by Aimee Tabor of The Standard Speaker
Eckley, Pennsylvania, May 19, 2002
Contrary to what some historians believe, historian Lance Metz feels there is another person behind the financing of the Molly Maguire trial in Carbon County. Metz, during a presentation at Eckley Miners' Village Sunday afternoon, told the group of people who gathered in the visitors center auditorium that his research indicates Edward W. Clark financed the trial. Clark, who was president of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co., also served as special prosecutor in the trial, which took place in Jim Thorpe, once known as Mauch Chunk.
Metz, a Commonwealth speaker for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, said he discovered it was Clark who was behind the trial after seeing an entry in the 1878 issue of the American Railroad Journal. That issue stated that Clark paid the bills of the people who were serving as lawyers during the trial. Naming Clark as the person behind the trial differs from popular belief. "A dozen of books were written about the Molly Maguires," Metz said, adding that he's read several books that name Asa Packer as the man who was behind supporting the trial. "I discovered who was involved and who was paying the bills," Metz said. "It was not Asa Packer. There are a lot of myths about this man."
Metz went on to dispel the popular belief that Packer, who is famous in Jim Thorpe for his mansion and other activities, financed the trial. The reasons Metz cited included: Packer's hatred for Franklin Benjamin Gowen, who was president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad; the fact Packer didn't own that much coal land in the Molly Maguire territory; and he wasn't living in Carbon County during the trial. "In 1877 when the Molly Maguires were held, Packer's health was deteriorating," Metz said. "In 1879, he died in Philadelphia after falling down a flight of stairs." Metz said the activity associated with the so-called Molly Maguires didn't really have an impact on Packer. "It wasn't Packer's empire that was being threatened by the Molly Maguires," he said. "Ninety-five percent of his coal land was out of the area that the Molly Maguires were active in."
Besides dispelling the belief that Packer was involved, Metz explained the history behind the Molly Maguires, a secret society of Irish immigrants. That history began in the mid-1800s as more and more immigrants were brought in for mining. First, people of English/Welsh descent worked the mines. Then, the Pennsylvania-Germans were next. Finally, people of Irish descent worked in the mines. During the 1800s, several laws were instituted that regulated the mining industry. Unrest among the workers also began to develop during that time.
Then, Gowen and his company, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, bought 300,000 acres of coal land in the northeast. Gowen used the term "Molly Maguire" to his advantage to get rid of people he felt were threats. As a result, five people were tried in 1877 for alleged activity that linked them as members of the Molly Maguires. "All the people who were tried were Irish," Metz said. The five men also were somewhat prominent in the community, being bar owners and heavily into politics. Gowen used that to his advantage in order to show the rest of the workers that so-called prominent men could be put on trial, Metz said.
Even the jury ended up being stacked against the men on trial. "Out of the jury pool, no one of Irish-Catholic descent was picked," Metz said. "The majority of the jury pool were Pennsylvania-Germans, who were all strict Protestants." Plus, the private attorneys and anthracite company executives served as special prosecutors during the trial. After the trial ended, four of the five men were found guilty and were hanged. "The ropes were not set right and it took between 12 to 20 minutes long for the men to die," Metz said.
Historian Dispels Many Popular Beliefs Over Molly Maguire Trial
