Pinkerton’s Great Detective
Page 58
7. Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency, History of Detectives: James McParlan, Oct. 16, 1880, LoC, box 30.
8. JM, report to AP, Oct. 10, 1873, HML, file B-979.
9. Beames, Peasants and Power, p. 78; Connolly, Priests and People in Pre-Famine Ireland, chapt. 6; Kenny, Making Sense of the Molly Maguires, pp. 158–62; Ridge, Erin’s Sons in America. Others sources that made a link between the two societies included: The Daily Miners’ Journal; The Pilot; The Philadelphia Inquirer; and The New York Herald.
10. JM, quoted in RCK, pp. 15–16.
11. JM, testimony in trial of Thomas Munley, as recorded in The Daily Miners’ Journal, July 3, 1876.
12. For example, a significant amount of Patrick Campbell’s research for A Molly Maguire Story was conducted under the assumption that McParlan received large sums that he hid in a variety of ways, but Campbell admitted that some of his guesses were inaccurate, and the rest remain simply conjecture. The film The Molly Maguires indicated that McParlan had been told that his reward would be an appointment as head of Pinkerton’s Colorado office—but this clearly was not the case, as Pinkerton’s expanding into Denver was not seriously considered until 1886, in response to the Thiel Detective Service Company opening an office there. The most intriguing connection between McParlan and unexplained payments was made by Howard Crown in an appendix to A Molly Maguire on Trial (pp. 176–78). Crown reported the existence of an invoice from Pinkerton’s to the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company for “services and expenses in connection with ‘Investigation of Mollie Maguires.’” The document shows three monthly payments to McParlan of $210 each, from November 1879 to January 1880. However, no further documentation has been found, so the reasons for the transactions remain a mystery.
13. See, for example, Marshall, Intelligence and Espionage, pp. 122–24.
14. See, for example, Allan, Palgrave of Arabia; Hopkirk, The Great Game; Meyer and Brysac, Tournament of Shadows.
15. See, for example, Alvarez, Spies in the Vatican; Greenwood, “A Night in a Workhouse”; Williams, Klaus Fuchs.
16. Marshall, Intelligence and Espionage, p. 122.
17. Taylor, Dudley Bradstreet, p. 111.
18. BF, report to FBG, March 25, 1874, HSP, folder 3.
19. AP, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, p. 26.
20. JM, testimony in trial of Thomas Munley, as recorded in The Daily Miners’ Journal, July 4, 1876.
21. Baptismal records, parish registers of the Catholic Church of Ireland, microfilm P.5586.
22. AP, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, p. 97; Luraghi, A History of the Confederate Navy.
23. Aurand, Historical Account of the Mollie Maguires, p. 15; Broehl, The Molly Maguires, p. 155.
24. Pinkerton’s required that each operative “make a daily report of every transaction that takes place, in connection with the operations he is engaged upon, in writing” (BF, in CAC, p. 672). McParlan was expected to include details about where he went, whom he met, and what they said. He was not able to file reports every day, but “I made them daily; sometimes they were not mailed. There would not be anything very particular probably for two or three days; and then I wanted to avoid having to go to the post office too often, for fear it might be detected by the postmaster or somebody else” (JM, testimony in trial of James Roarity et al., as recorded in The Daily Miners’ Journal, Aug. 19, 1876; see also JM, in CAC, pp. 598–99 and BF, in CAC, pp. 672–73).
With a few exceptions, these original reports no longer exist, and those known to be extant were ones rewritten by Franklin and passed on to Gowen at irregular intervals. Exactly how much editing of McParlan’s reports was done by Franklin is unknown, although the few checks possible indicate that the documents were largely direct transcriptions of the originals. Even Franklin’s copies do not cover McParlan’s entire time in the anthracite region. The dates of the known existing reports, and the locations in which they are currently held, are:
Date of Report
Location
Jan. 1–25, 1874
HML
Jan. 26–May 3, 1874
HSP
Aug. 27–Oct. 21, 1874
HML
Nov. 13–Dec. 8, 1874
HML
Jan. 23–Feb. 16, 1875
HML
Feb. 17–26, 1875
HML
March 6–30, 1875
HML
April 13–May 12, 1875
HML
July 1–11, 20–24, 1875
HML
July 15–Aug. 2, 1875
Kaercher MSS; held by Kaercher descendants
Aug. 24–Sep. 2, 1875
Kaercher MSS; held by Kaercher descendants
Oct. 12–Dec. 26, 1875
HML
With minor exceptions, therefore, McParlan’s actions and observations regarding the Molly Maguires can only be based on Franklin’s secondary reports—including those for Pinkerton’s operative Robert J. Linden, who entered the anthracite region in 1875, and several other agents who infiltrated the union; expense accounts; the trial testimony of McParlan and others; and Pinkerton’s book, which, although “fictionalized,” is the only account that might have actually used McParlan’s original reports.
