Legends of the Old West - PINKERTONS Ep. 1 | “James McParland: The Molly Maguires”

Episode Date: July 23, 2025

In the early 1870s, tensions between Pennsylvania coal miners and mine owners reaches a fever pitch. Poor working conditions for little pay results in a bitter dispute between labor and management. Making matters worse, a group of Irish immigrants called the Molly Maguires have taken violent measures against management. At the end of 1873, the Pinkerton Detective Agency is hired to spy on the Mollies. The Pinkertons send in undercover agent, James McParland.  Thanks to our sponsor, HelloFresh! To get started, check out our plan: HelloFresh.com/legends10fm Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ banner on Apple to get started with a 3-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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become especially crisp. The cold weather was nothing new for Morgan Powell. If anything, it was sweet relief from the thick, stuffy fumes he inhaled all day in the coal mines. Powell was a superintendent with the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. He was just one of many men in rural Pennsylvania employed to work in the anthracite coal fields. Coal mining was a punishing job, forcing men to pass long hours underground for little pay. As a result, there was significant tension between the miners and the companies. As a representative of management, Powell was in the middle of the conflict on a daily basis. He was certain there were a number of miners who

had grudges against him because he was tied to the bosses. So, on that cold December evening, as Powell exited Williamson's General Store, he kept an eye out for possible mischief aimed in his direction. At around 7 p.m., Powell stepped out of the store and began walking down the sidewalk. After walking just a few yards, he ran into a pair of armed men. Without saying a word, the men raised their pistols and shot Powell in the chest. As a blood-soaked Powell fell to the ground, his assassins ran off into the night. By the next day, the killers had fled the county, and any trail they may have left behind went cold. Their identities would remain a mystery to law enforcement, but everyone in town knew

who was really behind the assassination. The Molly Maguires. The name didn't refer to a single person or family, but rather the Molly Maguires were a secret clan of Irish Catholic laborers who believed that the only way to get the coal companies to respect them was to instill fear in foremen, superintendents, and anyone who held power. Violent reprisals such as beatings, shootings, and verbal threats were the language of the

Mollies, and everyone in the region knew it. Though their history was shrouded in secrecy, it was known that the Mollie-Maguires began in Ireland in the 1700s, and they directed their violence against English landlords. As Irish immigrants flooded into the United States in the mid-1800s, so did the Mollies. Before long, they established themselves in mining communities in Pennsylvania. Numerous acts of violence were attributed to the Mollie-McGuires. As a result, the Mollies had become a major problem for the Working Men's Benevolent Association, the legitimate mining union which put so much

effort into establishing peaceful negotiations with mine owners. For the mine owners, the Molly Maguires were a useful tool in their crusade to exert total control over labor. The Molly's gave the owners an excuse to get their hands dirty. Morgan Powell's assassination was one example of many. And as the bodies continued to fall, the owners decided they wanted a man to infiltrate the secret society and spy on them.

The owners turned to the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and the agency had just the man for the job. From Black Barrel Media, this is Legends of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this season we're focusing on the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency and two of its most famous operatives, James McParland and Charlie Siringo. This is Episode 1, James McParland, Part 1, The Molly McGuires. Franklin B. Gowan was the president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, one of the most heavily used railroads in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. But Gowan wasn't just the head of the train company. He also controlled many of the coal and iron mines, which provided raw materials for the

railroad. One of the many mining companies under his control was the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, the firm Morgan Powell worked for before his untimely death. For years, Gowan had been at war with labor, especially the Working Men's Benevolent Association, or the WBA. As Gowan struggled to control nonviolent labor activists, he also had to contend with violent agitators like the Molly McGuires.

By the fall of 1873, nearly two years after Morgan Powell's death, Gowan decided he wanted to get rid of the Molly McGuires. To do that, he reached out to the Pinkerton Detective Agency to send in a spy. Gowan's timing couldn't have been better for the Pinkerton agency. Alan Pinkerton, a Scottish immigrant, founded the agency around 1850 and quickly built up its reputation. But by the early 1870s, the agency was in financial ruin. Pinkerton himself was deeply in debt, and his Philadelphia office was hemorrhaging money. In an effort to stop the financial bleeding, Pinkerton

cut detectives' wages and prayed for a miracle. Franklin Gowan was that miracle. Pinkerton eagerly accepted Gowan's case. But considering how dangerous it would be, Pinkerton knew he needed an undercover agent who fit a very specific set of requirements. Young, physically fit, Irish Catholic, and unmarried. Most importantly, the agent had to be a man who could win the trust of the Molly Maguires. After searching his list of agents, Pinkerton eventually landed on 29-year-old James McParland. McParland would later add a D to his name and become McParland. In 1873, McParland was a lean but muscular Irish immigrant with a thick beard and hazel eyes behind

glasses. He had worked in the agency's Chicago office for more than a year. Pinkerton summoned McParland to his office and asked McParland if he knew anything about the Molly Maguires. McParland told Pinkerton what he knew of the clandestine group and Pinkerton was impressed. Pinkerton offered McParland the assignment, go to the Pennsylvania coal fields, blend in with the Irish locals, and spy on the secretive group. Pinkerton was honest about the assignment. It was going to be dangerous work with no pay increase. To Pinkerton's surprise, McParland accepted.

