Fallen Tamaqua officer remembered

A heart-wrenching death and ultimate sacrifice in annals of law enforcement was recognized Friday in a wreath-laying ceremony.

Representatives of law enforcement met at Tamaqua Odd Fellows Cemetery to honor Officer Benjamin Franklin Yost, the only Tamaqua officer to die in the line of duty.

Former Philadelphia patrolman Chip Burnett of Jim Thorpe, representing the Fallen Heroes Wreath Program, said the tragedy took place very near the site of Yost’s burial.

“It happened only a few hundred yards from here.”

Yost was a married man age 34 on July 6, 1875, when his life was snuffed out, allegedly by members of the Molly Maguires, a reputed secret society of Irish Catholic coal miners who fought to improve working conditions.

Yost died in great pain following a vicious ambush attack in the dark of night.

Several shots were fired at the unsuspecting officer as he made his way up a small step ladder to extinguish a gas lamp at the corner of West Broad and North Lehigh Street. He was at the end of his shift and only steps away from his home at 7 S. Lehigh St.

Severely injured Yost suffered for hours before dying in his wife’s arms. He was buried a month later in a grave in the Shepp family plot, across from Soldiers’ Circle in a section of the cemetery reserved for Tamaqua’s prominent families.

As a result of the tragedy, Yost’s brother-in-law, Daniel M.B. Shepp, Tamaqua merchant and borough council president, traveled to Philadelphia and enlisted aid of Pinkerton detective James McParlan. McParlan infiltrated the ranks of the Mollies under assumed identity to finally bring an end to what some call the reign of terror in Pennsylvania’s southern coal fields.

Burnett said the Fallen Heroes Wreath Program remembers the sacrifice of Yost and all others who died in service to protect their fellow man.

“The program already has grown to over 1,000 graves. We want to make sure police officers are not forgotten.”

Also taking part were representatives of Tamaqua law enforcement: Cpl. Michael Hobbs, officers Aaron Koehler and Rick Bekesy and Cpl. Charles Whitehead of Salisbury Township, formerly with Tamaqua police.

Yost’s death is now regarded as the turning point murder that brought about the end of the Mollies.

Oddly, his grave remained unmarked for 124 years. Some say it was kept anonymous for fear it would be desecrated by Molly sympathizers. Eventually, the exact location was lost and forgotten until the 1990s when a depression appeared in the ground — likely due to the rotting away of the wooden casket containing Yost’s remains.

In June 1999, a grave marker was donated by Walters Monument. At that time, the community, in the spirit of remembrance, education and cultural enrichment, conducted a nighttime re-enactment of the shooting and subsequent funeral to recall historic events of that era and pay homage.