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As a Pennsylvanian, I am interested in the history of coal mining because it was so important to the economy and growth of the Keystone State. It was also important in other states as Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and others as well.
Currently I am reading an excellent book: "Where The Sun Never Shines" by Priscilla Long (New York: Paragon House, 1989).
I have traveled around the coal regions of my state and have taken tours inside coal mines, been to museums (such as The Anthracite Museum in Scranton) and Eckley Miner's Village near Hazelton, a "living history museum."
What is interesting to me is that it was coal that fed the US Industrial revolution that spanned the years from the Civil War up to World War 2; it had a profound effect on the railroads, industry, immigration, labor relations, and politics in the US.
Is there anyone here that is or remotely related to the Coal Mining industry?
How the families of the coal miners lived, survived, and flourished is a great testament to the resourcefulness and creativity of these people.
If anyone has a question to ask me, I will try to answer to the best of my ability.
My afther father and his brother were from Wales and worked i coal mines in west virginia and pennsylvannia. The problem is they didn't prosper really and died at a young age from working in coal mines as many did.That is why my father quit school in 8th grade to support family and went to work in later came to texas with the oil industry.like mnay the dicovery of oil was a great boom to my family in longivity especailly. I can remmber my dad talkig about the health probelms he saw when a young mna and his determinatio not to enter the mines. Actually my great grqandmother rented to the crew i Titusville who drill that well there.
My mom's side of the family is from Pa. My grandpap dropped out of school after the eigth grade (which was common at the time) and went to work for the coal mines. One of his brother's had a hand blown off while working the mines.
Did you know there were coal mines in Iowa? I didn't until I moved here. A low grade of coal was discovered in south central Iowa before the Civil War then was mined heavily between the 1870s and early 1930s.
This coal was primarily used by the railroad.
For the most part the mines followed the typical mining ethnic pattern - English (Cornish) mine "captains" and miners from Southern Europe: Croatians, Italians, etc.
But here's an interesting twist: When the unions began to organize in this area the mine owners came up with the idea to bring in African Americans from southern states in order to have workers who wouldn't strike (Unions didn't accept AAs at that time).
So there was one main company town: Buxton Iowa, which had as many as 5000 residents in the 1910s. Most were African Americans from Virginia. A minority of people of European descent also lived in Buxton. By all accounts it was a peaceful, thriving community with no ethnic strife. It had a big business district and a YMCA.
Buxton and the other small mining communities in Iowa became ghost towns in the 1930s as the mines played out.
I come from coal miners on both sides of my family. Ohio, Southern Illinois and Pennsylvania.
My great-grandfather was killed by a cave-in. He left behind 11 children. No insurance. No unions then. Nothing. When his body was found his fellow miners pulled it out and carried it to his house. They left his body on his doorstep for his wife to find. Not out of a lack of compassion, but because they were all so utterly poverty stricken there was nothing they could do to help. His sons dug his grave. And then they went back into the mines.
On the other side my great-grandfather was a very small man and was in charge of the mine ponies. (The horses used to haul the coal trains in and out of the mines.) He was one of the founding members of the Teamsters Union in Ohio.
Needless to say education has been stressed in subsequent generations. We have a saying whenever someone complains about how "hard" their job is: "At least you aren't down in the mines!"
I didn't mean to start a misery thrad. Reading some of my father fatehrs letter he spoke much differently. He bascailly said that coal mining i america was mcuh better life ebcasuse in Wales the english owners not only work you to death but many straved to death when potatoe crop failed.We are indeed every lucky to have been born in these times.
My great uncles were allegedly Molly MaGuires in the anthracite coal regions. My grandfather and his brothers fled the famines in Ireland and created a new life in America.
Their experiences created a familial ethic of revering education and hard work to avoid having to work in the mines that persists through subsequent generations. Their children moved into the railroad industry and subsequent generations (mine and children) virtually all earned college degrees. An unthinkable sin would have been to be reported for misconduct in school. Teachers and educational opportunity were considered the working man's "gifts from Heaven".
The family mantra was: "Work hard, but work smart; use your brain and not your back".
Last edited by Pilgrim21784; 08-28-2011 at 08:05 PM..
While traveling around the anthracite coal mining region here in eastern Pennsylvania I had the good fortune to meet the children and grandchildren of coal miners. There were many wonderful stories I heard, and here are two:
(From the daughter of a coal miner, now a very elderly lady, of eastern European descent) "Father worked so hard, I don't think young people would believe me if I told them he left the house before 6 in morning and didn't return until 7 at night. I swear during the winter months there were weeks Pa never saw daylight. He was a very good father, though, and he loved his children above all. After working so hard he would still buy us little presents - candy or toys - and no matter how exhausted he was from work he always made time to tell us a bed-time story and tuck us in. He was so loving and affectionate to us all. Discipline and punishment was left to mother. In those days before the mines installed showers, mother would put a large metal tub on the kitchen floor and fill it with water. She would boil some water in a kettle to warm the water. There was nothing unusual to see Pa scrubbing himself down - stark naked - in the tub in the kitchen. I shared a bed with one of my sisters, and my brothers slept in one bed ... we weren't fussy or embarrassed about those things in those days."
(From a coal miner, who was the son of a coal miner and a grandson of a coal miner): "Before the child labor laws, boys started working for the mines by the time they were 8. You were supposed to be 12, but the family needed money, and the mine owners didn't require proof of your age. The boys started out as 'Breaker Boys' ... they would sit on hard wooden benches all day long picking out the impurities as the pieces of coal was coming down the chutes in the colliery. Here in Pennsylvania the impurities were usually slate or some other rock or bits of wood. The stones were sharp and their fingers would get bloody. The colliery was filled with coal dust and it was not a healthy place to be. If you didn't work hard enough, or you were slow, there was a 'boss' who carried a big wooden stick and beat you with it."
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Stories I'll never forget ...
