POCAHONTAS, VIRGINIA ~ MINE DISASTERS
1884 ~ 1901 ~ 1906
1884 - 114 DEAD
1901 - 17 DEAD
1906 - 36 DEAD
At 1:30 in the morning of March 13, 1884, a loud explosion rocked the Lathrops in their bed. Young Lathrop soon learned that a blast in the Laurel mine had knocked houses off their foundations three-hundred feet from the driftmouth, and heavy mine cars had been hurled from the mine. Inside were mangled bodies, some without heads and some missing limbs. A fire necessitated sealing and flooding the mine with 114 bodies still inside. When the fire was out, the water was pumped into a creek running through the town. Two carloads of disinfectant were dumped in the creek and on the streets, and men were brought in to build coffins. Lathrop finally became ill under the strain, which threats against his life did not help. He and his wife were glad to move to another job when an opportunity arose. The Laurel mine was regarded as non-gassy so that there was no apparent reason to use safety lamps. This supposition left the miners free to "shoot from the solid" - to get coal down from the face by substituting massive amounts of explosives for the tedious and time-consuming job of undercutting. There was almost certainly a quantity of methane present in the Laurel mine which was ignited by the blasting. This in turn touched off suspended coal dust which provided the chief explosive. The initial blast created a wind of hurricane force which picked up more coal dust, ignited it, and produced a raging, all-consuming, and self-perpetuating horror. The explosion at the Laurel mine was shocking to the people of Southwest Virginia because it was their first. Before it, mine explosions in the Richmond area had assured Virginia it would lead the nation in this category of mining casualty until 1890. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Because Pocahontas had no cemetery, land was chosen for the burial site of the 1884 Explosion victims. The few settlers who had died previously had been buried in the HOUCH CEMETERY, about a mile from the present cemetery, on the east end of PEEL CHESNUT MOUNTAIN. Land for the Pocahontas Cemetery came from the Southwest Virginia Improvement Company in 1888, deeded to Trustees of the Pocahontas Cemetery Association. The Association dissolved in the 1930s, and when the property reverted back to the successor of the Southwest Virginia Improvement Company, Pocahontas Fuel Company, it was deeded over to the town of Pocahontas. A register is kept at the Town Hall in Pocahontas for those buried in the cemetery. I want to thank area residents THOMAS CHILDRESS and EDNA DROSICK, whose contributions to local history are invaluable beyond calculation. Without their efforts this Pocahontas page would have been near impossible. |
1884 FATALITIES
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Braxton Bragg Moore W 16 There is a separate marker for Braxton only a few feet from the MINERS MARKER W - White C - Colored Ages - Estimated * Correct spelling for William H. Comaford was provided by Don Freeman, gg-grandson of William. William was married to Margaret Emily Burton. ** Odham Brothers...First names unknown at this time. The obituary for William Odham mentions he lost two brothers in the 1884 explosion. I have not been able to find death records for them. William died November 17, 1901 from afterdamp while searching for victims of the explosion three days earlier. NOTE - Two colored ladies and a young child also perished in this explosion. Do not have names. I HAVE TWO SPELLINGS FOR SOME OF THE NAMES THIS IS THE MOST COMPLETE NAME LIST |
Marks the location of the March 13, 1884 victims interred in the Pocahontas Cemetery. Burial was in common trench that runs below and near parallel of marker. The burial of these victims marked the beginning of the Pocahontas Cemetery.
TOP ILLUSTRATION
A VICTIM IS CARRIED FROM THE SCENE
BOTTOM ILLUSTRATION
ATTEMPTS TO ENTER THE INFERNO WERE FUTILE
GRIEVING - 1884
WIFE GRIEVES OVER FALLEN HUSBAND WHOSE BODY HAS BEEN HURLED FROM THE PORTAL OF HELL
1884 NON-VICTIMS LISTThe 1884 explosion occurred on the night shift, March 13 at about 1:20 AM. There were no survivors. This is a partial listing of the day shift employees who worked this mine and fate spared from this 1884 Disaster for that reason. I include this list of non-victims for two reasons. It is a welcome relief to post a list of non-victims and the names may help someone searching for a coal miner ancestor. These names appear in Jack M. Jones' book, "EARLY COAL MINING IN POCAHONTAS, VIRGINIA." |
IT WILL BE UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND ORDER OF ITEMS WILL BE CHANGING SOMEWHAT DURING THIS TIME. PLEASE STOP BY NOW AND THEN. THANK YOU DIZZY HARRIS |
EARLY REPORTS OF THE 1884 DISASTERThe Mountain Cracked by the Force of the Explosion |
REPORT FROM "THE EVENING CALL" IN CHARLESTON WVA newspaper was in circulation between 1881-1884 in Charleston, WV. named "The Evening Call" This is what it reported: |
1906 FATALITIES
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Note 2 - Two victims listed as Major Brown and Morris Brown may be same person. Major may be incorrect or may be Ed Brown. |
1906 EXPLOSION EARLY REPORTRECOVER 18 BODIES |
1901 DISASTER ~ NOVEMBER 14 & 17A total of seventeen men lost their lives in this disaster that involved at least three occurrences over a period of as many days. |
NOVEMBER 14, 1901 FATALITIES ~~~~~~~ NINE
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NOVEMBER 17, 1901 AFTER-DAMP FATALITIES
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ABOVE PHOTOS
Pocahontas Mine, Power House, Tipples and Coke Ovens.
E. L. Harris
1305 Dodge Dr NW
Warren, OH 44485
NOTE
William Odham was one of the ill-fated party that lost their lives in the Pocahontas West mine. He was a coal inspector and accompanied his superior officers on this fatal trip in the mine.
He leaves a heart broken father and mother, brothers, sisters and a host of friends to mourn his lose. Two brothers were kiled in the explosion here in 1884.
When the call was made for volunteers in the war with Spain, William was one of the first to enlist and together with a number of other young men from this section, spent some time in the serve of the U.S. on the island of Cuba. On their return from Cuba, after being mustered out, a public welcome and reception was tendered them by the mayor and citizens of Pocahontas, which will long be remembered with pleasure by those who were present.
After leaving the service he resumed his position as one of the coal inspectors employed by Castner, Curran & Bullitt; and that he performed his duty faithfully and stood well with his employers, his being a member of the officials that were selected for this trip will attest to that.
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