Rick Smith, a historical researcher, said an 1874 issue of Harper's Weekly gave the best picture and story of the Molly Maguires.

He spoke to the Palmerton Historical Society at a meeting in the Little White Church on Third Street. Smith discussed the articles that were published at the time when the coal and railroad industries were active in Pennsylvania. The Harper's Weekly article differs from the historical record.The Molly Maguires were a secret society in Ireland that came to America when immigrants took jobs in the coal mines.When its efforts by means of strikes to make the miners lives better, both safer physically and economically, reached the courts, the coal mine owners said the Molly Maguires would have good legal representation, but Smith said it was the mine owners who had the good representation and also controlled the media.On June 21, 1877, there were multiple executions at the Old Jail in Jim Thorpe. It was called The Day of the Rope. Between Jim Thorpe and Schuylkill County 20 men were convicted. The Harper's Weekly article listed the date as June 22.In Ireland Molly Maguires tended to be Catholic and could not own land. Since the landlords owned the houses, poor widows were evicted. When they refused to leave, the landlords were terrorized.An elderly tavern owner led riots. They destroyed fences and killed livestock. If stores would not provide supplies they were taken.But then came the potato famine when potato crops failed. Many emigrated to the United States. They were more rebellious than miners who came before. In Schuylkill County, a miner's newspaper kept the story alive, favoring the white mine owners.Smith said there was never any proof that the Molly Maguires existed in the United States.In this climate, signs appeared that read "Irish need not apply" for jobs.The Irish fought in the Civil War, often accepting a rich person's commutation fee of $300 and went to war in his place. One of these was John Summerfield Staples of Stroudsburg substituted for Abraham Lincoln.Company stores were the only place miners' families could shop keeping them perpetually in debt. The Workingmen's Benevolent Association got wages raised to correspond to the amount of coal produced.However, the haulers would raise their charges so the mine owners did not make more money and did not pay the miners more, even with the increased production.As more uses for anthracite coal were found such as smelting, there was more demand for the cleaner burning coal.The common story says mine owners recruited people to come to this country but there is no evidence of that, said Smith.Over the years 1.2 million immigrants did come with many ending up at the minesFranklin Gowen, owner of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, hired Pinkerton man James McParland/MacKenna to infiltrate the Mollies and get evidence that they were responsible for killings in the area.The only men shot were those who were against the WBA.Gowen reduced wages and finally broke the WBA.Even when McParland knew of planned attacks he did not tell the police but preferred to let the attack happen and then he would pass on the information.In the 1860s 11 mine bosses were killed, and in 1868 a mine superintendent was shot. Harrisburg allowed the formation of the Coal and Iron Police who had the word police on their badges. Sheriffs did not investigate the crimes.Coffin notices were posted on doors of marked men, some of whom were priests. Seventy-five miners were killed to prevent them from being witnesses at trials. McParland was the only witness to attempted murder and 10 were found guilty.In John Kehoe's trial, prosecutors went back 15 years to find incriminating evidence.Alexander Campbell was said to have place his hand on his cell wall to prove his innocence. The hand print has been painted and plastered over but still shows on the wall of Cell 17. Smith found a record of Thomas Fisher being in Cell 17 but there is no record of Campbell being there.In 1979 Gov. Milton Shapp gave Kehoe a pardon and called the Molly Maguires "martyrs for labor."At the end of Smith's talk, the church bells rang in honor of those who died for the cause.