As a proud Catholic, McParland had a strong sense of moral certainty and a young man's eagerness for adventure. Within a week, McParland was on a train bound for Pennsylvania. McParland arrived in coal country in late October and spent a month wandering the land. During that month, he was able to get a good feel for the locals, while also listening to gossip about Mollie Maguire activity. Eventually, he was warned to steer clear of Sheridan House, a tavern in the town of Pottsville. Supposedly, the tavern was a haven for the Mollie McGuires. In late November, McParland strolled into the Sheridan House.

Immediately, he recognized a tune being played by the fiddler inside, a lively folk song called The Devil's Dream. McParland tossed aside his coat and hat, jumped into the center of the room, and began a jig. When the song ended, everyone in the tavern applauded McParland's impromptu dance. After drinking a shot of whiskey, McParland began singing The Ballad of Molly McGuire, an old tune straight from Ireland. When he finished singing, McParland was invited McGuire, an old tune straight from Ireland. When he finished singing, McParland was invited to play cards in the back of the tavern. During the game, he got his first taste of how quickly violence could erupt in the area.

McParland noticed that a man at the table, known as the Potsville Bully, was cheating. McParland called the bully out, and the bully challenged McParland to a fight. For six painful rounds, McParland and the bully boxed in the tavern. McParland took the brunt of the damage and was severely beaten, but he always stood up. Finally, the bully got frustrated and left the tavern. McParland's face was battered and bruised, but flushed with success. He bought a round of drinks for everyone in the joint. With a whiskey glass raised, McParland gave an old Irish toast, to the power that makes

English landlords tremble. The toast was a calculated move. He'd heard it many times during his travels in the area, and he guessed that it might hold significance for the Molly McGuyers. The toast provoked grins from his new friends. He saw a few subtle looks pass between other Irishmen at the bar. If he wasn't on their radar before, he was now. He knew they'd be sizing him up to see if he'd be a good fit for their organization. All McParland had to do now was convincingly play the part. Chili dog not included the naked god tickets on sale now August 1st

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might be able to get him close to the Molly Maguires. He told some people that he was a member of the ancient order of Hibernians back in Ireland. The AOH was a legal fraternal organization among Irishmen in both Ireland and the United States. During the weeks of gathering information in the area, McParland developed a theory. The so-called Molly Maguires were a secret circle within the American branch of the AOH. If McParland could get invited into the American AOH via his alleged association with the Irish AOH, then maybe he could gain access to the Mollys. It was a risky strategy. McParland didn't know any of the secret signs

or passwords for either branch of the AOH. The purpose of claiming to be a member of the Irish AOH was to have a plausible excuse for not knowing any of the American codes. Unfortunately, the deception nearly blew McParland's cover. One December night, McParland was in the middle of telling a story to a crowd when he was approached by a legitimate member of the Irish AOH. Doubting McParland's cover story, the man gave one of the Irish AOH signs. Instead of making up a sign, McParland pretended to pass out drunk. The man tried to rouse McParland, but McParland refused to awaken.

Frustrated, the man moved on, and McParland had dodged serious trouble. At the end of January 1874, McParland finally started making some real progress on the case, though it wasn't exactly the way he had hoped for. McParland had become friendly with a local pub owner named Muff Lawler. Lawler believed McParland was looking for work, so Lawler referred McParland for a job in the mines in Shenandoah, about 12 miles north of Pottsville. McParland wasn't thrilled about having to do legitimate work in a coal mine, but he knew he couldn't decline without arousing suspicion. More importantly, McParland was certain Lawler had a line to

the Molly Maguires. Accepting the job would bring the two men closer as friends. So, McParland swallowed his reservations and took the job. On February 12, 1874, McParland got to work. He soon learned that to be a coal miner was to work in one of the harshest environments imaginable. Space was tight and light was limited. Danger lurked around every corner, from man-made explosions to the mines' roofs or walls spontaneously collapsing. And if explosions or cave-ins didn't kill you, the noxious fumes could. And all of that was done for a tiny paycheck which was cruelly reduced by every item needed to survive. McParland discovered that the company took out massive chunks of employee wages for housing. And then supplies and other necessities had to be purchased for marked up prices at the company-owned store.