25. JM, in CAC, p. 497.
26. JM, testimony in first trial of James Carroll et al., as recorded in The Daily Miners’ Journal, May 9, 1876; Among the Assassins!, pp. 7–8.
27. The Pilot, October 18, November 8, 1873.
28. AP, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, p. 42.
29. Ibid., p. 64.
30. No reports from McParlan exist from October through December 1873, so the account of his showmanship at Dormer’s tavern is taken from AP, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, pp. 73–81.
31. In Big Trouble Lukas indicates that McParlan bellowed the song in fluent Gaelic (p. 180). However, McParlan himself reported on a Pinkerton’s form that he spoke only English, and there is no indication elsewhere of his knowing any other language. See Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency, History of Detectives: James McParlan, Oct. 16, 1880: LoC, box 30.
32. JM, in CAC, p. 743.
33. Quoted in O’Dea, History of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, vol. II, p. 885.
34. James Frederic Wood, printed copy of pastoral letter, Jan. 19, 1864, HML, box 979, file F, “Memoranda and Papers.”
35. JM, testimony in first trial of James Carroll et al., as recorded in The Daily Miners’ Journal, May 9, 1876; Among the Assassins!, pp. 7–8; AP, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, p. 96.
36. Doyle, The Valley of Fear, p. 162.
37. The biographical material about Kehoe has been drawn from numerous sources, including: Crown and Major, A Guide to the Molly Maguires, pp. 34–35, 120–22; McCarthy, The Great Molly Maguire Hoax, pp. 101–3; Kenny, Making Sense of the Molly Maguires, p. 222; and numerous newspaper accounts of the time.
38. AP, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, pp. 102–3; BF (for JM), report to FBG, Jan. 3, 1874, HML, box 1001.
39. BF (for JM), report to FBG, Jan. 2, 1874: HML, box 1001.
40. Ibid., Jan. 3, 1874.
41. Ibid., Jan. 6, 1874.
42. Ibid., Jan. 10, 13, 1874.
43. AP, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, p. 64.
Chapter 4: On the Inside
1. Although McParlan
indicated in his report of February 6 that his job would commence at “Davies’ colliery,” he later stated in court that he had first worked at the Indian Ridge shaft (JM, testimony in first trial of James Carroll et al., as recorded in The Daily Miners’ Journal, May 8, 1876).
2. For background on life in the patches, see: Miller and Sharpless, The Kingdom of Coal; Patterson, “Reminiscences of John Maguire”; Wallace, St. Clair; Warfell, A Patch of Land Owned by the Company.
3. Pennsylvania Legislative Record, 1876, p. 608; also see Broehl, The Molly Maguires, p. 84.
4. BF (for JM), reports to FBG, Feb. 21, March 3, 4, 1874: HSP, folder 3.
5. Ibid., Feb. 2, 1874.
6. See AP, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, pp. 152–54.
7. Horan and Swiggett, The Pinkerton Story, p. 112; Schlegel, Ruler of the Reading, p. 102.
8. AP, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, pp. 128–30, 136–37.
9. BF (for JM), report to FBG, Feb. 12, 1874, HSP, folder 3.
10. Yearley, Enterprise and Anthracite, pp. 119–20.
11. Ibid. See also Roy, The Coal Mines, pp. 244–46.
12. T. Thomas, letter, Dec. 6, 1873, quoted in Conway, The Welsh in America, p. 194.
13. Miller and Sharpless, The Kingdom of Coal; Yearley, Enterprise and Anthracite, p. 170.
14. Morris and Williams, The South Wales Coal Industry; Jones, Colliery Settlement in the South Wales Coalfield; Kenny, Making Sense of the Molly Maguires, p. 62.
