Bodies of 5 Irish murdered while building a railroad

JONJO THE MISER

In 1832 to have proper burial after found in mass grave

The remains of five Irish immigrants killed while building a Pennsylvania railroad in 1832 will be re-interred today in a suburban Philadelphia cemetery.
Michael Collins, Ireland's ambassador to the U.S., is among dignitaries expected at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd for a funeral service that will include bagpipers and a gravesite marked by a 10-foot-high Celtic cross.
'They'll get a real burial that they didn't have in 1832, that's for sure,' said historian Bill Watson, who helped uncover the remains.

The immigrants were among 57 people hired to help build a stretch of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad known as Duffy's Cut. They lived in a shantytown by the rails in current-day Malvern, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Philadelphia.
Watson and his twin brother Frank Watson, also a historian, led a team that set out nearly a decade ago to find out what happened to the workers from Donegal, Tyrone and Derry. They believe many of them died of cholera and were dumped in a mass grave at Duffy's Cut.

More http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2112653/Bodies-5-Irish-immigrants-murdered-killed-cholera-building-railroad-1832-proper-burial-mass-grave.html

John Doe1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4S5wxHmA4Q

This song is about them:)

seamus

Actually quite unbelieveable how dangerous construction work was up until about 80 years ago. Even then it's still dangerous but massive leaps have been made in health and safety.

CreepingDeath

seamus wrote: »

Actually quite unbelieveable how dangerous construction work was up until about 80 years ago. Even then it's still dangerous but massive leaps have been made in health and safety.

It wasn't an accident, they said it was murder.

I remember seeing a documentary on the building of railroads across the states.
The govt paid railroad companies X amount of dollars per mile in the race to build a railroad from the east coast to the west.

Different track laying teams got bonuses for laying X metres/miles of track each day.
Those Irish were probably a good team, and got murdered by competing companies to set back their progress.

seamus

CreepingDeath wrote: »

It wasn't an accident, they said it was murder.

Yeah, what I mean is that construction was a dangerous life in general.
Particularly this type of stuff where they would have lived in camps rather than potter home in the evening, disease would spread quickly, but there would also inevitably be fights, feuds and murders from so many people living in close quarters.

It was often just considered a hazard of the job, and the sites being so isolated that bodies would be buried at the site rather than wait for a chance to send them home.

benway

seamus wrote:

Actually quite unbelieveable how dangerous construction work was up until about 80 years ago. Even then it's still dangerous but massive leaps have been made in health and safety.

Wait, that's the same red tape, health and safety, bureaucracy gone mad stuff that Daily Mail types are always moaning about, isn't it?

later12

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

In 1832 to have proper burial after found in mass grave

The remains of five Irish immigrants killed while building a Pennsylvania railroad in 1832 will be re-interred today in a suburban Philadelphia cemetery.
Michael Collins, Ireland's ambassador to the U.S., is among dignitaries expected at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd for a funeral service that will include bagpipers and a gravesite marked by a 10-foot-high Celtic cross.
'They'll get a real burial that they didn't have in 1832, that's for sure,' said historian Bill Watson, who helped uncover the remains.

The immigrants were among 57 people hired to help build a stretch of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad known as Duffy's Cut. They lived in a shantytown by the rails in current-day Malvern, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Philadelphia.
Watson and his twin brother Frank Watson, also a historian, led a team that set out nearly a decade ago to find out what happened to the workers from Donegal, Tyrone and Derry. They believe many of them died of cholera and were dumped in a mass grave at Duffy's Cut.

More http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2112653/Bodies-5-Irish-immigrants-murdered-killed-cholera-building-railroad-1832-proper-burial-mass-grave.html

Ah shure that's nothing.
Didn't Vat go up to 23% in January.
Get me a glass of Pinot Grigio, we've never had it so bad:mad::mad::mad:

ScumLord

seamus wrote: »

Actually quite unbelieveable how dangerous construction work was up until about 80 years ago. Even then it's still dangerous but massive leaps have been made in health and safety.

Now it's swung the other way though. You can't climb up a 6ft ladder without scaffolding in the UK now. (may be a very slight exaggeration)