Coal Miner Memorial, Sebastian County, AR

   Charley Clinton Vickers was killed in a mining accident while working as a shot-firer in Central Coal & Coke�s Mine No. 6 located near Huntington, Sebastian County, Arkansas. As this fact became known to me I also learned his name appeared on a monument dedicated to Arkansas miners who had lost their lives in mining accidents. The monument is located in the Coal Miner�s Memorial Park, Greenwood, AR Historical District. The spelling on the monument is Charlie Vickers.

   As I sought more details I was fortunate to meet, through the Internet, John Dill. Mr. Dill is a researcher of coal mining in Sebastian County. He, and his wife Patricia, were kind enough to send me copies of the newspaper articles associated with the accident itself. He also went to the Huntington Cemetery and took pictures of the headstones of Charley Vickers and the man who died with him, August Quoss. These pictures also included a headstone for his young daughter, Evilyn and his oldest daughter, Avaun Vickers Hayes (1908 to 2002). In addition, he provided a map of the area. Patricia went to the monument and took the picture of his name on the monument wall. She also copied the microfiche of his marriage information, provided copies from the funeral home regarding Avaun's burial and did so many things to help this story come into clearer focus.

Newspaper Headline about the accident.

   With the details from the newspaper I became quite fascinated about the life of a coal miner. As I dug deeper I learned the coal mining industry had a great deal to do with the history and movement of the Vickers family that I am a part of. Charley�s grandfather was Jacob Vickers. The first census I was able to find with Jacob�s family is the 1850 census. This census was taken in Durtich No. 2, Greenup, Kentucky. There I found Jacob, wife Emily and their 6 month old child, Marcus L. Vickers. The census recorder listed Jacob�s occupation as a farm laborer. The young family lived next to David Bailey and his family. Emily�s maiden name is Bailey but it is uncertain if David is her older brother or a young father of Emily or if there is any true connection at all.

   From farming roots to coal mining, how did this happen? We know, from history, that it was 1755 when Lewis Evan's first created a map showing coal in what is now the Greenup County and Boyd County area of Kentucky. We also know that the two birth states of Jacob (OH) and Emily (VA) were the two states where Kentucky was carved from. So at what point did the Vickers first venture into coal mining? That fact has eluded me, I am not sure if Jacob ever, himself, became a coal miner.

   However, by the time I found the Marcus Vickers family, in the 1880 census, I knew he was a coal miner. The family was living in Giegersville, Boyd County, Kentucky. Marcus was 29 and married to 23 year old Susan Bell Whitlock. They had three sons, Jacob (7), Lewis (4) and John (2). Each person on the census page had a connection with the coal mining operations of the area. Kentucky had rapidly become a leading provider of coal.

   In the 30 years that transpired from the 1850 census to the 1880 census Marcus did not move far from home but he did choose a different path for his profession. Imagine the new industry that was springing up around this young man. There had to be a level of fascination associated with the increasing activity outlined above. Perhaps one day we will learn more details, I am still wondering if Jacob moved from a farm laborer to a coal miner and if that is what led Marcus into the mines. Whatever it was Marcus�s work as a coal miner would influence the direction his sons would take and would eventually lead Charley into the mines on that fateful March day in 1917. There is another 20 year gap between the census records in which I was able to track my Vickers family. During this time Marcus did move a long way from home (by the standards of the turn of the century).

   In the 1900 census the family had relocated to Baker Township, Crawford County, Kansas. This southeast corner of the state had begun its own important history of underground coal production some 23 years earlier.

   According to A Twentieth century history and biographical record of Crawford County, Kansas, by Home Authors we read, �The mining history of Crawford county is really the history of Pittsburg, for with the sinking of the first coal shaft in the county, on the town site of Pittsburg, in the spring of 1877, began the growth of the town, and with the growth of the mining industry in this county has likewise grown the center of the coal industry and the metropolis of the Missouri-Kansas coal district, Pittsburg.� Several years� earlier surface mining was already underway.

