The Daughters of Jim Farrell

by Sylvia Bambola

  “No, lass, nothin’ is gonna help. Not for a very long time. But if all Patrick said about you is true, you’ll be fine. And though you might not believe it now, you will find joy in livin’ again.”

  Virginia stared at him and shrugged. Right now, life without Patrick seemed a joyless proposition. “Patrick tells me . . . told me that Mr. Gowen was trying to bust the union. I haven’t seen any articles in the Monitor about that. Would you want me to investigate? See what he’s doing to lay the foundation? I could . . . .”

  “Will you be movin’ to Tamaqua? There’s a respectable boardin’ house near the paper. Clean, and cheap, too. I could book you a room . . . that is, if you were thinkin’ of movin’.”

  “I’ve only spoken to Kate about it. Not Mother or Charlotte, but yes, I’ve decided to go. It will be too hard staying here, near Higgins Patch, near . . . .”

  “I know, lass. I know. But while I’d like to give you all the time in the world to mend, and to convince your family that this is right for you, I can only give you two weeks. With all that’s goin’ on, I need you at the paper. I’ll make the arrangements at the boardin’ house. And once you come, be ready to work. You can start with that article you proposed. Now . . . shall we go and see Patrick?”

  Virginia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She hardly knew Davin, but for some reason his presence comforted her. When she opened her eyes he was looking at her so intently, it startled her. “Yes,” she said, threading her arm through his. “I’m ready.” And together they walked toward the front door.

  Kate stood alone on the footpath. The wake was over, the food table and beer kegs empty, the keeners hoarse, the band played out. Joshua was off to one side talking with Benjamin and Charlotte, leaving her free to watch the pallbearers—a group of six muscular men—ready themselves. They would be the ones carrying the casket to the nearby cemetery. As her mind replayed how Virginia had sobbed uncontrollably when the casket was closed then nailed shut, she was grateful that the strong arms of Davin MacCabe would be there to steady her sister during the burial.

  Kate gathered her cloak around her as the chilly air made visible puffs out of her breath. The smell of smoking pork permeated the patch. It was autumn, the time when pigs were butchered and the flitches or sides hung in chimneys to cure. And at home, Mother had already started putting up the heavier bed and parlor curtains. To Kate, it spoke of routine and rhythm. It told her life would go on, even for Virginia. And there would be joy again in the Farrell house. By the look of Charlotte and Benjamin, she was sure their wedding wasn’t far off. And neither was hers, though she and Joshua hadn’t set a date. But she was sure Joshua felt as she did, and wanted to wait only long enough to plan a modest wedding. And modest it would be, for a teacher’s salary hardly left extra money for frills.

  But Virginia was the Farrell Kate worried about most. Virginia had told her of Davin MacCabe’s offer. A woman reporter! It was still hard to believe. And it was sure to cause a stir. But Kate had the feeling Virginia would always be causing a stir. Virginia was breaking a barrier here in coal country, and why not? It was the 1870s; the time of breaking barriers in the newspaper world. Hadn’t it seen the birth of several black newspapers? Something unthinkable just a few years ago. But would Virginia move to Tamaqua? Knowing her, Kate had to say, “yes”, though Mother would hardly be pleased. But like all of them, Virginia had to follow her own path.

  Kate thought of that now as she watched the six large pallbearers enter the house, and minutes later, exit, with the wooden casket resting on their shoulders. Virginia followed close behind, with Davin on one side and little Michael O’Malley on the other. The child looked poorly and Kate wondered at his fate. Would Virginia be able to improve his life by working at the Monitor? She hoped so. Though God had woven all their lives together, He now seemed to be taking them on separate paths. But the one consolation was that He was in control. Kate could rest in that, now.

  “I think Mrs. O’Brien would be pleased with Patrick’s wake,” Mother said, coming up alongside Kate. “Though no wake is ever welcome. But what guarantees do any of us have in this life? Still, it grieves me to see Virginia so distraught. But she’s young . . . and strong. In time, her heart will mend.” She threaded her arm through Kate’s. “And you? Has your heart healed? Are you happy now that your father has been cleared? They say that poor man they took from the old Cargill mine, the one they call Powder . . . Powderkeg, was deranged. God surely weeps over him, too, Kate, don’t you think? And Mr. Roach? He’s ruined and going to jail, for a very long time. But darling, what has all this brought you?”

  Kate sighed. “I don’t feel the vindication I thought I would. But I’m grateful to God for bringing out the truth, and relieved, too, that it’s all over. And I feel as though I’m finally able to grieve the loss of Father. Grieve without bitterness, and that’s no small thing. I’m going to be all right, Mother. I know that now. We’re all going to be all right.”

  “But was it worth the sorrow, do you think?”

  Kate watched Virginia weep as she followed the casket down the path. “I can’t speak for my sisters, but I have a feeling they would agree with me that ‘yes,’ it was worth it, though for different reasons. But for me it was worth it because I learned something wonderful. I learned that love is stronger than hate.”

