Newspaper: Death Warrent for Leader of Molly Maguires found
Jack Kehoe,  May 25, 1969

Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Jon Blanck.

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                            Death Warrant for Leader 
                            of 'Molly Maguires' Found

    Bloomsburg, May 24 - It admittedly isn't the kind of thing you would want 
to put on the living room wall but a document that had been found in a local 
home many years ago is today a choice collector's item. It is the death 
warrant of John Kehoe, who had been known as the "King of the Mollie 
Maguires." 
    The document, on heavy stock, 21 inches long, and bearing the "Great 
Seal" of Penn-sylvania, had been found, many years ago, in the refuse removed 
from the home of a Bloomsburg man who had died.
    The refuse collector kept the death warrant and its large envelope. He 
later sold it for $3 to the late Frank Davis, of Bloomsburg. It was then 
willed by Mr. Davis to his sister, Mrs. Clarence Spaide, of Nescopeck R.D.1 
    Until the making of the moving picture, The Mollie Maguires, Mrs. Spaide 
had not thought about the item. Now she realizes it is a collector's item.
    Sets Execution
    Governor John F. Hartranft was the head of this state when the warrant 
was issued in 1878. It was signed by John Blair Linn, secretary of the 
commonwealth and was addressed to High Sheriff William J. Matz, of Schuykill 
County.
    The body of the document explains "And whereas a warrant was heretofore 
issued fixing Thursday the eighteenth day of April A.D. 1878 as the time for 
the execution of the said John Kehoe, which warrant was returned not executed 
having been recalled by me for reasons stated."
    The warrant then continues - setting "between the hours of 10a.m. and 3 
p.m. on Wednesday the eighteenth day of December A.D. one thousand and eight 
hundred and seventy-eight" as the time of execution.
    Like most documents of the day it was written in longhand with a liberal 
amount of swirls and shading.
    Names of the jurors who had found "King Jack" guilty of murder are on the 
reverse side of the document.
    They include Levi Huber, R. F. Lee, Charles A. Keckscher, P. K. Filbert, 
John L. Eckert, George Kreis, Edward Hummel, Frederick Schwalm, William 
Bauer, Daniel Becker, Edward Ossman, and D.D. Deibert.

    There you have it. It really would have been much easier if I could have 
gotten the scanner working. I'll have to check for "Carpel Tunnel" after 
this. I'd like to think this could be used on your "Molly Maguires" site. My 
addition to this piece of history. I also have some information on the Matz 
and Drumheller familes which lived in the Pottsville area. The owned the The 
Merchants Hotel, later known as the White Horse Hotel on the corner of Center 
and Mahanteo Sts. in Pottsville. Let me know if you can use any of this 
information.