But historians didn't know how Thomas, described as a "Mahanoy City tough and Civil War veteran," got his scars.

Details like that, and many more additional facts about the Molly Maguires history, are included in the second printing of "A Guide to the Molly Maguires" by H.T. Crown, Hatfield, and Mark T. Major, Pottsville.

The book was published by Broad Mountain Publishing Co., Frackville, with an attractive green and gray cover designed by local historian and genealogist Jean A. Dellock, Frackville.

Major, director of the Schuylkill County Visitors Bureau, said the new edition expands on many of the facts in the first book, which was published in 1995. The 1,000 copies of the first guide to the Molly Maguires sold out by 1997, and has not been available since.

"It's a great guide to where, when and who, for everything you want to know about the Molly Maguires," Major said. "Through more research, we've added a lot more characters, events and chronological information."

For instance, Thomas got one of his knife scars - a gash across his face - in February 1874, while traveling home on the valley train from a foot race in Cressona.

In August 1875, Thomas was involved in a shootout in Mahanoy City with a man only identified as Dugan. Thomas was shot in the face, and survived.

"Very few people know about those things," Major said. "We also added a lot of information about the Frederick Hesser murder (December 1874) and subsequent trials."

Crown, co-author of the book, said that fascination with the Molly Maguires doesn't end.

The group was supposedly comprised of Irish-Americans in the Anthracite region in the second half of the 19th century who fought against the established coal interests. Historians have disputed the size and nature of the group ever since. Crown was a Civil War historian when his research on that conflict led him to Schuylkill County, where he learned about the "Army of the Lehigh."

"That work led me to read information about the Molly Maguires, and sparked my interest in them," Crown said. "I just dropped my Civil War stuff and have been researching the Mollies ever since."

Major said that in addition to expanding on information contained in the chronology of events, he also "fine-tuned" information about the Molly Maguire tour and other data.

"I found a lot of new information about the secret societies, and even hint at the involvement of the Masons," Major said. "There is also information about the mining industry, issues and politics of the time, and more in-depth information about the trials." The book is available at shops at the Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine & Steam Train, Ashland; Eckley Miners Village, Weatherly; the Historical Society of Schuylkill County, Pottsville; and the Carbon County Jail, Jim Thorpe. The book costs $19.95.