  The End

  GLOSSARY

  adze: similar to an ax and used for shaping and trimming wood

  Allan Pinkerton: famous for creating Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency, the first detective agency in America and for many years America’s only reliable police force. In 1873, Pinkerton was hired by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad to investigate Molly Maguire activity in Pennsylvania’s anthracite area.

  anthracite coal: a hard coal; best for heating and one that gives off little smoke

  Anthracite Monitor: A union paper owned by individual members of the WBA for twenty dollars a share. Published in Tamaqua, Schuylkill County.

  AOH-Ancient Order of Hibernians: A respectable international Irish fraternal society whose chapters in the Pennsylvania anthracite district seems to have been infiltrated by the Molly Maguires in the 1870s. Pinkerton’s inside man, James McParlan, eventually infiltrated this group himself, and was able to compile a list of those he believed were Molly Maguires. It was largely due to his efforts and testimony that nine Molly Maguires were executed in the yard of Pottsville Prison between 1877 and 1879.

  barouche: an enclosed four-wheel horse drawn carriage, containing two facing double seats

  Benjamin Banner: Editor, for forty-four years, of the Pottsville paper, Miners’ Journal, and the man who perhaps did more to vilify the Molly Maguires than anyone else during that period.

  Blakely Colliery: fictitious colliery

  breaker: part of every colliery, it was a huge structure comprised of high walls and a large, noisy room full of iron chutes that ran from the height of the breaker to the floor and carried coal, already crushed by the crushing machine, in order for the slate, rock and other refuse to be separated out.

  breaker boys: young boys who straddled the chutes while picking out the debris from the coal

  breasts: the area of the mine where coal is being removed

  broderie anglaise: whitework embroidery which creates eyelets, usually on fine white linen or cotton

  butty: a miner’s helper who carried his tools and assisted him

  cambric: cheap thin cotton fabric

  coffin notice: a threatening notice sent by the Molly Maguires to those they wished to intimidate. It usually had a picture of a coffin or other threatening visual aids such as a knife or skull.

  colliery: the complete mine which included not only the mine but all supporting facilities

  culm: the coal refuse picked out of the chutes

  culm banks: huge piles of refuse found in every colliery and often where the children
and wives of mine laborers picked out bits of coal for their daily needs. A hazardous task since the pile could shift and bury the pickers.

  Farrell family: fictitious family

  Five Points: a notorious crime ridden slum in New York City in 1800s.

  flux: a stomach disorder marked by diarrhea

  Frank B. Gowen: President of Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, under whose control the railroad dominated transportation and almost all coal mining operations in the lower anthracite region of Pennsylvania in the 1870s. During this time the Philadelphia and Reading became one of the richest companies in the world. The violent backlash made Gowen hire Allan Pinkerton to infiltrate the infamous Molly Maguires. It was Pinkerton’s operative, James McParlan, the “inside man” who was finally able to bring down this group. But Frank Gowen’s story does not end well. After the railroad went into receivership in 1880 he was fired and subsequently committed suicide.

  full coal: loading five or six four-ton coal cars per day

  gangway: a tunnel, the main highway inside a mine used to haul coal from the various chambers

  garret: an attic

  Gaylord family: fictitious family

  green goose: a young goose

  John P. McCartney: called Prince of Counterfeiters, famous counterfeiter who eluded the law for years. One of Allen Pinkerton’s cases

  John Pott: Pottsville was named after him.

  Joshua Adams: fictitious character

  Higgins Patch: a fictitious patch, but one that closely resembles the many patches or small villages owned by the company operating the nearby colliery

  Irish Sheet Iron Gang: Irish gang

  Irish Speaker: spoke Gaelic, the Celtic language used in Ireland and Scotland

  laggings: wood, often tree branches, used between the shoring timber in a mine to give added support

  Lamballe bonnet: small, similar to a pill-box but more oval, secured by strings under the hair at back of head and also with a ribbon tied under the chin in a large bow

  Mattson Colliery: fictitious colliery

  miner’s asthma: later called “black lung;” the lung disease miners get from working in the mines and breathing in coal dust

  Modocs: a Welsh gang

  moiré: a fabric with shiny finish and wavy pattern

  Molly Maguires: a “so-called” secret organization of Irish immigrants who were either miners, mine laborers or had once been, and who used violence to settle disputes or perceived injustices, as well as in efforts to make things better for the miners and laborers.

  Morgan Powell: a Welsh mine superintendent assassinated by the Molly Maguires for favoring the Welsh over the Irish

  nib: the sharpened end of a quill pen

  Patrick Burns: foreman of the Silver Creek Colliery, killed by the Mollies

  Pennsylvania Bureau of Industrial Statistics. In 1873 the Bureau put out a “Report on Labor” which praised the WBA for their peaceful work in bettering labor relations in the anthracite region while warning of the possible danger posed by the rapid accumulation of collieries by the Reading Railroad.

