Up to 120 Irish immigrants' bodies could be in a mass grave in the United States.

 

Part of a man's jaw and teeth have been found at the site in Downingtown

 A 19th Century mass grave in Pennsylvania could contain the remains of up to 120 Irish immigrants, researchers have said.

 The site, at Downingtown, is 11 miles west of Duffy's Cut, where in 2009 remains from a mass grave believed to contain 57 Irish railroad workers were discovered.

 After a cholera epidemic in 1832, those immigrants from Donegal, Londonderry, and Tyrone were buried there. It is believed that one of the people buried at the new location fled Duffy's Cut, possibly bringing cholera with him. A group led by twin brothers Frank and Bill Watson, who have been searching for the remains of Irish rail workers in the area for more than 20 years, made the discovery. The team previously discovered and reburied seven of those discovered at Duffy's Cut. While some of the workers may have died from cholera, the seven who were found had died violently, which is thought to have been caused by vigilantes in the area.

Together with other members of the Duffy's Cut research team, brothers Frank and Bill Watson, a history professor and archivist for the Lutheran church Geophysicist Matt Peace discovered the first set of remains at the new location in May on Northwood Cemetery-owned land. "We knew from our historical sources that another Irish work crew connected to Duffy's Cut died and was buried there and we do suspect foul play," Frank Watson said.

 "But now we actually have bones in hand and we've located the first human remains."

 The remains found at Downingtown include parts of a man's face, including the jaw and two teeth.

 Frank stated that the entire crew "disappeared from history," including Irish-born contractor Peter Connor, and the grave is likely to contain the remains of 100 to 120 people. Bill said they hoped to get DNA from the teeth found in order to find living descendants so the remains could be buried properly.

 He added that the immigrants at Downingtown were likely from the same parts of Ireland as those at Duffy's Cut.

 He said the man who fled to Downingtown from the cholera quarantine at Duffy's Cut "went there for a reason, probably to escape to people who he knew".

A memorial to the 57 Irish rail workers who died at Duffy's Cut, about 30 miles west of Philadelphia

 Frank Watson claimed that the workers who had been discovered at Duffy's Cut had been brutally killed. He stated, "They were beaten about the head - there were no wounds that could have been used as defenses, so they were tied up before they were killed." "One man, the tall man we call him, was shot in the head when he was down after being axed in the head from behind." According to him, the violence was brought on by anti-Irish sentiment, competition for employment, and immigrants being used as scapegoats for the cholera outbreak. "Tough living conditions, hard work, but with the hope of a better life, that sadly ended in a mass grave," he added.

Ground penetrating radar expert Matt Peace working at the site in Downingtown

 Bill said the industrial revolution was a "tidal wave of change" but this progress came at a "great price".

 He said many who died were placed in mass graves and it was not unusual for entire work crews to disappear.

 "We have about 10,000 to 15,000 Irish immigrants who died building the [US] industrial infrastructure through the 1820s and 1830s, at various sites from Erie Canal to the New Orleans Canal," he said

 "Most of those individuals will never have their story told...  Duffy's Cut was different, Downingtown we hope will be different as well."