History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 22

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell
Number of Pages: 604

USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 22

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The original members of the organization, as appears from the record, were Drs. George Halberstadt, James S. Carpenter, Thomas Brady, G. H. Knobel, William Housel, Enos Chichester, Pottsville; John G. Koehler, Samuel Shannon, Schuylkill Haven; George W. Brown, Port Carbon; S. Morton Zulich, Orwigsburg; R. H. Phillips, New Castle.

This society took part in the formation of a State medical society at Lancaster in April, 1848, and it has been represented in every meeting of that society since. Its members have been honored by positions in the State Medical Society as follows : President, Dr. James S. Carpenter in 1855; Vice-president, Dr. George Halber- stadt 1852, Dr. Andrew H. Halberstadt 1855, Dr. John T. Carpenter 1878; recording secretary, Dr. John T. Carpenter 1860, Dr. A. S. Chrisman 1875.

Many of the most valuable papers in the State Medical Society transactions are contributions of members of the Schuylkill county society. In the transactions of the American Medical Association for 1878 is published a paper by Dr. John T. Carpenter on the identity of hos- pital gangrene and diphtheria.

The society has for a long time comprised the best medical talent of the county. The University of Penn- sylvania has accepted its examinations in place of those of its own faculty for admission to the medical depart- ment.

The presidents of the society have been : George Halberstadt, six years; James S. Carpenter, sixteen years; G. W. Brown, J. F. Treichler, each two years; Wm. Housel, J. G. Kohler, O. M. Robins, L. M. Thompson, J. Mckibben, John T. Carpenter (whose latest term was 1880), G. L. Keegan, D. W. Bland, A. B. Sherman, each one year. The membership is forty. The present officers are : Dr. John T. Carpenter, Pottsville, president; Dr. F. D. Emach, Frackville, vice-president; Dr. A. S. Chris- man, Pottsville, recording secretary; Dr. S. C. Spaulding, Shenandoah, corresponding secretary ; and Dr. I. J. Birch, Port Carbon, treasurer.

HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.

MINERS' HOSPITAL.

The want of an institution of this kind has long been recognized, and in 1873 steps were taken to raise funds for its establishment. A gift enterprise was inaugurated and several thousand dollars were raised, all of which was lost by the failure of the bank in which it was de- posited. .

The Anthracite Hospital Association was chartered in 1874. It had its origin among the workingmen." Liberal subscriptions were made, but nothing beyond that was accomplished.

June 11th, 1879, an act was passed authorizing the erection of a hospital, appropriating $60,000 for the pur- pose and providing for the appointment of six commis- sioners to locate it and superintend its erection. . The act provides that injured persons shall in all cases have pref- erence over paying patients. The commissioners ap- pointed by the governor were D. A. Beckley, of Colum- bia county; John D. Morgan and Thomas F. Kerns, of Schuylkill; Jacob R. Eby, of Dauphin; William Lilly, of Carbon; and William James, of Northumberland.

These commissioners determined upon Fountain Springs, about a mile from Ashland, as the location; and the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company do- nated the ground.

The hospital is now in process of erection, under the superintendence of H. Alricks, Jr., architect. It is to be of stone, the main administration building in the Queen Anne style, two stories in height, with pavilion wards one story high. It will have a front of 188 feet and a depth of 190 feet, and will be capable of accom- modating 75 patients. When completed it will be turned over by the commissioners to nine trustees, to be ap- pointed by the governor.

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY FEMALE BIBLE SOCIETY.

At a meeting held pursuant to notice on the 16th of February, 1852, an association was organized under the name of the "Female Bible Society of Pottsville and vicinity, auxiliary to the Pennsylvania Bible Society." The object of the association, as, stated in the constitu- tion, was " to distribute the Bible without note or com- ment in the county of Schuylkill, and aid the Pennsyl- vania Bible Society with its surplus funds. On the 7th of September, 1852, the name was changed to the Schuyl- kill County Female Bible Society."

The following have served as presidents of the society, in the order named: Rev. Mr. Cooly, Mrs. Dr. Housel, Mrs. A. Russell' and Mrs. Pollock, who has been presi- dent during many years.