   According to the census the family now had at least 3 coal miners, Marcus and his two oldest sons, Jacob and Lewis (spelled Louis in this census record). Marcus had been unemployed 5 months the previous year, Jacob and Lewis 4 months each. Had that prompted their move or had the move already taken place? More questions than answers at this point. His son, John, was not found with the family but there were now two daughters, Mary (17) and Julia (15) listed as servants along with two additional sons, Charley (Charles(13)) and Howard (9) that were listed at school.

   From other histories we get a glimpse of what it was like to live as a coal miner. The pay was low while the budget was taken up with trying to etch out a meager living for the miner and his family. Coal camps were not a place to become a prosperous citizen. One of the first positions a coal miner�s son may find himself applying for is that of a breaker boy.

   Average age for breaker boys was 10 to 14, right in the zone of both Charley and Howard. Was this the beginning for Charley? By the time the 1900 census was taken had he already tasted life in the coal mines, or at least above ground in a breaker house? Chances are very good he had and it would not be thought of as a bad thing, merely the progression of life.

   One of the largest coal operators in the region at the time was Central Coal & Coke Company. From the History of Cherokee County Kansas and its representative citizens, ed. & comp. by Nathaniel Thompson Allison, 1904 we learn the history of one of the few coal companies of the era still publicly traded today. �One of the leading coal companies operating in the district of Cherokee County is The Central Coal & Coke Company. It is among the great coal companies of the west... This company is interested in six different fields, and it produces as many different kinds of coal. Its properties are located in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Indian Territory and Wyoming. It operates 45 mines, requiring 9,000 men. Its average pay roll is $10,000 a day. Its leases cover 70,000 acres of land, and the stratum of coal under the entire tract is five feet thick."

   In 1900 Charley was living with his family and by 1908 he was married to his first wife, Donnie Lockey. They received their Marriage License on 3 April 1908. Both were listed as residing in Huntington, Sebastian, AR. He was 21, she was 16. Two days after receiving their license they were married by J. B. Harwell, 5 April 1908. Donnie gave birth to their oldest daughter, Avaun Vickers on December 8th, 1908 in Huntington, Sebastian, Arkansas.

Charlie Vickers Name on Wall Note spelling. Courtesy of; Patricia Dill.

   We have not found pay records or other details about the company that was the employer of Charley's father or brothers in Kansas. However, from all we can find, Central Coal & Coke Company was the major employer in the towns they were living in. We also know that Central Coal & Coke Company owned Mine No. 6, near Huntington, where Charley would lose his life. We can only conclude Charley was offered the position of Shot-firer if he would relocate as Mine No. 6 was becoming one of the most productive coal mines in the region. It was nearly 250 miles due south from where the Vickers family was living and where Charley relocated. There were other Vickers family members in the area as well. All working in the coal industry as it was the fastest growing industry, trying to keep pace with the growing demands of the industrial revolution.

   As described by John Dill, �Central Coal's Mine #6. It was a shaft mine. Entrance was via a pair of vertical mine shafts in which counterbalanced elevators operated (one goes up while the other goes down)."

   Here is a description of that mine as published in the Arkansas State Mine Inspector Report for 1927: �Central Coal & Coke Company (Mine No. 6). Located two and one-half miles west of Huntington Arkansas on the Frisco R.R. The Huntington coal seam is worked and has an average thickness of seven feet, six inches with a middleband of 4 to 12 inches (a band of shale in the middle of the coal - which had to be discarded). Shaft opening 285 feet deep. Roof is slate and sandstone: the slate requiring careful timbering.

   Coal is shot from the solid with black powder. (the shot firers job)... Ventilation is produced by a large Sirocco fan (the blade probably in excess of 20' across), incased in a concrete building. A smaller fan for emergencies. Both are steam driven. Coal is hauled from the working face to the partings by mules and from there to the shaft bottom by trolley-pole locomotives and hoisted to the surface by a large first-motion steam engine. (trolley-pole locomotives were electric, getting their power from an overhead wire. (A 1st motion steam engine just had one cylinder doing the work. More sophisticated steam engines (like a warship might have) could have 3 or four cylinders, each larger than the previous one, to gain more power from the steam by reusing it as it cooled) This mine is idle at the time of this writing, (I think since 1922 or 1923) but when operating is the largest producer in the district, and I believe in the southwest.�

   The newspaper accounts of his death listed his occupation as that of a shot-firer. From The History of Perryopolis I found this definition, �Shot Firers, the men who drilled holes in the coal face and inserted tubes filled with black powder, then set off explosions to loosen the coal. This was one of the most dangerous jobs in the mine. The mere proximity of the miner�s oil lamp to the black powder was sufficient to ensure that. Then there were the dangers of a premature detonation.� So, from what position he began his career, we can only speculate. The last position he held we know too well. However, this paid the most in the working man�s career ladder in the coal mines and with a young family to feed I am sure he aspired to this in order to provide the best he could.

