Other events crowding upon their attention seemed for a time to guard the threatened Gomer James from the bullets of his sworn assassins. The Welshman still lived and pursued his usual avocations, wherever he might be, unharmed and unmolested.
At the annual borough election Jack Kehoe was unanimously chosen High Constable of Girardville. He was not only King of the Mollies of Schuylkill, but had the power of arrest and charge of the municipal prisoners. If the latter chanced to be of the order, they were handled tenderly and fared sumptuously. If of the Chain Gang, the Modoc, or Sheet Iron sort, he bundled them into jail without gloves, and fed them upon whatever might be cheap and unsavory. Surely, Jack Kehoe was a rising luminary in the heavens—or on the earth—and his luck fast improving.
304A few days before the date appointed for the convention at Mahanoy City, McKenna went to see Michael O'Brien and had a talk with him about the troubles in his vicinity. O'Brien was anxious to have three or four men, who could be depended upon, come over to Mahanoy, and he would appoint persons from his own division to show the strangers their work, which was to "fetch" Wm. M. Thomas and Jesse Major. He was of the opinion that, if these parties, and two or three others, were well out of the way, there might ensue a reign of peace in the community; but just as long as they lived, trouble would surely come. O'Brien said he had given Kehoe the situation of affairs.
While in Mahanoy one McDonell reported to the Shenandoah Secretary that he had recently conversed with Thomas, who seemed reckless and stubborn, remarking to the effect that it made little difference to him, since the Dan Dougherty shooting, how he carried himself, the Mollies were sure to get him, wherever he might hide. Some one had lately informed Thomas that, the next time he was assaulted, it would be in open daylight, by a man on horseback. McDonell learned that Bill carried arms on his person, and boasted his readiness to receive the Mollies whenever and in whatever manner they chose to meet him. Of the truth of this the members of the society had all the proof needed. What they wanted was to find somebody, unknown to the citizens and to Bill, that Thomas might be murdered and no trace be left of the murderers.
The next day, while McKenna was present, Hurley came to Cooney's, in Shenandoah, and asked the master of the house to pass out to him, through a window, his rifle, which had, during several days, been left there for safe-keeping. Some visitors were in the building at the time, with Mrs. Cooney, and Hurley did not care to have them see him receive the gun. This looked like business to the detective, but he was unable to stop in Shenandoah to find out what 305might be in preparation, as the approaching meeting in Mahanoy City demanded immediate attention.
McAndrew, who was yet working at Port Griffith, could not go to the convention, and McKenna was the man to fill his place. Before the day arrived, the operative saw Kehoe at Girardville. There he met Jack Donahue, John Reagan, the latter Bodymaster at St. Clair, and some other Mollies. Mrs. Kehoe's child was sick, and Dr. Carr visited it, bringing Reagan up with him in his carriage. Dr. Sherman, of Girardville, was also there in consultation. Kehoe, after a little time, called McKenna, Donahue, and Reagan into the kitchen, at the rear of his bar, and some private conversation ensued upon the lately appointed meeting at Mahanoy City. Kehoe was anxious that Reagan and McKenna should be there, ending his introduction of the subject with a request that the latter should go, that afternoon, and inform O'Brien, Bodymaster of Mahanoy City Division, to be ready to receive them. This he promised to do. Subsequently Kehoe asked:
"Do either of you know any good old men, who are sharp on the shoot? I want some capable of doing a very particular work, an' doing it swiftly and surely!"
"Well, ye are posted as to Shenandoah Division," returned McKenna, "an' know that we are nearly all young men, an' of no great experience. I don't think any could be depended upon in a case of importance!"
"As for me," here broke in Reagan, "I belave I have one man that'll jist fill the bill an' put in good work whenever ye make the call on me!"
Further conference on this topic, at the time, was broken off by the coming down the stairs of Drs. Sherman and Carr. With the latter, after a treat from the disciple of Esculapius, Reagan rode away homeward.