During the early years of the society many local organ- izations auxiliary"to this were established in different parts of the county, and they did efficient work. Since its organization the society has maintained an uninter- rupted existence, and its records show that but few of its regular monthly meetings have been omitted. Large sums of money have been collected and expended in the benevolent work of the society. Colporteurs have been

from time to time employed to thoroughly explore the county and supply copies of the Bible to those who would receive it, and thousands of copies have been thus distributed. Not only has this work been prosecuted among the miners and operatives at the mills and manu- factories, but the poor in remote parts of the county have been sought out and supplied. One of these agents, S. S. Kennedy, says of his canvass of that part of the Catawissa valley lying in this county:

" This valley was once a vast pine forest, which has but recently fallen before the woodman's ax ; but the lumbering business has nearly ceased, and many of the people are now giving their attention to agriculture. The streams once abounded with saw-mills, which have nearly all been burnt down or swept away by the flood. Many of the old tenement houses about the mill dams are still occupied by very poor people, who still linger where they formerly found employment. The old roads which led to these obscure places lie through the mountain gorges and deep ravines, and are obstructed by rocks and stumps and corduroy logs. With much difficulty and with great danger to my horse and vehicle I jolted slowly along these mountain passes, searching for these poor families, many of whom were destitute of the Bible.

"When they asked me why I thus sought them out in such a wilderness, and gave them the Bible, I answered : 'I am sent by persons who care for your souls. What you regard as a great charity is but a light burden to the benevolent men and women of Pottsville, who gladly pay for the Bibles which I give you.' The donors of these sacred gifts will never tread the rough roads over which they were conveyed, and will never see the faces nor hear the glad exclamations of the needy persons who received them; but the Omniscient eye which watches all our efforts will place the credit of each good deed to the account of the proper person."

The Bibles distributed were mostly in the English, German and Welsh languages, according to the nationali- ties of the recipients.

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.

The Schuylkill County Agricultural Society was or- ganized at a meeting of farmers in Orwigsburg, February 22nd, 1851. Hon. Jacob Hammer was chosen president, Edward Kearns and B. W. Hughes vice-presidents, J. S. Keller secretary, and Henry Hoy treasurer. A charter, which had been drawn up by J. S. Keller, was adopted, and Hon. Jacob Hammer was appointed to procure its enactment by the Legislature.

The first fair of the society was held at James Lessig's Hotel, in North Manheim, about three miles from Orwigsburg, on the Center turnpike. It was quite suc- cessful. In the summer of 1854 three-fourths of an acre of ground in Orwigsburg was purchased from Daniel Boyer and fitted up for a fair ground. Changes by sale and purchase have since been made to meet the growing requirements of the society, and the present capacious, convenient, and tasteful grounds, including an area of eighteen acres, have been developed.

The records of the society for a number of years are lost, and a connected history of its doings cannot be given. Its annual fairs have been regularly held, the exhibitions have been creditable, and it is believed that

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES-LABOR TROUBLES.

much good has been accomplished through their instru- mentality ; but financially they have not been as suc- cessful as they might have been had railroad facilities been greater.

Among the later presidents may be named J. T. Shoener, J. C. Beck, J. S. Keller, Reuben Fegley, and H. H. Brownmiller.

The Agricultural and Industrial Association of the Catawissa valley was organized in November, 1870, with the following officers : William Grant, president ; Jacob Breisch, vice-president ; T. J. Foster, secretary ; Philip Kolb, treasurer. Five annual fairs were held by this association, and two by a temporary organization.

The society was reorganized in May, 1879, with the following officers : L. D. Krebs, president ; Jonathan Wetherington, vice-president; Israel Applegate, secretary, and Joseph Stauffer, treasurer. $2,000 of the stock in this society has been taken, and it has a good prospect of success. The present directors are J. M. Litman, O. W. Chisington, G. R. Goodman, D. M. Stauffer, G. S. Hughes, Lemuel Deeble, Franklin Lindermuth, D. D. Krieger, P. M. Basson, P. J. Ferguson, and Samuel Dresher.

In 1856 a society for the promotion of agriculture, horticulture, and mechanics was organized at Schuylkill Haven, with John J. Paxon as president and J. S. Keller secretary. During several years the society was pros- perous, and its annual exhibitions were well sustained ; but financial embarrassments ultimately compelled it to suspend operations.

CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA POULTRY ASSOCIATION.

By E. F. C. Davis, Secretary.

