| Photo: Virginia Lindak "These men were the cannon fodder for the Industrial Revolution. Along with the tour of the two houses there are also . In the rural cemetery at Funk's Grove, Illinois, are two mass burials of Irish laborers from the early 1850s, probable casualties of rail construction. Body of Irish immigrant murdered while building a Pennsylvania railroad in 1832 to be buried in Ireland after being found in mass grave. Locally speaking, this is almost literally true. Region: Philadelphia and its Countryside/Lehigh Valley. Callahan, Jim. County: Chester. SmithsonianMag.com In Pennsylvania, amateur archaeologists unearth a mass grave of immigrant railroad workers who disappeared in 1832-----Like many laborers from Ireland's rural north, Duffy's workers were probably poor, Catholic and Gaelic-speaking. Death in the 1860's. Two unknown B. In 1847 some 6,000 Irish famine refugees died of typhus in Pointe-Saint-Charles. Several modern historians believe the recent immigrants were murdered. "We made sure that the work here would be done with respect," said . That structure had replaced an earlier wooden one erected in 1872 by Irish railroad workers to remember the dead of 1832. Less than two months later, they were all dead. There are no original cemetery records from 1869. Deseret Magazine. That's what two. Duffy's Cut Mass Grave Marker Inscription. Although not originally marked, these two plots were unique because workers were usually buried in forgotten track side graves. Or were. Marker reads: "five chinamen died while building railroad comon grave". It's believed they were buried in a mass grave. Nearby is the mass grave of fifty-seven Irish immigrant workers who died in August, 1832, of cholera. This Irish family had been living in railroad shanties throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Print Subscriptions. Duffy's Cut is thus named as it is the part of the track laid by Duffy's Irish workmen. . Those who remember include historian John McGrain, who viewed our immigrant ancestors from neighboring Baltimore County. In 1909 an assistant supervisor of the Pennsylvania Railroad replaced a rotting, wooden fence that marked the mass grave of the murdered Irish immigrants. >&g and put them in a mass grave, and they would be out of sight by morning," stated lifelong Loose Creek . 1:30 MANCHESTER - It's a chilling artifact, one you don't expect to find in the office of a congenial Lutheran pastor. The . Organizers want to place memorial near 1832 mass grave for immigrants." Daily Local News 14 Feb. 2011: 3. Secrets of the Underground | Tuesdays at 10/9cOfficial reports claim that all 57 workers died from Cholera, but something more sinister may have occurred.Ful. Researchers work Aug. 2 at the site of a mass grave for immigrant Irish railroad workers in Malvern, Pa. Continuing field work seems to indicate some were killed not by cholera but by human hands. PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Each day SEPTA and Amtrak Main Line trains roll near, or perhaps even over the graves of 57 long-forgotten Irish workers who built those very rails. It marks the mass grave where over fifty railroad workers were buried in the early 1850s. May 13, 2016 - Many people have heard of the Irish rail workers mass grave in Duffy's Cut, PA, but few know about Funks Grove, IL. Jul 13, 2017 The quest to uncover the truth about the deaths of 57 Irish railroad workers on the Main Line in 1832 has led to an encouraging discovery: Ground-penetrating radar last month found several anomalies that suggest more bodies remain buried at Duffy's Cut, a patch of woods between an Amtrak line and a manicured Chester County cul-de-sac. He said they were killed back in 1881 by a dynamite accident and were quickly laid to rest.. A common role for the Irish immigrants to have in railroad construction was track lying. It is open on Friday and Saturday from 11:00 a. m. to 2:00 p. m. and on Sunday from 12:00 p. m. to 4:00 p. m. Admission to the museum is free, but donations are greatly appreciated. their respects to 57 unknown railroad workers who reportedly died . Duffy's Cut is a mass grave of Irish Emigrants and railroad labourers who died of cholera and murder twenty miles west of Philadelphia in 1832. Church News. By William E. Watson At Duffy's Cut, a railroad construction site in Chester County, Pennsylvania, fifty-seven Irish immigrant railroad workers died amid a cholera