   The 1910 census records his family had grown by one, my grandmother, Beatrice. In addition, it shows them living next to Donnie (Donny) Lockey�s mother and two brothers. He was 23 and she was only 18 but the mother of two. What happened to their marriage is not known. According to my Uncle Joe; the family did not talk about her for she was not in favor for divorcing Charley. According to what he could remember, she left him in 1912 and the girls then moved in with their grandfather, Marcus, shortly after.

   According to the Sebastian County Marriage Index Donnie remarried in May of 1914 to Fred Moats. She passed away in Dallas, TX in 1943 some six months prior to the death of my grandmother, it is believed. By December 25th 1912 Charley was married to his second wife, Neola, for that is the day of birth of their daughter, Evylin. Evylin�s headstone is next to her fathers in Huntington Cemetery. The marriage between Neola and Charley is not listed in the Sebastian County Marriage Index and we are unsure, yet, where their wedding took place. Kansas is another likely location and our search continues. We are not sure what happened to Neola, yet, but we know that on Feb. 28th, 1916, in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, Charley and his third wife, Ada Shelby, were married by R. H. Patton.

   To imagine this type of turmoil in a marriage today may not be too surprising but in the early 1900s it was not the normal situation most found themselves in. We will not speculate on the reasons here but will suffice it to say that Charley and Ada were living in the coal camp that was near Central Coal & Coke�s Mine No. 6 in March of 1917. Evylin was not well, according to newspaper reports (although the notice of the funeral said his five year old �son� is said to be improving) and life in a coal camp was a tough existence.

   On Tuesday, March 27th, 1917 Charley Vickers and his partner, August Quoss, were working the No. 6 coal mine. While they worked the world did not notice. The 17,000 Turks, who blocked the British Calvary the day before, in the Battle of Gaza, were no doubt still celebrating. The Germans were only 80 kilometers from Paris while Russian Tsarism was collapsing and Russian troops were deserting the front lines due to telegraph calls to return home to their mother land. France and Britain were anxiously awaiting the impact from the Zimmerman Telegram, hoping the Monroe Doctrine would finally fall, which it would 10 days later as the United States would enter the war. Cyrus Vance, future Secretary of State, was born. On the 86th day of the year there were many events impacting the world outside while two shot-firers were nearing a shot, that at 6:15pm, would be their last.

   It had only been 54 days since this same mine had been the scene of an accident that took the lives of Beil Price and L. Holstein, also shot-firers. It was a dust explosion, so it was said. Over that 54 day span 3 other shot-firers in 3 other locations would lose their lives. From Huntington to Midland to Jenny Lind then Hartford and back to Huntington, August and Charley were about to die.

   This was to be a violent, immediate death and the efforts to recover the bodies would be written up as �the most faithful and heroic rescue work that has ever attended a mine disaster in the history of the coal industry in Arkansas.� The cause, �in the opinion of Thomas H. Shaw of Midland, state mine inspector� a �windy shot� was the originator of the explosion, which later became combined with gas and dust.�

Mine after the destructive explosion.

   A heroic effort was indeed undertaken for two days, as reported in the Southwest American. I will recount these efforts because it is important to fully understand and appreciate life in a coal camp and I know of no better way than by sharing the reports words. First, what is a �windy shot?�

   Windy shot: A blast in a coal mine which--due to improperly placed charges, the wrong kind or quantity of explosives, or insufficient stemming--expends most of its force on the mine air; it sometimes ignites a gas mixture, coal dust, or both, thus causing a secondary explosion, which may or may not spread throughout the mine; a shot that blows out without disturbing the coal; a shot that is not properly directed or loaded; a blown-out shot." According to John Dill the shot was set by the miners holing the area, the shot-firers relied on them to set the shots correctly.

