro-slavery men—and they will be satisfied with nothing
short of that. We approve of the Kansas bill; but in God’s name let its
provisions be honestly carried out; let the law be faithfully executed.
Let the conduct of the public agents in Kansas not only be right, but
let it _appear to be right_. If slavery should be instituted by, or
under a slave-holding executive; and Kansas should claim admission as a
slave state, it does not require a prophet to foretell the consequences
north of Mason and Dixon’s line.
“The Democratic party, which has stood by the Constitution and the
rights of the South with such unflinching fidelity, would be stricken
down in the few remaining States where it is yet in the ascendancy; the
balance of power would be lost; and Black Republicans would rule this
nation, or civil war, and disunion would inevitably follow.
“What, then, is to be done? Will you permit me to make a suggestion? The
post of honor and renown, if successfully and satisfactorily filled, at
this moment in the gift of the President, is the Governorship of Kansas.
Send one of the first men of the nation there—some gentleman who enjoys
the confidence of the North and the South—and let him cover himself with
glory by a fearless and a faithful discharge of the duties of his
station. Sustain him, then, with the whole power of the Government, and
follow with swift vengeance any party that dares to raise a hand against
the law or its prompt and faithful execution.
“The time for trifling is past. Bold, efficient action is required. To
waver or to vacillate, is to fail. Who, then, should be appointed? If
General Scott would accept of the position, and if the duties are
compatible with those of the military station he now holds, I answer,
appoint General Winfield Scott. He has the confidence of the nation. He
is acceptable to the South, having been born and reared in Virginia; and
he is not unacceptable to the North, inasmuch as he now resides there.
If requested by the President, in view of the importance of the Mission,
I do not think that he would decline. However, let some such man be
appointed—some man well known to the American people, and in whom they
confide, and the result will be the same. All will be well. Otherwise I
tremble for the result.”
It was during Governor Packer’s administration in 1858, that the office
of superintendent of public schools was separated from that of secretary
of the Commonwealth. The first state normal school was located at
Millersville, Lancaster County.
In 1859 the celebrated raid into Virginia by John Brown occurred, by
which the public property of the United States at Harper’s Ferry was
seized, and the lives of citizens of that State sacrificed by that band
of fanatics, who, in their mad zeal, attempted to excite the slave
population to insurrection. The plans for this raid were perfected in
Chambersburg, where John Brown and his associates lived for a time,
under assumed names.
The subsequent trial and conviction of John Brown, and his followers, by
no means quenched the fire of disunion which was then kindling.
Governor Packer, in his last message to the Legislature, expressed in
plain terms the fearful position in which South Carolina, and the other
states preparing for similar rebellious action, had placed themselves.
Mutterings of the coming storm were approaching nearer and nearer and
the year 1861 opened up with a gloomy aspect. In the midst of this
portentous overshadowing, Andrew G. Curtin took charge of the helm of
State.
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Albert Gallatin, Soldier, Statesman and
Financier, Born January 20, 1761
Albert Gallatin was born in Geneva, Switzerland, January 20, 1761. Both
of his parents were of distinguished families and died while he was an
infant. He graduated from the University of Geneva in 1779.
Feeling a great sympathy for the American colonists in their struggle
for liberty, he came to Massachusetts in 1780, entered the military
service, and for a few months commanded the post at Passamaquoddy.
At the close of the war he taught French at Harvard University, where he
remained until 1784, when he received his patrimonial estate. He
invested it in land in West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania, and, in
1786, he settled on land on the banks of the Monongahela River, in
Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Here he lived and became naturalized.
The town was named New Geneva from his native place in Switzerland. Here
he built a log house, which subsequently gave place to a stone structure
yet standing. He was a partner in establishing the first glass house in
that section of the State. He became one of the foremost citizens of
America.
He served in the General Assembly of Pennsylvania for several terms and
in 1793 was chosen a United States Senator for Pennsylvania, but was
declared ineligible on the ground that he had not been a citizen of the
United States the required nine years.
During the Whisky Insurrection in Western Pennsylvania, 1794, Albert
Gallatin played a conspicuous role.
In the meeting of the malcontents, August 14, 1794, at Parkinson’s
Ferry, where 260 delegates, elected by the several counties, organized
and adopted some intemperate resolutions, Colonel Edward Cook was
appointed chairman, and Albert Gallatin, secretary. The organic force of
the insurrection was condensed into a committee of sixty and that
committee was again represented by a Standing Committee of twelve.
