Molly+Maguires

The Molly Maguires The Molly Maguires were a group of coal miners from Pennsylvania that formed during the 1860's and 70's. They got the name "Molly Maguires" after a group of poor Irish peasants who dressed up as woman to antagonize their land lords. The group was made up mainly of Irish Catholics who came to America hoping for a better life, but found themselves working in the dirty coal mines of Pennsylvania. The Mollies, as they are commonly called, wanted out of the harsh life that they had, so they rebelled against the authorities by harrasing and often murdering the police and mine owners. In the 1870's the president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad co., Franklin B. Gowen, hired Pinkerton detectives to spy on the Mollies activites. One of the detectives, James McParlan, successfully succeeded in doing so. His evidence helped convict 12 of the 20 men, who were all eventually hung for the Molly crimes.