For years preceding this murder the coal regions of Pennsylvania had been infested by a most desperate class of men, banded together for the worst purposes—called by some the Buckshots, by others the Mollie Maguires. They made such sad havoc of the country that life was no longer secure and the regions suffered in many ways. The unusual circumstance of this trial was the fact that it was the first indictment of a “Mollie Maguire” in this country which had a possible chance for ultimate conviction. John P. Jones was a mine boss who had incurred the illwill of some of the Irish connected with the organization of Mollie Maguires, masking under the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and on the morning of September 3, 1875, he left his home in Lansford, in which were his wife and seven children, and traveled toward the breaker where he was employed. The three assassins, James Kerrigan, Mike Doyle and Edward Kelly, were lying in wait for him and cruelly shot him down, killing him on the spot. This crime was no more revolting or cruel than the many others committed by this murderous organization, but it was the one in which the Pinkerton detective, James McParlan, had been able to connect all the facts in the case, and with the additional assistance of James Kerrigan turning State’s witness the civil authorities were able to conduct such a trial that the two other murderers were convicted. Michael Doyle was found guilty January 22, 1876, and sentenced to death. This was the first conviction of a Mollie Maguire in this country. Edward Kelly was subsequently placed on trial for the same crime and on March 29 was found guilty. Doyle and Kelly both were hanged at Mauch Chunk, June 21, 1876, and the Mollie Maguires ceased to be the terror of civilized people. To form some idea of the operations of these desperadoes it must be known that the Mollie Maguires were more than bloodthirsty and active in 1865. On August 25, that year, David Muir, superintendent of a colliery, was shot and killed in broad daylight. On January 10, 1866, Henry H. Dunne, a well known citizen of Pottsville, and superintendent of a large colliery, was murdered on the highway near the city limits, while riding home in his carriage. On Saturday, October 17, 1868, Alexander Rea, another mining superintendent, was killed on the wagon road, near Centralia, Columbia County. Several arrests were made but no convictions. On March 15, 1869, William H. Littlehales, superintendent of the Glen Carbon Company, was killed on the highway enroute to his home in Pottsville. F. W. S. Langdon, George K. Smith and Graham Powell, all mine officials, met death at the hands of assassins. On December 2, 1871, Morgan Powell, assistant superintendent of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal and Iron Company, at Summitt Hill, Carbon County, was shot down on the street.