Gallatin was energetic in working with his friends to gain time and
restore quietness. He presented with great force the folly of resistance
and the ruinous consequences to the country of the continuance of the
insurrection. He urged that the Government was bound to vindicate the
laws and that it would surely send an overwhelming force against them.
He placed the subject in a new light and showed the insurrection to be a
much more serious affair than it had before appeared.
After the Pennsylvania commissioners had reached Pittsburgh and met with
those of the National Government and the committee appointed at the
meeting at Parkinson’s Ferry, a conference of the committee of sixty was
held at Redstone Old Fort, now Brownsville.
This meeting was opened by a long, sensible and eloquent speech by
Albert Gallatin in favor of law and order. Backed by Judge Hugh H.
Brackenridge, Gallatin won the day, and the insurrection was happily
ended before the army was called into action.
Gallatin was censured for the part he had taken, but no man stood higher
in the opinion, not only of President Washington, but of the
Pennsylvania authorities. In the General Assembly December, 1794, in an
able speech Gallatin admitted his “political sin” in the course he had
taken in the insurrectionary movement.
He was elected to Congress in 1795, and in a debate on Jay’s Treaty in
1796 he charged Washington and Jay with having pusillanimously
surrendered the honor of their country. This, from the lips of a young
foreigner, exasperated the Federalists. He was a leader of the Democrats
and directed his attention particularly to financial matters.
Gallatin remained in Congress until 1801, when President Thomas
Jefferson appointed him Secretary of the Treasury, which office he held
until 1813, and obtained the credit of being one of the best financiers
of the age.
The opponents of Jefferson’s Administration complained vehemently in
1808 that the country was threatened with direct taxation at a time when
the sources of its wealth, by the orders and decrees of Great Britain
and France, were drying up. Gallatin replied to these complaints, as
Secretary of the Treasury, by reproducing a flattering but delusive
suggestion contained in his annual report the preceding year.
He suggested that as the United States was not likely to be involved in
frequent wars, a revenue derived solely from duties on imports, even
though liable to diminution during war, would yet amply suffice to pay
off, during long intervals of peace, the expenses of such wars as might
be undertaken.
Should the United States become involved in war with both France and
Great Britain, no internal taxes would be necessary to carry it on, nor
any other financial expedient, beyond borrowing money and doubling the
duties on import. The scheme, afterwards tried, bore bitter fruit.
His influence was felt in other departments of Government and in the
politics of the country. Opposed to going to war against Great Britain
in 1812, he exerted all his influence to avert it.
In March, 1813, he was appointed one of the envoys to Russia to
negotiate for the mediation of the Czar between the United States and
Great Britain. He sailed for St. Petersburg, but the Senate in special
sessions, refused to ratify his appointment because he was Secretary of
the Treasury. The attempt at mediation was unsuccessful.
When, in January, 1814, Great Britain proposed a direct negotiation for
peace, Gallatin, who was still abroad, was appointed one of the United
States Commissioners. He resigned his secretaryship. He was one of the
signers of the Treaty of Ghent.
In 1815 he was appointed Minister to France, where he remained until
1823. He refused a seat in the Cabinet of President Monroe on his return
and also declined to be a candidate for Vice President to which the
dominant Democratic Party nominated him.
President Adams appointed him Minister to Great Britain, where he
negotiated several important commercial conventions.
Returning to America in 1827, he took up his residence in New York City.
There he was engaged in public service in various ways until 1839, when
he withdrew from public duties and directed the remainder of his life to
literary pursuits.
Although strictly in private life, Gallatin took special interest in the
progress of the country, and wrote much on the subject. His published
works include such subjects as finance, politics and ethnology.
Mr. Gallatin was chief founder, in 1842, and the first president of the
American Ethnological Society, and was president of the New York
Historical Society from 1843 until his death, August 12, 1849, at
Astoria, L. I.
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General Thomas Mifflin, Soldier, Statesman
and Several Times Governor, Died
January 21, 1800
When the venerable Franklin was about to step aside as the President of
the Council and withdraw from public employment, the people of
Pennsylvania became concerned in the successor to so brilliant a man.