epidemic in the summer of 1832 and were buried in a mass grave. The original marker was built in 1870 by sympathetic workers of Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. There is an old saying: Under every mile of railroad track is a dead Irishman. What he want's to know is if they were. The task of burying the Irish workers, who all died from cholera that August, fell upon the blacksmith. . Photographed By Bill Coughlin, November 6, 2008 1. A worker measures and places flags along the Main Line railroad tracks to denote possible unmarked graves of Irish railroad workers at Duffy's Cut in Malvern. [Anthony B, 04/06/2012] Mass Grave Of Irishmen In 1832, a group of 57 Irishmen from Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry arrived to work on a stretch of the Philadelphia and Columbia railroad as cheap labor. One hundred twelve Irish railroad workers who succumbed to cholera in 1853-55 await the Resurrection in the company of many of the town's earliest settlers, mostly immigrants from the Rhine River Valley in what is now Germany. An epidemic believed to be yellow fever, decimated the mixed convict and Chinese work crews. Fifty-seven workers were hired to build a stretch of railway in . Duffy was an Irish-American businessman who had been contracted in 1831 to build Mile 59 of the Philadelphia and Columbia railway line. The exposed roots once held in their grip buttons, human bones and old coffin nails - vital clues in a centuries-old unsolved mystery. The Irish Railroad Workers Museum is different from any other. The line they were building is now part of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Main Line. Irish Railroad Workers' Monument. When Philip Duffy hired Irish immigrants to build a railroad in Pennsylvania in 1832, he couldn't have known it would end in horror. The stump, pulled up several years ago, stood over the final. Fifty-seven workers were hired to build a stretch of railway in . The 57 men set out to build Mile 59 of the Pennsylvania railroad line in 1832, at a time when Irish immigrant workers were helping a growing country meet the increased demand for. These are the graves of Irish railroad workers. "Duffy's Cut," as. Seven graves are marked with sections of railroad track. Duffy's Cut Mass Grave Petition. The bodies are believed to be those of about 150 Irish railroad builders who died in 1832, ostensibly of cholera. Within weeks, all were dead of cholera. The remains of dozens of 19th-century railroad workers from Ireland will stay undisturbed in a mass grave near Philadelphia. In 1909, a railroad . By the time of the 1860 census the Kanobys, and about 200 other Irish railroad workers, had left the Brattleboro area and followed the train line as it headed further . 326k members in the philadelphia community. & O. Guy Raz/NPR Almost two centuries ago, 57 Irish workers arrived in Philadelphia to build a part of Pennsylvania's Main Line Railroad. "Beer and brew to raise funds for Duffy's Cut. Story is about 52 Irish railroad workers who may have been sealed in a mass . News and happenings in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Or were they murdered?. A 2-inch coffin nail tells the story of John Ruddy, an 18-year-old Irish. Within weeks, all were dead of cholera. The text of the marker reads, "Nearby is the mass grave of fifty-seven Irish immigrant workers who died in August, 1832, of cholera. . MALVERN, Pa. - Young and strapping, the 57 Irish immigrants began grueling work in the summer of 1832 on the Philadelphia and Columbia railroad. Irish immigrant laborers back then were considered expendable. They would lie there undisturbed for decades. Only "whites" were allowed to be buried in the Brigham City Cemetery until some time in the 1960s (Japenese people counted as white, but Chinese people did not). As John Sr. continued to work for the rail company, his family grew. Per practice at the time, the railroad company would have buried the "Chinamen" in a group grave just off the right of way. Less well known are two mass graves of fifty Irish people who worked on the Illinois Central Railroad in Funks Grove, IL, a small village 12 miles south of Bloomington. Callahan, Jim. Published: 11:42 EST, 28 February 2013 . Deseret News. 6,527 views Jun 24, 2022 163 Dislike Share Save Quest TV 826K subscribers Rob Nelson investigate the mass grave where 57 Irish railroad workers lay. The memorial, which consists