Duffy's Cut is the name given to a stretch of railroad tracks about 30 miles west of Philadelphia, USA, originally built for the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in the summer and fall of 1832. The line later became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Main Line. Railroad contractor Philip Duffy hired 57 Irish immigrants to lay this line through the area's densely wooded hills and ravines. The workers came to Philadelphia from Counties Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry to work in Pennsylvania's nascent railroad industry. Less than two months after their arrival, all 57 are believed to have died during the second cholera pandemic,[1] which was a worldwide contagion spanning several continents and many years.[2]
The site is located near Malvern, Pennsylvania, USA, in East Whiteland Township[3] near the intersection of King Road and Sugartown Road, where a Pennsylvania state historical marker has been placed.
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Prejudice against immigrants generally and Irish Catholics specifically contributed to the denial of care to these immigrant workers, who were often viewed by the owners and managers of railroad and coal mining companies as expendable components, and by "native" Americans as unwholesome and even dangerous. Philip Duffy's blacksmith buried the first three to perish in individual graves, but when it became clear that all would die he buried the rest of the dead workers in a shallow ditch along the railroad’s right of way without ceremony or funeral. No death certificates were ever filed for these Irish non-citizens. Asiatic Cholera usually causes 40-60% casualties within a single population. In this case, all of the workers are believed to have died, leading to the theory that some may have been killed.
Official record of the deaths at Duffy’s Cut remained locked in the vaults of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) until Joseph Tripican, a secretary to a former PRR president, removed them after the company’s bankruptcy in 1970. In the 1990s, one of Tripican’s grandsons, Reverend Dr. Frank Watson discovered the papers in a file and began to research the history along with his brother Dr. William Watson and professors Earl Schandelmeier and John Ahtes of Immaculata University.
On June 18, 2004, a Pennsylvania state historical marker was dedicated near the site. The text of the marker reads, "Nearby is the mass grave of fifty-seven Irish immigrant workers who died in August, 1832, of cholera. They had recently arrived in the United States and were employed by a construction contractor, named Duffy, for the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. Prejudice against Irish Catholics contributed to the denial of care to the workers. Their illness and death typified the hazards faced by many 19th century immigrant industrial workers."
In August 2004, the site began undergoing archaeological excavation by a research team that included Immaculata University and Pennsylvania state and local governments. The Duffy's Cut Project team consists of three primary members, Frank Watson, Bill Watson, and Earl Schandelmeier of Immaculata University. On March 20, 2009, the first human bones were unearthed, consisting of two skulls, six teeth and eighty other bones. The researchers announced their discovery on March 24, 2009.[4] The remains will undergo DNA testing for possible identification.
In August 2009, "Finding Dulcinea" reported that the two earliest skulls found both show evidence of blunt-force trauma inflicted peri-mortem, suggesting the possibility that murder was done there.[5] A full investigation is expected to ensue as further excavation and testing is done on the remains.
More recent research of the site suggests to some that a mass murder may have taken place against the Irish workers[6] by local vigilantes fearful that cholera would spread. Analysis of the bones has indicated the possibility that some of the men were killed by projectiles.[7][8] [9]
Greenwood Publishing Group published The Ghosts of Duffy's Cut in July 2006,[1] and a documentary on the story has been produced by Tile Films LTD of Dublin for broadcast on the Irish State Broadcaster RTÉ. Irish musician Christy Moore includes a song, written by Wally Page, called "Duffy's Cut," whose subject matter is the death of the workers on the railway.[1]
In March 2011, Irish Punk band The Dropkick Murphys released a song called The Hardest Mile which also deals with the newly discovered evidence that some of the men may have been murdered rather than dying of cholera.[10]
| "Duffy's Cut" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Published | 2009 |
| Language | English |
| Writer | Wally Page |
In June 2011 the bluegrass band Raven Hill released a song called The Ghost of the R-5 in which the narrator still haunts his unfortunate Pennsylvania entombment.PeterDoone (talk) 21:21, 15 December 2011 (UTC)