Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1879-01-01
JACK kEHOE HUNG.
His Life Of Crime---The Defiant Bully
of the Coal Regions.

the day Dec. 1Sth) that villain was
hung, at louisville, Pa: M
With Jack Kehoe died to-day the
guiltiest of all the Mollie Maguires. In
his prison cell, in fancied security, he
has seen a score of his tools 60 out to
their death, while he remained to brag
of his power and to mock, at Justice. In
the coal regions this man was known to
every one. as the King of the Mollies.
He was a man who welded great power
He kept saloon at Girardville, held
the office of high sheriff, and, as. eoun-
ty delegate of the Schuylkill County.
Mollie Maguires, opened the meetings
with prayer, and immediately discussed
the murder of some one who, had
gained the ill-will Of the" .Buckshots."
I " years he had been member of the
society, and was connected with deeds
of violence from the first, For years
he had planned and plotted the bold
est of crimes. The fate of many a VIC
tim was discussed and settled in his bar
room. He appointed men to commit
murders, and was the loudest in his
praises of a man capable of doing a
clean job in other Words killing a
victim at the first shot,. The years
1876 struck terror into the hearts, of
the Mollies. Arrests were making on
every side. Jack Kehoe alone felt Sc
cure. He had seen Townships misgov-
erned and robbed by his men he had
seen bis candidates elected to the legis-
lature, and he had been courted and
bowed down to. by politicians. It was
no wonder, then, that he felt his own
power, and deemed it sufficient to keep
him floating on the .swift-running tide
which was bearing SO many Of his dar-
ing and desperateI followers to .destruc-
ton. Il / ~ - / rs ~
With several others he was arrested
and put on trial on the Sth of August.
1876, for assault and battery with intent
to kill William M. Thomas, and on the
18th he was again tried for conspiracy
to murder William and Jesse Major
He was convicted on both charges, and
an imprisonment of fourteen months
was imposed. But, he was not to es-
cape SO easily. In November he was
indicted for murder, with five others.
Still Jack Kehoe neverylost heart. He
was politician, and held the Molliel
vote In his hand. He made open boasts
that his power could not be overlooked,
"The old man at HARRISBURG" he, said
to his jailor, referring to Governor Har-
tranft, 'fthe old man at Harrisburg viii
never dare to go back Oh me. | shall
never hang" and scotting at the courts
and Justice he awaited his trial with the
greatest composure, being convinced by
his friends that even . if convicted he
would be pardoned out. r
The crime for which Keboe was in
dicted was the murder of Frank w. S.
Iangdon, ticket boss. at a ;colliery in
Audenreid, on the 14th of June, 1862.
On that day there was gathering at
Audenreld to<make preparations for a
. Molie picnic on the following Fourth
of July The war fever was running
high, and during the day, in mo-
ment OF excitement some one
spit on the, American flag.
Langdon was personally unpopular :,
and when, fromthe steps Of the hotel.
he denounced the act in unmeasured
terms, there were angry looks and NUT
terings which foreboded a storm.
Langdon was advised by his friends to
go home, and let the excitement die out,
but he did not consider that his life was
in danger, and he refused all advice
Towards evening he was obliged to go
down the road from the hotel. A mob
followed They assaulted him with
sticks and with stones, and left him for
dead. The blow which undoubtedly
caused death was given by Yellow Jack
DOnahue, since executed. When. In
1876, this murder, long forgotten, was
brought to mind bv the Indictment OF
the murderers, Jack Kehoe elected to
be tried separately. He was given
every chance to clear himself, but it
was testified that he took an active part
in the murder, and he was convicted IN
the first degree. -@1
Although he was not present the tes-
timony adduced at several Of the Mollie
Mcguire trials shows that kenoe had
criminal knowledge of number OF
murders in Schuylkill county besides
that for which he was convicted. The
night preceding the murder of,,Thomas
Sanger and VIM. Wren the desperadoes
VINO shot them down in the fall of 1875
stopped at kehoe's house, and were
uScu ny ulul W pGOceeu III tuolI uuf-
derous work. About a year after the
commission of the crime he made
threats on the life of a man for having
revealed certain facts which led to the
arrest of Thomas Munley, who was
hanged June q, 1877, for the murder OF
Sanger, who was a mine-boss, and had
rendered himself obnoxious to the Mol
lies by an alleged preference for Eng
lishmen as miners. For exercising this
discrimination he was marked for as
sassination, and while on his way to bis
NINE, accompanied by VIM. Wren, be
was attacked by Thomas Munley and
several others and fatally shot. His
companion was also murdered. On
Aug. II Conner James, a young Welch.
mai, was the victim of cowardly and
fatal assault near Shenandoah. There
had been large picnic during the day
and at night large number of Mollies
remained on the ground. Conner James
was acting as bartender, and while III
the performance of his duties Thomas