of a 6-foot marble Celtic cross with an inscription in English and Gaelic on a bronze plaque, is at the site of a mass grave of 50 Irish immigrant railroad workers anonymously buried in Funk's Grove cemetery, 8 miles south of Bloomington, Illinois. Young and strapping, the 57 Irish immigrants began grueling work in the summer of 1832 on the Philadelphia and Columbia railroad. The grave site's. Tuesday, May 31, 2022 | . aug. 19, 2009 -- the recently discovered mass grave of irish railroad workers in pennsylvania at first believed to have been victims of a cholera outbreak has taken a far-darker turn: investigators at the site, known as duffy's cut, told irishcentral that at least two of the skulls they have unearthed were found to have had blunt-force trauma The remains of dozens of 19th-century railroad workers from Ireland will stay undisturbed in a mass grave . The ship that brought the Duffy's Cut victims. Through his research, he found out that buried along the tracks are five Cantonese railroad workers. "A cut above Duffy's - Research into fate of Irish rail workers requires an aerial approach to a grave." Daily Local News 17 Jul. My cousin listened to a program on NPR.org.It was called "Fates Of Irish Workers Sealed In Mass Grave" She suggested I listen to it. Irish railroad workers By Phil Hirl May 24, 2010 at 11:11:29. They had recently arrived in the United States and were employed by a construction contractor, named Duffy, for the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. "The past is never dead. The stump, pulled up several years ago, stood over the final. Railroad workers were first two burials in this cemetery. Indian threats increased and harsh winters were soon to come. Later in the 1860s, work became harder for this crew of men. Flickr/parabat4868 The Irishmen's official death records sat locked away by the Pennsylvania Railroad until 1970. Many workers at Duffy's Cut died mere weeks after arriving in America to begin work on a railroad in Pennsylvania. Newsletter The mass grave of a group of Irish railroad workers who died in 1832 during a cholera outbreak may have been located at last, thanks to the efforts of researchers in Pennsylvania who have spent six years searching. Within weeks, all were dead of cholera. 57 Irish laborers were among them, departing from the port of Derry in northwest Ireland for an 8-week journey across the Atlantic to Philadelphia. Although many of the Union Pacific workers were veterans of the civil war, Indians targeted workers' camps along the railway and trains. Researchers suspect a cover-up in the Main Line deaths of 57 Irish railroad workers 178 years ago. The 57 all dead -- many . Our grandmother's first huband was William Ruddy in Donegal.So I did . The Irish immigrants building a stretch of railroad near Philadelphia in 1832 had been in the U.S. only a few weeks when they died ostensibly of cholera and were unceremoniously dumped in a mass grave. Easterly view; photos taken September 2, 1998. 2011: A4. We develop relationships with many of our visitors, and build up our understanding of an immigrant Irish community that began dynamic lives among their own. New searches are under way in the US to try to find the remains of 51 Irish railroad workers who died - or were murdered - in 1832. It isn't even past.". By KATHY MATHESON The remains of five Irish immigrants killed while building a Pennsylvania railroad in 1832 murder victims, researchers believe, of local vigilantes who buried them. In 1870, sympathetic local railroad workers constructed a wooden fence around what they thought was the gravesite. The exposed roots once held in their grip buttons, human bones and old coffin nails - vital clues in a centuries-old unsolved mystery. Within six weeks they were all dead, but exactly where they were buried and how they died is a mystery. The men, and one woman, were taken to Chester County, 30 miles outside Philadelphia, to construct the railroad. Facebook Twitter. MALVERN, Pa. - Researchers may have discovered a mass grave for nearly five dozen 19th century Irish immigrants who died of cholera weeks after coming to Pennsylvania to build a railroad.. Death certificates were never officially filed and the bodies of the remaining 54 railroad workers were buried together in an anonymous mass grave near the railroad tracks in Malvern. Irish Monument This six foot Celtic cross located in the old section of the