It was on this occasion that Kehoe developed a plan through which a constable by the name of Lamison should be killed. It seems that the officer alluded to, in arresting 306a Mollie named Rusk, at Kingston, not long before, had shot the Irishman, who violently resisted. Beside, the same official had fired upon and wounded a lad, named Leville, who was saucy while on his way home from a foot-race. For these offenses the High Constable and King of the Mollies wanted Lamison assassinated. He desired that a warrant should be sworn out for his victim's arrest, to be served by himself, and while on the rto Girardville, a masked mob of Mollies might pounce upon and easily overpower Kehoe, and in the mêlée, shoot down and kill his prisoner. Tom Donahue, who was participating in the conversation, sagely suggested that Lamison would possibly have a hearing at Kingston and secure bail, thus knocking Kehoe's fine scheme into atoms. He was in favor of having Lamison planted under the daisies, on the general principle, as he coarsely put it, that "dead dogs wag no tails," but wanted the job done scientifically and without a chance of failure.
Sunday, the first of June, 1875, came, one of the balmiest of spring days. The snow had long since dissolved, swelling the mountain streams, the verdure brightened up, and winter no longer lingered in the lap of spring. The life-giving sap rose from the warm earth, coursed along and filled the bloodless veins, and brought bud and blossom to the forest trees.
But all this harmony in nature found no counterpart in the minds of the residents of the country cursed by the Mollie Maguires. On the contrary, the storm of passion and hate in human hearts was unassuaged, and swept forward, seeming to gather strength and fury as it desolated hearth-stones and filled graves with gory victims.
"The Emerald House. Michael Clark, proprietor"
The detective was early at Mahanoy City, and in joining his brethren at the Emerald House, Michael Clark proprietor. This man Clark, as before stated, was not a Mollie Maguire, but his two sons belonged to the order. The hotel was a two-story, basement and attic affair, the outside painted brown, with the eaves and two dormer-windows facing the 307main street of the city. The first floor front was lighted by large show windows, for which there were no shades or screens to veil the array of bottles and decanters behind the bar, or the men there congregating to enjoy their liquor. There was a door at the center, giving entrance to the saloon and bar, and another at the side by which the upper apartments were reached without troubling other inmates.
In the rear of the public room was, first, a long dining-hall common to such places, and then the kitchen. All were very plainly furnished. At the end of the lot was the bank of the river. Upstairs, in the front part of the house, was one spacious, well-lighted apartment, carpeted and decently stocked with furniture, in which meetings were held, and it was lighted, by day, with four windows. Back of this were bedrooms. On the garret floor were also a number of sleeping apartments. The business of the writer is with the assembly room, where the conspirators congregated. There, at half-past ten in the forenoon, seated around a large table, were John Kehoe, County Delegate of Schuylkill; Chris Donnelly, of Mt. Laffee, County Treasurer; Wm. Gavin, of Big Mine Run, County Secretary; John Donahue, alias "Yellow Jack," Bodymaster of Tuscarora; Dennis F. Canning, County Delegate of Northumberland, residing at Locust Gap; Wm. Gomerly, Bodymaster of St. Nicholas; James Roarty, Bodymaster at Coaldale; Mike O'Brien, Bodymaster at Mahanoy City, with his Secretary, Francis McHugh, and James McKenna, representing Shenandoah Division, and also acting as my detective. In the bar below there were other Mollies, and with them James Kerrigan, Bodymaster of Tamaqua Division. Kehoe sat in the place of authority, made the opening prayer, and organized the meeting. He then delivered a brief speech, saying that he supposed all were acquainted with the object of the convention, and without further explanation, appointed a committee of two to bring Dan Dougherty before the meeting. This 308was done, and Dan came in. He was a well-favored young Irishman, with dark hair and mustache, eyes of the same color, nose straight, face rather full, and cheeks red and healthful, despite the wounds he had received from Major, and the dread he appeared to be in of the relatives of the deceased Chief Burgess, and of Bully Bill. Dougherty was a miner by occupation, dressed well, and had the reputation of being ordinarily a sober man. Of about medium height and weight, his physical status did honor to his twenty-four years.
