Many youths were lost in this disaster, as they were in most every type of industrial disaster around this point in time. That is unmistakable and absolute. “Tombstones don’t lie,” as the saying goes. Even the ones only big enough to bear the year “1907”.
The youths of Monongah mines #6 & #8 have always been a topic that just overflows with misinformation. This is mostly due to the Darr mine disaster occurring so close in proximity to the Monongah disaster, the two events having so many similarities, and much of the information about each separate event having gotten mix-matched with each other right from the start or blended with other disasters over time. We can certainly relate since it’s very similar to keeping the numerous school shooting events and their details organized in our collective memories over the last 25+ years.
Again, in regard to the question of exact numbers of youth lives lost in mines #6 & #8, the best answer we truly have is:
Unknown/Undetermined
“Unknown/Undetermined” is used to answer this question so as to never presume or dismiss any potential future information which could come along; to never forget that we truly never “knew”, still don’t “know”, and likely never will. However, a general minimum estimate can be provided.
The coroner’s records list 50 victims who were able to be identified and are listed as minors, aged 14 – 21 years old.
In 1907, a “minor” (aka “child”) was anyone under the age of 21 across the majority of the country. At 16, military or militia service could be performed without parental consent. At 14, one was eligible to be held liable for crimes, apprentice in workplaces and testify in court without parental consent or intervention. At 12 years of age, in some cases, the minor could be eligible to inherit, own, and run private estates.
A brief review of the laws
As there will be other posts more focused on the mining laws and liabilities, a quick summary of just the laws regarding minors should be enough to get the points across. To review the mining laws in full you can click on the image below. To view the mining laws only regarding to the “Employment of Children”, go to page 2 of this post.
- In 1905, no minor, male or female, under the age of 12 was permitted to work inside the mine. In February of 1907, the law was changed to permit only males aged 14 years and older inside the mine as well as requiring notarized affidavits “in all cases of doubt” of the minor’s age.
- Mine foremen and operators were the ones legally responsible and accountable for seeing that all laws regarding minors were strictly followed.
- Penalties for violations in 1905 were simple fines. In 1907, the fines got significantly higher and jailtime became a possibility for any offenders. All fines paid were put to the county common school fund.
There were also the public’s “Common Sense/Common Law” traditions of the time which were rooted in the standards and traditions of the agricultural/farming work which pre-dated the Industrial Era. These were not formal written “laws” which were applied on a State or Federal level. They were how upbringing and livelihoods had been “traditionally” managed by individual families or communities for centuries prior to the Industrial Era. Therefore, what was “Common Sense/Common Law” was frequently entirely subjective to the parent/guardian based upon their own upbringing as minors.
The agricultural traditions generally acknowledged 8 years of age to be eligible for “entry-level” work meaning one was mentally, physically, and intellectually capable of performing certain important tasks on their own. A person of 8 years old could, on average, be entrusted with feeding the smaller domesticated animals, taking something to a person or location and returning safely with the correct items, or helping with general domestic/property work without guidance or supervision from someone older.
What were their jobs?
Those 8 years and older could legally work as “breakers” in Monongah since the breakers were above ground just beneath the tipple on the east side of the West Fork River and this work did not count as minors being “in” a “mine, factory, workshop, mercantile or manufacturing establishment where goods or wares are made or sold”. One could easily argue then & now that their portion of “cleaning” certain impurities out of the coal by hand was a type of “manufacturing”, but they still didn’t “make” the coal they cleaned nor was this “where” said coal was “sold“. The breakers received and processed the raw product to make it ready to be sent to the market for sale. This work was not solely occupied by “entry-level” minors, however. Breakers also employed seniors and disabled people, particularly if they had already worked in the mines but had come to a point where they could no longer physically do the work required underground.
Around 10-13 years old, a minor with the physical strength and stamina could become a “bit-boy” carrying large replacement drill bits in and out of the mine. Much like the blacksmiths & carpenters, his work was primarily based above ground with the occasional need to go into the mines, get to his destination, exchange the fresh bits for dulled ones, then get back above ground as quickly as possible. They were employed through the company and were on the formal payroll roster. According to Davitt McAteer’s research, bit-boys earned a flat rate of 85 cents per day. It is likely that at least a few of the remains found underground which could not be identified were bit-boys who happened to be in the mines at the time of the explosion.
“Trappers” were minors aged between 11ish-15ish, depending on when & where they were hired. They were fully underground workers responsible for opening and closing large doors which ventilated the mine and allowed miners & cars of coal to pass through. Trappers were also on the formal payroll roster and earned a flat rate of 85 cents a day according to McAteer. Prior to 1907, 12 years of age was deemed legally acceptable for this job, but the new amendments approved by Gov. Dawson pushed the age to 14 for anyone “in” the coal mine. It’s likely those still only 12-13 years old at the time the amendment went into effect were permitted to stay in their trapper positions and were not required to go back to jobs which held aboveground status with similar pay, like bit-boy.
As far as is known, FCC employed at least one trapper per operating door in their mines unlike others in the State which often made them responsible for multiple doors along one section. What is not formally known, to this author at least, is how many of these doors were present and in operation in each of the mines at the time of the disaster.
