(No name). The name "Fraterville" means "village of Brothers.". Do the best you can with the children. All 216 miners working underground at the Fraterville Coal Mine in Tennessee, are killed by an explosion. Webb, Wm. Ellen remember me as long as you live Goodbye darling., COVID-19 Resource Center for Working Families >, 2023 Labor 411. No where to work and no experience if there had been jobs, so awful for this community. Robertson, Porter, bur: Longfield Hightower, Bart D., bur: Starr The report also suggested that gases had leaked into the Fraterville Mine from an adjacent abandoned (and unventilated) mine once operated by the Knoxville Iron Company. Fraterville Disaster Monument - Leach Cemetery, 5. Only three adult male residents remained in Fraterville after the explosion. 0 cemeteries found in Rocky Top, Anderson County, Tennessee, USA. When the non-profit Coal Creek Watershed Foundation was established in 2000, Bailey told them about the miners buried in his backyard. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. Some victims, found in side passages off the main entry, showed no signs of trauma. never identified, though most agree it had been due to a build up There is a few of us are alive yet Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. We are all praying for air to support us but it is getting so bad without any air. Those who wrote notes Turner, Milburn, bur: WIlson (Little Eddie was a son they had lost previously. Oh dear Sarah stay at fathers or at your fathers and pay all I owe if possible. At the mine entrance, a crowd of some 2,000 relatives, friends, neighbors, nearby miners, and spectators anxiously awaited word of the fate of the unaccounted-for miners. Note: "Miner's Circle" refers to Leach Cemetery, where Mefford, Thomas, bur: Longfield For more than 150 years, East Tennesseans have experienced disasters of historic proportions. Some the the miners who perished were sons of the miners who perished in the 1902 mining disaster in Fraterville, Tennessee. "[5], Powell Harmon wrote an extensive note to his family. The bodies of 30 itinerant miners remained unclaimed and were buried next to the railroad spur line, marked by fieldstones or not at all. JAKE & ELBERT, Oh God for one more breath. Dabney, A. T., bur: Longfield Vowell, Jacob L., (F), bur: Longfield At about 7:30 a.m., 184 men and boys entered the mine. John Hendren's letter was eventually written out word-for-word on his headstone. Ellen remember me as long as you live. Family members linked to this person will appear here. For great art and culture delivered to your door, visit our shop. Wallace, W. G., bur: Concord I have not suffered much yet. Recovery missions lasted for many days as a line of families and miners waited outside the entrance of the Fraterville Mine in order to identify each body that was extracted. The dead left many widows & orphans behind. Entrance to Fraterville mine through which over 200 men and boys passed last Monday morning in good health and spirits to be brought out mangled corpses. Journal and Tribune, May 23, 1902, Six Letters Written in Chamber of Death in Fraterville Knoxville Sentinel, May 21, 1902. Foust, Mack C., bur: Miner's Circle A temporary morgue was established at the Farmers Supply Company in Coal Creek. The last body was carried from the mine four days after the ordeal began.At the mine entrance, a crowd of some 2,000 relatives, friends, neighbors, nearby miners, and spectators anxiously awaited word of the fate of the unaccounted-for miners. Twenty-six men were found barricaded in one side passage, some still alive as late as 2:30 in the afternoon as evidenced by notes found with their bodies. Good Bye Darling. Mack, Thomas, bur: Welsh The Fraterville Mine disaster was a coal mine explosion that occurred on May 19, 1902 near the community of Fraterville, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. They probably lived for a short time before suffocating from the buildup of toxic gases and lack of oxygen. The story of the Fraterville Mine disaster in East Tennessee, one of the worst mining disasters in American history. Below are two videos by WVLT TV that give a brief description of two of the three events. I hope that this helps. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. Ellen, little Elbert said that he trusts in the Lord. Murray, Oscar, bur: Miner's Circle Strickland, Jas. Smiddy, Edward, bur: Longfield Smith, R. H., bur: Miner's Circle We know this because Jacob Vowell, Powell Harmon, John Hendren, Harry Beech, Scott Chapman, James Brooks, R.S. We are together. From 1902 to 1927, according to the research of historian Ronald D. Eller, over 2,400 Appalachian workers died in mine explosions, with three of these disasters occurring in Tennessee at Briceville (1911), Catoosa (1917), and Rockwood (1926).Allen R. Coggins, Knoxville, Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. Adkins, Geo. To contribute to my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4575018M ail: P.O. Click here to see WVLT's video on the Convict Lease System But, according to the website Letters of Note, "for the 26 who survived the initial blast, a side passage of the mine proved to be a safe haven, but not for longwhen rescuers eventually reached them, all had suffocated. Hensley, A., bur: Miner's Circle And, if youre honest, youll just drag up from the depths all the times youve hated or felt passionately about something and play it. Three mines that never used convicts were Fraterville, Thistle, and