Essentially, the workers were giving for marked up prices at the company owned store. Essentially, the workers were giving their wages right back to the company because they had to buy all their supplies from the company store. McParland didn't like the backbreaking work, but he was able to keep a closer eye out for men whom he suspected were mollies. Before long, he made another connection. One of the men working beside him was a 26-year-old Irish immigrant named Frank McAndrew. McAndrew was climbing the ranks of the American branch of the ancient order of Hibernians, and he was looking for new allies among the miners.

For three arduous months, McParland worked alongside McAndrew. In their off hours, they drank at Lawler's Pub. Finally, in April 1874, McParland got what he wanted, an invite to become an official member of the Shenandoah Lodge of the American AOH. Muff Lawler, Frank McAndrew, and three others brought McParland to Lawler's house and asked him to take an oath. He was provided with secret codes and signs of the Hibernians, and he no longer needed to pretend to have connections back in Ireland. He was one big step closer to the Molly Maguires. James McParland always suspected Lawler had some kind of connection to the Molly Maguires,

and with each passing day, the suspicions seemed more true. Not only was Lawler a member of the Shenandoah Lodge of the AOH, he was also a so-called body master. McParland learned that a body master was in charge of all local lodge activities. Among those activities were determining enemy targets and how to act against them. McParland's Inner Circle theory appeared to be true, and he began to wonder if the AOH body masters were the Molly Maguires. Being a body master in the AOH required men to be tough at all times, and if they weren't, or if they were even suspected of being too soft, then they could be targets themselves. One day in the spring of 1874, McParland accompanied Lawler on a trip

to acquire the new AOH passwords and signs for the season. On their way back to Shenandoah, the two men stopped at a tavern for a drink. As they sipped their whiskeys, a loud noise startled them. McParland and Lawler turned and saw that a man named Dick Flynn had just kicked down the door. Flynn held a carving knife in one hand and a revolver in the other, cocked and ready to shoot. He announced that he was there to kill Lawler for being too soft as a body master.

Without hesitating, McParland charged Flynn and seized Flynn's wrists. As the two men grappled, Lawler escaped out a window. During the struggle, McParland persuaded Flynn to put down his weapons and have a drink. Frustrated by Lawler's escape, Flynn accepted the offer and placed the knife and pistol on the bar. The bartender poured them each a shot. Flynn tossed the whiskey back, and then, since Lawler had escaped, he said he was going to kill McParland instead.

Flynn reached for his pistol, but McParland was quicker. McParland drew his own revolver and put it to Flynn's ear. He said he'd blow Flynn's brains out if Flynn made a move. Flynn's aggression dissolved, and he started begging for his life. McParland spared Flynn and slipped away into the night. After that incident, the pressure seemed to get to Muff Lawler. In July 1874, he stepped down as body master. Frank McAndrew, the man who worked alongside McParland, was elected to take Lawler's

place. McAndrew knew that McParland could read and write, and appointed him to be the lodge's secretary. McParland couldn't believe his luck. Moving forward, he would be the one who kept detailed notes on every AOH meeting, and those notes could be sent back to his Pinkerton supervisors. One of the most important things McParland learned about the AOH was how it doled out

violence. If members wanted a man beaten or shot, they didn't give the assignment to a man in their own lodge. Instead, they did an exchange with a neighboring lodge. With muscle coming from out of town, the local Hibernians, or Mollies, couldn't be directly connected to the crime. Thus, lodges could protect each other and avoid local law enforcement. Throughout the summer of 1874, tensions rose within the labor movement. As July rolled into August, violence between the Molly Maguires and their enemies increased. Irish miners regularly fought with German and Welsh miners, thanks to alcohol and mutual distrust

between the communities. At the same time, the Working Men's Benevolent Association was negotiating with management to establish new wages for the year. They'd managed to set a stable wage for miners through 1874, but talks turned sour when discussing wages for 1875. Mine owners, like Franklin Gowan, were prepared to break the Union. They ignored the established minimum wage, and instead offered a 20% reduction in wages. In December 1874, the WBA took a vote,

and the majority decided that enough was enough. Mines in the southern anthracite fields, those represented by the Union, were to stop all labor effective immediately. The miners were now on strike. Weeks turned to months and the work stoppage became known as the long strike. Without work to keep them busy,

the Molly Maguires grew even more aggressive in their acts of violence against their enemies, and James McParland found himself square in the middle of it. The new BMO VI Porter MasterCard is your ticket to more. More perks. More points. More flights. More of all the things you want in a travel rewards card.