The choice fell upon Thomas Mifflin, and he occupied the enviable
position of Chief Executive of the Commonwealth longer than any other
Pennsylvanian, two years as President of the Council and three times
Governor, an aggregate of eleven years.
Thomas Mifflin was the son of Quaker parents, and was born in
Philadelphia in 1744. He was educated in the Philadelphia College, and
his parents intended that Thomas should follow a mercantile profession.
Upon the completion of his college course he entered the counting house
of William Coleman. At the age of twenty-one he made a tour of Europe
and then entered into a business partnership with his brother in
Philadelphia.
In 1772 he was elected one of the two members of the Legislature from
the City of Philadelphia, and was re-elected the following year, when he
was the colleague of Franklin, then just returned from his mission to
England.
So conspicuous were his services in the Assembly, that when the
appointment of delegates to the first Continental Congress came to be
made, Mifflin was selected as one, and he occupied a position of
commanding influence.
“When the news,” says Dr. Rawle, his biographer, “of the battle of
Lexington reached Philadelphia, a town meeting was called and the fellow
citizens of Mifflin were delighted by his animated oratory.” None did
more than he to arouse the populace to a sense of the danger which
threatened. He did not only exhort, but he put in practice his pleading.
When the troops were to be enlisted and drilled, Mifflin was among the
foremost to train them, and was selected as a major in one of the
earliest formed regiments.
The patriot blood spilled at Lexington and Concord fired a martial
spirit throughout America by which the bold leaders in every State were
nerved to resist and resent those unprovoked assaults, and when
Washington appeared at the camp in Boston as the Commander-in-Chief of
the American armies, Mifflin was by his side.
Recognizing his great personal popularity, the ease and dignity of his
manners, breadth and soundness of his views, Washington placed Mifflin
at the head of his military family. In the absence of, or at the
retirement from the table of the chief it fell upon Mifflin to occupy
his place and do the honors; and for this duty, by his social position
at home and his foreign travel he was admirably fitted. Colonel Mifflin
was the first person in America who officiated as aide-de-camp.
When Washington, July, 1775, organized the entire army, the difficult
position of quartermaster general was assigned to Mifflin. The duties
were new and arduous. Everything was in chaos. Order had to be
established and system inaugurated.
On May 19, 1776, Congress appointed and commissioned Mifflin to be a
brigadier general and he was given command of Pennsylvania troops. An
assignment to the active field was much more to his liking than one at
headquarters.
Upon taking the field Mifflin was relieved as quartermaster general by
General Stephen Moylan, who was ill suited to the difficult task of
providing for an army where the authority for calling in supplies was
little respected and the means of paying for them was rarely in hand;
and not long after accepting the position he abandoned it.
Congress called upon Mifflin to again assume the duties of quartermaster
general and he reluctantly responded to the call of his country, deeming
it a matter of duty.
The reverses of the American Army during the summer and fall of 1776
culminated in its withdrawal into New Jersey, hotly pursued by the
British troops. Pennsylvania was threatened and especially Philadelphia,
where Congress was sitting. At this dark hour Mifflin was sent with
dispatches from Washington to Congress, calling on that body loudly for
help.
Mifflin, at the request of Congress, made a stirring address, setting
forth the perilous situation, and appealing for the means to oppose the
further advance of the defiant enemy. That body was greatly exercised
and ordered that General Mifflin should remain near Congress for
consultation and advice.
As the enemy pressed toward Philadelphia, General Putnam was sent to
take command in the city and General Mifflin was placed in charge of the
war material and stores.
The victory at Trenton produced a gleam of hope and Congress dispatched
Mifflin throughout the State of Pennsylvania in order that, by his
personal appeals, volunteers might be drawn to the support of
Washington’s decimated ranks. He caused large numbers to enlist.
Mifflin was mixed up in the “Conway Cabal,” but in after years he
explained his position, and it would seem to prove the intensity of his
devotion to the struggle in which he had staked fortune and life itself.
In 1783 General Mifflin was elected a member of Congress, and had the
satisfaction of being President of that body, when General Washington,
December 23, 1783, resigned his commission into its hands. Mifflin made
an eloquent reply.
General Mifflin was a member of the Assembly of Pennsylvania which met
in 1785; also of the convention which sat in 1787 and framed the
Constitution of the United States.