   It was roughly 210 miles north where Marcus, Jacob and Lewis were working in the mine fields of Crawford County and were unaware of the disaster that had just claimed the life of one of their family members. I don�t know where John and Howard or Mary and Julia were, perhaps in Kansas or in Arkansas but it is believed they too did not know what just happened. Someone who knew immediately was Ada. She could hear the explosion, she probably could clearly remember the fear she felt on Feb. 1st when she had heard a similar explosion and must have wondered, was that Charley? Maybe she held out a moment of hope since he had not been the victim then or maybe she knew the odds were not in his favor this day.

   As she stepped outside she could see a crowd rushing toward the mine. According to the reports rescue work began �almost immediately after the explosion occurred at 6:15 o�clock Tuesday night and continued with little interruption until late today, when the supply of oxygen became exhausted, preventing entrance to the point where Vickers body is supposed to be.� During that first push, from Tuesday night until Wednesday afternoon the rescue crews were able to recover August Quoss yet were not able to reach Charley�s body. Wednesday night was spent trying to replace the black damp and carbon monoxide gas with a fresh supply of oxygen. �A crew at work tonight putting up curtains to drive air into the mine to clear the place of deadly gas, so that the rescuers, with a fresh supply of oxygen, can resume the arduous task in the morning.�

   It took more than 13 hours to reach August�s remains. What they discovered was not something we can imagine. Turning back the news article we read, �Quoss was roasted alive. His neck was broken and his chest was caved in indicating that he was hurled against some object�by the force of the explosion which occurred about a half mile from the shaft.� A half mile, they were deep into the mine and working at delivering a place where the other miners and laborers would be able to haul out more coal. Of Charley, �There is no hope of finding him alive. Another attempt will be made tomorrow to recover the victim.�

   The community outpouring and heroic efforts of those involved in the attempts to recover these men cannot be better told than by the reporter who wrote the story for the Southwest American. I will retype a large portion of the article here as this truly tells us all how close these coal camps were and, even though many outside may not appreciate or respect these families, they did respect and love one another. Each time I have read this I find myself wondering if there is any community left in the United States that cares so deeply for their neighbors. I don�t know the reporter�s name but below is a part of his account of the rescue.

   �A coal miner�s love for his fellow man was never exemplified more truly than the service performed by the heroic number Mine Inspector Shaw led into the ill-fated mine to dare death on every side in an unequal fight to spend the last drop of human energy to rescue the victims, even though it took their own life�s blood to do so. These men worked for hours under most trying conditions and only dropped out of the ranks by for of exhaustion. The gaps were quickly filled by others who were willing and ready to risk their lives in a vain effort to save the entombed men. The mine was choked with smoke and dangerous gas, but the rescuers braved them like a soldier in battle. "Immediately upon his arrival last night Inspector Shaw took charge of the situation and organized a picked crew of rescue workers, who had had experience in such work and this experience greatly assisted in systemizing the labor.�

   Here you get the idea this type of accident was all too common. I also wonder what experience August and Charley had had on such crews, perhaps even on the crew that worked hard in the Feb. 1st blast at this same mine.

   �The fan was reversed to a blowing fan from an exhaust fan. Inspector Shaw and John Tillie and Jim Wilkinson climbed down the air shaft to the bottom to survey the situation. The explosion had set fire to the tipple and a pile of burning timber in the cage shaft blocked entrance into the mine from that course."

   "A crew consisting of Inspector Tom Shaw, Charles Johnson, fire boss at No. 6, John Denny, John Tillie, Harry Richer, Harry Freeman, Jim Wilkinson, Bill Ferguson, John McClurey and John Massingale was organized and went down to the bottom of the air shaft to fight the fire in the shaft where the cages are located. They had to carry their water in buckets and the work was extremely laborious. This fire was extinguished at 11:30 Tuesday night.� There was not fire hydrant to hook a hose to�they carried the water a bucket at a time. I�ve carried buckets of water but never down a shaft and into a raging inferno. How bad was this fire? It was not extinguished until more than 5 hours after the explosion and the whole time, what the article does not mention, these men faced a threat of another explosion from dust and gas.