15. BF (for JM), report to FBG, Feb. 17, 1874: HSP, folder 3.
16. Wallace, St. Clair, pp. 253–56.
17. BF (for JM), report to FBG, Feb. 18, 1874, HSP, folder 3.
18. AP, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, pp. 137–38; see also U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1st Ward, Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, microfilm roll T9_1192, Tenth Census of the United States, 1880, p. 494C.
19. JM, testimony in first trial of James Carroll et al., as recorded in The Daily Miners’ Journal, May 9, 1876; BF (for JM), report to FBG, March 16, 1874, HSP, folder 3.
20. BF (for JM), report to FBG, March 23, 1874, HSP, folder 3.
21. Ibid., March 24, 1874.
22. Ibid., April 2, 1874.
23. Ibid., April 15, 1874.
24. Ibid., April 14, 1874.
25. Ibid., April 19, 1874.
26. The following information about “the goods” comes from Ibid., April 14, 1874.
27. Ibid., April 30, 1874.
28. Ibid.
29. JM, in CAC, p. 744.
30. BF (for JM), report to FBG, April 20, 1874, HSP, folder 3.
31. AP, letter to FBG, March 27, 1874, HSP, folder 3.
32. AP (for P. M. Cummings), report to FBG, Feb. 28, 1874, HSP, folder 3.
33. Killeen, “John Siney,” pp. 242–72; Pinkowski, John Siney, pp. 102–40.
34. Killeen, “John Siney,” pp. 242–72.
35. AP (for P. M. Cummings), report to FBG, March 6, 1874, HSP, folder 3.
36. BF (for JM), report to FBG, May 3, 1874, HSP, folder 3.
37. The Weekly Miners’ Journal, Aug. 2, 1874; The Daily Miners’ Journal, Aug. 20, 1874.
38. BF (for JM), reports to FBG, Sept. 11, 13, 1874. HML, box 1001.
39. According to Crown and Major (A Guide to the Molly Maguires, pp. 28–30), Cosgrove and Thomas James became involved in a fight with Tom Jones at J. H. Scheifly’s tavern. When Jones tried to run off, Cosgrove pursued him. Gomer James, who was nearby, ran down the street to help his friend Jones and shot Cosgrove, who died on the spot.
40. Quoted in Schlegel, Ruler of the Reading, p. 95.
41. BF (for JM), report to FBG, Sept. 16, 1874, HML, box 1001.
42. AP, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, pp. 228–29.
43. For an in-depth view of the role of the Catholic Church in the history of the Schuylkill County AOH and the Molly Maguires, see Kenny, “The Molly Maguires and the Catholic Church.”
44. James Frederic Wood, printed copy of pastoral letter, Jan. 19, 1864, HML, box 979, file F, “Memoranda and Papers.” For background on Wood, see Kenny, “The Molly Maguires and the Catholic Church,” pp. 7–11.
45. New-York Freeman’s Journal and Catholic Register, Oct. 3, 10, 1874; both also were published in the Catholic Standard, Oct. 17, 1874.
46. AP (for P. M. Cummings), report to FBG, Nov. 27, 1874, HML, box 1001.
47. The Daily Miners’ Journal, Nov. 6, 1874.
48. JM, in RCK, pp. 85–86.
49. BF (for JM), report to FBG, Nov. 29, 1874, HML, box 1001.
50. The World (New York), Nov. 18, 1874; The New York Herald, Nov. 23, 1874.
51. BF (for JM), report to FBG, Nov. 24, 1874, HML, box 1001.
52. Shamokin Herald, Dec. 24, 1874; McManus v. The Commonwealth, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Chapter 5: The Long Strike
1. Schlegel, Ruler of the Reading, pp. 63–64.
2. See BF’s reports to FBG enclosing reports by P. M. Cummings (Nov. 2–Dec. 8, 1874, Jan. 19–Feb. 7, 1875), William McCowan (Feb. 13–26, April 2–13, 1875), and “WRH” (Feb. 19–26, 1875), HML, box 1001. See also correspondence from H. B. Hanmore to FBG, HML, box 979.
