MILLERSBURG SENTINEL, MILLERSBURG, PA
June 30, 1933
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Life Sketches of Aged People
of Millersburg and Surrounding Area
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JOHN CALVIN WOODSIDE, 82, OF LYKENS
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Was Close Friend of Pat Hester, Bodymaster of the Mollie Ma-
guires---Grandfather Founded Village of Woodside Station,
Near Millersburg---Worked in Father's Foundry---Voted
for Hester in Mt. Carmel Township, Although Not a
Resident of That District---Eats All Kinds of Food
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By F. Park Campbell, Associate Editor
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John Calvin Woodside, aged 82, of Lykens, is one of the few living men who was a close friend of the notorious Pat Hester, of Mt. Carmel township, Bodymaster of the Mollie Maguires, and frequently associated with members of the Mollies at the Hester home.
John Calvin Woodside was a son of Daniel and Anna Buffington Woodside, and was born at Elizabethville, December 1, 1851. He was one of a family of five children, four boys and a girl, of whom John, the eldest, and Elmer Woodside, 72, of Youngstown, Ohio, retired foreman of machinists of the Youngstown Pipe & Tool Company plant, are the survivors.
Daniel Woodside, son of Thomas Woodside, founder of the village of Woodside Station, was a blacksmith by trade and was widely known. When John Calvin was five years of age his parents moved to Main street, Lykens, where Father Woodside became a blacksmith in the foundry and machine shop of Savage & Foster. At that time Lykens was a small village and much of the portion now built up was woodland. Soon after moving to that place Father Woodside cleared a plot of woodland at what is now South Second and Pine streets, and erected a home for his family. Here John Calvin Woodside resided the greater part of his life and is residing there today, with a daughter, Mrs. Cora Fear, widow of the late Harry Fear.
John attended school at Lykens, more or less, for a period of seven years, during which time the school term was four months a year. Mornings, evenings and Saturdays he helped in the foundry and learned to be a moulder. He finally gave up school entirely and became a regular employe of the foundry which was then operated by Daniel Woodside, John Haine and Jonas Garman, druggist, all of Lykens, and Jacob Hensel, of Lancaster. The foundry was situated where the Marsden ice plant is now located and all kinds of light and heavy castings were made for the collieries. Some of these castings were several tons in weight. Twelve men were employed at the plant. Later Joseph Duncan purchased the business and Mr. Woodside became the foreman of the moulding department.
When John was 19 years of age he married Miss Anna Liza Lebo, of Lykens. The ceremony took place at the Lebo home on Main street, the Rev. Mr. Slappich, Reformed minister, of Lykens, officiating. For a short time Mr. Woodside and his bride lived at the Lebo home, then moved to the Woodside home at Second and Pine streets.
For a time John Woodside operated a small foundry at the Short Mountain Colliery, where he moulded brass boxes, journals and other parts used in the mines. In spare time he moulded brass bullfrogs to be used as door stops. These he gave to friends and today he has two of these brass frogs in his home at Lykens, the last of the many he cast.
While employed at the mines he became acquainted with Owen Hester, an engineer at the Locust Spring Colliery, Locust Gap, and through the engineer John met Pat Hester, Bodymaster of the Mollie Maguires, and became a close friend of the man who later paid for his crimes with his life, on the gallows.
Pat Hester was Bodymaster of the Mollies in the Shamokin-Shenandoah-Lykens district and resided near Locust Gap Junction, in Mt. Carmel township. The Mollie Maguires, sometimes called Buckshots and Sleepers, was a society of foreign birth, coming to this country from Ireland, where the members were known as Ribbonmen, White Boys and Mollie Maguires. In the U.S. they operated wherever anthracite was found or iron wrought and were in opposition to Welsh, English and German miners. The Mollies were blamed for the majority of the murders and other deeds of violence in Schuylkill, Northumberland, Carbon, Columbia and Luzerne counties for years and were called "assassins, murderers, incendiaries, thieves and gamblers." Jack Kehoe was known as King of the Mollies in Schuylkill county.
Mr. Woodside says he was at Pat Hester's home many times and was well acquainted with the Hester family. One of the daughters was a school teacher. He says Pat was a fine man to be around. He says the Mollies were opposed to mine bosses and officials who were not Irish and a number were killed. When an assassination was committed, and, as a consequence, a trial was instituted, a convenient alibi was brought forward and the prisoner's freedom secured.