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The news came as a surprise to McParland since he didn't even fully know who was or wasn't a Molly. The delineation between a Hibernian and a Mali was very murky. Still, McParland played along and listened to what the three men had to say. The three men wanted to blow up a bridge near Ring Town, which would hurt the shipping of coal from the upper anthracite fields. The mines in that area were not on strike, and that angered the three men. They wanted McParland's help, which placed McParland in a dangerous situation.

He couldn't agree to the plot with a clear conscience, and he couldn't push against it for fear of blowing his cover. But as secretary of the local AOH lodge, he could stall for time. So, McParland agreed to bring up the proposal at the next AOH meeting. When the next meeting rolled around, McParland warned the new bodymaster, Frank McAndrew, that the would-be bombers couldn't be trusted. McParland was forceful, and McAndrew ended up dismissing the bombing plot. The bridge near Ringtown stayed intact, though unfortunately McParland's relief effort was short-lived as tensions continued to rise. On June 2, 1875, James McParland stood at the head of a group of more than 600 striking

miners. They'd gathered at dawn to prevent a group of more than 600 striking miners. They'd gathered at dawn to prevent scabs from entering one of the mines. McParland cut an intimidating figure, especially with a pair of navy colts on his belt, a hickory club in his hand, and an attack dog barking at his side. He looked every bit the violent miner people thought he was. Across from the crowd were 25 members of the Coal and Iron Police, led by a Pinkerton named Robert Lyndon. Lyndon was one of McParland's supervisors out of Chicago

and one of the few men who knew McParland's true identity. As the restless crowd pushed toward the line of policemen, the officers leveled Winchester rifles at the miners, and the miners stopped in their tracks. Realizing blood was about to be spilled, McParland shouted over the chaos. He yelled to the miners that 20 policemen with 16 shots each could take down 320 miners before they ran out of bullets. The mob fell back, but it didn't disperse. The miners regrouped and joined another wave of disgruntled workers who were heading to Mahanoy City, one county over. By the time the mob reached Mahanoy City, it had swelled to 2,000 people. The mob clashed with a hastily formed posse, leaving a wave of property damage in its wake.

with a hastily formed posse, leaving a wave of property damage in its wake. Eventually, the Pennsylvania government mobilized the state militia to prevent more rioting. And McParland jumped from one trouble spot to another. As the rioting broke up, McParland received a summons for a meeting of AOH leadership in Mahanoy City. The summons came from the Skollkill County body master, John Keough, and Keough wanted to kill a Welshman. McParland knew Keough. Keough was a former miner who now owned a tavern. He was well known as a leader in the ancient order of Hibernians. He was charming, smart, and a natural politician. And if the rumors were to be believed, he had beaten to death a mine boss in 1862. John Keough was not a man to cross.

Since Frank McAndrew was out of town, McParland went to the meeting to represent the Shenandoah Lodge. During the meeting, McParland watched as Keough showed the other body masters bullet holes in his coat. According to Keough, the bullet holes were evidence of a recent attempt on his life by a Welshman. Keough wanted revenge, and McParland made mental plans to warn any possible victims before the shooting started. But when McParland got home that night, he suddenly found himself bedridden.

Due to a combination of stress, physical exertion, and fatigue, McParland had become dangerously sick. He was delirious and unable to rise for days on end. When he did manage to stand, the farthest he could go was out to the front stoop of his boarding house for some fresh air. Unfortunately, that meant he wasn't able to warn people about Keough's revenge. The marked Welshman was eventually shot, but he survived, so at least McParland didn't have a death on his conscience. But McParland was about to learn that many more had targets on their backs.

Just before dawn on July 6, 1875, in the town of Tamakwa, policemen Benjamin Yost and Barney McCarron were extinguishing the town's gas lamps. As they strolled down the street, they stopped at a lamp outside of Yost's home. While Yost set up a ladder, McCarran wandered off. Yost climbed up and reached for the lamp. At that moment, Yost's wife happened to glance out of the window. While his wife watched, Yost extinguished the flame, and two men emerged from the darkness and ran toward him.

Yost was trapped on the top of the ladder, and he could do nothing as the men raised their pistols and shot him twice in the chest. Yost fell from the ladder, and the shooters fled the area. Yost's wife ran out of the house and desperately tried to stop the bleeding gunshot wounds. Hearing the shots, Barney McCarron ran back toward his fallen partner. McCarron saw the fleeing gunmen and fired after them, but in the pre-dawn light, the gunmen disappeared. Instead of chasing them, McCarron turned back toward his partner, who was bleeding in his wife's arms.