3. FBG, Argument of Franklin B. Gowen, Esq, before the Joint Committee of the Legislature of Pennsylvania. Also see BF’s reports to FBG enclosing reports by “ATL” (May 7–Aug. 3, 1875), “RWP” (May 10–14, 1875), and “CMP” (May 10–22, 1875), HML, box 1001.
4. BF (for JM), reports to FBG, February 4, 25, March 25, 30, 1875, HML, box 1001.
5. See, for example, BF (for JM), reports to FBG, Jan. 23, 26, Feb. 5, 8, 1875, HML, box 1001.
6. The Pottsville Standard, April 3, 1875.
7. BF (for JM), reports to FBG, March 15, 17, 18, 1875, HML, box 1001.
8. Ibid., Feb. 15, 17, March 26, 1875; see also FBG, “List of Outrages in Schuylkill and Shamokin Regions,” pp. 99–101.
9. On March 6, McParlan blamed “the people in the immediate neighborhood” for the “secret depredations at Buck Mountain,” and on March 26 he indicated that the burning of the telegraph office and at least one instance of loaded cars being dumped and trains thrown off the track were “done by members of the Workingmen’s Benevolent Association.” BF (for JM), reports to FBG, Feb. 17, March 6, 26, 1875, HML, box 1001.
10. Ibid., March 9, 1875.
11. Kenney, Making Sense of the Molly Maguires, pp. 172–73.
12. BF (for JM), reports to FBG, Feb. 18, March 14, 21, 1875, HML, box 1001.
13. Numerous coffin notices were reprinted as part of FBG, “List of Outrages in Schuylkill and Shamokin Regions,” pp. 109–14.
14. JM, testimony in first trial of James Carroll et al., as recorded in The Daily Miners’ Journal, May 10, 1876; Among the Assassins!, pp. 13–14. Four decades later, in a letter to George D. Bangs—the son of Pinkerton’s original general superintendent, who had succeeded his father in that position—McParlan added a twist to the story that did not appear in his trial testimony. He stated that the plan would have been carried out had he not “made a speech wherein he claimed he had absolute knowledge that somebody had informed the railroad officials and they had a large force of coal and iron police and deputy sheriffs” ready to “arrest any person who attempted to interfere with this railroad” (JM, letter to GDB, March 4, 1915, LoC, box 140, folder 8). This is only one example of McParlan’s memory late in life not always corresponding to his earlier reports.
15. BF (for JM), reports to FBG, April 13–19, 1875, HML, box 1001.
16. BF, letter to Michael Beard, Aug. 5, 1875, Kaercher MSS, file B1.
17. JM, in ECD, pp. 128.
18. Pinkerton’s book later suggested McParlan participated in this second meeting, but it is apparent from a memorandum that Franklin produced at the time that the operative was a
ctually already back in Schuylkill County. See AP, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, pp. 275–78; BF, memorandum, April 28, 1875, HML, box 1001.
19. Henry Pleasants, letter to FBG, March 29, 1875, HML, box 979. For Pleasants’s background and role in the Civil War, including the disastrous Battle of the Crater, see Pleasants and Straley, Inferno at Petersburg.
20. Quote from BF, memorandum, April 28, 1875, HML, box 1001; see also RJL, testimony in trial of James Roarity et al., as recorded in The Daily Miners’ Journal, Aug. 19, 1876.
21. The biographical material about Linden has been drawn from LoC, box 30.
22. AP, The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives, p. 280.
23. BF (for JM), report to FBG, May 3, 1875, HML, box 1001.
24. See, for example, BF (for RJL), reports to FBG, May 17, 19, 20, 24, 26, 1875, HML, box 1001.
25. Lebanon Courier, May 5, 1875.
26. RCK, p. 85.
27. In May 1872, a number of men converged on the cemetery of St. Edward’s Catholic Church in Shamokin, where they hoped to bury a mine worker—now thought to be James Deggan—who had been killed by a coal fall at the Excelsior Colliery. The priest, Father J. Joseph Koch, refused to allow the burial, resulting in members of the crowd assaulting him, causing extensive property damage, desecrating the church, and burying of the body without permission. Although numerous men were involved, only four were tried for inciting a riot, and three of them were found guilty. Hester was given the lengthiest prison sentence: two years, seven months.