Central of the Coal Creek Coal Company. Is 25 minutes after two. Good-bye till we meet to part no more. Along the main entry, the force of the explosion splintered mine cars and timbers and dismembered the bodies of miners. Chapman, James Brooks, R.S. The trail takes you deep in the heart of East Tennessee's mining country. Was looking at family history and just discovered my great grandfather was Jacob Leinart Vowell. Brymer, Wm., bur: Miner's Circle Woods, John, (S), bur: Longfield, Gibbs, Frank, bur: Welsh Several mining disasters brought national attention to the Triangle area in the early 1900s. Whitton, H., (S), bur: Miner's Circle The entire community was devastated. Fraterville miners were members of the United Mine Workers of America within years of its creation in 1890. Legend: Whitton, J. R., (F), bur: Miner's Circle Trapped in the mine after an explosion and with their air rapidly depleting, they wrote letters to their loved ones describing their final moments. Only three adult male residents remained in Fraterville after the explosion. cemeteries found in Rocky Top, Anderson County, Tennessee, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Elliott, John, bur: Beech Grove Excited by the opportunity to make real money and own their own homes, the miners often encouraged their family members to join them. Pratt, J. Taylor, bur: Big Valley Jake and Elbertif(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'flashbak_com-banner-1','ezslot_10',167,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-flashbak_com-banner-1-0'); Oh God for one more breath. Although most testimony about coal mining disasters came from survivors and observers, the men who suffocated to death in the Fraterville, Tennessee mines in May 1902 left behind their own grim account. Learn more about managing a memorial . Knowing what was to follow, the venue was apposite. TheFraterville Mine disaster remains the worst of its kind in Tennessees history.. Cooper, Thomas, bur: Indian Creek The mine disaster devastated the small town of Fraterville, leaving both broken homes and a broken community. There was a Nicholas Massengill, Jr killed in the 1902 Fraterville Mine explosion. O'Dell, David P., bur: Miner's Circle Fraterville Mine Disaster remembered 120 years later. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. May 19, 1917, page 4, on the 15th anniversary of the explosion. men and boys lost their lives inside the mine after an explosion Good bye Minnie Some of the other victims were buried at Longfield Cemetery. Do change your way of living. Tell all the children to meet with us both there. Poignant farewell messages were found on the bodies of Jacob Vowell, Powell Harmon, John Hendren, Harry Beach, Scott Chapman, James Brooks, R.S. Yet terrible catastrophes occurred then. Official records state that 216 miners died as a result of the explosion, from either its initial blast or from the after-effects, making it the worst mining disaster in the United State's history. My great grandfather, on my mothers and grandmothers side of the family, last name was Massengill. Bury me in black clothes. Woods, Chas. There is a problem with your email/password. Oh how I wish to be with you, goodbye. I always think of the Edwardian era as a period of modernity, technological progress and peace. Oh, how I wish to be with you. These men reportedly saw black smoke rising from the Fraterville Mine and initially thought that it was coming from a ventilation furnace. Today we tell that story. Massengill, N. Jr., bur: Miner's Circle ), All but three of Fratervilles adult men were killed that day; over a hundred women were instantly widowed; close to a thousand children lost their fathers. Is 25 minutes after two. He was Childress, John, (S), bur: Heiskell "It will validate what it says on their headstones, that they are gone but not forgotten.". Only three adult males were left alive in the town and it remains the South's worst mining disaster. Some the the miners who perished were sons of th. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. I am going to Heaven so meet me there. In other parts of the mine no heat or violence was shown, and suffocation had brought death to those whose bodies were found there. A 1904 head-on passenger. Wallace, John C., bur: Miner's Circle Adkins, P. A., (F), bur: Miner's Circle This historical marker was erected by Coal Creek Watershed Foundation. ", That's why she holds her family's history a little tighter. Another possibility suggested at the time was that the Fraterville mines ventilation system had been negligently shut down over the weekend by the ventilation furnace operator, Tipton Hightower, allowing toxic gases to build up in the shafts. [3], E.C. Minutes later a horrendous methane gas and coal dust explosion erupted, sending debris and smoke belching from the. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. Goodbye. They probably lived for a short time before suffocating from the buildup of toxic gases and lack of oxygen. These portrait photographs of Russia's ruling Romanovs were taken in 1903 at the Winter Palace in majestic. The Fraterville Mine Disaster of 1902 remains one of the worst in U.S. history and is an important, and unfortunately often overlooked, staple in the local heritage and shaping of East Tennessee and Anderson County, in particular. All I owe if possible explosion erupted, sending debris and smoke belching from the buildup toxic... 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