Saturday, May 16, 2015

Coal Mine, Steel Mill - Sepia Saturday 279

There is a history of hard-working miners and steel workers in my family, aside from my hard-working men and women of other occupations.  These men worked in coal mines and steel mills in England and the U.S.  The Sepia Saturday 279 photo is an image of a factory scene with suggested themes of safety, danger, and industry.  Sadly, I have few photographs of my ancestors at work.

Coal Miners
Inside #7 Mine, Stoneboro, Pa.  Gust Doyle is center back.
When I imagine the depth and darkness of coal mines I am grateful to live above-ground with daily light.  When I think of the narrowness and confines of a coal mine I feel claustrophobic.  Were my miner ancestors drawn into that work out of necessity -- they needed work and it was available -- or were there other reasons for their choices?  I know the dangers were great and I can imagine the concern and anxiety their wives might have felt all the while they were at work.  As far as I know none of my mining ancestors worked for "company mines" to which they were indebted. 

My coal miners included my father, his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather, Lee, Gust, William, and Andrew Doyle.  The three younger of them dug a mine on their farming property.  They may have used the coal to heat their own home or sold it for additional income.  After Gust died in 1933, there was a bill to the hospital.  Lee and William traded hand-dug coal to pay that bill.

Andrew and William emigrated from England in the mid 1870s.  They had both been coal miners in the Northumberland area of England.

Abel Armitage, an ancestor on my mother's side of the family, was also a coal miner.  He grew up in West Yorkshire and emigrated from Durham, England in the mid 1860s.  He worked in the mines in both areas of England and in his new home in the Steubenville area of Ohio.  His sons followed his footsteps and worked in the mines, too.

I don't believe any of the Doyle men were hurt in mining accidents but it's possible that Abel may have been hurt:  he appears as disabled in the 1880 U.S. Census.

For other posts about my coal mining ancestors click here, here, and here.

Steel Mill Workers
My father emigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1933 after his father died.  He moved from farming and mining into the steel mills where he spent the rest of his life.  He worked first for the Niles Rolling Mill, then moved on to Copperweld Steel in Warren, Ohio, sometime after the 1940 U.S. Census.  He spent the rest of his working years there. 

My brother, Bob, and my brother-in-law, Chuck, also worked at Copperweld Steel.  It was summer work for my brother, but Chuck retired from Copperweld.

There were steel workers on my mother's side of the family, too.  They worked at La Belle Iron Works.  With a name like La Belle you might imagine a beautiful place but its only beauty may have been because it was a source of income for a family.

Two of my mother's paternal uncles were killed at La Belle.  Walter Meinzen, an engineer, was just 24 in 1907 when he was "instantly killed while at work in the blooming mill at the LaBelle . . . when he had the right side of his head and face crushed in by being struck with a large piece of iron."  So reported the June 7, 1907 issue of The Steubenville Weekly Gazette.  The article describes what happened but since I'm not familiar with the workings of a steel mill, I don't quite understand other than that a 600-pound piece of metal snapped off and flew 20 feet to hit Walter in the head.  He left a wife, parents, and 10 siblings.

The second death in the family happened 10 years later when one of Walter's younger brothers, Jacob Meinzen, was killed.  Jacob was a pipe fitter at the mill.  His death was caused by a 100-foot fall in the blast furnace department.  Jacob left a wife, a 2-month-old daughter, his parents, and 7 siblings.

Accidents can happen at any time, of course, but some places of employment are more dangerous than others.  I'm grateful so many of my ancestors and relatives came safely through the work environment and sorry for those who didn't and their families.

Please visit Sepia Saturday 279 for more more photographs and some stories and experiences.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

17 comments:

  1. My first job when I left university was underground on a gold mine, but I too felt claustrophoic and never enjoyed it. I transferred to above ground exploration within a couple of months.

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    1. I wonder if a gold mine was as dirty as a coal mine. Either way, I'm sure they were equally dark. Good for you to get above ground as soon as possible, Brett.

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  2. I've comment elsewhere that I've only been down a mine once and vowed never again. My first job in industry was in an integrated iron and steel works where I've had first hand experience of what can go wrong - fortunately an accident never involved me..

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    1. My mind just jumped from mining to caves -- Mammoth Caves, to be specific. Both are deep and dark but I suspect that mines are much less spacious. I could handle a cave but I doubt I could stay in a mine very long -- and am extremely grateful that I don't have to!

      I found your post about iron and steel works very interesting. It's a blessing that you avoided accidents, Bob.

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  3. Even though they're long gone, I feel sad for Walter's and Jacob's parents having to endure the death of two of their children in factory accidents. And yet, it's possible to work in the safest of environments & still be in danger of being injured or killed for any number of reasons though admittedly, the odds are greater if the work you do is dangerous.

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    1. Walter's and Jacob's parents lost 9 of their 15 children before they (the parents) died. I think the two sons' deaths may have been the most difficult to see.

      I agree, La Nightingail, that even the safest environment and great care don't prevent all accidents or dangerous situations. I think more care has been taken in the past few decades than a century ago.

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  4. Four generations of miners is quite a legacy. I doubt many family descendants would return to it given a choice of other safer employment.

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    1. Yes, 4 decades is a legacy, Mike. I'm sure my father could have continued working in the mines but had the sense to decline.

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  5. I was so interested in your post and the connections with miners in Northumberland and West Yorkshire - as were my husbands ancestors. His great grandfather was Aaron Armitage from West Yorkshire. Unfortunately I have been unable to find much more information on him, as there are two possibilities from the 1881 census, an Aaron Armitage, unmarried, born c.1851 in Silkstone, and an Aaron Armitage, a widower, born 1849 at Clayton West. "My" Aaron died at a young age as his widow remarried George Hibbert, also a miner, and they were living in Barnsley in 1891 in Snowdrop Terrace - I am sure given the living and working conditions of miners, it is doubtful if this address lived up to its picturesque name, It would be marvelous if there was a connection between our respective Armitage miners Aaron and Abel . Do get in touch through my e-mail (susanpdonaldson@btinternet.com) or my blog.

    Susan at Family History Fun

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  6. i had been waiting for a post on coal mining -- and here it is! Thanks. A few years ago I read a great book, THE MAP THAT CHANGED THE WORLD. Turned out it was a map drawn by William Smith, a self taught English geologist. His intertest in fossil led to drawing maps the were used in coal mining as well as bulding the canals to get product from here to there.
    Really and interesting post. Also about your family in the steel mills. Not a far jump.

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    1. Hi, Joan. I just added the book to my reading list. I'll see if the local library has a copy. It sounds interesting. Yes, I think the relationship between coal and steel is very close, closer a century ago than now, I suppose. Thanks.

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  7. The closest I have been to a coal mine was at a museum. I found some interesting coal mining videos on YouTube and posted them for Sepia Saturday 274 last month.

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    1. Hi, Postcardy. I was going to post for 274, too, and I think I was going to do something about mills and mining then but couldn't find the time. I'll have to find your post and watch the videos. I'm always interested in the work my ancestors did. Thanks!

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  8. Those 2 accidents were particularly horrifying.

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    1. They were horrible, Wendy. The newspaper reports were gruesome in their detail.

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  9. I don't know how those men went down those holes everyday. Though like you said, no other choice I guess.

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    1. I suppose miners must have been very strong-willed to keep at it day after day, Ellie. And perhaps they were too tired to imagine any other possibilities, though several of my ancestors moved out of mining and on to other things in other locations.

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