History & local legend
Before dawn on December 10, 1875, masked men attacked the O’Donnell family’s home at Wiggans Patch, a coal settlement near Mahanoy City. The raid took place amid bitter labor conflict in the anthracite region. Twenty-year-old Ellen McAllister, who was pregnant, and her brother Charles O’Donnell were killed. No one was convicted for the attack.
Local ghost stories place Ellen back at the duplex in her nightclothes. Playwright Deborah Randall, who researched the killings, described the tradition in a 2009 Times News article: a low moaning sound was associated with a woman pleading for help for her baby. The apparition was understood as Ellen caught in the terror of the raid.
The house remained a local landmark until November 17, 2006, when its deteriorating walls led to demolition. The story survives at the former house site in the area now known as Boston Run.
Sources
- Donald R. Serfass, Massacre at Wiggans Patch, Times News (October 30, 2009), including Deborah Randall’s account
- Mahanoy Area Historical Society, Molly Maguires driving tour, stop 12, family members and 1875 site diagram
- Mahanoy Area Historical Society, The Original Boston Run, naming of Lower Wiggans
- F. W. Beers and A. B. Cochran, County Atlas of Schuylkill, 1875, Gilberton foldout with St. Nicholas inset
- Boston Run, USGS geographic names ID 1170024
