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Massacre at Duffy's Cut: Tragedy and Conspiracy on the Pennsylvania Railroad
Fifty-seven Irish immigrant laborers arrived in the port of Philadelphia in June 1832 to work on Pennsylvania's Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. They all perished within six weeks.
Contractor Philip Duffy hired them to work a stretch of track in rural Chester County known as Duffy's Cut. For more than 180 years, the railroad maintained that cholera was to blame and kept the historical record under lock and key. In a harrowing modern-day excavation of their mass grave, a group of academics and volunteers found evidence some of the laborers were murdered. Authors and research leaders Dr. William E. Watson and Dr. J. Francis Watson reveal the tragedy, mystery and discovery of what really happened at Duffy's Cut.
Contractor Philip Duffy hired them to work a stretch of track in rural Chester County known as Duffy's Cut. For more than 180 years, the railroad maintained that cholera was to blame and kept the historical record under lock and key. In a harrowing modern-day excavation of their mass grave, a group of academics and volunteers found evidence some of the laborers were murdered. Authors and research leaders Dr. William E. Watson and Dr. J. Francis Watson reveal the tragedy, mystery and discovery of what really happened at Duffy's Cut.
- GenresHistoryNonfictionIreland
176 pages, Paperback
Published October 22, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 3, 2022
Having now read both books on this matter written by the Watson Brothers I can say that it was well worth reading both in the order in which they came out. Incredible research methodologies, wonderful volunteerism, and a desire to tell the story of just what happened at the site. As a historian and a reader of almost exclusively non fiction this was well done, with a passion deserving of the memories of the “57”. Bravo brothers Watson. I look forward to our Zoom meeting with the Saratoga AOH Commodore John Barry Division #1.
January 23, 2021
Until I read this book I had no knowledge of the specific incident described within its pages. A very sad story, but, knowing some of the history of Irish immigrants in the 19th century, it came as no surprise. The authors state that tens of thousands of Irish laborers died and were buried, usually in unmarked graves, on construction sites all over the US and I have no doubt that is true.
Having lived my entire life in the Greater Philadelphia area I feel this story should be understood by us all. I applaud the author’s tenacity in taking this story from legend to forensically supported history. Due largely to their efforts at least two of the victims have been identified and laid to rest in a proper and respectful manner and dozens of documentary film productions have been circulated.
Having said all this however I find it somewhat difficult to enthusiastically endorse this book. It is, first of all, very short; only 150 pages. Fully two thirds of that in the beginning of the book are actually what you might call the “ history of the history” of the episode. By this I mean the authors spend a great deal of time explaining how the story had been documented and passed down for the 160 years before they began their archeological efforts. Each person in this chain of documentation is described much as a genealogist would describe their ancestors; parents names, home town, birth and death dates, marriage and burial. Few insights are provided on the kind of person they were and their motivations for involving themselves in the story. In my opinion much of those details could have been dispensed with.
It is hoped that further research and excavation will be done soon so that the rest of this story can to told.
Having lived my entire life in the Greater Philadelphia area I feel this story should be understood by us all. I applaud the author’s tenacity in taking this story from legend to forensically supported history. Due largely to their efforts at least two of the victims have been identified and laid to rest in a proper and respectful manner and dozens of documentary film productions have been circulated.
Having said all this however I find it somewhat difficult to enthusiastically endorse this book. It is, first of all, very short; only 150 pages. Fully two thirds of that in the beginning of the book are actually what you might call the “ history of the history” of the episode. By this I mean the authors spend a great deal of time explaining how the story had been documented and passed down for the 160 years before they began their archeological efforts. Each person in this chain of documentation is described much as a genealogist would describe their ancestors; parents names, home town, birth and death dates, marriage and burial. Few insights are provided on the kind of person they were and their motivations for involving themselves in the story. In my opinion much of those details could have been dispensed with.
It is hoped that further research and excavation will be done soon so that the rest of this story can to told.
January 13, 2026
About the disturbing incident at Duffy's Cut, where local Nativists in suburban murdered at least some of 57 Irish workers in 1832, if not all of them, during a cholera scare. I hadn't read the authors' original book and didn't have a good grasp on what happened at Duffy's Cut, and honestly, I didn't having read the first 2/3rds. It's about the coverup for the most part of the PA Railroad, before finally getting to the anthropologic efforts once bodies were found in 2006, which is where it gets really fascinating as they try to solve a crime from nearly 200 years prior.
March 2, 2019
a good short book on a little known event that happened to Irish workers who came to work on building the PPR railroad.
March 28, 2024
So very interesting yet so disturbing and so very sad.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews