Possible second 19th century mass grave of massacred Irish rail workers found in US

Irish Examiner

18 hours ago

An eminent historian and archaeologist who led the discovery of a mass grave of murdered Irish railroad workers in the US from nearly 200 years ago says evidence now points a second site with more bodies in it.
Archaeologists unearthed the first mass grave at the infamous 'Duffy's Cut' nearly 50km west of Philadelphia in 2004. In total, 57 bodies were buried there in 1832.
It was initially believed they had died from cholera, but further investigation revealed that many had been murdered.
They were probably killed by local vigilantes who didn't trust immigrants, it has been speculated, and were believed to be motivated by trying to stop the deadly outbreak spreading.
Archaeologist William E Watson, who led the first excavations, has revealed in an academic paper that his team discovered human remains that suggest a second Irish immigrant railroader mass grave lies nearly 18kms west of Duffy's Cut.
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Then Irish ambassador to the US Michael Collins attended the dig at Duffy's Cut in Pennsylvania in 2009 when the remains of the Irish immigrants were exhumed from the mass grave. File picture
Mr Watson, a professor of history at Immaculata University in Malvern, Pennsylvania, said historical records led his team to the second mass grave at Downingtown, which is in Chester County.
The professor, who heads the university's 'Duffy's Cut Project' research team, uncovered seven sets of human remains at the Duffy's Cut site between 2009 and 2012.
He said the skeletons had been buried in coffins sealed with "an exceptional number of nails", perhaps in the hope of containing the spread of the cholera.
Analysis showed evidence of violence to each of the skulls. One skull had both an axe wound and a bullet hole wound.
Researchers found there was no evidence of defensive wounds to the arms or legs of the victims, suggesting that they were likely to have been tied up before being murdered.
'After our team analysed the remains, we came to the startling conclusion that the men didn't die from cholera. They were massacred. I believe that fear of cholera, an epidemic that some clergymen in America and England called 'a chastisement for the sins of people,' and anti-immigrant sentiment fuelled violence against them by native-born populations,' Mr Watson said.
Despite the text on the memorial at Duffy's Cut, Pennsylvania, archaeologist William Watson said: 'We came to the startling conclusion that the men didn't die from cholera. They were massacred.' File picture
DNA analysis led to the repatriation of two bodies of an 18 and 24-year-old to Donegal and Tyrone in 2012 and 2015 respectively.
Mr Watson added that work is now only starting on analysing the remains of the Irish labourers found at the new Downingtown site. The railroad workers buried there could well have met the same gruesome fate as those who died at Duffy's Cut.
A local newspaper at the time 'The Village Record' stated that one of the Duffy's Cut employees managed to flee to the Downingtown site where he would have got work and the feeling of some protection from the up to 120 Irishmen working there.
That site was under the direction of another Irish immigrant contractor Peter Connor.
The academic said that up and down the US East Coast, there are numerous mass graves of anonymous workers who died of epidemics, overwork, and murder in the 1820s and 1830s, and most will never have their stories told.
'At Duffy's Cut, and now at the Downingtown site, we hope to humanise some of the hardworking immigrants who died building a crucial part of America's industrial landscape,' Mr Watson said.
Amtrak, which now runs America's primary rail network, has erected a sign at Duffy's Cut acknowledging the Irishmen's massacre.