In 1876: The Diary of Molly Maguire
The coal mines of Pennsylvania literally helped to fuel the growth of modern America. The steel for the railroads would not have been possible without the hard graft of men down the mines. Many of those men were immigrants, arriving as huddled masses to find work and their fortunes.
Mostly they ended up working to increase someone else’s fortune. Business men owned the mines and paid the labourers the least they could. Irishmen joined together in Celtic societies to protect themselves from exploitation, such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
These societies became a cross between a Trade Union and a local kind of Mafia. The key tool for the redistribution of wealth was the gun, recently made popular during the American Civil War.
This book is a diary of the sordid story of life in the coalmining districts.
2025
New York
The Atlast Project →
The Day of the Rope
Ten men were hanged on Thursday 21 June 1877, convicted of murder and accused of being part of the Molly Maguires, the secret society using violence to achieve equality. Four died on a brand new 4-person gallows at Mauch Chunk. The six executed at Potsville could only be hanged two at a time.