Many times John Calvin Woodside met members of the Mollies at the Hester home or at some of the hangouts of the society, chatted and drank with them, and was treated well, because of Pat Hester, who always called Mr. Woodside, "Johnny Boy." Owen Hester was not a member of the society and he frequently told John that Pat would be hanged some day. John was never invited to attend a meeting of the Mollies which were held in the mountains but one night he and Harry Johnson were returning home from Ashland when they saw a light in the mountain. They decided to investigate and upon creeping up to the light found a meeting of the Mollies in session. While watching and listening from their hiding place the two young men heard plans laid for the assassination of an Ashland mine foreman. The two men succeeded in leaving the secret meeting unobserved and returning to Ashland warned the foreman of his danger. The foreman left that section immediately and the Mollies were outwitted in their plans to murder him. Mr. Woodside says the lives of himself and Johnson would not have been worth a cent had the Mollies found out they had warned the mine foreman.
The higher officials of the Mollies sought election to the various township and town offices and on one occasion Pat Hester was a candidate for the office of township supervisor of Mt. Carmel township. John Woodside was not a resident of that township but Pat asked him to vote at the election and in case of a challenge Pat would handle the case. On election day John went to the polls and was challenged but a word from Pat and his vote was permitted to go into the cigar box being used as a ballot box. Pat defeated his opponent by one vote and later meeting John, he said, "Johnny Boy, your vote elected me and I'll not forget it." That vote further clinched the friendship existing between John and Pat.
For six months John Woodside worked at Locust Gap and was associated with Pat Hester and the Mollie Maguires. During that period mine bosses and officials were murdered and other outrages committed but when arrests were made no evidence could be produced and the prisoners were released.
In February, 1869, Pat Hester and two others were arrested for the murder of Alexander Rae, mining superintendent, of Centralia. They were tried in the Columbia county court, at Bloomsburg, the late Simon P. Wolverton, of Sunbury, being one of their counselors. The three were freed.
Early in October, 1873, the Pinkerton detective agency was assigned by the Reading railway and Reading Coal & Iron Company, to clean up the Mollie Maguires. James McParlan was chosen by the Pinkertons to take the case. He was an Irishman and changing his name to James McKenna, moved into the midst of the killers. Through his activities and fearless courage the Mollie Maguires were broken up after more than seventy-five of the members were convicted of crimes.
On May 21, 1877, Governor Hartranft issued warrants for the execution of eight murderers from the ranks of the Mollies. Pat Hester was included among the eight, when on February 27, 1877, he, Tully and Peter McHugh were again arraigned in court at Bloomsburg, for the murder of Alexander Rae and found guilty. Pat was hanged at Bloomsburg August 9, 1878.
Mr. Woodside says the Mollies did not molest the foreman at the Lykens Mines and that there were very few members of the society in that town. Donahue's saloon, at Tower City, was a gathering place for the Mollies.
Returning to Lykens Mr. Woodside worked at the mines at his trade as a brass moulder, after the closing of the foundry, until ten or twelve years ago, when he retired.
Mr. and Mrs. Woodside had ten children, seven sons and three daughters. The following are living: Mrs. Jacob Schaeffer, Rolling Green Park; Mrs. Herbert Weaver, Elizabethville, owner of the Weaver Art and Gift Shop; Mrs. Frances Ely, Mrs. Allen Saltzer, Mrs. Clayton Evitts, Mrs. Cora Fear and William Woodside, all of Lykens. There are sixteen grandchildren, of whom Joe Sneeder, of Lenkerville, is one. His mother, Mrs. George Sneeder, formerly Florence Woodside, died in Millersburg fifteen years ago. Mr. Woodside also has four great grand-children.
Mrs. Woodside passed away 31 years ago and since that time Mrs. Fear, a daughter, has been housekeeper at the Woodside home. Mr. Woodside is a genial old chap and a most happy interesting entertainer. The stories of his association with the Mollie Maguires, among whom were some good citizens who did not participate in the lawlessness, are extremely thrilling. He has been a hard working man the greater part of his life and has moved around in the anthracite regions of the State extensively, but has never been outside of Pennsylvania.
The only time in his life he was ill was 40 years ago and his health now is very good. He has always eaten all kinds of food and in past years drank his share of "hard liquor." He drinks coffee for breakfast and spends his hours during the day at reading, with the use of glasses. He chews tobacco and occasionally smokes. Mr. Woodside usually retires at 9 in the evening and is up at 7 next morning.
Many relatives and friends visit the Woodside home and are given a royal welcome by this fine old chap and his daughter, Mrs. Fear. He says he likes company.
Mr. Woodside's father and mother passed away before they were 70 years of age. So far as he remembers he has reached a greater age than any of his family and greater than his grandparents, excepting his grandfather, Thomas Woodside, first settler and the founder of Woodside Station, who lived to be 84 years old.
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Transcribed by Robert C. Greiner
10605 Johns Hopkins Road
Laurel, MD 20723-1139
January, 1994