This association was organized at Tamaqua, July 28th, 1874, by the adoption of a constitution and a code of by- laws and the choice of the following offiers: President, John Hendricks; vice-presidents, O. H. Moore, Charles Shoener, E. S. Wheatley, Thomas Job, Daniel Shepp, Richard Rahn, Edward Griffiths, H. A. Weldy, B. O. Witman, Edward Slicher ; secretary, Thomas D. Boone; treasurer, E. J. Fry.

The first exhibition, held in Tamaqua, December 15th to 18th, 1874, was quite a success, and did much toward encouraging an interest throughout the county in the breeding, improvement and managing of thoroughbred poultry.

A fine exhibition was held in Mountain City Hall, Pottsville, in January, 1878, and a still larger one in Jan- uary, 1879; and in January, 1880, one of the largest and most creditable poultry shows ever organized in the ed others, who were disposed to do so, from pursuing middle states was held in Mountain City Hall. At this their labor. Some riots ensued, but the authorities acted promptly, order was restored, and work resumed in two or three weeks. It is noteworthy that one of the colliers, who was approached by a committee with an offer of mediation, declined to hold any communication with them; and "wisely told them that when he wanted guardians to take charge of his business he would get the court to apppoint them." show there were about 500 entries, including some from New York, New Jersey and Maryland. Not less than four thousand persons visited the hall during the show, and cash premiums to the amount of $600 were paid, be- ing awarded by the veteran A. P. A. Judge Henry S. Ball, of Shrewsbury, Mass., the total expenses amouting to something over $1,000.

The association has become one of the popular insti- tutions of Schuylkill county, and has nearly 200 mem- bers, including some of the most prominent professional and business men of the county.

At the annual meeting held January 10th, 1880, the following officers were elected: President, William Fox; treasurer, A. K. Whitner; secretary, E. F. C. Davis; ex- ecutive committee, William Fox, Richard Rahn, A. K. Whitner, Charles M. Lewis, Samuel Auman, Charles H. Wottjen, E. F. C. Davis; also twenty vice-presidents, nearly all citizens of Schuylkill county.

CHAPTER XIV.

LABOR TROUBLES-THE CRIMES AND SUPPRESSION OF THE MOLLIE MAGUIRES.

DURING the last half century the question of capital and labor, and the just relation which they should sustain to each other, has engrossed the attention of political economists in this country with constantly increasing interest. The limits and scope of this work will not permit a discussion of this question here, but it is proper to make a brief allusion to certain changes which have transpired in this region, and to certain other changes which have kept pace with them, if they have not sustained to each other the relation of effect to cause.

Fifty years since, public sentiment here was so strongly opposed to everything that bore any resemblance to a monopoly that capitalists sought in vain to obtain char- tered privileges which could come in competition with individual industry and enterprise. Gradually, however, the people yielded their opposition, till the present con- dition of things has come to exist among capitalists; and along with this has come the growth of labor associa- tions, the members of which have sought, by concert of action, to protect themselves against what they deemed the exactions of combined monopolists. That lawless- ness, and even crime, should be the result is no matter of surprise.

The first recorded strike (then termed a turnout) in this county was inaugurated July 9th, 1842. About 1,5co men, mostly miners, refused to work. They were joined by many idle and vicious men, and they forcibly prevent-

HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.

A turnout occurred among the laborers on the Schuyl- kill Valley Railroad about the middle of December, 1844, which assumed such formidable dimensions that four companies of the volunteer militia were called out to suppress the riotous proceedings. After that time strikes were of comparatively frequent occurrence. No one could question the right of laborers to refuse to work for the wages offered; but the practice which prevailed among them of seeking, by lawless violence, to deter others from the labor which they were disposed to engage in was indefensible. One of the judges of the court, in a charge to a jury at that time, stated that endeavor- ing to prevent, by coercion, people from work, in order to obtain higher wages, was seeking the accomplishment of a lawful desire by unlawful means; and that it would subject the perpetrators to the penalties of the law.

It must not be forgotten that, though labor strikes were hardly known in this region fifty years since, and though the frequency of their occurrence and their for- midable character have grown as capital has become more and more concentrated, and capitalists have sought by combination to interfere with the law of shpply and demand, yet they did not have their origin here, and have never been participated in to any extent by native citi- zens.