"Dan., show us your coat," said Kehoe.
"Dan, show us your coat," said Kehoe.
Dougherty obeyed, and, removing the garment, exhibited bullet-holes perforating the cloth in two or three places.
"Who do ye think did it?" queried the County Delegate.
"I belave it was Jesse Major, but I couldn't swear to him on the "
"Didn't the police try to catch him?"
"No! An' there was an officer not four yards from the man at the time! I axed him why. 'Sure, and I'd be shot down in me tracks if I raised a hand,' said he, an' he went off about his business as if nothin' had happened!"
This caused a buzz, evidently of anger, to pass around the table.
"What men do ye think are at the head of all the late troubles in this city?" asked Kehoe, who had remained standing from the time that Dougherty entered the apartment.
"The which? Who is it? Faith, an' I can think of no one exceptin' Jesse and James Major, an' Bully Bill! If the toes of these three were turned up, ther'd be peaceable times in Mahanoy!"
"That'll do," said Kehoe. "You may retire."
Dougherty cast a searching glance around the board, seemed satisfied, put on his coat, and left the chamber.
For a moment after the closing of the door, silence reigned 309in the inquisition-room, and the inquisitors said not a word.
Chris Donnelly was the first to speak:
"These things are getting altogether too bad! Last night the train coming from Pottsville, by way of Tamaqua, was searched by Jesse and Wm. Major, and a number of others, all armed, and the company allowed it without a word! I suppose it is because the Majors hire a big vein. I think we must put a stop to such goings on!"
Kehoe resumed his seat, placed his elbows on the table, rested his hatchet-face on his two hands, and awaited developments.
"For one," resumed Donnelly, who had not left his chair while speaking, "I'll get two good men, an' go myself, and have the Majors' business at once attended to!"
Here Jack Donahue—"Yellow Jack"—stood on his feet, and remarked:
"We, of this side the mountain, are thankful to ye of the part beyant the mountain; but we can attend to the affair, at present. You, Donnelly, nade not move just yet! Afther Sunday, if we need you, I'll send word by a man to Pottsville, an' tell you what's to be done."
Kehoe, after some more talk, appointed Mike O'Brien and James McKenna a committee to see what should be done with Wm. M. Thomas.
The detective brazened it out, and expressed a willingness to attend to his duty, at the same time suggesting that counsel from older heads would be in order. O'Brien tacitly deferred management of this portion of the business to McKenna, which was satisfactory to the agent, as it ran through his mind that, if permitted to hold the helm all through, Bill Thomas would not be in any especial danger of losing his life.
"I'm in favor of shootin' Bully Bill, bowldly right on the strate, in open daylight!" exclaimed Kehoe.
310O'Brien hinted that such a course would be sure to get the boys in a scrape, and added:
"Bill can best be taken on the rhome to Shoemaker's Patch. Then he can be dropped, an' the men make sure their escape!"
"Yes, that is the best plan," here put in Dennis Canning, the Northumberland delegate, who had previously said little. He was a gentlemanly-appearing person, showing nothing in his face to indicate a sanguinary disposition. Yet he took part in the cold-blooded proceedings of the convention, without a chill passing over him, and seemed as much concerned regarding the murder of Thomas as the others.
"Let it be so, then," resumed the King of all the Mollies, in Schuylkill, and he lifted his bearded chin from his thin hands, and looked sharply over at McKenna.
"To you, an' your division, Jim McKenna, I lave the picking out of four or five good men, safe to be intrusted with such a difficult matther! Jist notify the division to come together an' select 'em, an' have 'em come over an' report to Mike O'Brien, here, who will find them a boardin'-place, payin' for their kapin' out of the county fund. Let them not be later than Saturday afternoon. If they can't make their point on Bully Bill in three days, you relave them and sind over fresh fellows, an' kape it up until the work be done. O'Brien will appoint those to lead the Shenandoah boys up to Bill, an' ingineer the business through! Fail they must not! If they do, let them beware the power of the order! If Shenandoah can't succeed, Roarty must sind men, an' all the rest in turn, until the Modocs cry enough!"
