June21, 1877 – The Molly Maguires, 10 Irish immigrants are hanged at the Schuylkil County, PA

[Sherman A1]

The Molly Maguires was a 19th-century secret society of mainly Irish and Irish-American coal miners. Many historians believe the "Mollies" were present in the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania in the United States from the time of the American Civil War until a series of sensational arrests and trials from 1876?78. Members of the "Mollies" were accused of murder, arson, kidnapping and other crimes, in part based on allegations by Franklin B. Gowen and the testimony of a Pinkerton detective, James McParland (also known as James McParlan), a native of County Armagh, Ireland. Fellow prisoners testified against the defendants, who were arrested by the Coal and Iron Police, who served Gowen, who acted as a prosecutor in some of the trials.[1]

The trusts seem to have focused almost exclusively upon the Molly Maguires for criminal prosecution. Information passed from the Pinkerton detective, intended only for the detective agency and their client — the most powerful industrialist of the region — was apparently[vague] also provided to vigilantes who ambushed and murdered miners suspected of being Molly Maguires, as well as their families.[2] Molly Maguire history is sometimes presented as the prosecution of an underground movement that was motivated by personal vendettas, and sometimes as a struggle between organized labor and powerful industrial forces. Whether membership in the Mollies' society overlapped union membership to any appreciable extent remains open to conjecture.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Maguires

[Scuba]

1. And things have changed how?

[life long demo]

2. Just in case anyone missed it

"Fellow prisoners testified against the defendants, who were arrested by the Coal and Iron Police, who served Gowen, who acted as a prosecutor in some of the trials. "

"The "police" reported to Franklin Gowen, president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad". Gowen was a private citizen, but was also the prosecutor at the trials!!!!!!!!! "The year of 1876 saw a series of Molly trials and convictions. Arrested by private policeman and prosecuted by mining and railroad company attorneys, the trials, in the words of historian Harold Aurand, "marked one of the most astounding surrenders of sovereignty in American history."