John 'Yellow Jack'

Donahue

Title:
Nationality:
American
Walk of life:
Labour agitator or criminal depending on which view one takes of the Molly Maguires who were a secret Irish Catholic group of the lst quarter of the 19th C.
Biographical details:

There seems to be two views of the Mollys. One is that they were a brutal organization of murderers killing innocent people and the other that they were a pro-labor working group affiliated with the Ancient Order of Hibernians fighting for worker
rights. In the end the leaders were hanged. One of
the 19 men hanged was John "Yellow Jack" Donahue. He was accused and convicted of killing a mining boss named Morgan Powell several years before his trial. Even the more scholarly works that look on the Molly McGuires as murderers agree that Donahue had an unfair trial. It lasted five days and he was represented by four court-appointed lawyers. He could not afford a lawyer of his own.
He was hanged on June 21, 1877. His trial had taken place from Oct. 19-24, 1876 for a murder
committed in Dec. 1871.

Specific research interests