Trappers were typically the youngest of the minors hired through the coal company who worked completely underground at the time of the disaster. The number of trappers put on each door was completely dependent on the company, the layout of the mine, and the minor’s physical ability to move the door. They sat sometimes for hours on end, often alone and with little more lighting than the headlamp provided, waiting for the need to unlatch, hold open, and then close the door. As simple as it sounds, their job was utterly critical to the containment and dilution of any marsh gases in the mines.
As one might imagine when it comes to preteens who are idled for too long, trappers had a reputation for mischief or just getting blamed for certain mishaps in the mines back then just as much as they do today in school, church, etc. They were not immune from injury in their job positions, particularly if they were not very careful even when messing about.
“Leaders” & “Drivers” were minors typically 15 years of age or older. They worked directly with the mules or horses which hauled cars of coal or other heavy materials in and out of the mines. The animals were often blind (for several potential reasons) and required physical guidance through the mine, particularly through the ventilation doorways. Leaders were typically the younger minors, likely just moved up from Trapper, who walked ahead of or along the side of the team using the reigns to lead the team safely through the path ahead. Drivers were the minors with more experience in this job and walked behind the team of animals. They steered the team and the load being hauled with a separate set of reigns and often an additional chain attached to the driver’s leg for the blind teams. According to McAteer, they were “paid by the run at 12 cents an hour”. Typically, both positions were often referred to under the general title of “drivers” by the company’s payroll roster.
Contractor work with fathers/brothers/etc. was the most likely way a minor could end up “left off the books” in situations like these. According to several testimonies of mine inspectors, foremen, and superintendents from across the state to the West Virginia Legislative Committee between 1907 – 1909ish, these youths were the most likely to have falsified documents or to have the obvious fact that they were underage “intentionally overlooked” as a favor or even a sign of compassion to an adult miner. However, though the “common” knowledge of contractor work at the time goes along the lines of, “every adult miner brought their boy/son into the mines with them to help”, it is critical to know that very many of these “boys” and “sons” were, more often than not, fully legal-aged adults in their own right already. Of the 50 minors which could be identified, more than 30 of them were 18 or older.
In these situations, these minors would not be included on the “official” payroll or employee roster, unlike the other jobs for minors listed above. However, they would have still been noted in the general roster made by the underground day foremen of both mines. These attendance roster sheets of underground workers were taken over the course of the first few hours of the workday and typically submitted into the main offices across the river around 11-11:30am once all work had been assigned and was well underway. Just like our teachers used to do for class attendance in school. Unfortunately, with the explosions occurring around 10:30am, recorded evidence of anyone who was working in a contractor’s position that morning was destroyed in the disaster.
The Unidentified
According to the Marion County Coroner’s Report, which includes the morgue and cemetery records, there are possibly 4 more victims which may have been minors based on certain descriptions or remarks made in the documents.
- #32 – unknown young man – nothing to identify him – grave #7 – remark “found around the 1st right pillar”
- “young” is not a commonly used descriptor through the documents
- #85 – Polish boy – grave #21 Polish side – remark “House 120”
- This is the only use of “boy” to describe a victim. There is mention at the Inquiry by George Gibbons of a Polish boy who was believed to have gone into the mine without a record taken.
- #156 – unknown – grave #15 row A – remark “Trapper. E Face – Heading 2nd st. No 6 mine”
- This is the only victim to go unidentified but still acknowledged as likely having been a trapper.
- #322- unknown – not opened as per instructions – remark “Special lot in new cemetery”
- This “special lot in the new cemetery” was likely one of the available plots around the large tree at the top of the hill along the dividing line of the cemetery. The oral history of town says there was, at first, high demand for these few lots which were to be placed under the only shade-giving tree in the cemetery, but it was soon decided that those prime spots should go to the unidentifiable youths which could not be matched to their family members.
Recommended by Author
For more on “Common Sense/Common Law” regarding child work/labor and early labor organizing around the UK (which Mother Jones and other union organizers used here in the U.S. to encourage unionization, particularly in Monongah in 1902), I highly recommend the BBC series “The Mill” from 2013-2014. The show is based on true stories that happened to real people in a textile mill in England in the 1830s.
Below is a short clip from Season 2 Episode 1. It’s purpose here is purely for education and general insight on “Common Sense/Common Law” traditions and how they had been applied to minors for generations.
For More:
- Chronicling America – FWV Dec. 7, 1907 pg 1; FWV Oct. 5, 1907;
- Mining Laws of the State of West Virginia as Amended by the Legislature in Regular Session, 1907
- Bob’s Genealogy Filing Cabinet
- Monongah: The Tragic Story of the Worst Industrial Accident in US History by Davitt McAteer, pg. 61-62
- Common School
- Report of Hearings before the Joint Select Committee of the Legislature of West Virginia – testimony of George Gibbons
- e-WV
- Marion County Coroner’s Report – E.S. Amos Marion County Coroner, Dec. 1907 – Jan 1908 (Available at County Clerk’s Office in the Marion County Courthouse in Fairmont, WV)
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