Fayetteville, WV Stuart Mine Explosion, Jan 1907
Posted November 20th, 2007 by Stu Beitler
80 MAY BE DEAD IN MINE.
GAS AFTER EXPLOSION IN WEST VIRGINIA PIT PREVENTS RESCUE WORK.
Charleston, West Va., Jan. 29. — With a detonation heard for miles around, dust in the Stuart Mine, near Fayetteville, exploded this afternoon, bringing death to the eighty or more men who were at work more than 500 feet below the surface.
There is no chance that any of the men will be taken out alive for it is thought that the terrific force of the explosion snuffed out their lives instantly. It will not be possible for the rescuers to reach the bottom of the shaft for forty-eight hours.
Most of the men were Americans and many of them were married and had large families. There were a dozen colored men and fifteen or more foreigners.
The rescue work was begun as soon as the wrecked parts of the shaft house could be repaired. About two hours after the explosion three men were lowered into the shaft. Before descending sixty feet two of the men were overcome with foul air and the third was barely able to give the signal to his comrades at the top. All further attempts were abandoned for the time.
Air was supplied to the mine by several large fans, but the mechanism was damaged and the fans were idle for about two hours. The fans were then started again, and if the men were not all dead by the force of the explosion it may be that they will have air enough to survive until the rescuers reach them.
The Stuart Mine is owned by the White Oak Fuel Company, a part of the New River Fuel Company, of which SAMUEL DIXON is President and J. W. SMILEY Secretary and Treasurer.
The New York Times New York 1907-01-30
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Listing of Known Dead from:
The Washington Post Washington District of Columbia 1907-01-30
Those known to be dead are:
H. S. COLBURN, bank boss, brother of mine superintendent.
JOHN O. BOYLE, fire boss.
FRANK L. LIGHT.
CHARLES JOHNSON.
WALTER BLAKE, married.
HENRY LESTER.
FRANK LOVING.
JOHN MORRIS, married.
JOHN TOWNE.
JOHN ATKINSON, married.
LEE STAGGS.
THOMAS TONY.
THOMAS WILLIAMS.
OTTO CLENDENING, married.
GILES MINNER, married.
JOHN MINNER.
CECIL KROUSE and NORMAN KROUSE, brothers aged seventeen and nineteen.
GRANT HOWLETT.
SAMUEL RISTLETT, married, leaves large family.
JAMES ESKELEY, married.
THOMAS ORRAGE, married.
WILLLIAM McCLUNE, married.
EARL SIMPSON, married.
WILLIAM HAYDEN, married.
RICHARD LEWIS, married.
WILLIAM COOK, married.
JOHN HAMILTON, married.
_______ ISON, engineer of the mine.
JESSE ARTHUR, mining engineer.
SILAS DAVIS, engineer’s helper.
Unknown representatives of the Sullivan Machine Company.
JOHN and CHARLES QUICK, brothers, trapper boys.
JOHN SCHMIDT.
The following negroes were killed:
WILLIAM MASSEY.
RICHARD LEE.
ROBERT McINTYRE.
PETER WITT.
CECIL LEWIS.
JAMES BRADLEY.
ENOS BANKS.
GEARY BANKS.
HALL JONES.
TOM BATES.
About 20 foreign miners killed whose names have not yet been ascertained.
Several white American miners who were recently employed and their names are not yet known among other miners.
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!
STUART
January 29, 1907
“80 Entombed by Mine Explosion,” Charleston Gazette, 1-30-1907
“Eleven Recovered from Stuart Mine,” Charleston Gazette, 1-31-1907
“Beside the Pit Mouth They Watch and Wait,” Charleston Gazette, 2-1-1907
“Paul Returns from Disaster,” Charleston Daily Gazette, 2-5-1907
“Seventy Killed,” Buckhannon Delta, 2-7-1907
“Mine Will Be Investigated,” Charleston Gazette, 2-7-1907
“Special Message to Legislature on Mine Horror by Dawson,” Charleston Gazette, 12-7-1907
Wolford Family in the Ohio Region of the Northwest Territory 