While researching Letters from War: 1861, a single line in a Coal Region newspaper stopped me cold. A sergeant had written home describing the murder of a Black man by Union soldiers. This is the investigation into what really happened on June 1, 1861 and the lynching of a man named Frank Jones.
In June 1877, Schuylkill County Prison in Pottsville prepared for the largest mass execution in Pennsylvania history, hanging six men accused of being Molly Maguires. Controversial trials, largely based on Pinkerton detective James McParlan’s testimony, left lingering doubts about whether the executions were justice or a crackdown on Irish labor activism. Read the story.
On Thanksgiving night in 1868, a bar-room altercation in the mining village of West Delaware Mines, Pennsylvania, turned deadly. After an argument over a drink, Edward Pursel fatally shot Civil War veteran John Duffy. This tragic event led to Pursel’s trial and conviction for murder. Read the full story.
A vivid account details an average Saturday night in Pottsville, PA in the 1840s.
Not everyone in Hazleton, Pennsylvania marked Decoration Day (Memorial Day) with reverence and solemnity. The holiday, designed to honor the sacrifices of Civil War veterans who perished during the conflict, had been regularly celebrated in Pennsylvania since 1868. On Decoration Day 1889, some in the Luzerne County city "imbibed too freely" and ended up in … Continue reading “Decoration Day Drunks” – Hazleton residents who imbibed too freely on the holiday to honor Civil War veterans
In April 1870, a widespread outbreak of violence across Schuylkill County shocked residents
The fight took place outside the Washington House Hotel on Market Street in Williamstown and raised some serious eyebrows.