In England and Ireland a condition of things which tended to the development and maintenance of labor unions has long existed, but the severe laws and the limi- tation of the elective franchise there prevented them from assuming the formidable character that they have exhib- ited here, where partisan greed and a more lenient ad- ministration of justice have tended to give them a measure of impunity. The great strike which swept over the country in 1877, with its riots and fearful destruction of property, was inaugurated and maintained mainly by men of foreign birth, who had learned in their native country to regard their wealthy employers and landlords as their natural enemies.

THE WORKINGMEN'S BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION,

was made the basis of the new movement, which spread rapidly through the counties of Schuylkill, Carbon, Northumberland, Columbia and Dauphin and the lower part of Luzerne.

Space will not permit a detailed account of the ma- chinery of this organization, or a minute history of its career, in the course of which it exercised an influence which affected and almost controlled operations in the anthracite coal regions, and secondarily made itself felt throughout the country. The name was changed to " The Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent Association." The long strike was inaugurated in January, 1875, and with its termination in June of the same year the asso- ciation collapsed.

ORIGIN OF THE MOLLIE MAGUIRES.

The ruffianism which prevailed here during many years under the name of Mollie Maguireism was trans- planted here from Ireland; but it never could have ac- quired the fearful character which it came to possess here had it not found a condition of things favorable to its development. One historian speaks as follows of the Trish, who constitute the larger portion of the population in the miners' villages and "patches" of the coal regions:

"Coming here fresh from the contact with the landlord and the land agent in Ireland, with no surrounding influ- ence to teach them their error, they transfer a prejudice which has grown with their growth and strengthened with their strength to the coal operators and the boss, from whom they derive their subsistence and under whose direction they work. Taught from infancy to believe that as against them capital is never used except as an instrument of oppression, under the influence some- times of real wrongs, but more frequently under a mista- ken belief of an encroachment upon their rights, a spirit of resistance is aroused, which wicked and designing wretches have so used and controlled as to render the undetected commission of horrid crimes not only easy but to a certain extent sympathized with."

He might have added that the constantly increasing centralization of capital here does not tend to diminish the prejudices which they imbibed in their native land.

which during several years exercised a very potent in- At about the commencement of the present century the Ribbon Society was organized in some of the counties in Ireland, among the tenantry, for the maintenance of what they looked upon as their rights, against what they regarded as the oppressions of their landlords. In carry- ing out the objects of their organization they were guilty of many crimes, which rendered them a terror in some localities. About the year 1843 the Mollie Maguires were organized as auxiliaries to the Ribbonmen ; or, perhaps, some of the more ferocious and desperate of the order took that name. It is said by some that the name adopted was that of a woman who manifested extraordinary feroc- ity in resisting with her own hands the agents of the English landlord. Others assert that the society was so named because it was organized at the house of a woman of that name ; while another tradition relates that the name was acquired because of the female apparel in which some of the members disguised themselves to fluence through the anthracite coal regions, had its origin in Schuylkill county. In July, 1868, the miners of Girard colliery, Girardville, struck for an application to them of the eight-hour law which the Legislature had passed the preceding session. To give their strike a formidable appearance they conferred with the men of some neighboring collieries, and induced them to join in the demonstration. The readiness with which these miners joined in the movement, the really formidable character which it assumed, and some hints which he re- ceived from the miners at Hyde Park, who refused to participate in the strike, induced John Parker, a shrewd and intelligent English miner and blacksmith, to under- take the task of harmonizing the discordant elements that existed in the anthracite regions, and arraying them against millions of organized capital and hundreds of shrewd and courageous capitalists and employers. The "Workingmen's Benevolent Association of Hyde Park " check, beat, or otherwise maltreat the " process servers,"

ORGANIZATION AND CRIMES OF THE MOLLIE MAGUIRES.

'grippers," " keepers " or "drivers," as the agents of the landlords were termed. With such ferocity did they resist the legal officers who went among them, and such terror did they consequently inspire, that it came to be almost impossible to induce an officer to undertake the service of a process.