Benjamin Yost died seven hours later. When the news got out, James McParland received a message which ordered him to investigate the murder. McParland traveled 15 miles east to Tamaqua and began his investigation in his usual manner. He bought drinks for AOH members until somebody started talking. McParland's primary suspect was Jimmy Powderkeg Kerrigan, the bodymaster of the Tamaquah AOH Lodge. McParland learned that Yost had arrested Kerrigan for drunkenness on multiple occasions and beaten him with a baton when the volatile Kerrigan did not go quietly. Kerrigan drunkenly boasted about how cleanly the

assassins had gotten away with the killing. McParland repeatedly visited the tavern where Carragon drank and slowly drew every bit of the story out of Carragon. In order to avoid his suspect becoming suspicious of his frequent visits, McParland flirted with Carragon's sister. Carragon bought the ruse. He assumed McParland was at the tavernan's sister. Kerrigan bought the ruse. He assumed McParlin was at the tavern for his sister, not to memorize the details of Yost's murder. Before long, McParlin had the names of the men who planned and executed the Yost murder. They were all members of his own Shenandoah Lodge. Keeping with tradition, the Tamaqu lodge had asked the Shenandoah lodge to carry

out the murder so that the men in the Tamaqua lodge couldn't be arrested. With the information in hand, McParland passed it to his Pinkerton supervisors. But to McParland's shock and horror, their response wasn't a congratulations, it was a warning. Other operatives and informants in the region had notified the Pinkerton bosses that Welsh and English immigrant communities suspected James McKenna, McParland's alter ego, was the real mastermind behind Yost's murder, as well as others. Other Pinkerton operatives learned that if another killing happened, the English and Welsh were ready to take revenge on James McParland.

McParland realized he was too good at being undercover. He now had a target on his back for being deep in the Mollie Maguires. McParland tried his best to delay the next contract killing. Since members of his lodge carried out the Yoast killing, Jimmy Kerrigan and the Tamaquah Lodge owed Shenandoah a murder. The Shenandoah men picked John P. Jones, a mine superintendent, as the target and McParland quickly notified the Pinkertons. But Jones wasn't the only man in danger. On August 31, McParland awoke to find a revolver on his nightstand, but it wasn't his. McParland woke his roommate at the boarding house and asked him about the gun.

McParland's roommate said he'd borrowed the gun and planned to kill Thomas Sanger, a mine foreman, at dinner. The roommate then asked if he could borrow McParland's gray coat to remain inconspicuous. McParland handed him the coat and waited for the roommate to leave. When the roommate was gone, McParland bolted out of town as fast as he could. He needed to get a hold of fellow Pinkerton Robert Linden so that Linden could warn Thomas Sanger. Unfortunately, McParland wasn't fast enough.

Back in town that evening, Thomas Sanger ate his supper and then walked out onto a street packed with other miners. As he was walking, a shot rang out. The crowd scattered and revealed five men, all Molly Maguires, including the roommate wearing McParland's coat. The assassins charged Sanger. Sanger took off running. He rounded the corner of a building, hoping to escape, but he was stuck.

The killers cornered Sanger by a doorway and shot him repeatedly at close range. After killing Sanger, the assassins fled. McParland was disappointed that he failed to prevent Sanger's death, but he was determined to bring the assassins to justice. Within an hour, he found the killers, who were drinking and bragging about their bloody work. McParland sent their names to his supervisors that same night. But the bad news kept coming. A few days later,

McParland learned that John P. Jones had been killed by Kerrigan and other Molly Maguires. Thankfully, eyewitness descriptions led to quick arrests of the assassins, but it was cold comfort for McParland. He had informed his superiors about the danger Jones was in. They should have been able to protect the foreman, but they weren't. The violence of that summer of 1875 swirled closer and closer to James McParland. He would have been forgiven the analogy if he said he felt like a noose was slowly tightening around his neck. That was very close to the truth. And as summer turned to autumn, he wondered how

much longer he could stay undercover. Next time on Legends of the Old West, James McParland's time undercover comes to a short and shocking end as the Molly Maguires learn his true identity. Desperately trying to save both his own skin and the case, McParland makes several risky maneuvers and ends up becoming one of the most famous detectives of his era in the process. That's next week on Legends of the Old West. [♪ Music Plays And Fades Out...] Members of our Black Barrel Plus program

don't have to wait week to week to receive new episodes. They receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials. And they also receive exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. This episode was researched and written by Robert Teamstra. It was produced by Joe Guerra. Original music by Rob Valier.

I'm Chris Wimmer. Thanks for listening.