Credit: Courtesy of the Historical Society of Schuylkill County, Pottsville, PA
On June 22, 1877, the largest mass execution in Pennsylvania history took place when 10 alleged "Molly Maguires" were hanged for murder: 4 at the Carbon County Prison in Mauch Chunk, and 6 in the prison at Pottsville. Ten more would be hanged at Mauch Chunk, Pottsville, Bloomsburg, and Sunbury over the next two years. Public reaction to the executions was deeply divided. When organized labor helped to elect union leader Terence V. Powderly mayor of Scranton in 1878, the opposition vilified his team as the "Molly Maguire" Ticket.