The Shenandoah Secretary made known his acceptance of the charge, and said he would see the division notified and convened.
Canning inquired if any men were wanted from his part of the State, but Donnelly replied:
311"No! the job is a small one, and we can attend to it ourselves!"
At first, and before the convention was called to order, the presence of the young man, Frank McHugh, had been objected to, but O'Brien said he was his Secretary, and insisted he should remain. Subsequently McHugh, a tall, very juvenile personage, with sandy hair and blue eyes—a mere boy, in point of fact—was directed to act as Secretary, and fabricate a record of proceedings which would show to outsiders, should chance reveal the fact of a meeting being held, transaction of business on some entirely different matter than the murder of Thomas and the Majors.
Then, all having been arranged, the Mollies adjourned to dinner, of which they partook in Clark's dining-room below.
Kehoe enjoyed his food, and remarked to McKenna, in a low voice: "I think the reign of the Modocs is comin' to an end, and Irishmen will soon have law in Mahanoy City, as in other parts of the State!"
The King of the Mollies was elate and jubilant, and the operative was compelled to appear so, but he was far from feeling content with the share Kehoe had put upon him. It would not do to refuse, nor was it safe to exhibit reluctance.
When my agent reached home, he found the Mollies experiencing most intense excitement, caused by a report of Ned Monaghan, that the Coal and Iron Company had sent for and secured policemen, from a distance, all heavily armed, and stationed them at their different collieries. To this was added the story of Gibbons, that the Governor had ordered out the Militia, to support the Coal and Iron Police, and see that resumption of work in the region was not interfered with on the part of the members of the Laborers' Union, or others. Even then forty or fifty men, ld down with repeating rifles and ammunition, were alighting at 312the depot. Heisler, they said, was in command of the police, in person. One who has not seen the locality and known its people will hardly be able to appreciate the uproar in the different patches, and in the taverns and strongholds of the Mollies under such a condition of affairs. Men were quite wild, and flew from place to place, with reddened faces and determined looks, telling the news to their brethren, and eagerly asking what was to be done.
Mike Doyle met McKenna, that night, at his boarding-house, and at once proposed to be one of the men to go to Mahanoy City.
Tom Hurley was anxious to take a part, and wanted to deposit his card, formerly obtained for traveling purposes, and receive the "goods," so that he might be eligible.
The detective, before he retired, the night of the first of June, sent Monaghan to summon Thomas Munley, of Gilberton, a member of his lodge, with orders for Munley to notify others in the vicinity to meet at the hall, in Shenandoah, the evening of the third, at seven o'clock. The Secretary personally gave notice to Gibbons and the others mentioned that their presence was needed on the occasion.
Leaving the proceedings connected with the strike of the Mollies and the members of the Laborers' Union to be related in another chapter, I must now continue the incidents bearing upon the attempt to murder Wm. M. Thomas, and carry the recital to completion.
Monaghan returned from Gilberton, Wednesday, saying he had notified Thomas Munley, who promised to inform the others of what was wanted.
The night of the third of June came, and, from the turmoil prevalent in the city, the Secretary deemed it imprudent to hold the division meeting at the usual hall, hence the members were notified to gather in the wood, on the side of Ringtown Mountain, north of the city. When McKenna reached the rendezvous he found present John Gibbons, 313Thomas Munley, Darcey, Monaghan, Garvey, and Mike Doyle, all members of Shenandoah Division, and soon after the opening Tom Hurley came along and joined the clan. Garvey said:
"I suppose ye all know what's called us together, an' it only rests with ye to make a choice, an' as McKenna does not care to do it, let us talk among ourselves, an' agree who is to go and make away with Thomas."
After canvassing the subject, it was decided that Gibbons, Doyle, Hurley, and James McKenna should go to Mahanoy City on the business. At least the three mentioned were selected, and they desired the Secretary's company, which he could not refuse to give. The date fixed for departure was the evening of the fifth of the month. When this proceeding was ended the body adjourned, at nigh eleven o'clock, the conspirators going into town, one by one, as on former occasions, in order that the citizens might not see too many Mollies together.