cemetery was dedicated April 28, 2000. The discovery of what researchers believe is the mass grave of 51 Irish railroad workers who died mysteriously in 1832 has turned out to be more than a victorious high point in a 10-year investigation. The Oct. 7, 1849, wreck of the Irish emigrant ship St. John near the Massachusetts Bay community of Cohasset is one of the historical highlights of the South Shore Irish Heritage Trail. New searches are under way in the US to try to find the remains of 51 Irish railroad workers who died - or were murdered - in 1832. Working on a railroad was the first step in. Duffy's Cut Mass Grave. Murder in the Time of Cholera. Bodies of 5 Irish immigrants 'murdered and killed by cholera' while building a railroad in 1832 to have proper burial after found in mass grave By Associated Press Published: 09:35 EDT, 9 March . Their families never knew what happened to them. All workers lie end to end with the head marker on the East part of the grave site. Our song 'The Hardest Mile' is about the 57 Irish immigrant workers who died from Cholera while building a railroad line outside Philly back in 1832. January, 1887 saw construction of the Taylor-Bastrop & Houston Railway into the western part of that county near West Point. Funk's Grove is a tiny hamlet, approximately 12 miles south of Bloomington, Illinois and about 40 miles north of the state's capitol, Springfield. More about the trail below. While the names of Duffy's Cut's casualties remain largely unknown, they continue to speak to modern scholars and illuminate the railroad's dark . They had recently arrived in the United States and were employed by a construction contractor, named Duffy, for the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. . Most railroad workers who died were buried near where they died, not in a small Mormon town some miles away. From 99 to upwards of 160 passengers and crew, mostly from counties Clare and Galway, were killed when a storm dashed the brig on rocks less than a mile from the shore, about 25 . Grave marker indicates 5 Chinese Rail Road Construction workers died while constructing the rail way, probably in 1881. Malvern, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- "This is a mass grave," Bill Watson said as he led the way through the thick Pennsylvania woods in a suburb about 30 miles from Philadelphia. For 170. The Asbury Park NJ Press has an article about the discovery of a mass grave near Malvern PA. "Duffy's Cut," as it's known, is a stretch of rail line in Malvern, 30 miles west of Philadelphia. At likely 1832 mass grave in Pa., unearthed bones show murder of Irish immigrant rail workers Published August 16, 2010 | Associated Press MALVERN, Pa. - Young and strapping, the 57 Irish immigrants began grueling work in the summer of 1832 on the Philadelphia and Columbia railroad. The mass grave site is marked by the remains of a stone memorial structure dating back to 1909. The Irish Railroad Workers Museum, 918 and 920 Lemmon Street, Baltimore, is just one block from the B&O Museum. IRISH WHYS Search continues for 19th-century railroad workers' graves in Malvern 2017-06-10 - By Bill Rettew brettew@dailylocal.com The next time you ride a train along the Main Line west of the Malvern Station, you might just be crossing the largest mass murder site in Pennsylvania history. . By Associated Press. Ireland's Forgotten Sons Recovered Two Centuries Later In Pennsylvania, amateur archaeologists unearth a mass grave of immigrant railroad workers who disappeared in 1832 Abigail Tucker. MALVERN - The Irish immigrants building a stretch of railroad near Philadelphia in 1832 had been in the U.S. only a few weeks when they died - ostensibly of cholera - and were unc MANCHESTER - In the summer of 1832, a woman was beaten to death, her coffin sealed with about 100 nails to hide the act, during a cholera epidemic near Malvern, Pennsylvania. Mass grave of Irish Railroad Workers - warriortalk.com . Forgotten Irish Laborers . BILL RETTEW JR. - DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Or were they . work crew that was buried in a mass grave, under the very railroad tracks they helped construct. Ancestors from neighboring Baltimore County although not originally marked, These two plots were unique because workers were to Who reportedly died for immigrants. & quot ; five chinamen died while building comon. 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