  Pottsville: In 1870s largest city in Schuylkill Country; its county seat; surrounded by numerous deep anthracite mines

  Schuylkill County: lower Pennsylvania anthracite region that lay in the diocese of Philadelphia

  shalloon: a twilled woolen fabric

  Sherman Colliery: located on Pottsville’s Sharp Mountain

  Sweet Air: fictitious town

  Timothy Webster: English born, came to America when he was twelve. One of Allan Pinkerton’s best operatives who was hanged as a spy in Richmond, Virginia during the Civil War.

  WBA: Workingmen’s Benevolent Association; A trade union that sought better pay and working conditions for coal miners, and a major obstacle to the Reading Railroad and Franklin B. Gowen’s plan for obtaining a mining monopoly in the lower anthracite district of Pennsylvania

  Whitework: an embroidery technique where fabric and stitching are the same color, usually white linen

  Widows Row: housing set aside by the more generous collieries for the widows of miners. The only obligation the widows had was the stipulation they take in boarders, those who worked in the colliery. It was a win-win situation because the widows got free housing and the collieries drew in more workers for the mine.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  When researching for The Daughters of Jim Farrell I fell in love with Pennsylvania and those hardy and wonderful men and women who lived and worked in mining country. But my research also reinforced my belief that man is incapable of governing himself without God.

  At the time of the story, two opposing forces met and clashed in this area. In 1871, under the leadership of Franklin B. Gowen, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad began devouring the lower anthracite district of Pennsylvania. By 1872 the railroad owned 98 collieries and 80,000 acres of coal land, changing coal country forever. By 1875 only 36 collieries remained in the control of independent operators. Having a lock on the coal mines, working conditions worsened, causing the mine workers to organize the WBA or Workingmen’s Benevolent Association, a trade union that sought better pay and working conditions for coal miners. This takeover by the railroad also saw the resurgence of a group who employed violence and worked outside the law, a group that became known as the Molly Maguires.

  There’s no historical evidence that the WBA ever used violence or intimidation tactics. Unfortunately, as time progressed, some of the tactics of the Molly Maguires infiltrated into the practices of subsequent labor movements. The callous indifference of corporations toward their workers, and their obsession with profits often at the expense of everything else in times past, and to a much lesser degree in the present, as well as organized labor’s willingness to trample individual rights, their willingness to use violence, intimidation, force, and sometimes outright dishonesty, and to promote mediocrity at the expense of excellence, is a reminder that unless God builds the house they labor in vain (Psalm 127:1)

  The Daughters of Jim Farrell is also a story about forgiveness. God often uses trials to show us our true character and our need for His cleansing touch. We are all sinners in need of forgiveness and a Savior. True peace is found only in Jesus Christ. If you don’t know Him, won’t you change that now by confessing to Him that you are a sinner, then ask Him into your life? It will change you forever.

  Blessings to all,

  Sylvia Bambola

  Website: http://www.sylviabambola.com

  Email: sylviabambola45@gmail.com

  QUESTIONS FOR READING GROUPS/CLUBS

  In Chapter 3 Joshua Adams reveals the underlying philosophy of Allen Pinkerton. Pinkerton believed that lying and deception were necessary in his trade, and that the end justified the means. Does the end ever justify the means? And if it does in one case, why not in another? Or are God’s laws absolute? Patrick O’Brien also has the philosophy of the end justifying the means. Is there any difference between the two of them? Is there any difference between anyone who holds this philosophy?

  In Chapter 4 Virginia is surprised to learn Patrick O’Brien can both read and write, having formed a hasty and unfavorable opinion of him. How common is that? How often do we judge someone by the way he/she speaks? Or dresses? Or where they live? Is it fair? But on the other hand, shouldn’t we use discernment to make judgments that keep us from dangerous alliances or situations? And what’s the difference?

  In Chapter 6 Kate accuses Benjamin Gaylord of caring about his reputation at the expense of others. Then Charlotte accuses Kate of the very same thing. Are we often blind to our own faults, yet quick to see the faults of others, especially when those faults mirror our own? How can we prevent that? David asked God to search his heart for any wicked ways. Do we really need God to show us our heart or can we know it ourselves? What does the Bible say?

 
Do we sometimes make excuses for those we love, like Virginia does in Chapter 7 for Patrick? Do we sometimes excuse someone for their bad behavior or bad choices, coming up with what we think are good reasons? And generally what are the results? Good or bad?

  In Chapter 8 Kate, on incomplete evidence, rushes to judgment, and in her mind condemns Martin Roach of murder. Though she is partially right about his being a scoundrel, she was quick to conclude he was also a murderer. How easy is it to condemn someone, especially someone we don’t like? What does the Bible say about this?

  How important are manners? Though at times Charlotte may appear silly and excessively concerned with protocol, doesn’t her preoccupation with them suggest some level of consideration for others? What happens to a society when manners become less important or disappear altogether?

  In Chapters 8 and 9 Virginia acts recklessly by not disclosing that Patrick knows the identity of Mr. Blakely’s killer. Does love sometimes make a woman reckless? Is this why it is so important for a woman to be discerning when it comes to choosing a man, a husband? How often has the dangerous lifestyle of a man brought down a woman? Or pulled her into unwise or unwanted situations? Can you name some in the Bible, or in your life?