   �Before daylight Wednesday morning Inspector Shaw led another crew into the mine. This crew consisted of Claude Spiegel, fire boss at No. 6, Amos Hamfret, Ernest Gurth, Morgan Morton, Bob Gott, Joe Grady, Joe Rose and Owen Massingale. They found the timbered portions of the mine burning in seven different locations and these fires had to be extinguished before the rescue work could proceed. All brattishes had been blown out and destroyed by the force of the explosion, and the stoppings had to be rebuilt. Putting out the fires and rebuilding the brattishes required hours of hard toil.� The brattishes and stoppings were integral parts of the necessary ventilation system mines relied upon for fresh air. With these destroyed the air the rescue crews were working in was extremely dangerous.

   By the end of the day on Thursday Charley Vickers� body was recovered. On March 30th there was a funeral for the two fallen miners. Mine No. 6 employed 300 diggers and about 160 company men according to the paper. �In a pretty grove lying between the saddened homes of the victims funeral services of August Quoss and Charles Vickers, shot firers, who lost their lives Tuesday night in an explosion at the Central Coal & Coke Company�s No. 6 mine, were held this afternoon. Fully 1200 persons, it is estimated, attended. There was a general suspension of business during the services."

Article on funeral.

   "The Rev. H. E. Marsh, pastor of the Baptist church, of Huntington, and the Rev. Father Glinsky, of Van Buren officiated the funerals. The members of Huntington Lodge, A. O. U. W., of which both men were members, attended in a body, as did members of the Knights of Pythias lodge of which Quoss was a member. Burial was in Brewster�s Chapel. A five year old son of Vickers who had seen seriously ill was reported improving.�

   I believe the five year old son was actually his daughter, who would lose the struggle for life just 10 days later. Ada was not mentioned but the pain must have been great. With a full 210 mile journey it is thought Charley�s parents probably knew of the accident by now but may not have had time to actually make the journey for the funeral services.

   We do know that Marcus, Susan, Jacob and Lewis did go to Sebastian County after the accident. The WWI Military Registration cards of Jacob and Lewis were completed in Sebastian County in 1918. Both indicate their parents were the nearest (Marcus on one and Susan on the other) relatives and listed them in Sebastian County. We also discover that Jacob had �right leg off� according to the notes on the card. At some point he had lost his right leg. As of this writing I still do not know when or how he lost his leg. Learning all the dangers surrounding this family's chosen profession I would not be surprised if was not in a mining accident somewhere. Lewis listed his occupation as a blacksmith, which was a critical part of every coal camp. Notice also, both list their employer as Central Coal & Coke Co.

   By 1920 Ada Vickers was living with her parents in Arkansas. On the 19th of January the 1920 Census of Pittsburg City, Crawford, Kansas once again shows Marcus�s family living together with Susan, Jacob, Lewis and Charley�s two daughters, Avaun and Beatrice. On the 14th of December Marcus would pass away in Franklin, KS and is buried in Pittsburg�s Mt. Olive Cemetery.

   On April 12th, 1930 we find the family living in Washington Township, Crawford County, Kansas. By now Jacob was listed as the head of household with Lewis and Susan living with him. They lived next to Anna Wood and her sons, Richard and Daniel (Barbara Ann Carbaugh, mother of Beatrice�s husband, John Blasingame Wood.)

   Interestingly enough, the family profession had now come full circle as Jacob and Lewis were listed in the same profession as their grandfather Jacob had been 80 years earlier, farming. Avaun married Kenneth Lee Stroup on December 3rd, 1931 in Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas. On her headstone her name is given as Avaun Vickers Hayes. She passed away on August 25th, 2002 in Matteson, Illinois.

   Beatrice Vickers married John Blasingame Wood, and they gave birth to 2 sons and 2 daughters. Their oldest son was named after Charley Vickers (Charley Clinton Wood, my father). I bear his middle name today as I continue to attempt to unravel the mystery that is family history.

Charley's Headstone, Huntington Cemetery, Sebastian, AR.

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