John Lindermuth (writing as J. R.) tells me a
favourite of his novels is WATCH THE
HOUR because ‘it deals with the hard times of the miners in my home area
and the strength they needed to survive.’
In the 1870s in Pennsylvania's anthracite coal region, mine
owners and their employees, particularly the Irish immigrants, are in conflict
over working conditions. Private police forces commissioned by the state but
paid by the coal companies are sworn to protect mine owners property. The
miners know their real purpose is to spy upon targeted agitators and intimidate
and break up strikers.
The MOLLY MAGUIRES, a secret society some see as working to
improve the lot of the Irish and which others damn as a terrorist organization,
are viewed as an increasing threat.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN YEAGER is a coal company police officer.
Despite his efforts at fairness, Yeager's job makes him the enemy of the Irish.
And that's the crux of his troubles. For Ben is in love with an Irish girl.
Some Pennsylvania
miners
The Molly
Maguires was 19th-century secret
society originating in Ireland. To distinguish themselves from
other such organisations the Mollies blackened their faces with burnt cork.
They spread to where Irish immigrants spread, in the waves of
migration following the Irish Potato Famine.
The Mollies are first mentioned in Liverpool,
England in 1853.
They were active in the ‘hard coal’ mining areas of
north-eastern Pennsylvania from at least 1863. Members of the Mollies were
accused of arson, kidnapping and other crimes, plus fifty 'inexplicable
murders' between 1863 and 1877 in Schuylkill County, in part based on
allegations by FRANKLIN B. GOWEN.
Gowen, the president of the Philadelphia and
Reading Coal and Iron Company and 'the wealthiest anthracite coal mine
owner in the world', hired Pinkerton Detectives to deal with the Mollies.
Pinkerton Detective JAMES McPARLAND went undercover against the Mollies.
Using the alias ‘James McKenna’, he claimed to have
become a trusted member of the organization. He was also working secretly with
a Pinkerton agent assigned to the Coal and Iron Police (a private police force
basically entrusted with strike breaking.) Partly as a result of his
investigations, twenty suspected members of the Molly Maguires were convicted
of murder and other crimes and were hung in 1877 and 1878.
Most notable of those executed was perhaps JOHN
KEHOE, known best by his nickname ‘Black
Jack.’ Kehoe was a miner who became a tavern-keeper and
businessman. Kehoe's rallied miners toward unionization and was an
eloquent spokesman for the rights of coal miners, who, according to one
historian, lived lives of ‘bitter, terrible struggle.’
Black Jack was hung following a conviction for his
alleged involvement as a Molly Maguire in an 1863 murder.
In 1979,
Pennsylvania Governor MILTON SHAPP granted a posthumous pardon to Kehoe
after an investigation by the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. Shapp praised
Kehoe, saying ‘the men called "Molly Maguires" were "martyrs to
labour" and heroes in the struggle to establish a union and fair treatment
for workers.’
Before
John Lindermuth SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE based his SHERLOCK HOLMES novel ‘The
Valley of Fear’ partly on James McParland's infiltration of the Mollies.
John’s
story naturally brought to mind the 1970 movie THE MOLLY MAGUIRES, starring
RICHARD HARRIS as McParland and SEAN CONNERY as Kehoe.
RICHARD
HARRIS and SEAN CONNERY in ‘THE MOLLY MAGUIRES’
Irish
miners out west featured in The High Chaparral episode ‘No Irish Need Apply.’
HENRY
DARROW and JOHN VERNON in ‘No Irish Need
Apply’
And ‘The Big Valley’ episode ‘Heritage’ showed
the Mollies active in the California mines. It would be interesting to know if
that has any historical basis.
LEE
MAJORS, FORD RAINEY and PETER BRECK in ‘Heritage’
WATCH THE HOUR reviews:
‘All the
earmarks of the epic… Wonderfully tactile descriptions.’
‘With
Lindermuth's usual depth of characters and story… an exciting, well-wrought
read.’
‘An
intriguing cast of characters and richly detailed settings bring this work of
historical fiction to life.’
This sounds incredible. I had never heard of the Mollies. I was just saying earlier today how easy it is to go through life without knowing the history of the area where one lives. I like that John does the hard work of knowing his area of PA so well and telling stories about it.
ReplyDeleteResearch and authenticity are, of course, a characteristic of John's work, Amy. I didn't know much about the Mollies myself until I was researching this blog. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed the post.
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