The next morning the streets were filled with soldiers and Coal and Iron Police, among the latter being Capt. Heisler, but that made no difference. The arrangement to shoot Thomas must be carried out. Gibbons came along about four in the afternoon, armed with two navy revolvers, secured from Thompson and McCormick, and, at about half-past four, the same day, the Mollies set out on foot over the mountain for Mahanoy City. They could not have selected a more congenial and yet more unpleasant night for the journey. The rain was falling in torrents and there were heavy shocks of thunder and sharp bolts of lightning in the sky. But, after walking more than three hours, the men reached Clark's hotel, in Mahanoy, where they found O'Brien prepared to receive them.
While trudging over the wet earth and slippery rocks the operative had concocted a scheme, which he believed would surely save the life of the man, Thomas, and relieve his mind 314of an oppressive weight. As soon as all were well seated in Clark's kitchen, beyond the bar, he called O'Brien away for a short stroll. They went around the corner, and McKenna said to the leader of the clan in Mahanoy City:
"Do you mind the soldiers in the strates, an' the Coal Polace?"
"Yes, I do!" answered the Bodymaster, "an' I don't half like the appearance of aither! Its all owin' to the mob, I suppose!"
"Now, O'Brien, I'm as willin' to sell my life for the good of the order as you are, or as any man can be, but it looks the height of folly for us to undertake this job on Thomas while the soldiers are around! If we kill him, as we may, an' make the laste noise over it, we'll be pounced upon at once by the Militia or old Heisler—or both, perhaps—an' then we'll be caught and hanged! Isn't the life of any wan of us worth that of a dozen like Bully Bill? To spake truth, I'm in favor of all of us goin' quietly home, an' trying for Thomas on another occasion. The odds are too many against us this time!"
O'Brien cogitated over the change suggested for a moment and then responded:
"You're right, McKenna, as you always are! Troth! as you say, my life is better nor those of a dozen like Bill Thomas, an' I quite agree wid you that the very best thing to be done is to do nothing—at laste for this night!"
The two men soon went back to the Emerald House, and to the kitchen. Frank McHugh, the Secretary of Mahanoy City Division, had just arrived, and O'Brien made the proposition to Hurley, Gibbons, and Doyle in precisely the words previously employed by the detective. He explained the difficulties before them in so forcible a manner that even Hurley, always the first to enter a fight and the last to give it up, agreed it was for the best to retrace their steps to Shenandoah and not be seen by any one in Mahanoy.
315McKenna said he was firmly of the opinion that the work should be deferred, but did not like to assume the responsibility of ordering it without a previous conference with O'Brien. Now that O'Brien was good enough to be the first to put forward the idea he felt willing to make known that he held the same view of the subject. This was peculiarly flattering to O'Brien, and forever sealed his lips as to the real originator of the plan, and was a clincher of the proposed settlement. It was thus decided. After a few calls at Clark's bar for refreshments, the weary men set out in the darkness for the return to Shenandoah.
While going home the four Mollies were halted by the police at Foundry Colliery, but after a short parley were permitted to resume their tedious journey. To avoid similar annoyances the party struck into a narrow path over the mountain. On the way they overtook a stranger, carrying a small paper parcel. At first he was shy of them, probably thinking they might want to murder him, but McKenna assured the stranger they were harmless fellows, lost in the darkness, and if he had no objection, as they seemed going in the same direction, they would keep in company. The man said but little. He "knew every foot of the ground," however, and demonstrated the fact, when in the vicinity of Lanigan's Patch, by missing his bearings and finally bringing himself and companions into a marsh, where they stuck fast in the mire to the imminent danger of their boots and damage to their clothing and tempers. After wandering about in the swamp, running against trees and snags, and occasionally falling down in the mud and water, they escaped from the place and met no further accident. It was about midnight when McKenna turned in at Cooney's, in Shenandoah, and sought his bed-chamber and much-needed sleep.
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