It is not believed that any connection existed between the Ribbonmen and Mollie Maguires in Ireland and the Mollies in this country. It is true that their methods of committing crime and of warning their intended victims were the same, or nearly so. The practices which the im- migrants had learned among the tenantry of Ireland in their resistance to the agents of the hated foreign land- lords were adopted here, with only such changes as changed circumstances seemed to require. By reason of the less repressive character of the laws here, and the political influence which the Mollies were able to wield, their crimes in this country came to be far more frequent and atrocious than they had been in Ireland, and here they sought by inspiring terror to control in their own interest the policy of their employers. In extenuation of their crimes in Ireland it may be said that they were, or that they believed themselves to be, the victims of oppression ; and that the law not only failed to protect them, but that it was the instrument by which they were oppressed. Here, however, no extenuation of their crimes can be found. Dewees says of them :

"The Mollie Maguire of the coal region comes into of a draft was ordered, its formidable and dangerous

existence without cause or pretense of a cause in the past or present history of this country. Standing the equal before the law of any man or set of men in the land, his rights guarded and even his prejudices respected, he becomes with fiendish malice and in cold blood an incendiary and assassin; a curse to the land that has welcomed him with open arms, and a blot, a stain and a disgrace upon the character of his countrymen and the name of the land of his nativity."

ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS.

In this country no association was ever organized under the name Mollie Maguire. The Ancient Order of Hibernians, a benevolent and highly respectable associa- tion, which had a large membership in the United States, in Canada and Great Britain, and was in Pennsylvania as well as some other States incorporated by law, came to be controlled in the coal region by the desperate out- laws who constituted what were termed Mollie Maguires here, and who stamped their character on the order in the coal regions.

It does not appear that there was in the constitution of this order anything criminal, but the evidence is too strong to admit of a reasonable doubt that the divisions of the order throughout the United States were assessed CRIMES OF THE MOLLIE MAGUIRES. to raise funds for defending the criminals here. Chari- Although the limits of this article will not permit a detail of the crimes which were committed, a few of the outrages that were perpetrated during the first years of the Mollies' career may be mentioned. table people seek to excuse this action of the national delegates, and to believe that the members of the order elsewhere had no sympathy with the acts of these out- laws. To such it must be a source of regret that the On the fifth of May, 1862, the miners at Heckscherville struck and stopped the pumps in the mines. The sheriff, after some delay, assisted by a posse, started them; but order elsewhere has not repudiated and denounced those who so deeply disgraced them here. It has been truly said that no other organization in the United States the posse was soon overpowered and they were again

would have failed to denounce such action on the part of its members in any locality or region.

As early as 1848 it was known that an element of law- lessness was in this regeion, and even at that time it assumed the name by which it was afterward distin- guished. Warnings in coarse, vulgar terms, illustrated with rude sketches of coffins, pistols, etc., and threat- ening vengeance, were occasionally received by those who had probably rendered themselves obnoxious to the ones who desired to intimidate them. These notices frequently bore the signature "One of Mollie's Children"; a fact which shows that within five years of the adoption of the name in Ireland it had been brought to this re- gion. About the year 1854 vague rumors were heard of the existence of a laborers' organization, called in some portions of the anthracite region " Black Spots," and in others " Buck Shots," but these attracted only slight and transient attention.

About the year 1862, or soon after the breaking out of the rebellion, the suddenly increased demand for coal brought a correspondingly increased demand for laborers in the mines here, and this at a time when thousands were absent in the army. In answer to this demand came a large influx of foreigners, among whom might be found the worst elements of a floating population. It soon became evident that a lawless organization existed here, and when, in 1862, an enrollment for the purpose character was made evident. Assaults, arson and mur- ders were committed, and the officers of the law were powerless to apprehend or punish the perpetrators. Coal operators were warned to suspend operations till the dis- continuance of the draft, and miners and mine bosses were warned, at the peril of their lives, not to work. Murders and incendiarism became more frequent and bold ; open riots, of the character of which no attempt at concealment was made, occurred ; and terror was in- spired throughout the mining region. Opposition to en- rollments and drafts on the part of the lawless foreigners that had come hither was believed at first to inspire much of the lawlessness and crime that prevailed during the war, and to have led to the extensive organization which it came to be evident existed ; but when, after the close of the war, crime seemed to be more rampant, and the impossibility of convicting the criminals was more and more apparent, people awoke to the fact that an organization existed among them of which they only knew the name and the dangerous character,-more dan- gerous than they had hitherto suspected.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 22

Author: Publication date: 1881 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell Number of Pages: 604

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell
Number of Pages: 604