Borninabarn Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 116 Years ago today My Great Great Grand Father...Henry Harvey along with 12 others lost their lives in a coal mine...this mine was and is under the Du Bois Mall... DuBois, Pennsylvania March 23, 1896 TERRIBLE MINE EXPLOSION. 13 Men Killed Outright The following miners were killed today by an explosion in the Berwind-White mine: Their names are as follows: GEORGE HARVEY HENRY HARVEY REUBEN NOBLE HENRYY SMITH, JAMES GRAHAM, Sr., JAMES GRAHAM, Jr. LINDSEY H. BRADLEY JOHN MONROE JESSE POSTLEHWAITE GEO. POSTLETHWAITE ANDREW NOWAK DAVID BELL GEORGE AINSLEY The Accident at the Berwind-White Mine Was Caused by the Firing of a Charge. BODIES FRIGHTFULLY MANGLED The dead were kept below until their mangled bodies could be made presentable. They were washed, wrapped in blankets and then sent up, many wives, and mothers who were crowding around the mouth of the shaft, fainted at the sight of the dead bodies. The mine on the north side was wrecked, beams and supports were smashed into match wood. Rails were twisted and the roof caved in. The victims all met their deaths from the force of the explosion. I found Henry's grave at Rumbarger last year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 That's so sad that three families lost multiple members. I never heard of this before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumbarger Cemetery Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 What a sad story and how awful for the families. I heard there are several people from the mine explosion buried in Rumbarger Cemetery. I wonder if they have any relatives around that would care for their graves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluejay Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Various News Accounts One of the companies that helped coal mining become a major industry for DuBois was the Berwind-White Coal Company. It purchased 2,000 acres of land southeast of DuBois and put down a shaft where the DuBois Mall is now located. In 1900, it was taken over by the Buffalo and Susquehanna Coal and Coke Company and became known as B & S Shaft #1. A new railroad, known as the B & S, was constructed from Sinnemahoning to Shaft #1, using a new tunnel dug at Sabula. The railroad line continued to Armstrong County. A second shaft known as B & S. #2 was opened just beyond Highland Street a few years later. Labor disputes in 1929 forced the closing of the B & S and Northwest Mining and Exchange Company operations, and they were never reopened. The shafts flooded, effectively bringing an end to deep shaft mining. DUBOIS, PA., March 23. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borninabarn Posted March 24, 2012 Author Share Posted March 24, 2012 What a sad story and how awful for the families. I heard there are several people from the mine explosion buried in Rumbarger Cemetery. I wonder if they have any relatives around that would care for their graves? Yes...I do :>) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borninabarn Posted March 24, 2012 Author Share Posted March 24, 2012 Various News Accounts One of the companies that helped coal mining become a major industry for DuBois was the Berwind-White Coal Company. It purchased 2,000 acres of land southeast of DuBois and put down a shaft where the DuBois Mall is now located. In 1900, it was taken over by the Buffalo and Susquehanna Coal and Coke Company and became known as B & S Shaft #1. A new railroad, known as the B & S, was constructed from Sinnemahoning to Shaft #1, using a new tunnel dug at Sabula. The railroad line continued to Armstrong County. A second shaft known as B & S. #2 was opened just beyond Highland Street a few years later. Labor disputes in 1929 forced the closing of the B & S and Northwest Mining and Exchange Company operations, and they were never reopened. The shafts flooded, effectively bringing an end to deep shaft mining. DUBOIS, PA., March 23. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borninabarn Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 It's been 118 years...I wish I could find other family members of the 13 men who lost their lives on this day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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